Who is Sean Becker? Is The Guild Panel Safe...

...or is it going to be the scene of a terrible battle?

Recently we've witnessed the stunning sight of a man being sacked right in front of our Twittering eyes - or did we? Was Sean Becker really sacked or was it an elaborate scam wrought by some sort of evil genius? Or blundering idiot? The Guild Panel at CC is on this morning (Friday) at 10:30 in room 5AB so before that, let's examine the evidence.

Firstly - who IS Sean Becker?

As I've mentioned before, it is not entirely clear who Sean Becker is. Is he the 2008 Civil War Series sprint car champion?

Is he one of these people?

(borrowed from @maxsummers' Flickr account)

If so, what is he up to and can he be trusted with The Guild?

Friends - we have all suffered the ravages of Guild Deficiency Syndrome, all lost loved ones with our constant use of Vorkisms and insistence in raising squab, all suffered the crushing realisation that there are still some people in the world who have not even heard of Felicia Day. You would therefore assume that if you were actually a part of creating that special magic that is The Guild and then you were sacked, you'd be pretty upset about it. Perhaps you would lock yourself in your room and play Seasons 1 and 2 back-to-back while creating SIMS versions of the characters (oh - someone has already done that! Haven't you, Edgar?). You probably wouldn't happily go down to the shops and treat yourself to a new copy of 'Barbie Horse Adventures' - unlike this guy:

Note the maniacal laughter, the look on the assistants face and the clever use of The Guild tee-shirt. Is this the face of a man crushed?

What's going on?

To have any hope of understanding this we need to look into his past for clues. Using the vast array of information about Mr Becker on the Internet (I did a search on YouTube) I have pieced together his life in the last couple of years.

March 2007

Sean is sent off to war and makes a heart-warming video to his yet unborn child. How sensitive he is!

June 2007

It appears he returned from Iraq early and, perhaps not surprisingly, finds himself in need of friends. Here we see his impassioned attempt to connect with someone in real life. It's sad, really....

But luckily for him he seems to have hooked up with an old friend of his, Payman Benz, that you may remember from such awesome webseries as 'Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show' where he starred as Unicow (all hail Unicow!). They go on to set up 'Awkward Pictures' and create the hilarious and well-received webseries 'Comedy Gumbo' and many other funny videos.

Groomed by The Guild

Following these successes, news of Sean reaches Felicia Day who sets about luring him into directing and editing Season 2 of The Guild. With promises of unlimited jelly beans Sean signed up readily, unaware that his contract stipulated that he was now effectively Felicia's slave. We've all seen the video of Felicia laughing about tying him to the chair until he's finished editing. He never did get his Thanksgiving dinner...This is hardly the point, though, because The Guild Season 2 was a masterpiece of editing so good, you couldn't even tell it was there.

Escape in 2009?

But it seems that Sean, perhaps on a day when he was less hyped-up on jelly beans than usual, was planning his escape. Here we see him heavily made-up trying to get into college:

Perhaps the strain of working on The Guild had made him forget that he has already been to college. That's where he met Payman Benz (all hail Unicow!) .

What to think?

So was Sean Becker fired? If he was does he now harbour a deep resentment along with an unhealthy obsession with jelly beans? Or was it all a ploy by him to allow him freedom to join forces with Jared Hoy and set up ConQuest guide to report from Comic-Con?

Or perhaps to get more time off so he could finish shooting Comedy Gumbo Season 2?

Only Sean can tell!

The Guild Panel at CC happens in a few short hours. The Guildies are all up and chomping at the bit, anxious to see their idols answer some simple questions. If someone asks whether he was sacked or not, what will happen? We can only hope that it isn't going to become a battleground between the lovely Felicia Day and this pretender Becker. And the good news is that there's no shortage of people wanting the job such as Shelley:

Good luck at the Panel today, everyone, and please, Sean, for the love of the Guildies, don't hijack it for your own nefarious purposes.

Now all we need to worry about is Delicia Fay....

SD Comic Con - The Guild, Dr Horrible and Shenanigans!

San Diego Comic Con is on this week!

And once again I will be attending via the Internet. Sure, some people might say that stalking all the people I know who are going is a poor substitute for actually being there, but at least this way I don't have many scheduling nightmares and the kids get to eat this month! Last year I blogged on Whedonage about all the people I would queue up to see if I were there Part 1 and Part 2. The list hasn't changed that much, with a few additions, perhaps.

