June 23rd: Happy birthday, Mr. Whedon

The one Buffy scene that chokes me up whenever I think about it is in the final minutes of the very last episode, "Chosen", where the potential Slayers all over the world feel the effects of Willow's spell and feel, well, *Slayerness* just wash over them. This little girl playing baseball, can't be more than 8 or 9, is standing at bat, and you can see from the look on her face that she's wavering a bit. Willow's Slayer power-share spell kicks in, and the little girl lowers her gaze and you know from the look on her face that *she knows* she's going to knock it out of the fucking park.

When asked,"Why do you write these strong women characters?" Joss said,

"Because equality is not a concept. It’s not something we should be striving for. It’s a necessity. Equality is like gravity. We need it to stand on this earth as men and women. And the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance, and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who is confronted with it.

We need equality. Kinda now."

That's why I love Joss Whedon. That, and the fights on Buffy were so exciting. Oh yeah, and Giles.

YouTard

Turns out YouTube's search engine is about as smart as a bag of hair. Look for flicking the lights off, NOT I'm flicking the lights off. Sheesh.

Return of the Buffy Musical, sort of

...a lot of stuff has happened since January: Chinese New Year parade and dinner, new job at ACC [Anonymous Call Centre] and oh yeah, summer. But it took Buffy on the big screen to get me off my lazy, fat, wobbly sofa and actually post something.

The skies actually cleared for this past weekend. Which wouldn't be unusual for June, except the last 2 weeks have been the coldest on record with unrelenting, *pissing down* rain. And it's freaking JUNE. Anyway, Sunday saw the Car Free Vancouver Day -- lots of merry people milling around, skateboard ramps, vendors, sidewalk cafe tables moved to the middle of Main street and goth cheerleaders with flaming batons. Whee!

My favourite video store on Main & 15th, Happy Bats, had a block party, with their short film festival SunScreen [rigged together with a computer that played DVDs, a projector and miles of cable] and an impromptu showing of Once More With Feeling, the Buffy musical episode. Happy Bats has hosted the Buffy musical a couple of times before where they've rented a theatre and sold tickets. Sadly, it looks as though Sunday's showing will be the closest we'll be able to get until...okay, I don't know *why* Fox isn't letting these screenings happen. Not this year. Picked up [another] Bats t-shirt and a used copy of The Golden Compass, adding to the growing Daniel Craig collection chez Juno. Anyhow, SunScreen '08 highlights included a "Sweded" version of The Fugitive, "fugitive in 6 mins. by Ronan and Dan", Sylvia Coates ‘Coffee Break’ [discarded muffin + hungry pigeon + marauding crow = more entertaining than you'd think], and Jaclyn Smith's ‘I’m Flicking the Lights Off’, Jaclyn’s own version of the Sarah Silverman ‘I’m F*cking Matt Damon’ video. Hee. Check out ‘I’m Flicking the Lights Off’ on YouTube!