Monday, October 10, 2005
I like to have a beer with Joss...
'cause Joss is my mate.
Or something like it.
Sunday September 11, 2005. 11.30am. ZB is fuzzy and hungover from her 30th birthday celebrations the previous night, and is awoken by a phone call from mimbles.
"Guess who the newest registered user on Serenity Oz is?"
No. He didn't. He couldn't. OMG!!
"Yup, it's Joss! And you have to see what he posted, and then you have to get there!"
What he posted? Eh?
ZB wanders over to the 'puter and logs in. And there it is: a post from Joss...
Hello there.
So I'm here in Sydney and tomorrow I've a monstrous bunch of yakking to do, press and all that, a screening -- you guys know the drill. But today, being as that I'm footloose and fancy free, I thought it might be fun to sit down with a few peeps over a foamy beer and be a little less structured. I'm staying near the Orient, which is in the Rocks, so around 5:00 pm I figure to wander down there and hoist a few (just a few). If you're free and bored swing by. I'll be the one with the white carnation and a copy of "War and Peace". (That might be not true.) I'll be the one that looks like Joss, only more tired. (Wait, I always look tired. Maybe I better bring "War and Peace" after all.)
So I looked at the badges of the customs officials at the airport and thought, "What a coincidence. They're both named SYD." Yeah, I'm that guy.
See you (?) later -joss.
What the fuck? You must be kidding me? The man who wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and just wrote and directed the US$40 million movie Serenity, is asking his fans to join him for a beer?
Joss, the man whose shows have gotten me through breakups and breakdowns, the man whose wit and vision inspires me always, the man whose series Firefly brought me into the international Browncoat family, is going to be at a pub in Sydney, having a quiet beer with his fellow Browncoats?
Wow. Did I ever mention that I adore Joss? Well, I adore him even more now...
So I pulled myself together, and got a lift to the city with davej. I was terrified. Terrified. We met up with a group of about 10 other Browncoats, and hovered near the front door. And then Joss was crossing the road and entering the pub. Cargos and a tshirt and a blue shirt. No camers, no press, no security (though it turns out that security did follow him - they just had the easiest job of their lives that day! Browncoats are well behaved people). We all kinda waved tentatively, and Joss smiled, said "Hi" and went to buy a beer. An attempt which was quickly quashed by davej, who bought it for him instead!
Some other browncoats had taken over some tables in the beer garden, and found us and Joss, and we all went outside. The beer garden rapidly filled, as more and more browncoats arrived at the pub. Joss was the centre of a circle of adoring, and very quiet, fans. He eventually asked if anyone wanted anything signed or to have a photo "because I need the adoration, people!"
I went to the upstairs bar, which had just opened, and found a manager, and asked if we could use the seperate room up there. She replied that it was usually closed on Sundays.
ZB: "You ever seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
Bar manager: "Yeah".
ZB leads bar manager over to window overlooking the beer garden and points at Joss and the dangerously overflowing Browncoats around him.
ZB: "See that guy in the blue shirt? That's Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed Buffy. He's in Australia for two days and asked his fans to join him for a beer. The beer garden is getting filled to capacity. Can we please use this room?"
Bar manager: ".....okay. Sure."
I thanked the bar manager, went back downstairs and waited until Joss finished an anecdote, then let everyone know to go upstairs. We all filed up, and I got to lead Joss up there - and this is my one real moment with Joss:
ZB: "This is a brave and interesting thing that you're doing."
JW: "It's a little more brave and interesting than I expected. Thank you for organising the room. I'm not very good at organising things."
ZB: "I find that a little hard to believe."
And that was it. I was happy to bask and watch Joss work his magic on the now packed room. Estimates of the numbers there tend towards there being around 100 Browncoats there that day. And pretty much every one of those browncoats got a little chat with Joss, something signed, and photos with him.
