Nov 01 2007
Possibly to be following by Damn this is good, but with the “they cancelled it? wail soon to begin.
May 20 2007
Today I direct you to go read this post, it is from Joss Whedon, but rather than being about any tv or film, as you may have suspected, it is about Dua Khalil.
If you haven’t heard of her then you can go read about her, you can even watch her die. Though I won’t be clicking on that link; reading about her stoning is more than enough.
Women’s inferiority – in fact, their malevolence — is as ingrained in American popular culture as it is anywhere they’re sporting burkhas. I find it in movies, I hear it in the jokes of colleagues, I see it plastered on billboards, and not just the ones for horror movies. Women are weak. Women are manipulative. Women are somehow morally unfinished. (Objectification: another tangential rant avoided.) And the logical extension of this line of thinking is that women are, at the very least, expendable. [...] Womb Envy. Biology: women are generally smaller and weaker than men. But they’re also much tougher. Put simply, men are strong enough to overpower a woman and propagate. Women are tough enough to have and nurture children, with or without the aid of a man. Oh, and they’ve also got the equipment to do that, to be part of the life cycle, to create and bond in a way no man ever really will. Somewhere a long time ago a bunch of men got together and said, “If all we do is hunt and gather, let’s make hunting and gathering the awesomest achievement, and let’s make childbirth kinda weak and shameful.â€? It’s a rather silly simplification, but I believe on a mass, unconscious level, it’s entirely true. How else to explain the fact that cultures who would die to eradicate each other have always agreed on one issue? That every popular religion puts restrictions on women’s behavior that are practically untenable? That the act of being a free, attractive, self-assertive woman is punishable by torture and death? In the case of this upcoming torture-porn, fictional. In the case of Dua Khalil, mundanely, unthinkably real. And both available for your viewing pleasure.
I was watching Nat Geo Wild last night, and they had a programme called Why Chimps Kill showing chimpanzees hunting monkeys, launching raids and killing other chimps, and, killing and eating human babies. And was I ever greatful that I live in a country where I don’t have to worry about the effect human encroachment on animal habitat has. We don’t have this problem because 1) All our major predators were killed off hundreds of years ago and 2) there isn’t any animal habitat in Ireland. Not really.
I know, you are wondering how the chimps come into this horrific story about this 17 year old girl who was stoned to death because of religion and patriarchy. Well, they don’t really. The only things they share is that I can watch them, or read about them, and be horrified but thankful that I don’t have to deal with any of that. That I don’t have to think about watching for a predator to come into my house. That distance separates me, protects me, and lets me ignore the horrible things that happen, and instead can write blog entries on how yesterday was Talk Like A Pilot and I missed it.
I don’t mean that in a negative way. Well, I do, in one way,because ignoring problems like this is wrong, but at the same time we can’t live out lives decrying the violence that happens all over the world. We have to live our own lives, we have to have the ability to switch off and ignore them, otherwise we would be paralysed by horror. We all should enjoy the light and the froth that is the silliness of talking like a pirate or a pilot, and enjoy the fun of internet memes. And we should never feel guilty at enjoying life. But we should try to do something, however that little that may be. As Joss says
Do something. Try something. Speaking out, showing up, writing a letter, a check, a strongly worded e-mail. Pick a cause – there are few unworthy ones. And nudge yourself past the brink of tacit support to action. Once a month, once a year, or just once. If you can’t think of what to do, there is this handy link. Even just learning enough about a subject so you can speak against an opponent eloquently makes you an unusual personage. Start with that. Any one of you would have cried out, would have intervened, had you been in that crowd in Bashiqa. Well thanks to digital technology, you’re all in it now.
and then join in with week 224
Mar 02 2006
Sometimes the internet really really sucks. First off gmail has been acting as fickle as a French rugby fan[1] which means that it is so frustrating trying to check email. And then I get to work today and one second the server is up. the next it is down. I kinda wish it’d just go into total melt-down so then it’d be less tempting, and very much less frustrating.
Still I hit ctrl&c before sending my last email, so at least if gmail doesn’t send it I’ll still have a copy to paste and try to send again. So if you’ve emailed me recently and not gotten a reply that could be the reason, or I’ve given up trying to check it. This is also the reason you may receive two replies from me. both exactly the same. I’m afraid you’ll just have to deal with the problem.
Didn’t watch the football last night. Delayed coverage does my head in, but we won, wahoo! So maybe I’ll watch the 30 min highlights on RTE tonight. Then again, I’ve already seen the goals, so maybe not. Depends. There are variables that must be taken into account. Whether I remember it is on, being the main one.
Still nice for Stan to start off his managing career with a win. I’m still not sure if Robbie Keane as captain is a good idea, but maybe the responsibility will make him a better team player. Who knows what the future will hold.
And in the horse-racing business that future is very very uncertain. So would you really want to shell out 16 million dollars on a colt that has never raced before? Me neither. but if I’d been the ones to have paid around half a million for “Frosty” and are now selling him for a considerable amount more I’d be delira and excira. I do wonder how much it was down to the horse himself though, and how much it was due to the rivalry between John Magnier’s Coolmore stud and Sheik Mohammad’s Dubai stables?
And unrelated to anything, today’s Metro has a very brief interview with Joss Whedon. And in it he is asked whether he is in danger of making feisty young women a cliché. Which is a bit annoying. Cause look at all the films out there about heroic men saving the world. How often are directors of that sort of film asked “are you in danger of making the male hero a cliché?”
