Now THAT I'd like to see...

Hello there readers, I’m Jayunderscorezero (aka Michael, so feel free to call me that if you like) and thanks to the kind people here at Buffyfest, it looks like I’m going to be your guest blogger for the next week.

When discussing Buffy/Angel, I can get a bit heavy (due largely to the influence of Buffy-based academic works; thank you, Roz Kaveney et al!) or just a bit bitchy (blame the stereotypical geek in me, I suppose), but today I’m going to go for something a bit lighter and just ask you guys to look in on a fun little thought experiment I’ve been having. I recently got around to reading “Time of Your Life”, the “Buffy vs Fray” storyline (I moved away from my local comic store last year and so have had to follow things like “Season 8” in the trades for now at least, hence the slight delay before reading it). To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the storyline, but that’s neither here nor there. One thing it did get me thinking about, though, was what other Buffy crossovers I’d like to see Dark Horse put out in the future. Now, these range from the slightly-ever-so-possibly-feasible to the never-gonna-happen-but-wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if they did, but still, I invite you to join me on this little stream of consciousness and see what you think.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Aliens/Predator

Inspiration: These guys are Dark Horse’s classic crossover pair. Their original crossover seems to have been inspired by a simple “hey, these are both Fox/Dark Horse properties, so why not...?” and the same criteria is also true of Buffy now. Also, it’d be kind of nice to see Buffy return to her roots of taking on and subverting classic slasher/horror film clichés, and hey, Alien is one of the prototypical slasher films, you know, so it’d be a great place to start. Ooh, plus there’s that whole Whedon-connection to Alien Resurrection and the fact that Alien’s Ripley was part of the inspiration for Buffy.

Other than that though, it’d no doubt just be an excellent excuse to see these guys fighting, no?

Premise: Hmm, I don’t know, since the Buffy comics have already introduced time travel, it’s always possible that they could just jump further into the future and happen to encounter the aliens/Predators and perhaps even Ellen Ripley (unlikely perhaps, but with good potential for awesomeness). If one wanted to get truly silly, one could even have someone create some kind of Alien/vampire hybrid, just so we get to see Buffy take one of those things out with a crossbow. I mean come on, am I the first person to connect the vampire/H.R. Giger’s alien dots here? They’re both predators with alarming psychosexual undertones...Ok, I’m officially reading too much into this now. Still, think about it: Buffy, alien, crossbow...Cool, no?

Potential quality: Meh. There’s potentially a lot of good ideas here to be exploited, especially if Whedon himself got on board and brought some of his ideas from Alien Resurrection along with him. Otherwise though, this’d likely just be a silly fight comic.

Likelihood: There’ve been Alien/Predator crossovers with every comic property from Green Lantern to Magnus: Robot Fighter. Surely it’s only a matter of time...? Nah, I’m probably just being wildly optimistic there.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Star Trek

Inspiration: There have already been a couple of X-Men/Star Trek crossovers, you know, so there’s clearly a market for crossovers that feature two completely different but similarly popular franchises.

Premise: Ever see Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Kirk, Spock et al travel back in time to 1980s Earth...and hilarity ensues? Imagine if they’d gone back to 1990s/2000s Sunnydale instead. Plus, what with the recent Star Trek reboot, you could even have the younger, sexier versions of the Enterprise crew meet up with the Buffy cast. Although that’d no doubt lead the way for some fans coming up with the craziest ship, the ship to end all ships and no doubt the ultimate expression of bizarre online fan love: Buffy/Kirk ("Birk"?).

Potential quality: Probably not good. Still, if you got a good artist involved, I really would like to see Chris Pine’s likeness making typical Kirk-like advances on SMG’s likeness.

Likelihood: Almost nil, sorry.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Wizard of Oz

Inspiration: Likely inspired by me just being a massive fairytale/oz geek. This one doesn’t make a lick of sense, but just hear me out, ok? Plus, Wizard of Oz crossovers aren’t so crazy, didn’t Marvel do that thing a while back where they did Wizard of Oz but with the She-Hulk as Dorothy (who falls asleep and dreams the whole thing after being attacked by the villain Whirlwind, natch)?

