Exclusive Interview with PJ Haarsma, creator of Dr Horrible Remote

...and Award-Winning Author!

Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the name PJ Haarsma, writer of 'The Softwire' books. So when I saw that he had designed the remote used by Dr Horrible I seized the chance to ask to interview him. Luckily for me PJ took time out to do an interview with me (which includes a picture of him and Nathan at the Kids Need To Read signing at Comic Con) and that's published today on Whedonage. Why not pop over there, read and leave a comment!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - On MySpace!

Aspiring super-villain Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris) wants to join the Evil League of Evil and win the girl of his dreams, but his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), stops him at every turn in this complete three-part musical from Joss Whedon.In addition to watching on Hulu, you can also see the whole thing on MySpace, too. And you can add a comment, rate it and watch the spam from certain quarters flood in. Good times.

read more | digg story

See Dr Horrible - the whole series is up - no Torrents!

Yes, It's True!

Dr Horrible Tweeted me (and, admittedly a whole lot of other people) about 1 hour ago:

'Looky what we have here: http://tinyurl.com/6fdwss'

And where does that link go to, you might ask? Well, click and find out. It just might take you to the whole Series on Hulu, where you can view for free the whole thing at once. And it's still so awesome....

Now, before you get your proverbial knickers in a twist, remember that Dr Horrible loves you even if you don't live in the US. So go to my other post 'I've seen Doctor Horrible Part 1! It ROCKS!' for a way to watch if you (like me) live other than in the States.

And while you're watching Part I don't forget to look out for the remote control Dr Horrible uses. I'll have more information about that tomorrow. Did I mention my EXCLUSIVE interview yet? No? Well, maybe I will tomorrow....

Guest Posting at Whedonage

Yay! And it's all Felicia's fault 

I've posted an article on Whedonage today, thanks to Felicia Day. Well, sort of. If she hadn't been doing an online chat there on Sunday I wouldn't have found out how great Whedonage was and I wouldn't have asked if I could submit an article. It's entitled Comic Con 2008 - Who Would You Queue to See? and there's a prize for the person who guesses the most names.

Told you there was more news

So please head over to view and comment and we'll sort out prizes later. Honest. Now I really do need to get on - airport calls in a little while!

Felicia Chat Transcript up plus 'geek bus' news

Whedonage have put Sunday's chat with Felicia on the site 

Simon has done a really good job of making it easy reading. And when you consider there were so many people vying to ask Felicia a question, that's no mean feat! As is becoming customary with Whedon-related online events, the server took a hit and was disabled temporarily but the whole event was a big success. There's a full description of the chat-fest plus a link to the transcript on Whedonage. Felicia answered my question once I managed to get logged in:

Improv and Being Human
[12:01:13]   worldofhiglet:   was my question asked?
[12:01:24]   FeliciaDay:   higlet what's your question
[12:01:36]   worldofhiglet:   Hi Felicia, I'm a big admirer of you and all your works :) One thing I would like to ask is did you (or anyone else) do any improvisation during the filming of Dr Horrible or was it all tightly scripted? And will you be doing some more Being Humans improv in the future?
[12:01:47]   worldofhiglet:   thanks, felicia
[12:01:58]   Simon:   She's been trying to ask for a while :)
[12:02:04]   Dr Blog Bot:   good question!
[12:02:11]   FeliciaDay:   It was all scripted every one
[12:02:17]   FeliciaDay:   every line
[12:02:24]   worldofhiglet:   wow
[12:02:25]   FeliciaDay:   there are some funnnnny outtakes for the DVD though :)
[12:02:38]   FeliciaDay:   Yes, there will be more live improv with my group "Being Humans"
[12:02:47]   FeliciaDay:   I took this month off because I was swamped
[12:02:53]   maxsummers:   I really wanna see an outtakes of 'the hammer is...'
[12:02:54]   FeliciaDay:   but I love doing live improv, it's so risky and so fun
[12:02:57]   worldofhiglet:   cool - thanks so much for that :)
[12:03:04]   FeliciaDay:   ya, that will be great ;)
[12:03:56]   FeliciaDay:   I want to do a streaming thing when the DVD comes out
[12:04:02]   darthziv:   i'll make sure to buy the DVD.... just make sure to visit israel to sign it :)
[12:04:06]   FeliciaDay:   on uverse or something
[12:04:08]   Buffyverse:   That'd be great

Felicia had lots more to say about Dr Horrible and you can find it all on Whedonage.

