50K Blog – A Few of my Favorite Things

This is a Worldbuilders blog.

Over the last couple years, I’ve been cautious about the donation goals I set for Worldbuilders. I set my sights on a goal I’m pretty sure we can hit, and only after we get there do I bump up the target number on our donation thermometer. Some years I’ve done this eight or nine times.

I do it this way because back in 2008 when I started all this, I thought to myself, “I wonder if I could get people to donate 5000 dollars if I gave away prizes and offered to match donations?”

When I raised that much in just a couple of days, I was stunned. So I moved it up to $10,000 dollars, worrying that I was overstepping myself, not really believing that we could raise that much….

Three years and 600,000 dollars later, I still feel the same way. Every year I find myself thinking, “Will publishers help out again? Will authors care enough to send me books? Will people tweet and link and spread the word to their friends? Will geeks of all creeds and nations step up to the plate one more time?”

Then it all comes together, and I’m full of stunned, warm-fuzzy joy all over again.

This year, I decided to try something different. Rather than move our donation goal around all higgledy-piggledy, I decided to set some target levels. Something we could shoot for as a team. Then, if people are awesome enough to help me hit those goals, I’d put extra stuff into the fundraiser as a way to thank everyone for contributing.

We hit our first goal of 50,000 last Friday, so today you get the first of these blogs. I’ve got four more planned, each with increasingly cool additions to the fundraiser.

This is the one I like to think of as the AV blog. Where I share some of my favorite non-book media with with y’all.

  • A complete DVD set of Buffy and Angel.

Over the years, I’ve made no secret of my love for Joss Whedon. I started watching Buffy seriously in 2002, right when I was seriously starting revision on The Name of the Wind. Watching this series changed how I thought about storytelling, and the tricks I learned from it taught me a lot about plot and characterization.

Simply said, I think this is the finest television show ever produced. So I’m adding it to the prize lottery.

  • Two DVD sets of Red Dwarf including Back to Earth: The Director’s Cut.

I started watching Red Dwarf way back in the day. Back when it was on VHS tapes, and you couldn’t find copies for love nor money in the US.

This is the full eight seasons and the recent three-part: Back to Earth.

In my opinion, you aren’t a real sci-fi geek if you haven’t watched this. It’s one of the classics. Best of all, because the show relies on the cleverness of the writing rather than special effects, it holds up very well these days even though the first season was more than 20 years ago.

  • Two DVD sets of Firefly.

I will never get over the cancellation of Firefly. Not in a hundred years. And I meant what I said earlier in the year when I wrote an open letter to Nathan Fillion.

If you don’t like this series, odds are we can’t be friends. I’m sorry. That’s just the way it is.

  • Two DVD sets of Dollhouse.

Some people didn’t like Dollhouse. Then again, some people are idiots who drink their own pee.

[P.S. If y’all in the marketing department at Fox would like to use this as a promotional quote for the series, feel free. Just spell my name right.]
  • One audio cd of Telling Tales by Neil Gaiman.

This is one of the CD’s that you can get from Dreamhaven. It’s one of the earlier recordings of Neil Gaiman reading his own work. Good stuff.

  • One audio cd of Speaking in Tongues by Neil Gaiman.

Like the above, but different. If you catch my meaning.

  • One copy of Warning: Contains Language by Neil Gaiman.

This is a two-CD set also features music by Dave McKean and the Flash girls. It features Gaiman reading poems and stories from Angels and Visitations.

As an interesting aside, in the liner notes, it reads:

Unauthorized Copying of this CD is not only forbidden, but will prey upon your conscience, spoil your sleep, destroy your complexion, and eventually will wind up turning you into the kind of person who drinks methylated spirits out of a bottle hidden in a brown paper bag and who lives under bridges, burps noxiously, and prays day and night for release from the unsupportable burden their life has become. We thought you’d appreciate the warning.

  • Three audio cds of 3 doz Poems read by Garrison Keillor from The Writer’s Almanac.

Some people think that I hate poetry, not realizing, perhaps, that Kvothe and I are actually two different people.

Believe it or not, we are separate entities with different thoughts and emotions. Other telltale differences include hair color: Mine is brown. His is red. He is mostly a fictional character, and I am mostly real. He is a better singer, while I am a better kisser.

