Would be brilliant if you’re designing iPhone apps, right? It’s available as a 3-pack for $17.95 on the Notepad website.

Via Swiss Miss

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Other castings were Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton ‘Faceman’ Peck, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson as Sgt Bosco ‘B.A.’ Baracus and Sharlto Copley as Capt. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock. Hmm, Bradley Cooper. Could work, but not as clean or slick as I always imagined Face to be. The other two? Haven’t seen either of them in movies (yeah, I still have to go see District 9), so can’t really say much about them.

The first official photo was released last week though, and we finally get to see our characters for the first time:

Interesting. I’m liking Rampage as B.A. (although I’ll can’t be convinced before he opens his mouth) and Sharlto Copley as Murdock. Bradley Cooper still on a “could work” for me, but with slightly better odds. Liam Neeson… I know people like how bad ass he looks, and some think he’s got the Hannibal look down. But for me? I’m still not feeling it. A part of me hopes I’m wrong and I’ll await further judgment until I see footage/trailer, but so far I’m just preparing myself to be disappointed.

Via /Film

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1. Movie Preview: 9 Character Posters
2. Movie Preview: Tron Legacy Footage
3. Del.icio.us Preview

For now, I wanted to share with you two cool things I’ll be participating in this Christmas:

The first is a Secret Santa for the book blogging community and its readers. Each person has to get a book for someone else. Cool, right? I know it will be even trickier getting something for someone you don’t know than someone you do, but it sounds like it could be great fun! Check out the details on The Neverending Shelf.

The second is similar: the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. I wasn’t really sure if I should enter or not; I do write a lot about books, but also about loads of other stuff. Still, it sounds like a great idea, and it would be brilliant to surprise someone on the other side of the world with some cute gifts!

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3. Threadless Holiday Sale!

An Open Letter to the Terminator Owners. From a Very Important Hollywood Mogul

Dear Sirs/Ma’ams,

I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where ‘hood’ was capitalized ’cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the ‘grapevine’ that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands.

No, you didn’t miscount. That’s four — FOUR! — zeroes after that one. That’s to show you I mean business. And I mean show business. Nikki Finke says the Terminator concept is played. Well, here’s what I have to say to Nikki Finke: you are a fine journalist and please don’t ever notice me. The Terminator story is as formative and important in our culture — and my pretend play — as any I can think of. It’s far from over. And before you Terminator-Owners (I have trouble remembering names) rush to cash that sweet cheque, let me give you a taste of what I could do with that franchise:

1) Terminator… of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far… back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? “Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!” RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he’s a cyborg and he doesn’t give a s#&% about the ring — it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he’s doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise).

2) More Glau. Hey. There’s a reason they’re called “Summer” movies.

3) Can you say… musical? Well don’t. Even I know that’s an awful idea.

4) Christian Bale’s John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)

5) More porn. John Connor never told Kyle Reese this, but his main objective in going to the past was to get some. What if there’s a lot of future-babies that have to be made? Cue wah-wah pedal guitar — and dollar signs!

6) The movies will stop getting less cool.

Okay. There’s more — this brain don’t quit! (though it has occasionally been fired) — but I think you get my drift. I really believe the Terminator franchise has only begun to plumb the depths of questioning the human condition during awesome stunts, and I’d like to shepherd it through the next phase. The money is there, but more importantly, the heart is there. But more importantly, money. Think about it. End this bloody bidding war before it begins, and put the Terminator in the hands of someone who watched the first one more than any other movie in college, including “Song of Norway” (no current franchise offer). Sincerely, Joss Whedon.

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Prince of Persia was the one of the first computer games I played, and when I heard there would be a movie, I had my fingers crossed that they wouldn’t mess it up. The casting of Jake Gyllenhaal as the prince had me slightly worried, and I’m still not sure whether it would have been smarter to have gone with someone different. He looks the part, but it’s not how I imagined the Prince to be. One thing that has me optimistic though is that the man behind the original game, Jordan Mechner, is also behind the script of this movie (and he was also involved in the fourth Prince of Persia on which this movie is based).

So, here’s the trailer (although there is a way better high quality one on IGN):

It’s feeling a lot like The Mummy meets Pirates of the Caribbean set in Persia. I am liking it, but then, I loved the first installments of The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean. I’m a sucker for dusty, period set adventure movies, and Prince of Persia seems straight up that alley.

What do you think? Is it what you imagined a movie version of Prince of Persia would look like? Discuss in the comments.

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Stunning piece of Lego, I wonder how many hours it took to build this:

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2. A Video A Day: Tom Cruise and Scientology
3. Video of The Day: Put-Pocketing

They’re available on the Contemporary Home Online Shop for £5.99.

Via Domestic Sluttery

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1. Lara Croft – Tomb Raider

An obvious place for me to start, especially after I got the remark last summer that I was in full-on Tomb Raider style. All you need is a simple black or brown pair of shorts, plus a black or brown tank top (although white and teal are also possible depending on which game/movie you take). Add a pair of sun glasses, boots and your outfit is complete. For extra effect, add a fake gun, gloves, and a little back pack.

2. Echo – Dollhouse

How simple can you make it? The dolls when in the Dollhouse walk around in what are basically pajamas. Loose fitting pants and a simple tank top… tada! You’re done. Now just walk around with a vacant look on your face.

3. Max – Dark Angel

I’m not even sure most people will get this, but I used to love Dark Angel (until it got cancelled… by Fox… of course). Max had a lot of different type of outfits on Dark Angel, but half of the time it was leather pants (or trousers or whatever you call it here in the UK) plus a neck high zipped jacket. Don’t forget to add the barcode to the back of your neck!

4. Steampunk

You might have seen my tweets yesterday when I realized I could use my bridesmaid dress as the basis for a steampunk costum. This is the dress I got, but anything brown and kind of long and flowy should work for this. There are a lot of ways you can go about putting this look together (there aren’t any real steampunk costume rules, I assume, it just has to be a bit victorian inspired). I’d try adding a leather vest or corset over the dress, or if you can find it a white high collared old fashioned shirt with ruffles. Add extra props like goggles or a parasol.

5. Chuck – Pushing Daisies

Again a tricky one, cause there are so many possibilities. Chuck on Pushing Daisies always had very colourfol combos on, and the main thing you have to bear in mind is to keep it as vibrant as possible. Most of the time she’d layer clothes in the same colour; for example, a bright red dress plus a bright red coat (although any colour would do). Most of the dresses were 50s inspired (although it depended per week). Add sun glasses and a head shawl to complete the outfit.

Bonus: Elle Wood – Legally Blonde

It’s not really a ‘geeky’ outfit, but I thought I add it anyway. To create the Elle Wood look, just take anything pink! Oh, and you have to be blonde (or get a wig). Extra points if you can arrange a chihuahua.

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As regular readers of my blog might know, I’ve been going to BarCamps (and spin-off Camps) for more than 2 years now and have participated in a fair share of them (12 actual BarCamps in total, plus 7 spinoffs). At the past London one, I helped out on the weekend itself as a volunteer, but thought it was about time to actually contribute a bit more and give back to the BarCamp community. So this time around, I joined the group of organizers to help out with the planning and preparations in the weeks leading up to the event.

Although BarCamp is an “unconference”, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done before the event itself. The non-conferencey bit of it lies mainly in what happens on the day itself: there is no preordained schedule, everyone holds a session or participates in one form or another, and everything (and everyone) is quite informal and relaxed. To get to that point though, everything else needs to be arranged; BarCamp is a free event for all attendees, so this means taking care of food, drinks, venue, and sponsors to cover it all.

Now with BarCamps in other cities this might be a bit more simpler, but in London it’s trickier than most might think. For starters, finding a venue. Yes, London is way bigger and will have more potential places to use, but there is a negative side to that which some people don’t even consider. Because it’s ‘London’ a lot of the potential venues know they can be used for conferences, conventions, etc, and will ask a ridiculous amount of money. Besides that, most venues have delicate insurance policies, that don’t allow overnights to be held in their buildings. Believe me, we’ve had quite a bit of companies contact us interested in hosting a BarCamp, only to hear later on that they don’t own their building and can’t get permission for the overnight. And without an overnight, a BarCamp just wouldn’t be a BarCamp.

We were really lucky in getting IBM as a venue. Basically on the day of our deadline of finding a venue for the date we had planned (six weeks before the actual event), we heard that IBM was willing to host our BarCamp. Yay! And their venue was gorgeous; lots of sessions rooms, lots of space for lounging and just general hanging around, it was exactly the type of venue we were hoping for.

Then, food and drinks. Again not as straightforward as it might seem. First of all, there’s the matter of what the venue will allow: can we bring in our own food and drinks, can we use the internal catering, can we have alcohol? Whatever the answers to those questions are, they all lead to the next issue: how many people are we expecting and how much should we order from everything? I’m sure it’s not a London-only thing, but it’s always difficult estimating how many people will show up to your event. I know from experiences with the Geek Dinners it can be really tricky; one time you’ll have a 50% drop out rate, other times only 10%. How can you get a good estimate of the numbers you’ll get?

So, that leads us to the third issue: ticketing. There are so many people interested in attending BarCamp London, that we can’t give a ticket to everyone who wants one. And yet… there have been London BarCamps in the past where the showup rate wasn’t that good. Such a pity, cause a) tons of other people who wanted to show up and could have showed up, didn’t get the chance to attend, because someone didn’t cancel their ticket, and b) the added problem of too much food being ordered and wasted.

This time around there went quite some time into thinking of ways to prevent a low showup rate, like asking for confirmation, blogging about tips and tricks for newbies, and considering the different ways tickets can be released. And it worked. Although we still have to do a final check of the numbers, I think we had a 95% showup rate! This also meant we were pretty spot on with the meal numbers. We got to use IBM’s inhouse catering, so all we had to do was give through the amounts and the menu, and they arranged everything for us. Plus, the food was good (I loved the chili for Saturday lunch and the curry for dinner, although I suspect there was mango in the curry and I got an allergic reaction).

And finally: sponsors. Not much to explain here, right? You find a company, ask them for money, they give you money, done. Well, no. Not exactly. I was the main person responsible this time around for arranging everything with each sponsor, and there goes much more time and effort into it than I initially believed. Especially with the number of sponsors we had this time (17 in total). First off, it’s finding companies who are willing to sponsor, explaining to them what a BarCamp is, and what’s in it for them (negotiating the terms, basically). Then it’s setting up invoices, contracts, and with the bigger companies going through the process of getting a PO etc. And finally it’s organizing all the extra things for the sponsors: so allocating sponsor tickets, getting info and logos from them for blog posts and banners, arranging schwag to be delivered for the goody bags, etc. It’s not that much when you consider 1 sponsor, but multiply it by 15 and you’ll get an idea of what we had to deal with.

