VENA

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HAKEN

For those requesting that donations be made through PayPal, beginning Monday I'll have a button for that. Also in the works are photolog/moblog for members and the start of a RPG management system to help manage the RPG on here. Phase one will likely be a world builder.

FOFFILMS

All I can say is I did a stupid thing with my computer, trying to do a little techie geek upgrade crap and I ended up having to reformat my C drive for the effort and in the process lost all my textures for my Serenity model. I am in deep funk at the moment, luckily Biotechs model itself remains on a different partition, but I am in the process of having to re-install ALL my software and operating system. I am blue. Blue. Blue. Right down to my hands. Gorram!@!^$*&!^#$&!^@#&*! Also, I am plauged by 50+ emails per day of this new virus. Luckily I am an anti-virus, firewall, adaware, spybot, cookiewall fiend, so I feel fairly well protected - still having to delete 50+ emails several times a day is wearing my patience a little thin right now. On the plus side I think I am just going to order 3ghz barebones system from Fry's electronics and give up the ghost on my dying franken-computer. So, alas no new works in progress today for the movie. BUT - I am only weeks away from beginning the casting process, as I have the finished script and am pretty happy with it. Happy, happy, happy... Keep happy thoughts as I am dragged away from my obsessive workings and party poker and to a baby shower for a gal I barely know where there will be (on the plus side) lots o' food and (shudder) karaoke. I will post a "fly through" animation test soon of what I have done of the interior sets. So far the cargo bay and sickbay areas. Babies... They smell like apples and feet.

RANGER

Firefly Traveller- Science Fiction Adventure in the (not so) Far Future The first time I watched Firefly I felt like I was watching a Traveller adventure unfold. The Firefly ‘verse has that gritty character that pervades the Classic Traveller game systems and adventures. Of course, there are many differences between the OUT (Official Traveller Universe) and the ‘verse of Firefly, but I still think that a game system based on Classic Traveller is the best approach to recreating the Firefly ‘verse in an RPG format (or at least this gives me an excuse to play around with two of my favorite Sci-Fi things). So, where to begin? Well, the first thing is to figure out what differences there are between the Traveller Universe and the Firefly ‘verse. Background… The history of the OTU is very different, so the Firefly backstory will have to be developed to give the new setting a foundation. This means developing a stellar geography for the Firefly-Traveller verse as well. Travel… Traveller uses a Jump Drive system for interstellar movement. This requires a ship to spend one week in jump space. This clearly doesn’t fit the Firefly ‘verse. In a way, these questions are circular. How people travel depends on where they are traveling to and from, so we are back to ‘where does Firefly take place?’ Any Firefly backstory needs the following elements: Exploration and colonization of other star systems from Earth (including extensive terraforming), Some form of cataclysm that renders Earth uninhabitable, A political alliance between The US (or the ‘anglo-sphere’) and China, Human culture becomes very mixed, with elements of many different cultures present in an given part of human space, and it all has to happen in the next 500 years. In addition, I want to have two competing technologies for FTL, so the backstory will have to explain why that works. A couple of other assumptions are that technological advancement will proceed much faster than Classic Traveller envisioned. Even with the catastrophe that confronts Earth, by 2500 humanity will be at least experimenting with Traveller Tech Level 15 in some areas. For those who want to know more about Traveller, here is a good starting place:

SUCCATASH

It's true. Tonight I recorded a live conversation I had with a girl and maybe I'll get lucky. I plan on posting part 2 soon. To better understand what I'm talking about, please download this 2 MB audio file - MP3

RANGER

Where does Firefly Traveller take place? Okay, based on previous assumptions, I am going to locate the Firefly ‘verse in near earth space. This is the only collection of star systems close enough to Earth to possibly be colonized in the next 500 years given anything short of an “infinity drive” that will let you go as far as you want as fast as you want. I also want to use 3D space since we have so much data available now on where local stars are located (this site has about 11,000 stars within 150 light years of Earth:

DRACOS

What are they used for, alternative power to reduce strain on the engines? And why do they only apear on one side of the ship? Maybe the Alliance requires all vessels to fly in a clockwise orientation around the sun when in sytem. I was just looking at the picture on the main page and started wondering, so if anyone knows please feel free to say.

WERZBOWSKI

So I have this custom avatar icon I want to use and I've emailed it to Haken. Where do I go from here? I'm not so much with the patience thing and Haken is admittedly a very busy person... :crap: So I was wondering if any of my fellow Browncoats had any advice. Other than to be patient... :wink:

