Follow ups galore!

The world is spinning fast, n'est pas?
Take a deep breath and let's take a look now at some of the items we've covered over the last few weeks and find out what (if anything) is new...

Operation Full Burn
As I was neatly reminded yesterday, Serenity2.net posted about the 'Day of Action' called for by Operation Full Burn (a campaign to show Universal how popular Serenity is and how many people want a sequel). I'm sure that all you Browncoats out there have already joined the the Universal HD message boards by now? No?! Well get yourself over there right now and join! And while you are there take a moment to consider the number of threads and posts on the Firefly boards against those of the other shows. Firefly has 808 topics and 11,741 replies. The next closest show is Battlestar Galactica which has 16 topics and 45 replies.

All you have to do is join the Firefly message board and then log in on Saturday April 5th just before 8 PM Eastern Standard Time, just before they start to air the first epsisode in glorious HD. There is talk of having using the Fireflyfans.net message boards to host an online chat at the same time, so I'll keep you posted about that.

Star Wait and the liningup people
Not so much luck here, I'm afraid. I've still been unable to contact any of the people and my other lead appears to not be interested. But I will persist!

Dollhouse
I've not written that much about Dollhouse recently, what with my head getting all spinned about by Doctor Horrible. His Blog I mean, not Doctor Horrible himself...Anyway, filming should be starting very soon and a quick trip to Dollverse confirms that filming is scheduled for 23rd April. There is lots of other news about cast a crew on Dollverse and DollhouseTV.

Joss' Whedon's Journal
We return to Joss' Journal today, where Joss is in a contemplative mood about the strike...

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Joss' Journal January 17 08

Yes, this not working is really hard at the moment. I'm so busy I've forgotten what my home looks like in daylight. The Strike is taking it's toll on morale etc but onwards and upwards! Everyone gets why we need to do this so it's just a question of digging in and making sure we get the message to the other side. Note to self: must shout 'Panda Fur' at next picket.

And what doesn't help is that there is dissension in the Minion ranks. Apparently I said that Minion #1 could play 'homeless #30' or something in the New Thing, and now they all want a part. Well, I don't remember saying that - I could have said that they look like a homeless (as a joke), but really, have them in front of a camera? My camera? Conflict a go-go...

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Countdown to Battlestar Galactica: The Phenomenon

I lost the time battle...
There are still episodes of Season 3 unwatched that will still be unwatched tonight at 7.00 when Space broadcast Battlestar Galactica: The Phenomenon (do you know how slowly I have to type out 'phenomenon'?! It always looks and feels as if you've gone crazy in the middle...). This is special for many reasons. Joss Whedon and Seth Green both appear in it, along with many other esteemed contributors. I had a sneaky-peeky on that there Sci-Fi.com but had to stop because it started showing bits of Season 3 I hadn't seen already. Now it's dilemma time. This will be the first time I'll be able to see a show I really love the first time it airs - no more being behind in everything. But then, if I do that, I'll see spoilers galore and it'll ruin the rest of Season 3.

...but I didn't shoot the deputy
The answer, as always, lies in technology. I should just record the program and then, when Season 3 is all watched and everything is revealed, I could watch it. You know, after everyone else has. I guess I'll just do that then. Tsk. At least I get to be geeky by refusing to read the instructions for my new DVD recorder because I know I will be able to set it up without any dumb instructions.

Season 4 - starts April 4th
But the good news is, Season 4 starts on April 4th! Good news, everyone! And if I really try hard then I could be all up to date and ready to go for next week. And see the new season as it's supposed to be seen - a week apart and interspersed with intrusive adverts for products and ideas I'll never subscribe to. See, that's real progress! I wonder when the Season 4 DVDs will be released...

Mr Rotman replies
Well, I know my loyal reader sees fit to check out the site everyday, and I thank you for that. A comment here or there would be nice, but it's early in our relationship and I don't want to pressure you. But I did get some feedback from Michael Rotman, the Producer and Director of Star Wait. I had sent him a copy of the review I did for Star Wait and he sent a really great email back, thanking me for 'a cool review'. See, an important person like that and he still took the time to send me some feedback. Just saying.

Star Wait and how Joss got to direct Gaff in Battlestar Galactica

Addicted to you
I have spent too long in front of the DVD recently. I know this. So, as I settled down to watch Star Wait last night it was with the aim of being asleep before midnight. Star Wait did not disappoint and I had to watch a sample of the extras (of course).