Blog News

Well, some of you will notice that I've changed the template on the Blog. I'm trying to sort out a 3-column arrangement for the blog and I've found a site that allows you to do this, but you need to start with this template. I don't like the way the layout works at the moment with everything in a big line on the right, so I'm hoping the s=3 columns will make it more balanced. I quite like this new template so some time soon I'll do the second, much more complicated stage. But not just yet!

Other news

We're getting some very welcome visitors from England tomorrow who will be staying with us for the next two weeks. This means less time for the blogging side of life, but it is only temporary. And there's more blogging news. But that will have to wait until tomorrow. Now, back to the house cleaning!

You WILL be using these Horrible expressions by Fall

In spring 2000, a little-known actor named Chris Walken walked onto the set of Saturday Night Live and urged Will Ferrell to play the cowbell. Eight years later, the phrase “more cowbell” persists as a synonym for “remedy.” Do you know what "bring the frozen yoghurt" means? No? Then you need this list - you will not have seen it before!

read more | digg story

Considering Dr Horrible has not made much impression on Digg so far- see 'Digg Should be Buried' for more information on that, it's probably a vain hope that this will do any better. But it is a great list on BlogSchmog and any person, fan of Dr Horrible or not, can enjoy the prospect of using some neat new expressions in their casual conversations. And when people look at you blankly you then get the even better experience of telling how great Dr Horrible is. It's a win-win. Now, go Digg!

A Freakily Horrible (in a good way) Week

As you are reading this, Dr Horrible may have disappeared

Well, free access on the Dr Horrible website might have gone, anyway. It's due to finish at 12.00 Midnight Eastern time tonight (July 20th) (which is goodness knows when - timezones are not my strong suit as evidenced in my earlier posts today!). Dr Horrible has tweeted this afternoon that it might be up a little bit longer than that but I wouldn't leave it to chance - watch it NOW!

It's been a rollercoaster of a week

The excitement of the launch of Act I on (what for me was) Monday night only to find it wouldn't work because I was in Canada, then finding an IP workaround and watching it straight away. Waking up on Tuesday to find the Dr Horrible server had crashed so no-one could watch it and the tension while the new 'monster' server geared up. Then the release of Act II on Wednesday and how smooth that was, and how GREAT Act II was (Nathan Fillion delivering the Best. Line. Ever.). And on Friday the prospect of two exclusive interviews: Felicia and then Maurissa and Jed on DoctorHorrible.net plus the release of Act III. The emotions of the final Act and the fan aftermath. All the posts on the Fan Site. Creating a Dr Horrible room in FriendFeed. And then - the question session on Whedonage with Felicia Day today. Phew!

What was it like, then?

Well, once I had realised that I had less than an hour to edit all my questions into one, kick-ass question, the panic set in :) Everyone on Whedonage was really helpful and as 10.00 am (here) came nearer more people started arriving. Felicia Tweeted that she had just rolled out of bed (fully made up, with hair smooth and shining, no doubt - she's an actor, after all) and she entered the chat room at exactly 10.02. And then asked if she was late - gotta love that girl! Unfortunately not long after that the host server went into meltdown and everyone got kicked out, which was a real shame. 

Fear not, though, because it was a temporary thing. Simon from Whedonage got it back up and running and the questions were put to Felicia without any further problems. Well, for the people in the chatroom, anyway. Bad luck for me that my often-temperamental wifi decided to play up, leaving me shouting at modem, ISP and anything else in the vicinity. Bless. When I got back online  - Lo - there was a Twitter Private Message in my inbox from - gasp - Felicia telling me that the chat was back on. That made it all worthwhile and I headed back to Whedonage. By then the VIP room was full but I waited and chatted to the very friendly mod (whose name I have totally forgotten - so sorry!) and finally got my chance. 

