Sending A Wave - The Firefly / Serenity Podcast

We have moved...

2008-07-25T17:41:00.002+01:00

www.sendingawave.wordpress.com

The link above is the link to our new website. We moved there because the layouts and stats were better, but we would like to thank Blogger for hosting this site for almost two years...

Chiwetel Ejiofor directs

2008-06-19T09:44:00.003+01:00

Updating this site is rather like a London bus - nothing for ages and then 3 come together at once ...

A rather short piece from the 18 June edition of The Guardian has come my way courtesy of Screen International regarding Chiwetel Ejiofor's directorial debut.

Mr Ejiofor's contribution to the 'Verse requires no introduction and we all know that he has become one of the most hardworking UK actors in the industry today. I'm rather pleased to say that thanks to Katy, I was able to see Mr Ejiofor in the recent Donmar production of "Othello" in January with Ewan McGregor which was utterly incredible; I understand that there will be an audio release of the production shortly which I can't recommend enough. However, the piece in The Guardian has Mr Ejiofor recounting his directing experience and can be found here:

http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2286130,00.html

The short, "Slapper" will screen as part of the UK Shorts programme at the 2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival on 24 June.

Cyd Charisse

2008-06-18T09:35:00.002+01:00

I'm a real Hollywood musical fan falling completely and unashamedly in the Gene Kelly camp. How sad I was to wake up this morning to the very sad news of the death of Cyd Charisse.

Both Kelly and Astaire worked with many very talented female partners, but I will always argue that of all of them, only Miss Charisse was their true equal who made it all look genuinely effortless and never as if she was giving her all just to keep up.

While Andrew and myself were in LA earlier this year, we took the Sony Studios tour in Culver City (I highly recommend it); the studio itself is actually the former MGM site and I can't tell you how terribly exciting it was for me to be there.

Show 35 available

2008-06-17T17:19:00.002+01:00

The June show is now available to download. As well as a brief update on upcoming Serenity showings we also have a gang of people in to review the second episode, The Train Job. These people include Bill and Ben (who did a show for us last year), Paul from Cadmium2, Nick from The Signal and also Odile and Charlene, both from France, as well as the regular gaggle of Wendy, Mike and Andrew. No Rosie this month but she will be back soon.

The show is available on the podcast feed and can also be downloaded by clicking here.

Stan Winston

2008-06-17T12:45:00.002+01:00

It is with great sadness that we learnt the very sad news that Stan Winston lost his battle against multiple myeloma on Sunday 15 June and died in Malibu, aged just 62.

As film special effects were moving from their post-Harryhausen era to the CGI spectacles that we know today, Winston's work was truly revolutionary. From creations such as The Terminator's exo-skeleton, to the Queen Alien to the dinosaurs of "JURASSIC PARK", Winston and his teams really did embody "doing the impossible".

Tim Minear's new deal with Fox TV

2008-05-31T00:28:00.003+01:00

The news for yesterday was of course that Tim Minear has signed a new 2-year deal with 20th Century Fox TV. In an article for The Hollywood Reporter, Nellie Andreeva reports that Tim will not only be working on existing Fox series but this deal will also be for the development of new projects for the studio. Fox TV chairman, Gary Newman is quoted as saying, "Tim is very versatile; he can go to any show and make it better. We truly believe that there is a hit show in him, and we weren't prepared to let him go and do it somewhere else."

We at Sending A Wave manor echo Mr Newman's sentiments and just hope that next time Fox execs aren't eager to pull the plug on the next Tim creation after 3 episodes.

Screen Actors Guild

2008-05-22T09:47:00.004+01:00

Here at Sending A Wave Manor, we've discussed the WGA strike and continue to eye the possible Screen Actors Guild strike with interest.

For those of you who are either confused as to the basic issue which surrounded the WGA action and is at the heart of the continuing SAG negotations, an article published today in the New York Times and written by Seth Schiesel highlights, I believe, this question especially as we, as consumers, both enjoy and demand content on the new-media and tend to forget that only a tiny, tiny handful of directors, writers, producers and performers make the big pay-days. Read the article and make up your mind on the stand.

"A Video Game Star and his Less-Than-Stellar Pay"
(The New York Times; written by Seth Scheisel, published 21 May 2008)

Michael Hollick never thought his big break would come in a video game.

All those years when he was struggling to get by as an aspiring actor — tending bar, working in a bagel shop in Morningside Heights, spraying perfume at Bloomingdale’s — he was aiming for Broadway and prime time. As he moved from regional theater to soap operas, middling musicals and “Law & Order,” he remained just another good-looking guy hoping for an audition.