Star Wait DVD review
I've waited a while to see this DVD and yes, it was worth the wait! I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. Now, I'm going to come right out and say that I have seen all the Star Wars movies a few times, but that I've seen IV, V and VI more because I'm that old. I'm not going to discuss the merits or otherwise of the 'new' and 'old' ones, life is too short. Star Wait is all about the people who lined up outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre 6 weeks before the release of Attack of the Clones. It is filmed in a documentary style with Michael Rotman and Adam Schenk as Producers and Michael Rotman Directing. There are 9 sections (echoing the alleged 9 episodes of Star Wars?) to the film taking us from the beginning of the wait to just after the first viewing.

So, why did they all do it? What did they get out of it (apart from elaborately-crafted badges)? What are the nerds like? Well, as a nerd/geek myself I found them to be on the broad spectrum of geek/normal who shared one goal - to be the first people to get tickets and view the first showing of the film. Their dedication to this cause was eye-wateringly single-minded with logs of hours spent on the line and all participants raising at least $50 for the Starlight Starbright Charity. The film concentrates on several 'main' characters and there are some very funny parts, but this is not train-wreck reality TV. I didn't feel anyone was exploited or made to look foolish especially for the camera, and at the end I felt it was life-affirming for everyone, whether nerd or not. All the lineup people were there by choice and although they endured hardships, sleep-deprivation and the occasional run-in with some colourful nightlife, they were there because they wanted to be.

Some/many/most people would not take 6 weeks out of their lives for a movie showing. Even less will do it over and over. One of the many extras on the DVD (I haven't had time to view/listen to them all yet) was a short from the lineup for Revenge of the Sith. Now, I was particularly interested in this because of the previously-mentioned Wil Wheaton blog about his 'feud' with the lineup people. Unfortunately, the was no mention of this at all so there are still unanswered questions. But now I have a better understanding of what went on and a cunning plan on how to get some answers...Star Wait - worth the Wait!

After the Waiting is over
So I retired thinking about Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica ('cos I want the next season and Joss has said he wanted to direct it) and Arthur C. Clarke (RIP). Getting to sleep wasn't a problem but then, at 4.00 - BAM! Wide awake! I was having the most wonderful dream about killing all humans - no wait, isn't that Bender? No, that was Joss directing Edward James Olmos as Admiral Adama (but dressed as Gaff, his character in Bladerunner), all in the comfort of my kitchen. Which had handily extended to the size of the interior of a Battlestar. There is no sleep after a dream like that, I can tell you! I won't go into any details because not only are they now fading, but also a particular thing happened that was actually feasible and could be construed as a spoiler, as ridiculous as that seems.

I did a bad thing
So, don't blame me. I didn't buy the next season today. It was bought as a gift. Now I really don't know when I'm going to get any sleep but I do hope not to have anymore vivid dreams. At least until the bags under my eyes have receded a little.

Woody's Runup
Nathan Fillion has been helping his Dr Horrible's co-star by encouraging everyone to vote for 'The Guild' after a rival for the awards submitted a video to YouTube where they mocked Felicia by pretending they had killed her. 'The Guild' is now back in the lead. The Paley Buffy Reunion is less than 24 hours away.

Countdown to Buffy Reunion at Paley

You lucky few
No, I'm not going to be at the Buffy Reunion on Thursday, either. Didn't get a ticket, couldn't have arranged flights/childcare/vast sums of money in time. I did get excited, thinking that there was going to be a live feed of the event, but these hopes were soon dashed. There might be a DVD at some stage, but even this is not certain. However, let's not be too bitter. The fact that so many of the cast and even Joss (bow down!) himself is going to be there is cause for celebration even if we can't witness it ourselves first-hand. Let's imagine the positivity that will be flowing and claim a little for ourselves. And while you're in the mood, why not send in a question suggestion (say that very fast three times!) for the panel at the Paley website. We might never know whether our questions were asked but I'm already inventing great one-liners to mine....I only wish I had Joss' Journal for now - but, of course, he hasn't written it down yet and my contact won't get access to it until Joss does his next archive. We'll just have to wait to hear how Joss is preparing himself, I guess.

Star Wait-ing no more!
And it has finally arrived! In a wonderful piece of cosmic confluence Star Wait has arrived just as we finished watching BSG series 2. Battlestar Galactica has been on heavy duty DVD action over the past few nights (I've got the sleep deprivation to prove it) so Star Wait will cleanse the palate before starting back on Dr Who series 1. Hopefully, if the matches can hold my blood-shot eyes open long enough, I will be watching this tonight. So, the answer is out there, and could soon be mine!