Premise: Remember that one issue where Buffy falls asleep and dreams that she’s in an episode of the Buffy animated series? That’s not so far removed from the opening of the classic Judy Garland film, you know, and I’d be more than happy to read the further adventures of Buffy’s crazy psyche. So yeah, Buffy falls asleep (perhaps, in a little nod to continuity, after having just tried to watch Apocalypse Now again) and dreams that she’s in Oz (ok, maybe it’d make more sense if she were actually watching The Wizard of Oz). The good witch Willow instructs her to go and see the great wizard and on her travels she meets someone in need of a brain (Giles?), someone in need of a heart (Spike?) and someone in need of “the nerve” (Xander?). In the classic Wizard of Oz reveal, it’ll turn out that Giles always was the cleverest of the group, he just felt like an ineffectual “stuffed shirt” (get it? ‘Cause he’s a scarecrow, right?), Spike always had the biggest and most emotive heart (one could almost say “effulgent,” if one wanted to get really continuity-geeky about it) and Xander has always been the brave person he wished he could be.

Potential quality: This is too odd to really judge, honestly.

Likelihood: Almost nil. The more I write about it, the more I seem to convince myself that it’s an amazing idea and that it not seeing the light of day would be unfair to all of the fans who could potentially experience it, but then I just remember that I’m completely crazy and thatWicked warped my mind.

Crossover idea: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Firefly

Inspiration: This one just suggests itself, doesn’t it? I mean, picture the venn diagram of Buffy/Serenity fans; I can imagine a lot of people that’d buy this one. Plus, did you know that from the very moment Firefly started, I always pictured it taking place in the same universe asBtVS, just in the far, far future. Yeah, I know there are no vampires, but still, isn’t the whole point of them that most people are unaware of their existence anyway? It’s not so impossible, you know.

Premise: The crew of the Serenity encounter some vampires, they somehow find a way to bring some experienced vampire slayers from the past forward in time to help them out...This one just writes itself, really. Plus, imagine all of the cute little character moments that you could extract from this: Jayne being all dismissive of Buffy because she appears to be just a diminutive little girl, which promptly leads to a swift joint beat-down from Buffy & River; Willow and Kaylee having a massive geek-out together (shades of the Willow/Fred meet-up inAngel); Xander having lusty-wrong feelings for Inara...

Potential quality: Non-fans would find it inscrutable, fans would “squee” over the whole thing regardless.

Likelihood: I think they may have ruined this one by already making Firefly a property that exists within the Buffy universe. Didn’t Buffy wear a Serenity t-shirt in one issue? Still, I’m alsoconvinced that they had one of the slayers reading Fray at some point, and that little artistic Easter egg didn’t prevent that crossover, did it?

I could likely come out with dozens more, but I think I’ve had enough of my own strange thoughts on the matter for now. Still, as crazy as these may seem, do try to remember that we live in a world in which Archie/The Punisher exists.

Anyway, that’s all for now. Thoughts? Suggestions? What reality-shattering crossovers wouldyou like to see take place? I’ve only really covered the incredibly geeky side of things, but if you’re really desperate to see a Buffy/Gossip Girl crossover or something, let me know.

Welcome Guest Blogger JayUnderscoreZero

Michelle will be out of town for a spell, but we're happy to announce that blogger JayUnderscoreZero will be over to fill in. J_0 runs 2 fabulous blogs As, If and When (a potpourri of internet goodness) & Little Red Riding Blog (a selection of media relating to Little Red Riding Hood and other fairy tales.) We're very excited to see what he has in store for Buffyfest and would like to extend a warm welcome!

Samm Levine talks about Drones

Samm Levine turned up on Saturdays with Steve (Agee, that is). On top of being an awesomely talented actor who most folks will remember from Freaks and Geeks, he also will be in the upcoming Ambr Benson/Adam Busch co-directed film "Drones". Here he talks about all manner of projects but if you skip forward to around the forty five minute mark you'll see that yours truly asked Samm about "Drones". The whole thing is pretty spectacularly hilarious though so I recommend just watching all of it.



Total side story: I knew Samm's brother, Max, many moons ago so every time I see Samm in something I always think "Man, I wonder how Max is". Thank you for listening to my pointless ramble.

fanvid sunday(?): wtfox edition

As I started looking for this week's fanvid sunday, it became very hard to ignore that nearly every single one of my favorite vid creators have had their youtube accounts suspended or outright deleted. It's so infuriating to see these talented peoples' voices being silenced.

Does Fox not understand what fantastic free marketing they are getting? Do they watch and see what these videos are about or do they just send out their cease and desists every time the word "buffy" appears? They are doing such an incredible disservice to the fans and to themselves. I hope that if anyone from Fox ever reads our site, they will sincerely reconsider their policies on fan videos because I truly think the way they are dealing with them now is a unnecessary and counter productive. Food for thought.

Moving right along, thanks to vimeo we still have some fanvid goodness in the world. This week Saskia Van Endert plays us out like a piano cat with this great video. Click through to enjoy!

