Anything Worth Doing…

… is worth doing to excess.

Not content to only see the Moody Blues once (this coming Sunday in Santa Rosa) I kidnapped a friend and we went and saw the opening concert of the tour this evening in San Francisco. Got some darn decent seats for a darn decent price only 8 hours before showtime, too.

Definitely a geezer crowd. But a great concert! I had no trouble smuggling in my camera, and snapped a whopping 345 frames from the 11th row. Here is just one example of what I was able to get–from the 11th row, with no flash and of course no tripod:

The old geezers have still got it. Amazing. And I get to see it all again in 5 days, from closer in, and the vantage point at the opposite side of the stage, so hopefully I’ll be able to smuggle the camera in there too and get another 345 or so shots.

A Browncoat Cruise Journal

I am going to keep this entry at the top of the page until at least the end of December 2007; perhaps longer. I am working on a journal of the cruise, which can be accessed by the button in the right sidebar. I will be updating it with more stories, pictures and information as I have time–so keep clicking over to check! You know what to do. CrankyBeach hath spoken.

This journal is NOT in blog format; so if you have comments, you may put them on this blog entry.

A Very Disreputable-Looking Character…

… otherwise known as Hawke of the Bedlam Bards. Don’t you just love that crocheted top hat?

And Then There Was Nectar

This was taken just before she dragged us into the bar and bought us a glass of champagne.

Karaoke: The Proof

No, I wasn’t kidding. Here I am, dressed as Kaylee, singing my lungs out (very badly) with Jonathan Woodward and the doo-wop chorus backing me up.

For those who care… I originally signed up to sing “American Pie.” Then the karaoke organizer sent Adam (who wasn’t wearing his famous hat that night) to find me and ask if I realized it would be the full 15-minute version (to which I actually know all the words, is that scary or what?). Then when she finally called my name, she asked if I would be willing to pick a shorter song. So I chose “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel.

At the very best of times I sing terribly. That night, I was in the process of losing my voice, so it was even more interesting. And then Jonathan bounced out onto the stage, shortly followed by three self-appointed backup singers, and they formed a nice doo-wop chorus behind me.

If I am very, very lucky, this extravaganza will NOT be on the cruise DVD.

Just A Few Pictures…

… from the Browncoat Cruise.

Here are Kerry, Samantha and me with a couple of very well-dressed gentlemen:

The panel of celebrity guests:

(Those are Ron Glass, Michael Fairman, Nectar Rose, and Jonathan Woodward, for you flatlanders.)

Here is Michael “Niska” Fairman doing his happy dance:

And Nectar “Lenore the love-bot” Rose (yes, that is her real name, she says; her mother was a total hippie) doing the robot thing:

Nectar is a lovely young lady. One night she was absolutely sh*tfaced. She gets very affectionate when she’s in that condition. She decided after just bumping into us in a stairwell that Kerry and I were her new best friends and she dragged us into the bar and bought us a glass of champagne. That was the night I got up to sing karaoke (no, I was not imbibing liquid courage at the time) and then God decided to punish me for my chutzpah by giving me a lovely case of laryngitis. I completely lost what little voice I have the next day. Guess I won’t do that again…. And yes, there are pictures of me with a self-selected volunteer doo-wop chorus behind me… but I’m still working my way through day 2 photos. So you’ll have to wait to see them.

A Gaggle Of Browncoats…

… having a shiny good time.

For reasons unknown to me, after a brief appearance at SiliCon 2 weeks ago, the Ariel Ambulance is parked at a small aviation history museum that nobody has heard of. Next week it will go south for its next convention appearance, but today, the Silicon Gulch Browncoats had a picnic with the ambulance.

We got to get inside (it’s just a hollow shell, ’cause it’s only a prop) and get our pictures taken in the cockpit–seated on an upside down plastic crate, because, as I said, it’s just a shell.

A marvelous time was had by all. The fun part was when museum visitors and docents came over to ask what we were doing, and what was this “thing” we were all admiring. One guy even asked what kind of engine it had. He looked a little crestfallen when we explained it was just a TV show prop.

We were given a tour of part of the museum, including the FAA-certified wooden propeller building and repair shop. If you have an antique airplane and it needs a new wooden propeller, this is the place to have it built.

