Geek Video of the Week

Don't you like how I added "of the Week" as though this is a regular feature here or something? Well, maybe now it is! Goodness knows I sure see enough geeky vids to make it a weekly feature. Daily, even, but I don't have that kind of time.

This isn't just your average fan vid, though. Geek worlds and girl-crushes collide as Jed Whedon produces and directs this music video promoting The Guild, starring the lovely Felicia Day and the rest of the Guild cast, with a cameo by Maurissa Tancharoen (a.k.a. The Asian Whedon). You will never look at Vi the Vampire Slayer the same way again.

Fandom Links - 7.28.09

Wow, would you look at that date? July is almost done for already. It was kind of a long month for me, so it didn't fly by quite as fast as all the others have, but it still flew. Next time I blink Husband will be back in class and my TV shows will be back on and it'll be time for 'WriMo, and I'm already starting to think about Christmas knitting projects.

So what does all of that have to do with today's links? Dear reader, I am here to tell you: not a blessed thing. I will stop rambling about the obvious now and get to them. These are all videos, but I'll be kind to your bandwidth and only post the links:

First up is Participate: The Revolution of Fan Culture, a short documentary that features a certain ginger-haired geek demigod who has absolutely nothing at all to do with any of the links below. I'm watching it now, and it's nothing new, really, but it's still fascinating. And I'm wondering now how many participants in fan culture, especially the more obsessive ones, skew toward the Autistic spectrum. I wish I made that connection back when it was time to do my senior psych-soc thesis.

If the above only whetted your appetite for more of Teh Whedon, you can go watch the Comic-Con Dollhouse panel.

And if that only whetted your appetite for more Franz Kranz (Topher!), you can go watch him in this hee-larious trailer for his upcoming web series, Megabot, which takes a look at a Power Rangers-like group ten years later, when they're still stuck wearing their colored spandex and driving a giant robot, even though they kind of hate it and each other. NSFW without headphones.

AND if your main reaction to the DH panel was "Where's Miracle Laurie (November-Mellie!)?!" you can go watch her and James C. Leary (Clem!) in their trailer for another upcoming web series, a musical comedy about cab drivers in space, The Cabonauts. A little more SFW ...but I'd still wear headphones.

In which I bring you links, to TOH Audio and other nifty things.

So far, nobody seems to have any work for me today, which is actually good timing, since I've got to run some eBay and Buick-related errands this afternoon before we head out for an evening with Husband's mom and step-dad. Also, I have a headache, so I wouldn't be giving anybody my best work this morning.

But I took advantage of the rare slow weekday morning to catch up on the 157 blog posts that were queued up in my Google Reader, do some job hunting, and finish editing the audio for Ep. 2 of This Old Haunt, which is posted here.

And now, some links:


Mur Lafferty posted this link to The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Authors, which I have not yet read, but which I will, and when I do I hope (expect) to be inspired (shamed) into being a more effective author.

Unrelated to that, I think I have a burgeoning girl-crush on Maurissa Tancharoen, a.k.a. "Captain Hammer Groupie #1," a.k.a. Joss Whedon's sister-in-law, a.k.a. DOLLHOUSE and DR. HORRIBLE writer. Exhibit A: She's hella funny (warning: contains language).

Exhibit B: She sings purdy. Right now I'm listening to this mp3 of "Remains", a song she and her husband Jed Whedon co-wrote for the unaired Dollhouse episode "Epitaph One."

And speaking of "Epitaph One," it has inevitably leaked into the intertubes, and some Googling led me to an ad-heavy but still watchable Youtube version here, which I'm going to watch right after I post this. Which would be... right now.

XKCD Instant Classic

Whedonesque has been linking to this XKCD strip all week; but in case you're the rare Browncoat who doesn't follow that blog, I thought I'd share it here. It's a five-part series centering on a fan's skateboard race against Nathan Fillion, and that description does no justice to the hilarity that ensues.

Part one is linked up there in the image. Here are parts two, three and four. Part five should get posted tomorrow.

Hee hee hee!

Dollhouse: a fixer-upper with plenty of potential

I realized today that I haven't gotten around to weighing in on Dollhouse which, being the long-time Whedon groupie that I am, might just be a sign of apocalyptic significance. Well, maybe not for the universe. Maybe just for the show.

I hope not, though, because I'm in the minority (based on everything I've read) of actually liking it. Granted, I don't love it, and that is disappointing. When someone gives you a shiny jewel, again and again, you become spoiled, and you expect--even feel entitled--to keep getting them from that person. So when that person instead hands you an unpolished, flawed, uncut diamond, you feel as let down as if they'd handed you a lump of coal.

