Joss, Actual. Joss Whedon joins Twitter and apparently the world keeps spinning.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - Joss has moved on.

It's over five years since I started this blog.

Why did I start it? Because of Joss Whedon. Factual.

The first post I made here is titled "numfar, do the dance of shame......" and if that doesn't mean anything to you, then you're probably in the wrong place.

Joss introduced me to Felicia. And Felicia introduced me to so many amazing and wonderful people that the past five years have been filled with adventure.

When I was covering Dr Horrible I often wondered how awesome it would be if Joss had been on Twitter, and how much fun it would have been to see the Fail Whale called to action again and again.

In the past I have gently poked fun at the fact that I never thought I would see the day that Mr Whedon Mr J Whedon Joss Whedon would ever take up any form of Social Media. And I may have hinted that he was incapable of wresting utility from this dread technology.

But, dear reader, I was wrong. Very wrong.

After being snowed under with work I dipped into Twitter tonight to do a little catchup. And I saw this by Felicia:

@feliciaday

It's true. He's here:

@JossActual

I should be happy!

I should be tweeting my brains out!

Truth be told, I'm a bit sad. Not having Joss on Twitter meant something. It meant that he was too busy working to care about new things, and we still had something that was not mainstream. And it didn't matter about doing silly stuff because no one would ever know.

My writerlyness has given out, and this is more than I meant to say, anyway. 

But if he turns up on the red carpet wearing Google Glass, I think I'm going to really lose it...

Season 5 of The Guild: Shooting starts next week!

Erstwhile Director Sean Becker - back on form?
Today on Twitter, Sean Becker, sometime director of The Guild and other webseries comedy gold like 'The Jeff Lewis Comedy 5 Minutes Hour of Happy Endings', broke the news we were all waiting for today. THE GUILD SEASON 5 STARTS SHOOTING NEXT WEEK!

However, the happy news was quickly under threat by the very same Mr Becker, who literally threatened Agent Ruiz and The Guild itself something almost-certainly unpleasant:

Considering Mr Becker's chequered history on and off the set of The Guild, this is a chilling threat indeed. No one who has been to his totally official personal website can be in any doubt that Sean is a troubled man.

Won't somebody think of the children?

Why U2 probably won't join Quora

 Quora logo (image from Crunchbase)

Quora - the Season's big New Social Media Thing
So what's all the fuss about? Quora has been described as "..Yahoo answers for geeks.." and I think that's quite accurate. It has been causing excited ripples in the Tech Blogger world in the last few weeks and received a massive upsurge in users following some positive reviews. I joined after Louis Gray mentioned that the recent improvements made it very useful. After a bit of poking around I started to see how it might be beneficial. I was even really pleased that Quora was generating interest in my go-to social media site, Friendfeed.

Easy to join
You can use Facebook or Twitter to join and sign up is easy. When you do it this way, though, you might overlook an important issue. At the moment, Quora has the following rule:

You have to use your real name:


"The rules of the site are that you have to use your full real name on your account. To change your name, please see How do I change my display name on Quora?.


If you are ever uncomfortable about associating your identity with a particular question, you can become anonymous for that question.  See How can I anonymously add questions on Quora?"

Bono: Not a Real Name?
While I understand that any site/app/whatever can make their own rules for the membership they want, I'm very puzzled by this. There is no verification process to go through for your 'real' name, and it doesn't seem that they can check it out. And people with the same names will do what? And what about poor Bono, who only has one name? Or The Edge, who has a silly 'real' name?

Or people who have new 'real' names, like Marion Robert Morrison?

What's in a name?
I joined using Twitter and filled in my name as World ofHiglet, since that was the most sensible way of fulfilling their requirement to have a first and second name. I've done that on a few sites. Many of the people I follow on Twitter are on Quora, so I connected with them easily and started to edit the groups Quora automatically added me to. I replied and followed some questions and posted one of my own.

It didn't take too long before I received a message from a Quora admin directing me to the name rule. I replied explaining that using my real name would make me more anonymous and asked whether the policy would change. Last night I received a message:

"A Quora admin blocked you from editing on Quora for this reason:


User needs to respond to name change request."