You can find more of her videos at the link I posted above and also at her Buffyftube page. There are both Bangel and Spuffy videos to enjoy there. I figure many of you would want to check out her site specifically.

Happy Sunday, Buffyfesters!

"What if"...with Scott Allie

Have you ever wondered how the Buffyverse would be if some things had never happened or maybe just went a little differently? Us too. That's why we've decided to start a new segment here at Buffyfest called "What if" where we explore the alternate reality-type scenarios of our favorite characters.

Our first resident "What if" expert is none other than Scott Allie, editor of Dark Horse comics and all-around great guy. Here's his take on our first Sophie's Choice-esque "What if" question.

What if Giles and Willow were hanging off a cliff and only one could be saved, who would Buffy choose?

Well, Buffy would save Giles, and Willow would fly to safety on her own Wiccan power.

But if this were pre-Season 8, I suppose she'd have to resort to something desperate. Buffy says to Willow, "I know you blame me for Tara's death, but that's fine, because I was happy to help." When Willow goes dark, Buffy says, "But it was really Giles you have to thank, because he was the secret mastermind behind those three nerds." Willow let's out a big dark blast of magic, shredding Giles from the mountainside, and he's long dead before he ever hits the ground. Buffy hauls Willow up from the cliff, says, "Kidding," and after Willow's eyes go blue again and they have a good laugh, Buffy says, "Now please restore Giles from that mystical death you just put him through." Then everyone's cool.

But if one of them really had to die, Buffy would sacrifice her former Watcher, because she has Daddy issues, and her affection for Giles has always had its limits. -Scott

Check out the previews and pre-order information for Scott Allie's upcoming Graphic Novels Exurbia and Solomon Kane.

Michael Jackson "Spuffed Enough"

Matter of fact, some might say he "Spuffed" too much. Either way, here is Bitsy and Ivan doing an unplugged version of their MJ sampled hit, as tribute to the gloved one.

"Fallen Angel" - Exclusive interview with Peter David

Back at NYCC, IDW announced that Peter David's fantastic series, Fallen Angel, would not only be coming back but would be making its triumphant return with a four issue arc all about our favorite sort of evil ancient demon, Illyria. With the release of the first issue of this arc on the loom (it'll be out in July), I had the chance to catch up with Peter David to ask him to briefly talk about the particulars of the upcoming story and why Fallen Angel is the the series that fans of Buffy and Angels hould be reading. Here's how it went:

Buffyfest: What parallels do you see between Buffy and Fallen Angel's protagonist, Lee, and why do you think fans of Buffy and Angel will connect with Fallen Angel?

Peter David: Both of them are beings who once had overwhelming power and found themselves cast down from that level of strength. The thing is, it's approached from opposite ends. Illyria was a demon lord; Liandra was one of the heavenly host. Illyria was cast down because others feared her power; Liandra because she exercised free will in defiance of God. Indeed, in many ways they are alike, which naturally is enough to guarantee they will take an instant dislike to each other (thus insuring tha hilarity will ensue.) As for Buffy fans, I think it's safe to say that fans of BtVS like a strong heroine. The fact is that the Fallen Angel has a sizable contingent of female fans. The Fallen Angel wears a fairly concealing costume (as opposed to a thong and bra), she has a modest body type as opposed to gigantic breasts, she smokes too much, drinks too much, curses too much, and has lousy taste in men. For some reason, women find her easy to identify with. Go figure. Anyway, I think that Buffy fans will find themselves fairly comfortable walking the streets of Bete Noire.


BF: For those just jumping into Fallen Angel now, what do they need to know before they pick up the first issue of the Illyria arc?

PD: In point of fact, they don't need to know anything. Since Illyria's mission is what drives the story, I decided to make her the first person narrative, focal point. Anyone new to the series will have no problem with it because they're seeing it entirely through Illyria's eyes. Fans meeting the denizens of Bete Noire won't be confused because Illyria is meeting them at the same time, and there is no presupposed knowledge under those circumstances. For those interested in finding out more about the Fallen Angel and Bete Noire (the City that Shapes the World) I would recommend the brand spanking new Fallen Angel Omnibus which reprints, in one handy package, the first 21 issues of the series.

BF: What's the basic premise of this Illyria story?

PD: It takes place shortly after "Time Bomb." Illyria has lost a substantial portion of her powers and is feeling more distant, more cut off, more frustrated than ever. Then she has an unusual encounter at Wolfram and Hart with a gentleman identifying himself as one of the Hierarchy, the unseen organization that has the ultimate authority over Bete Noire (not dissimilar from the Senior Partners at W&H.) The gentleman offers her a fascinating deal: He can set her on a course that will enable her to become all that she was and more, and in exchange she simply has to dispose of the Fallen Angel.