The room had about 10 tables in it, and Joss just worked his way around the tables, spending about 15 minutes at each. All the browncoats there waited (mostly) patiently, and drank, and talked, and met people they'd never met before. It was a great atmosphere, and everyone was so positive and buzzed that Joss was there, that there really wasn't any badness at all.
I was, of course, overcome with shyness, and didn't want to crowd Joss when he had so many people to talk to, but my friend nixygirl was having none of that. Joss knew nixygirl from Whedonesque, and was incredibly happy to meet her. She kept saying to me that I needed a photo with him, and I kept demurring, until...
nixygirl: "JOSS! Joss, over here!"
JW: "What's up, nixy?"
nixygirl: "You have to meet ZuckerBaby - she does heaps for the Browncoats community, she's really active at promoting Serenity, you need to meet her."
JW, seriously: "Where is she?"
nixygirl points at me, where I am standing, stunned. Joss comes over and grabs me around the shoulders and gives me a squeeze. I can't say anything but "Thank you". nixygirl takes a couple of photos, and here they are:
Joss and ZB
Joss and ZB take two
Or something like it.
Sunday September 11, 2005. 11.30am. ZB is fuzzy and hungover from her 30th birthday celebrations the previous night, and is awoken by a phone call from mimbles.
"Guess who the newest registered user on Serenity Oz is?"
No. He didn't. He couldn't. OMG!!
"Yup, it's Joss! And you have to see what he posted, and then you have to get there!"
What he posted? Eh?
ZB wanders over to the 'puter and logs in. And there it is: a post from Joss...
Hello there.
So I'm here in Sydney and tomorrow I've a monstrous bunch of yakking to do, press and all that, a screening -- you guys know the drill. But today, being as that I'm footloose and fancy free, I thought it might be fun to sit down with a few peeps over a foamy beer and be a little less structured. I'm staying near the Orient, which is in the Rocks, so around 5:00 pm I figure to wander down there and hoist a few (just a few). If you're free and bored swing by. I'll be the one with the white carnation and a copy of "War and Peace". (That might be not true.) I'll be the one that looks like Joss, only more tired. (Wait, I always look tired. Maybe I better bring "War and Peace" after all.)
So I looked at the badges of the customs officials at the airport and thought, "What a coincidence. They're both named SYD." Yeah, I'm that guy.
See you (?) later -joss.
What the fuck? You must be kidding me? The man who wrote Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly and just wrote and directed the US$40 million movie Serenity, is asking his fans to join him for a beer?
Joss, the man whose shows have gotten me through breakups and breakdowns, the man whose wit and vision inspires me always, the man whose series Firefly brought me into the international Browncoat family, is going to be at a pub in Sydney, having a quiet beer with his fellow Browncoats?
Wow. Did I ever mention that I adore Joss? Well, I adore him even more now...
So I pulled myself together, and got a lift to the city with davej. I was terrified. Terrified. We met up with a group of about 10 other Browncoats, and hovered near the front door. And then Joss was crossing the road and entering the pub. Cargos and a tshirt and a blue shirt. No camers, no press, no security (though it turns out that security did follow him - they just had the easiest job of their lives that day! Browncoats are well behaved people). We all kinda waved tentatively, and Joss smiled, said "Hi" and went to buy a beer. An attempt which was quickly quashed by davej, who bought it for him instead!
Some other browncoats had taken over some tables in the beer garden, and found us and Joss, and we all went outside. The beer garden rapidly filled, as more and more browncoats arrived at the pub. Joss was the centre of a circle of adoring, and very quiet, fans. He eventually asked if anyone wanted anything signed or to have a photo "because I need the adoration, people!"
I went to the upstairs bar, which had just opened, and found a manager, and asked if we could use the seperate room up there. She replied that it was usually closed on Sundays.
ZB: "You ever seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
Bar manager: "Yeah".
ZB leads bar manager over to window overlooking the beer garden and points at Joss and the dangerously overflowing Browncoats around him.
