In honor of Joss’ birthday (tomorrow) Things From Another World (your one-stop-online-shop for all things comic-related) is having a Happy Birthday Joss Whedon Sale! 30% off cool stuff like Buffy Season 8, Serenity apparel, Angel variants, and even Joss’ runs on Astonishing X-Men and Runaways.

The sale started today and ends at 11:59 p.m. on June 23, 2009. You can see everything Joss Whedon on their special Joss page – http://www.tfaw.com/Themes/Joss-Whedon

Check it out at: http://farpointforums.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=51

5 year old Australian Calvin has an evil laugh.

Nearly two years ago Joss wrote a stirring post on Whedonesque in response to news of the so called “honor killing” of Du’a Khalil Aswad. Du’a, a 17-year-old Iraqi Kurd of the Yazidi faith, was not only stoned to death, but people at the stoning filmed the incident on their cellphones. The exact cause for the stoning is in dispute, be regardless of the reason the result is the same – Du’a is dead. As Joss said, “There were security officers standing outside the area doing nothing, but the footage of the murder was taken – by more than one phone – from the front row. Which means whoever shot it did so not to record the horror of the event, but to commemorate it. To share it. Because it was cool.”

Joss Whedon fans, such as myself, were horrified. For a fandom known for supporting Joss’ favorite charity – Equality Now, known for loving Joss’ portrayal of women as more than just victims, known for rallying behind a teenage superhero and women warriors: we were more than disappointed.

This April 7th has been dedicated to be the international day against ‘honor killings’. According to the folks at www.stophonourkillings.com there’s been approximately 300 more honor killings since Du’a’s death.

If you would like to get involved in helping people remember Du’a’s death or raise awareness they have some suggestions and resources from their website (special thanks to TonyaJ for pointing this out on Whedonesque):

7th April will be the 2nd anniversary of the horrific stoning death of Du’a Khalil Aswad, which we have nominated to be the international day against ‘honour’ killings.

In remembrance of Du’a, you are invited to:

1. Leave a tribute on this remembrance page
2. Visit a memorial service to be held in Rt.66 Hotel & Conference Center. Springfield, Illinois, April 7th from 6:30pm until 8:00pm
3. Spread the word: Write a letter to your local papers, raising the issue of so-called ’honour’ killing.
4. Blog for Du’a: Write a blog entry for Du’a Khalil on the 7th April, perhaps using one of our graphics available here, or post about her life on your forums
5. Contact the KRG: Email the Kurdistan Regional Government asking what progress there has been in finding and prosecuting Du’a’s killers and what they intend to do to reduce the rate of ’honour’ killings in Kurdistan (there have been at least 300 other victims since Du’a’s death.)
6. Sign the petition: Sign here
7. Put up a poster. Print out and put up a poster in your window to show that Du’a Khalil is not forgotten [Big PDF]
8. Buy Nothing But Red, the anthology written in Du’a Khalil’s honour
9. Use this graphic as your Facebook or MySpace profile for the day

Best Regards, International Campaign Against Honour Killings Staff

Congrats to all the winners! We love when fans create and labor over a fandom we all love. Keeping Dr. Horrible going and hooking in new members to the Whedon community is what our fandom does best.

Check out all of the winners over at the Horrible Awards on LiveJournal.

While engrossed in my usual hour-guzzling past time of watching fan videos on YouTube, I found a really cute “Save Dollhouse” Public Service Announcement. The video was created last year by two Australian fans that hope to keep ‘Dollhouse’ from meeting the fate of many of our other beloved Whedon shows. It’s short, but will definitely elicit a chuckle!

The video you can find here at: Remote Viewing: Save Dollhouse PSA

From CSTS Global:

We sent the signal out and a few of the brave and bold with their brilliant artistical skillz took up the gauntlet (and their pallets) to create this year’s promotional art.

We know it’s gonna be a challenge – but we need you, the good folk of the `Verse, to help us choose which one will become the official artwork for CSTS 2009. You can only vote once and you’ve only got until March 12th to get your voice heard and your vote counted.

So vote and then tell your friends to spread the word and come help us choose the best of the best.

