A reason to get up on Monday - The Streamys Nominee Live Announcement!

Felicia Day WoWs at the Inaugural Streamys

After weeks of waiting...

...the Official Nominees for the 2010 2nd Streamy Awards will be announced LIVE tomorrow morning! Remember the excitement of last year? The twittering, live photos and OMGWFTBBQ The Guild and Dr Horrible won everything*!?!?

This time around, who will it be? Tune in to streamys.org or Tubefilter.tv tomorrow at 9:30 AM PST to find out!

Sandeep Parikh and Felicia Day Introduce The Inaugural Streamys

There has been such a massive upsurge of interest and talent streaming into Web Television that the nominations this year will be that much harder. With no Dr Horrible or Battlestar Galactica there are still plenty of big-money productions**. I hope, though, that some of the lesser-funded series are represented because some of these are truly awesome.

The People Choice Award
Tubefilter ran a competition last year for people to write their lists of who might be in The People's Choice Award, offering a ticket to the actual award ceremony as a prize. My list was full of awesome (of course) but I didn't win, coming a "...an honorable second". I hope they run the competition again. They have been doing something similar already asking people to send in their nomination lists for each category via twitter. So if you want to make sure you are up to date with all the news follow @tubefilter and @streamyawards.



*If you look at the list of awards and who won them then Dr Horrible and The Guild didn't win everything on the list. It just seemed that way on the night.
** Yes, I know that technically Dr Horrible was not a big-budget production but it was and remains the exception to the rule in that there are very few people in the 'Verse who can command such talent and equipment for no money down.

DVD+Comic+Party+KOTG+uStream+Improv = The Guild Strike Gold!

AT LAST!
The Guild Season 3 DVD is now available on Amazon.com and sales are brisk. Okay, you might have seen them all on MSN/Xbox/iTunes already - but that isn't the same as owning your own DVD because there are so many extras you can't get elsewhere!! Felicia blogged about the DVD and there is a special Knights of Guild minicast where some fans (including yours truly) talk about each one of the extras. And no - I'm not telling you how access the special Easter Egg! But it's well worth breaking your remote to find it...

And if you're still not convinced you should buy it, consider this. Felicia has been experimenting with Buzz (the new Social Media whatnot from Google) and someone asked her whether the DVD was monetarily better than asking for donations. Her reply was this:

"Um Robert good question. But out of 5 million views on YouTube we only had 350ish donors for the first season. Unfortunately people sporadically donating 1-5 dollars on average at a time cannot fund a production, and then people only donate AFTER they see the episodes. The DVD is a very important part of our show, and we invest a lot of time and money to make it worthwhile to buy outside of the free episodes streaming. That way people get something tangible in exchange for their purchase/donation. I hope that answers your question! :)"

(from Felicia's Buzz stream)

The Guild Comic - Pre-Order Now!

All the six covers to The Guild comic series from http://www.tfaw.com

The comic series promises to show a different side to The Guild characters and I'm really looking forward to finding out more about what their lives are like outside of their Guild activities!

TONIGHT (Friday 19th Feb) - Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em Improv!

You can see some of the cast of The Guild LIVE tonight on uStream where they will be performing all manner of outrageous and hilarious Improvisations for our delectation. Tune in to their uStream channel and you can take part in the chat with some welcoming Guildies. It kicks off at 8:30 PM so see you there!

And don't forget there is Part 1 of Greg Aronowitz' series on how to make Codex' staff, with instructions, pictures and an hilarious video of Felicia Day (un)abling assisting Greg...

PS: Season 4 of The Guild....

No word yet about whether Season 4 is going to be funded by Xbox Live but....I think we'll be hearing soon. Fingers crossed! :)

Browncoats and Guildies at Farpoint, Baltimore!

(Farpoint Con logo from http://www.farpointcon.com/)

Make it so
Encounter at Farpoint was the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and introduces us to the crew and that most ticklish of all Picard's nemesesisisss: Q. The Farpoint convention started out as a Trek Con in 1993 but now serves a wide range of fandoms. Last weekend stars and fans gathered in what is currently a very snowy Baltimore for fun, frolics and a very special auction. I wasn't there but intrepid Guidie, Steven Kawakami was, and he sent me some pics and a report from the con (thank you so much, Steve!). Steven is a fellow Guildie and you can find him on Twitter as @stevekaw and also on Facebook.