I hope all you Illyria and Buffy fans are getting excited! Peter David is one of the most prolific writers in the business and I can think of no one better to tell Illyria's story. I'll be posting a review of the Fallen Angel Omnibus shortly but, and this almost goes without saying: I highly reccommend picking it up straight away as it is a thoroughly brilliant read.

Twitter Drive for Can't Stop the Serenity!

We'll be donating .10 for every new Twitter follower from now until the NYC CSTS event this Sunday! Bitsy and I are attending that event and we'll give the Browncoats of NYC the loot right there and then!

But wait, there's more! 2009 Global Organizer Anne Barringer has told us she'll personally match our donation. Miss Fabulosity! So every new follower will now be .20 for Equality Now. Yay and Po-ta-toes to giving!

Get in on the action and follow us on Twitter here:  twitter.com/buffyfest

If Twitter's not your thing, check out Anne's donation announcement today on Facebook over here: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/150518/2050548?m=f276e9a3

By the way, our new direct Facebook url is Facebook.com/Buffyfest

David Boreanaz Brings Back Liam's Infamous Irish Brogue

I just listened to David Boreanaz talk with the BBC about I don't even know what. The important thing here is that the DJ seems to be Scottish and for some reason DB feels the need to embrace his inner Liam in this chat - I never thought I'd hear that "unique" accent again and you all know what I mean by "unique". The scary thing is that I'm not even sure if he realizes it. He also does some speed dating thing which I don't quite understand and if you skip to around 12-13 minutes in, he answers the Buffy Movie question.

Go here to listen.

Jimmy Fallon Strikes Again

What is up with Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and weird references to people in el universe de Whedon? During Friday's episode, Jeff Goldblum and Jimmy Fallon start talking about Adam Baldwin completely out of the blue. See for yourself:



What in the world? Random, no? I have to say, though, that it is tremendously awesome of Jeff Goldblum to be singing the praises of he that is the man they call Jayne for no particular reason.

Meanwhile, the link between Goldblum and Baldwin vis a vie Independence Day got me to thinking what a film or television show combining the forces of Joss and Goldblum would be like. I don't know about you but I think it would be profoundly awesome to see Goldblum starring in a Whedon project. He could be another super villain in the Dr. Horrible universe or maybe the man behind the company that controls the Dollhouse kind of like the equivalent to Leonard Nimoy on Fringe. Right? I mean, seriously, right!?!? Whedon and Goldblum. I want it. Make it happen, internet.

Buffyfest 2009: The Buffyfest Guerilla Drive-In

The Guerilla Drive-In was a total success. EVERYONE needs to try this, it's so fun. The concept, conceived and set up by Ryan, is basically: get some equipment (a projector, a power inverter, laptop, fm transmitter, a bunch of cars and a Buffy DVD), find a random wall at night and rebelliously project Buffy on to it. Every car then tunes in to a specific FM station and picks up the audio. So many things threatened to foil our loitering plans, most notably the torrential rain we've been seeing here in the North East for what seems like forever. It was pretty nasty and that's no way to set up electronics on top of cars. But did we let that stop us? No way! We're Buffyfest! If we can't hold a Buffyfest then something has gone wrong with the world.

Prior to going out we did our pre-party thing. Now, we already knew what we were watching this year. There wasn't going to be any of the usual polling and voting. After a bit of a voting SNAFU last year, we had it slated that we'd be viewing the 3 episode arc of "The Prom", "Graduation Day pt. 1" and "Graduation Day pt. 2". So before venturing out we did the whole, eating, drinking, partying, Buffy Trivia Game show (which Ryan hosted for the first time and Michelle won!), and gift bags (filled with Whedon themed teas and other goodies.) We watched the first 2 eps indoors and then saved the finale for the Drive-in. There was definitely a feeling of doubt and wanting to just finish the viewing inside since the weather was not letting up, but we had to try.

So our "plan B" was to find somewhere underground or sheltered. Now, it was pretty late by the time we set out, so finding a spot in the rain was a bit tricky. But Michael thought of a perfect underground parking garage normally used by stores that were closed at that moment. It was more lit up in there than we would've liked, but was still dim enough. After some very small technical difficulties we were up and running. Watching Buffy in that gritty underground way was so cool! Jen likened it to "temporary Buffy graffiti". And there we were, all in different cars passing the popcorn and movie candy, just having a ball. I was sure the cops would be coming around to bust us, but we lucked out. And really, we just may have convinced them to pull up a police car, tune in to 88.9 and just get into the wonderful season 3 finale of Buffy. Hee!