His face still isn’t famous, but Mr. Hollick’s voice and gait have moved into the pop culture firmament recently as those of Niko Bellic, the sardonic, textured Balkan criminal at the heart of Grand Theft Auto IV, the acclaimed gangster fantasy that has become the fastest-selling game to date. Produced by Rockstar Games and its corporate parent, Take-Two Interactive Software, the game has generated at least $600 million in sales over the last three weeks.

Yet even as “Saturday Night Live” has spoofed the Niko character, even as Mr. Hollick’s voice has been heard in tens of millions of homes in advertisements broadcast during “American Idol” and the N.B.A. playoffs, even as fans have flocked to his MySpace page, his triumph has been bittersweet.

That’s because Mr. Hollick was paid only about $100,000 over roughly 15 months between late 2006 and early this year for all of his voice acting and motion-capture work on the game, with zero royalties or residuals in sight, he said.
Had this been a television program, a film, an album, a radio show or virtually any other sort of traditional recorded performance, Mr. Hollick and the other actors in the game would have made millions by now. As it stands, they get nothing beyond the standard Screen Actors Guild day rate they were originally paid.

That is because the contracts between the actors’ union and the entertainment industry make little or no provision for electronic media like video games and the Internet. It is a discrepancy that is expected to dominate negotiations between Hollywood and the guild this summer, with many predicting an actors’ strike to parallel the writers’ strike last year, which revolved around similar issues.

“Obviously I’m incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity,” Mr. Hollick, 35, said last week over dinner in Willamsburg, Brooklyn, shortly after performing in the aerial theater show “Fuerzabruta” in Union Square. “But it’s tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they’re making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don’t see any of it. I don’t blame Rockstar. I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it’s the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies.”

Rockstar declined to comment for this article, but it is an issue that has been hanging over the video game industry for years. On the one hand, through both creative and technical ambition, game makers are infusing their wares with more realistic characters and stories than ever. On the other hand, the $18 billion United States game industry has steadfastly refused to pay royalties to voice and motion-capture body actors along the lines of other entertainment media.
To the actors it is a simple issue of equity: equal pay for equal work, regardless of the medium.

“For instance, our contracts say nothing about the use of voices for promotional purposes over the Internet,” Mr. Hollick said. “The first G.T.A. IV trailer generated something like 40 million hits online, and that’s my voice all over it, and I get nothing. If that were a radio spot, I would have. Same thing for the TV ads. I recorded those lines for the game, but now they’re all over television. It’s another gray area.”

One of the big differences between games and traditional media is that while a film, play or TV show is usually marketed around a few well-known stars, games almost never highlight the people behind the digital characters, and almost no one buys a game based on which actors are in it.

“What drives video games is not Tracy and Hepburn; what drives it is the conception of the creative director,” said Ezra J. Doner, a former Hollywood executive who represents entertainment companies as a lawyer at Herrick, Feinstein in Manhattan, N.Y. “The actor whose appearance or voice is used is more analogous to a session music for a band. The session musicians don’t get residuals on the sales of the CD. They get paid a session fee. It’s not like the star quality of Tom Cruise that’s getting people to buy that video game.”

Mr. Hollick said he “asked about residuals when we negotiated, but I was told that was not a possibility.”

Ryan Johnston, the 29-year-old actor behind the Irish hood Patrick McReary, one of the main supporting characters in the game, said he believed it was just a matter of time before actors’ financial participation in games caught up with their popularity. He said the general guild-negotiated rate for actors is around $730 a day. Mr. Hollick said he had been paid about 50 percent more than the standard rate, or about $1,050 a day. A spokeswoman for the union said this week that no one was available to discuss the issue.

“What we’re seeing is a basic shift in the way that people seek their entertainment,” Mr. Johnston said. “People want their entertainment to be convenient. They want it in their home or in their iPod for the train ride, which is a lot different than the old mode, where I had to spend hundreds of dollars to see a Broadway play or pay $12 to sit in a crowded movie theater where I can’t even pause or go to the bathroom. And games are the first entertainment product that has taken full advantage of that shift.”

The game companies that make millions in royalties appear reluctant to share. Among their executives, one real fear is that if they start paying royalties to a handful of actors, they will soon face similar demands from the legions of artists, designers, audio producers, musicians, programmers and other people who work for years to make a top-end game. If the actor doing a police officer’s voice-over gets royalties, the argument goes, why not the artist who designed his face, or the artificial-intelligence programmer who designed how he chases the bad guys?
Mr. Doner, the lawyer, said the situation fit into the general food chain of the media business. “When it comes to video games, the actors are being paid for their work for that initial use, and what they get paid is what they get paid,” he said. “If they can negotiate a big fee for themselves, great. If not, well, that’s too bad. So long as it’s the medium for which they were hired, the logic of the industry has always been that that you get paid for the work that you do.”
Compensation is a particularly delicate issue for Rockstar, which has positioned itself as a creatively independent voice amid what the company construes as the staid mainstream game industry. Rockstar markets itself as a hip entertainment company along the lines of a record label or movie studio, rather than as a mere game publisher, and that carefully cultivated image could suffer in any dispute with actors or other artists.