From Steve:

"Farpoint is a relatively small Con, but they have some nice participant activities, like sword-fighting in the hotel atrium!"

With Kind permission from Steve Kawakami

Browncoats: Redemption - stunning new trailer!
I had heard on the grapevine that Browncoats: Redemption were going to be unveiling a new trailer at Farpoint. I had a sneaky preview and - WOW! From the first frames it had me hooked - this film is going to be spectacular.

From Steve:

"Camera crapped out on me early at Farpoint :(. However, did manage a pic from the Big Damn Films panel and the new trailer from "Browncoats: Redemption" looked promising. Panel was well-attended by an enthusiastic audience. Film will premiere at DragonCon."

With kind permission from Steven Kawakami

The video will be available on YouTube soon, so make sure you have subscribed to browncoatsmovie on YouTube and on Twitter so you know first.

EDIT:
It is now up on Vimeo!


Browncoats: Redemption Trailer 3 from browncoatsmovie on Vimeo.


Encounter with Codex!

Steve is an avid Guildie so meeting Felicia Day was high on his list for Farpoint:

"I attended Farpoint Con on Saturday the 13th only. Felicia had another one-hour Q&A on Sunday, followed by a showing of DHSAB which I could not attend.

Felicia's Q & A was likewise very crowded. As usual, she was funny, profane, self-deprecating and spoke a mile-a-minute. Adorable! She is unfailingly honest, which I find so amazing for a celebrity. She talked about everything from writer's block to her favorite dessert places in LA. She admitted that she hadn't left the hotel since arriving Thursday, but that the snow outside looked "incredible"....

Among some of the other things Felicia said on Saturday:

• Would like to play a dark Sith Lord one day - really wouldn't mind trying to play a villain. Busy auditioning now as this is pilot season. Joled that more often than not, she still reads for acting roles as a secretary!
• Very enthusiastic about her new Wii game with NPH called "Rock of the Dead" which uses the "Guitar Hero" controller. She's glad the lower price point will hopefully make it more accessible.
• So busy right now that she has a stack of games "this high" she hasn't had time to try yet and a Tivo full of programs yet unwatched.
• Jeff Lewis is a lot like his character, Vork; will call Felicia to try and mooch free game demos. She has leveled her priest to 80, but Jeff's in-game wedding is still not done as his wife's character needs additional leveling. Apparently Jeff likes playing his wife's character and Felicia joked that it's probably becoming his alt character!
• Really enjoyed her recent guest spot on "Lie to Me", especially the singing!
• Is very proud of The Guild comic books that are coming out, but found the writing very different than screen plays, and took a while for her to adjust. The word count limitation in comics was quite a challenge for her! 

Lots more, but I forgot! :(  However, as always, Felicia was a big hit with the fans and she Tweeted that at the celebrity charity auction Saturday night, lunch for her went for $5,000!

Met her on the autograph line Saturday afternoon. Gave her a small tin of "Old Bay" seasoning to remember her trip to Maryland. She had never heard of that spice before, but continues to like experimenting with new seasonings. Strange but true!

She signed an enormous number of autographs and I don't know how she does it! Briefly chatted with her and what a charmer. Passed along your greetings* and she remarked what a "lovely" person you are. Walked away in a bit of a daze. But really, everyone here is so grateful that she managed to attend in spite of the horrendous weather here. She definitely got some more fans here on the East Coast!"

*I had spoken to Steve on Twitter before Farpoint to wish him well and to say hi to any Guildies there - thanks for a great report, Steve!

Felicia has uploaded some pics from Farpoint, one of her with Guildie @osiramon, and one with  Darth Vader.

Other Guildies were there, too, and you can read reports from gregmc66 and @dreadpiraterose.

Happy Blogaversary: Part 1. In the Beginning...

Two years of fun and frolics on the last geek bus home.
Doesn't time fly? Seems like only yesterday I watched Firefly for the first time and was consumed with the thought that I was missing out on the awesome. From my first post, "numfar, do the dance of shame..." to yesterday's technobabble, I've racked up 317 posts covering subjects as diverse as blog layouts, Captain Kirk, Star Wait, a whole slew of Whedony-related ramblings, sci-fi plus, of course, The Guild and Felicia Day.