Special thanks to Ryan as we wouldn't have thought of it or been able to do this without all of his fanciness and fancy stuff! And to Frankie for his fuse :)

Check out more photos below:

fanvid sunday: buffy vs. edward cullen edition

Whedonesque may think that fans are above petty bashing but we here at Buffyfest know that the bash is a quintessential part of being a fan. So for those who missed it, I present to you Buffy lacing awesomely into one very sparkly, lol worthy vampire.



Just want to point out that a lot of Buffy's most incredulous looks, comments on stalking, and general mockery are with regard to Spike. Just thought I'd throw that out there because, as you know, I like to do a little bashing of my own.














I'm so sad! Won't you ever let up, Bitsy?




Nope. Never.

How to throw your own Buffyfest Part 4: The Gifts

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If you've been following thus far, you'll know we've been discussing  "How to throw your own Buffyfest" for the last few days. Gifts are great, you can do it fancy, you can do it home made and on the cheap. They're a nice memory that you take away with you.  Over the years we've included all sorts of things.  Here are some of the raw materials we used to do our slayery dues, Buffyfest style.

Tee shirts (printable iron-on paper)
magnets - using printed circles glued on to washers with store bought magnets (home depot)
Buttons (needs a button maker)
Shrinkie Dink pins & keychains
Notebooks (Zazzle)

Postcards

This year's goodie bag was filled with super special goodness. We'll post that in this year's Buffyfest recap.

In the mean time, here's a photo montage showing the fruits of our labor:

How to throw your own Buffyfest Part 3: The Games

This is the 3rd part of our "How to throw your own Buffyfest" series and in this part we're going to be giving away a little freebie that is close to Michelle's heart - The Buffyfest Trivia Game. It's a game show type activity that she invented for Buffyfest and is the regular host of.

The Buffyfest Trivia Game Show is a great way to show off your Buffy knowledge. You don't need much to play the "Jeopardy" style game either - some researching skills, poster board and a computer - depending on how detailed you want the event. One caveat to that: After stressing over how to get the game show-type-vibe of "buzzing in" for an answer, without having to build something...we became privy to a vintage board game called "Quizzard ". So, if you want to set it up like a game show like we do, you must get the Quizzard (which usually goes for about $20-$25 on eBay.) It eliminates any fights that might break out!

Now the challenge of picking the right mix of questions - easy and hard - will be the fun part for the creator of the game. Luckily for you, if you don't want to think too hard on this we have Michelle's list compiled already for you. And as for the game itself, check out these free downloads created by Tara (download here). It's all packaged into a nice little bundle with instructions, but any questions just email us.

So, even though Ryan wins every year and Mike and Ivan grumble, I don't think a Buffyfest would be complete without the trivia game show portion of the night. Hope you enjoy it too!

Also, since last year we started ending the Buffyfests with another fun and simple game - The Buffy Fantasy Game (right click, download here). It's an interactive DVD type game created by Julia, resident TV Geek at VelvetParkMedia.com. Anyone who's left post-festivities, or hasn't passed out from drunkeness, usually end up playing this and screaming things at the TV like: "Come ON Buffy, stake a fricken VAMP already! I need some points! It's the name of the show and she doesn't stake a vamp the whole damn episode!!" Good times.

How to throw your own Buffyfest Part 2: The food

So this week we're talking about planning a Buffyfest, something we've become quite used to! In part 1 we discussed wrangling the guests and deciding on what episodes to watch...not an easy task! In this part we're talking munchies. Buffyfest wouldn't be a 'fest without lots of food and drinks to consume - Buffy style, of course! Buffy and Angel had a lot of food references, but as you'll see from the list below, the inspiration can come from anywhere, especially if they're related to blood! Here are a few examples from our parties over the years:

Entrees:

"Ted's" Mini Pizzas

"Angel" Hair Pasta Salad

"Anya's World of Shrimp" Cocktail

"Spuffalo" Wings

"Chips and Dip Girl"

The "Cheese Man" Platter

"Bad Eggs"

"Vampire-slaying" tomato, basil & marinated feta (or mozzarella) hors'

"Winifred's" Taco Station

Pancakes - (Funny Shape or Rounds)

Desserts:

Jen's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Pie

"Ted's" Chocolate cookies (not the drug-laden kind unless ya want to)

Red Velvet Cupcakes (those have Sword of Angelus' through them!)

"Stake through the Heart" Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Drinks:

Slay the "Dragon" Punch

"Blood" Orange Champagne Cocktails
Bloody Marys

"Oh, hey! Juice!"