We couldn’t really believe it when Friday finally came to setup stuff at the IBM venue; after weeks of preparation the BarCamp was actually going to happen! I was amazed at the number of crew and volunteers we had that Friday (and Saturday/ Sunday; to name them all: Kevin, Cristiano, Zoe from IBM, Alice, Caz, Leeky, Tom, Dan, Tobes, Mary, Paul, Sharon, Reinier, Joost, Improbulus, Sam, Chris, Dom, Tim, Carolyn, Alistair, Judith… am I forgetting anyone?) and with so many people we got through most of the setup pretty quickly. A couple of people were put on laminating the badges (ah, the smell of burnt plastic), a couple more were put on filling the goody bags with schwag, some were put on re-arranging the furniture and some went to get fizzy drinks, juice, snacks and sweets to stock up the cafe area. Simple menial stuff, most of it, but it had to be done.

Saturday morning started early for Cristiano and me; we met with Kevin at 8:00 at the venue to handle the final arrangements. This included going over security regulations from IBM, and fine-tuning the registration process. We tried to make the registration as smooth as possible, seeing as there was a sort of double registration: we needed attendees to go past IBM security, get their IDs checked and get a visitors badge, but also through our own registration and badge collection. We managed to come up with something that was hopefully tolerable for most of the attendees, and it turned out to work out pretty well. There were practically no queues at all, and registration was quick and painless. The main thing we did right was have attendees print out their confirmation emails which had unique barcodes on them. For a quick registration, all you had to do was hand in that print-out. Later on, when it was quieter, we scanned in all the barcodes to create the final overview of who attended.

Most of my first half of Saturday was spent on registration and keeping track of the number of attendees who turned up. Up until lunch I was a little bit stressed, wondering whether we had enough/too much food. In the end there was no real need to worry: we had ordered food for 200, and we had 195 people (so we invited the nice guys from security to eat along too).

Afternoon was spent on sorting out sponsor stuff. Vodafone had sent a box of schwag tshirts that had gone “missing”, which I had to hunt down (turned out they had ended up in the IBM internal post room) and lastminute.com labs had arranged some special afternoon snacks (cream puffs and weird Japanese sweets) which required some setup. There were tons of other thing I was doing too (can’t remember what though), cause I was busy with stuff until about 17:00. Then it finally all calmed down a bit, and I got to do some normal BarCamp stuff.

So, it was about at that time that I finally got my first chance to even look at the grid. Damn. I should have looked earlier. Tons of interesting sessions that I wanted to go to! The Future of Wayfinding, Recovering from RSI, Stuff You Shouldn’t Tweet That I Have, Hack Yourself A Cheaper Train Ticket, Teaching Journalists to Code and Coders to Write, Filmaster.com, Design in Lost (the TV show). I wanted to go to all of them! I’m still a little bit gutted that I missed these; next time around (and yes there will be a next time) I’m going to force myself to take a look at the grid earlier and choose some sessions to go to. As one of the organizers, you know you can’t make it to all the session slots, but we should have at least each picked out a handful of ones to go to and give ourselves a little break.

I finally made it to my first session which was The Art of Improvisation from Willem van der Horst (hippowill). It was a funny session, even though I realized half way that I had only joined halfway (he had booked a double slot). After dinner, I remained in the realm of improv, with first going to the “An After Dinner Game” session, where groups of 3 had to hold short presentations, each person only saying one word (me and my team failed miserably), and then Powerpoint Karaoke, which always turns out fun.

After the after-dinner sessions, began the party! There were free drinks for everyone, and tons of games and stuff going on. We had a massive round of Urban Terror going on in the cafeteria, plus board games like War On Terror, Muchkin and Carcassonne, and of course, BarCamp’s obvious game of choice: Werewolf. I joined in one game of Werewolf this time, even though I said I’d never play again; there were enough newbies and people who I hadn’t played with that often to still make it fun (my problem with Werewolf lately has been that people don’t trust me anymore. So or they kill me off early in the game, or they keep me around, but won’t listen to anything I’ve got to say, because I’m potentially *dangerous*. Yeah, it’s no fun when you can’t actually say anything!)

I managed to stay awake till 3.30 or so, playing games and catching up with people. I’m still not exactly sure which 3.30 this was. This weekend the clocks went back, so we got an extra hour for this BarCamp (while the last one at The Guardian we lost an hour). So I’m not really sure what time I went to bed (I think 3.30->2.30). With how early I got up that day, I’m still baffled that I lasted that long. When I finally did go to ‘bed’, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. And after 6 hours sleep, I was fully refreshed for another day.

Sunday was slightly less hectic for us organizers. We had to do a bit of a registration in the morning, giving back badges to those who had left during the night. But the rest of the day seemed a bit more quiet. Looking back now, I only managed to go to 2 sessions, so it wasn’t actually that much less busier, it only seemed that way (less running around, but still quite some things to setup etc).

The first session I went to that day was about NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month. It takes place every November, and everyone who takes part has to attempt to write 50.000 words that month, that’s 1667 words a day! I’ve always wanted to do something like that, but I’d have no idea where to start in writing a novel. I like writing and with every blog post I think it comes more naturally to me, but novel writing? That’s a whole different ball game.

The second session I went to was a discussion about Failure, lead by Ben Reyes. Some good points were made, but it seemed a lot of the discussion was focused on failure at work. How about failure in other aspects of your life, like relationships? Also, it seemed most were talking about ‘how to accept failure and get on with life’, but always treating it still as something negative.

Around lunchtime things got slightly busy again. Kevin and Dom had the brilliant idea to turn the coffee seating area into a ‘picnic’ area with a Duck pond in the middle. So the PayPal blankets we got as schwag were spread out throughout the room with the packed lunches already setup over them.

Also, somewhere during the day one of the toilets began flooding. It didn’t seem much of a major issue at first; IBM got a guy in to solve it and we thought that would be the end of it. Nope. More toilets began flooding and we had to ‘evacuate’ the help desk (well, unplugging all electronics just in case the water reached that far). The IBM staff were all on hand to sort it out, and thanks to them I think most attendees didn’t even experience the whole incident. Later on we found out what caused the blockage: a male g-string. Ehm… right. *giggle*

Before we knew it, the end of the BarCamp was in sight. Cristiano held the closing talk (with Kevin and me adding some bits), thanking all the attendees, sponsors, etc. It ended with a huge round of applause from the attendees thanking everyone involved in the BarCamp. That alone was worth going through the past couple of weeks; the response was staggering!

With the help of all the attendees, the tidy-up went pretty quickly, although there were things only us crew could do (like dismantling our “war” room). Slowly, people started disappearing to the pub, until only a handful of organizers and IBM staff were left. By that point it was all kind of surreal: we had done it, we had organized a BarCamp, we had put so much work into this, and now it was over.

The final thing that had to be done that day was figure out what to do with the stuff we had left. This included leftover food/drinks, schwag, but also crew stuff for the next time (laminators, lego, cables, etc). We quickly figured out best option was bring it to Cristiano and my place: closest to the venue and enough space. We still have to figure out a permanent solution, but for now I’m sharing my living room with a huge pile of stuff.

And that’s it. That was my first real BarCamp experience from the other side. There are still a couple more things that need to be done before I can put BCL7 finally to rest, but the main stuff has been done now. I think this might have been the longest blog post I’ve ever written (and I’m wondering how many of you will even take the time to read my ramblings), but I mainly had to get this all down on ‘paper’ for myself.

One more thing: thank you to everyone who was involved in this BarCamp. Thanks IBM for allowing us in your great venue. Thanks Zoe for being a great contact and force within IBM. Thanks to all the IBM staff and volunteers for helping out on the three days. Thanks to all the sponsors for contributing and providing us with the means to make this all happen. Thanks to the catering and security guys and gals for putting up with this weird bunch of crazy people. Thanks to the rest of the organizers, especially Cristiano and Kevin, for making this a fun (albeit slightly stressful) experience.

And thank you to everyone who attended and participated. Without you guys BarCamps wouldn’t mean anything; it would be yet again another normal conference.

If you’re interested in hosting or sponsoring future BarCamps, you can contact me at melinda@missgeeky.com. Oh, and if anyone is missing a g-string…

Photos courtesy of Flickr users alicebartlett, martin_88, philliecasablanca, and rugbymadgirl

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1. BarCamp London 4 – Part 1
2. Barcamp Berlin
3. BarCamp Brighton 3 (aka My 6th BarCamp)

Anyhow, in Japan it was just announced that Sony is bringing out a limited edition PS3: the Final Fantasy Lightning Edition. Lightning is the main protagonist in the game, and she herself is printed in pink on the chassis of the PS3. Yep, pink…

I like how this looks like, even though I’m not much a fan of pink. I would have loved to see in this other colours, but despite the pink, I have to admit it looks pretty sleek.

It’s got a HDD space of 250 GB and ships with a version of FF-XIII. In Japan it’s priced at 41600 Yen (around the £280), but I wonder how much it’s going to be here (if it even is released here).

Via GirlyBubble

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And the winner is…

*drum roll, please*

Phil Haslehurst!

With the comment: My perfect Halloween costume would be Nick Griffin of BNP fame. Not only is it easy to get hold of a cheap and nasty grey suit, but he is by far the scariest character of recent years.

Congrats, Phil! And thanks everyone who entered the contest. I hope to do more contests soon, so keep an eye out

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I did like that first movie though, even if it left me feeling pretty disturbed afterwards. I never got around to seeing any of the sequels, mainly because I’m way too squeamish for these type of movies. The gore-and-blood level of the Saw sequels just seemed too much for my tastes (I wonder if there is such a thing like a toned-down cut of the movie? I wouldn’t actually mind watching it, if I knew the ickiness factor wasn’t there).

Anyhow, the lovely people from the BFI IMAX have offered me a pair of tickets to their special Saw All-Nighter on Halloween to giveaway here on my blog! They’re screening all six Saw films back to back, including the newly released Saw VI. There will be free tea and coffee available during the breaks and the bar will be open until the last film starts. The tickets are £26 (and only £16 for students), which is a great deal for 6 movies!

The rules are the same as usual. Leave a comment behind here answering the following question: “What would be your perfect Halloween costume?”. Anybody above 18 is free to enter, but you must be able to come down to London on Halloween to enjoy your prize. The competition ends on Monday 26th 14:00. The winner will be contacted later that day.

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I actually thought I had blogged about this video when it came out 3 weeks ago, but with all the stuff I’ve got going I somehow forgot to actually write the post (you know how sometimes you have a dream just before waking up, that you’re waking up, getting out of bed and going through all the motions of getting ready for work? And then you realize you were actually still asleep and dreaming? Like that but for a blog post.)

You all must be familiar with Simon’s Cat by now (Cat Man Do, Let Me In and TV Dinner, The Fly), so enjoy the latest episode of his antics:

I was also thrilled to find out there’s also now an actual Simon’s Cat book and it’s only £6.48 on Amazon.co.uk. I think it could make a perfect Christmas present for someone (right along with the Bunny Suicides).