Felicia was one of first people to comment here (although I didn't even realise it was her...). To all the people who have read and commented I offer a huge - THANK YOU! Blogging is a lonely sport when no one reads or comments. I'm always happy when lurkers decloak and say something. These days I'm all over the web and I talk to people on Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook daily (and now Google Buzz?). I still enjoy reading and responding to comments here, though (hint, hint).

Speaking of Twitter...
I asked people on Twitter what they wanted from this two-year extravaganza post and it was unanimous - you want to see more of the silly searches that people use. I can't blame you - they are hilarious.... I did this once before and it proved very popular. BUT! Before that here's a few scintillating facts from Google Analytics about this blog:

People from all over the world ride the last geek bus:

Posts about The Guild seem to be the most popular:

Searches for naughty things are also popular:

And now here's some lists of random searches that have brought people to my little blog.

Totally Random:

• 2 horse 1 speedo
• a geek catches a sexy fairy comic
• autobus erotic scene
• blogspot boypants
• bookends sex store
• bus station geeks
• bus-do you wanna f*ck
• harrison ford chest Indiana
• galactica chest hair
• velour fetish (12 searches for this!!!)

Searches that piqued my interest

• gorgeous tiny chicken machine show nathan fillion
• casting call for pj haarsma the softwire
• channel 7 news felicia becker
• compilation of fan-created applications to the evil league of evil
• delicia fay +interview
• unicow costume (4 searches)
• how to make a vork avatar costume
• good questions to ask for an interview for guild

Searches where I think they got an answer

• chick from the guild legend of neil dr horrible 
• do i have to watch webisodes before bsg premiere?
• does felicia day sing 'do you want to date my avatar'
• who plays riley on the guild?
• who plays zaboo in the guild
• sean becker fired (17 searches and lots more combos for this!)

You want to what my who-now?

• do you wont to dat mi avatr
• do you want to sate my avatar
• do you want to dave my avatar
• do you wanna date my avbatar
• do you wanna date my avitar

All about Felicia:

• felicia day ticklish
• felicia day save my soul
• felicia day makes my heart ache
• felicia day librarian
• felicia day kim evey monkey sock
• felicia day is egotistical
• fanfiction codex zaboo

There were also all manner of searches with the word 'erotic' in them that I'm not going to share. Just know that I would think twice about tagging any posts with that word again (and I totally blame Zoe Winters, because it is actually her fault...).


In Part 2 I'm going to recap some of my most memorable posts and adventures  - so if you have a favourite please let me know and I'll include it!

Google Buzz, Pip.io - they are Simler, but can they Friendfeed?

Tech blogging: that's not me.
It's a crowded market these days and I prefer to consume tech content rather than create it. Mostly I use Friendfeed as a means to keep abreast of things. I follow some pretty cool people over there and if there is tech news (or any news, actually) afoot then I pick it up quickly. My go-to person for tech news is Louis Gray. I check his Friendfeed a couple of times a day because not only does he blog in his own right, he has shared his Google Reader picks in Friendfeed, which serves as a great filter. So Louis and the other 565 people I subscribe to keep me in the loop for everything (go and look at the people I subscribe to: they are AWESOME. I can't name them all so for everyone who pouts because I didn't name them, I suggest you #blamedrewscancer. And Louis.).

But Friendfeed: it's not forever.
In August 2009 the announcement came that Friendfeed had been acquired by Facebook. There was a massive surge of emotion from people on Friendfeed about this news, many people taking the stance that it spelled the end of Friendfeed - if not immediately, it would inevitably. Since then the community has gone through some cycles of change. Apparently some people think all the geeks have left - but obviously that is not the case. My feed has never been more vibrant. Which makes the thought of Friendfeed going away harder to countenance.

Following the crowd
As I see it, there are four main things that a replacement for Friendfeed needs to have:

1. An intuitive UI that allows you to add contacts easily from other places.
2. An easy way to track/filter your comments, likes and shares.
3. An easy way to share your activity elsewhere.
4. It needs to make community the heart of the endeavour

That last point, about the community, is key to any Friendfeed future. The panic people felt after the Facebook takeover was often because they realised they might lose contact with friends they had made - friendships that were only possible because of Friendfeed. People connected on Facebook and Twitter and other places to make sure they stayed in contact.