Battlestar Galactica Fantastica
Yeah well, you try making something of the BSG title..I've enjoyed seasons 1 & 2 and now I've got to get the cash for 3. It would be rude not to. There is so much going on and there are levels of meaning for all persuasions so I would recommend anyone giving BSG a go. I've heard from some sources that season 3 isn't as good, but I'd rather find out for myself. Yes, it's true that I only got the DVDs 'cos I had read that Joss really liked the series which makes me some sort of sheep-type consumer-monkey, but I'm not apologising. As reported on Whedonesque today, Joss actually wanted to direct the BSG season finale but work commitments made it unlikely. Work commitments? Pah! He should try herding several kids on Spring Break while working, blogging, and watching BSG DVDs....And don't worry I'm not going to put any spoilers up for anything - I'm so behind that I don't expect anyone to know anything about anything. I wouldn't even tell anyone that Angel is, in fact, a vampire for fear of ruining it for a new viewer....

Dollhouse updates
Dollverse has some good snippets of what's going on, Dollhouse-wise. With production apparently set for April 23rd and Kelly Manners now joining the crew, we can be pretty sure that Joss is not letting Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog interfere with Dollhouse. Which is good news, everyone.

Joss Journal Jan 08
The days are so short they merge into one. I'll be glad when I can actually get out and see the sun. I might actually turn to dust by then, but I'm willing to take the chance. I'm not even sure what date it is - everything is by the deadline. 2 days until the final score is due, 6 until my head explodes etc. But it's all good. Might have to up the sleep quotient to 6 today....

Good morning Moonrise

The earth says hello
Ok, so it doesn't quite fit, but special mention to Moonrise/FollowMal for the great comment yesterday. Fair cheered me up! Just when you think it's just you and the 'bots...And up for grabs today is a special mention next time for anyone who can correctly identify which of the rest of the headings is NOT a line from the musical!


Gliddy glub gloopy
Still no word/sound/sight from of Star Wait, but that is somehow fitting, I guess. I'll send another email and we'll see how long it takes. And the blog is now official as it is currently listed in Google. Now I just have to find out why I have 33 'URLs restricted by robots.txt' errors. Life is never simple!

Sabba sibby sabba
And loving all things Joss I have found a new (!), great series. I mean, you probably hadn't heard but they have remade/reinvented Battlestar Galactica and Joss has said it's his favourite thing on TV at the moment (you can check it out for yourself in his journal, below). So I bought season 1 and guess what - it IS fantastic! That's not to say I like it better than Firefly/Serenity, it's really gripping but totally different. Different, too, from the original series that I watched as a kid (obviously I was very young then), but nice to see a familiar face from then popping up in an unexpected place! I'm glad this wasn't cancelled (though still ticked off Firefly was).

Eeny oony wana
And guess where the main Serenity Con is this year? Yep - England (London to be precise). Now we've moved over to Canada it isn't as convenient as it would have been this time last year, but c'est la vie. It's called 'Serenity Complete' at Starfury April 11-13. And Battlestar will be there too...I'm still hoping there might be a big Canadian shindig over Vancouver way some time, we'll just have to hope Jewel has a hankering after her home town.

Tooby ooby walla
If you're in the U.S. and you haven't already seen Firefly (shame on you, but nevermind) you can now access it using HULU. This is a great way to see what I've been going on about for yourself and it's absolutely free. And legal! Fireflyfans.net has posts about it and it appears that the residuals get paid to the writers/actors/etc so it's a win-win-win. If you've not seen it yet get on over there and try it. The only drawback is that I don't think it works if you're in another country, but if you try it and it works outside the U.S. please let me know.

Nibby nabby noopy
You ready for another excerpt from Joss' Journal? 'Course you are. Today we are looking Dec 07. Joss is in a pensive mood in the run up to Christmas. What could be bothering him....?

Joss' Journal Dec 07
I had that dream again last night. It started, as always, with Bruce and Cybill kissing in 'Moonlighting', thus ending the only reason to continue, segues into Daphne and Niles smooching and then, the horror, Buffy and Angel reunited for ever in some demonic plot-twist that allows them unending bliss. No wonder I wake in a cold sweat! I guess it's the strike plus fear over what Dollhouse romances might happen that fuelled it, I know that. But still. Scary. Hope Eliza'a birthday bash will take my mind off it - wonder if I should buy her a joint birthday/Christmas pressie? Better ask Minion #1 for advice....