For all us unfortunates not able to be there here are some resources that might help:

Websites:

Tubefilter: a guide to all the webseries at SDCC including The Guild and Dr Horrible

Whedonage: all the Whedon-related happenings this year

The Guild: their guide to everything Guild-related

Guildies: Comic-Con'd!: Set up by Dani (@maxsummers), a collection of Guildies will be posting their reports from SDCC (I'm really excited about this!)

Twitterers:

@Crixlee Cricket Lee: co-presenter of A Fangirl's Guide podcast, girl gamer and Guild extra will be at CC, collecting interviews and giving away stickers

@egspoony Edgar Garcia: The Guild and Felicia's webmaster extraordinaire

@maxsummers Dani will be posting on the Guildies' site (can't wait for her to meet with Felicia!) and tweeting (I hope!)

@seanbecker some dude

@jaredhoy Chief Lighting Technician on The Guild and co-presenter of A Fangirl's Guide podcast will be interviewing and video blogging

@nathantamayo Guildie who will also be blogging on the Guildies' site

@FannishInc: Interviewer extraordinaire will be there

@danregal: expect more pics than you can wave a stick at!

@RobinInSeoul: a Whedonite of distinction!

@CapricaSeven: Jane Espenson, who will be there for the BSG panel

EDIT: @theguild: They will have a very special announcement for Guildies at CC on Thursday AM, so be sure you're following them (yes, even those of us not there want to know what's going on!)

@jul_weiss: Julianna Weiss, Editor of Pink Raygun is at CC and will be getting scoop on lots of geektastical wonders!

Video reporting

The lovely Jared Hoy has started a video blog about SDCC. Despite some misgivings about his co-host (and you'll understand why when you see who that is) I have high hopes for this:

If you know of anyone else or other sites that have SDCC information on them please let me know and I'll add them.

EDIT:

Jessica Stover (@JSto) will be representing Artemis Eternal at SDCC but in a different form to last year. All the details are on the Artemis Eternal website.

Shenanigans!

So what's all that about, then? Well, I have discovered some shocking news. News so shocking that it could set the Internet alight like hasn't been seen since the news of Guild Deficiency Syndrome broke or that loser Sean Becker was apparently sacked by the wonderful Felicia Day. It's so potentially devastating that I can barely bring myself to blog about it. But I know my duty. Stay tuned - the truth is out there!!!

Coping with GDS (Guild Deficiency Syndrome)

The Guild end of Season 2 uStream appearance

EDIT: The Guild Season 5 is NOW GO!

Are you feeling too tired/too hot/too bored/too meh?

If the answer to any of these (or any other affliction currently assailing you) is yes then the problem is most likely to be GDS (Guild Deficiency Syndrome). It's sweeping the globe faster than swine flu and is almost as potent. Read on to find out more about this debilitating condition and what you can do to protect yourself against its onslaught.

Symptoms

These include fatigue, loss of interest, restlessness,  waning enthusiasm for everything (even the Internet!), weight gain, weight loss, spots, freckles, shouting "Vorktanimo" at strangers....These are just a few of the many, many symptoms of GDS.

A Doctor testing something. 

Causes

First documented last year, scientists believe that these disparate symptoms are all part of a single condition, GDS. After baffling the lab geeks for a several weeks, an alpha geek realised that he, too, was suffering from the same symptoms. After stringent self-testing and cross referencing with available data Dr H, as we will call him, came to the unshakeable conclusion that it was directly caused by the lack of new episodes of The Guild. The data showed that between the end of Season 1 and the beginning of filming of Season 2 there was a massive increase in the number of geeks calling the 1-800-ihavetoomuchtimeonmyhandsandhavesearchedallthemedicalwebsitesandthinkimreallyillforsure

 nerdline. 

Diagnosis.....GDS

Doctor H developed a simple test to confirm whether a patient is suffering from GDS. Subjects were wired up to brain scans and shown a series of images. All those subjects reporting GDS symptoms showed massive brain activity when exposed to images from The Guild - yet failed to show any noticeable brain activity at any other time. Proof, Dr H concludes, that The Guild, or more accurately the lack of The Guild, is to blame.

The Guild Season 2 DVD cover

Cure

While there is no actual cure, Dr H did suggest some ways to relieve the symptoms. These steps will give temporary relief and should be repeated as many times as necessary to enable the sufferer to have some semblance of a normal life.