For Mr. Hollick, Niko has still been the role of a lifetime. A native of the eastern shores of Maryland, Mr. Hollick developed a talent for dialects as a theater student at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, he said. In the game Niko is a war-scarred Serbian who has worked as a human trafficker before landing in New York (known in the game as Liberty City). Mr. Hollick’s masterly performance as the voice and body of Niko appears to stem both from Mr. Hollick’s rich conception of the character as well as from a stellar script.

“Developing Niko, the dry sense of humor, as the story begins, he’s this really hard guy with this really difficult background, but what gives it depth is that there is this naïveté as well,” Mr. Hollick said. “He comes to the big city and he’s not on firm ground. He’s not sure where he stands. So there is a lot to work with. And as he becomes more confident, the sense of humor comes out. The screenwriters and directors were really hip to that and really did a great job of making the character three-dimensional.”

Of course, because this is a video game, in addition to thousands of lines of dialogue, there were the more, shall we say, atmospheric effects.
“So we would have the 50 pages of screaming, 10 pages of being shot, 10 pages of being thrown off a roof, 20 pages of being burnt alive, just screaming,” he said. “The ones being burnt alive were the best. And I’d just be like: ‘Bring me more hot tea and honey and lemon. Earl Grey.’ "

(New York Times and Mr Scheisel: no copyright infringement is intended)

Jayne Cobb t-shirt auction

2008-05-18T16:42:00.002+01:00

Our friends at the SoCal Browncoats are hosting this eBay auction for a Jayne Cobb t-shirt auction. All the shirts have been kindly donated by Adam Baldwin and you will find full details on the eBay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330236315064

The auction ends on 24 May - so get bidding!

More BDH casting news

2008-05-08T09:57:00.004+01:00

As the US tv pilot season continues to gear up following the WGA strike which ended in February and in light of the possible Screen Actors Guild stoppage at the end of June, the news comes to us - courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter - of yet another BDH being cast in a pilot.

Morena Baccarin has been cast as the female lead in a new ABC (wow, that network seems to love our people!), and as yet untitled, drama from Dave Hemingson (producer of "How I Met Your Mother" and "Kitchen Confidential" (funny show, which also starred "Buffy" alumni Nicholas Brendon and guest-starred Morena for one episode) amongst many others). This will be an ensemble drama set in a "boutique" Los Angeles law outfit and Morena will be playing a Beverley Hills born and bred new associate to the firm.

Show 34 is here!

2008-05-07T11:29:00.002+01:00

The May show is now available to download. In it, Wendy, Rosie and Mike talk about all of the stuff that our Big Damned Heroes are up to now, they also talk about their experiences of the final UK Serenity convention (for now at least) Serenity Complete.

We also talk to Beth Nelson about this years Can't Stop The Serenity event and also her involvement in this years Browncoat Ball (click on the links for more information). It seems that there may not be a UK event this year, which would be a shame, but time will tell!

To download the episode direct, click here.

We recorded some additional stuff this weekend - we made Paul from Cadmium2 (our resident non Browncoat) watch the The Train Job and Bushwhacked. Many people joined us in this, and currently The Train Job is planned to be the June show.

See you next month!

It's hard to believe it's made of paper! Could Nathan Fillion have a new job?

2008-04-25T22:36:00.002+01:00

Isn't the photo I'm using amazing? It's made of paper - Jorge, you're a talented guy and I tip my hat to you, sir! Please go visit his website (www.chihuahuadepapel.com) for more of his astounding models!

As it so often happens, The Hollywood Reporter has kindly furnished me with further interesting news from the on-going US TV pilot season over night. Nathan Fillion is in negotiations to take the lead in a new pilot from ABC entitled "Castle". THR reports that this is "a comedic procedural about a famous mystery novelist helping the NYPD solve crimes." Listeners to our interview with Nathan heard him speak very briefly about something he has written which has been accepted by ABC for pilot, but there was no mention in the THR report of this being that project.

