Vancouver Can't Stop The Serenity 2013: Fun and Fundraising! Plus Joss Update.

CSTS Vancouver, 2013

JOSS UPDATE AT THE END
Yesterday I had a wonderful time at the Vancouver Can't Stop The Serenity 2013. Gayle and her team of helpers had prepared a fun-packed day and the atmosphere was welcoming and happy.

There was a packed schedule of events:

Saturday's Schedule - subject to change without notice (but probably not)
Noon     Doors open
12:30     Welcome then Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog sing-along
  1:20     Evil Laugh Contest
  1:40     Live Auction
  2:15     Costume Parade & Prizes
  2:30     Whedon Trivia Bingo
  3:00     Silent Auction ends; doors close. Prize draws. Special videos & introduction to movie 

  3:30     SERENITY

  5:30     Silent Auction winners announced. Closing remarks and acknowledgements

The sing-along Sing-Along was a traditional way to start everything off and if you've never had the experience of singing "..It's a brand new day, and the sun is high. All the birds are singing that you're gonna die.." with a bunch of other people, then I highly recommend it.

Straight after that was the Evil Laugh Contest, and there were some incredibly strong contenders this year. After each had demonstrated their prowess we were treated to mass laugh-off, which can only be described as a Macabre of Evil Laughs.

A Macabre of Evil Laughs

It came down to the Final Four. Unfortunately I didn't get my iPhone set up quick enough to record 'Inaru', but you can see (and hear) for yourself the high standards of the entries:

After that excitement came the Live Auction. The inaugural auction last year was a huge success, and this year it was MC Alan Douglas (a.k.a. @alalcoolj, The Masked Roger and Father Aloysius Rambo) who whipped up the crowd into a bidding frenzy. With many cries of "Signed by Jewel Staite, you say?" the magnificent prizes were snapped up by an eager mob.

If that wasn't excitement enough, next was the costume competition. Another very strong field this year, and we had quite a time of it trying to decide who should take the prizes:

Firefly and Whedonverse Costume Competition

In the end Kaylee, Malinda and Inaru all claimed prizes.

I had neglected to buy my Bingo cards in time (and not just because I was lining up to sample the sweet treats from C & C Cakery which were, as it happens, delicious), so I could sit back and enjoy the Alan Douglas challenging and delighting the audience with some well-thought-out Whedon Trivia Bingo. The tension in the room was palpable, and after a couple of false dawns, there was a clutch of Bingos all at once. 

Then it was rush to get out to the Silent Auction:

Once time was called, it was on to the Main Event. A screening of Joss' Equality Now speech, the CSTS 2013 Equality Now introduction, and then on to Serenity. And, again, if you've never watched Serenity with a crowd of Browncoats you are missing a rare treat.

Joss Whedon's Equality Now speech

I can't thank Gayle and her team enough for such a wonderful day out and I hope everyone enjoyed a well-earned rest today!

JOSS UPDATE
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the fact that Joss is now on Twitter, and how conflicted I felt about that. Well, sad to say that the @JossActual account has now been made private (I'm sure it wasn't anything to do with that post...).

But - fear not! There is now the @JossWhedon account! So all is good with the world. Just don't be tempted to do something like this:

I'm glad I didn't :)

Not content with doubling his presence on Twitter, Mr Whedon has been busy IRL, including making the 2013 Wesleyan Commencement Speech (surprisingly, nothing to do with Wesley Crusher). He was also made an honorary Doctor Of Letters:

I AM A-SMARTI AM A-SMARTS-M-R-T -- I mean S-M-A-R-T... twitter.com/josswhedon/sta…
— Joss Whedon (@josswhedon) May 27, 2013

Can't Stop The Serenity Vancouver 2013 - This Saturday! #CSTS

CSTS Vancouver, 2013

We've been attending the Vancouver CSTS event since 2008, and every year we have a ton of fun with costumes, auctions, sing-alongs and, of couse, seeing Serenity on the big screen one more time with the BC Browncoats and friends.

The 8th Annual Vancouver CSTS is on Saturday May 25, 12:30 - 5:30 PM at the MacMillan Space Centre, and promises to be another awesome event.

Check out the awesome auction items on the CSTS Vancouver blog - and find out how you can take part! Keep up to date with all the excitement by following @CSTSVancouver on Twitter, too.

All proceeds go to the following charities:

• Equality Now
• BC Women's Hospital 
• Avalon Women's Centres

Come and join us on Saturday!

CSTS 2012 slideshow



CSTS 2011 slideshow

The Guild Season 4 Marathon on Sunday! BC Browncoats watch in style.