• Watch Season 1 and Season 2 of The Guild on rising in the morning
• After breakfast watch the End of Season 2 uStream 
• Before lunch watch Felicia Day and Sandeep Parikh's uStream appearance
• Search in vain for video from The Streamy Awards 2009
• @kimevey to see if Felicia has finished writing Season 3 yet
• Content yourself with official pics from The Streamys instead (or my unofficial ones)
• Watch Season 1 of Legend of Neil (NSFW) for a Sandeep and Felicia fix
• Get annoyed that the Dr Horrible Paley panel is not available in your country
• @feliciaday directly to see if she's finished writing Season 3
• Soothe yourself with Felicia Day's new photoshoot
• Listen to "The Knights of the Guild" podcast
• Watch Season 1 and Season 2 of The Guild on DVD while eating dinner
• Delete your @feliciaday tweet for fear of annoying her
• Watch all the special features and work out if there are Easter Eggs or not
• Watch Felicia Day at E3 (so proud of her!)
• Check up on all the Guildies on Twitter and Facebook to see if there is any word of Season 3 yet
• Watch Jared live the GDS life on video
• Retire to watch Season 1 and 2 as you fall asleep
• Dream about how cool it would be to appear in Season 3
• On rising, start process again.

Caution Required!

Dr H is at pains to point out that reducing your exposure to The Guild to the levels prescribed above might be too little, too soon. He recommends that if, for whatever awful reason, you have to be away from your computer or DVD player that wearing a Guild teeshirt and holding a bobble-headed Edgar can relieve some symptoms temporarily.

Support groups

Watchtheguild.com has updates, all the episodes and some bonus videos online. You will be able to find support from fellow Guildies (as sufferers call themselves) on The Guild Community website. Here you can set up your own account and chat with like-minded individuals on weighty matters of the day: is Sandeep a zombie, does Felicia really turn up on set swearing and drunk, and will there be a DDR dance-off between Codex and Stupid Tall Hot Girl...

Hope for a cure?

Dr H was optimistic that once Season 3 starts shooting sufferers will find their symptoms lifting: "We found that last year, when Season 2 started production, calls to the helpline lessened as people started to anticipate the coming season. And I - and I mean they - felt more able to sleep at night without worrying about when I - they - would get a new fix."

Felicia Day - all her fault?

While it would be all too easy to lay the blame squarely at the young multi-talented, award-winning writer/creator/actor/producer surely we can't blame her completely? Dr H, disagrees: "No - it's completely all down to her. Sure - Kim, Sandeep, Jeff, Amy, Robin, Vincent, Edgar, Dani - all played their parts, but really it's all down to her. She never knew what depths I had, what a glorious future we could have..." At this point the Dr appeared to remember he'd left a bunsen on somewhere and hurried away. With all the work he's been up to recently, helping the victims, working on a cure, it's not surprising he's a  little distracted. It has obviously been a huge strain because when he left the offices and saw a large, dark horse that happened to be intently watching the building for no apparent reason, he started violently and ran away shouting obscenities. Poor guy. GDS must really have a hold on him.

UPDATE:

Fellow sufferers unite! We now have a new group on http://community.watchtheguild.com. Join us and share the pain :) [And kudos to Soma for the spiffy logo:

The Guild plus IFightDragons: four videos and a podcast!

Sometimes the Internet is like a bus...

You wait for ages then four great videos arrive at once! Oh, wait - that's not really like a bus, is it? Unless it's a geek bus...Anyway! This morning on Twitter (I happening to have it open, it's not like I was looking to be distracted - stop judging me!) there was a series of wonderful events, the upshot of which was the watching of four new videos.

New 'Behind the Scenes' videos from The Guild Season 2

@geekyfanboy tweeted this morning that there were two new videos out: 'Meet the Characters' and 'Meet the Extras'. And he should know since he since he edited the 'Meet the Extras' video! They are available from MSN video and Xbox marketplace. Or you could watch them from here:

The Guild Meet the Characters 

The Guild Meet the Extras 

Both are excellent and the 'Extras' video hosts a plethora of familiar names whom you can follow on Twitter: @Crixlee @DerekHousman @ZackFinfrock @Ryon_D @BrettRegister@lawrencedenes @egspoony @Hygena @nikhaiku

A new Guild Fan Vid!