But I do think that Dollhouse is merely a diamond-in-the-rough, and not the coal in our stocking that so many critics are making it out to be. The last two episodes in particular have shown sparks of potential, and if tonight's episode lives up to its previews, then this show definitely has the makings of something truly spectacular, if it's given the time and attention it needs to cut away the flaws and bring out its true shine.

Okay, enough with the diamond analogy. Here's what I think in plain English. Is the premise icky? Yes. Is self-professed feminist Joss Whedon a lying liar who lies because he came up with such an icky premise? I don't believe so. Portraying ickiness is not the same thing as condoning it, and the last two episodes have shown that this show definitely doesn't celebrate its own moral depravity. The fact that the Dollhouse and those who run it are depraved is the point, and I don't hold a speck of doubt that there will be consequences. There already have been, at the hands of Alpha, and in Echo's tendency to retain trace memories of her programming causing problems for her abusers. I can't wait to see just how far and wide those consequences will reach, and I hope I'll be given the chance.

Overall, I think it's a fascinating study, of free will, of how we're all programmed to an extent by our culture, by societal expectations, by gender roles, by advertising, by corporations large and small. Are the Dolls stripped of their free will if they volunteered? If their programmed personas consent to questionable acts, and find them enjoyable, is that wrong? If you or I consent to go into debt for something we don't really need because the advertising media convinces us, practically programs us to believe otherwise, is the media evil? It comes down to agency, and how much each of us have. It appears that the Dolls have none, and that's what makes them victims; but as "Man on the Street" showed, Echo wanted to complete her mission to portray the rich widower's deceased wife. Is Echo a special case, or do each of the Dolls maintain a trace amount of self-awareness that provides them with some agency in what they do? I don't know, but I'm enjoying being made to think about these questions, and I'm interested in what the show still has to say about them.

The main problem with this show, as practically everyone else who has written about has already said, is the difficulty we have in connecting with any of the main characters. We can have empathy for the Dolls as they struggle through their situations, but we don't know them, and therefore aren't really invested in what happens to them. The characters who run and operate the Dollhouse, we're getting to know, but we can't really like them, because they're bad people. There have been hints of exceptions, but only hints, and we have yet to be given any reason to care what happens to them, either. The one big exception, for me, is Echo's handler. He's morally gray in his decision to work for the Dollhouse and accompany Echo on her assignments, but his primary concern is protecting Echo, and he takes it--and her--seriously. To Boyd, Echo is a person, and he never forgets that, even when his superiors would have him do so. It reminds me of the Watcher/Slayer relationship, and of how Giles went off book to treat and care for Buffy like a troubled teenage girl, and not merely a tool at his disposal for killing monsters. Of course, if the rest of the Watchers Council looked like mysoginistic, rationalizing slave-drivers even as their reason for existing was to save the world from evil, how much worse does the Rossum corporation seem in comparison? A whole lot worse, that's how much.

And then there's Paul. I think my main problem with Paul is my own inability to stop thinking of him as Helo, but he's beginning to grow on me. As much as I love Tamoh Penikett, though, he doesn't really have the charisma needed to carry the show as its moral center, the only character who is both basically good and has agency and the capability for growth. There was also Mellie, but now we know that she, too, is a Doll, and that her crush on Paul and their subsequent short-lived romance is a lie.

And so: it's hard to love a show if you don't love its characters, which I don't, yet. But all in all, I think for what it is, Dollhouse is well done and worth watching, and whether it has only 5 more episodes or 5 more years, I'll be seeing it through to the end.

Fandom: Save Sonny!

Reposting verbatim from Whedonesque:

"Sonny Rhodes, our favorite Firefly theme song blues musician, is in need of a hand up. He is a very proud man, but circumstances related to medical conditions are preventing him from working, and he's trying to keep a roof over his head.

"Sonny's wife Ann called me with these details and hoped the Browncoats could help. Sonny hasn't performed since October 2008, except for once or twice against his doctor's wishes when he had to keep the power from being shut off and pay rent, and doing that made his condition worse. He just had an emergency hernia operation and needs to have two hip operations as soon as possible. Ann said he'll likely be out of work for a few more months and, besides being in a lot of pain, is naturally quite worried about paying medical and rent bills. Sonny has vowed to be there for the Browncoats in the future and would appreciate any financial assistance that may be possible via the PayPal Donate link on his MySpace page."

Besides the fact that I can't get enough of the Firefly theme, us creative types need to stick together. Musicians don't have health insurance, you know. Follow the links below to learn more about the man and his health situation, or to kick a little help his way.