One way to stave off Guild Deficiency Syndrome!
It's always hard to find new ways to stop the GDS from kicking in hard. Luckily there are now The Guild comics, too, but nothing beats sitting down to watch a whole season in the company of like-minded people. Once more La Fontana Caffe is the venue for what promises to be an afternoon of Guildie-related fun. Great food, company and entertainment - guaranteed.

Want to see BC Browncoats in Action?
For the last 5 years the BC Browncoats have been celebrating Can't Stop The Serenity day in Vancouver, raising lots of cashy money for charities such as Equality Now and BC Women's Hospital Foundation. I've been to the last 3 events and they were amazing - a wonderful day out topped off by seeing Serenity on the big screen.

Last year I asked my fellow Browncoats if they would wish a certain person a Happy Birthday - and this is the result:



How are YOU coping with Guild Deficiency Syndrome?

CSTS Vancouver 2010 report. Summary: shiny!

On June 26th 2010 the 5th Annual Can’t Stop The Serenity was held in Vancouver, BC to raise money for Equality Now and the BC Women's Hospital. The BC Browncoats put on a great day’s entertainment and both Hubby and me had an awesome time. We made a short video:



Since we couldn't capture everything on the video, here's some highlights from the day:


Introduction and Joss videos
Gayle and Serena spoke about why we were all there for the 5th year of CSTS, the money that has been raised so far and the power of the Browncoats. We then watched some videos including Joss' Equality Now acceptance speech and his Serendipity Speech, which really got everyone in the mood for the day.

Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, sing-along
I missed the beginning because of costume competition duties, but as soon as slipped in I was singing along.  It was a heart-warming experience and I thoroughly enjoyed singing, laughing and gasping along with everyone else. ("..The hammer is my penis." and "...I meant Ghandi.." were among the favourite lines!).


Evil Laugh Contest
I was surprised at how many of my fellow Browncoats possess evil laughs! There must be a coach in the area…. The competition was fierce and it went to a laugh-off between the last three.

The Masked Roger - unmasked?

The Masked Roger Marathon
This was definitely a highlight. The Masked Roger webseries is funny, smart and full of cool effects. Alan has a great sense of humour and it’s worth watching them a few times to make sure you get all the jokes. It was great to see it on the big screen and it went down extremely well with the crowd. Alan also gave a very good speech about the inspiration behind The Masked Roger and how he came to make a webseries. I wish I had managed to record it. He talked about how Dr Horrible and the ELE competitions started it off, how Felicia Day and The Guild spurred him along and how the feedback and encouragement from the BC Browncoats helped to keep him going. Now, Alan, when can we expect the next episode…?

 The Costume Parade (and Hubby's bare knee :))

Costume Contest Parade and Prizes
Hubby had his knees on display, dressed as he was as Fawkes (from The Guild Season 3 and soon-to-be 4). There was an array of costumes from Firefly and the Whedonverse, with the Bad Horse Chorus also putting on a great display (and yes, they did the song, too!). It was very hard to do the judging but there were some very worthy winners.

Browncoats: Redemption Screening
Vancouver was one of the few CSTS events to see the full rough cut of Browncoats: Redemption. I’ve been following progress of the film for a long time now. I’m writing up some detailed feedback for the producers but I can tell you that even though the screening was of a rough cut, I can’t wait to see the finished film. Hubby and I were both impressed with it, and the solid base of the film looks really good. The full premiere at Dragon:Con will be a packed event, I’m sure! I will be writing more about Browncoats: Redemption soon, so look out for that.

I didn’t manage to get a ticket for the Whedon-Works Trivia Bingo but there were some happy winners and some tricky questions, so I took the opportunity to check out the bids on the Silent Auction. There were some amazing items, from signed photos of Jewel Staite, a signed copy of The Guild DVD, genre books, games, models, a knitted dalek….The bidding was pretty fierce for some of the items!

Serenity
What can you say about this film? It represents so many things but, at its heart, it is simply an excellent film full of laughter, tears, action, adventure and a passion that runs through everything. A passion for life, friends and doing what is right. If you’ve never seen the films in the company of fellow Browncoats then I heartily recommend that you do. It is a moving experience.

 Cowboy!

Door Prizes and Silent Auction winners
The winning didn’t stop, and there were some amazing door prizes given out after the screening. We didn’t win a door prize but we did win an item on the Silent Auction which has been a very welcome addition.

To Gayle, Serena and everyone else who worked so hard to make the event run smoothly – thank you for making it such an enjoyable day!