And in another hangar, we saw a nifty gyrocopter with an unusual fuel source.

All in all… a gorram shiny few hours spent in the sunshine (and a very stiff breeze). A huge thank-you to the museum folks who were kind enough to let us come on their property and do… whatever it was we were doing.

Whoa! Uber Shiny!

Browncoat buddy “History” sent a letter to Universal in advance of the release of the Serenity Collector’s Edition:

August 19, 2007

Universal Pictures
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

Attn: Donna Langley
Attn: Jon Gordon

RE: “Serenity” Collector’s Edition

Dear Ms Langley and Mr. Gordon,

What can I say but I (and my colleague Dr. C _______ ) are fans of Universal’s motion picture SERENITY as well as Joss’ Whedon’s FIREFLY now being shown in Universal HD.

SERENITY is an intelligent, character-driven, heart-stopping thrill ride that is simply great movie making…great entertainment. I’ve been talking about it since its release in theaters nearly 2 years ago, and have now “converted” a number of family, friends and colleagues. It is not unusual for us to alleviate daily stress with the casual interjection of a quote from the film or series….to the point we purposefully tend to avoid the word “interesting” (as in “let me show you an interesting case”) for the inevitable response is, “Define interesting.” Or in a difficult procedure, we may mutter to one another, “I’m a leaf on the wind.”

We’re greatly anticipating the release this coming Tuesday of Universal’s SERENITY Collector’s Edition. A number of us are having a little “Shindig” (get-together) in the evening to again savor the film and return to this wonderful ‘Verse of Joss Whedon’s and Universal. Thank you for making it possible. Every once in a while in life, something spectacular like SERENITY comes along to make Life special and…, well, “interesting.” >smile<

Respectfully,

"History", MD FACR

Here’s what “History” wrote in his e-mail after that:

In September my business office called and said they had a strange package from an addressee “Mutant Enemy, Inc.”
I nearly plotzed.(Yiddish: burst, exploded).
It seems my letter was forwarded from Universal to Joss, our master, himself, who “really dug the letter,” per his assistant. They sent us autographed theater posters (US and European editions). One of which I framed (see attached).
Kinda cunning don’cha think?

After I got done plotzing myself, I wrote History back and asked if I could post his letter and the story. He said go ahead but to disguise the names, and if I could, to please doctor the photo to make him look younger and more handsome. Alas, that is far beyond my Photoshop skills, so I cropped him out.

Waitress

As in, the new movie co-starring Nathan Fillion. Nice movie. Go see it. Stuff the box office. Make Nathan a star.

Last night the local art-house cinema held a free sneak preview, with preferred seating (and eligibility for raffle prizes) to anyone who showed up dressed as a waiter or waitress. Yes, of course I went. Nathan on the big screen, for free? Total no-brainer.

And I won a gift certificate for a free pie at a local bakery. Appropriate, since the movie is mostly about pie, among other things.

Funny, seeing an entire theater filled with people in aprons. One gal was even wearing a name tag that said “George” on hers. Must have borrowed it from a waiter friend…. I wore a borrowed apron from a friend, and stuck on a button with the photo of Nathan and me. The guy at the ticket counter just about screamed when he saw it. “Oh, wow, that is totally Nathan Fillion!” The other guy looked blank and said “Who?” I pointed in the direction of the theater doors and said “He’s in the movie!”

If you stay to the end of the credits, there’s the expected poignant moment where the screen says “In loving memory of Adrienne Shelly.” She was the writer/director/co-star of the movie who was murdered last November by an illegal alien who was “having a bad day.”

Show Your Colors

My new Cafe Press shop has been up and running for a while, with only one product so far:

Samantha, whom I met at the Flanvention-that-wasn’t, has shown that she is a young lady with impeccably good taste by installing one on her shiny brand-new car too. (You’ll have to click on that link to see hers.)

And if you want a shiny license plate frame of your very own, click on that Cafe Press link above.

As you can see, I’ve airbrushed out my license plate number to keep you stalkers from coming after me. (Nathan Fillion, if you’re reading this, e-mail me about an exception to that anti-stalker policy.)

::evil grin::