You can't take the 'verse from me

A battle is brewing.

First, Universal Studios encourages the fans of Firefly ("Browncoats") to viral market for the movie Serenity. But how do they thank the loyal fans for all of the money they've just saved on advertising? They are asking for retroactive licensing fees and sending Cease & Desist orders for the very fan-based products that helped both the movie and TV show succeed.

The Browncoats' answer?

Here's OUR invoice, you gorram ingrates.

From Slashdot.com - Firefly Fans Fight Back Against Universal.

From SerenityStuff.com - An Open Letter to Browncoats
From SerenityStuff.com - An Open Letter to Universal

How did a few fans respond to the ban? By poking fun at Universal, of course! What better way to say " I helped promote Serenity and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt" than this, or this! There is already a filk song about it, which I found on the FireFilk Yahoo Group called the "Ballad of Universal", by a writer named NE Star. And it goes a little something like this...

Take my shirts,
Take my hats,
Say I have to pay for that.
I don’t care, I’m still free
to try and find Serenity.

Take the website
and the swag.
There’s no doubt, it’s not a gag.
I don’t care, I’ll still be
watchin’ the crew of Serenity.

There’s no stuff for you and me
since we got that C&D*.
But you can’t take my heart from me.

(*cease and desist order)

SerenityStuff.com thinks The Storm has Passed. The little cynical part of me wonders if this whole thing could be just a another stab to see what life is left in this 'market'. Don't believe me? Read the marketing case study on Aff!nitive.com.

If you have somehow managed to stay interested in this topic (then you are either a BrownCoat, or are extremely bored) check out the copious amounts of comments on this subject at Whedonesque.com.

Winter Fireflies

Winter is knocking on my door. My prediction of the first snow of the year was only off by two days. I really don't like winter, but it's much nicer to spend it in this area than where I used to live, in New England. On the plus side, it gives me an excuse to wear my Jayne hat.

Speaking of Firefly, there's been a huge growth in fans lately, which of course, translates to more websites and cool Firefly and Serenity things that can be found online. Oh, and Serenity also WON A HUGO AWARD on Saturday, August 26 at LA Con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention. Here's the video of Morena Baccarin accepting the award, reading Joss Whedon's acceptance speech (PG -13 if you are worried about swear words).

Well, I had intended to embed THAT video into this post, but since that feature was disabled by the owner of the clip, I'm going to have to give you this one instead. Also because Nathan Fillion just asked me to 'please put this on the internet'. It's Joss Whedon and about half the Serenity cast at a stop on the Wizard World tour.



WOW- is this ever cool! Create your own Serenity ship from paper! The instructions are in Portuguese (I think), but the diagrams are good enough to figure out what you should be doing with all those pieces. You'll need a color printer, sharp scissors, glue and lots and lots of free time.

If you happen to be a PodCast junkie, you'll love The Signal and FireFlyTalk, two podcasts devoted to news of the 'verse. On both sites, you can click to listen now or dowload them for later.

If you'd rather listen to music, try some Filk. Oh, you thought that particular brand of songwriting was native only to the SCA? The Bedlam Bards, normally known for their Renaissance Fair performances are Browncoats!! They've written a filk of "Hero of Canton" and called it "The Creator of Firefly - the man they call Joss!" clicking this link opens an mp3 postcard, where you can get a FREE download of the song!

And FireFly Filk is a site with lyrics to many, many more great songs, but you'll have to do your own singin'.

I haven't figured out how to do a link into Second Life yet, but there's a a bunch of new Firefly/Serenity things going on in that virtual universe as well. Why, just the other day, I was able to walk through TWO different full size Serenity ships. You can now buy avatars that look like any of the cast, and there's a group of people trying to create a whole 'verse themed SIM.

All I can say is, you KNOW you've achieved cult status when people create a cookbook based on your story. Big Damn Chefs is about to publish The International Browncoat Charity Cookbook. Their collection of recipes submitted by fans from all over the world is huge. MMMM.... Livin' Legend Eggs, Special Hell Chili, Fruity Oaty Bars.... I'm gettin' hungry...

Filk 'n SCA and Georgian Cultural Video

Well, the long holiday weekend is almost over. Having NOT gone to an SCA event over Labor day weekend seems...I don't know...wrong somehow.

There has been much discussion in my social group that we just haven't had enough SCA events this year, and we're all whiny about it. This eventually devolved into a filk called "I want my SCA" sung to the tune of "Money for Nothin" by the Dire Straits.

This whole episode gave me an idea. I clearly miss the SCA. I have also been known to sing a bit. I shall just have to filk to pass the time between events. That way, by the time Estrella War rolls around, I'll have at least a few funny songs ready.

I'm working on one now to the tune of Kermit the Frog's Rainbow Connection. But it's about Laurels. No one ever writes songs about Laurels, do they? Hmmmm... stay tuned for that one.

I would also like to catalog some of the lost songs of the Outlands. Anyone remember Baird? With classics such as "Rhino" and "I hit friends in low places."

And what about Randal the Malcontent? There's a guy who needs a website or something. He had waaaay too many good songs for them just to vanish when he stopped playing in the SCA.

Maybe I'll cover his stuff and upload a bunch of them to YouTube. (The online free video service to which I am now well and truly addicted)

However, after seeing this freaking fabulous thing come out of Georgia (the country, not the state), I may never be able to see myself singing, dancing or fighting on video without thinking that this will always be better. 100 times better.



Boy do I need a book LIKE THAT. Lucky kid.

Geekier than thou!

Well, here's a lovely shot (courtesy of Russ) of Matt, myself and Jen in our hats. Looks pretty cunning, don't you think?

This is from the pre-party private premiere of Serenity the other night. Wow, say that three times fast.

You know what I hadn't thought of? In the SCA, my name is Jinan. For those who have never heard it spoken, it is pronounced jih-NAYN. Coincidence that it sounds like Jayne?

I'm thinking there might be a filk in my future, to the tune of "Hero of Canton"...hey, Russ, wanna help me out with this? Immortalize me in song? Embarrass me in public? Just make sure you mention my 'special powers'.

Got Filk?

Filk is a genre that I only discovered by accident, while at a RenFaire long ago. I heard a wandering minstrel singing some Beatles song, only it definitely wasn't their lyrics. Someone had re-written the song to be about buxom wenches or something.

WOW! Now this is music I can really appreciate. I love parody. No, really, I love it. There needs to be more humor in music. The SCA is a breeding ground for Filk, most of which can only be heard around a fire. Most of us learn them by memory, (which is easy because they are based on popular songs) but a few inspired musicians have recorded their filks for your listening pleasure.

**RTM, are you listening? Dude, you really need a website with your CD and lyrics. Like NOW. You funny man.

Anyway, here's a few links for your filking pleasure. Man, it's even funny to say it.

If I had a Million Ducats

Crazy Knights

Fairytale of Middle Earth

We are the Knights of NI!

Living in a Fantasy World (Lord of the Rings Medley)

My Name is Arwen

Rogue

(Vikings Are) Unwanted Dead or Alive

In Camelot!

This Book Is Way Too Long (Lord Of The Rings Trilogy)

You can pretty much take ANY song and give it a medieval/SCA/LOTR makeover.

I would have included some Star trek ones, but I think that Blogger has limits on the amount of data I'm allowed to post.