KOZURE

Well, this is it. I've dived into the deep end, swallowed the red pill and jumped down the rabbit hole. Or, in a more appropriate metaphor, I've packed up my bags and climbed on board [i]Serenity[/i]. To put it in a nutshell, I'm going to try to make a board game out of the series we all know and love, [b]Firefly[/b]. I started last Tuesday with the idea and being employed full-time, I'm only putting spare time towards the effort, so it may be a long time coming. The general design criteria are as follows: -A enjoyable, interactive game that captures the flavour and style of Firefly. -A cooperative board-game that can be played by between 1 and 9 players. -Playable in 90 minutes or less -Rules that are understandable by 12 year-olds and older and can be explained in 5 minutes or less -A rulebook which is easy to read and requires less than 5 double-sided letter-sized pages to print -Components that can be printed out on a home computer, assembled using tape or glue, and/or found easily around the house The current iteration of the rules reside here: www3.sympatico.ca/czono/firefly-board.htm Some associated information, such as ideas for crewmembers, crew cards and tales, reside here: www3.sympatico.ca/czono/firefly-tales.htm www3.sympatico.ca/czono/firefly-crew.htm This blog will chart my progress and reveal my goals, intents, frustrations and (hopefully) successes. At the time of this entry, there are several components which are in progress, in various states of completion. I'll update this progress report as time goes on. [b]Rulebook:[/b] Rough Draft 100% complete, posted [b]Tale Cards:[/b] Rough Draft 20% complete, posted [b]Crew Cards:[/b] Rough Draft 60% complete, posted [b]Shiny Cards:[/b] Rough Draft 10% complete, unposted [b]Game Board:[/b] Rough Draft 20% complete, unposted [b]Crew/Opponents Pieces:[/b] Rough Draft 5% complete, unposted. More in logs to follow... Koz.

KOZURE

A few major successes last night were coupled with some minor setbacks. Most exciting was contacting gaidheal by e-mail to ask permission to use his fabulous deck plans as part of the main game-board. I was pleased to hear that he agreed to this use and I was able to start on the gameboard immediately. I had a brainstorm on overcoming the problem that "a single die-roll might end the game". Most (if not all) of the crew will have crew cards which will permit re-rolls of failed challenges. In addition, several of the Shiny cards will either add dice or permit re-rolls as well. Part of the strategy of the game will be understanding when and where to use specific re-roll cards and when to save them for really critical moments. On the less shiny side of things, I was confronted with the realization that my low-tech method that I had planned to use to get screen caps of images from the DVDs (i.e. using "Print Screen" and then pasting to Photoshop) was not going to work. I have an older Asus V7700 GeForce 2 card, and having never had the inclination to do screencaps before, I didn't know the drill. I suppose I'll have to dig into my computer storage boxes and see if any software came with the card which will allow easy and good clarity screen captures. Of course, if anyone reading this has a simpler method, please feel free to tell me (hint, HINT) I managed to find some good images of the crew on the net to use for the crew pieces, so that's off to a good start, but I really need a reliable method of screen capturing to get shots for the opponent pieces and the Shiny and Crew cards. As mentioned in the Board Game thread, I'm also a bit stumped on Crew Cards for Inara, Zoe and Wash. Any input on that front would be appreciated. Otherwise, things are rolling along nicely. If all goes well this week, I should have a playable prototype by next Sunday.

BROWNCOATCAT

...when you see the train you are supposed to be on sail out of the station 1 minute early, and you swear at it in Mandarin.

PUMAMANREDUX

Well ... Its been days since I started my last blog The Role Playing by forum game I got myself into is slowly taking shape ... geting a wee bit frustrated over not getting just feedback on the bio I handed in ... but all good things come to those who wait ... I guess I placed the bio I wrote up and placed some pics of the actor I used to represent the character up on a webpage at

RANGER

I thought I was ready to move on to the next stage of the project, but I realized that there were still some things rattling around that need to be tied down before I did. So, we have travel times and distances and we have a star catalog to work with. Now we have to set up the actual planets. Firefly has a distinct Core-Periphery geography. The star catalog gives us a range of possible sizes for the core between 20 and 30 light years in diameter from Earth-that-was. Outside this close cluster of stars are the ‘rim’. Firefly doesn’t refer to any star names that we are familiar with, but they don’t really mention any star names at all, they refer to planets. So, there’s no contradiction in saying that Firefly takes place in near Earth space (of course there is no proof it does, at least not yet). We have the star locations, and if you have an old Universe or Traveller 2300/2300 AD map, you even can see it graphically. What we don’t have are planets and moons around these stars. This is where the Traveller part of the project makes things really easy. Traveller has all kinds of rules for populating star systems. In fact, you don’t even need to roll the dice yourself any more. This site:

REDJACK

I didn't want to watch FIREFLY. The idea of using American Reconstruction as the backdrop for a scifi series was, I thought, a dicey proposition at best. The Civil War is ongoing in many quarters and, I thought, whatever side Joss and Company eventually fell on, they would be opening old wounds and creating new ones unnecessarily. I liked liking Joss's stuff, see. And I didn't want anything, even Joss himself, to tarnish that. The rumors about FIREFLY made me very nervous. I didn't want to watch and, as the opening air date approached, I made great pronouncements about how I would not. What a load of go se. Of course I was right there opening night, anticipatory drool already dripping on my denims. I'm Joss Whedon's bitch when it comes to TV and I might as well accept that and come to grips. And I wasn't disappointed. New folks to like. Snappy banter with lots of quirk and left turns. And, amazingly, some actual hints of science in the fiction. Space is a soundless vacuum. People die out there. Often at the hands of other people. And the much feared proConfederate spin on Reconstruction never actually materialized. What we got instead was the Alliance– a sort of nation-as-corporation thing- having pretty much wiped out the dreams of the Independants- a bunch of freedom loving edge dwellers who didn't cotton to too much hands on from Big Brother. The Alliance is all encompassing, oppressive, implacable. It is that same dark future of BLADE RUNNER or even the ALIEN series. Scary. Ugly and possibly where we're really headed provided we don't blow or sick ourselves into oblivion before we get off this rock. The Alliance, like many corporations today, embraces all forms of slavery as a function of serving The Bottom Line. By contrast the last of the Independants, Mal Reynolds and his Partner-in-Arms Zoe, are all that's really left of that fire that makes people head for the unknown horizon. Reynolds and his crew of criminals- unabashed and unapologetic- often screw themselves out of cash or dive headlong into danger simply to preserve or defend the freedom of others. And they pay for it in blood and obscurity. The Alliance isn't the Union. The Independants ain't the Confederacy however much they twang and twist the language. In the Whedon Reconstruction it seems the slaveholders won the day. Interesting take. Wickedly subtle and even, amazingly, subversive. On television. On FOX television. So, of course, it had to go. But I did show up, like I said. I stayed until the final final credits rolled. And, should this tweaked Reconstruction rise again, you can bet I'll be there for that too.

