JANE0904

Ah. Just noticed that my last log entry was back in May. And there I was promising the new story INDIGO. Well, I'm still promising, but it might be a little while longer before I'm ready to update. It used to be that I would write a chapter a day, but those days are gone. Available time seems to have shrunk down a lot, and RealLife has got in the way. I won't go into it too much, but suffice it to say my Mum has had to go into residential care, and my stress levels are going sky high with the fact that my job is at risk of redundancy, so things are a little manic. That and the fact that I was trying to keep three stories going (two for Castle on another site and Interludes here) at the same time anyway! Oh, and sleep as well ... Most of the first chapter of INDIGO is ready, but I need to fill in some gaps. Those of you following my Castle fics will be happy to know that 3x00 is coming towards a conclusion, then I can get back to BLOW THE MAN DOWN, which has only really just got started. Now, if I can only work out how to get an extra five hours into the day for writing ... :banghead:

FRELLINGBLONDE

SHARK WEEK, bitches! That is all.

BRIGLAD

I know I've got two story lines on hiatus and one in progress but sometimes I can't shut my brain off. My favorite show before Firefly was Highlander. So I guess a crossover fic was inevitable...

THEHAPPYTRADER

I decided to occupy myself with writing while I search for steady employment. I feel fairly confident about the 6 chapters I've posted so far, and look forward to any comments to decide how to proceed with the next few. The title seems kinda misleading with Simon not actually doing spy type stuff yet, but I promise it's coming and I'm endeavoring to make it as exciting and hilarious as I can. Updates will likely be sporadic, but I do will finish this story and probably write more.

NEEDY

Damn you Joss Whedon. I love your work, I really do, but that in of itself is the problem. Anything else just pales in comparison. Yesterday I watched The Island again. First time since, well, the first time. Ah 2005, I remember the days. The days of going to the cinema week after week had come and gone, and by then I was slipping into the stage of "why bother? Why bother spending your hard earned dough for a film that will likely be ruined by noisy kids or rude people chatting away in the background." But there were a few films I just HAD to watch on the big screen. A little thing called Star Wars had its final chapter. "Noooooooooooooooo!!" we all cried in the audience when the final credits rolled up, although it may have had something to do with the hopes we had once had for the prequel series finally being put out of their misery. And then there was The Island, a film that looked like your average Hollywood blockbuster but with an intriguing story as its backbone. But I couldn't enjoy it, not completely. And I don't think it's simply because Michael Bay throws everything at the screen but can't inject the tiniest bit of heart into a story. I think it's because Joss Whedon ruined it for me. Before The Island I saw something called Serenity. Twice, in fact. I can't remember whether I saw the Island after the Serenity pre-screening, or after I saw it again when it went on general release, but needless to say our BDH's big screen adventure met and exceeded expectations. Serenity was everything a movie should be - exciting, funny, scary, engaging, shocking and more importantly, it had a decent story, with real heart. That's not to mention the wonderful talents of the cast. And then I watched The Island. A movie that, if done well, could have been an amazing film. But it was so filled with dumb action sequences (no, i'm not saying that all action sequences are dumb, but there needs to be some believability in the moments, otherwise you're taken right out of the movie - which I was, several times) incredibly cheesy moments, awkward line delivery and two characters I couldn't care less about, that I soon realised that - interesting plot idea aside - this was a movie you had to shut your brain down for. It never used to be such a problem. You see I used to be the type of person that enjoyed movies, no matter how flawed they were. But that changed on the 24th of August 2005. For the next few months, any film I watched were compared with Serenity, and judged by its standards. Few came out of it unscathed. And then came the months and years of watching lesser films rake in the audiences, the money and return a few years down the line with sequels, each one as pitiful as the next. I've learnt to live with this industry being the way it is, churning out the same old trash with no hint of originality. That's not to say that there's no shining beacon in movies anymore - to the contrary, there's been some amazing things hitting our screens . They can't all be original, but at least they offer something to its audience other than simply big explosions. Now its fair to say Serenity wasn't entirely original, it was a little bit Star Wars, a little bit Blade Runner, and what have you. But at least it did what it did with heart and soul. It showed George Lucas how the prequels should have been done, it engaged us all, even those who'd never seen or heard of a tv show called Firefly. And so I watched The Island again yesterday. I figured it had been long enough. I have a fair few friends who really love it. And since it was entirely possible I may have judged it unfairly in the shadow of Serenity, I decided I'd give it another try with an open minded. Although its not a disaster, and I'm not criticizing anyone that does like it (it does have some redeeming features, i think) I still can't help but see it in the same way I did all the way back in 2005. I wish it was better. I really do. But Michael Bay really does need to do more than hire Steve Jablonsky and hope his music can engage our emotio

