Also this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and…

(Courtesy of Low Dog on the Totem Pole.)

Now, as all Browncoats know, Captain Malcolm Reynolds carried a pistol, but not just any pistol – a Moses Brothers Self-Defense Engine Frontier Model B.  This second model differentiated itself by augmenting the conventional chemical propulsion system with an integral gauss coil system installed in the barrel, and allowed both standard firing pin ammunition and straight gauss rounds to be fired.  Those rounds were fed by way of the magazine installed forward of the trigger guard, and the “cocking” noise was actually the gauss system activating.

Of course, that is just the story.  In actuality, Mal’s pistol was a brass housing over a massively modified Taurus Model 85 revolver, engineered to fire blanks.  Bit underwhelming, that.

So what is one to do?  Well, I understand that some folks may have once talked to some other folks, and the discussion revolved around taking this concept and making it into a real, live, functioning, magazine-fed, semi-automatic, bullet-firing firearm.

Which would just be awesome.

So the question is, who actually would be interested in such a thing?  And, more to the point, and more importantly, what would you be willing to pay for such a thing?  Even if we were able to bastardize it together on the basis of some other firearm (which I cannot personally see, but I am not a gunsmith… the original conversation relegated it to “probably possible but doubtful”, apparently), the price tag would not be… hell, it would not even be reasonable, much less “small”.  I do not even want to consider the legalities involved, and the prices necessary to license the design from Fox / Universal Pictures.

What is it worth to you, in real-world dollars-and-cents, to hold – and fire – a copy of Mal’s pistol?  And how many are there who would be seriously interested in such a thing?

(Images courtesy of IMFDB and QMX.) 

If you do not understand the reference, I do not know you… 

(Courtesy of Mike W.)

(Courtesy of Alan.)

At any rate, here is the most-recent update from said organization:

1. The idea here is to create a limited partnership to be owned by the fans. Anyone who invests in the company has a voice.
2. The purpose of this partnership will be to enable what everyone has been hoping for all these years: the production and distribution of more of our favorite show. Obviously, there are a lot of things to figure out before we actually get to that point.
3. We’re going to create a system through which anyone can invest in the organization. If we can’t raise enough money, or if we can’t acquire the rights we’re after, we return the remaining funds. No hassle, no questions, no worries. There might be expenses like hiring a veteran negotiator, but we’re going to keep expenses minimal. We’re fans and will be investing too, so we will make it as safe an investment as we can for all involved.
4. Also, we’re looking for a few good Browncoats to serve as a board for oversight. We have some ideas of who we want to contact for that, but if you know of any smart, well-known Browncoats who might be interested, share them below!

… along with a general-purpose rename of the movement to “Unstoppable Signals”.

And here are all the reasons it is not going to work.

Personally, I disagree with Mr. Bridges that the anonymity of the people running HNBF/Unstoppable Signal is a big deal – as he admits, and as the Unstoppable Signal webpage makes clear, no money has changed hands, and nothing official has happened yet. I can completely understand people wanting to keep their identities private until such time as they are actually able to move fully forward with the entire weight of whatever movement they are leading behind them, lest the supposed Goliath of fan support fall flat on its face and they be held up as the sacrificial anodes. Nobody likes being blamed for things that are not necessarily under their control, and a half-baked plan going off ahead of time is one such thing. Likewise, I assumed, when the Unstoppable Signal people said they would return the flan’s funds if the plan failed, that the funds would go back according to who donated what – if you donated 1% of the funds, you would get back 1% of the remainder. But you know what they say about assumptions… and “remaining” means some of that money was spent on… something.

Additionally, “it has been tried before” is a frankly horrible reason to not support something now. Yes, it does mean a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted, and that you should be mindful of the new movement making the old movement’s mistakes, but given what the word “Browncoat” entails, trying it again until we get it right seems right up our collective alleys.

All that said, I can find scant little fault with everything else Mr. Bridges wrote… Joss is not onboard. Mal is not even onboard (hence the name change). Fox has not even whispered that they might be willing to sell. And who the hell wants to “work” for millions of fans who all have different ideas of where the show should go?

I think QuoterGal may have said it best:

I can’t image this herd of cats (and I love cats and I love my fandom) agreeing on a direction for the show, nor can I imagine the actors coming back for this, nor am I interested in another post-Firefly fan production. Any way you look at this, and any incarnation that I’ve heard suggested, I’m not for this. If *Joss* wanted to acquire the rights and wanted to fundraise to do it – but he wouldn’t – I might get behind it, but not this way.

I *so* appreciate that when this thing snow-balled so quickly, the original HNBF had an (intoxicating) tiger by the tail, and I also appreciate that most people involved and fans of this effort *love* Firefly and are *completely* well-intentioned, but we all know what the road to Hell is paved with, and just: no.

Followed up with this tweet from Jane Espenson, one of the original show writers:

Joss not avail. Few writers or cast members avail. Rights not for sale. Little interest from studios/networks. Other than that…

Yes, it sucks giant ice planets that Firefly is basically dead, and, yes, I may have hopped on a bandwagon a little too early for my own good… but the more I read about Help Nathan Buy Firefly / Unstoppable Signal, the more disenchanted I get. *sigh* Would that there was a solution as easy as, “Get X people onboard, and more Firefly will magically apparate.”

[Update] And just after I post this, I see this post from HNBF:

According to Joss’s sister-in-law, no one from the Whedon clan endorses the idea of a fan-funded organization trying to help. So, that’s a wrap. We’ll keep the site open as a memory for a bit and if any Whedons need to reach us, hit the button.

(Link added.)