And yes, Felicia answered my questions. And yes, she really is as funny and down-to-earth as she appears to be. There will be a full transcript of the chat available fromWhedonage later this week, and that's not to be missed! Felicia has even joined the Dr Horrible room I set up in FriendFeed, and you can, too. Just go to the FriendFeed Dr Horrible room and join. If you're not a member of FriendFeed it's very easy to set up. 

So that's been my Horrible week. Pretty great, huh?

EDIT: My subscription email from Joss'd the Podcast has arrived with more Horrible news - Joss himself is doing a live chat tomorrow (Monday 21st July). See the Joss'd article for more details. I've sent my question in!

Make that 1HOUR until Felicia chat!

As I was joking to a friend recently - I am useless at timezones!

Sorry folks - the chat with Felicia at Whedonage is in ONE HOUR so get your skates on!

Want to ask Felicia Day (Penny) a question?

Let's face, who doesn't? 

Lucky for us, then, that the folks at Whedonage have arranged (possibly by witchcraft) to host a live chat with Felicia Day TODAY (July 20th):

WhedonAge.com Gets Chatty With Dr. Horrible's Felicia Day July 20

July 4-- WhedonAge.com, a fan community for the works of writer-director Joss Whedon, hosts a live chat with Felicia Day, actress and creator of the award-winning online series The Guild, on Sunday, July 20, 2008.

Ms. Day appears as the love interest in Whedon's three-part musical superhero satire, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (www.DrHorrible.com) which ends the free webcast of its episodes that day. 

The chat will begin at 10AM PDT (12PM CDT/1PM EDT/5PM UTC) for registered users, in a Q&A  format with Felicia for one hour, after which fans can discuss the Dr. Horrible series with each other. It can be reached at www.WhedonAge.com

The site's members will have the opportunity to submit questions in advance, in case they are unable to join the live chat event. Instructions for accessing the chat service will be available on the site.

I calculate that you have about FOUR HOURS to get registered at Whedonage or send in your email questions before the chat starts. I don't know about you, but I'm making a list right now...see you there!

Exclusive Felicia Day (Penny from Dr Horrible) Interview

Felicia Day is currently appearing all over the Internet as Penny in Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog alongside Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion. She first worked with Joss Whedon when he cast her as Vi in Buffy Season 7 and she is the creator/star/producer of the award-winning Internet series The Guild. Here she talks about show and the future on the Official Fan Site.

read more | digg story

And if that wasn't enough, the indepth audio interview with Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon has now been posted, along with a full transcript. Considering the interview was only done this morning that's a quick day's work!

Dr Horrible Act III - plus news of exclusive interviews!

The Curtain Call for Dr Horrible? 

Let's hope it's not the end of everything, but in about 7 hours (midnight, Eastern Time) Act III of Dr Horrible will be live. And then you only have until Sunday to watch for free before they all disappear off the Internet. But that isn't the end of it. Oh no! Because the DVD will be out soon with a whole host of exciting extras including - get this - a musical commentary!

Interviews? With whom?

Over on the Official Fan Site exciting news of TWO exclusive interviews that are to be published this afternoon. Dr Blog Bot, the webmaster of the Doctor Horrible Fansite, has done a exclusive telephone interview with writers Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon and also an interview with Felicia Day. They haven't been published yet, but keep an eye on the front page for them - they will be up before Act III airs. And, in case you missed it, Dr Blog Bot herself was interviewed by TalkingHeadTV.com yesterday.

Don't delay

If you've seen Act I and II you will know that you can't miss Act III. And if you haven't seen them yet then go straight to the Official Site and watch them! The acting, singing, writing - everything is so good I can't even tell you. And anyway, Mad Horse is watching and you don't want to get on the wrong side of him. Really. 

Less than 6 hours until Dr Horrible Part 2

Are you ready?
The Dr Horrible team worked their little socks off yesterday trying to get the teething problems sorted out. These guys and gals have been working flat out and the good news is that everyone should be able to view Part 1 by now. Which is good because in only a few hours Part 2 is released! This is the latest Twitter from Dr Horrible:

Get ready for Act 2! Midnight EST www.drhorrible.com

So there you have it! Be part of the revolution and stay up/get up early (depending on where you live, of course!) and be one of the first to see it. You know you want to...

What a Buzz...
And for all the latest news and reviews head over to the Official Fan Site,DoctorHorrible.net. The webmaster there has also been working very hard to keep everything on track and there were many, many updates yesterday!