Happy Jossmas!

 Joss is so lucky he even met Dani at SDCC 2009! (from maxsummer's Flickr account)

June 23rd, 1963
And so it came to pass, in those balmy days of summer, that a pink, squirming babe - fair of skin and sparse of hair - burst into the world of man. Swaddled in cloths of brown, he was laid in a crib of finest unicorn bone, his head resting on the softest panda fur available to man. After his first taste of the world, Joseph Hill Whedon slept and dreamed...

June 23rd, 2010
And so it came to pass, in those balmy days of summer, that a pink, bearded man - fair of skin and sparse of hair - still resided in the world of man. His followers swaddled in coats of brown, he was laid back in his crib. The finest unicorn bone resting on his head and the softest panda fur was always available to this man. After so many years spent tasting the world, Joss was ready.....

How do you celebrate a guy like Joss?
It's hard to know, isn't it? He has everything - a glittering career, a wonderful family and a list of friends as long as your arm. AND he's met Felicia Day! He is a lucky, lucky man. Forget the years of work, the disappointments and rejections. Joss has it easy. He is Mr Easy of 125 Easy Street. Wherever he goes people flock to him, asking for autographs, eager to hear his tales of working with people like Neil Patrick Harris and that Canadian dude. And not a day goes by without his name being linked to a film, comic book or sequel - how exciting that must be!

Luckily he has a blog to keep him straight. Updated by faithful minions, Joss never needs a fancy phone or planner because all he needs do is check in one site. If he's ever unsure as to whether he's supposed to be dismissing rumours of a Serenity sequel or ignoring claims that his latest project has been cancelled all he needs to do is log onto the Internet and go to Whedonesque.com. And one day soon he'll be able to manage that himself without Jed. Exciting times indeed.

The other white meat
Of course, you could celebrate Joss' birthday in a more traditional way and join in your local Can't Stop The Serenity (CSTS) event. Now in its FIFTH YEAR, this celebratory screening Joss' masterpiece, Serenity, is a great way to meet new people and raise money for charity. And today I have an interview on PinkRayun.com with the person who started CSTS in 2006 - The One True b!X. It's an insight into how the whole thing started and is very interesting. B!X didn't sit around wondering how to celebrate, and now neither do you. Check out where your nearest CSTS is and buy a ticket or three. Hope to see you there.

No cake?
Last year I did a "Gratuitous Cake Post" for Joss' birthday - there's lots there so knock yourself out :)

Can't Stop The Serenity (CSTS) 2010: where are YOU celebrating?

 

CSTS 2010 poster

It's that time of year again!
Time to dust off your Jayne hat, polish up your space boots, and don your Browncoat - 'tis the season to be mighty! This year marks the FIFTH annual Can't Stop The Serenity global sci-fi charity event. If you've never heard of it before then 1) Where have you BEEN for the last 5 years??? 2) It is an annual charity screening of Joss Whedon's film, Serenity, in multiple cities across the globe which raises money for the charity, Equality Now. 3) It's a great way to get out and meet new folks.

Why?
Good question. There are many answers but the overriding one is to raise funds for Equality Now because the work they do is more relevant now than ever. Their mission statement:


"Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure." (from their website)
Joss Whedon tells us why it's important:




"...Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this Earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part if the human condition, it's life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman confronted with it. We need equality. Kinda now...." (Joss Whedon, Equality Now awards ceremony, 2006).

VANCOUVER CSTS!
This Saturday, 26th June, Vancouver is holding its charity screening of Serenity event and what a fun-packed day it will be! There is a silent auction will amazing items from signed DVDs of The Guild, knitted Daleks, signed photos of Jewel Staite and many, many awesome items! There is also a costume competition, a screening of Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog AND an exclusive screening of first part of Browncoats: Redemption film. If that wasn't enough there is also the world premiere screening of the lastest episode of The Masked Roger, a comedy webseries by our awesome friend @alalcoolj. I hear the voiceover is amazing... :) Oh - and we get to watch Serenity, too. It will be shiny.

If you live in Vancouver or the Lower Mainland (or Bellingham, Seattle, West coast...) then pick up your tickets now at Happy Bats Theatre or buy them online. I'll see you at the MacMillan Space Centre on Saturday!

If you are not within reach then check on the CSTS website to see if there is a screening near you. There are 42 cities across the globe celebrating in one way or another in the coming weeks, so make sure you don't miss out.

Here are two videos from last year's event:



And Joss...



Y'all have your pretty floral bonnets ready, now don't you?


