Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Joss Made Me Do It

Voila! The teaser for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, the new and exciting series from Joss Whedon, starring Doogie Howser MD and Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly. Joss told me (and everyone else who can read) to spread the word about Dr. Horrible, so I am. When Joss says "jump," I say "to what planet?" And seeing as how he's a far better writer than myself, I'll let him explain the master plan, which I stole from the official Dr. Horrible website.

A LETTER FROM JOSS WHEDON

Dear Friends,

At last the time has come to reveal to you our Master Plan. BEWARE! Those with weak hearts should log off lest they be terrified by the twisted genius of our schemes! Also pregnant women and the elderly should consider reading only certain sentences. Do not mix with other blogs. Do not operate heavy machinery while reading this blog. You must be this tall to read. ‘Kay?

It is time for us to change the face of Show Business as we know it. You know the old adage, “It’s Show Business – not Show Friends”? Well now it’s Show Friends. We did that. To Show Business. To show Show Business we mean business. (Also, there are now other businesses like it.)

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.)

And now to answers a few Frequently (soon to be) Asked Questions:

1) Why, Joss? Why? Why now, why free, why us?

Once upon a time, all the writers in the forest got very mad with the Forest Kings and declared a work-stoppage. The forest creatures were all sad; the mushrooms did not dance, the elderberries gave no juice for the festival wines, and the Teamsters were kinda pissed. (They were very polite about it, though.) During this work-stoppage, many writers tried to form partnerships for outside funding to create new work that circumvented the Forest King system.

Frustrated with the lack of movement on that front, I finally decided to do something very ambitious, very exciting, very mid-life-crisisy. Aided only by everyone I had worked with, was related to or had ever met, I single-handedly created this unique little epic. A supervillain musical, of which, as we all know, there are far too few.

The idea was to make it on the fly, on the cheap – but to make it. To turn out a really thrilling, professionalish piece of entertainment specifically for the internet. To show how much could be done with very little. To show the world there is another way. To give the public (and in particular you guys) something for all your support and patience. And to make a lot of silly jokes. Actually, that sentence probably should have come first.

2) What happens when it goes away? Does it go to a happy farm for always like Fluffy did when mommy was crying and the neighbor kept washing his fender?

No, Dr horrible will live on. We intend to make it available for download soon after it’s published. This would be for a nominal fee, which we’re hoping people will embrace instead of getting all piratey. We have big dreams, people, and one of them is paying our crew.

And somewhat later, we will put the complete short epic out on DVD – with the finest and bravest extras in all the land. We’ll go into greater detail about that at Comiccon, but we’re changing the face of Show Friendliness a second time with that crazy DVD.

3) Joss, you are so kind, and generous, and your forehead is like, huge, like SCARY, like I think I can see Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint hanging off it… what can WE do to help this musical extravanganza?

What you always do, peeps! What you’re already doing. Spread the word. Rock some banners, widgets, diggs… let people know who wouldn’t ordinarily know. It wouldn’t hurt if this really was an event. Good for the business, good for the community – communitIES: Hollywood, internet, artists around the world, comic-book fans, musical fans (and even the rather vocal community of people who hate both but will still dig on this). Proving we can turn Dr Horrible into a viable economic proposition as well as an awesome goof will only inspire more people to lay themselves out in the same way. It’s time for the dissemination of the artistic process. Create more for less. You are the ones that can make that happen.

Wow. I had no idea how important you guys were. I’m a little afraid of you.

4) Joss, do you ever answer a question simply or coherently?

Shledzguohn?

There’ll be more questions, and more long, long answers, but for now I’m just excited that we’re actually making this happen. We (and a lot of other people -- gushing to commence soon) worked very hard on the show and we hope/think you guys will be pleased.

Until July 15th , I remain, yours truly, -j, of the firm j, j, m & z.

So there you have it! I hope everyone will join in and log on to enjoy the sing-along hilarity!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ridiculously Cute!

Kitties. Sooooo cute. I wish I could have one of my very own to squeeze, but that would involve living in a country for more than a year at a time. Hmph. I lieu of that, I present to you some of my favoourite "lolcats" from I Can Has Cheezburger- perhaps the most adorable site on the entire interwebz. (Kass turned me on to it- she has a nose for cuteness!) Here you goez!

And the cutest of them all...