SUCCATASH

Firefly Prayer

RANGER

From 2004 to 2517… The first bit Once again, we have to make some assumptions. This time it’s about technology and how fast we will progress. Traveller has a pretty well defined set of Technology Levels ranging from 0 (stone age) to 21 (Star Trekish). The rules were originally designed with Tech Level 15 as the highest level in the game, but lower levels are also possible game settings. The idea is that the core will be at a higher level then outer systems (kind of like Firefly). Right now, in 2004, we are on the edge of Tech Level 7 (deep space probes) and 8 (Space Shuttles and orbital stations). Basically, we have moved from TL5 around 1900, to Tech Level 6 in the middle of the century, to Tech level 7 now. That’s a rate of 1 Tech Level every 50 years. So, let’s just keep that rate of progress as we build the future history for Firefly. There only place where there is a real disagreement between Firefly and Traveller Tech Levels is in terraforming (which Traveller says is TL16, but Firefly needs a lot earlier). (Note, there is a lot of different fields of technology and tech levels, so this is a gross oversimplification, but there just isn’t space to go through every form of technology, and that’s not really necessary here to build the back story.) So, here is a rough timeline for Firefly meshed with the Traveller TLs 2004-TL7 2050- TL8 Initial experimentation with Jump drive leads to in system jumps in Sol system 2100- TL9 Jump 1 and Stutterwarp achieved. Initial exploration of near star systems. 30-20-10 solution for future colonization established. 2150- TL10 Terraforming begins in near star systems. 2200- TL11 Jump 2 achieved. Terraforming successful in near star systems. First stage (agricultural development) of colonization begins. 2250- TL12 Jump 3 achieved. Second stage (urbanization and raw material exploitation) colonization on near star systems. 2300- TL13 Jump 4 achieved. Third stage (industrialization) colonization on near star systems. 2350- TL 14 Jump 5 achieved. Magnetic field crisis on Earth (this is a real issue, as the Earth’s magnetic field is weakening significantly and quickly, but scientist think it will not effect life here for about a millennium, so I’m assuming it happens three times faster for dramatic reasons). 2350-2450 The Exodus. Roughly half of Earth’s population is evacuated from the planet. War devastates the population that remains. By 2450 Solar wind has made Earth mostly uninhabitable. Crash program of terraforming begins to create permanent homes for refugees from Earth. Most Earth refugees are living in large temporary camps. 2450 TL15 Jump 6 achieved. Beginning of “The Golden Age.” The core worlds grow rapidly with massive supply of cheap labor. General co-operation pervades, the Alliance takes form. Crash terraforming campaign continues. 2500-2517 Unrest leading to the Unification War. The Alliance wins, establishing dual sovereignty over human space. Okay, so this gives a framework to flesh out. There are still some issues to be addressed. How did the two current spheres (Sino and Anglo) come into being? Why don’t they seem to be well integrated (there is clearly a lot of cultural cross over, but few Chinese in the Anglosphere)? What were the tensions that lead to the Unification War? Why not terraform in the Sol system? That’s the meat (at least some of it) to put on this skeleton. Next, Exploration and Terraforming of the near systems.

HAKEN

I was searching for a site where I can learn to read Chinese and came across one created by the University of Hong Kong that was really good. Check it out:

CHANNAIN

"Why do you watch Firefly?" I’ve been asked this question more than once, most recently by a fellow browncoat in England who was trying to convert a painfully skeptical friend. My answers were all superficial - space-going western, horses, guns, spaceships blah blah blah. I don’t know why I couldn’t put my finger on the real reason, probably because I've been in mourning so long for this show that I couldn't rationalize it all. It took a recent posting to really get me to touch on my true reason for my unwavering devotion to Firefly. Since it formulated during the course of conversation, I’m adding the appropriate quotes. [quote]Originally posted by Ghoulman: [b]What is Firefly about? It's about the characters. There are nine main characters on the little 'boat' called Serenity. Each one a full glass of personality. Each one with a different motive, reason, and outlook on life out 'in the black'. Though they aren't a part of any organization or serve the authorities, they are silently commited to this life. It's never really stated but each character has had his or her moment of choice - each chose Serenity.[/quote][/b]I told Goulman that his ruminatin' is pretty much bang on. Firefly is about the characters - where they each are in their stage of life and how they react to their environment. Each chose Serenity for different reasons, and each will do whatever they have to in order to defend their choice. In the end that probably means becoming something of a family whether they chose to let that happen or not. They had already begun to rely on each other for the different pieces that each character uniquely provides. And it would be amazing to be able to see how far all those character dynamics will go. [quote]Originally posted by BrownCoat1: [b](Guess this is how some people act over soap operas; can't wait until they get their next fix)[/quote][/b]Having been bitten by the soap opera spider once upon a time, I understood this feeling. But it's the same for people who are devoted to Babylon5, or FarScape, or Deep Space 9, or Angel, and sometimes even Stargate. I've lived from week to week with all of these, living in fear for the moment when they would come to an end. Firefly grabbed me the same way, and when it was over *sniff* I went on the Internet looking for something to fill the void left behind. FFF.net has done a lot to help that feeling of emptiness, but it's not quite the same. I wouldn't be here quite as much as I am if the show was still on, because everything I need would be right where it's supposed to be, touching my heart again from week to week. The Firefly crew was created in such a way that you feel like you know them instantly. It's absurd, I know, but in a way I think we all have come to think of them in the same way we think of the friends we've made as adults - as part of an extended family. Firefly has made us live for 10 characters (let's not forget Serenity), and all it took was 10 episodes to pull us all in. Now THAT is quality TV, and that's why I remain a fan - a browncoat. Because these are stories that deserve to be finished. [i]How’s that, Spacebug?[/i]