MCMORRI1

New episode of Warehouse 13 tonight on Syfy at 9 pm EST! It's the Eureka crossover episode so don't for get to also watch Eureka on Friday!

THEHAPPYTRADER

Thanks for the comments, especially the cautionary note concerning Simon, River and psychic-ness. In my story Simon's psychic abilities are meant to be too limited to be very useful without resorting to dangerous drug treatments, but I also wanted it to surface from time to time on its own. To clarify, while River is awesome super-psychic but unstable telepathic, Simon is meant to be naturally empathic, which is why during a few stressful moments I've had his mind subconsciously "borrow" ideas or techniques from crewmembers. But I want Simon to remain distinctively Simon and I certainly don't want him to replace River. I'll have to be careful to make this clear as I continue writing. Many thanks to Bytemite for bringing that to my attention.

BYTEMITE

Fridge logic: if Grizwald grenades are set off by pressure, wouldn't they have "popped" when they hit the ground, before anyone bit into the apples?

THEHAPPYTRADER

This first fic has taken on a life of it's own, and even I don't know what's coming next, not exactly anyway. I can state with a fair amount of confidence that actual secret agent type stuff should only be a couple of chapters away, which I should have finished fairly soon. Thanks for every comment and I welcome feed back on where you would like to see the characters going. That kinda stuff really helps me when I get writers block! The Happy Trader

BYTEMITE

Driving away from a mysterious run-down victorian style home with a treacherous history, my compatriots inform me that they discovered, and opened, a strange book during our investigations. I bury my face in my hands. "Please tell me you haven't released the oldest vampire circle in America." "Don't be silly," says our driver, "there's no such thing as vampires." One jumps onto the hood of our car. "Look! A historical reenactor in period style costume!" I climb out the window of our car, and commence with the ass kicking. My dreams are awesome. Except I'm still crazy and the people around me are still blind. But the win-lose ratio is better.

MAL4PREZ

Today was the first of many - I have several chapters lined up, ready for posting. You know, except for all that last minute formatting stuff that always takes longer than I think it will. I hope to post one a week, though my current nomadic lifestyle may interfere with that a bit. The just posted chapter (15) is a bit slow, kind of a warm-up-and-get-back-into-things, but the tale will pick up again soon!

SERENITYRIDDLE

Finally got it. Read it. Loved it. The ending especially made me smile. :biggrin:

FRELLINGBLONDE

While the terms of the settlement included a strict confidentiality agreement that prevents me from going into any specifics, I settled my discrimination lawsuit against my former employers today. It wasn't anywhere near the amount my attorney and I originally asked, but it's enough that I don't have to worry about paying my rent and bills while I keep looking for a new job. Possibly even enough to move to New Orleans, which I've wanted to do for a while. And now I never have to see, speak to, or THINK about those people ever again. After the hell that I have gone through working there and in the four months since they fired me, that is fucking priceless. Not to mention this is all on record now, so if they EVER abuse another person like this again, there will be serious hell to pay. Works for me.

DWIWD

hello i am a father of three, who has just in the last year [2010} have found the joy of firefly. i never heard or seen it until then some years after its demise. i just wanted to join this site because my love of the show is very deep. i own all the episodes and movie, prob have just about worn out the discs.i hope some one is still fightin out there, even after all the time that has past, i mean come on syfi channel should pick this show up, it is perfect for em. ill never understand why it ended so quickly. just wanted to let people know even after eight years the show still attracts fans. HOW MANY SHOWS CAN SAY THAT? LONG LIVE SERENITY, THEY CANT TAKE THE SKY FROM US