We also radically differ on our opinions of poetry. He has an irrational loathing of it, while I myself quite enjoy it.

Well…. some of it. The good stuff.

This is the good stuff. Lovely poems selected and read by America’s greatest living storyteller: Garrison Keillor.

  • Two audio collections of Good Poems by Garrison Keillor.

You can also tell that these are good poems. Because, well, it says so right there: Good Poems. You can’t get much clearer than that.

This is a 4 CD set, containing a marvelous selection of poetry read by a number of wonderful readers, including Keillor himself. Honestly, I would listen to the man read a phone book. Getting to hear him read some of the finest poetry ever is just a bonus.

  • One set of The First and Second Seasons of Flight of the Conchords and an audio cd of The Distant Future.

I loved Flight of the Conchords before they were cool. If you haven’t watched their HBO series, you really need to.

  • Five copies of The Adventures of Sexton Blake.

I raved about this BBC Audio production last year on the blog.

And you know what? Everything I said about it then is just as true today. I listened to this a couple weeks ago and laughed my metaphorical ass off. If anything, I think it’s funnier the 20th time around.

  • A copy of The Ultimate David Sedaris Box Set.

While Garrison Keillor is my favorite living storyteller. David Sedaris takes a close second place.

I only discovered him a couple years ago when someone recommended I listen to “Six to Eight Black men.”

They were really insistent, so I looked it up on Youtube just to shut them up about it.

The next day I went out and bought this box set, which contains 20 CD worth of David Sedaris reading the entirety of Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Barrel Fever and Other Stories, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

I’ve been a fan of The Guild since back in 2008 when I interviewed Felicia Day and we became BFFs.

Because I love spreading the word about cool indi geekery like this, I picked up several sets of the first two seasons of The Guild when I was at San Diego ComicCon with the sole purpose of giving them away to people and getting them hooked on the series.

Felicia was nice enough to sign them for me. She’s just an all-around nice person.

*     *     *

Remember, you for every 10 dollars you donate on the Worldbuilders Team Page, you get a chance to win everything here, not to mention the hundreds of other books that have already been donated.

What’s more, if you donate before January 31st of 2012, Worldbuilders will match 50% of your donation.

Also, every dollar donated brings us closer to $100,000. Once we hit that, I’ll post up another blog with more personal additions to the fundraiser.

And lastly, don’t forget about the auctions Worldbuilders is running right now. Some of them will be ending soon…

Spread the word…

pat

This entry was posted in buffy, Felicia Day, Firefly, Joss Whedon, The Guild, Worldbuilders 2011By Pat21 Responses

21 Comments

  1. Joshua_Guess
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 12:19 AM | Permalink

    Okay, so I was a super fanboy of yours before this post. I’m trilled that we’ve hit such a big goal so quickly, and I think it’s yet again a testament to your awesome level that you do this with such gusto every year.

    But now? I’ve learned you like, nay, LOVE Red Dwarf, and my fan level has grown three sizes this day. You may impregnate my wife at a time and place of your choosing.

    That is all.

  2. katelyn
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 12:22 AM | Permalink

    Huzzah!

  3. JoeLlama
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 12:32 AM | Permalink

    Goddamnit Pat, I love you.

  4. Panigg
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 1:21 AM | Permalink

    People that write such awesome works of art can only love firefly and are also the most awesome, handsome sexy nerds ever. I mean how can you not like firefly? Seriously how?

  5. Hxlgg
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 1:22 AM | Permalink

    Oh my… I had no idea you were a fan of David Sedaris. And here I was thinking you couldn’t get any better. If there is anything better than Sedaris’s books, it is listening to him read them. Freakin’ awesome.

  6. jaymatteo
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 2:08 AM | Permalink

    Umm, Pat? Are you me?

  7. spikyc
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 5:26 AM | Permalink

    Awesome :) You’ve got 4 more of these planned? What amount of donations are you going to put those up at? 100k, 150k, 200k, 300k?

    • Posted December 20, 2011 at 1:46 PM | Permalink

      I’ve got them planned at 50K increments.