And then Kenny (@geekyfanboy) did it again and linked to a new Fan Vid by Jared Cicon (@JaredCicon) in which he....well watch and find out! It's very funny!

And then...another fan vid, but this time for IFightDragons

My good friend, Dani (@maxsummers), is a dab hand at editing and she has created a fan video for the new Internet sensations IFightDragons (@IFightDragons, naturally enough!). Their brand of guitar-based greatness that is "Heads up, Hearts down" has been wonderfully animated. Enjoy!

And finally - a podcast! Or two....

I'm sure you're already subscribed to the 'Knights of The Guild' podcast (if not - why not?). They have interviews, news and the inside track on all the cast and crew of The Guild. Another great feature is that they interview fans - and I'm going to be interviewed for the next show! I'm really pleased to have been asked and I'm really looking forward to it - thank you for asking me :)

Or two...

And I have some news. Yes, I've not been blogging here much. This is a temporary hiatus because I've been even more super-busy than normal, and I have an announcement. Next Monday I'll be launching  a podcast of my own! Whooo! Seriously - I'm so stoked about this. I've been vigorously editing my book, 'Turning Left at Albuquerque'. I had toyed with the idea of podcasting like Scott Sigler and Sethharwood and all the other great podcaster/writers. So, you'll be able to hear the first five chapters over the next 5 weeks, with an omnibus at the end. The feedback we've had so far has been really good and I hope you'll enjoy it. I've put up a promo on the podcast website. Expect more content there soon! But I wanted to share it (couldn't keep a lid on it anymore!) with you now. So then....Comments? Questions?

Dr Horrible, The Guild and Contagious

I'm sure you know this already but just in case... 

The Dr Horrible DVD is now available for pre-order from Amazon.com. And the great news is that there have been so many pre-orders already that the price has been reduced twice and is now $9.99. Please use this link to Amazon.com because if you do, Joss and co get a referral fee. You will also be able to view the original trailer and a sneaky-peek of the extras in the form of Neil Patrick Harris talking about Dr Horrible. And the even better news is that the CD is also available for pre-order at Amazon.com. Looks like it's going to be a Horrible Christmas...

The Guild Season 2 finishes filming

...very soon. As Felicia said in her recent interview (!) they are five days of filming to finish up Season 2. They have up to Episode 7 in the bag already and now they are completing the season. they started yesterday and they have had some special visitors to the set. Cricket Lee, who kindly gave us the great interview after she went to the Dr Horrible/The Guild Whedonopolis Halloween event, and Edgar Garcia, the 'Edgar of all trades' who is also Webmaster for WatchTheGuild.com and Felicia's website. Cricket is going to be an extra and hopefully we are going to see Edgar on the screen as well. With any luck, we will hear more from Cricket soon!

Soma, from the WatchTheGuild.com Community site, set up a group campaigning for Edgar to be on The Guild. Felicia has said how important Edgar is a number of times (although don't spread that around - his ego doesn't need to get any bigger) so this is a brilliant example of how doing something good can be rewarded. Not that Edgar asked for a reward, but it gives you a warm feeling to know that people appreciate what you do. I may have teared up when I realised he was going to be there...yes, I am soppy, so sue me!

News from the set

Well one thing is certain - no spoilers are going to be posted around! This is for two reasons: Felicia has said that she doesn't want any spoilers released and no-one wants to upset Felicia (remember my Kim Evey interview? You don't want to get on the wrong side of Felicia...). Seriously, though, I am very happy about this and I'm sure that the reason we haven't heard any rumours are that people respect what Felicia is doing and do not want to ruin it. In this cynical world that's a great thing. But we do know that Sandeep had an action-packed day yesterday. And we also know that Felicia, generous soul that she is, has passed her cold on. You might say she was Contagious...