ZB: "See that guy in the blue shirt? That's Joss Whedon, who wrote and directed Buffy. He's in Australia for two days and asked his fans to join him for a beer. The beer garden is getting filled to capacity. Can we please use this room?"
Bar manager: ".....okay. Sure."
I thanked the bar manager, went back downstairs and waited until Joss finished an anecdote, then let everyone know to go upstairs. We all filed up, and I got to lead Joss up there - and this is my one real moment with Joss:
ZB: "This is a brave and interesting thing that you're doing."
JW: "It's a little more brave and interesting than I expected. Thank you for organising the room. I'm not very good at organising things."
ZB: "I find that a little hard to believe."
And that was it. I was happy to bask and watch Joss work his magic on the now packed room. Estimates of the numbers there tend towards there being around 100 Browncoats there that day. And pretty much every one of those browncoats got a little chat with Joss, something signed, and photos with him.
The room had about 10 tables in it, and Joss just worked his way around the tables, spending about 15 minutes at each. All the browncoats there waited (mostly) patiently, and drank, and talked, and met people they'd never met before. It was a great atmosphere, and everyone was so positive and buzzed that Joss was there, that there really wasn't any badness at all.
I was, of course, overcome with shyness, and didn't want to crowd Joss when he had so many people to talk to, but my friend nixygirl was having none of that. Joss knew nixygirl from Whedonesque, and was incredibly happy to meet her. She kept saying to me that I needed a photo with him, and I kept demurring, until...
nixygirl: "JOSS! Joss, over here!"
JW: "What's up, nixy?"
nixygirl: "You have to meet ZuckerBaby - she does heaps for the Browncoats community, she's really active at promoting Serenity, you need to meet her."
JW, seriously: "Where is she?"
nixygirl points at me, where I am standing, stunned. Joss comes over and grabs me around the shoulders and gives me a squeeze. I can't say anything but "Thank you". nixygirl takes a couple of photos, and here they are:
Joss and ZB
Joss and ZB take two
mimbles, Joss and ZB
Joss stayed at the pub for about 3 and a half hours, until the jet lag finally got the better of him. The browncoats still at the pub drifted off, and went home, feeling on top of the world. I was buzzing with excitement and happiness and couldn't sleep, and found that a lot of other people who were there had the same experience.
What more can I say about Joss, his relationship with Browncoats, and the Browncoats community? Joss took the time to hang out with his Browncoats, took the time to let us know how much he cares for us and respect us. This community has been, and continues to be, a hugely positive one to be part of. The feeling that our Big Damn Heroes are as much a part of the community as the fans are is a huge part of that positive experience. Thank you Joss for meeting with us, and thank you to all the Browncoats there for making it such a wonderful day.
What more can I say about Joss, his relationship with Browncoats, and the Browncoats community? Joss took the time to hang out with his Browncoats, took the time to let us know how much he cares for us and respect us. This community has been, and continues to be, a hugely positive one to be part of. The feeling that our Big Damn Heroes are as much a part of the community as the fans are is a huge part of that positive experience. Thank you Joss for meeting with us, and thank you to all the Browncoats there for making it such a wonderful day.
Garbled rememberances of the lead up to Serenity.
Wow. The last 2 months have been...insane. Insane in a ridiculously good way, but insane nonetheless.
As I said in my last post, I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Bernard Zuel for the Sydney Morning Herald - and the article was released in the first weekend of September, as the cover article of the Spectrum magazine. Which, cool. I can't find the article archived at the SMH, but it was a great read, and I'm not just saying that because Mim and I were quoted!!
At an August prescreening of Serenity, complete with a message from Joss before the movie began, Mim and I were interviewed by James Valentine for Showtime Movie News. That was a blast - though Mim was ill and I was unaware that I was going to be interviewed until a couple of minutes beforehand! I caught the (really positive) story on Fox8, as have a few of my friends ("I saw you on telly, ZB - it was great. And then I saw you again. And again. And why do they have to show the damn thing over and over again?!")
Heh. I've used up a little bit more of my 15 minutes in the last 2 months...
