Gone too soon...

I just received the news a couple hours ago that a family very close to my heart lost another member last night. I spent a LOT of time with the Reimans growing up, and I'm ashamed to say that I have very much lost touch with them over the years. They have had some incredibly hard knocks, much more than anyone deserves; and I am constantly in awe of their strength. Sue was like another mother to me, and with so many other kids she had to deal with (in addition to being mother to Melissa, Mesha, Melanie, Mynde, Matthew, and Micah, she was also a teacher for the majority of the time I spent with them, and had to deal with all of the kids' friends...), I didn't deserve half the attention and love she gave me.

I can remember feeling like a big brother to these kids; proud of their successes, protective when they needed, irritated by their constant bothering and bickering, hurt by their losses. Melanie was lost in an accident when I was in high school, and that was my first experience with loss of a loved one. Nothing seemed real for the longest time. Now Matthew has succumbed to cancer, and nothing feels real again. I should be finishing up my packing. I should be working. I should be doing anything but sitting here typing this. But I feel if I don't get this out I'm going to be stuck in this surreal state for longer than I can afford. I have too many things to do (more than usual), and too little time to get them done (less than normal).

I guess there's a lesson here. Actually, I know there is... Cherish the time you have. Especially the time you get with the ones you love. Don't take it for granted. I've spent entirely too much time away from the ones I love, and have let entirely too many friends slip away from me. I'll never get that time back.

Goodbye Matt.

... NOW I'm homesick...

It's always nice to see news from home:

BU-GAWK! Uegene Safken says he let his chickens out of their coop outsideof Collbran, Colo., and went into his house for a cup of coffee. Whenhe came back, he found one of his birds drowned in a tub of water inthe yard. He fished the young chicken out of the water and thought,"what the heck, I'll give it a shot," and gave it mouth-to-beakresuscitation. His girlfriend told him to give it up. "Leave thechicken alone; it's dead," Denise Safford says she told him. But, hesaid, "I wouldn't let that damn thing die." It worked: the chicken, hesays, came back to life and is now fine. It wasn't so bad, he says."I've kissed worse." (Grand Junction Sentinel) ...Let's just hope he doesn't mean Denise.

>You can't stop the signal?

The trailer is out, and it is simply jaw-dropping gorgeous. You may be sick and tired of hearing me talk about this (I know Shelley is), but I DEFY any of you to watch the trailer and not be impressed. Those of you that are NOT sci-fi fans are NOT allowed to participate. Ahhh, go ahead; I'll just defy you too! hehe

And THEN, after watching (and showing it to others) NUMEROUS times... I get THIS:

From: browncoatadmin@serenitymovie.com
Date: 27 Apr 2005 06:11:05 -0000
Subject: Another Message From Joss

Well.

It gets better.

As thus: The movie is very nearly finished. You've seen many pretty images in the trailer. But I've still got work to do and you've still got months before you can see it.

Unless.

And, no, I'm not talking Australia (but Hi, Australia! anyway), I'm talking here in the more-or-less-United States, a one time multi-city Browncoat sneak event. Thursday, May 5th at 10:00 pm, the movie (Serenity! Pay attention! Jeez.) will be playing at exactly 10 theaters in 10 cities across the country. You (or possibly someone much like you) (or possibly a robot EXACTLY like you, but with better manners and sonic arm-lasers, sent to take your place) will be able to buy a ticket to see Serenity months in advance. Not just the bitty trailer with not enough Kaylee and Book, but the whole film, in its extremely almost completed state.

You probably have some questions. How is this possible? What cities exactly will it be in? What are these changes my body is going through? All valid. It's possible because some clown put a bunch of Universal execs in a theater full of Browncoats and dude, they came out SWEATING, they never seen energy like that. They loved it, and even though they were already wicked supportive of the movie (see: earlier posts re: we're making the movie) they simply weren't ready for you guys. When I whinged on about pushing the date and everyone here was posting about "what do we do till September", they agreed to let me sneak it out.