Digital Dickens: Scott Sigler is changing the way we read

An article from UK paper The Independent on how giving away audiobooks online can generate a fan base and result in sales of print copies. Just as Cory Doctorow proved with eBooks and PDFs, give your content away and fans will discover new works. Screw DRM -- the future is letting the audience decide what they want to pay for.Dr Horrible is another example of this and Part 2 is out tomorrow. The main server is back up and everything is fine over at drhorrible.com. But while you're waiting for that, Digg up this article for Scott - we love his books and podcasts and it's about time the rest of the world shared the terror!

read more | digg story

Dr Horrible gives new link so we can all share!

The new Dr Horrible server is up! 

But some people are still having trouble accessing the site. This is the latest Tweet from the lovely Dr Horrible:

Server is still propagating (fancy talk, I know). This might work in the meantime  http://www.drhorrible.com.nyud.net/

I've just tried it and it works like a charm, so if you are still having problems do try this - it really is worth it! And check out the Official Fansite for all the news because it has been a momentous day indeed. Any doubts about whether fans would bother to watch have been monumentally crushed. Oh happy day!

Dr Horrible slays Whedonesque!

It isn't World Domination - yet...

With over 5 times the maximum traffic allowed for the website hitting it already today, Whedonesque is temporarily out of service as notified on MySpace this afternoon:

Dr Horrible slays Whedonesque

Hey guys,

Whedonesque.com is down due to the overwhelming interest in Dr Horrible. Our host has disabled the database and says our traffic is 5x the maximum allowed. So we're working very hard to move to another server. This will hopefully not take too long, within the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, feel free to join whedonesque.org, our forum.

Such is the power of Doctor Horrible... As the world has come online today the overwhelming numbers of fans first brought the Official Site down and now it has claimed Whedonesque. But fear not. Whedonesque.com will be back in the next couple of days, and drhorrible.com will be back up and running today, once their 'monster server' is online. Check out the Official fansite at doctorhorrible.net for all the latest information.

I've seen Doctor Horrible Part 1! It ROCKS!

Worth the Wait....and then some!
Ok, so there were a few technical hitches in that Hulu is only available in the US, but the Dr Horrible team worked quickly to get around that. So now everyone can see Dr Horrible Part 1 NOW!

It is so good...I'm going to watch it again in a minute but I wanted to share this. The Dr Horrible team gave this link: http://www.kuanhoong.com/2007/12/18/how-to-watch-hulu-shows-outside-of-usa/ to enable people outside the US access to Hulu. You have to dopwnload a small application that gives you a US IP address but then you can watch. So this is what you do:

1. Go to http://www.kuanhoong.com/2007/12/18/how-to-watch-hulu-shows-outside-of-usa/
2. Download the AnchorFree application, read the instructions and install it
3. Click on the Anchor and ensure it goes to green
4. Go to http://www.drhorrible.com/act_I.html to watch and be stunned.

Neil Patrick Harris is magnificent, Felicia Day is wonderful and Nathan Fillion is fantastic (and looks really ripped!). The music is awesome and the whole ensemble is...well, I've run out of hyperbole but it is really, really, really great. So there. Now go watch!

Official Website for "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"

The website for Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" starting Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, and Nathan Fillion is live. See the teaser, join the groups, spread the word, and come back TOMORROW July 15th to see the 1st episode free!My laptop woes continue unabated so limited online time for me. I can't express how difficult it is to deal with it! But anyways - I'll be online tomorrow at some stage for Part 1 of Doctor Horrible and I hope you will be too. And by the end of the week we'll have seen all the Episodes and I might have a new laptop.Don't forget - Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Neil Patrick Harris! All in the same production by Joss Whedon and co (where co = extended family).

read more | digg story

Dr Horrible's new widget

Check out this delightful new widget created by an 'awesome' fan that let's you get straight to the heart of Dr Horrible, by way of Joss and co. Very shiny.

Things that passed me by...

Isn't it weird how the world doesn't stop, even when you do?
I've missed a lot, that's for sure. Some of it has gone forever but that's ok, I'm in the mindset to go with the flow. There's a few things, though, that I'd like to bring to your attention. Chances are you know about them already (you being so discerning and all), but it doesn't hurt to post about them.