BROWNCOATCAT

I was recently in a conversation with person who regarded "Firefly" as something she scraped off the bottom of her shoe because it was a TV series. I love all science fiction, no matter what form it takes. Some people just cannot be helped. :banghead:

WERZBOWSKI

I was recently on the website for the big video rental chain up here in Ontario, Canada. I was checking for the availability of a recommended Adam Baldwin movie, by searching the actors name. In the results page I came upon this...

BROWNCOATCAT

I have always loved the design of the Alliance ships like the IAV Dortmunder. Cities in space that just bristle with power. I never understood why the Star Destroyers in [i]Star Wars[/i] needed to be aerodynamic, so I was really glad that the biggest things in the 'verse are so wonderfully monolithic.

KOZURE

Well, the game continues apace: [b]Rules:[/b]

RANGER

Well, it’s been a few days since I started this and I guess it’s time to make a couple of observations and suggestions on the project. The reason I started this as a blog instead of a discussion thread is because I knew my postings would be on the longer side, and they didn’t really seem suited to the discussion board format. A lot of the issues that I am addressing have already been brought up in the discussion threads (more than once I imagine, as I am a rather newcomer here myself). I wanted to focus this project on what it would take to run a Traveller game using Firefly as a setting rather than just a general discussion. I’m glad people have been reading and making comments, but I’m not sure how to best facilitate conversation here. I’ve realized that blogs don’t get bumped when people make comments. That means there is no way to know if anyone has responded. Initially I responded to comments with my own comments, but I’m not sure if people have any way of knowing when people respond on the blog pages. My next thought was to just respond to things people commented on in my next post, but then that could get confusing as blog entries drop off the top 5 and get harder to find. My current thought is to start a discussion thread named Firefly Traveller with links to the blog entries and have the conversations there. That way people will know when there has been a response to a comment. This would also be a way to access older blog entries (through the links in the discussion thread) without having to hunt through all of the blog titles. Of course that means going back and forth between the blog and the discussion thread, but I think it’s worth the effort (I guess we’ll see if people agree if the thread stays alive).

FOFFILMS

Well - after a scarey computer crash and several explitives later I am back up and running. Many thanks - ONCE AGAIN - to Biotech for resending his A+++ model I had to retexture, and ME THINKS ME LIKES.... I did a quick new test for texturing and here it is

ZERN

Greetings & Salutations, I've been procrastinating becoming a member of fireflyfans, but have finally done so. I'm just tired of there not being anything new for Firefly itself. I picked up the series box and it makes me even sadder that the series still isn't on. I'm sure just about everyone feels the same as me, so I won't get into that anymore. I just wanted to speak my mind. Otherwise, I just wanted to post my first post within the first bit of having an account here. Cya around.

EMOPIRATE05

Alright, this isn't really FF related but I figured why not talk about it here. I just saw Underworld and I have to say, I [i]loved[/i] it! I thought the Matrix-esk elements were very cool and pretty well done. And I have to say...[spoiler]the moment when Michael becomes the half-Lican, half-vampire hybrid is quite possibly one of the coolest sci-fi creatures I've ever seen. And with the pure black eyes...:wink:[/spoiler]I've decided that those vampires were the coolest with their graceful qualities and whatnot. And can you go wrong with canines like that? I mean really. So what are your thoughts on Underworld? Care to share?

CAPNRAHN

I have been asked (in various ways): "Why are doing a spin-off of Firefly concerning the Alliance, aren't they the bad guys?" The end of that question aptly illustrates my VERY reason for 'going to another perspective'. Mostly it comes down to 2 points: 1) Most do not know that I am a Gulf War vet. Now you do. 2) [quote] "There are more shades of gray than stars in the 'Verse" -Marovech Rahn- [/quote]

KOZURE

For anyone who missed the thread in General discussions - a board game based on Firefly... [b]Rules:[/b]

DRACOS

An English teacher friend of mine recently asked me to take htree days and teach her High-school Creative Writing class about Sci-fi. Like an idiot I accepted.:crap: Now Im stuck doing this next week and I really dont have any idea how to teach sci-fi. Naturally Im going to take the first two days to show episodes of Firefly that demonstrate what sci-fi ussualy is represented as and what it can be (Ariel & Shindig respectively). The third day however is going to be something of a problem. I know what I want to do but have to spend around sixty minutes doing it so unless they ask a lot of questions Im going to run way short. As such I thought Id ask here and see if anyone had any experience with this kind of thing and could offer any suggestions or activities. Thanks in advance. -Dracos