NEEDY

Sometimes, a story can take longer than expected to finish. This one, I’ve been working on for quite some time. Must be couple of years, stopping and starting every now and again. I’ll work on something else but always came back to it. Mainly because I’m determined now more than ever to finish it. And it was only meant to be a short story, no more than four chapters. So much for that plan. The more I wrote, the more the story developed in my head. And as it is, its become a mystery story, spanning hundreds of years. Originally starting life as a Firefly fanfic (or at least set in the same verse) I’ve decided that I’ll probably end up going back and removing all traces of its connection with that verse. Not only so I can possibly have it published, but also because there have been a few elements that exist in the realms of fantasy, that its probably looking a bit out of place in Joss Whedon’s Firefly verse, which tried to remain as true as possible (for a sci-fi show set 500 years in the future.) Below is an excerpt from one of the chapters, and I’ve literally just written this moments ago so its still a bit rough and might undergo changes before the story is complete. But nonetheless, this is taken from Chapter 7 of Needy’s Destiny 2: The Legend of Fox Cipher. [i]Black. That was all there was to see. There were stars to gaze at, true, but after spending a lifetime with nothing but stars to look at, they had soon lost their appeal. Back home it was different. There were blue skies and green fields. Beautiful oceans and stunning waterfalls. The planet teemed with wildlife; animals of all shapes and sizes; flowers of every colour under the sun. And what a sun it was, blazing heat enough to brown the skin and give you a healthy glow. That was life back home. At least it had been during the good times. Before it all turned to crap. Now Fox Cipher, like the rest of his “family” on board the Gallagher, had nothing but dull corridors and a black void to look out at. It’d been over a century since Earth’s inhabitants took their last look at their dying planet, and only a small number of the population still remembered that day, the vast majority had long since passed. But even the ones that were still breathing, they didn’t remember Earth for what it really was. They didn’t remember its beauty. As far as they were concerned, Earth had been uninhabitable for years, and images of what it had once been were nothing more than a distant memory. But for Cipher, it wasn’t too long ago. He remembered his home in Colorado. He remembered moving from city to city, from country to country, appreciating each one’s different quirks. He remembered taking walks along the mountainside and staring out across the land. He remembered being in love with a world that was now only referred to as Earth-That-Was. He had hopes, like the rest of them, that this new solar system would be everything they hoped for; that after the terraforming of the planets was complete, they could start again. But the truth was Fox Cipher had lived longer than most. He’d seen promises broken and dreams squashed. He knew man far too well to believe they could ever really change. He wanted to believe. He wanted to believe that this could be the fresh start everybody truly needed. Finally, he might be able to stop running. Perhaps he might even be accepted for who he is, what he is. But he wasn’t naïve. Whilst he admired these people, the ones he currently called “family”, these that would have gone mad years ago had they not all set their hopes on a dream – he knew what they were like deep down, each and every one of them. He wouldn’t be accepted by them, not any time soon at least. The truth was he wasn’t one of them, he was better than that, better than them. And for that very reason, they would hate him, hate him for what he had – something that they could never pay money for, nor be gifted with out of kindness. It was a gift given to him and him alone. A gift he never asked for but one he would be forced to bear. The gift of life. If he h

DWIWD

thanks for the welcome, good to see some fellow browncoats out there. Ill check out that flick thanks agian all

