Everybody Loves Saturday Night

Get Joss!

Peeps, the world of yarn needs your help. I know that this blog, with its 240 subscribers on either Google Reader or Bloglines, isn't the major hub that other blogs are (you know, blogs with book deals)

(though hey, 240 subscribers? That's pretty damn cool! Thanks, subscribers!)

but anyway -- I know this site doesn't get a whole lotta traffic, but I'm going to do my part to help out.

See, here's what happened. Just as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog launched, Joss Whedon gave an interview with Wired, in which the following exchange took place:

Wired.com: To what do you attribute the far-flung coverage and buzz about Dr. Horrible, considering there's been little to no press for the series?

Whedon: Fact is, there's been some buzz, but it hasn't reached the places it would normally. Where's our write-up in Crocheting Monthly? (I did a very sexy shoot for that one.)

WELL. You might guess what happened next.

The lovely, talented, Whedon fan Kim Werker, editor extraordinaire of Interweave Crochet and founder/editor of Crochetme.com, called Joss's bluff. You can read her post on the Crochetme.com blog.

That was enough to attract the attention of Whedonesque, and some buzz was generated, but it may not be enough. Basically, it comes down to this: the more attention this gets, the better chance it has of actually happening. And HOW COOL would that be?

Here's what you can do: if you have a blog, use it to spread the word. You can link here, of course, but it would be better to link directly to the original Crochetme.com blog post.

I do truly believe in the whole Six Degrees thing so I'm thinking that somehow, if I can get just six people to write this story up on their own blogs and ask their readers to spread the word, something good will happen and Kim will get her interview.

If you do this, let me know in the comments. And if I can get ten people -- just ten people -- to spread the word on their blogs, then I think that would be cause for some sort of prize drawing, don't you?

So spread the word, send Kim your pictures of Whedon-inspired crafts, use your connections, and let's remind everyone that we are a force to be reckoned with, indeed.

Also? if you missed the whole Dr. Horrible thing, you can still download it via iTunes. And you should. There are so many reasons why you should.

There will be blood
It might be yours
So go kill someone!
Signed, Bad Horse.*

* aka "The Thoroughbred of Sin." (that cracks me up every time.)

ambition

When I was a kid, I really really wanted to be on Sesame Street.

I just realized: I still do.

today's post

is about TV, so it can be found here.

today's writing

takes place on the TV blog.

My mornings have been starting later. Now I'm rising at 6:30 am and while this makes me happy, I kinda got used to having the extra hour. Now I feel rushed. It's already 8:15 and I only have 30 more minutes before I have to start getting ready and I haven't even checked in with Ravelry or Facebook and I want to write up last night's Heroes and...

But no. 6:30 is an acceptable waking hour. I have no complaints.

teacher, mother, secret lover

Claudia asks, Why do you like watching TV?

The academic answer: TV supplies me with an instant window to American culture. Turn on any show and you'll get some indication of the way things are socially, culturally, politically. Sometimes you have to dig for it, true. But you'll get fantastic commentary and satire from a show like The Simpsons (from which the post title comes). Ugly Betty has already inspired academic-like essays on the way the show portrays and subverts class and race as well as the beauty myth. Even shows that are ostensibly made to entertain, like Grey's Anatomy or Veronica Mars say something significant about where we are as a country, at least according to those who have the public forum to profer their insights. Think about, for example, the way these shows portray women, or people of color (when they're on, in Veronica Mars's case). Or think about where we are politically in terms of the rest of the world, and why a show like Heroes got the green light. A show like Survivor is fascinating to watch because you're supposed to be getting unfiltered interaction between ordinary people, the ultimate "social experiment," yet the show is cast for "characters" and beautiful people, and heavily edited to construct familiar narratives for the show's audience. I get much more out of TV when I don't watch passively.

The real answer: I find it soothing, really. And I do watch to be entertained, to be lost in another world, just like when I go to the movies. I like becoming absorbed in someone else's story; I like watching the different ways (hypothetically) a story can be told. I like it when shows are smart, when they appreciate that their audience has a more than a rudimentary understanding of the way things are. It's one of the reasons why The West Wing was so good in its heydey, and why Studio 60 is so appalling. I like it when a show can find a way to surprise me, and I like it when I see a lot of my own life portrayed in some way (hello, Freaks & Geeks).

Now if you'll excuse me, my DVR is waiting.