RANGER

I was going to keep plugging away at the backstory but I think we have enough base in technology and history to work on game mechanics for a bit. I think you need a base of tech and story to do the mechanics because I agree with Marc W. Miller (the guy who designed Traveller) that game mechanics are based on basic large scale assumptions. MWM earned an MA in Sociology before he designed Traveller, and I think part of the reason the game is so good is that he understood that Character Generation in an RPG is a model of how society affects people’s lives. You have to have a picture of how the society works before you can make rules about what kind of people it produces. Characters in Traveller are not 18 year olds setting out to conquer the Universe. They are adults, with years of experience behind them, trying to survive in the Universe (sounds a lot like the crew of Serenity). So, to generate characters I think the basic Classic Traveller with one tweek from Mega-Traveller is pretty much on target for the Firefly ‘verse. This system breaks a characters life down into 4 year blocks of ‘prior service’ to give them the skills they need to survive. This site has a good basic outline of how it works with the tables you need to generate the original 6 character backgrounds:

SUENOS

Hey all, Long time no blog, I know. Things just kind of took off after the holidays and its taken some time to get back in the groove. During the time I’ve been on the road I’ve seen Dean self-destruct, Kerry come on strong and Janet Jackson come undone. I was fortunate enough to be driving on the day of “the breast seen round the world,” incident but I was amazed at the furor it incited. I mean let’s face it, you’ve either got breasts or you’ve seen breasts. I understand the half-time show was pretty raunchy in and of itself and the wardrobe malfunction was the straw that broke the camels back. It brings to mind (at least to the mind of a history major) that we are at a cultural transition point. Think of society as being a great big pendulum. The top point on one side of pendulum represents extreme conservative thought in regards to what is socially acceptable and the opposite top point represents extreme liberal beliefs. When things are going well, people are employed, they have discretionary income, the world is relatively peaceful place, the pendulum swings toward left. Society feels more accepting of art, ideas and expression that push cultural boundaries. When things aren’t going as well, unemployment is up, there is less money for creature comforts and the world is at war, the pendulum swings toward the right. At this point people feel very threatened and they wonder if we might be headed toward the end of the ride. This produces a fear that society has gone too far and we need to pull back a little (or a lot if you’re John Ashcroft.) Society is less willing to tolerate extreme displays, whether that be in ideas, expression or art. It’s at these high points of the pendulum that we need to watch out. People who inhabit the extreme ends of the social spectrum come out in droves in an attempt to recruit to their cause the vast majority of Americans who inhabit the middle ground. It’s really important at these points not to let our emotions lead us into being pawns for one social extreme or another. Don’t let your energy, talent and uniqueness be co-opted just because a lone mammary gland got loose on national television. Take a deep breath and remember who you are. So on to more important stuff like; What’s in my DVD player (besides Firefly): “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Johnny Depp in eyeliner, pirates and sword play, what could be better? What’s on my bookshelf: “Affinity” by Sarah Waters. I really liked her other book, “Fingersmith.” She does a great job with dark, creepy period pieces. I also just finished the first three books in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series by Laurell Hamilton. I really liked these. They’re an easy read and anyone who can raise the dead is okay in my book. Just a reminder, I want to be cremated. When I’m gone, I’d prefer to stay that way. Be well fellow browncoats! Dare I hope for a return of our series??

EMOPIRATE05

Gorramit it's been a long week! I had a FF moment in Chemistry today and I thought I'd share with you guys. I figured you'd see where I was coming from. I had to do this science fair project and we got a lot of pictures from it. I didn't notice at the time, but during the experiment my partner and I were wearing blue gloves. Most of the pictures feature our hands alone. Anyhow, I was putting them on the display board today and just kept thinking "two-by-two, hands of blue." Now that I've sufficiently wasted your time with my spontaneous thought process...I think I'm going to go make some mac and cheese (food of the gods).

TEELABROWN

Holiday wishes, or something. Since I'm volunteering today, I really have no one to spend it with. I'm humoring a friend, but it's not a true date. So, everyone here who is alone, I'll try to be here. And those who have another person to spend it with, have a happy Valentine's day.

NESS

I don't get why the WB wouldn't renew Angel. So ratings may have dropped, but that doesn't mean they should cancel it or whatever. Their decision doesn't just effect American viewers, but the rest of the world as well. There are people who watch Angel outside of the U.S. and the ratings are probably great. If no more new episodes are made, then what the heck happens to the viewers that live in Canada, the U.K., everywhere else? People are buying the Angel DVDs, too. If they weren't, why keep putting them out if there isn't any interest? Perhaps the WB didn't follow what happened to Firefly. So a show may not be drawing the viewers, but that doesn't mean the show doesn't have fans. FOX cancelled Firefly and look where it is now: phenomenal DVD sales and a possible movie deal in the works. What about the other shows on the WB? Just because Angel doesn't have teen angst coming out the wazoo like certain shows, Smallville and One Tree Hill come to mind, it doesn't mean it's not good television. I mean, Charmed just go renewed for a seventh season. Have you seen some of their episodes lately? Not exactly deep stuff when compared to Angel's latest episode "Why We Fight". I suppose there's always the chance that UPN might jump at the opportunity to pick up Angel like they did with Buffy. Of course that doesn't help me since I don't get UPN, but that's really not the point. We should show the WB that Angel is a show worth keeping. Lettering writing campaigns have worked before. Just look at Star Trek; they got cancelled and some fan started writing letters and look where the franchise is now. Forever Knight, another show about a vampire fighting to redeem himself, had over a year between its first and second season, but fans pulled it back from cancellation. Please WB. Don't let another good show waste away.