BYTEMITE

Begin misery: "Hey, your co-worker is too busy (bored) to do this project you've been helping her with, so despite your gross incompetence and lack of experience, it's yours now! start swimming." D: Previously: 1) Began writing workplan (more than a year ago) 2) Rewrote workplan... ten more times. (one year later) 3) Staked sample locations at site, in thunderstorm, bombarded by hail. 4) Massive screw up on bid contracts, renegotiate with finances and bidders and get acceptance (three months) 5) Six hours spent yesterday getting ready for today and an efficient departure. Today: 1) Miscalculated time to pack jeep. 2) Forgot sampling plan. 3) Forgot to apply sunscreen. 4) Forgot to put trip blank in cooler. 5) Left paperwork in cooler to get soaked by ice, later have to lay out on desk overnight to dry. 6) Late to meet with driller. 7) Unable to reach driller's cell phone. 8) Apologize to driller. Receive unfriendly stare. 9) Pool for one set of the surface water samples has dried up. 10) Frantic scrambling to log first two wells. 11) 90 degree weather plus thick cordoroy over-alls. 12) Well-02 explodes. Covered by geyser of landfill water. 13) Waiting for decon, crew having trouble finding next stake. Volunteer to find it. 14) Can't find stake. 15) WHERE THE #&@% IS IT? 16) Find stake in obvious location. Feel dumb. 17) After returning to crew, unable to lead them to stake after having found it once already. 18) Groundwater samples? Today? What? ...Shit! 19) Scramble improvization, using sample containers for surface water samples of pond that has dried up. 20) Only needed to do one of the sample collections, as opposed to all five for the set. 21) Have argument with self, out loud and rambling, about whether entire sampling job is compromised. 22) Apologize to driller for being neurotic. Receive more unfriendly stare. COWORKER TOO BUSY LAUGHING. 23) Find out no longer have skin on arms, collarbones, and scalp, but rather red chitin exoskeleton. Legs also mildly burnt, but rather by oven-like chemical splash resistant boots. 24) More sampling table confusion. No longer sure if labels have the correct sample number and location... 25) Shown location of a Fed-Ex location requiring navigation of confusing series of interstate on-ramps. Ditched at work, told to find Fed-Ex again on my own. 26) Told by boss, passing by, that I've packed the cooler wrong. Told to ask someone to help me repack cooler. Someone smarter than me. 27) Told that loose ice in cooler can (and has) made very important labels on samples become smeared and illegible. 28) Attempts to relabel (wet) plastic covering around samples met with little success. Hoping not all samples are illegible. 29) Find Fed-Ex again, realize I don't have all the information I need to fill out forms. Back to office. 30) Printer ISSUES! 31) Back at Fed Ex. Forgot to put something in cooler, have to rip off duct tape. Reseal. 32) Can't find custody seal, concerned accidentally left it inside resealed cooler. Tear off tape again. 33) Find custody seal in car, where left it. 34) SENT. Surprisingly non-triumphant feeling. Wake up this morning - 5:30 am At work - 7:00 am Time of completion - 7:30 pm Damages: Pride, skin, remaining life expectancy, acute dehydration (been thirsty since noon, no matter how much attempted to drink), possibility that samples are ruined and entire day was wasted. Downside: Have to go out to site two more times this week.

THEHAPPYTRADER

Fresh out of College with a Music Education degree in a state that is firing band and choir directors left and right, what is an twenty something who is 'overqualified' for most entry level jobs but 'under experienced' anything else to do? It ain't much, but I have managed to create some of my own work. I taught my first private trumpet lesson day and am designing a 'hand to eye' music program at the local cultural center for k-5th graders. If all of this is successful I will be making... $75 a week... (sigh) but maybe I'll make a name for myself, perhaps get a chance to build programs within my specialty (middle-highschool band) and some day when the economy improves and they hire more music teachers, get a full time job! I suppose I should be thankful. As embarrassing as it may be, I'm fortunate to be able to live with the 'rents again till I can afford to cover more than my student loan payments. Also, if there are any Browncoats, friends of Browncoats or just plan living people with cashy money in the south GA valdosta, Thomasville or Talahasse, Montecello FL area who would like to learn to play any any wind or percussion instrument (or take voices lessons) or would like their children to learn, I am a certified to teach K-12 gen. music/band/choir/orchestra and I am much better at teaching than writing fanfiction lol. I'm willing to travel for lessons and my rates are very reasonable. Also I am desperate. But I refuse to end on an unhappy note, it kinda contradicts my screen name. It took a while, but I've finally advanced my fanfiction to the point where it will actually become 'secret agent tam' and things will go right, things will go wrong, and dumb luck will get our hero only so far before...something I have yet the write. Probably something awesome! Next chapter will have spy esque action, or at least a gross parody of it.