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2. Video of The Day: Alarm
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• People With Same Name as Tube Stations – Hehehe, love this post. Especially because of some of the more 'hidden' tube names like Edward G Ware. (Ed G Ware -> Edgeware) or Stephen Bury, who entered the army and became Gunner S Bury. Lol.
• Thoughts on my “How To Be A Good Interviewer” Session at Blogworld : Ewan Spence’s All New Musings. – Great slides on how to interview people (something I should really work on).
• Bazaaro – Gorgeous and weird Tim Burton spread in October's Bazaar. I'm not sure though it it's just "inspired" by TIm Burton, or if he actually also worked on it. (I'm thinking the former)
• Kashiwa Mystery Cafe – Great idea, and it must be amazing to stumble on something like that while on holiday.
• Ironic Sans: So you think you can tell Arial from Helvetica? Quiz – Yay! I got 19 out of 20. How did you score?

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Here is Playful’s description of what their event is all about:

Playful is a one-day event all about games and play – in all their manifestations, throughout the contemporary media landscape. It’s a conference for architects, artists, designers, developers, geeks, gurus, gamers, tinkerers, thinkerers, bloggers, joggers, and philosophers. We look at what PLAY means both creatively and culturally, and put speakers on the stage who offer different perspectives on where we are currently, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. We want people walking away talking about the nature of games…what they mean to different people inside, on the periphery, outside or miles away from the industry.

Check out their programme to see the full list of speakers that will be there. I know all the talks will most probably be great, but in particular I myself am looking forward to a couple of the speakers: Robin Burkinshaw, who is behind the blog Alice and Kev (an experiment in The Sims 3 with two homeless sims), Simon Oliver, the founder of indie games studio HandCircus, creators of the Rolando series for the iPhone, and Roo Reynolds, because his talk from last year was awesome!

There are still a couple of tickets available on the Playful evenbrite page for only £40. That’s a bargain compared to most conferences! But be quick: tickets are limited, and I have no doubt that these will be snapped up before you know it.

So, see you all at Playful?

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I so want framed versions of these! I was 6 when The Little Mermaid came out, and I still have a very memory of actually going to the cinema and seeing this (right down, to the where we were sitting in the cinema and the layout and feel of the chairs in that cinema).

The two posters are part of a book that will soon be released, The Art of Disney Princess. Several internal Disney artists were asked to give their own spin to some of the Disney princesses. I love what Tan came up with, and so want to know what the other interpretations are. Adding the book to my Christmas list…

Check out Eric Tan’s website for more amazing art (Up, X-Men, Incredibles, Indiana Jones, Ratatouille).

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3. Me Wantz: The World Is Your Oyster

Q: I was wondering, did you have any reservations on taking another role with the potential of such a fanatic following?

L. Nimoy: [ed: lots and lots of laughing] I love this question. I can’t help but laugh because you’re absolutely right. It’s an interesting set of circumstances. What attracted me to it was several things. J.J. Abrams, Bob Orci, and Alex Kurtzman, who I worked with on the Star Trek movie, I admire their talent and the work that they do.The series is at the very least to say intriguing. The character was somewhat of a blank slate, but we began talking about it and, therefore, attracted because there’s an opportunity to build an interesting and unpredictable character. I’m enjoying it a lot.

Q: When will William Bell and Walter Bishop face off?

L. Nimoy: Unpredictable at the moment. In the episode tomorrow night, the scene in between myself and Olivia, I think we will learn a lot more than we have known in the past about what their relationship is all about and what William Bell’s intentions are, or at least we will be told what his intentions are. We’re not really quite sure that everything that he says is accurate or true.

Q: I wonder, what does William Bell do when he’s over there? Who is he spending time with?

L. Nimoy: William Bell is sort of a “master of the universe,” a brilliant man, very wealthy man, very powerful. We’ll find out a lot more about him in future episodes.

Q: Don’t you find it remarkable how what is science fiction today can become science?

L. Nimoy: It is remarkable. I was thinking as we began this conference call about the technology involved here. It is quite remarkable and so terribly useful. It’s a very convenient way to put out a lot of information, and this is the kind of thing that was only dreamed about 10, 15 years ago. And you’re right, science fiction very often leads the way for the scientists. Scientists watch science fiction, see an idea being presented, and say, “Well, gee, I wonder if that’s really possible.” They go to work at it on the drawing board, and a lot of it comes to fruition.

Q: I’m only trying to be slightly funny, but are you a techie?

L. Nimoy: Am I a techie? Is that what you’re asking?

Q: Yes, instead of Trekkie.

L. Nimoy: Well, I use a computer. [ed: long pause]

Q: Yes? That’s as far as you’ll go?

L. Nimoy: I don’t know if that qualifies me as a techie, but I’m pretty good on the computer.

Q: So lately it seems as if you’re J.J. Abrams’ muse of sorts. Can you tell us a little bit more about your relationship with him?

L. Nimoy: Well, I first met him I guess about three years ago when he first contacted me about the possibility of working together, and I went to a meeting with he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman and some of his production staff. They told me a very good and strong and touching story about their feelings about Star Trek and specifically the Spock character.

It gave me a sense of validation after all these years. I had been out of it for some time, as you’re probably aware. There were several Star Trek series in which I was not involved and Star Trek movies in which I was not involved. This was a re-validation of the work that I had done, the work that we had done on the original Star Trek. I felt very good about it and went to work for them.

I had a great time working on the movie. I think they did a brilliant job, and I think the audience response shows that that was the case and has reinvigorated the franchise. And when they contacted me about working on Fringe—the same people, the same attitude, the same creativity, the same creative team—it was very enticing.

Q: Had you seen the show? Had you been a fan of the show prior to that?

L. Nimoy: I watched it periodically. I think it’s extremely well done. It’s very nuanced. It’s complex. It’s a mixture of science and science fiction in a very interesting and intelligent way. And I think it has a long way to go in story-telling. It tells a terribly interesting story, and the character that I was offered was potentially a very intriguing and controversial and fascinating character, very inviting for an actor.

Q: I was wondering how you felt about the current state of science fiction on TV and film.

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m concerned about the positioning of story in terms of importance. When I see a lot of explosions and a lot of chases, I’m not terribly impressed. I think there are three terribly important elements that must be given a priority position in science fiction as well as in any other kind of drama. The first is story, the second is story, and the third is story. Story, story, story, story, story. If the story is compelling and interesting, I think all the rest will find its place.

We have great technology in our industry, and that technology can be overused at the expense of story. And that’s a problem for me, but when the story is in place, I think the special effects can find their proper place. I think Fringe uses the technology brilliantly, but in the service of excellent story-telling.

Q: You had not been acting for awhile, and then you’ve done Star Trek and Fringe pretty recently together. Having stepped away for awhile and then returned, are your feelings about acting what they were, or have they changed, do you find?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m enjoying it. I’m very comfortable in the two offers that I’ve accepted. The Star Trek movie was a joy to do. I admire the production team that made the film. I admire the new cast. Zachary Quinto I thought was a great choice for the new Spock, and it was a pleasure to work with him and with all the other people on the project.

The Fringe character was intriguing because, as I’ve mentioned, it was kind of a blank slate and we had some very interesting and intense conversations about who and what he could be and how we should perceive him, what we might or might not learn about him, what we might or might not trust about him. These are intriguing opportunities for an actor, and they came at a time when I and from a group of people that I had respect for. They piqued my interest and I went back to work. I did not expect to, frankly, be acting so much at this time in my life. My concentration was on my photography, but I’m having a wonderful time doing it.

Q: I was taking a look back at your career this morning, and it seems that, after your role on Star Trek, your projects weighed heavily towards the sci-fi genre. Were you always a big fan of sci-fi, or was that a—

L. Nimoy: Well, it’s a good thing if you can find your niche as an actor and be able to support a family. Very early on—I’m talking about many, many years ago, probably 1950 or ‘51— I acted in my first science fiction project, and I have acted in science fiction over the years ever since.

The first one was probably not terribly well known. I thought it was going to rocket me to stardom, if you’ll pardon the expression. It didn’t quite work. It was a great project called Zombies of the Stratosphere, and I was the third of a group of zombies that came to earth to take over earth’s orbit. It’s funny, as I think about it now, but it was a way of making a living. And science fiction has seemed to be a fertile ground for the kind of work that I do, the kind of presence that I offer. I’m grateful for it. I’m grateful for the niche that science fiction has given me.

Q: So in the season finale last season, it was very, very heavily implied that Peter Bishop came from the alternate universe, which suggested there’s a second Walter Bishop as well. Are we going to see a second William Bell?

L. Nimoy: A second William Bell? Is that what you’re asking?

Q: Yes.

L. Nimoy: Yes. I don’t think I can really answer that question very specifically right now. I think the most important thing is that tomorrow night we will get a sense of what his relationship is with Olivia. It’s very intriguing and very intense moments that take place tomorrow night, and the rest remains to be seen.

I’m waiting to see what these terribly imaginative writers come up with for the future. I’m expecting that I probably will be going back to work for them before too much longer. I’m looking forward to what they send me on the page. But, right now, I think we go a long way tomorrow night in discovering what William Bell is all about.

Q: Have they mentioned anything about their needs for you on an upcoming Star Trek movie?

L. Nimoy: No. My understanding is they’re working on a script right now. I expect there’s going to be some time before they really know exactly who they need and what they need. I frankly, frankly doubt that I will be called upon again.

I think I was useful in his last film to help bridge between the original characters, the original actors, and the new cast. They have a wonderful new cast in place, and I’m sure they’ll move ahead with them. I don’t see, at the moment, why they would need me in the next film, although, if they called me, I’d be happy to have a conversation about it.

Q: Now, your character, William Bell, believes the world has soft spots. I just wanted to know, do you believe in this as well?

L. Nimoy: Well, what the show deals with in this wonderfully intriguing way is a question of an alternate universe, through which one can slip through, from one universe to another. I’ve been involved in stories of this kind before. I did a series called In Search of some years ago in which we dealt with subject matter like this.

I think the question is one that you would, in terms of whether it’s scientifically accurate, you’d have to ask people like Stephen Hawking. I’m not a scientist, and I can’t really tell you whether or not there is a soft spot where you could slip through to another world, but I think the Fringe series deals with that idea in a very intriguing way.

Q: I wanted to find out what sort of acting challenges have you found playing the William Bell character so far, would you say?

L. Nimoy: Well, the first thing was some wonderful and creative conversations that I had with J.J. Abrams and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the writers, and with Jeff Pinkner, who’s the show runner, to try to create from scratch a character that’s never been seen before, only been referred to. There are certain things that were given, which is that he’s a power figure and a very wealthy and obviously a terribly intelligent man with a scientific background.