Lead on, Macduff

Since then other solutions have come and gone. I like Simler but I don't spend much time there. I couldn't find a way to use some of the others. Yesterday Friendfeed was excited about Pip.io and I signed up there to see what that was like (and yes, because I'm a sheep). It looks interesting but is not there yet. And today we have Google Buzz. Again THIS is supposed to be the one, the one that will turn out to be the long term solution.

Lifestreaming to me is how to organise and control disparate and multitudinous data streams. I want to be able to aggregate, sort, comment on and export my activity in the easiest way possible. I have a few Google accounts with two that I use for the majority of email I send. Now I am looking to see how best to use this. I've already managed to get myself in a jam when Blogger switched and I linked the wrong Gmail account to my Blogger account. Whether Buzz or something else replaces Friendfeed, I hope I keep in contact with all the people that make it such an exciting place to be. In the meantime I have another matter to deal with.

Now I have to decide who I am again. Who Am I?

Is this really me?

Or is this more like it?

Or am I actually.....?

Haiku for Kiko: Let's get that GTCMS DVD!

(screenshot of the Crackle.com home page showing lots of content from webseries to classic series to movies)

I love Crackle.com!

Over the last several months I have been (fairly gently) pulling the pigtails of Chad, the Crackle community manager who tweets as @CrackleDotCom. I've been asking two things: when will the Crackle content be available in Canada and I am pleased to hear that things are progrssing on that score. But there is a much more pressing issue: WHEN CAN WE GET A GORGEOUS TINY CHICKEN MACHINE SHOW DVD?

(Front page of GorgeousTiny.com showing some of the wacky world of Kiko and chums)

Chad has taken everything in good humour and it is a pleasure to spar with him on twitter. Yesterday he was promoting the Crackle Facebook Group and promised a haiku when they got past 3000 members. after a little glitch where I couldn't access the site I squeaked in as member 2998. A success for everyone because now more people will hear about the new movies and other content that is being added monthly on Crackle.

Make the Sad Panda Happy Again

After reading Chad's celebratory haiku I was inspired to write my own:

(Obviously the '@' in '@kimevey' is silent. Everyone knows that).

And so the #haikuforkiko campaign was born. It is so logical. Kiko is Japanese. Haiku is Japanese. We need the GTCMS DVDs!

Milk the Cash-Cownicorn!

Crackle are on the up-and-up with all the new content and new original webseries like The Bannen Way. Now is the perfect time for them to plunder their back catalogue and give us what we want - access to the the GTCMS videos with oodles of extras. I want to hear from Lick Poop and Unicow and Panda and Cownicorn and - most of all - from Kiko herself! Imagine Kiko doing a voiceover to one of the episodes?!? That would be meta-morphing-power-rangers-tastic!

(Kiko and friends, taken from ComedyCentric.com interview with Adam Arkin)

Slaughter the Cash Unicow!

I missed the wonderful Kim Evey doing her Kiko impression at the Knights of The Guild anniversary party last week (sad face) but I'm hoping Kenny will keep that part in when he edits that massive video into chunks for us to watch (I'll be sure to let you know when that is up - I can't wait!). When I interviewed Sean Becker (Director of The Guild and Cownicorn on GTCMS) he said that he had lots of stories to tell about GTCMS, and these stories need to be shared. I want to see the set, listen to the behind the scenes shenanigans and watch them over and over and over again in a disturbingly obsessive way until my family is forced to intervene. CRACKLE OWES US THAT MUCH!

Haikus for Kiko

What say you? Do you want the GTCMS DVDs? Of course you do. You are a sensible, well-rounded person just like me. And what better way to achieve this goal than to give something back to Crackle first. We give them something, they give us something in return. You've seen my haiku attempts - now you can try. Send them to @CrackleDotCom and hashtag them #haikuforkiko. Or add one to the Crackle Facebook page. Only polite, though, please. Kiko is always to being polite and we should follow her most honorable example.

It could work!

Now, as my lovely friend @DougLuberts might say: let's spin the wheel of fun!