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Sometimes I Read

I used to read constantly as a kid. When I sat on Santa’s lap at the Ohio Valley Mall, every year I asked for the same thing for Christmas- books. (I’m sure there were additional items on my list, but none come to mind except for Fruity Pebbles cereal.) Now, I’m not saying I was demanding Dickens or anything- at age 10 it was mostly Sweet Valley Twins and The Babysitter’s Club for me; I absolutely adored them! I begged and pleaded with my poor mom to get the newest ones as they were released- she must have spent a fortune at B. Dalton, but I had to have them! I’m sure I read at least 30 or 40 of each series, and a lot of those were read and re-read. When I found these pictures of the original cover art on Amazon, I was blown away by the flood of memories they brought back! Not memories of me as a skinny, nerdy kid with no friends, but memories of Sweet Valley, where Jessica joined the Unicorn Club with Lila Fowler, and where Elizabeth redecorated her room in navy blue and beige, and of Stoneybrook, where the Babysitter’s Club met at Claudia’s house and talked about their “charges” and Kid-Kits and wrote a journal about their experiences… I got totally lost in those worlds, and I remember so many of the details! It’s amazing how things like that can still be lodged in my brain after 20 years! I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, but I can still conjure these vivid scenes of an imaginary middle school from the 80’s… I continued my love affair with literacy all through middle school, when I tried to go through the entire fiction section of the school library in alphabetical order. (I didn’t succeed, don’t worry. I’m not a total freak.) I especially loved Ellen Conford, Mabel Esther Allan, and Paul Zindel. Sadly, though, high school hit and books all but disappeared from my life. My reading habit has never fully recovered. As an adult I’ve gone through a few periods of heavy reading, but they’ve been pretty short-lived, and even then it’s been more non-fiction than anything else. In the last couple weeks I have read four fiction books (I’m pretty proud of myself) and I’m starting to realize how much I’ve really missed it! I miss fiction! I just finished The Jane Austen Book Club about an hour ago (it wasn't earth-shattering, but it held my interest), and I’m going to make an effort to keep this little bookworm ball rolling by diving right into something new tonight! I’ve got a few books on the shelf waiting to be read, but when those are done I’ll be looking for suggestions, so if you’ve just read something fantastic, please leave me a note in the comments! Gotta run! It’s time to go get cozy with a cup of tea and a new adventure! See you at the library! =)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Word of Mouth

I have been tagged! I think that makes me some kind of official member of the blogosphere. What are tags and how do they work? Well, I'm not entirely sure, but it seems to me that they are a way for your friends with blogs to make you write about whatever they want, presumably because they think you are a gifted writer and value your opinions on the topics they have selected. (But maybe it's really because they know you're too lazy to write your blog at all unless publicly asked to do so, and then linking to it, so you can't get out of it without everyone knowing! Tricky...) So, I am honoured, of course, to have been tagged on Kass's 3rd Word of Mouth post. This means that it's my turn to think of things I enjoy and recommend them to you, the public at large. =) So here goes! =)


A classic. I used to use this as a kid because my mom always had it around. It came in a big ol' plastic tub with a screw-off lid that I could almost stick my whole 8-year-old paw into if my mom wasn't around to see it. ;) My mom eventually moved on to (inferior) Neutrogena face products, and so did I. (While I don't like their soap, I have to say that T-Gel is my hero. I would have it on my cereal if it wouldn't make me throw up.) In my teens and twenties I branched out to all different face products, and even fell for the hype and ordered that (also inferior) Proactiv stuff that Jessica Simpson is always peddling on tv. But now I'm back where I started! I looove this stuff! It leaves my skin all soft and nice, doesn't make me break out, smells good, isn't too pricey, and isn't tested on any of our furry friends, so what's not to like? =)


Who woulda thunk it? I like modern fiction! Those of you who know my reading preferences would likely be surprised that I should deign to read anything not written before 1900... Really, anyone current enough to have had access to a typing device (aside from Barbara Kingsolver) is inconsequential as far as my literary habits are concerned. (I'm not saying it's right; I'm just stating the facts.) But Gordon left this one out on the table and I read it. I don't know why I never listen when he tells me there are good authors under 100 years old, but I should. (I hope he doesn't think I'm one of them- if he reads this I'll surely be eating my words!) Anyhow, this book was very good. =) It had interesting, believeable characters, the writing was really smart and very funny, and there were many mentions of office supplies. Definitely recommended.


Man! How is this show still so good? It's nothing short of brilliant! I remember watching it with my mom on tv the first time around and loving every episode, especially the ones with lots of Ed Chigliak. I love that guy! My adoration for the show (and Ed) was shared by my penpal Donna who even sent me a pocket-size Northern Exposure notebook, which I'm pretty sure I still have somewhere. Gordon and I have been watching the series again on DVD recently, and it hasn't lost anything over time. Okay, maybe the jeans are a little high-waisted, and the music on the DVD's is nowhere near as good as the original music, but it's still just great. First thing on my list when we return to Washington is a weekend trip to Roslyn, where it was filmed. I know we won't run into Ed, but we can still go to The Brick for a brewski!


Pigs. I'd like to recommend pigs. I'm not sure for what, but definitely not for eating. Pigs are friends, not food! Here is a picture of me with my friend Edgar from Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. He is very, very cute and does not enjoy romaine lettuce. I kinda feel like pigs don't get the respect they deserve. I mean, people are always on about how other animals (like dogs) are so great (and they are- look at cute Rockford), but if we're grading on intelligence and personality, pigs are actually smarter than dogs, and just as playful and loyal. (They're even smarter than 3-year-old humans.) They know what's going on. I know of at least one person who really appreciates pigs- Judy, the founder of Pigs Peace Sanctuary. Such a cool lady and an awesome organisation. Go check it out- hooray for pigs! =)


Lastly, I'd like to recommend Google Reader, my new best friend. There must be other programs like this out there, but I'm a big fan of Google because they make everything so easy for those of us who are maybe not-so-techy. So I subscribe to all of my favourite blogs, and then I never have to look for them again- I just sign in to Reader and it tells me if any of them have been updated and shows them to me right there on the same screen! It's like subscribing to the newspaper and only getting the sections you like to read! Brilliant! =) Try it- you'll like it! =)


I hope these suggestions have been useful! I'm tagging everyone!!! Every last one of you! Now, go forth and recommend stuff! =) (Okay, I kid. But you could always recommend your favourite things in the comments!)