GUNRUNNER

Well today was the day I FINALLY got to take a little trip out to the black errr Best Buy and get my self a Firefly DVD set! I found it tucked away on a half empty shelf.... the last one, AND ITS MINE ALL MINE WHAHAHA MINE IS A EVIL LAUGH!!!! No seriously it is. Well me and my dad look around a bit more, we pick up a DVD of an old movie he remembered from USN boot camp and we check out. So we head home pick up some gas and groceries (A few GNR Firefly bills were shelled out) and well it’s going to be an interesting weekend. We've already watched Serenity, The Train Job, and Bushwhacked. These DVDs are going to get used way more than my old VHS copys I made way back when...

SERENA

I lent my friend the first DVD and tried to encourage her to watch it without sounding like a psychotic maniac. She had the DVD for a week and didn't find time to watch it, so I continued to enthuse about the show without making it the only topic of conversation. This morning I got an email from her. She'd finally found time to watch Serenity last night and wrote to say she was hooked!! "Smart Sci Fi, and funny!" she wrote. I just feel so warm and shiny! (Now I just have to get my DVD back!!!)

KRYSTOPHER

It's been a week since I got the Firefly Box Set. It was the last one on the shelf... I love getting good grades, my dad paid for the whole thing himself. President's day is cool, no school. I convinced my mom to take me to the library/bank/music store so I can get some new cd's later... I've been listening to the same one over and over and there's this one part that reminds me of 'The Sweetness' a Jimmy Eat World song...

KRYSTOPHER

Another headache, blah. School was decent, had a sub in science (Bio) which made it that much harder... I think out of the cd's I got yesterday my fav has to be Toxicity by System of a Down... *shrugs* Out of all the Firefly episodes my favorite part would have to be when River comes to apologize to Book for the bible and his hair is out of his normal tie and it's all poofy LOL that was so funny! And I liked the basketball game, it looked fun... not to mention Wash's whole 'WHO'S FLYING THIS THING?! Oh right, that would be me.' LOL

TEELABROWN

Got my friend to watch it, and he fell in love with it. Yay! So, I have the rest of the world to convert. Um, rather big job. Oh, well. I'm trying.

KRYSTOPHER

Okay I just re-watched Safe. I love the dance scene but my absolute fav part would have to be when River steals the roll off of Jayne's plate. She doesn't even do it fast like, she's just slowly reaches out and snitches the whole thing LOL I think River knew that Mal would come for them or maybe it was just one of those she knew they were gonna be safe and thought it was her father *shrugs* When she said 'Daddy will come for us. We'll go home' It's something to think about. Also, did anyone catch just what it was that Mal said that Simon was 'very proud' of? The subtitles don't catch it. I caught folk at the very end but... Night all. ~I don't care, I'm still free, you can't take the sky from me...

HOTPOINT

Hi All, I find myself slightly conflicted today because my distaste for any television company owned by Rupert Murdoch is clashing with my overarching egomania. Ordinarily I baulk at the idea of giving them any money but I am drawn towards getting a subscription to Sky Sports and my ethics are fighting my ego for dominance of my brain. I play Tournament Paintball and currently play for my home town (Portsmouth) in the Paintball Association League here in the UK. This year my Team is in the First Division, usually called "Pro" (but we aren't paid or anything just sponsored) Apparently Sky Sports are going to start televising the League which means I get to be on TV. The downside is that to see myself I've got to sign up to the British equivalent of gorram Fox Can I salve my conscience and save my soul by yelling out Firefly quotes every time a camera is on me? My Team Captain Amy is also a big Joss Whedon fan so I don't think she'll cut me from the squad for doing it. Any suggestions? I am Rupert Murdochs Bitch :crap: Oh yeah, these links are me playing. The first is me playing the Paintball World Cup prelims in Orlando, Florida and the second (bottom pic)is me playing for my old University in the European League in Bitburg, Germany

KRYSTOPHER

One good thing about today, I got out of half a day of school. Reason: dentist. Blah. Anyway... I have Aikido later today. For those of you who are saying 'Ai-what?' it's a form of Karate... sorta... The reason I brought up the dentist was that I just randomly mumbled 'Two by Two, Hands of Blue' and then I had to explain all about the Blue Sun corporation and Firefly to her. She had blue latex gloves on when she was cleaning my teeth. It was funny. Then we got into a conversation about WWII since I'm reading a book about it... She said I should go see Schindler's list. I think I read on one post that someone was comparing the Alliance/Blue Sun to the Nazi's... I honestly don't see a comparison. And I have a quesiton regarding 'Safe'. Did they mention that Book was a preacher? I mean, I remember Mal saying that he'd been wounded as a bystander in a gunfight and that 'neither me nor mine were the aggressors'.

SUENOS

Apparently it is a day for appointments, or routine maintence as I like to call it. I always feel like the proverbial blind bat when I go to the optometrist. They take your contacts (well, technically I take them out) and lead you into this dark room and stick your face on this huge machine. Then the endless rounds of "is this one clearer (click) or this one (click.)" It's an exercise in patience! At some point you want to scream, "I don't care which one is clearer, just get me the gorram outta here!" So back on Monday for a recheck and then 12 boxes of shiny new contacts for the year. I have to keep my eyes in top shape to watch my DVDs. Be well!