Then Joss came to Australia. And my life will never be the same again.
I'm going to do a seperate post (with photos!) of the most amazing experience of my life, so I'll leap that and get to the Joss Whedon Q and A screening of Serenity, shall I? Which, yes, pretty much up there as ridiculously amazing also.
I had organised a "Thank You" book from Oz browncoats through the Serenity Oz site, and FireBug had organised a fabulous gift of a drizabone, and we also had clapping sticks and a boomerang organised by mimbles, and a plush koala with a Jayne hat ("The Marsupial called Jayne") from the Brisbane browncoats (go, nicoleh!). UIP kindly allowed two fans to present these gifts to Joss before he started the Q and A, and mimbles doubly kindly allowed me to take one of those places - FireBug taking the other.
Joss was very taken with the drizabone, and I hope he enjoyed the other gifts as well (including the many boxes of additional gifts brought by all the browncoats at the screening!) The Q and A was wonderful and funny and witty and thought provoking - as only Joss can be. I lined up and got an autograph, which I am yet to figure out what to do with. Apart from, you know, look at it and whimper.
Serenity opened on Thursday September 29, with overwhelmingly positive reviews - yay David Stratton for comparing seeing Serenity to seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1978! I went to a Gold Class screening of the movie on that Thursday with a bunch of other browncoats - kind of like our own little premiere! I've now seen it 7 times (including the test and preview screenings) and it just doesn't get old or boring. In fact, every time I see it there are new nuances, lines, pieces of direction, dialogue...Did I mention that it's a really good film and you all should see it? It's a really good film and you all should see it...
As I said in my last post, I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Bernard Zuel for the Sydney Morning Herald - and the article was released in the first weekend of September, as the cover article of the Spectrum magazine. Which, cool. I can't find the article archived at the SMH, but it was a great read, and I'm not just saying that because Mim and I were quoted!!
At an August prescreening of Serenity, complete with a message from Joss before the movie began, Mim and I were interviewed by James Valentine for Showtime Movie News. That was a blast - though Mim was ill and I was unaware that I was going to be interviewed until a couple of minutes beforehand! I caught the (really positive) story on Fox8, as have a few of my friends ("I saw you on telly, ZB - it was great. And then I saw you again. And again. And why do they have to show the damn thing over and over again?!")
Heh. I've used up a little bit more of my 15 minutes in the last 2 months...
Then Joss came to Australia. And my life will never be the same again.
I'm going to do a seperate post (with photos!) of the most amazing experience of my life, so I'll leap that and get to the Joss Whedon Q and A screening of Serenity, shall I? Which, yes, pretty much up there as ridiculously amazing also.
I had organised a "Thank You" book from Oz browncoats through the Serenity Oz site, and FireBug had organised a fabulous gift of a drizabone, and we also had clapping sticks and a boomerang organised by mimbles, and a plush koala with a Jayne hat ("The Marsupial called Jayne") from the Brisbane browncoats (go, nicoleh!). UIP kindly allowed two fans to present these gifts to Joss before he started the Q and A, and mimbles doubly kindly allowed me to take one of those places - FireBug taking the other.
Joss was very taken with the drizabone, and I hope he enjoyed the other gifts as well (including the many boxes of additional gifts brought by all the browncoats at the screening!) The Q and A was wonderful and funny and witty and thought provoking - as only Joss can be. I lined up and got an autograph, which I am yet to figure out what to do with. Apart from, you know, look at it and whimper.
Serenity opened on Thursday September 29, with overwhelmingly positive reviews - yay David Stratton for comparing seeing Serenity to seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1978! I went to a Gold Class screening of the movie on that Thursday with a bunch of other browncoats - kind of like our own little premiere! I've now seen it 7 times (including the test and preview screenings) and it just doesn't get old or boring. In fact, every time I see it there are new nuances, lines, pieces of direction, dialogue...Did I mention that it's a really good film and you all should see it? It's a really good film and you all should see it...