Sonny Rhodes on Myspace

Donate to Sonny via Paypal

And here's a refresher course in his contribution to the Whedonverse:

I'm awake!

Holy frak, it's August already! Insert lame lazy/busy blogger apology here. Seriously, I have all kinds of excuses, you guys, but they're all painfully boring and/or too personal to share here.

Will you forgive me if I shower you with links? Because I have links. Boy, have I got links. First, though, a quick update: I'm feeling much, much better now (not counting a mild caffeine withdrawal headache, but my doctor, Dr. Pepper, is taking care of that). The answer to my grogginess turned out to be as simple as switching back from Zyrtec to Claritin. The Claritin's not quite as effective, but I'd rather be mildly sniffly and awake than a freely breathing zombie. Now I'm so wide awake I don't even need caffeine! ...which I decided to put to the test today. Which is why I now have a headache. So I won't be making that mistake again.

And now, in no particular order, links:

Tumbler: Autobot Edition - a Bat mobile/Transformers mashup. Somebody put a lot of thought into this, and it's pretty cool.

The State of the Web - Summer 2008 - some of these are lost on me (what's that two girls and a cup thing all about? Do I really want to know?), but still funny.

I Miss Buffy - Remember that "I Miss Buffy" song? Well, now there's a whole CD, featuring that song and others, including such hits as "Kinda Wish D'Hoffryn Was My Boyfriend", "Lipstick Wiccans", and "I Think My Roommate Is a Demon With a Soul".

Neil Patrick Harris as the Sesame Street Shoe Fairy - for those of us (isn't that pretty much everybody?) who didn't get enough Singing!NPH in Dr. Horrible. Plus, Muppets!

And speaking of Muppets: Groverfield. It's exactly what it sounds like. "Hellooo everybuddeeeeeee!"

The Evil League of Evil will soon begin accepting applications, so get to work perfecting that evil laughter.

If you're pining for some Buffyverse academia, here's an interesting (and kinda long) character study of Spike.

Bad Horse ringtone - "Bad horse! Bad horse! Bad horse! He's bad!" I want this desperately to be my ringtone, but I can't figure out how to get it on my phone. Guess I'm stuck with the Fruity Oaty Bar jingle.

Captain Hammer vs. Captain Tightpants - yup, that looks about right.

Cake Wrecks - Oh, dear. There just are no words...and yet this blogger finds some funny ones to apply anyway.

And finally...

DO NOT PRESS. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This week is full of awesome!

On a personal level, it's been not so awesome and hella stressful and exhausting, hence the not blogging. But thankfully the entertainment sector chose this week to dump a whole bunch of awesome sauce all over the internet and movie theaters.

First, The Dark Knight, because I'm still fairly fresh from the midnight showing. It's... I have so much to say about this movie, and yet I'm speechless. I think I need to see it five or six more times to fully process it. ;) But I think it's safe to call this the Empire Strikes Back of the new Batman movie franchise. Its hype is well deserved.

And as if that wasn't enough awesome packed into two and a half hours, this premiered before the movie started:



There is not enough squee in the world.

But that's partly because so much of the squee is reserved for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog! Maybe it's because it's been so long since we've had any fresh live-action Whedony goodness, but just thinking about what I've seen of this so far fills me with indescribable glee. And I've had the chorus of "Stop the World" playing constantly in my brain for the last 48 hours. If, like me, you have a burning need to learn every song by heart, this person has been kind enough to transcribe the entire thing.

Go watch Act I!

Then go watch Act II!

You'll have to wait till Saturday to catch the third and final act, and then it will all be taken down Sunday night, which is where the awesomeness ends for me, what with not having good access on weekends. It will be released on DVD, so I'll get to see it eventually, but waiting till Saturday was going to be hard enough, and I'll likely be pouting all weekend over its being taken down so soon.

I guess I'll just have to go see The Dark Knight again to take my mind off of it. Damn!

Dr. Horrible has a schedule to keep.

Lots to do today. Phone calls to make, other blogs to blog, research to ...um, research. Meanwhile...

Master Whedon has a plan for Dr. Horrible, and that plan is this:

ONE WEEK ONLY! AN INTERNET MINISERIES EVENT!

"Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog" will be streamed, LIVE (that part’s not true), FREE (sadly, that part is) right on Drhorrible.com, in mid-July. Specifically:

ACT ONE (Wheee!) will go up Tuesday July 15th.

ACT TWO (OMG!) will go up Thursday July 17th.