Of course, I had replied but I hadn't change my name. Obviously the only reply that is acceptable is to comply without asking questions.

Disagreeing with Louis Gray
That is not something I would do lightly. But in this case I do not agree with him fully. In his recent post about Quora, Louis said:


"Where I have heard people express concern about Quora is what could happen if it breaks into the mainstream and becomes diluted as sites like Yahoo! Answers have, suffering from the chatroom phenomenon that doomed other sites targeted toward casual discussions. Safeguarding Quora from this is the use of one's real identity, connected through Facebook or Twitter, and the community's ability to downvote or mark as "Not Helpful" responses that don't pass muster..."

I connected through Twitter with the name people associate with me, but that is not good enough for Quora. On the one hand I can see the reasoning behind it. But it isn't flexible or responsive and will keep some people who want to participate out. Maybe that's a risk they are willing to take to keep some spammers out, and if so then that is their right, of course.

In the meantime...
More people I know from Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook are following me on Quora and there are questions and threads that I would like to participate in. I'm not sure what to do at this point, but I think I'll wait and see. Chances are that Quora will have to change their policy. And if they don't then maybe I'll have to change my name...

"Loot Envy": The Guild S4 Ep5 launches Cheesybeards online!

 Vork rolls out the welcome wagon

The Guild Season 4 knocks it up a notch
If you haven't seen this week's episode, watch it now!


My full review of "Loot Envy" is on PinkRaygun.com, and you can find my reviews for the rest of Season 4 (plus all of Season 3) there, too. One of the things I talked about was the way The Guild is taking Season 4 in a new direction - and interacting with the fans in a whole new way.

There be spoilers ahead, mateys!
Cyd Sherman has a new job! Yes, our sometime Guild Leader has taken a step into the world of work and is now the social media hub of Cheesybeards. And not content with just playing out this new storyline as part of the weekly series, there is a new website, Facebook page and Twitter account for Cheesybeards. There is even a Yelp entry for Cheesybeards!

 A C health rating is a good thing??

More interestingly still - Cyd's struggle to get bums on seats in Cheesybeards is being played out through these different websites right now. The Yelp entry above is from a not-very-satisfied customer how mentions the C health rating. 'Ollie C' (who must be Cyd since Ollie has never even turned his computer on) replies: "We worked really hard to get that C rating :("

And dealing with difficult customers has driven Cyd to complain about them on Twitter already:

I wonder who would ring from Brazil.....?

 Having fun with Cyd

 A quick look at Facebook, twitter and Yelp shows that fans are already enjoying dipping into the world of Cheesybeards and are being rewarded with replies. If you fancy doing your own Yelp review about the spicy wenches or asking about the cute redhead in the back office (which seems to be popular) then why not give it a go? Who knows how long Cyd will have this job...?

Season 4 Outlook: Epic with a side of gAArlic fries (or garrrrrrrrrrlic fries?)
This expansion of The Guild 'verse is a welcome new sideline but only part of what is going on this Season. Many fans are already saying this is their new favourite and it's hard not to agree (although I hate to pick a favourite). There are many other storylines going on - Zaboo vs his mum, Tink and Clara vs enterprise, Codex vs ho-baggertry - and plenty more. Who knows what will happen? And will we ever find out what 'incident' took the 'Sea's Bounty' off the menu?

The most tantalising part of the Cheesybeard's menu

Kim Evey and Jenni Powell: Celebrating the web video community

Jenni Powell and Kim Evey

The Heart of the Matter
In testing times it is often hard to know what to do to help. There have been many thousands of words written and spoken about the Streamy event last Sunday. That conversation is necessary and worthwhile. The web entertainment community is built by people who want to make things happen, who do not sit back and wait for permission, who, above all, want to make a difference. That might be making people laugh, or think, or escape for a short while. Or make them want to party. Kim and Jenni have stepped up to organise a special event tomorrow.