But, in terms of characteristics, we started from scratch, and I think tomorrow night a lot more of those characteristics will be evident. It’s great fun to be building the character from scratch, with certain givens, but so much to be developed in terms of the way he talks, the way he walks, idiosyncracies, his tastes, is he difficult, is he gruff, is he charming, is he a nice guy, what are his real intentions. All of these are great exploration for an actor.

Q: And as a follow-up, I just wanted to ask if you wouldn’t mind talking a little bit about your photography and maybe where your love of photography came from?

L. Nimoy: Well, I became enamored with photography when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I’ve been at it ever since. I studied seriously in the ‘70s. I have a master’s degree in photography as a fine art, and I would call my work primarily conceptual. I don’t carry cameras with me wherever I go. I get an idea of a subject matter I want to deal with and I pull out my cameras.

I have published two books. One was called Shekhina about the feminine aspect of God, and the second was called The Full Body Project, which deals with body image issues in our society.

Q: So you had your scene with Olivia, with Anna Torv. Did you get a chance to meet any other actors, and did you get an opinion of them?

L. Nimoy: No. I have not worked with the others. Only Olivia so far. I’m looking forward to meeting and working with all the others. They’re very talented people, and I admire the work they do. But so far, all my work has been with the Olivia character, and I think she does a wonderful job on the show, by the way. They all do. They’re very good.

Q: What do you think of Anna Torv as an actor and as a person?

L. Nimoy: I think she’s really excellent in the role. We spent a bit of time working together, and I was impressed with the way she works. I’ve seen quite a bit of her work on the screen. I think she handles a very wide range of activities, from very internalized psychological questions to very, very physical stuff, and I think she handles it very well. She’s very competent, very interesting to watch. I think she’s terrific.

Q: I know Mr. Spock’s character could be kind of complex at times, I would think, and I was wondering about your character as William Bell. Is there a particular character flaw or even something good that you would like to have highlighted in future episodes?

L. Nimoy: This is a wonderful question. I’m really looking forward to this character unfolding in a very interesting kind of way. I think you’ll see, tomorrow night, one very strong aspect of him and certain idiosyncracies that are being developed. But I do think there’s a long way to go. I think there’s a lot to be discovered, and I’m looking forward to discovering it with the audience.

It’s really not up to me to write the scripts. I don’t do the writing, but the writers are clever, inventive, creative. They’re very bright people. I’m counting on them to give us some really interesting character touches in the future.

Q: Have you found that there’s anything different in the way television is done these days or what it requires of you as an actor, or is that aspect of work still pretty much the same?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’d say that’s a good question. I think it’s safe to say that what an audience is seeing today on screen in the television episode is far more complex than what we were doing when we were, for example, making the original Star Trek series in the ‘60s. We were very, very heavy on pages and pages of dialogue and very little special effects, but because the technology has advanced so greatly, it’s possible to do some very complex and very exciting and very useful technical stuff on the shows these days, so we don’t have to rely quite so much on the story being told by the actors speaking.

On the other hand, there is a danger, as I mentioned earlier, of going too far with the special effects at the expense of story. But if the story is well done, if the story’s in place strongly, the special effects can be enormously helpful to the actors, far more so than they were years ago when we were making the original Star Trek series.

Q: But are you saying that these days you’re allowed to do a little more nuance in the acting and not have to so much deliver the exposition because that—

L. Nimoy: Oh, thank you. Thank you. Exactly, exactly, exactly. Delivering the exposition is the toughest part of the job, and if it can be done visually and physically, it’s a big help. Exactly.

Q: I was just wondering, looking to the future, do you have any goals in mind, any invisible time line where you wanted to just get out of the spotlight and retire, focus on photography—

L. Nimoy: Well, thank you. I thought I had reached that point some years ago. I think about myself as like an ocean liner that’s been going full speed for a long distance and the captain pulls the throttle back all the way to “stop,” but the ship doesn’t stop immediately, does it? It has its own momentum and it keeps on going, and I’m very flattered that people are still finding me useful.

I try to pick my spots so that I have a balance between the work and my personal life, which I enjoy very much. I don’t know that I would actually any longer say, “No, I’m going to stop ten, twelve, fifteen months or two years from now.” I don’t know. I still feel strong and healthy and active, and as long as there’s interesting work to do, I’ll probably keep on doing it.

Q: Obviously, with Star Trek, you set the gold standard in science fiction. What do you think about the products that have come out in recent years, things like Lost or Battlestar Galactica, or even Fringe for that matter?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m really impressed. I’m impressed. I think there’s some very, very good work being done, and certainly in terms of production value. It’s head and shoulders above what we were able to do years ago. I keep coming back to my baseline, which is the story. If the story is good and all this new technology can work to the service of the story, I’m excited about some of the work that’s being done. I look and I say, “Wow.” In tomorrow night’s episode, there are things being done that I wouldn’t know how to do.

I directed two of the Star Trek films and I produced one. I don’t know how they’re doing some of these effects that they’re doing now in these TV shows and on TV budgets. I’m terribly impressed. I think it’s a very exciting medium to be working in today, particularly if the script is good, the story’s in place.

Q: What is still on your “to do” list with all the things you’ve done in the world?

L. Nimoy: Well, I’m looking forward to developing the William Bell character further. I hope the writers are interested in working with the character. I am. I don’t know how much further we’ll go with it, but the character, so far, has been very intriguing and the whole Fringe company has been very good to me. I’m delighted to be involved.

I am still actively involved with my photography work. I’m working on a current project, which is called Secret Selves, which is about hidden or fantasy or private personalities that people bring for me to photograph. And there will be an exhibition of that name, Secret Selves, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art opening next summer, a solo exhibition. I’m excited about that.

Related posts:

1. Interview: Joshua Jackson on Fringe
2. TV Preview: Fringe Season 2
3. Comic-Con ‘09: Fringe Panel

According to one of the people at the wedding:

this is the cake that was at my cousins wedding i went to in California. it was such an awesome cake. it was really tall and i heard it cost $8,000.

Ouch! $8000 for a cake?!? Still it does look gorgeous!

Via Great White Snark

Related posts:

1. 12 Posts of Christmas: Tips For Christmas Shopping
2. 12 Posts of Christmas: My 12 Favourite Christmas Movies
3. 12 Posts of Christmas: My 5 Favourite Christmas Songs

I’m pretty much addicted to Neil Patrick Harris’s singing (wish he sang more at the Emmy’s), so when I found out he was a musical villain on Batman: The Brave and The Bold I knew I had to see it. Mind you, I’ve never caught a single episode of this version of Batman, so wasn’t even familiar with who’s in it (besides Batman, that is).

Having watched though I have to say I love this musical episode! I’m not sure if I’d watch more eps beyond this one, but Mayhem of the Music Meister is completely worth it. Here’s the entire episode:

Related posts:

1. A Video A Day: Make Your Own Kind Of Music
2. Video of The Day: Classical Music With Shining Eyes
3. Video of The Day: Her Morning Elegance

If you have been unable to get a ticket for BarCamp London7 so far, don’t despair, loads will be released today. Like previous BarCamps, this will be on a first come, first served basis so be prepared for high demand and make sure you are there refreshing your browser to snap a ticket!

Good luck!

Related posts:

1. BarCampLondon7 – Lottery Round
2. Me Wantz: Limited Edition Final Fantasy XIII PS3
3. Video of The Day: Final Fantasy XIII

Blurb is currently running a competition for their photo book users, where you can enter a photo book you’ve created for a chance to win $3000. All you have to do is submit any photo book you’ve made  before the 22nd of October (it has to be published though at least once after 17th September 2009). There are 3 different categories (Family, Travel, Pets) that will be judged and each has a $3000 category winner and a $1000 runner-up.

The wonderful people at Blurb have offered me 3 vouchers of £30 to give away to my readers, so that they can create and enter their own photo book into the competition. Just leave a comment behind here with your best photography tip. The contest closes on Monday 12th October 15:00 and the 3 winners will be drawn at random.

Related posts:

1. My Blurb Photo Book
2. Kangaroo Hunting Contest
3. Contest: Find The Hidden Treasure

Q: I’m wondering, how do you feel the direction of this season is different from the last one?

E. Dushku: Well, there’s so much being cracked open and explored, especially with Echo having this new place that she’s in, in terms of what we picked up from last year. She had all of the personalities downloaded into her in one swift punch and they’re not going away. So every pick up this year, she’s still tapping into these personalities. Sometimes it’s not in her control, and other times it is. But overall, she’s really absorbing things from her engagements, and from the dollhouse, and she’s really becoming self-aware, but not necessarily as Caroline, but as Echo, as her own person. So it’s definitely complicated.

It’s a little darker all around. We’ll explore sort of some of the things, the origins of some of the other dolls and the other characters. And then bringing in a bunch of guest stars and fabulous people coming in, so there’s a lot of exciting stuff happening with those things as well.

Q: What trouble will Echo run into in her attempts to save everyone?

E. Dushku: I’m sure every kind and all kinds because it’s a Joss Whedon show. We’re starting episode seven, and there are so many directions and so many layers, and it’s all over the map. Of course, a main story line is Agent Ballard, who spent last season trying to get into the dollhouse, and now that he’s in and Echo’s handler, he’s working with her, and they may possibly be trying to bring the Dollhouse down from the inside out.

Also, we get some back story with Adelle and her superiors, and other Dollhouses around the country and around the world, and just to give you an idea of how big the Rossum Corporation is. Summer Glau will join us and play a programmer from the D.C. dollhouse, and we’ll get an idea of the way the other houses are being run.

Q: How does a Watertown girl become Joss Whedon’s muse?

E. Dushku: That’s such a funny, good question, and I have no idea. I literally remember when I made my audition tape for Buffy. I went to the Arsenal Mall. And I got my outfit at Contempo Casuals in the Arsenal Mall, and bought some safety pins in my jeans. And I remember telling whoever the clerk was that I was making a tape for Buffy, and they were so excited. And then I was actually emancipated by a Boston judge who was also a Buffy fan, so I could go out to LA and shoot Buffy, which obviously dealt with vampires who come out at night, and I was still technically a minor, so I had a great judge that emancipated me so that I could come and do the show. I was already out of high school at that time. I guess I always have gotten by with a little help from my friends, Boston and everywhere.

Q: What do you like about working with Joss and doing his shows?

E. Dushku: I would say, first and foremost, that I just love the guy as a friend. He’s been a friend, a brother, a teacher, a mentor, but the other obviously is just his talent. His skill is so beautiful to me, and he’s just wildly creative and smart and feminist and funny and dark and scary and twisted, and he just combines it all so, you know, in such a sweet little package that I just, he gets me every time.

Q: So far as great as the show is, and as talented as the cast is, and as clever as Joss and his team are, obviously you want people to watch the show, and I’m just wondering, do you think Fox has put you in a position for that to happen, airing you on a Friday night after a comedy?