Back on the chain gang

I found a picture of you
So, what's all about, then? Geekness, fandom, life, this business called show? While recovering I saw the Star Wars documentary, reliving the excitement, the ups, the downs, the wacky hairdos. It was a welcome distraction and had some footage I'd not seen before. Ole Georgie-boy, he knew (and still knows!) a thing or two about how to make a movie. The sheer persistence and bloody-mindedness needed to get the thing done. The compromises and the tears. And he changed the way movies were made, no doubt about it. Good business sense but still an artist. What a guy. (Still not had my copy of Star Wait, BTW).

The powers that be
And yet...there is controversy over the way things were done. Breaks with the writer's and director's guilds hurt him financially and no doubt personally, but it's hard to see how things could have played differently. Now we are lucky that the recent Writers Strike came to a fairly amicable ending and works are back in progress. The way things are going at the moment it would be good indeed to have some inspiring, uplifting productions to look forward to in Autumn (ok, Fall, if you must).

To a place in the past
For me, there is the prospect of seeing a new Joss Whedon series as it comes out! This will be a first for me. England has great TV (and I miss the BBC A LOT), but always getting things second hand was really hard. You will probably gasp to hear that we had only four (yes, FOUR) TV stations in our house. There should have been 5 but we were in a valley and couldn't get the reception. And the satellite channels were so rubbish I couldn't be bothered to have them. And we couldn't get cable because of the valley...Yes, no wonder I was so out of date (...but I still wouldn't have satellite if we moved back). Now I have over 50 channels-worth of rubbish to click through! That's progress, I guess.

A circumstance beyond our control
But Dollhouse - that will be worth it. In fact, I've been checking the boards and already we are poised to start the 'Bring back Dollhouse' petition just in case Fox pull the plug. Now, I'm not going to start an anti-Fox campaign because who knows what goes on in these big corporations. I'm sure there are many able and dedicated people working at the Network. There have apparently been a lot of personnel changes since Firefly was so cruelly squished. So hope springs eternal. The writing for Dollhouse has been going on apace according to Whedonesque and other sources, so it will be interesting to see when casting is going to start and who gets what.

When I see what they have done
Oh yes, and we might get some exclusive insights into how it's all going, but you have to keep this really, really hush-hush. I mean it! I have some insider information from the world of Joss. Yes, I am about to get hold of some authentic extracts from Joss' personal diaries! Me! Now, don't go spreading that around because the deal could still fall through. Obviously, in order to protect the innocent and save my own butt I'll have to amend them slightly, so some of the details might not be 100% accurate. I'm meeting the guy (well, I'm assuming he's a guy) downtown later in the week so I'll let you know. He's emailing some older extracts today so I'll soon know if they're going to be worth it. As soon as I can check it all out I'll start posting. Here's hoping.

Jayne's hat

What did you do today?
I know what I did; research, writing, house stuff and created some new links for the blog (as I'm sure you've noticed). I've also added the feed from the Kids Need To Read website. Co-founded by Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly) this site is updated regularly and raises money for reading projects. It's a great site that's well presented and a cause worth suppporting. They also have ebay auctions of all sorts of very exciting items and are at the moment auctioning a signed photo of James Doohan (I don't need to tell you who he was, surely). It's been so productive today the engines cannae hardly take it.

Feed the what?
But I'm having some trouble with feeds, so I hope that will be sorted out soon. If anyone has tried to subscribe using 'Atom' feed button at the bottom of the blog and had any problems please let me know. Especially if you know how to fix it!

A boy called Jayne
Actually I wanted to talk about the girl first. Jane Espenson's website is witty, well written (of course) and full of advice for aspiring writers. Her writing credentials are impressive and include Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Ellen.

Kneedly done
One look at the pattern for Jayne's hat (as worn by Adam Baldwin in Firefly) has convinced me that I'm better off either bribing someone to make it for me or buying one. And where did I see the pattern? On the Vancouver Firefly/Serenity meetup site.

Over and out
That's all for today except to say that Star Wait should be on it's way soon. And (wait for it) there are some follow up interviews in there! Thanks to Michael for that, I'm really looking forward to watching it.