News from the Sigler

And as if to help me with linking this eclectic post together, Scott Sigler has posted Episode 1 of 'Contagious' as a podcast today. Contagious is the follow-up to the supremely horrible 'Infected'. And by that I mean that 'Infected' was gory, suspenseful and full of horror. Contagious is due for release on December but, as with 'Infected', Scott is giving it all away, bit by delicious bit. But you'll be buying the book. Believe me, you'll be buying the book! Mr Sigler is a very fluffy bunny of a person (he loves people referring to him like that) and gets his kicks knowing that he is doing good works. Which is the only explanation that works when you consider that he is giving it all away on his site this Christmas! Yes, you can make your own deliciously spine-tingly gifts  courtesy of the Future Dark Overlord (tm). Get your arts-and-crafts hats on because here is all you need to create a DVD for your friends containing over 50 hours of unabridged audiobooks in MP3 format:

• EARTHCORE
• ANCESTOR
• THE ROOKIE
• NOCTURNAL Episodes 1-5
• BLOODCAST SEASON #1

How cool is that?! Go to his website and there are instructions and even a DVD insert and label designs (yes, you need to supply your own gluestick and blank DVDs, don't be a cheapskate!).

The Guild: Season 2, News and Felicia Interview

How excited are you?

However you answered that question it was NOT ENOUGH! There are so many things to tell today that I can barely type.  But I will try.

The Guild Sponsorship Unveiled

After lots of speculation it was revealed last night that the sponsors for Season 2 are Microsoft. In a ground-breaking deal The Guild Season 2 will be available only through Microsoft channels, but it as The Hollywood Reporter states, won’t leave anyone behind:

"The tech giant has an exclusive lock on the long-awaited second season of the cult favorite Internet series, which will be the first to be distributed worldwide simultaneously across Microsoft's triple platform of Xbox 360's Live Marketplace, MSN and Zune."

So anyone with an Internet connection will be able to view the season on MSN instead of YouTube.

Season 2 starts tomorrow

And the new season starts tomorrow, 25^th November! I’m not clear at what time it’ll be online but there will be notifications on WatchTheGuild.com.

Season 2 trailers out now

Trailers are out and they look so good! There is a very noticeable difference in picture quality and we get another glimpse of the great new titles that Matthew Brackney has created. I think it’s fair to say that the dynamic between Codex and Zaboo remains as unresolved as ever! They are funny and they set us up for the new season really well.

New look for The Guild website

Edgar Garcia, webmaster extraordinaire, has been working his socks off supporting people all over the place.  After getting the new retardidpoliceman.com site off the ground last week he has woven his magic over the new-look WatchTheGuild.com website. I think the new look is great!

Felicia Day video interview – have you got a question you want to ask her?

There was something else happening this week that was mildly exciting. Now what was it? Could it be that I am going to be doing a video interview with Felicia Day, someone I’ve been following for a good while now and whom I hold in very high regard? Heck yes! I have already interviewed Vincent Caso (who stars as Bladezz) and Kim Evey (Producer for The Guild) for Whedonage.com. Several people have posted questions for Felicia and if you have one, please add a comment and ask. I’ll get through as many as I can so Felicia could be answering your question! I can’t say exactly when it will be but you need to hurry up on this one.

PAX fun and more You Tube fun...

Well, fair to say PAX was lots of fun...

for those lucky enough to be there! I, however, was not one of those lucky people. But by all accounts there was plenty of fun to be had. Felicia has blogged about all her experiences - Posse-ed by the Bad Horse singers, singing with Jonathan Coulton in front of 3000 people, being groomed by Penny Arcade founder Jerry (remember that cartoon they did about Felicia?) and meeting Edgar Garcia, who has been keeping Felicia's blog afloat for some time now. Edgar, who also goes by the name Egspoony (and sometimes also goes by the name Egpoony!) has posted some great PAX photos on Flickr. Yes, it's ok to feel a bit jealous....

Recording fun

Sorry, did I say fun? I meant a big, fat headache! After writing the scripts for Acts IV, V and VI a few days ago and then editing and tweaking them I've been trying to get them recorded. Acts I to III are there on YouTube, waiting for the conclusion and taunting me. Man, what a trial! I appear to be unable to say 'Evil League of Evil' at all now! And eventually, after too many takes to count, I got a decent recording of Act IV only to find that when I uploaded it to YouTube it was widescreenified. I deleted it but you know what? I don't think I can face recording it again. Maybe sleep will help. Maybe I will just reupload as widescreen. Maybe I will pretend that I meant it to be like that...

But Thanks...

But many, many thanks to all the people who have viewed so far (nearly 1,700 views in total). The responses have been really positive and it makes it worth it :) There have been calls for a blooper reel and yes, I have plenty of footage for that, so when the other Acts are up I'll turn my attention to all those fluffed takes currently clogging up my hard disk. Yep, waste not, want not.