A Winning Celebration
In the heat of emotions unleashed on Sunday one thing - the one thing that really mattered - was lost:

"In response to a Streamy Awards ceremony that felt like it didn’t serve to fully honor the very deserving winners in all areas of web entertainment, Kim Evey (producer of The Guild) and myself have decided to put together an informal gathering of as many of the winners as are available this Thursday, April 15th for an evening of celebration. We have asked each winner to speak for 1 – 2 minutes on their creation and what working in web video means to them, why they love working in web video, as well as sharing thoughts on the issue of net neutrality, which effects our industry as a whole.

This is not about airing out grievences about the Streamy Awards ceremony, it is about celebrating those who were chosen by their peers as the best representations of web video in a variety of categories..." (From Jenni Powell's blog)


How you can participate
This event is being held for the web entertainment community. Those who are in the Los Angeles area can attend in person (but please let the organisers know in advance). Everyone else can join in the live stream. These are the details:

Thursday, April 15th at 8 PM PST (7:30 drinks at Amalfi next door)
Acme Comedy Theater
135 S. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2911

Live stream: http://www.acmecomedy.com/livebroadcast.shtml

You could also show your appreciation to Jinx.com who donated the funds for renting the Acme by tweeting them (or even buying one of their cool tees)- THANK YOU JINX!

Search for a #tag
I tweeted a short time ago that we are looking for a suitable #tag for twitter so we can all use the same one tomorrow. We've had some suggestions:

#doneright
#streamystoo
#streamykudos
#betterstreamys
#streamycelebration
(thanks to @theonetruebix, @GrrArrgh and @jennipowell)

If you have a suggestion for a short tag that encapsulates the spirit of the event then let us know!

More about Kim and Jenni
Kim Evey is a web entertainer with years of experience including her own Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show and as producer of The Guild. Kim was a live guest on eGuiders yesterday and you can see the recording here.

Jenni Powell also has years in web entertainment from LonelyGirl15 to Production/Admin Assistant for The Guild and Associate Editor at Tubefilter. Jenni also co-hosts the Knights of The Guild Podcast, which you can listen to here.

Thank you for organising this, Kim and Jenni - you are amazing.

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!

Dr Horrible Wins an Emmy - in pictures

Joss gets his Emmy at last!
Dr Horrible was awarded for an Emmy in the 'Outstanding Special Class - Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program' yesterday. Jed himself broke the news:

Thanks to Twitter and the lovely Mo Tancharoen we can follow yesterday's excitement through pictures. These are all taken from @MoTancharoen's Twitter stream. Click on the picture to go to Twitpic to see the bigger original on Twitpic. You can even leave comments there for Mo and co :)

The limo ride....

Felicia and Mo

The view from their seats...

Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion

The team accepts the award...

Award pictures are the best

Emmy and the sushi

Happy happy joy joy

Mo and Ira Glass

Simon Helberg (Moist) plus Felicia Twitters?

Nathan - smooth as ever....

Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion, Zack Whedon and Jed Whedon also posted pictures on Twitter that are well worth checking out.

CONGRATULATIONS to the whole team!

Legend of Neil, Season 2 Episode 3 - Dragon style?!?

(Legend of Neil header from http://www.effinfunny.com/legend-of-neil)

Firstly - It's not my fault

I meant to post about this last thing on Sunday night (when I first saw it), and then again yesterday (when I watched it again), and now I'm finally doing it (after another view). Sorry, Sandeep, it's not you, it's me. I got distracted. Also...well...okay the thing is that this episode is so very funny and VERY, VERY WRONG! It takes a while to get used to...what...er...and it's so...and...

Let's start again

Right. Legend of Neil is written by Sandeep Parikh (who also plays Zaboo in The Guild) and Tony Jannings (who stars as Neil in LoN and who can't be bothered to get onto Twitter. He's too good for Twitter or something.). It follows the adventure of Neil, who 'somehow' gets sucked into Zelda, an old-school game. It's very funny and COMPLETELY NSFW. And this episode is EVEN MORE NSFW than usual. Plus, if you imagine Felicia Day as cute and unsullied then either don't watch or prepare to be gob-smacked. If it's any consolation I laughed like a drain all the way through and I suspect you will, too. And the music is brilliant! Oh, didn't I mention? This is the musical episode! Yes - everyone's at it and this is such a funny episode!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

You can watch it on Effinfunny.com or Atom.com. And if you liked it why not Digg it like so many have already?