Alan Tudyk TV Show

2008-04-17T09:55:00.002+01:00

Hot off The Hollywood Reporter press overnight is news that Alan Tudyk is to star in the new (but as yet untitled) comedy pilot from the creators of "Will & Grace", David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. The comedy centres on two men, one straight and the other gay (Alan's role) who are both life-long friends and business partners.

Alan was due to be a guest at last weekend's Serenity: Complete convention in London and had to cancel due to this work commitment. Here's crossing our fingers that we get to see this.

Show 33: Nathan Fillion Interview

2008-04-08T22:45:00.003+01:00

Show 33 is ready to download. This month we conclude Wendy's interview with Nathan Fillion and PJ Haarsma.

Once again, we wish to thank Nathan and PJ for braving the traffic to meet with us.

On a very personal note, Wendy would like to take this opportunity yet again to thank those that assisted in making this happen and to Katy, for the Pig and Whistle, her kind offer of a fork and champagne...

Click here to download the episode direct...

2008-03-27T13:14:00.004Z

My usual fact-checking (or to be more specific, lack thereof) struck again as UK Browncoats couldn't have failed to miss that the fourth series of "Desperate Housewives" started in the UK last night (26th March) and not the 28th as I posted.

A lovely new Qmx Insider popped into my email during the night and they have 2 great new items to share with us. Firstly,"Worlds of the Alliance" is artwork created by Geoffrey Mandel for "SERENITY" but was never used in the film (but I think it might have appeared in the "Serenity Companion" book) and is a lithograph selling for $39.95; this is reserved to 1,000 prints and will be hand-signed by Mr Mandel. If you are a Qmx Insider subscriber, you will have first shot at reserving this extremely detailed artwork.

Today is a BDH birthday (very many happy returns, Nathan) and so I decided to have a picture of a soft toy headlining this post. There is a method to the madness (that's my excuse anyway) and this is the second goody being offered by Qmx. This is the first in a proposed line of "Serenity Spirit Animals" and naturally they are starting off with the Captain himself, Mal Reynolds who is being represented as a fox. What is making this so very special is that this is just 1 of only 11 "artist's proofs" for $69.95.

For more details on both of this Qmx items, please visit their website for full details

The Bellflower has a shuttle, Can't Stop The Serenity 2008, Summer Glau and Joss has a new web project ... Oh heck, it's a general news round-up!

2008-03-23T16:56:00.010Z

Just a very quick round-up and I hope that you all are not making yourselves sick on those chocolate Easter eggs ...

As many of you will know, Andrew and Wendy interviewed MJ and many of the people involved with the Aussie fan film, The Bellflower, prior to Christmas 2007, the good news is that work continues to progress and The Bellflower has a shuttle! I think you'll all agree that it looks fantastic and it just whets the appetite for the eventual finished film. Please visit their website for progress details and maybe you, too, can get involved.

The organizing for Can't Stop The Serenity/Equality Now charity screenings 2008 continue to gather pace. A number of screenings are already in the pipeline, but, of course, there's always room for more. Visit the website, www.cantstoptheserenity.com, for details on current screenings, and again, details of how to get involved. If you can't see a screening listed for your country or city, please don't wait for someone to do it for you - be the one to do it.

Summer Glau has had to cancel her forthcoming appearance at "Serenity: Complete" in London next month. Sean Harry has stated on the Starfury message boards that he's trying to replace her with a fellow "Firefly" cast member but availability is proving difficult. Sending A Wave would like to keep suggesting Sean Maher ... The good news is that both Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk have confirmed their availability.

In the words of Joss Whedon, "the bag is catless ..." A recent interview with Neil Patrick Harris has revealed that Joss has once again unleashed his inner-Sondheim and has been working on a musical with his brother amongst others for the internet which will be released in 3 10 minute webisodes. "Dr Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog" will be the heart-warming story of "a low-rent super-villan, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he's too shy to talk to." Neil Patrick Harris is playing "Dr Horrible", our very own Nathan Fillion is "Capt Hammer" and they are joined by Felicity Day as "Penny" along with a supporting cast promised to be "dozens". No date has yet been set for "Dr Horrible's" unveiling but this is definitely going to be something to see.

I do hope you all have been watching "Mad Men" on both BBCs 2 and 4 with Christina Hendricks. "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is nearing the pre-WGA strike episodes on Virgin 1 and the channel have been airing a trailer for "Chuck" which they will be screening shortly. "Desperate Housewives" with Nathan Fillion joining the cast returns to E4 on 28 March.

Show 32: PJ Haarsma interview

2008-03-12T09:13:00.004Z

Show 32 is ready to download.