Do the math

That coat looks kinda brown
Yes, I know on my last blog I promised you postulations on the Google search results 'tomorrow' but I've been ill and busy in the meantime. But I'm back now, with added phlegm. So straight into the stats. As you will see from the table in 'News from the 'Verse', Google shows a fair amount of pages devoted to Firefly, Buffy, etc. Now before we go any further, and because we are who we are, let me note the following:

1. The number of pages returned on a Google search does NOT necessarily represent the popularity or otherwise of anything
2. The shows and movies being compared differ in many respects not least the amount of time since release and numbers of follow-ups/sequels/prequels
3. Stats can be made to show anything
4. All the calculations are 'real' because I know you will check them

So you keep saying, Professor!
The first thing to note is - Star Wars TV series - who knew that was coming out next year? A new sci-fi series...interesting. But enough digressing, already! According to my calculations, Star Wars is only 4.5 times more popular than Serenity.
How do we get that figure? Well, the raw data shows that 'Star Wars Movie' vs 'Serenity Movie' gives:
1780000 / 66500 = 26.8

However, there have been six Star Wars movies released so we can divide the original Star Wars figure by 6 so now:
(1780000/6) / 66500 = 4.5

That is a stunning result! Star Wars is one of the most successful franchises of all time, netting altogether about US $4.3 billion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars ). And the first one was released 22 years ago, as opposed to 3 years ago for Serenity. Now the Internet has not been around in it's present form for all of the 22 years but you can bet you bottom dollar that some of the first web pages were about Star Wars. Certainly some of the first newsgroups were.

But what does it mean?
Of course, it means nothing. But if you can accept the dodgy premises of the calculations (come on - you can suspend your disbelief for Luke - use the Force!) it shows us that for every page written about Star Wars, there is almost a quarter of a page written about Serenity. And that gives me a new hope. With popularity like that, a new Star Wars TV series to come next year and Joss back with a new Fox show, things are looking better than they have for a long time. Probably.

Isn't it 'maths'?
I still can't quite get my head around saying 'math' instead of 'maths' - I'm from England so you'll just have to excuse me. I'm over the physical pain part when I say it, but it still doesn't seem right. But I'm in Canada now, so I must adjust. But however you say it, we mustn't be scared by the concept of math. I was for a long time (before I embraced my inner-geek), but now numbers are my friend. Just don't ask me to do any of Skytopia's impossible math questions http://www.skytopia.com/project/imath/imath.html.

Will Wheaton?
Wil hasn't updated his blog for a few days so we're going to have to assume he's taking his doctor's orders seriously and resting up. I haven't heard anymore re the Grauman's lineup and I'm still waiting for Star Wait, but all good things....

No news is good news?

In [cybergeek]space, no-one can hear you...
ask a polite question. Apparently. Well, still a big nothing on the lineup dudes in terms of making direct contact. My email appears to have been delayed/deleted/ignored. But then, how long do you wait after you sent an email before you know you aren't going to get a reply? Email is an instant communication tool, but only if the other person checks their email. And I guess it could easily have been be filtered and never even got to the actual inbox. So maybe I'll wait a bit longer before I email another member.

A new hope...
I've not been entirely unsucessful, though. I have ordered a new DVD for myself. Entitled 'Star Wait' it chronicles the Revenge of the Sith lineup in all its apparent glory. I am really looking forward to this - perhaps we will get some answers after all! Let me know if you've seen it already but no spoilers, please!

You're getting a burning sensation?
And while I was not receiving email and comments from people guess what I found? The transcript to 'Raw'. Now, when I first saw Eddie Murphy on a worn-out video at a friend's house I nearly choked to death. It's hard to imagine now, perhaps, but as a teen who had only ever attended Catholic school and college such a barrage of swearing and vivid imagery had a profound effect. I kept thinking that the police would charge in at any minute to put a stop to it but I could not stop laughing. It was so wrong and so funny. And all that summer we communicated to each other using references to it. But with only 10% of the swearing. Which, actually, was still a heck of a lot of swearing. Happy days! I can't wait for my kids to be old enough.....


No, chicken liver shoot out my nose!
Better news on Wil Wheaton. He is recovering well from his surgery with only minor side effects like high blood pressure and chicken liver bogies. His description of this is great (and disgusting) http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/02/i-dont-want-to.html. Let's hope they clear up in time for his next convention appearance or he might get wrongly ushered into the special effects arena. Be well again soon, Wil (I tried to use Trackback to your link so I would appear to be a worthy geek, but apparently Blogger doesn't support it, so no go).


Back in the Dollhouse?
The Writers strike has now finished - hooray! That should mean that Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku can get their new series Dollhouse underway. A new TV series from Joss? And I know about it BEFORE it is released? Things are improving indeed. It was slated for an Autumn (sorry - Fall) release but no word yet on whether that will happen now. As soon as I know more...