Do You Want To Date My Avatar? The Guild Triumphs at Comic-Con!

The Guild dressed for success for "Do You Want To Date My Avatar?"

This time last week I was glued to Twitter

Comic-Con was on and the 'Left-Behind' Guildies were desperate to hear anything and everything about what 'the lucky ones' were up to. Comic-Con ended on Sunday but it's taken that long to get around to blogging about it. (Plus we're having the hottest weather in 200 years here at the moment so I had to spend the day by a friend's pool yesterday up near Indian Arm. It's a hard job but someone has to do it!)

Where were you when The Guild Panel was on?

Last Friday at 10:30 The Guild took the stage to rapturous applause, decked out in full Avatar Costumes including weaponry! The Left-Behind were scanning Twitter for information and during the Panel Twitter went into overload. It was a real event for us Left-Behind and we couldn't believe what we were reading: a music video, cos-play, a Dark Horse comic penned by Felicia for The Guild.....? Wowowow! And there was another thing...what was it now...? Oh yes! WIL WHEATON IS IN SEASON 3!!!!! Tubefilter was first off the mark with their coverage that included pictures, links to interviews and a chance to win download codes for the "Date My Avatar" video!

The Panel (without the music video or Season 3, Ep 1) has been uploaded by magicinthenumbers on YouTube:

And luckily my fears about @seanbecker and @feliciaday having a big bust-up on stage were unfounded! Plus for an insider's view of Comic-Con, Felicia has blogged about the whole, wonderful experience. i09 rates Felicia as a "Top 10 Buzz" of Comic-Con (and they're not wrong!).

Secrets and lies

How had they managed to keep all that under wraps? Obviously Felicia's fearsome reputation (the threats, the kidnapping, the violence...) must have been enough to ensure everyone toed the line because no-one blabbed at all. @WilW was given very firm instructions by Felicia. So @WilW even lied to everyone on Twitter about why he was going to Comic-Con:

Today Wil has blogged about his experiences on the set of The Guild and he didn't even apologise for his web of lies. But he did say he was going to talk about each episode after it had been released. So....I guess we're even. (That 'Deadbeat' thing? All forgotten. I never thought he was a deadbeat, anyway).

And that video?

As soon as I heard about the "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" I wanted to see it. I mean, I really, REALLY wanted to see it. And thanks to a very kind friend I got a code, downloaded the video onto my Xbox and....OMG! You are going to freak when you see it! It has everything: a great song, a hook that you'll keep singing, lyrics that'll make you LOL and then....the video. All the cast are there (plus Mo Tancharoen, who choreographed, as a backing dancer) and they look amazing in their outfits. Felicia, as you would expect, looks sexy, playful and stunningly beautiful. Jeff Lewis (Vork) wields his massive weapon with all the grace and precision you would expect from a man so at-ease in his own skin.

Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), in a very fetching outfit that puts me in mind of the good ole Union Flag (no, not *that* union - the British one), even does some acrobatics. I'm sure Felicia didn't make him do it to get back for all the pain she went through as the naughty fairy on Legend of Neil! Amy Okuda (Tink) struts her stuff in a most stimulating way that will undoubtably bring more calls for her to do more. Robin Thorsen (Clara) plays her part with conviction and is having far too much fun! And poor Vince....! I wonder if Vince Caso (Bladezz) has recovered yet? It must have been really gruelling for him, poor lad...

Yeah, rub it in why don't you?

But fear not if you haven't seen it yet because "Do You Want To Date My Avatar" will be available on general release soon. It'll be on Xbox Live (without needing a code) on 10th August and a week later it will be on MSN Video and elsewhere. Plans are that it will be available to buy from various sources. As soon as more details are revealed I will let you know.

Have YOU seen it yet?