When you're planning you're own Buffyfest, just have some food fun and be creative! Anything with garlic is pretty much vampire related, and anything with a skewer can be considered "staked," so it automatically falls within theme. You can do a Chinese-fusion type thing if you're watching Firefly at your 'fest. And for Dr. Horrible? FroYo for all, of course. 

How to throw your own Buffyfest - Four Part Series

In case you didn't already know, the Buffyfest Blog was born out of a real Buffyfest - a small, private, all-things-Buffy celebration. We're coming up on our 4th year and on June 20th we're turning this year's 'fest into a Guerrilla drive-in where we're mounting a projector and FM transmitting the audio to our car speakers. We'll definitely recap that in all its glory afterwards (we're fully expecting to get kicked out by the police from wherever we land, which from what we understand is the point of the whole thing!) In the mean time, we thought it'd be fun to post a "How To" guide, so others might follow in this tradition. Buffyfest isn't just a day of watching episodes - we've got food, booze, games and gift bags to add to the fun. And we've done something entirely different every year.

To kick off this series, we're going to focus on what episodes to watch. Of course, you can use whatever method you want to decide, but this is ours. Back in the day, we only had a small private forum and we'd use it to plan our Buffyfests. One main reason for this would be the multiple threads dedicated to polls for voting on what episodes we'd be watching. First we'd edit the nominees down to 4-6 episodes and then let the voting begin by all the guests. These, of course, would sometimes end up in a "Sudden death" thread.

Some examples would be:
Dynamite Drop-ins by Jonathan (FYI, our nominees were: "What's my line pt. 2", "Reptile Boy", "Earshot" and "Superstar" for the poll - with "Earshot" winning.)

Favorite Origin Story (our nominees were: "Fool For Love", "Restless", "Family", "The Dark Age", and "Selfless" with "Restless" taking it.)

Best Character Death episode (nominees: "The Body", "Passion", "Seeing Red", "Prophecy Girl", and "Not Fade Away" - "Passion" won that by a lot.)

Last year at our Buffyfest Backyard BBQ, we decided to vote on specific themes instead. It didn't go over very well and we really don't recommend it, but for the record the theme we ended up with was "The Period Pieces" and it consisted of "Amends", "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?", and "Darla". We also threw Dr. Horrible in the mix at the pre-party.

If you and your peeps want to use the forum polling method, you can get your own free forum at the following sites, among others:
www.proboards.com

www.freeforums.org/

www.forumotion.com/

Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow which will be all about the food.

NYC 'Can't Stop the Serenity' Event - Get tickets before they sell out!

We're very, very proud to annouce that not only are we sponsoring Can't Stop the Serenity global, but we're sponsoring and donating to our local Browncoat chapter, as well. The Browncoats of NYC are putting on a great Can't Stop the Serenity event on June 28h. Again, these events support Joss's favority charity, Equality Now, which helps protect women's rights around the world. If you're in or around the NYC area, you must attend. Bitsy and I will be there too!

We're donating Dollhouse posters signed by Joss Whedon, from the Apple store event in Soho, NYC. He signed them specifically because we were planning on donating them! This was the event where he and Eliza recorded a podcast just prior to Dollhouse's premier, which you can hear at itunes.


Check out all the deets here of the event here: 

http://www.browncoatsofnyc.org/ 

Get your tickets before they sell out! Only 2 weeks to go until this awesome event. http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/63324

Angel's Kelley Armstrong: A True Champion

As you may or may not know, we're proudly sponsoring this year's Can't Stop the Serenity event. In our quest to find the perfect donation, we decided to ask Angel: Aftermath writer Kelley Armstrong to see if she'd like to participate. Kelley not only donated, but went above and beyond the call of duty.

What you see there are 3 autographed copies of Angel: Aftermath and, hold onto your hats, Kelley's original first draft (signed) of Angel: Aftermath #1! We can't tell you how excited we were when we saw that script and how appreciative we are to Kelley for being such a giving person to our site, and the fandom as a whole. It's an amazing experience when the people involved in the Whedonverse come together for the good of the world.

Thanks Kelley!

Oh my blog!

David Boreanaz's High School Graduation photo!!

fanvid sunday: affilliate edition

Last week a certain someone wondered if his very first fanvid would make it to this little site on the Sunnydale prairie. Well question no more, oh studdly slayalive mod extraordinaire! Straight from the editing skills of the one and only James Sexton aka Wyndam; here is a fanvid tribute to "Not Fade Away" which is one of the best series finales of all time.

Angel: Before the Fall from James Sexton on Vimeo.

Happy Sunday, Buffyfesters and awesome vid, wyndam!

More "Megan Fox, to Buffy or not to Buffy?"