Feb 15 2006
Once more Joss posts on Whedonesque
Since everyone’s all abuzz with the CW rumor, I have to get all official and say: WE’VE STARTED FILMING NEW EPISODES!
See, that, the deliberate raising of our hopes, only to dash them. Dash them utterly:
Tags: Joss Whedon, Joss-verse, SerenityOf Dateline. I’m such a troll.
No, there haven’t been any overtures from the CW as regards a SereniFly spin-off. I haven’t even heard the orchestra tuning up.
Dec 21 2005
Looks like the internet has done bad again. EW is reporting that Joss has given up on the whole Firefly ‘verse, and the story is busy whizzing around webland, only, well, it isn’t true. Merely quotes taken out of context. I don’t know about you, but I’m shocked, I mean, articles being written where people’s meaning got twisted. This never happens, never, on the internet, or in MSM for that matter.
So Joss posted on Whedonesque.com and said:
Tags: Joss WhedonAll right, now I have to jump in and set the record straight. EW is a fine rag, but they do take things out of context. Obviously when I said I had ‘closure’, what I meant was “I hate Serenity, I hated Firefly, I think my fans are stupid and Nathan Fillion smells like turnips.” But EW’s always got to put some weird negative spin on it. But so we’re clear once and for all: If you read a quote saying “I’d love to do more in this ‘verse with these actors in any medium” all I’m saying is that Nathan has a turnipy odor. It’s not his fault, he doesn’t eat a lot of them but everyone else in the cast noticed it and tht’s not really something I’m prepared to deal with any more. And Jewel said outright she wouldn’t do scenes with him except stuff like the SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER funeral scene which was outside in a high SPOILER wind. So if I do manage to find another incarnation for my beloved creation, it will have been totally against my will.
I hope that clears everything up. Oh, and when I say I want to do a Spike movie, it means I have a bunion on my toe.
-joss (by which I mean Tim)
(no, actually me.)
Oct 02 2005
Serenity Comics #1-3
Story by: Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews
Script: Brett Matthews
Art: Will Conrad
Colours: Laura Conrad
Letters: Michael Heisler
ISBN: 1593074492
DDC: 741.5
Set between the end of Firefly and before the Big Damn Movie that is Serenity this story, Those Left Behind, is almost like a TV episode. And sees the return of a baddie from the series along with all our Big Damn Heroes.
Tags: 741.5, 9 Stars, Brett Matthews, comic book, Joss Whedon, Joss-verse, Laura Conrad, Michael Heisler, Those Left Behind, Will ConradSep 04 2005
Epidode 1.01
This review will contain SPOILERS for this episode.
We open with war and death, and the fun of shooting a giant gun. And so, in a way, this opening teaser shows exactly what makes Joss Whedon’s writing so great. The humour, believable. real characters, emotion and let’s not forget the explosions, because, they are important you know. But, as well as introducing Mal and Zoe as ex-soldiers, this sequence is all about Mal. We get to see his faith and belief utterly destroyed in a single moment.
Then we move from the explosions of war to the silence of space. Because, despite the laser sounds and exploding spaceships of Star Wars and Trek, in space there is no sound.
And let’s not forget the dinosaurs.
Okay, they may not be real, but come on, who doesn’t love Wash and his little plastic dinosaurs?
I will admit to not liking the theme song at all on my first viewing. But it really has grown on me. Besides, the credit sequence is great, especially the ending with the ship spooking the horses.
As a pilot I think this episode does a wonderful job of introducing not only the characters, but the whole feel and atmosphere of the series. We get to hear people talk over one another, conversations carry on in the background. There are Chinese phrases, western style phrases, Alliance cruisers, cockney thieves and all blended together in an unmistakable style. There really is nothing else like Firefly out there.
The main plot of the pilot episode revolves around getting the job done; in this instance that involves traveling to a moon in order to get paid. Along the way picking up a few passangers, characters whose own storylines grow in importance. We also encounter the Reavers, and learn, through various crew reactions, that they are to be feared more than anything else in the ‘verse.
And then there is the shock of Kaylee’s shooting. An incident that revewals so much about the crew. Zoe remains business-like and calm; Jayne first instinct is violence; and we get the first inklings of exactly how ruthless Simon can be when his sister is threatened. The shooting also gives us the scenes that really made me love this show. Mal telling Simon that Kaylee is dead, the look of horror on Simon’s face, his dash to see the “body” and then discovering that Mal really is a “mean old man” and has lied. Plus the other’s laughing their asses off up in the bridge.
Tags: 10 Stars, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Firefly, Firefly 1.01, Gina Torres, humour, Jewel Staite, Joss Whedon, Morena Baccarin, Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, Sean Maher, Serenity, soldier, WarMal:We’ve done the impossible and that makes us mighty
Mal:We can’t die, Bendis. You know why? Because we are so…very…pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die.�?
Wash: “Everything looks good from here… (beat…playing with plastic dinosaurs over his console) Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive.�?
(as Stegosaurus) “We will rule over all this land, and we will call it… ‘This Land’.�?
(as T-Rex) “I think we should call it…your grave!�?
(Stegosaurus) “Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!�?
(T-Rex) “Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh…now die!�?Jayne: “Ten percent of nuthin’ is…let me do the math here…nuthin’ into nuthin’…carry the nuthin’…�?
Mal: …I’ve given Jayne here the job of finding out.
Jayne: He was non-specific as to how.
Mal: Now you only gotta scare him.
Jayne: Pain is scary…