E. Dushku: Well, I think they realized last year that people who want to find the show did, and obviously there’s been a lot of talk about DVR and Tivo and how we really are alive for a second season because of that in a major way. And so I can see how they would say the people that found – people found the show last year, and so we’re just going to leave it where it is, and hope that that continues.

Ratings are obviously important, but, having a professor for a mother, she always taught us about qualitative versus quantitative research, and I know that we’re making a quality show and that we have quality fans and people that come to experience something different and out of the ordinary. There are so many shows on TV that are instant hits, and we’re not that, but we have a core following, and I think that people that check the show out and aren’t intimidated by it, find themselves being sucked in pretty easily.

I mean, it’s sharp, intelligent, fun. It’s sort of sometimes off-the-wall TV, and I know that when I’m spending an hour of my life sitting down to watch the boob-tube, I love getting a rich experience out of it, and I’ve always found that with Joss in particular and, in particular, his shows. So we just do our thing, and given the second season, we’re grateful to the fans, and we’re grateful to Fox for giving us another chance, and we’re making the most of it. We keep doing what we were doing, yes.

Q: Now you and Summer shot the promo last year. Your two shows then kind of were fighting for the last spot in the lineup, and now she’s obviously a part of your show. What’s the dynamic like between you and her?

E. Dushku: She’s great. I love her. We’ve had such a good time the last two episodes. She has come in with her A game, and she’s just a sweet, positive, fun actress. You know, she’s great to play off of. Our characters have some back story that we have to fight out, and so that’s a lot of fun, and I also – anyone that sort of is from Joss’ past, and he’s bringing back, I assume he had a great working relationship with them. He wouldn’t bring any bad eggs into our house, so I always can pretty much safely know that we’re going to have the cream of the crop coming back and coming in.

Q: You mentioned just a little bit ago that Echo was kind of all over the place as a character and, as an actor, how do you approach that?

E. Dushku: Yes, she’s a schizophrenic.

Q: But as an actor, how do you find that through line that you can kind of grab onto when you’re playing the different parts that she plays?

E. Dushku: Well, again, it’s almost, it’s more, it’s easier this year because we don’t have as much of that sort of dumb down doll Echo because with sort of the – first of all, the personalities and now this core Echo being a sum of all these parts, including Caroline, but not really any of them, she’s Echo.

She’s actually – there’s something grounded in that, and there’s a strength in the personality that she’s forming through that. And she’s sort of picking and pulling information from all of the different people that she’s been, and as a result, she’s sort of coming to understand and form her own ethics and morals.

But she’s absorbing, and she’s thinking, and she’s processing, and so whereas last year it was from dumb down doll to this singular imprint, and it was always different. This year, there’s – you never know, but you always know at the same time that there’s something going on inside Echo that’s not just what you’re seeing on the surface. So it’s sort of a little more grounding in that way, and fun for me to play.

Q: You guys had such a strong fan base, it seemed, before the show even premiered. Do you guys pay attention to the blog sites and what the fans are saying when you’re coming up with like how to shape the episodes and the series?

E. Dushku: I know that Joss and we’ve always paid attention to the fan love, and we love the fans right back, absolutely. I don’t know how much he takes tips from storylines from the fans. I mean, on the contrary, from what I’ve seen, when he sees someone falling in love with a character, he’s known to assassinate them or do something terrible. So I think, maybe that is a blessing in itself, so maybe yes. But he definitely has a mind of his own. Within the group of writers, they aren’t really conformists, I can confidently say. So whether it’s fans or critics or studios for that matter, they do their best work when they’re sort of left alone and they reveal things as when they feel they should be revealed, and that goes for me and the other actors as well.

Sometimes it’s really exciting for me I don’t want to know necessarily what’s going to happen in three episodes because it may affect the way I’m playing Echo today, and I’m always – that thrill, that adrenaline from reading the next chapter and the next layer that Joss, you know, brings in is one of the most exhilarating things that I know as an actress.

Q: I was wondering, is there a particular role or character in an upcoming episode that you’re going to play that was kind of hard for you to get into, and if so, why?

E. Dushku: Let me think. Well, I’ll tell you, playing a mother was certainly something I hadn’t expected, and that, you know, I’m an auntie, and I’ve always loved other people’s children and babies, but playing a mother and trying to tap into that maternal instinct was a challenge, but also a thrill, and a beautiful thing, so you’ll have to let me know how you think I did after this week’s episode.

Q: Was there anything funny or unusual that happened on the set, like behind the scenes while filming that you could tell me about with the Instinct episode or any episode?

E. Dushku: Yes, trying to breastfeed someone else’s baby is difficult. I’ll just leave it at that. When you’re not an actual mother, and trying to breastfeed a baby is harder than it looks.

Q: This season, because Echo is a little bit more self-aware, but is sort of got fragments going on through her, is that easier or harder to play when she thought she was entirely one person?

E. Dushku: Well, that’s sort of touching on that with the few questions ago. There’s something a little more grounded about it. I mean, when the pieces start to fall apart, and when she starts to be taken over by a memory, that she can’t control, I think it’s difficult. But at the same time, there’s that processing going, and there’s that authentic self that’s holding on and that’s sort of keeping her from completely losing it and from completely being controlled by the personalities. She’s starting to gain control of the personalities, and there’s something grounding about that and something really strong about that. And so for me, I find it a little – I don’t know if it’s easier. It’s more complex, so I enjoy it more, I guess, because there’s more going on besides just blank slate doll and engagement Echo. There’s Echo, who is a sum of all the parts.

Q: And when you get a script going she’s, now she’s flashing on this, I mean, do you sit down with the script and break it down as to how aware Echo is, or do you just sort of do the scene and see what feels right in how to play it?

E. Dushku: No, we’re absolutely breaking it down more this year because those realized moments are so much stronger. I mean, I definitely would not say it’s been easier. It’s been, it’s actually been deeper work for me, but again, it’s deeper work for me is sort of more interesting and more challenging to play. I have to say it’s been a blessing this year to also be shooting on HD because we have more time, and so I get to spend a lot more time with the material and with these characters and with these glitches, and so that I feel like that’s paying off for me a lot this year. And I feel like my performance has gotten stronger and even more, you know, more honest.

And even in that first episode with Jamie Bamber when we had the scene in the office where it goes from him catching me, and then bashing my head off the table, and then me sort of in the backspin, in that tailspin. I sort of famously now burst into tears in the middle of that scene because it was just so emotional, and I now feel this real connection that is sort of came from the inception of the show.

And Joss and I are making this character a little bit based on me where it’s this struggle, this battle of like who am I, and even with all the pressures of society and things pouring in on me, where does that break, and where is my authentic self, and how it feels to stand in that and to live in that? So it’s very personal and very exciting and terrifying and gratifying.

Q: So you talked before about how this show reflects your experiences as a woman and trying to be all the people that people want you to be. Do you feel like Dollhouse is really about the experience of being an actor in particular, like in LA, like people expecting you to kind of fulfill their fantasies and the dark side of that? Is this something you’re putting into it, when you’re playing Echo?

E. Dushku: Yes, I think there’s absolutely a layer or a few layers of that. When Joss and I had our infamous lunch, that was one of the threads and one of the themes, but I think it also translates to young women all over world. I remember my mother; I was the only girl in a family with three boys, and my mother did extensive reading about – I remember her reading this book called Reviving Ophelia, about adolescent girls and sort of breaking the way young women are broken down, and at the early age in their teens where they’re starting to get hit from all sides by media and just images and the way the men in their lives, their fathers and their peers and everything starts to change. And it’s like, the spirit of young women is so fragile and can be so toyed with and broken.

And my mother was always really aware of that and really tried to fight against that, and to teach me to sort of stand in my authentic self and be comfortable in my skin, and with all of that research that she did and applying it, it still haunted me, and it still, you know, at various times in my life has almost wounded me or come close to breaking me.

And so when I sat talking about that stuff to Joss, he just, you know, as a man, it’s so extraordinary that he taps into that in such a profound and intelligent way, and I can’t think of anyone else that gets that or that gets that and can create an entire fantasy show that encompasses such a universal and serious thing in our society. So it’s absolutely parallel to me, and I also feel like to women all over the world.

Q: I wanted to know how much closer Echo will get to rediscovering her true self this season?

E. Dushku: Every single episode, it’s been a little bit more. We’re on 7 now, and we have 13, and this next episode is very – this episode 7 that we’re doing, we’ve been building; we’ve been building. And we have a real kind of, a really extreme. I’m scared to say too much because the way, the feeling I get when I read these scripts and I get the sort of surprise of what’s next, I would never want to ruin for the viewers. But she really is becoming an entirely different character in many ways because she is getting sort of farther away from Caroline, even though Caroline is still the initial, her original self. So Caroline is in there, but I think she starts to realize there are things about Caroline that she’s discovering are not – are unsavory or that are not Echo.

The development of the character of Echo now has just been so exciting and so fascinating because when the way our writers and the way Joss can pick pieces from each of her experiences and weave them into this new character is just fascinating. So you’ll absolutely see a whole new Echo this season.

Q: I noticed in episode three, you’re imprinted with the personality of a college student. Now does that trigger any memories of Caroline’s?

E. Dushku: It does. You’ll have to watch the show. Definitely I start out as a college girl, but when an imprint goes sort of haywire, I spend more of the episode – I think it’s more serial killer than sorority girl. Also, I don’t think Echo, I don’t think Caroline was a sorority girl. She’s a college kid, but far from who Caroline was.

Q: Now I’m sure obviously Dollhouse has been keeping you busy, and yet you still find time to kind of squeeze in some features on hiatus and, I don’t know, weekends and everything. First of all, when was the last time you actually slept a night?

E. Dushku: I slept this weekend, and it felt so good because the weekend before, I went to Italy for a day to see the Robert Mapplethorpe Exhibit at the Michelangelo Museum. So we left on – I worked Friday night, slept a few hours, flew Saturday morning, you know, and everyone is like, oh, it must be easy when you’re flying first class. I did not fly first class. We bought cheap tickets for under $1,000. We flew economy to Rome, took a train to Florence, and went to see this exhibit for some research for Mapplethorpe, and it was definitely an exhausting weekend, and then I came right back to work, and we shot all day, but I signed up for it, and I just love it. It’s my drug, you know, and it’s just – I sleep when I find time. You know people say, I’ll sleep when I’m dead. I have too much to live for right now.

Q: Now they just released a film that you did called Open Graves, that kind of flew in under the radar. Can you kind of tell us a little bit about it?

E. Dushku: It did. I shot Open Graves about 2.5 years ago, and we shot the movie in Spain, and such as this business. There are some times movies don’t come together at the pace or with the expectation that was initially intended, so I actually haven’t even seen the movie. It premiered on Sci-Fi the weekend I was in Italy, but I have yet to even watch it on my Tivo, and it was a cool experience. I was interested in working with the director who had worked very closely with Pedro Almodovar, and I thought the script sort of had some interesting and different sci-fi horror twists to it. And I enjoy working in that genre, but it never quite gelled into the movie that sort of I had anticipated, but you know, it happens. You keep going. You don’t quit. I certainly won’t quit horror and that genre forever.