If you have, my good friends Kenny and Jenni from the "Knights of the Guild" podcast would like to hear from you! Just email them at knightsoftheguild@gmail.com with a comment - and if you can do an audio one that would be even better. I'm going to record mine tonight. If I can. Because this week has been a bit of a FAIL where audio is concerned

"Turning Left at Albuquerque" not updated this week

We've had a few technical issues this week, not helped by the massively excessive heat (40 degrees C is *not* compatible with my English constitution. England, in typical summer style, has had non-stop rain and flooding. I miss that). The next episode is done but we'll release it next Monday because there's not time now to do another one before then. I tweeted this news earlier and asked people to @reply to me if they were angry about it. Thanks to everyone who took the time to register their dissatisfaction :)

The good news is that it gives you time to catch up on any episodes you've missed! And if you're enjoying it so far please leave a comment here or on the podcast website to let us know. Thanks for listening.

The Guild on YouTube (get Digging!) and Dr Horrible's birthday

They're back!

Yes - The Guild Season 2 is now starting on YouTube with Episode One "Link the Loot" already up there:

It's great to see the gang back on YouTube - and to read all the comments from fans! And yes - lots of new fans are seeing The Guild for the first time. Crazy as it seems, there are some people on the Interwebz who have not seen The Guild yet. There is an influx of new people on http://community.watchtheguild.com/ and it's really great to hear from people who had no idea about the series and are now gleefully rattling through the episodes. This is great news and you can Digg it up to show your appreciation!

YouTube versus MSN

Now this is a false battle. The bottom line is that MSN are the sponsor of The Guild and without them Season 2, and for certain, Season 3 just would not be happening on the same scale, if at all. Felicia Day (creator/writer/actor) battled long and hard for a deal that let her keep control of her show and this was the best deal on a full table of offers. That said, there are differences between the two, and for me there are three main ones:

Streaming quality:

MSN is the clear winner here. Season 2 was filmed in HD and the MSN video player does do this more justice (although watching on Xbox Live on a HD TV is better still!):

Season 2 - Episode 1: Link the Loot

Ease of commenting

YouTube wins here hands down. On the MSN site it's hard to even find where you are supposed to comment, you have to log in and it seems very clunky. By comparison commenting and reading the comments in YouTube are a breeze. You still have to log on but YouTube keeps you logged in as a rule (unless your settings don't allow this) and so once you've commented on one video you can keep going. Of course that also means that many of the comments on YouTube in general (but not really on The Guild videos) can be spammy, offensive or just plain nasty, but they can be moderated.

Sharing the videos

You can Digg both with one click. MSN allows you to 'blog to spaces', while YouTube gives you the option to share on Facebook and MySpace. Both also allow you to copy the links (with or without embedding).

Why The Guild being on YouTube is important

The Guild started on YouTube and has a massive following over there. But there are still so many people who haven't heard of The Guild that making available in as many places as possible makes sound sense. As they put on WatchTheGuild.com:

The one thing we’ve missed from out awesome Xbox/Microsoft distribution is comments, so we’d love to hear what you think of the season! Also, if you could Rate and Favorite the video it will help new people discover the show. We appreciate those extra clicks!

Thank you so much for supporting our independent web series :) We’re excited to be launching a new season just around the corner, more information will be released next week. Also we will be posting our full Comicon Schedule later today or tomorrow, so be sure to check back so you can fit us in your busy schedule!

The Guild Management

So even if you've seen it on MSN, bought the DVD (use this link to support The Guild if you've not already purchased it) and have told all your friends (repeatedly!) you can still help by heading over to YouTube.

Our favourite Doctor had a birthday!

It's hard to believe but it's a year since Dr Horrible stormed the Intertubes on the 15th July 2008, taking out servers and breaking websites willy nilly. There was a surprising lack of posts about it, but WoWBlog did summarise the excitement and heady anticipation of those days. Really, I should now do Future Entertainment: Part 3 and bring together everything we've learned about how ground-breaking Dr Horrible was and is. And will do that. Just not yet :)

Two Birthdays?

In fact, Dr Horrible had two birthdays this week because it was Jed Whedon's yesterday, as immortalised in this tweet from Mo Tanchoroen (his wife and co-writer-in-crime):

Happy birthday, Dr Horrible!

One day after her birthday, Felicia Day FIRES one of The Guild crew!

Shocking Tweet rocks Guild community....