View Entries
http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/2009-art-contest-entries/

Vote Now
http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/artvote2009/

Voting Closes March 12, 2009 12:59 PM PST

This video probably has 50 or so different fandoms represented. Fantasticly, I might add.

Keep your eyes open for Buffy, Faith, River and others. Isn’t it great to have so many strong female characters?

He is scheduled to be at the California Browncoats table F6-F7.

This information comes courtesy of the folks behind Done the Impossible. Here’s the link to the original posting.

Clever fan video featuring Buffy’s entire 7 seasons to the William Tell overture. Warning, the scenes fly by fast sometimes and (obviously) there’s spoilers for ALL 7 seasons.

This is an annual get together for hundreds of Browncoats from all across the country. The location has rotated each year since it was started back in 2004.

For all the details please visit the official website…

http://www.browncoatball.com

A lot of our friends and people who work on Joss’d are up for awards. So check it out.

Notably are:

# The Henchman’s Award – Best Minor Character Fic
Declaration of Interdependence by ubiquirk (Fake Thomas Jefferson, Bad Horse; PG-13)

# The Dr. Horrible’s Turn Award – Best Future Fic
Envy’s Not the Word by ubiquirk (Moist, Dr. Horrible; G)

# The Spork-in-the-Thigh Award – Best Short
Laundry by bakatulip (PG)
Envy’s Not the Word by ubiquirk (Moist, Dr. Horrible; G)

The It’s All About the Art Award – Best Art
Darkness by irrel (Doc/Penny)
Dr. Horrible Wallpaper by Cheyenne Wright (Dr. Horrible)

The Freeze Ray Award – Best Fan Creation
# Unofficial Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Sheet Music and Audio Files by Moses Lei
# Dr. Horrible Box by Hjkuzcotopia
Dr. Horrible Tea by Beth Nelson

The So They Say Award – Best Non-Musical ELE Vid
The Destoyer’s Application for the ELE by MyboyfriendCat

The Sing My Own Harmonies Award – Best Musical ELE Vid
Fury of Solace by Emmett Furey

# Ten Dollar Solo
Fury of Solace by Emmett Furey

# The I’m Better Than Neil Award – Best Cover of a Dr. Horrible Song
2008.10.02 Karaoke Night! by Clay Robeson
My Eyes (begins at 1:20:35) by Clay Robeson & Kim Butler

The Everyone’s a Hero Award – Best Non-ELE Vid
Evil League of Evil Applications Processing Office by WorldofHiglet

# The Ph.D in Horribleness Award – Best Author
ubiquirk

And click here to vote.

I will admit to getting a bit teary eyed at one point. The WGA strike was important to everyone who worked on Joss’d, so it’s nice to hear (and remember) those fateful days.

Click here to listen or download the episode

Meanwhile, here’s a quicky:

There’s a new Firefly community at Live Journal: “bigdamn_rewatch is a Firefly rewatching community where we’ll rewatch an episode of Firefly every 2 weeks. We’ll post episode recaps, invite discussion and open up the floor for fan-related material or fanworks anyone has made or found.”

Sounds pretty shiny! You don’t have to have a Live Journal account to read the page, but you’ll need one to post. You can read the rest of the announcement post over there.

I look forward to ‘watching’ where this goes!

Keep flyin’!

Okay usually I don’t post fanvids.. but this one was so well done. You’d better smile!

News:
Brian Lynch Blog
Chris Ryall Blog
Fan recounts meeting Amber Benson
Chuck DVD info
Nathan Fillion interview
Felicia Day interview

Interview Links:

Jill Golick’s Blog – Running with My Eyes Closed
Jill’s review of Dollhouse’s Pilot Script.
Story2Oh!
Whedonesque Comments on Jill’s blog entry.

Character of the Episode Links:

Kaylee (Firefly Wiki)

Jewel Staite on IMDB

Jewel Staite (Wiki)

Fanfic Review Links:

http://browncoat-2×2.livejournal.com/155367.html
http://browncoat-2×2.livejournal.com/tag/the+slower+path

Click here to listen.