Felicia Day Watch Updates
So many things going on for our favourite actress/writer/producer at the moment! Here's some recent highlights:

The Guild Season 1: Pre-orders are now being taken! You can order Season 1 via WatchTheGuild.com and if you do pre-order before August 1st there's free shipping (sweet!). Look out for the brilliant, exclusive extras available that include never-before-seen gag reels, interviews, commentaries and subtitles. I ordered mine and then realised I was sending it to the wrong address - Doh! I can't get used to this technology stuff, it was totally my fault for not updating PayPal with the right details. But thanks to Felicia it's actually going to be sent out to the right address - she really cares!

EPIC FU of the week - it's Felicia. Now I know everyone is busy busy busy but if you are in any way interested in why I seem to be slightly (!) obsessed with Ms Day, this is a good place to start. The interview goes to the heart of what makes her special and why The Guild and Doctor Horrible are so important. If you have any interest in the Internet/TV/movies, watch this interview. Yes, I guess that does mean all of you. And because of that interview she also makes the front page of Revision3.com, which is pretty cool.

Which brings us to the next part - Doctor Horrible!

Doctor Horrible Official website is up!
The next exciting news is that there is now a great trailer to watch AND a schedule of release dates for the 3 episodes. There was an in-depth article on TVGuide.com:

"Dr. Horrible, written during the writers' strike and filmed in six days this spring "on favors and waivers" by a crew of longtime Whedon loyalists, will be streamed for free in what Whedon cheerfully calls an "Internet miniseries event" on the show's official website (www.drhorrible.com) in three chapters. Part 1 will be available Tuesday, July 15, with the following segments (each roughly 14 minutes) available July 17 and 19. All three parts will stay up only through July 20, but deals are currently underway to make it available for downloading shortly thereafter."

Looking at the calendar that's - eek! - less than a week away. Joss Whedon, Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, cast of tens - this is one Internet Event you really don't want to miss.

Can't Stop The Serenity - Jewel Staite answered my question!
We had such a great time at the Vancouver Serenity Screening, I can't thank Serena, Gayle and all the other organisers enough. I'm just sorry that I couldn't Blog about it before now due to recent events. I'm going to do a full post about it next week but for now just this little teaser - I have the answer to a question very close to Firefly/Serenity fans' hearts (but no, it doesn't have anything to do with a new film/series - sorry!).

And Finally (but not least)
Thank you again for all your well-wishes, stories, comments and prayers. It makes things easier to deal with when you know you are not alone and it has proved to me again that 'virtual' friends are friends in a very real sense. I'm glad that I decided to share the news. I hope that other people will see that they are not alone, and that things will get better.

Explanations and Exhortations

Finding the words
First off, thank you all for your well-wishes. I know I left suddenly, it was unavoidable. I wasn't sure whether to just pretend nothing had happened and start Blogging again or whether it was best to offer an explanation. In the end I decided on a compromise - a short explanation.

Sad times
I had been keeping a secret. I was pregnant and nearing the 12 week mark, the magic time when it is usually safe to reveal the news because the threat of miscarriage is lower then. Unfortunately I had had a couple of problems and my doctor recommended a scan. At the scan I found out that the baby was no more and I had to go into hospital. It was a brutal shock amplified by being a long way from my family in England. It has taken some time to come to terms with it all, and that is an on-going project.

Future times
But....I have a family, have children, have friends, a wonderful husband and lots of support. I'm taking it slowly but I will rejoin my online activities. Events like this can make you feel like you are on the outside, puts a barrier between you and other people. I don't want that to happen. Miscarriage is a painful fact of life - it happens to many women, couples, families. Everyone copes with grief in different ways but one thing I do know is this: it always helps when someone tries to express sympathy. Even if your expression of sympathy doesn't come out the way you intended, or seems to make the other person upset, the fact that you tried to comfort them and offer support is much better than avoiding the subject. Pretending it didn't happen simply makes it harder to deal with for everyone.

Better times
So that's the deal. It's been difficult but getting better. I will be starting to Blog again soon. Remember to keep reaching out to people, and thanks again for all the support. Peace.