  8. Posted December 20, 2011 at 6:45 AM | Permalink

    My timing is bad. I almost met Joss Whedon at the Edward Gory house. I missed him by 5 minutes. If I hadn’t stopped for water on my way out of the house I might have met him. Joss Whedon’s wife is from Cape Cod (where the Gory house is), and this was the first time he had visited I guess before Edward Gory died he has wanted to meet Joss Whedon. He was a Buffy fan. And Joss Whedon was of course an Edward Gory fan. That is a collaboration that I would have loved to have seen.

    So my new hope for a collaboration is maybe you work your way into a cameo on the next installment of Dr. Horrible. I’ve heard you sing. It could be amazing!

    And bravo on setting the goal high for world builders! I hope we can all help achieve it.

  9. Widow Of Sirius
    Posted December 20, 2011 at 8:50 AM | Permalink

    Yup. I need these. I’ve never heard of Red Dwarf (forgive me, I was an infant when it started), but if it’s on this list with the likes of Keillor, Firefly, Gaiman, and Sedaris I know I’ll enjoy that too.
    I very much respect your taste in … well, damn near everything, Pat.

  10. StellaVella
    Posted December 21, 2011 at 5:32 AM | Permalink

    Coudn´t agree more on Firefly. But, come to think about it – at least one good thing came from the cancellation: there is now way now anyone can f*ck the series up. It will always keep its level of awesomeness (some might call this “re-framing”).

    Red Dwarf? I didn´t even know it made it over the pond. Totally hooked to Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and the Cat… it´s still great fun to watch , even today.

  11. emmeri
    Posted December 21, 2011 at 6:00 AM | Permalink

    I’m so glad you mentioned Red Dwarf! My husband used to watch these as a child and I thought maybe he was the only who liked this series :) He insisted we watch some episodes a few months ago and they are hilarious!

    If you like British comedy from that era (maybe a bit earlier) Are You Being Served is also great. It’s not sci/fi or fantasy but it is still funny (well until that last season or so) and takes place in a department store in the 70’s.

    I completely agree with you about Firefly. I love the writing, world creation and the actors/characters in that show so much. Think I’ve watched that complete season 4 times now.

  12. booksbonesbuffy
    Posted December 21, 2011 at 10:59 AM | Permalink

    Love my Jayne hat:)

  13. Murchadha
    Posted December 22, 2011 at 6:07 PM | Permalink

    So my sister watched all of Dollhouse with me and loved it, but won’t watch Firefly!

    How do I convince her to try it?!

    And where can I find all this awesome-stuff-I’ve-never-heard-of to watch and listen to? Some of it I love too, but other things seem a bit obscure and I don’t know how to get my hands on it. (Besides donating, which unfortunately won’t happen anytime soon because I’m poor….)

  14. Kavi
    Posted December 22, 2011 at 9:09 PM | Permalink

    My life’s goal is to meet Joss Whedon.
    A close second is to meet Pat.
    Next: World Domination. Because, well… if I accomplish the first two, what else will measure up?

    Definitely donating asap.

  15. Swamifred
    Posted December 23, 2011 at 4:18 PM | Permalink

    I would buy a CD of Neil Gaiman reading the phonebook. Whenever he speaks, it always sounds interesting.

  16. Posted January 3, 2012 at 1:56 AM | Permalink

    I love the idea, from one of your threads above, of an Edward Gorey House. Can imagine it full with strange characters.
    Have you looked at the Kids Need to Read foundation? I think they would like you. Nathan is one of the Board of Directors. Take a look. I think you would like them too.

  17. Posted January 3, 2012 at 7:10 AM | Permalink

    I love it…imagine it full with strange characters..
    thanks for the sharing…

  18. Flarinator
    Posted January 6, 2012 at 11:23 AM | Permalink

    I love the fact that you loved Firefly. :-) I´am angry over the cancellation of Firefly too. I hurts every time I watch it.

    Pat, is there a possibility that your end up writing a sciFi-story? Tad Williams did it with Otherland. I loved it very much. And since then I keep thinking that fantasy writes are good at scifi-stuff. ;-)

    And: I read somewhere that you still have to read Mervyn Peaks Ghormenghast-Series. I highly recommend you to pick it up. It is an unforgettable expierience.

    Sorry for bad english :-)

  19. chat
    Posted February 25, 2012 at 1:21 PM | Permalink

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