Joss Whedon on the Writers’ Strike: Do Not Adjust Your Mindset

This was submitted by WGA and DGA member Joss Whedon.

Dear Writers,

I have good news. I have lots of good news. In fact, I have way too
much good news.

The strike is almost over. A resolution is days away. Weeks. Friday.
Valentine’s day. Two weeks exactly from whenever my manager/agent/
lawyer told me. Yes, after talking to writers and actors all over
town, I’m happy to report that the strike is going to end every
single day until March. Huzzah! All of this entirely reliable
information means that at last the dream of the writing community has
been realized: the Oscars will be saved.

Let’s step back.

The Oscars seem to be the point of focus for a lot of this
speculation. That either they must be preserved, or that the studios
feel they must be preserved, and therefore this terrible struggle
will end. There is an argument to be made for wanting the show to go
on: it showcases the artists with whom we are bonded (there’s no
award for Best Hiding of Net Profits), and it provides employment and
revenue for thousands in the community that has been hit so hard by
this action. Having said that, it’s a f%$#ing awards show. It’s a
vanity fair. It’s a blip. We’re fighting (fighting, remember?) for
the future of our union, our profession, our art. If that fight
carries us through the Holy Night when Oscar was born, that’s just
too bad.

And the studios? Well, the Oscars provide advertising revenue and a
boost for the films that win. But the studios have shown impressive
resolve in ignoring short-term losses in order to destroy us. I don’t
hear any knees knocking in the Ivory Towers over that night of
programming. Hey, I wish I did. I wish, like a lot of people, I could
hear anything from in there besides that weird clicking sound
Predator makes.

I ask you all to remember: the studios caused an industry-wide
shutdown. They made a childishly amateurish show of pretending to
negotiate, then retreated into their lairs (yes, they have lairs) to
starve us out. They emerged just before Christmas to raise our hopes,
then left in a premeditated huff. They Force Majoured with gay
abandon, cutting deals and ’trimming the fat’ (I’ve met a couple of
’the fat’ on the picket lines. Nice guys.) and made every selfish,
counter-intuitively destructive move in the Bully’s Bible. They met
with the DGA and resolved quickly, as expected.

We have been advised to tone down the anti-studio rhetoric now that a
deal might be progressing. Our negotiators have the specific task of
forgetting the past and dealing only with the numbers before them.
Their ability to do that impresses me greatly, but I maintain that
it’s their job to treat the studios like business partners and it’s
our job to remember who they really are. The studios are inefficient,
power-hungry, thieving corporate giants who have made the life of the
working writer harder from decade to decade. They are run by men so
out of touch with basic humanity that they would see Rome burn before
they would think about the concept of fair compensation. I maintain
that they have never revealed their true agenda in the causing and
handling of this strike, and to expect them to now is cock-eyed
optimism of the most dangerous kind.

I have heard people both in and out of the industry say, “But that’s
enough now, right?” I have seen the thing I fear most: that whatever
their agenda, they are beating us down. With hope. With rumors. With
Time. The mindset seems to be shifting to one of relief and even
unspoken gratitude for their return, instead of flaming indignation
that they ever (illegally, do you recall?) left the table in the
first place. It’s the mindset of the victim. The lethargy of limb
that strikes the fighter as he unconsciously lets himself lose. The
studio strategists have worked this scenario as carefully as they
have everything else. It is so crucial that we outside of the talks
remember that, and let them know we do.

This is not over. Nor is it close. Until the moment it is over, it
can never be close. Because if we see the finish line we will flag
and they are absolutely counting on us to do that. In the room,
reason. On the streets, on the net, I say reason is for the
’moderates’. Remember what they’ve done. Remember what they’re trying
to take from us. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.

I have been mugged an embarrassing number of times, even for a New
Yorker. I’ve been yelled at and chased, beaten down and kicked,
threatened with a gun and the only mugger who still hurts my gut is
the one who made me shake his hand. Until there is a deal – the right
deal, not the DGA deal – held out, let’s keep our hands in our
pockets or on our signs. Let’s not be victims. Let’s never.

In solidarity,

Joss Whedon

From Alphatone