ACT THREE (Denouement!) will go up Saturday July 19th.

All acts will stay up until midnight Sunday July 20th. Then they will vanish into the night, like a phantom (but not THE Phantom – that’s still playing. Like, everywhere.)

(It's still playing here in Tulsa, as a matter of fact.)

Amidst my anticipation I'm pouting a pout of protest over the final act being posted and taken down on a single weekend, leaving us poor dial-up stragglers out in the cold. I can't do iTunes from work, so I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD to see the entire thing. Not that I wouldn't be buying the DVD anyway. I just hate to wait that long. So, BOO! to the Sunday night take-down. But a big ol' Kermit The Frog YAAAAAAAY! to everything else.

Doctor Horrible Trailer!

Oh, and in case you just crawled out from under a rock:


Teaser from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on Vimeo.

Yippee!

Okay, one thing before I disappear.

Dollhouse has a trailer. Say it with me now: Squee!

Peek inside the Dollhouse

A couple of links to some brand new Whedony goodness to start your day off right:

After Ellen has a look at the cast, which all by itself has me excited (do I need to warn about casting spoilers?).

And the Dollverse reports on Joss & Co.'s first day of shooting.

Yay and squee, etc.

Tweet tweet!

I am now on the Twitter bandwagon, as you can see if you check out the sidebar.

Completely unrelated and much more awesome: io9 has script pages (and spoilers) for Dollhouse.

Yay!

Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a little bit closer to happening.

Quickly, before I have to race the sleet and snow home

Links of interest on this dreary Monday morning:

This is quite possibly the neatest web design in the history of web designs.

This free online Tales of the Slayer comic by Drew Goddard is pretty funny. Lo, the spider-eating man-bitch returneth.

Elsewhere in the galaxy of Buffy alumni, Amber Benson directed a Common Rotation video.

Giving away books online seems to be all the rage these days: Go and read Neil Gaiman's American Gods for free.



In Which I Rant About This Year's "Best Picture"

We used my Friday off to finally see No Country for Old Men. The consensus between me, Husband, and Husband's friend: Eh? It felt like two different movies mashed together. One was a quiet little introspective film about growing old while the world changes around you and you feel helpless to stop it, and in the middle of this somebody plopped the first two-thirds of a really kick-ass action/thriller. We loved the action/thriller part--and Javier Bardem definitely earned that Oscar. That guy was CREE. PEE.--that got us all worked up and invested in Josh Brolin's character and his plight, only to have it end abruptly, any resolution having happened off-screen and returning to the introspective old man movie, which also ended abruptly, and pretty much left the three of us sitting there going, "What the eff was that?" That said, the acting, cinematography, dialogue, etc. were all excellent. But I have many, many issues with the story structure and pacing, and I feel like the intent was to play around with story structure in unexpected ways for the sake of ART, at the audience's expense, and really, I can't stand that crap. I want a resolution to my story. What's more, I want a resolution to the story I spent almost two hours getting really invested in. I want characters that exist for more than the sake of getting killed in shocking and violent ways. I don't want to be jerked around and left feeling like I just had my lunch money stolen. Boo, Cohen brothers. Boo.

Fill out some forms.

These are worth your five minutes:

Firefly Season 2 - this one is gathering fan demographics and testing the feasibility of a possible "on demand" independent production of everybody's favorite unjustly canceled space cowboy show. Shiny!

Get free e-books from Tor--including Scalzi's Old Man's War--just by signing up to their newsletter.

In completely unrelated news, todays woot! offering is a pretty decent 1GB mp3 player for under $10. I just ordered two of them. Woot!

She'll be back.

Yes, I know. That title shows no originality whatsoever. I might as well have gone all the way to lametown and written a play on "Hasta la vista, baby." Which, I can't even think of a clever play on that line right now. Which shows you just how lame I can be.

What can I say? It's Monday.

Anyway, in honor of the third airing (and apparent non-impending non-cancellation!) of The Sarah Connor Chronicles tonight, here's an audio interview with Summer "She WILL rip out your spine" Glau.

News from the outer territories of the 'verse

Poor Young Simon Tam: Zac Efron had an emergency appendectomy.

Yay River! Her new show is doing well enough in the ratings that it probably won't get canceled! This pleases me. If you still don't know what all the hubbub is about, you can see the pilot episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles free on iTunes (direct link).

Let's all defy gravity.

Awesomesocks, indeed. This gave me chills. And I might have something in my eye.

Firefly & Serenity fanvid: Defying Gravity

I totally feel you, Megan.

I miss Buffy the Vampire Slayer too.