About two hours ago this milestone Tweet issued forth from the computer of Felicia Day. This only hours after she completed another grueling 14 hours on the set of Season 3. Perhaps she had one slice too many of the gorgeous birthday cake her boyfriend brought to the set that featured real doubloons harvested by some of Ms Day's many servants from a sunken Spanish galleon so she could play 'The Story of the World' with real pieces:

A video tribute from the fans

And even though a special video tribute from her fans, expertly edited by @maxsummers was featured on Felicia's blog yesterday in honour of her *cough*th birthday it didn't calm her down. When Felicia returned home from filming she saw what her fans had done and had this to say:

"OMG you guys! I...go...shoot...you..." (edited for space)

Has Season 3 tipped Red over the edge?

After the rip-roaring success of The Guild Season 1 and 2 - perhaps the most successful webseries about a dysfunctional set of online gamers ever made - the pressure to scale new heights for Season 3 has left Ms Day prone to sleepiness, paranoia and hypochondria. A quick look at her Twitter stream reveals a woman on the edge...

Known for her savage temper

Most people are too scared to speak up about the cruel treatment they have received at Ms Day's hands but a few brave souls have. @DeliciaFay, the long-term supporter of Ms Day, has hinted on her website of past violence. And Kim Evey, the beautiful and multi-talented producer of The Guild shared this with me in an interview last year:

EWoH: Is Felicia as mean as people say she is?  
KE: No, she is much meaner. You people have no idea. One time she ate a baby.

EWoH: Has she ever assaulted you personally? 
KE: She threw a thimble full of booze in my face.

And the recent #feliciadayrumors on Twitter were full of stories of her rampant ego and swift anger - who knows how many real incidents were masked behind the hashtag?

Who is Sean Becker?

Good question! Twitter, Facebook and The Guild Chat have frequently debated this very point. He is apparently the director and editor of Season 2 and now Season 3 of The Guild and the IMDb for him is impressive. But who is he, really? #iamseanbecker is a frequent meme on Twitter and now some joker has registered http://www.facebook.com/iamseanbecker on Facebook. Perhaps we will never know the truth about the person behind the name of the person behind the shock firing of a person by Felica Day today. Or something. But it could be this person:

Hopes for Season 3

With Season 3 of The Guild so near to completion we can only pray that whatever prompted Felicia to fire Sean can be repaired, and quick. Reports of new waves of Guild Deficiency Syndrome are sweeping the nation and we MUST have our next fix. Must have....more Guild...more Guild...more...

SENSATIONAL SAGA CONTINUES!

After the traumatic Tweet the sock-waves continue - read the next installment and SEE Sean Becker's stunning video response!

My First Writerly Review!

"Turning Left..." is reviewed in "Always Go Right"

I had the best alert this morning - Google telling me that "Turning Left at Albuquerque" had been typed onto the Interweb somewhere! And sure enough the link took me to a review of the Turning Left podcast.

The sexy librarian

As Karnatos points out, we have known each other for over a year, and that's entirely Felicia Day's fault (so many things are!). We've chatted in The Guild chat, conversed on Friendfeed, caught up via Skype Chat and follow each other on Twitter. When I tweeted I was going to do a podcast of the book Karnatos was interested because he listens to audiobooks on his commute. He is also a blogger of some note on Always Go Right and the subjects he discusses range from The Guild and Whedonverse shows, gamer stuff, Star Wars, Lego, YouTube videos....okay he's a big geek like me! 

Er, what about the librarian thing?

Writing and then podcasting has taken so much of my time recently that I've not been hanging around in my usual haunts or blogging as frequently as I used to. Trying to find an agent and actually working out how I can make a career out of writing is a long process. Part of that process has to be finding ways to promote what I have done. I am really grateful to Karnatos for taking the time to do this review, because it's exactly to sort of thing that will help. I didn't ask him to do it - it's something he has done because he enjoys the podcasts. Knowing that someone enjoys your work so much that they bother to listen to it (more than once!) and then review it is a pretty big boost.

Really - what gives with the sexy librarian?!?

So I hope you'll pop over and read what he has to say. And take a look around while you're over there. There are tons of great articles and probably some things you haven't seen before like  Quake Radio and a staged production of "Once More With Feeling..."

TELL ME ABOUT THE LIBRARIAN!!!