"Buffy" waits for Angel or Spike or Xander or Giles (take your pick) in the library.

This is total fluff but Perez is spreading it around now like an STD, so I guess we'll address it...but there's really not much to address. I mean, we already knew this whole "Megan Fox as Buffy" bizniz was a rumor. So, the fact that the producer of the Whedonless Buffy movie (Roy Lee of Vertigo, not the Kuzuis) says it's a rumor, but also doesn't deny it,  just seems like more fan-torture simply for PR sake.

IGN's exact quote from Lee was:"The rumors of Megan Fox being involved with Buffy are just rumors. As with any film project with a female lead under the age of 30, Megan is the actress that most studios want so it is no surprise her name is mentioned. While I think she would be great for our project, we are still in the early stages of developing the script."

Oh, I didn't realize that Roy Lee was the exec producer/producer of The Grudg, The Grudge 2, and Possession - all starring our very own SMG. Hmm, the plot thickens.

source

Newsies

WTF else is happening in the Whedonverse you ask? Well here's a week end run down:

So are the Kuzui's nervous or what? Apparently the Whedonless Buffy movie producers did reach out to Joss after all (most likely after all the internets exploded in a frenzy of hate.) Joss told EW: “I believe [the producers] did ultimately reach out to my agent after the news broke.” Then goes on to say, “I think that’s something better left untouched by me. So, I wish them luck.” Yeah, good luck with that.

From the same article, Joss talks about how fabulous the new writing is going on Dollhouse, the status of Alpha, Summer Glau's appearance speculation and more. He says it's 'Back with such a vengeance'. The man certainly seems excited! I think that's reason for all the haters and worriers to chillax just a little.

If you're going to San Diego Comic Con, you'll be pleased to hear about the awesomeness announced. Not only will there be a Dollhouse Q&A panel in Ballroom 20 with Joss and Eliza, but the final season 1 episode surrounded in mystery - 'Epitaph One' - is now confirmed to be shown...and this all in a 2 hour mega-panel. 

And don't forget to pre-order the fancy shmancy Dollhouse Comic Con Special Edition DVD set from FoxStore.com when it goes on sale July 6 at 10am PST. It will be sold until July 20 on there and because of that, it's probably not a good idea to press your luck and try to get one on sale at SDCC itself. 

Also at SDCC, there will be a sing-along screeing of Dr. Horrible and Commentary! The Musical. California Browncoats will be hosting. Fun!

Probably best to check out the LA times Comic Con Survival Guide if you're going to be doing all that.

Buffy Euro DS game "Sacrifice" - Ryan's take

What follows is a personal email from Ryan (who's totally our unofficial 4th Buffyfester) regarding the Buffy DS game "Sacrifice". It's so hilarious that I thought I'd just copy and paste it for all the internets to see, as is. See below:

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>>So, I got you a copy of this Buffy game for the DS, as I thought I remembered you saying you were curious about it.

As I will not see you until Sunday, I thought I would check it out myself until then, though I may already regret this.
First impressions so far:

Title screen with official logo, brief glimpses of the inside of a building with some weapons in a display case (possibly the magic shop.) No Buffy music (probably didn't license it) and no indication of the story or characters.

Starting out, they are talking about an amulet. "It bonds Buffy and Spike."

Oh. Oh, this is a Spuffy game. This is a game specifically about Spuffy. That's a little strange.

It sounds like they might be talking about -that- amulet, except I remember it looking like a big clear jewel, and this looks like an old gray metal coin. No, now it looks like a jewel again. No, now it's a coin again, but gold with a red thingy in the middle. This is confusing me.

Even more confusing: it sounds as if this game is set in the time period of the comic. Buffy and friends live in a castle in Scotland. But the continuity of Angel is being ignored, Angel season 5 has not happened as Spike is still a ghost and trapped in Hell. Also, they keep referring to the battle in Chosen, yet Sunnydale appears to still exist and the highschool looks quite intact. Actually, it looks like the pre-Graduation Day explosion highschool. I have no idea what the fuck is going on here, either this game was written by a person who had seen some of the show but didn't really know what happened and only had a vague description told to them by someone else, or maybe this is all going to be explained and make sense soon via some weird parallel universe crap. Also, this may be Buffy's stunt double instead of her, she looks exactly like Smidge except for the cheekbones, but man did they nail the hairstyle.

Anyway, here is what we know:
Buffy lives in a Scottish castle.
Spike is trapped in Hell.
Willow is still wussy "I'm afraid of going veiny again" douchebag Willow.
Giles is an extremely good looking man.
They all meet up at Sunnydale High.
And Buffy and Spike have a perfect endless love that transcends any boundaries of space, time, and death, and can overcome any laws of the universe or details of past events.