SPAGHETTI

i am now SUFFERING serious FireFly withdrawl! i bought 3 copies from Amazon, gave 2 away, and selfishly kept the 3rd from myself. Watched it end to end 5 - 6 times. Now i'm loaning it out to my friends at work. Problem is, my buddies call and want to talk about this or that episode AND MY FIREFLY DVDs ARE IN THE HANDS OF OTHERS! It's not fair! i can't even find FireFly on the shelf anymore ANYWHERE. Bonehead retailers. Hint: If they ALL sell out, buy MORE! Sigh!

KRYSTOPHER

Oh god, bad day. Before I can tell this story you have to understand how my mind works. I have to do everything 'perfect' I have to be 'correct' if not the first time then the second time. I can't forget anything and everything bad that ever happens from the moment of my birth is my fault (so you could blame me for Firefly's cancellation). In reality, none of that's true, despite how much I say that everything's my fault :biggrin: So, about the last ten mintues before school got out my science teacher wrote me a pass to help tutor a few kids in Bio because they have a test next week (I have it too). Not bad but I have to find my history teacher and tell her that I won't be coming in to help her during Directed Study (DS- which I do every Monday, Wednesday and Friday). Not a problem -- except she doesn't have the same classroom for seventh period. So I have to go find her. Not to mention I'm supposed to be at a newspaper meeting afterschool on Thursdays (which I completely blanked about) and I didn't have a ride home so I ended up missing the meeting and getting on the bus. Can't [i]ever[/i] show my face to that teacher again... And this morning, I was running so late. I got up I was in the shower at 7:20-something, normal. I have to leave my house at 8:00 just to make sure that i don't miss the bus. I don't get out of the bathroom until 7:59 and then I have to run up and down the stairs three times to grab things I forgot. It has just not been a good day. I felt like venting. I know Valentine's is over but I hate valentines, and couples that are all lovey-dovey in normal time...

PUMAMANREDUX

Well as noted in at least one of my prior logs I had gotten stuck at [b]Out of Gas[/b] and had jumped ahead and watched [b]The Message[/b]. Today I finally watched [b]Ariel[/b] and [b]War Stories[/b] .. and then watched most of [b]War Stories[/b] again with the commentary on.

DRACOS

Finished my teaching gig yesterday. Went pretty well. Had to throw around some subtle sarcastic insults and shout "silence" a few times (much more effective than "be quiet" or "shut up") but it was fine. Made a few converts and gave them an assignment I'll collect next friday. That should be interesting. Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions before. -Dracos

KRYSTOPHER

Alrighty then, I rewatched 'Serenity' (fourth time) and I noticed a couple of things. One, River has to be close to, if not past, her seventeenth birthday. Two that moment between Mal and Inara when he told her to take the civilians and get in her shuttle. But here's my question: Why didn't River have clothes on? Summer really doesn't look big/old enough to be seventeen or even sixteen... Or maybe that's just me. Though I still think it's hi-larious when Mal tells Simon Kaylee's dead. Simon says 'That mans psychotic' and then Wash says the same thing. Also I like Mal's comment after he stops talking to Patience 'I think that woman's planning to shoot me again'. LOL Last but not least, anyone who owns the DVD's, watch 'The Message' with the optional commentary playing with Alan Tudyk (Wash) and Jewel Staite (Kaylee). It's very funny. 'It's so grotesque and there's something in a jar.' Got to love Wash's lines.

EBONEZER

I hate men. There just too damn attractive and taken and nice. I was depressed and this guy talked me into telling him that i like him (even though he has a girlfriend and there are a million reasons why i should not go out with him) and he goes and gives me a foot rub! Come on, be mean! Make me not want you! but noooo, be nice and dangle the bait out there. grrrr.

SERENA

I'm now at Serena@BrownCoats.com You too can have a BrownCoats address -

GUNRUNNER

I took a walk around Media Play today and I spotted 6 copies of Firefly for 5 dollars more than what I purchased it for at Best Buy located 2 miles down the road, Best Buy's Firefly shelf was emptied by me the week before while Media Play seems to have a lot of copies. Well at least I spread out the copies so they cover up some Friends DVDs so I hope Media Play sells them even if they are at an inflated price.

KOZURE

In the event that you've missed my blog entries or the short-lived thread, I'm developing a board game based on Firefly. ... Well, it's finally done and I had a chance to playtest it with friends this past Wednesday. Much to my everlasting happiness, it plays not altogether too badly. It's free and you can get more details here:

STICKS

its me mother's birthday today, feb 23rd and shes : " 60 " im trying to get as many well wishes from all brown coats from around the world as possible ,odd request but its different to the norm and whats the fun in being normal ...i say brown coats unite and a happy 60 th to the woman i call mum. no crude posts, humour of all kinds welcome .

SLYNN

okay.. so this is a blog... I really don't get out enough. :blush:

TEELABROWN

Well, he will be on DVD 3, when he gets it from me tomorrow. He loves "The Hero of Canton" aka "Jayne's Song". He sang it any chance he could today. His favorite episode (And in his opinion, the funniest) so far is his favorite episode. He hates Fox along with me. That's all for now, to be continued... EDIT: Darn my typing skills. His favortie ep is Jaynestown.