Q: How much of a factor does Epitaph One play into season two because it wasn’t originally broadcast, but it was part of the DVD set, and Joss Whedon was talking about that he’d like to revisit that future. Could you tell me a little bit about that, please?

E. Dushku: Yes, Epitaph One was so well done. I was so impressed. It brought me to tears. Truly when Joss sort of told me about it, I wondered how the hell he was going to do it, how he was going to pull it off, but I was just so impressed and so proud of him and everyone involved, and I thought it was such a beautiful episode. I think it’s a shame that it didn’t air here. But the reason that we came back was that they didn’t want to end the story, and it didn’t end the story. Getting picked up for a second season, I feel like the network probably wanted to just pick up where we left off.

And I know that Joss had originally in the first episode this season planned on weaving some of that into episode one, but there was so much to cover in the first episode. You know, we had Amy Acker, who we’re not going to be able to have with us for the entire season, so we had Amy’s storyline, and we had to have a sort of big, fierce engagement, and there was just a lot to do, and it was a little bit too much. So we took it out of that, but I do know that Joss wants to slice in some stuff in the future episodes, and I love Felicia Day. I loved the way the future looked, as dark and terrifying it was. It was just so raw and so fascinating to me that I hope we see more of it.

Q: Another thing that Joss Whedon brought up was that this season, Echo is going to be kind of looking for allies and to form some kind of a team or a family based on all the memories that have been imprinted and how she, as you noted, as you said before, is changing this season. I was just wondering if you could give me any details in terms of specific characters or what Echo is looking for in a sense of sharing what she’s learned and also sharing a similar experience with other people.

E. Dushku: Absolutely. She is looking for allies because, as she is becoming aware of her surroundings and what’s going on and all of these personalities that are creeping up and out of her, she’s also, of course, always in an entirely vulnerable place because if anyone, if the wrong person catches on to what she’s experiencing and what she’s remembering, she could very well be sent up to the attic and cancel Christmas. She could be done forever. So she’s being very careful with the tools and the knowledge that she has gained to sort of sniff out who she can trust, who she can manipulate, who she can use.

Agent Ballard was trying all last season to get in, and now he’s in, and he’s her handler, and I think it remains to be seen if he can be trusted. But in the beginning of the season here, and actually the first episode, it seems like there’s a pretty strong connection there. Then with the introduction of the other Dollhouse and some of the other players, it’s just makes more of a maze for Echo to navigate and to find her way through, realizing that one wrong, one bad step and she’s done.

Related posts:

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2. TV Preview: Dollhouse Epitaph One
3. Interview: Ron Moore on Virtuality [Part 2]

I finally watched Taylor Swift’s one though, and while it is cheesy as hell (and aimed for 13 year old high school girls), I can’t get this song out of my head:

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Initially I was pretty curious, because it’s being produced by Sam Raimi. But then I realized he also produced: Xena, Hercules and more recently Legend of the Seeker. Not exactly shows that had me screaming for more. Spartacus: Blood and Sand reunites Raimi with Xena/BSG star Lucy Lawless, playing here Lucretia, who together with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah) own the gladiator camp that Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is from.

Check out the trailer:

So what do you think? Discuss in the comments.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand premieres in January 2010 on Starz.

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Cute little animation from Google Japan to explain how Street View works:

Via Geeks Are Sexy

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All that aside, Inglourious Basterds is the latest film by Quentin Tarantino. Set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, it’s about a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds” who are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

What I found surprising of Inglourious Basterds is that while the movie is named after ‘The Basterds’ it actually isn’t really about them. Yes, they feature quite heavily in the movie, but I don’t think I’d call them the main characters. There are a slew of interesting characters that are focused on as much as The Basterds, some maybe even more.

As most people who have seen the movie will tell you, one of the highlights is Christoph Waltz’s performance as Colonel Hans Lauda. His character walks that fine line between being genius and unbelievably creepy; some of his monologues are just brilliant and one of the main things that make this movie worthwhile. Like most Tarantino movies the dialogue in general is pretty topnotch, and the way Brad Pitt pronounces ‘Arrivederci’ will be imprinted in my brain forever.

I liked Tarantino’s previous movies, but I must admit I always found them a bit too… bloody. Gruesome. Over the top unnecessarily violent. (Feel free to disagree with me, but I seriously got a bit squeamish with his previous films) Here in Inglourious Basterds he’s toned it down somewhat. There are still one or two ‘icky’ scenes (always with The Basterds), but most of the real gruesome stuff happens off screen.

The movie has a couple of plot problems (like how does Shoshanna suddenly own a theatre?), but I’m guessing this is because of the cuts made after the criticisms at Cannes. The problems that were reported there though, like the slow pacing, are nowhere in sight. Inglourious Basterds runs for almost 2.5 hours, but it doesn’t feel that long. Still I’d like to see a longer version to straighten out those missing story lines gaps.

If you haven’t seen Inglourious Basterds, you should definitely try to catch if before is disappears from the cinemas. I loved this movie, more than Tarantino’s previous ones. And if you’re hesitant, because you’re scared it will be gory, don’t be; this is one of the mildest Tarantino movies. Inglourious Basterds provides a couple of hours of great dialogue, absurd plot and lots of killin’ Nazis.

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It’s available on BOB by post for £12.50 and comes in two colours (Chocolate Mocha with self embossed type or Lilac with silver type).

Via Domestic Sluttery

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Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief: I’m such a sucker for Greek mythology, so I might be looking forward to this movie more than it warrants. The movie is about Percy Jackson, Poseidon’s son who goes on a quest in present-day America to rescue his mother, return Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt and prevent a civil war from erupting among the gods. Release Date: February 2010 (US, UK)

The Book of Eli: There have already been a couple of shorter teaser trailers, but here’s the first full length one. Most of the stuff is just repeated from the previous ones, but it still looks major badass. Release Date: January 2010 (US, UK)

The Shrine: After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote Polish village called Alvaina. Upon further investigation, the journalists discover that Alvaina has a history of bizarre cult activity revolving around human sacrifice. Hellbent on revealing the truth, they travel to the small village to uncover the story first hand. Release Date: 2010 (US)

Harry Brown: A modest law-abiding citizen, Harry Brown (Michael Caine) is a retired Marine and a widower who lives alone on a depressed housing estate. His only company is his best friend Leonard (David Bradley). When Leonard is murdered by a gang of thugs, Harry feels compelled to act and is forced to dispense his own brand of justice. Release Date: November 2009 (UK)

A Nightmare on Elm Street: A re-imagining of the horror icon Freddy Krueger, a serial-killer who wields a glove with four blades embedded in the fingers and kills people inside their dreams, resulting in their real death in reality. Release Date: April 2010 (US)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Bella Swan is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen, but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested. Release Date: November 2009 (US, UK)

Brief Interviews With Hideous Men: Based on the book by David Foster Wallace, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men is a darkly funny and disturbing exploration of men and their complex relationships with women. Sara Quinn is interviewing men as part of her graduate studies. Her intellectual endeavor has emotional consequences as the men’s twisted and revealing stories are juxtaposed against the backdrop of her own experience. Release Date: 25 September 2009 (US), unknown (UK)

The Trotsky: Jacob Tierney’s hilarious The Trotsky follows Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel), a precocious Montreal teen who fervently believes himself to be the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. He’s determined to duplicate every aspect of Trotsky’s life, including being exiled, at least twice, and ultimately assassinated. His most pressing issues right now, though, are finding his Lenin and an older wife, preferably named Alexandra. Release Date: unknown

Messages Deleted: A quivering voice begs screenwriter, Joel Brandt, to pick up the phone on a message from his answering machine. Thinking its a prank, Joel deletes the message. The caller is found dead. Another caller leaves Joel a message; there is another murder… then another… then another. The killer has Joel’s attention, and Joel now has the attention of the police. Release Date: unknown

Dare: The good girl, the outsider and the bad boy…like you’ve never seen them before. Release Date: unknown

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If you’re interested in coming along, we’re giving out the second wave of tickets for BarCampLondon 7 through a lottery. It is now live, and you’ll be able to enter it between midday on 30th September and midday on 3rd October. Check out the BarCampLondon website for more details.

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2. Upcoming Events
3. Event: IMAX Terminator All-Nighter

This Saturday (3rd October) starting at 23:30 there’s a Terminator All-Nighter, showing all 4 Terminator movies back-to-back. That’s practically 8 hours of Terminator!

If you’re interested, there are still tickets available on the BFI website (£26 for Adults, £16 for Students, £18 for Concessions).

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• Neil deGrasse Tyson’s worst science movie of all time? Titanic. – Great anecdotal story from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse on how he met James Cameron and talked about his problem with Titanic.
• SpY, street art, urban art – Wonderful art from SpY, a former graffiti artist turned ‘urban remodeler’. Definitely have a look at the urban furniture and interventions.
• William Safire’s Finest Speech – The speech William Safire drafted for Nixon to read in case the Apollo 11 Astronauts became stranded on the moon. Interesting peek into an alternate history scenario…

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Dollhouse (2×01)

Wow, I love this series. When it started last year, I wasn’t that convinced by it. It took to at least episodes 6 and 7 for me to really believe that Joss Whedon could pull it off again. And then the unaired Epitaph One… Amazing. This first episode of Dollhouse’s second season is pretty awesome too, although it would have helped to have a short ‘what happened again in the previous eps’ segment. That aside though, this episode kicks all kinds of ass; Echo and Ballard are great together, and I’m eager to find out how their relationship will develop. Especially now that Echo’s becoming more self aware. Next to that story line, you’ve got to love the scenes with Topher and Whiskey; I wish Amy Adams could have gotten more episodes this season.

How I Met Your Mother (5×01)

Robin and Barney! Barney and Robin! Barman and Robin! I love these two as a couple, and this season started out great for them. I knew they were going to pull some twist with the ‘Mother’. Last season ended with older Ted telling us that the Mother was in Ted’s lecture room. Turns out though it wasn’t his lecture room (for Architecture), but for Economics. There have been rumours though that How I Met Your Mother’s 100th episode (5×12) will bring us a step closer to the Mother…

The Big Bang Theory (3×01)

This TV show walks a fine, fine line. On the one hand it is filled with jokes only geeks and nerds will get, on the other side they’re actually making fun of this audience. Once in a while I still cringe at some of jokes (just because I know I do whatever it is they’re making fun of), but I think it’s gotten better. I’m still not sure about Penny and Leonard as a couple; they are cute together, but they’re not the Ross and Rachel type that the series is pushing them to be.