ZZETTA13

Just an update on my blog: Trying to get my son hired on at the factory where I work. Been trying for over a month and a half now. Still no luck. Seems rather strange to me that a company will send out an e-mail to it’s employees asking if they know anyone wanting to apply for work, then telling them that there are glitches about hiring family or friends? Anyhoo, It’s a decent paying job. Hope to get him hired on. I’ve come to expect no less by my employer. Please pardon my simple rant…… Apologies, Z

NEEDY

Ok, so its no big surprise that Joss has been involved in a great many projects over the years, but there are some that I've yet to sample. Today, I watched [b]Titan A.E.[/b] for the very first time. For those that don't know, it's an animated movie that was made in 2000 and was co-written by Joss Whedon and Ben Edlund. The story tells of life after the destruction of Earth, where a young man reluctantly agrees to help a fellow human and his crew in tracking down a lost spaceship, which holds the key to humanity's survival. Honestly, if it hadn't been for the presence of different alien races, Titan AE could easily be a part of the extended Firefly verse. Titan was one of those films that, although it sounded interesting, I never actually got around to watching, even after learning of Joss Whedon's connection to it. In fact, it was only a chance-spotting of it in the tv schedule that urged me to finally check it out. I didn't know what to expect. Just because Joss' name was on it, didn't mean that it would be any good. I've seen both Alien Resurrection and the original Buffy movie. Writing can easily get lost along the way. I've got to say though, that I was pleasantly surprised. This may be animated but it's no Disney film. There's no songs and dancing, not much in the way of comedy. This is a fairly straight and serious science fiction film that I imagine many younger children would find a little on the boring side. That's not to say that its dull. Far from it, this has a sense of adventure reminiscent of the Star Wars films and a fair few twists that I'll readily admit I didn't see coming. The characters were well-drawn and the story wasn't half bad too. In fact, halfway through I realised I had no idea where it was heading. And that's rare to find a film that you can't plot from beginning to end within the first five minutes. The animation, I'll admit, took some getting used to. It's an odd blend of old-school animation mixed with CGI. At times the Drej ships looked like an element from an old Amiga game and seemed completely out of place. But when the visuals work, they are truly stunning, particularly during the flight through the clouds with the Wake Angels and in a couple of space sequences towards the end (no spoilers) Upon viewing the movie a second time, I will probably be forced to pick it apart piece by piece, but until then I must say I was completely satisfied with it. I think that any Browncoat that hasn't yet seen it should definitely track it down. Don't be put off by the fact that it's animated, or that much of the CGI is dated. Or even simply that it's just not Firefly. Give it a go, you just might like it.

BYTEMITE

No, I haven't used my science prowess to recreate real life versions, I'd need to level up my engineering a little for that (soon!). I've worked through some writer's block, and I've been taking the bus home at night so I even have time to work on my story. But as I'm writing a Kaylee section, all the modern day equivalent parts in mind I'm going to need, I realized I don't know if the mule and hovermule use gas-based combustion engines. Also, I'm assuming the hovermule works via the same kind of grav screening Serenity uses, but I might be wrong. I can look this stuff up when I get home in my RPG manual, but I'd really like to not have to waste that ride. Anyone know? Thanks.

THEHAPPYTRADER

I'm designing a music appreciation program for the local cultural center (one of 3 small teaching jobs I'm taking in the absence of full time employment). I'm a music education major fresh out of college certified to teach k-12 general music, band, choir, blah blah blah but out of that 136 credit hour major, exactly 3 credit hours were spent on general music and teaching k-5th graders (which is who the class is for at the center). There is already a percussion class and a choir class, so the director told me to design something that doesn't "overlap those too much." She would prefer I do something along the lines of exposing them to classical music and world music cultural (which was not strongly covered in my training but I love that kind of stuff!) Anyway, my question is, how can I get the little ones ('specially k-2nd grade class) to learn the more abstract and academic aspects of music, without a the focus on playing or singing it. My primary focus was band, so I'm really good at teaching them to read music while learning to play it, but that approach isn't so available. My philosophy is kids learn best by doing, but that option is not so much available to me. Also, this is an after school kinda deal, not required so it needs to be fun. I have some lessons I think could work, but I would love to hear how other teachers work with this age group. Any suggestions from, well, anyone really?

WAKEUPSOON

I keep disappearing for prolonged periods! This is not good. However, I am back for now. && providing my degree isn't more time-consuming than I'm already predicting it will be, I may actually be around for a while. Oh yeeeeahh :) Can't wait to throw myself back into discussions! I've really missed this place.

NATALIETAM

I just found out I have to cancel my weekend at nerdtopia (dragon con) this was going to be my first convention but the odds have stacked agents me. My dog sitter canceled and the tropical storm heading this way has hindered my travel plans. Had my Kaylee costume all ready and everything =(