Well, at least they realized that without Whedon, Firefly is nothing. But did they really think… [/Update]

On the other hand, I was biding my time to see where this might go, and whether or not it was even going to clear the strip.

Regardless, here is how it is.

In a recent interview, Nathan Fillion (otherwise known as Captain Malcolm Reynolds) said the following:

If Castle had its series finale tomorrow and Fox said to you and Joss: “We screwed up, let’s try doing Firefly again.” Would you do it?
Yes. Yes. I would examine very closely Fox’s reasoning — I’m a little gun-shy. If I got $300 million from the California Lottery, the first thing I would do is buy the rights to Firefly, make it on my own, and distribute it on the Internet.

Shortly thereafter, Firefly writers Jose Molina and Jane Espenson both tweeted their support and willingness to get Serenity back aloft.

Well, not-so-surprisingly-enough, flans took Fillion and Molina and Espenson at their words, and did what they do best – organized.

The good news is that it is not likely to require the full $300,000,000 to get going (folks project $40 from a million flans would be sufficient to get a season), but the bad news is that this entire endeavor requires the “buy-in” from at least Fillion and Joss Whedon, and the aforementioned writers as well, and no one “official” has commented on this movement as yet.

Still, if all it takes is the price of two boxes of ammo for me to help Firefly return to “still flyin’” status, I am there.

(Courtesy of Nerd Approved and Roberta X.)

Watch it to the end, and the last line of this post will finally make sense.

(Thanks to Patrick for the pointers.)

Discuss.

(And if you have no idea what I am talking about, or why I made the choices I did, see here.)

Fellow Browncoats will be able to place that quote and identify its originator, but for the uninitiated out there, Jayne Cobb was describing a concoction known as “Mudder’s Milk”, for which Clay McClure of The Signal podcast developed a recipe a while back:

Mudder’s Milk

1 litre (1 quart) soy milk, plain
360ml (12 oz) stout such as Guinness, or other dark, full bodied beer
64g (1/2 cup) wheat germ
112g (1/2 cup) brewers yeast
180ml (6 oz) grain alcohol
or vodka to taste

Mix the soy milk, stout beer, wheat germ and brewers yeast in a 2 litre/quart pitcher, stirring well. Chill before serving. Now, either add the grain alcohol to the whole batch to achieve the 15% alcohol that Jayne mentions or mix the “milk” with vodka to taste. Serve in rustic pottery mugs and get ready to sing “The Hero of Canton”!

Unfortunately, I fear as though my reaction to tasting the resulting liquid would be something along the lines of Wash’ “Zhe shi shenme lan dongxi!?”

(This post brought to you by Roberta X’s recent sortie into the world of printed media.)

Unfortunately, it is not likely to ever see celuloid for a whole host of reasons (probably not the least of which is the online posting of the script), but it is a good read, especially given the twists and turns Mr. Minear added to it to step up the timeline. A verbatim visual representation it is not, but the spirit of the story is assuredly retained.

(Courtesy of Roberta X.)

So, awhile back, there was a show called Jericho. It was about some post-apocalyptic world or something with nukes… the point is, it had a fan following. Then, what happened? It was canceled. Canceled- a word that strikes fear in the hearts of any Browncoat. But did Jericho’s fan base let it die? No- they fought back.

Every fan they could muster sent in peanuts (some reference to the show) to the television executives. This massive onslaught lasted awhile, until finally the execs gave in and started up another season.

What does that mean for us? Well, at BGA, we have a mission. We need to do like Jericho before us- but more than that. Our fan base stretches across continents, across oceans… Everywhere. We are going to rally. As one. I am in the process of contacting Can’t Stop the Serenity, FireflyFans.net, and browncoats.com as well as browncoatsmovie.com.

So- what we’re going to do is this: every Browncoat, from costume wearers to casual viewers, is going to send in to Universal a pair of disposable rubber gloves. With these gloves will be a card reading “Can’t stop the signal.” These will all go out on the 20th of September, the anniversary of the airing of Firefly.

The hard part is not the plan, though. I need absolutely everyone. That means, to quote a user on FireflyFans.net, “We need to get EVERYONE – not just the forum surfers, or the facebook people, but EVERYONE. E-mails, letters, postcards, hell, I like the carrier pigeon idea.”

However, Joss Whedon himself has said, repeatedly, that there will be no sequel to Serenity, nor a resurrection of Firefly.
Then again, blue surgical gloves are not exactly expensive…

Dead bodies do tell tales. Loudly. And sometimes with guns.

Not havin’ any clothes on does not make you naked. Necessarily.

Chains of command can take many forms. Some are more physical than others.

As with other things, sword-fightin’ is all about the wrist.

If it looks too good to be true, odds are it’s an upside-down cow fetus.

Space monkeys are not something to be trifled with.

There are 111 pages more of good stuff like that, totalling at almost six hundred quips, comments, phrases, and lessons one can learn from one of the best science fiction stories to grace television and the big screen. Enjoy!

Quantum Mechanix (QMx) is sponsoring the “Name the Crappy Town Where You’re a Hero” charity auction. Starting on April 20th, 50 town names will be auctioned via eBay with all proceeds supporting Equality Now. If you win an auction, your name will be submitted, and pending studio approval, will be used in the upcoming official Atlas of the ‘Verse, Volume One: The Trader’s Guild Guide to the New Canaan Run made by our favorite mild-manner graphic designer, Ben Mund.

There are, of course, a few rules, and bidding appears to start at $50 a name, but it certainly goes to a good cause.
Hera could probably use a place called “Stitch”…. Or maybe “Browningston”.