Was this made in Europe?

--------------------------------------------------------

Ha! Love it! I'll get more updates from him as he progresses through the game, for those who have been curious about "Sacrifice." I actually have it in my hot little hands now and it really is that retarded!

Oh jeez, Megan Fox to play the new/fake Buffy?

Megan Fox as Buffy in the Library.

And hot on the heels of that last ridiculous post is this one. That was a joke. This...well I have no idea WTF to say about this. Flickcast speculates about this latest Whedonless Buffy movie rumor.

True? False? Blasphemy? Good idea? What say ye?

http://theflickcast.com/2009/06/10/megan-fox-is-the-new-buffy/

First Look: Whedonless "Buffy" movie cast revealed

Buffyfest has acquired an exclusive first look at the cast for the new Buffy "reboot" movie. Is it us, or does something seem a little off here?

Starring:

Sandra Michelle Hellar

Ally Flannigan

Brandon

Nicholas

Anthony

Stewie Foot

Davis Boreano

Jimmy Masters

Dazzle Woodworker

Amber Bensonhurst

And Breckin Meyer will be playing "Oz"

fanvid sunday: memorial

Since day one Buffyfest has been a site by friends for friends who love all things Whedon. Saturday morning we lost one of those friends. It's impossible for me to explain to you the profound loss I feel. I wish I could say that, seeing him in his final hours makes me feel somehow complete, as though all things were as they must be, but I can't. In those moments I had no idea what the morning would bring and yet I told him all the things you would want to say to someone before they pass: that I loved him, that his friends and family loved and supported him, that we would carry him when he could not carry himself and hope for him when he felt hopeless. We talked about all the things we always do: movies, tv, games... it just wasn't enough. It will never be enough. I will never have an argument with my friend about Smallville again, he will never thoroughly school me in chess, we won't ever share a slice or fuss over Star Wars miniatures like the pair of nerds we've always been. I'll never see that genuine smile that made me feel so safe, so happy.

Moses was a lover of the fanvid so I can think of nothing better than to dedicate this Sunday's to him. This one can only capture a fraction of the pain I feel, the pain all of us are feeling today but it'll have to do.



Mo, wherever you are, we love you.

Recap: The Sunnydale HS Reunion -The Bronze Edition

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The final Sunnydale High School Reunion was held at Galapagos in Brooklyn on Wednesday night (part 1 here) and I'm not exaggerating when I tell you this space was so much like the Bronze. The dark lighting, the balcony and the 90's music almost made me wonder if Angel was skulking in the shadows somewhere (I wish).

The night's great fun included "Bloody Mary" drink specials, trivia, the awesome Buffy Season 1-3 movie trailers, "Buffyoke",  and the biggest surprise of the night - The Buffy "Once More with Feeling" Sing-along! That's right folks, the 200-plus in attendance were given the gift of the musical. Even cooler, our very own Bitsy graced the stage as Spike, blond hair and all. It was very surreal and ironic. There were the usual "Shut up, Dawn" moments, but the funniest part was when the actress playing Dawn came out towards the end of the episode wearing Michelle's "Buffy Loves Angel" t-shirt. That got a few in the crowd fired up.

There were some great prizes given out, too. One special guest recieved a real Class Protector award made by our lovely Tara (which was especially hilarious given it was a dude who now owns a pink and gold sparkly umbrella). Another group recieved a gift bag filled with Buffy books, comics and other goodies. All in all, a fun Buffy-filled night.

Here's a video showing some highlights of the night. They showed the fantastic fan-made Buffy trailers of the first 3 seasons, you know the ones. You'll also see below a clip of the "Buffyoke", Trivia winners, and of course, our very own Bits - doin' the Spuffy.

Jason Sudeikis: Eliza Dushku's stalker?

So while I was watching Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (so you don't have to), I caught a quick moment where Eliza was talking with SNL's Jason Sudeikis. She'll be voicing protagonist Rubi Malone, a gun toting, sword wielding badass (so basically the one thing Eliza can actually do) in Bethesda Softwork's upcoming game, Wet, which is due out September of this year on PS3 and XBOX360. Jason caught up with Eliza at E3 where this strangeness occurred:



I can't tell if this funny or not but it's definitely... awkward!

Update: The Penny Prequel Comic is up!

...and it's awesome! Love Penny's apartment. Go here now to read it:

http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents?issuenum=23&storynum=1

BTW, Penny so attends the "Can't Stop the Serenity" events in support of Equality Now. hee!