PS
How did CSTS come about anyway? For that we can thank @theonetruebix, since it was all his idea in the first place. I guess that's why we should never accept substitutes.

HOT NEWS JUST IN: I will be interviewing the one and only b!X about CSTS soon for PinkRaygun.com, so look out for that! In the meantime you can check out his rather fantastic photography site and maybe snag yourself a competitively-priced print. Or two.

Happy Birthday, Joss! Gratuitous cake post...

Will he have a cake? 

As we once again thank the 'Verse for Joss, thought turn towards how he might celebrate this, his *cough* birthday. I'd like to think that Joss will be eating cake and perhaps imbibing a glass or two of his favourite tipple. He's had an incredibly busy year or so and deserves a day to relax and reflect. And so, I present for you a selection of cakes fit for the Master:

A stake-cake?

Cake Nouveau have this brilliant Buffy Cake:

And this was baked by one talented lad for his lucky girlfriend:

I pretty sure he won't be getting this from Cake Wrecks...

A Horrible Cake (or five...)

CakeNoveau has this medley of Dr Horrible-themed goodies:

Or, to celebrate all the Can't Stop The Serenity screenings...

...how about a Serenity cake?

Now there are some pictures of Serenity cakes floating around (!) according to Whedonesque which I couldn't find and also there's apparently one on greatwhitesnark.com but the site appears to be down at the moment. I have sent a couple of emails so if I hear anything I will get back to you.

Are you going to a CSTS screening?

The Vancouver screening is this Saturday, June 27th and I can't wait! Last year was a great event and not only will I be able to meet up with some great BC Browncoats, some special friends are flying in that I can't wait to meet, too. If you want to know more about CSTS, why people organise and attend these charity events each year, and where the money goes, there is all the information on the Can't Stop the Serenity website.

Happy Birthday, Joss!

Jewel Staite To Do Q&A before Vancouver CSTS on June 22nd!

Hot news just in!
The Vancouver Charity Screening of Serenity just got even more exciting! Here's an extract from the Firefly MeetUp Board:

"We are excited to announce that Jewel Staite (Kaylee, of course!) has accepted our invitation to do a half-hour Q & A before the movie. She will also be autographing some items for the silent auction.

The doors will open at 11 am and an array of activities will continue until 6 pm, including sing-along filking with local filker & Browncoat Cindy Turner; our own Brandon Klassen performing his Serenity songs, including "Sail the Sky"; a costume contest; door prizes and more. And, of course, the screening of Serenity! Keep checking our blog site for a list of prizes and up-to-date information.
We will be holding a silent auction, with some great items, which will be listed on our blog. Cash or cheque only for the auction, please.

In addition to raising money for Equality Now (Joss's favourite charity), this year 10% of the net proceeds will be going to support the BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre, so let's show them how generous Browncoats are!"

Screening details
When: Sunday, June 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM 2008

Where: The Norm Theatre, Student Union Building, 6138 Student Union Boulevard. Vancouver , BC V6T 1Z1

It promises to be a brilliant day out so order your tickets today via the official blog (the link for PayPal is right at the bottom of the page).

Captain Reynold's Dogtag: You Could Own It! Plus FireFly MeetUp

It's true - Cap'n Malcolm Reynold's Dogtag up for Auction!
Kids Need To Read have announced their new auction and it promises to be a hotly-contested one. A new '57th Overlanders, SERGEANT REYNOLDS, MALCOLM' dogtag (plus chain), signed by Nathan Fillion is now on offer on eBay. Bidding has already started and the auction is open until May 9, 2008. It looks fantastic so get over to eBay quick-smart and get your bid in!

I've taken my first step into a larger world....
So then, yesterday. Quite a packed day with one thing another. Took a trip into the big city (Vancouver) to finally meet up with my FireFly MeetUp group. I'd not managed to attend any of the other meetings and I was determined to get there yesterday. After quite a bit of travelling and our first trip on the SkyTrain me and eldest daughter* arrived in Vancouver. A bit unsure of directions we asked the first person (who was English - of course!) and we headed off to Soho Billiards. We arrived a trifle late (about an hour) but the group was still there. Serena and Gayle gave us a wonderfully warm welcome, introduced us to the group and then we settled down to eat and chat. As well as the Browncoats there was also Stargate Atlantis and BSG/13th Colony representatives. I've never been to anything like that before and I really had no idea what to expect.