The Forgotten (1×01)

I watch my fair share of procedural dramas, and while occasionally enjoyable I’m not really looking to add yet another one to the huge list of things to watch. I’m not sure what to do yet with The Forgotten; it seems interesting, but I don’t think there’s enough there to hook me completely on to it. It’s about a civilian volunteers group who, after the police have failed, attempt to identify John and Jane Does. Christian Slater is okay as the lead ‘investigator’ who himself lost his daughter in a kidnapping and has never heard anything of her. The rest of the team is adequate, but there’s nothing that makes in want to invest in these characters. There’s no fun interaction between them or any intriguing gripping backstories like on most other shows.

The Good Wife (1×01)

This new show features Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, the wife of a politician who has been jailed after a very public sex and corruption scandal. To provide for her two children, she returns back to her old job as a defense attorney, although she has to rebuild her reputation and position. When I initially heard about this show, I thought it wouldbe much more political and all about how this politician’s wife has to deal with the scandal and betrayal of her husband. Juicy stuff, right? It isn’t at all though; the show is basically just a legal drama with the scandal as an added element to stir it up a bit. I know people who will love to show, but it’s not something for me.

Vampire Diaries (1×02 & 1×03)

So I watched two more episodes of the Vampire Diaries, and I’m still not impressed. All the characters just seem so bland, none of them are interesting at all. Plus, why does every ‘ad’ cliffhanger end with a vampire ‘attack’? The first time was cheesy enough already, why repeat that a couple of times? I’m sorry Vampire Diaries, but even though you’re based on my beloved books, so far you haven’t been delivering at all.

Grey’s Anatomy (6×01)

We’re at the 6th season already? I remember being so hooked on this show that very first season, and while the show has had its ups and downs, I still remain as invested as I was that first season. And now we have our very first departure of the show (yeah, I know Burke left, but he didn’t die, so technically he could come back), George O’Malley. George is dead. I knew it was coming after last season, but the writers are just so mean and still manage to shock us. That moment when Lexie goes “No, it’s not him, George is taller”, I for a moment was actually expecting that to be true. And that only makes the impact that it is him so much more stronger. I still love how Grey’s Anatomy manages to have a theme in each episode and interweave it through all the story lines and patient cases. In this case the 5 stages of grief. Everybody is dealing with their grief differently (if you want to read more about this episode, you should follow Grey Matter, the blog of the writers). Also, did anyone notice that Meredith is pregnant? In real life that is, not in the show. They’ve been pretty smart and creative with covering it up.

Melrose Place (1×02 & 1×03)

I know it’s so cheesy and soapy, but I’m growing to like this show. I like how they’re using the flash backs to show us more about these characters; some of the flashbacks are completely ‘new’, while others actually come from the original series. Even though I never watched the original it’s kind of interesting to see these characters so many years later. I also liked this post from Buzz Sugar linking the current characters to their original series counterpart. So far my favourite characters are Violet (psycho, yet sweet ), Ella (bitchy PR agent), Jonah (the up and coming film director) and Lauren (the med student-turned-prostitute).

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I blogged about the online store DUO Boots more than a year ago, but when I saw their latest collection I couldn’t resist writing about them again. Some of these boots are just sooo gorgeous! The great thing about DUO though is that they offer calf-fitted boots. So besides just giving your foot size, you also get to specify your calf width for the perfect fit.

Here are a couple of my favourites:

Olbia – Classic, elegant knee high boots with pointed toe and leather covered heel. Colours: Black leather. Lining material: Fabric. Heel height: 9cm. Zip: Full-length. £145

Madeira – Opulent over the knee boot with an asymmetric toe and a covered platform & heel and button detail. Vary your look with the optional turn down cuff. Colours: Black leather, Teal suede. Lining material: Leather. Heel height: 8.5cm £245

Rochelle – Captivatingly sleek stiletto heeled boots with front panel detail and neatly rounded toe. Colours: Black leather, Cocoa brown leather. Lining material: Fabric. Heel height: 9cm. Zip: Full-length £145

Jesolo – Stunning crinkle patent leather boots with covered platform sole and heel. A beautiful sleek silhouette with minimal detailing and a flattering front seam. Colours: Jet black crinkle patent. Lining material: Leather. Heel height: 9cm. £205

Toscana – Stylish asymmetric toe knee high boots made from soft suede and glossy patent leather with suede covered buckled straps and button detail. Colours: Black suede & patent leather, Amethyst purple suede & patent leather. Lining material: Leather. Heel height: 9cm £215

Mallorca – Kitten heel leather boot with flower corsage detail. Colours: Black leather, Conker leather. Lining material: Fabric. Heel height: 6cm. £145

They’ve got loads more different styles (and flat shoes too) on the DUOboots website. I still can’t decide which pair I should get for myself; I’d love one of the more ‘funkier’ ones, like the turquoise Madeira or the red Mallorca, but I don’t think I have enough clothes that will fit with these. The more practical me is saying to go for the Jesolo: a simple black silhouette plus not a too thin heel. Which pair are your favourites?

If you’re interested in getting some, you can get free shipping when you enter AW09 at the checkout. Offers expires: 30.09.09

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Can you manage to figure out what’s going on in this video?

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• Clive Thompson on the New Literacy – Article about how the online world actually makes the current generation write more (than previous generations) and that we are on the cusp of a literacy revolution.
• Lego Art by Mike Stimpson – I love some of these photos! My favourites are American Beauty and the V.J. Times Square kiss.
• Snow Leopard Review – Best Snow Leopard review I’ve read so far!

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They’re being sold in the US for $44.99 on Showtime.com, but they won’t ship outside of the US.

Via /Film

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I love the small little discount book shop in Charing Cross; sometimes I come across the best deals. In this case, I found all three books of Fiona McIntosh’s Pecheron trilogy for only £12 (all three together, that is). Bargain!

I had tried one of McIntosh’s other books (Myrren’s Gift, to be exact), but I never finished it. Not sure why, cause I loved her writing and characters. Enough at least, to have no hesitation at all to buy this other trilogy of hers. I’m glad I did, cause it’s a great series. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far all McIntosh’s books has something unique about it. Each world she creates, with its own mythology and rules, feels special and fresh, making me want to find out more about it.

Instead of the familiar repeated fantasy setting of a medieval type kingdom, Odalisque is set in an Eastern realm with a Zar and a harem (apparently inspired by Constantinople). This sets an original backdrop to the rest of story. The way the harem scheming and intrigues work are again different than what you’ll see in your standard medieval “political” novels. Besides that, there’s the addition of gods to the story, but again in a way I hadn’t seen before. I think it reminds me the most of Wheel of Time where characters are reincarnations of past legends/myths; here something similar happens.

In Pecheron the story goes that every thousand years Lyana the goddess is reborn. Before she is revealed the owl god Iridor returns, as messenger and herald to Lyana. At the same time, the demon Maliz also comes into being, sent by the male god Zarab, to destroy Lyana. For the past couple of cycles, Lyana has each time been destroyed, and Pecheron only believes in Zarab, with Lyana remembered only as an bygone remnant of another era. Of course, this series is about the rebirth of Lyana, Iridor and Maliz, but the cool thing is that when the book starts you have no idea who is who and neither do the characters. You slowly get your own ideas, but even at the end of this first book you’re still not sure if someone is a “god” or just a random human. I’ve got my suspicions on how this series will end, and I’m really curious to see if my intuitions are right.

I’ve already dug into the next book of this series, and can’t wait to find out more! Definitely a recommended read to anyone who’s a bit bored by the standard medieval fantasy fare.

Odalisque is the first book in the Pecheron trilogy by Fiona McIntosh – £5.99 on Amazon.co.uk, $7.99 on Amazon.com

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I stumbled on these beautiful boxes on design store Umbra:

Turvy Storage Box: Pine storage box that pivots from the center. 9 x 3.5 x 4.5″ (23 x 9 x 11 cm). £33.00

Tuck Storage Box: Bamboo boxes that swivel together to create a cube for easy storage. 5 x 5 x 5″ (13 x 13 x 13 cm). £30.50

Terrace Storage Box: Set of three stacking bamboo boxes for jewelry. 5″ diameter x 4″. £30.50

Spindle Storage Box: Pivoting storage box with magnetic closure. 7.5 x 4.5 x 4.5″. £30.50

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And now to the interview (beware there are some things in here that might be considered spoilers; it’s stuff like casting details, who’s going to play what and appear when):

Q: For Dollhouse, how will Echo, and of course the many other characters she is flashing to, come in to her own this season?

J. Whedon: Basically, through force of will. She did have all those personalities dumped into her at once and as we pick up, we’re going to find out that that’s starting to affect her. Rather than be at sea in between engagements, she’s much more directed and driven, and even in her doll state is growing, and learning and starting to try to access these personalities to see what they can help her with, because she has a mission that she understands now, which is to get back to her personality and get everybody back to theirs.

Q: I just want to know how many seasons do you see Dollhouse going for?

J. Whedon: Dollhouse, the premise is limited and I think by season 17, you’re really going to see us repeating ourselves.

Q: Last season you began with a number of restating pilot episodes where you wanted to make sure that you could bring in new viewers. This season doesn’t begin with that sort of episode. Could you talk about how you approached the idea of new viewers following the show?

J. Whedon: Well, you know, we always try to make, especially in the first episode of the season, but generally we try and make the premise clear enough so that if you haven’t been watching it, you don’t have to do a huge amount of math. There’s a lot of exposition in the first pilot, in the first episode of the season, to help that. But at the end of the day, you do have to go, “Well, if they don’t get the premise,” and we’ve even rejiggered the opening credits to make it clearer, than they’ll either become involved in these peoples’ stories or they won’t. You have to move slow enough so people can grab a hold and jump on with you, but you have to keep moving.

Q: Do you have a pitch to new viewers on how to reintegrate themselves or is the answer as simple as watch the DVD?

J. Whedon: No, I think the answer would be more like buy the DVD, and buy some for your friends. Then have discussion groups where you buy more. Too much integrity in that response?

Q: Can you tell us what Ray Wise is going to be playing in and when we might see him first?

J. Whedon: Ray Wise, I believe, will be appearing in episode six and he’s going to be playing the head of another house, so he’s going to interact with young Olivia and it should be very exciting.

Q: How are arced is the show going to be this season?

J. Whedon: The show is going to be pretty arcy. Clearly what people responded to was the workings of the Dollhouse and the progression of the characters in it and we’re going to honor that. At the same time, I’m very much of the mind that you do need to resolve something in an episode. You can’t just create a series of twists and turns. You need an episode to have a sense of completion, so there will still be engagements or at least problems that need to be dealt with, but they will feed into the main arc as well.

Q: Obviously you can’t give too much away, but is anything of the ‘Epitaph One’ episode going to factor in to Dollhouse now at all, or are you just totally throwing it out?

