Bits and Pieces After the Turkey

SFF author Kristine Kathryn Rusch has been doing a series of blog essays about the Business of Publishing, and this one on bookselling is interesting:

http://kriswrites.com/2010/11/25/the-business-rusch-bookstores-changing-times-part-six/

SF Signal rounded up some authors and others to suggest cool presents for the holiday season:

http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2010/11/mind-meld-great-gift-ideas-for-geeks-and-science-fiction-and-fantasy-fans/

Cracked.com relates important information about science and movies:

http://www.cracked.com/article_18862_6-deadly-injuries-you-think-youd-survive-thanks-to-movies.html

Andrew Liptak looks at the obstacles women face in fandom and in general:

http://andrewliptak.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/star-wars-is-for-everyone/

Asked to respond to the news that Warner Brothers, which holds the rights to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and t.v. series, was rebooting the movie with a new young screenwriter, Joss Whedon shows why nobody is as good as him. The Avengers is going to be way fun:

http://ca.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b212644_joss_whedon_reacts_buffy_movie_news_i.html

I unintentionally fibbed — there is another OK Go video I’m putting up. They did one for the Today Show for one of their songs. It’s not their best work but it’s cute:

Nicholas Got Back Up on the Horse

And speaking of Whedon actors, back in April of this year, I expressed a hope that Nicholas Brendon, beloved as Xander on the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, who had gotten himself tasered and arrested by the L.A. cops while drunk out of his mind and looking for his dog, would get another chance, sober up and beat his addiction. (He had gone through recovery several years ago, but this was a relapse.)

https://katgoodwin.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/nicholas-heres-hoping/

Well, he’s working on it. He immediately went back into rehab and lived in a sober living house for awhile. He’s trying to get his finances in order. He got a plea deal on his charges with the cops, with a one year suspended sentence, community work, anger management training and three years probation. He has a recurring role on the t.v. series Criminal Minds. He has joined the long running Web series Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy, and it’s been announced that he will be doing a guest gig on the t.v. series Private Practice.  And he may be doing a revival of the play he starred in before, The Santaland Diaries. So he’s working, he’s trying to stay sober, and he’s thankful that he didn’t hurt anyone when he relapsed. There’s no way to guess the odds when it comes to addiction, but as I said before, Nicholas, I hope you win.

And really, that goes for Lindsey Lohan too. I watched her as a kid actor growing up into a teen and we always liked her in our household. And we cannot escape her, it seems, as the news media are fascinated with her every move, with the downfall of this once promising kid. But I wrote Robert Downey Jr. off and now he’s Iron Man. So I’ll send good will to Lohan too, as long as she stops driving vehicles. We lose too many talented performers to drugs, particularly in Lohan’s age range where they are worked to death to financially support their families and lose any reference frame for normal; let’s hope we have a few victories.

Here’s Nicholas saying hello to a very young fan a couple of months ago:

He’ll also be making an appearance at Wizard World Austin Comic Con November 12-14, and James Marsters will be there too.

Buffy Wins. She Always Wins.

We are a Buffy/Angel household. Which is why when we heard that there were “And then Buffy Staked Edward. The End.” T-shirts (currently from Crooked Monkey,) we chuckled evily, even though we enjoyed the Twilight movies and my daughter has read some of the books. Even better than the T-shirt? This particular mash up video, which was nominated for a Webby Award:

And equally fun, College Humor’s dissection of vampire/slayer relations:

Nicholas, Here’s Hoping

Nicholas Brendon served me well as an actor for seven seasons as Xander Harris on the t.v. show Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, doing it all with that character from deep drama to whacky comedy, including with his twin brother, Kelly. And in anything else I’ve seen him in — he also starred in the shows Kitchen Confidential and Criminal Minds — he has been dynamic and smart, an actor with a way with a line.  In 2004, he went into rehab for alcoholism and recently, he fell off the wagon and while drunk, swung at a cop, possibly caused some property damage and got himself tasered.

I’ve lost and nearly lost relatives to this very nasty disease. The only ones who make it are those who don’t give up trying to beat it, even though there will inevitably be times — in this case, dramatic times — when they fail. It changes who you are into someone you don’t want to be. So Nicholas, I hope you get better, stay sober, deal with the consequences of what happened, and, very selfishly on my part, get to show us more of what you can do as an actor and producer. We are rooting for you, not because you are Xander, but because you breathed life into that character and made us your fans. I hope you win.