As the title says...

I AM the worst kind of geek. I play with my geek toys, buy new notebook computers and other neat and fun gadgets, and then I don't write about them.

The reasons for my lack of posting are many, and include things like new job/promotion, buying a new house, selling old house, kids getting cars (and requiring me to service said cars), and holidays. Are these excuses? Yes, but they are also the reasons for my lack of posting (which is okay, since I have at the time of this writing ONE follower, and she lives with me, so she pretty much knows what's going on anyway).

So, back to Geekdom.

I am the worst kind of geek. Reason #34: I only recently (well, in November) discovered the joy and beauty that is Firefly. Yes, dear reader (hi Sherry!), as a true geek, I was not whole until I embraced the Whedonverse and plunged hook, line, and sinker into the abyss that is Firefly. To make matters worse, I didn't plunge alone; I took my son and later my wife with me (both of whom both love and hate me for getting them hooked on the doomed show). With each passing episode, my son and I would look at each other and exclaim, "That was AWESOME! I can't believe they canceled this!" and then we would count down how many more were left for us to watch.

Interestingly, I saw Serenity (the movie) first. I thought it was a good movie, but not a great movie. I had no context, and to me, the characters were just characters I didn't care too much about. The story was pretty decent, but again, nothing to write home about. BUT... oh my good Lord... then it happened. I watched all 14 episodes of Firefly and then re-watched Serenity. Now I understand COMPLETELY what the reviewers and critics all said; it's an okay movie if you haven't seen Firefly, but a GREAT movie if you've seen the TV series. Sure, it's no Dostoevsky, but it is most definitely entertaining and a fitting albeit somewhat premature finale to the series (or is it?)

I've now seen every episode twice, and I'm working on my third viewing, having started last night with the Pilot and The Train Job. Of course, if you watched these episodes with the DVD commentary, you'd know that the Pilot aired last, and that The Train Job had to act as a sort of impromptu pilot, so there's a lot of exposition in The Train Job that seems redundant in a second episode, but given that Firefly was never really given a fighting chance to begin with, in postscript, it only makes sense in a sick way.

I could go on and on about the characters, the acting, the writing, the sets, the costumes, the universe, etc, but it's all been said before. As a matter of fact, I'm reading a book where people write about Firefly and Serenity and how important, ground-breaking, earth-shattering, genre-bending, etc Firefly was.

I know from reading around the Interwebs that everyone on the cast is up for more Firefly when and if it ever happens. I know that there's a campaign afoot to send blue gloves to (Fox, Paramount, or Universal; I forget which) in an effort to show that there are loyal Browncoats out there who would watch more episodes. Personally, I'd LOVE to see more, and I'd watch them like a kid watches Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at Christmas, but I'd like to see it on Syfy (the network formerly known a SciFi Channel). I think that Syfy would allow more creative license and would allow for Nathan Fillion to continue his full-time gig as Richard Castle on ABC's new hit dramedy "Castle" while allowing him to then do the off-season revival of Firefly. Of course, this assumes that Nathan (and other members of the cast already gainfully employed) have nothing better to do in their off-season time than make Firefly for my viewing pleasure, but hey, can't a geek dream here? This also assumes that there are enough Browncoats out there who will actually send in the gloves (as if that could work... who knows?). I think DVD sales of Firefly and Serenity have a better chance of convincing anyone with money to invest in putting it back on the air, but that's just the wannabe business-minor in me talking (or writing... you know).

Which brings me to a few final points.

First, watch Firefly if you haven't done so already. Download it and after you've watched it (and fell in love with it), go and buy it. Nothing speaks louder to Hollywood than dollars.

Second, if you become a Browncoat (fan of Firefly), send the gloves. It's fun. It's activism. It's being a part of something bigger than yourself. And it just might help tip the scales.

Third, and this is a big one for me, evangelize Firefly. It's too good of a series to let die. The actors and writers are still young enough to pick it up and carry it onward. The more people who get into the show creates a bigger audience, and then, well, refer to my first final point. Then, I think, you'll get the picture.

Postscript. What tipped me over the edge from liking Firefly to loving Firefly? The fact that it made me want to be a Browncoat. Not in the literal sense, but in the sense that I wanted to be someone who would be like Mal. As a kid, when I watched Star Wars, I thought that he was a troublemaker and a terrorist. He and his band of misfits took down the government for some utopian love-fest (okay, I didn't really get to thinking that way until I was well into my 30's, but let a geek ramble here). When I played Star Wars Galaxies (an immensely entertaining and fulfilling MMO that was also changed and in my opinion, killed off for the mindless gameplay style of WoW), I played as an Imperial, a member of the Empire. I could empathize more with the Empire than I could with the Rebels. In Firefly, there's no way you can empathize with the Alliance. They are everything that's wrong and bad. The Empire in Star Wars? They were "evil" according to Luke and Leia, but it turns out that it wasn't the government that was evil so much as it was just Darth Vader and the Emperor. And even then, they were just frustrated and disfigured old men who couldn't get laid. I could be a member of the Empire; I could never be a member of the Alliance.

Browncoats unite!

Browncoats forever!

Disclaimer: this post in no way implies that I've lost my mind, became obsessed with Firefly, or have a man-crush on Nathan Fillion. I think Nathan does a fine job as an actor, but that's as far as I like him. Yes, only as an actor. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.