J. Whedon: No, no, we’re absolutely not throwing it out. It had originally been my intention to start in that era and then come back, but I just had too much information in my first episode. What we’re talking about doing is perhaps revisiting that timeline towards the end of the 13 in a similar fashion, but we’re also looking at the show through the lens of that episode and saying, “Well, this is taking us to a more global concept of how this power is used and abused.” That’s a lot of what informs the season. You don’t have to have seen it to understand that, but it helps if you do. I think it adds a layer.

Q: Right, that was a mind-blowing thing to watch.

J. Whedon: It was fun.

Q: Every television show should have an episode like that.

J. Whedon: I think so. I want to know what post-apocalyptic future was caused by Two-and-a-Half Men.

Q: There were a lot of people who were worried that you might be cancelled after your first season. What do you think it was that convinced FOX to sign you on for another round and hopefully longer?

J. Whedon: I think it’s the nature of the business and the nature of the fan base. The nature of the fan base is they’re in it for the long haul, and they’re nurturing, and they’re intense about it and they will see it through. They will stick with it and that means years after it’s cancelled. Firefly still sells, Buffy still sells, and that’s also a business thing for the studio. They’re in it for the long haul because they know the long haul is how my work pays off. I don’t make hit shows. I make shows that stick around that people come to long after they would have stopped generating revenue in the old system.

With the advent of DVD and the eventual monetization of Online, there’s a market there that exists beyond your Nielsen numbers, and the fans showing up and DVRing, and buying a DVD, and proving on all my other projects that they don’t do these things lightly, that it runs deep in them, means that the base doesn’t have to be as broad for the studio to think it’s worth it to try and eke out another season.

Q: I have read a couple of interviews with Eliza Dushku in which she talks about how she had a hand in developing her character. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about some of the ways in which she helped shape who Echo has become and will become.

J. Whedon: Well, she really wants to dance burlesque. We keep forgetting to put that in. Eliza has specific things she’s interested in, specific things she feels comfortable with. Sometimes I like to go to that place because I know that she can knock it out of the park and sometimes I like to go in the opposite direction to take her out of her comfort zone because that’s the best thing you can do with an actor.

The fact is she shapes it because she is very specific as a person. She’s very specific in the way she presents and even though there are many different aspects to that, the people don’t usually get to see how funny she can be, how elegant. She doesn’t always have to play the tough girl, but she really just presents. It was a conversation about all of the different things she was supposed to be, or had been, or was trying to be, or trying to get away from that led to the creation of the show. It made me think, “Wait a minute. That’s what the show should be about.” So it wasn’t so much that she said, “I’d like to be the following things,” although we talked about what the characters are, it’s just that she is so many people that we pluck from them. She did go bow hunting. I understand, however, that she herself was not hunted.

Q: Do you think there will be another one-off episode that will be exclusive to the season to you, DVD of Dollhouse?

J. Whedon: I don’t think we’ll have a DVD exclusive, because I don’t think anybody’s going to pony up the dough for it. But I do think we will be revisiting the world of Epitaph One.

Q: You guys haven’t even probably thought as far enough for the DVD, but what kinds of things can we expect as far as visiting the Epitaph One world?

J. Whedon: We’re so fascinated by that world and really in love with the actors in it, and we also want to answer some of the questions we asked about. Well where is everybody, come the future? Who’s doing fine and who didn’t make it? So we keep trying to go back to the future and then realizing well no, it’s not time yet. It’s really going to be towards the end of the season that we’ll be able to do that.

Q: I’d like to know a little bit more about the relationships that are coming up this season – what it’s going to be like with Echo and Paul, and even among the dolls this year?

J. Whedon: Victor and Sierra just can’t keep their hands off each other, and they’re like monkeys and it’s something that we’re going to be treating, they’re going to be seeing through for a while. It makes some people very uncomfortable and sometimes it’s just extremely sweet. Sometimes it’s just funny.

But Echo is very much building herself and she sees it as an indication that they’re ready to be pushed to a level like hers. She’s looking for allies and Paul is the first person she’s going to turn to for that. But then a lot of the season is going to be her attempt to put together some kind of team, even though she has trouble articulating it at first. She’s looking for the sense of family that I think the audience was looking for last season. So we’re going to be seeing who’s on her side and who, not so much.

Q: I was really impressed with what Amy did in this premiere here. Is Dr. Saunders going to factor in a little more in the season?

J. Whedon: Dr. Saunders would factor in much more in the season had we not lost her to another show. She will factor inasmuch as we are allowed to factor her in, which is exactly three episodes worth. They will, however, be three extraordinarily memorable episodes.

Amy Acker is ridiculously talented and the character’s dilemma is fascinating to us. We grit our teeth that we didn’t have the funds, or the support, or the success, to just make her a regular and now we’re paying for it. It means that every time we have her on screen, we’ll squeeze every drop out of her that we can. We’re seizing the day. We just don’t get to seize as many of them as we’d like.

Q: With Amy Acker gone, are we going to get a new doctor character to tend to the wounded?

J. Whedon: We haven’t featured the doctor. We see somebody in the BG. We will be seeing Dr. Saunders again and the stories just haven’t lent themselves to bringing in another person in that capacity. So if we need to, yes, but not so far.

Q: I noticed the guest star lineup looks really impressive this season. You had Alan on last season and Summer this season. I just wanted to know, are there plans to get the rest of Firefly on here at some point?

J. Whedon: It’s a death match between Firefly and Battlestar and which of them is going to get all their people. The fact of the matter is they’re people I admire and they’re people I know I love to work with and this season, I’m a lot less concerned with how the cast is perceived.

Last season, we felt like we wanted to make sure that this was new territory and that people didn’t think of it as just, “Oh, it’s just these faces and he’s doing his old thing.” Now I’m like, “I know these people can act,” and honestly, the people that are watching it are fans anyway. If they know who these people are, they’ll be thrilled. If they don’t, they’ll see good acting so it doesn’t matter to me as much. So yes, I have no fear of throwing anybody that I have worked with or just want to work with in anytime I can.

Q: Could you talk about the casting of Summer and also what’s in store for her character?

J. Whedon: The casting of Summer was based on the knowledge that Summer existed and the character was created with the hopes that she would play it, which she is right on stage right now doing. She’s playing the programmer of another Dollhouse. It’s a somewhat eccentric part but hopefully different than what we’ve seen her do before. The most useful part of that is that the writers work twice as hard to make sure that the character really pops and pays off because they know that it’s going to be played by somebody extraordinary.

Q: Is it safe to assume that Summer’s character works at the same Dollhouse that Ray Wise runs?

J. Whedon: I think that would be safe.

Q: And is it safe to assume that that makes it a super-cool Dollhouse?

J. Whedon: I would say much cooler than this lame one that I’m in.

Q: Can you hint at all, we know that November/Mellie will be returning, but how she will return since for her, it would seem that her time with the Dollhouse is over?

J. Whedon: It would, wouldn’t it? I can’t tell you exactly how. I can tell you that she’ll be back early on and that we’re definitely not done with the character, and that probably means there’s going to be some pain involved. More than that, you’re going to have to wait for it.

Q: You have a number of interesting guest stars in the new edition of the season, in addition to Summer. Can you tell me a little bit about Jamie Bamber’s character and a little bit about Alexis as a senator? I think I read he’s trying to shut down the Dollhouse.

J. Whedon: Yes, he’s got his own crusade going. He’s a very different person than Paul but he’s in a similar position except that he’s gone public with it. How much the Dollhouse loves a senator who has gone public with an attack on them, we will find out in later episodes. But he’s not the Paul of the season because he’s going to have a different set of problems thrown at him, but he has a similar vibe in terms of he’s very tenacious and righteous. Then, I forget what the other part was?

Q: Jamie Bamber, I read that Bamber marries Echo early on in the season.

J. Whedon: If you were those two, wouldn’t you get married? They’re so cute. He came in as the guest star in the first episode, which was just besides a geek dream for me, an extraordinary experience because he’s not just very professional, and precise and talented, but he fleshed out a character that could have been a little bit of a cardboard cutout. He has such sincerity and gravitas that you feel terrible. He makes you feel you’ve betrayed him, even if he’s completely in the wrong. It’s something that he shares with Adelle. Maybe it’s a British thing; I don’t know.

Q: What ways are you going to stretch the parameters of the tech this season?

J. Whedon: We’re going to stretch the tech fairly heftily. I actually can’t answer the question directly because a lot of it has to do with the different ways in which this tech can be manipulated, and we’re going to see that it’s not all the simple chair treatments. There’s more that can be done and the excitement and the danger of that is a large part of this season.

Q: We’ve got some glimpses at the back-story of some of the other characters like Sierra and Victor, but still a lot to fill in. Will we be delving into that more as the season progresses?

J. Whedon: Yes, we will. We know how extraordinary those two performers are and we are very curious about their stories as much as we are about Caroline’s. So yes, we will definitely be seeing some episodes that highlight them and their pasts and where they’re heading.

Q: Is the set a designer’s dream?

J. Whedon: It depends on the set designer. It might be a dream where he’s screaming.

Q: I’m wondering, a big thing that people discussed in the first season is who’s the doll. Who is secretly a doll? But now that we know that people can be remotely programmed in a flash without necessarily being dolls to begin with, is that still a meaningful question? Is everybody a doll inside?

J. Whedon: No, that’s the case in the far future. It’s not the case right now. I’ll tell you right now, everybody is not a doll because it would be very easy for us to pull that trick over and over and ultimately shoot ourselves in the foot, because you would find that nothing was at stake and that everybody would see the plot was coming. We’ve actually grounded the show fairly heavily. People who are dolls, are dolls and the other people, every now and then, I’m not saying never, I’m not saying we won’t question reality every now and then but basically, we’re taking the people we have and we’re pushing them around as much as possible.

We’re trying to keep it grounded so that people know that there is something at stake and if somebody did have their personality altered or taken away, that that would be a huge deal. That’s like the attic; that’s like death. That’s like the worst thing that can happen to a character so we want to make sure that the characters are grounded enough that people feel those stakes. If we just make people dolls, Willie-Nillie, then it’s the rabbit hole and none of it really connects or means anything.

Q: My final question is actually for Dr. Horrible. What started in the homegrown effort for you guys and it stayed that way moving forward with all of the claim and success you’ve had?

J. Whedon: The claim and success is not a problem for us. We’re totally comfortable with it. We are working on a follow-up. The question of whether it stays homegrown or whether it outgrows that is one that we ask ourselves. It doesn’t effect the storytelling. The story we want to tell is about the people, whether we do that on a shoestring, the way we did it for before, whether we do something bigger and invite other people into the process. It’s a decision we’ll make after we love the show.

Q: Thank you, and any closing remarks, Mr. Whedon?

J. Whedon: I love each and every one of you very much – possibly inappropriately. That’s it. That’s all I got.

Dollhouse’s second season premieres this Friday on Fox at 20:00.

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