Maybe they thought it was a fluke. Maybe they wanna see if people really do care about the flick. Or maybe they're just treating us with respect and kindness, though that last option confuses and terrifies me as much as these changes my body is going through (I'm "perspiring" and becoming "interested in girls", which believe me is very unsettling when you're 40.) Does it matter? The plan works for me, and it can work for a select bunch of y'all. Here's what I know:

The cities to be hit are:

Seattle
Austin
Sacramento
Boston
Altanta
Chicago
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Denver
The Portland of Oregon

If you're in or near one of those, you might wanna stop by. There's supposed to be a "Can't Stop the Signal" page on this website (I don't know where it is -- hey, I remembered my damn password, doesn't that buy me any cred?) There should be more info there soon about how to get in, bringing peeps into the fold, I think there's even competetions and stuff. (All I know is I have exactly 20 Brownie points. I answered ONE triv Q and got it wrong. Forget cred. I have no cred.) Now a couple of us might just creep into one of those major metropolitan multiplexes to see if anyone does show up, so remember: swearing in Chinese ONLY.

All right. This will please the fans and satisfy the employers of Joss Whedon, so I must stop as my arm-lasers are getting tired. I politely thank you for your attention.

Should be fun.

-j.

DAMNIT!!! I'm going to be missing it by about 48 HOURS!!! It's actually going to be in Denver and I'll miss it by 2 frickin' days!!!

By the way, (and before Shelley points it out) I'm also missing our wedding anniversary by just over 72 hours... But just THINK how perfect it would have been! I could have taken her to the advanced screening of the movie for our anniversary!!! What... you don't think she would have enjoyed that? Now that's just CRAZY talk! :P

Anyway, you can click on the banner below to go to the movie website. The direct links to download the trailer (instead of watching it streaming on the website, which I don't recommend) is:

Small - 4.83 MB (good)

Medium - 8.5 MB (better)

Large - 21 MB (best)

Full screen - 41MB (bestest)



Joss, I can't pledge my firstborn son (sorry... too attached) nor my eternal love (wife got that already), but you do have my undying gratitude... thanks for not giving up and pursuing easier ... umm .. pursuits.

Remember the whole "Google rocks" thing?

Well... here's further proof:

http://www.google.com/maps

Type in your address, check and see how close you can get a satellite view.

I went to the ZOO!

With just under two weeks to go, I finally managed to stop at the zoo. Didn't take very long to see all there was to see, and it was pretty much what I expected. A bunch of animals in cages, looking miserable. Click on the random photos below to go to the album.

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Speaking of Firefly...

Joss Whedon (the creator of Firefly) posted this on the official website yesterday:

Hey guys.

I'm here on the official site, so that can only mean one thing: somebody finally told me my password! (Again.) It probably also means that I have some big-ass announcement or other. Well tops on the announcement list is this: after months of intensive yoga, i can finally touch my toes! (They feel round and bunion-y.)

But there's more! I'm talkin' movie news, peeps, so no more drumroll: Trailer. Serenity. Tuesday.

Yeah, kids, the haps is hap'nin', and it runs thus: EXCLUSIVELY on Apple movie trailers (and linked through this site as well of course) will be a small, medium, large or FULLSCREEN trailer for Serenity the major motion movie. Yeah, THE trailer. And the following Friday said trailer hits theaters. Which theaters? Until I get confirmation you'll have to guess, but I'm betting you can.

Now, here's a word of warning: this trailer ain't shy. If you're looking to live totally spoiler-free, know that there's plenty of key dialogue and images running through this bad boy. It's pretty tasty, though, and it doesn't give everything away. But close scrutiny will definitely learn you much of what's to come. (Anakin TOTALLY goes evil.) It's a nice piece to while away the time till September, and hopefully should intrigue th' peeps that don't have coats of brown.

The only thing more exciting than y'all finally seeing this was showing it to Nathan. Like a schoolboy giggled he.

Bye-ee!

Joss "You can't take my toes from me" Whedon.

So if you're interested in that kind of thing... there ya go.