Oh - you wanted to know about the sexy librarian thing? Well....you'll have to ask Karnatos. He's on Twitter and he'll be happy to answer your questions....probably.... :D

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:

Twitter, uStream and Felicia Day

The Guild USTREAM 'End of Season 2' Party

Twitter 202: Trending Topics

If you use Twitter you've probably noticed the 'Trending Topics' list. This picks up the most popular topics on Twitter. Now, the system is flawed but can still do remarkable things.  It picks up the frequently-used words or '# tagged' words on Twitter. And on Tuesday, The Guild (or rather '#theguild') took Twitter by storm.

The Guild Season 2 is now released on Amazon!

To celebrate the actual release on Amazon @theguild announced a Twitter contest on Tuesday that was open to all Guild fans (wherever they are. Actually, it said international entries welcome, but imagine if the @Astro_Mike, apparently from the shuttle Atlantis, had entered? The P&P might have been a bit steep! Then again, we know that he really didn't Twitter from space...). All you had to do was give a fake DVD extra and include the #theguild tag in a tweet - simple - to win some a copy of the DVD plus extras! (NOTE: the competition was only open on Tuesday but more competitions are coming...). And Felicia (@feliciaday) also announced that if #theguild became a Trending Topic she would do a live USTEAM broadcast today (Saturday).

You can order Season 2 using this link (which is The Guild's affiliate link and gives them a little extra money without costing you anything) and it's totally worth it. I can't wait for mine to arrive! Some people received their pre-ordered DVDs on Tuesday (thanks @may_gun!).

Within hours, #theguild was top of Trending Topics

...and there were hundreds of entries to the competition. There was a real buzz around Twitter and it was fun to be a part of spreading the word about The Guild! Even the inevitable spammer couldn't dampen spirits and the lucky winners were selected and announced.

And now - USTREAM!

So this afternoon at 5:00 PM Pacific time Felicia will be live on The Guild USTREAM channel and you can leave questions for her now. Cool, huh? Meet you there!

P.S. - Podcast Audiobook Update

Chapters 1 to 5 of "Turning Left at Albuquerque" are now up at turningleft.podbean.com, and yesterday we put up the first Omnibus so you can listen to the whole story so far in one 26 min episode. We've had some good feedback so far so if you're enjoying it please leave a comment here or at Podbean!

Felicia Day, Knights o the Guild Fight For Kids Need to Read

Kids Need to Read recently auctioned a photo featuring the cast of the internet sensation The Guild that was signed by all six cast members. When Guild star Felicia Day heard about this, she helped spread the word to her 350k Twitter followers. Felicia has over 350,000 followers on Twitter. Within hours of Felicia’s tweet there were thousands of hits..

read more | digg story

Dr Horrible Awards, Castle etc....Another post of last resort *sigh*

I really haven't abandoned blogging

Everyday I think about my lovely little blog here and resolve to blog. But, gosh darn it, I am trying so hard to finish my book (116,500 words and counting) that I don't have the time to sit and blog. Normal service will be resumed very shortly.

In the meantime here's some things you might have missed:

The voting for the Horrible Awards is now open!

With lots of great people to vote for make sure you look through all the entries. If you wanted to vote for Evil WorldofHiglet (and who wouldn't!) scroll down to the 'Best Non-ELE' award. It's the first time I (I mean, my Evil twin) has ever been nominated for an award, so it would be great if I got more than one vote. No pressure. But if you wanted to spread the word then that would be cool, too. And Tabz is up for 'Best Non-Musical Vid' with 'The Destroyer - MyboyfriendCat'.

Felicia Day explains Twitter

Felicia and Tabz are the two people who got me into Twitter in the first place. 2600+ Tweets later and I love using it in conjunction with FriendFeed. Lots of people are confused by it, though, and Felicia has written a very good introduction to get you started.

Nathan Fillion talks Castle

The great Castle fan site http://castletv.net/ have a wonderful interview with Nathan Fillion today. Ahh, Nathan....er, anyway, it's well worth a look!

I'm hoping the first draft of my book will be finished by next week, and then we can get back to some sense of normalcy. Anyone know any literary agents.....?