SUCCATASH

An old college buddy of mine came to visit recently. There was a terrible winter storm, so we couldn't do much, but he was about to leave soon and catch a plane back home, weather permitting. I tried my best to be a gracious host. I baked a fresh chicken and we ate in front of the TV. We watched "The Train Job." He had never heard of Firefly before, but we didn't have time to sit and watch the 2-hour pilot episode because of his flight. I figured "The Train Job" would be a good introduction to Firefly. Not five minutes into the show, my friend started choking on a chicken bone! His face turned purple and he wasn't breathing very well. I called 911, but they said the winter storm had blocked the roads to my neighborhood and no one could come. They said he probably had 40-45 minutes to live. I had to make a decision. All of my Boy Scout training was suddenly forgotten. As I stood there, I suddenly got an idea. "Keep watching the Train Job!" I yelled. It's your only hope. You have to trust me." My friend looked at me with a crazy purple-faced expression, but he did what I said and kept watching the show. But time was running out. Minutes passed, and slowly my friend began to breathe less and less. Every minute brought him closer to death. "Keep watching!" I cried. Just before my friend choked to death, the scene came that would save his life. I had been waiting for this moment... for the ending of this episode. It was my only hope. My friend watched in surprise as Mal kicked the bad guy into Serenity's engine. He burst out laughing, and the chicken bone suddenly flew out of his lungs at 100 miles per hour. It shot through the window and into the unknown. It was amazing. My friend was saved. Off in the distance, a cat meowed in pain, as if it had been struck by something. But I was too happy to care. My friend was alive! And it's all because of Firefly. Thank you, Joss!

KRYSTOPHER

Well I had to go back to the eye doc's today. We had just gone not even three months (right before X-mas) and I told him that my right scrip was what I was using in my left eye. So we did the exam and here's what I got LE: -3.25 RE: -3.75 (which is what it was before) So anyways, I should have made a fuss. But get this I go back in today because everything's getting a little bit fuzzier than it was (which since I sit in the back of most of my class rooms is bad) and take a guess what the scrip for both eyes was! Just guess! That's right LE & RE was -3.75, exactly what I told him before X-mas, just makes me mad ya know? Not to mention they wouldn't give us two more free samples to make up for the fact that he screwed up the script the first time...

METROPOLIS

My roommate turned on "24" and I was amazed to see Gina Torres on the screen. As I am not a fan of the show (how much can happen to one guy in a three day period before he goes completely insane?) I had no idea she played a reaccuring character on it. It was so bizarre to watch her nearly break down and cry as an only slightly intimidating man lightly interrogated her. I kept expecting her to pull a gun and say something catchy. But then, not every character she'll get to play will be as kick ass as Zoey. And by the way, I know she has bills to pay, but what's with her taking FOX's dirty dirty money?? :disappointed:

GUNRUNNER

Last night there was noting on so I watch this biography of John Wayne. Well they show this scene from one of his movies where he is walking to confront someone and this person behind him draws his pistol. So The Duke in one fluid motion turns, shoots the guy, gets hit in the gut, turns back around, holsters his gun and keeps walking. It was so much like when Mal shoots the lawman in "Serenity" it’s almost freaky. I wonder if Mal learned to fight by watching old John Wayne movies...

EMOPIRATE05

I've been editing some pictures and making icons using Print Shop 8. (I decided to try the ol' trial version when none of my friends would make an icon for me *shrug*) Anyhow, some of the icons I made saved as .pspimage files and I can't upload those to my blog because they aren't the right format. So, does anyone know how to convert the pics from .pspimage to either .jpg, .gif, or .bmp without losing all the color information or layers and whatnot? Thanks for your help in advance!

WERZBOWSKI

A friend of mine that I haven't seen for about a year is in town visiting this week. He'd never seen Firefly before, just heard about it from the emails I send him. He comes over last night for a get together and sees my boxed set on the shelf. He asks me if this is what I've been talking about. "Yeah, that's it. Wanna watch some." "Sure." 7 minutes and 45 seconds into it, he's putting on his brown coat and talking about picking up the set before he goes home. He's also really looking forward to the movie. The entire time we were watching it, he kept uttering: "And Fox cancelled this show? I can't understand it." Shiny!

SUCCATASH

I want a square bed, with square sheets and a square blanket. I want to toss and turn at night. I don't want to wake up with cold feet because my blanket is turned sideways.

ASTRIANA

Okay, so I've been reading and posting to the site for a bit now, but I never really thought I had a reason to do a blog until now. A friend of mine celebrated his 47th birthday last night. We took him out to dinner, publicly embarrassed him by singing Happy Birthday (as all good friends should! :biggrin:), then headed back to his house to watch videos at his request. For our vid contribution, my husband and I of course brought Disk 1 of the Firefly DVD set. (See, we knew that of those among us that evening, only one other person had seen the series - and he's a fan too.) We popped Serenity into the DVD player, and after a little "settling in," the room became deathly quiet. Everyone laughed in the places we all laugh... ("Ten percent o' nuthin' is.. Lemme do the math here...") ...And went silent with contemplation... ("I am very smart...") When the episode was over, those who hadn't seen it had the typical response: "Why'd they cancel this show again... Stupid FOX!" And started asking about the price of the DVDs and where they could buy them... ...And so the local conversion begins...