So, how was it?
Great! A chance to talk about the show, speculate about what was going to happen at the end of BSG (conclusions: who knows how it will end? The only certain thing is that we won't be expecting it!). And plans for the big Vancouver charity Serenity screening on June 22nd for Can't Stop The Serenity are coming on apace. It promises to be a great event and I'm buying my tickets this week to make sure - I don't want to miss out on it! We also saw Serena knitting the most gorgeous tiny Jayne hats. Made me want to start knitting again. Except you can't type and knit at the same time...Thanks to everyone who made me and #1 daughter so welcome!

Free Comic Book Day
After we had talked and laughed and speculated a bunch of us headed off to Elfsar Comics to look in on what was going down. The place was buzzing and The Joker and friends were there to help with out selections. Now I know you want to know - were there free comics? Yes, there were! A table at the back was laid out with a variety of special comics that you could pick from. Elfsar were doing a special deal whereby you got 5 from the selection just for showing up. If you made a donation to the Food Bank you got to pick another 5 comics, something from the table AND enter your name into a prize drawer. And so I came home leaden with comics and a 'Resident Evil' tee-shirt. Elfsar is packed with goodies and very welcoming. I had my 9-year-old daughter with me and she was right at home, looking at the action figures and asking for money (they're so cute at that age!). She was quite mortified on the way home, though, as we had to stand on the SkyTrain and I dropped all my comics on the floor. Ah well, the teens who helped pick them up pretended not to be looking at the titles with amusement, and I pretended that I wasn't embarrassed, so the rest of the journey was uneventful in comparison. A great day out.


FireFly release on Blu-ray is confirmed
Whedonesque have posted that you can pre-order from Amazon.

*Yes, yes, grammar-nerds! I know this is the incorrect form! It should be 'my eldest daughter and I ' but that sounds just plain wrong in an informal blog. No points for spotting all the other incorrect uses, either...

Calling all BC Browncoats...

Tickets now on sale for this year's Serenity screening!
Sunday, June 22nd is the date for this years' Can't Stop The Serenity Vancouver Charity Screening of Serenity. It is confirmed that the screening will take place at the The Norm Theatre, in the Student Union Building,6138 Student Union Blvd, UBC (University of British Columbia).Check out the official Vancouver blog for information, links to buy tickets and details about all the events on the day. You can order your tickets online using PayPal, or buy them up from Happy Bats Cinema, 198 East 15th Avenue (just west of Main Street) who will also be selling tickets after Saturday, May 3rd.

It promises to be a great event, and the proceeds go to charity:

"The charity screening is a global fundraising event for Equality Now, Joss Whedon's favourite charity. This year, Vancouver is also raising money for BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre. Ten percent of our net proceeds will be donated to BC Women's to help women and children throughout the province."

I'll be there, wearing my Jayne hat, so hope you can make it too!

Jayne's hat and other news

It's a pity you can't see me.
No, scratch that! It's always a good job you can't see me, but if you could , you would see that I am proudly wearing my lovely new Jayne's hat. Really! I picked it up yesterday from the Post Office. Where did I get it from? Well, I bid and won on the recent Kids Need To Read auction, and I couldn't be happier. Sorry to the other people who bid, but I promise it has a safe home here! My only dilemma now is whether I should frame it with the brilliant signed picture of Adam Baldwin that came with it or not. Decisions, decisions! I'm definitely going to be wearing it to the Vancouver Serenity Day on Sunday July 22nd.

More monkey business
And speaking of KNTR, I told you last time about the unsigned Terrify’n Space Monkeys you can now buy from Kids Need To Read on eBay. Well they now have a new auction for one signed by the incomparable Morena Baccarin, who played Inara Serra in Firefly and Serenity. You'd be bananas not to swing over to eBay and put a bid before the auction ends on April 27th....

Can't Stop The Serenity
Plans are going ahead for the charity screenings of Serenity. There was some distressing news earlier in the week when it was revealed on Whedonesque that US copies of the film had been destroyed accidentally at Universal. In his blog, The One True B!x emphasised that this was an error, not a deliberate act, and that Universal and the CSTS organisers were working hard to sort the problem out. Many people were obviously upset about the prospect of the US screenings not going ahead as planned. The Can't Stop The Serenity official website has now posted that Universal are going to ship (at their expense) extra copies over to the US and that the whole situation is being addressed and handled. I think that's excellent news, and all power to Universal for trying to rectify the error.

Later, on this blog
I reveal why time management is not my strong point at the moment, why the audiodrama Buffy: Between the Lines is now on YouTube, why writer and podcaster Scott Sigler has made me wary of triangles and more from Joss Whedon's Journal.