As we mentioned in February, this month Wendy talks to PJ Haarsma, author of the Rings of Orbis novel series, co-founder of Kids Need To Read and keeper of an alien artifact. Our thanks go to PJ for not only kindly giving up his time to meet with us, but also to brave the Los Angeles early afternoon traffic!

The trip to LA was a lot of fun - we also met up and had lunch with Greg Edmonson and his wife - the idea was that we were taking them to dinner to say thanks for the interview he did with us last year. However Greg ended up paying for us, so next time they are in London we have promised to take them out for a meal!

We also visited the Universal Studios tour, and saw the actual Mule from Serenity! We went past it so fast that I almost didn't get a photo, but what I did get is the picture at the top.

To download show 32 direct, click here.

I would like to try to encourage a bit of life into our Facebook page, so to that end I will be setting up a feedback topic for each show. To leave us some feedback for show 32, click here.

Show 33 will be available from the 9th April.

Typo ... Correction

2008-03-04T22:38:00.001Z

It's "Lynn". Of course, it's Lynn, I'm an idiot who shouldn't do these things late at night ... Like now actually ...

2008-03-02T00:58:00.002Z

Now our feet are back on the ground, both Andrew and I would like to say a massive "thank you" for making our stay in Los Angeles so memorable: James & Lyn, Scott, Colleen (who gamely volunteered to appear on our last show) and the rest of the SoCal Browncoats for making us feel so welcome; Bete Noir and Cathy - great talking with the both of you at Gallifrey 1; Andy "The Sushi King" Gore; Greg and Suzanne Edmonson and PJ Haarsma.

Our interview with PJ will air in March where we talk about his first "Rings of Orbis" novel, "The Softwire" (heartedly recommended), Kids Need To Read and being the curator of an alien artifact.

Show 31: Live from Miranda!

2008-02-21T00:36:00.004Z

Show 31 is now available to download. As Wendy and I mentioned at the end of last months show, this is our first podcast bought to you entirely from outside the UK. Wendy and I are staying in LA until the end of this week, and on Sunday we were lucky enough to join the SoCal Browncoats on a visit to the Diamond Ranch High School, where the exterior Miranda scenes from Serenity were filmed. As you can see from the picture above, we even managed to recreate one of the scenes!

We also talk to James and Lynn, who run the meetings for the SoCal group. We are also joined in our studio (well, hotel room!) by Colleen Harkins who is also involved with the SoCal Browncoats and Kids Need to Read.

You can download the show manually by clicking here.

Next month we (hopefully) will bring you an interview with author PJ Haarsma, so until then enjoy the show and don't forget we have a Facebook group now in which you can leave us thoughts, comments and feedback!

Forthcoming Events ... And stuff

2008-01-20T18:13:00.000Z

Firstly, I like to say a huge "thank you" to Karen in New Zealand for including a link to us on her "Auckland Calendar" blog. We really appreciate it.

We have news of a UK fan run event, "Wu Shi" being held at the Market House Inn, Glastonbury. The date is 10 - 15 May 2008 and the registration cost is £25.00. Some further details (and a contact address) can be found as part of the "events" folder on www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk and the UK Firefly fans Yahoo group.

Our US cousins are also having a fan-run event, Conflation, in St Louis on 15 - 17 February at the Comfort Inn Airport and Conference Centre (9600 Natural Bridge Road) and the registration is $30. Please note that this is a child-free event. Please email conflationgoddess@gmail.com for full details.

We wish both events every success.

There will be a Shindig in Oxford on Saturday 1 March. Full details can be found as part of the "events" folder on www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk and the UK Firefly fans Yahoo group.

Creation have announced their second "Salute to Firefly and Serenity" taking place 22 - 23 November 2008 at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel. Jewel Staite has been announced as their first guest. Please visit www.creationent.com for full details.

Lastly, our friends at Kids Need To Read continue with their fund-raising auctions for this worthwhile cause. Please www.kidsneedtoread.org for details of all their fund-raising efforts and go grab yourself one of those terrifyn' space monkeys before they do some damage to an engine room ...

Just a reminder: myself and Andrew will be in Los Angeles in February. We're looking forward to meeting the SoCal Browncoats and hopefully popping into Gallifrey One amongst other activities.

Wendy

Show 29 is here

2008-01-16T18:05:00.000Z

Hello everyone, wow I hadn't realised that we hadn't updated the site for so long. So, Happy New Year to all of our listeners, and here is our first show of 2008!

In this show we talk to Ben Mund who designed the Serenity Ships papers for QMX (click here to go to their website).

We also have Rosie Chapman in studio with us - a well travelled Browncoat who tells us about some of her travels and some of the people she has met around the world. She also provided us with a bumper a while back - but we will talk about that on the show.

If you wish to download the show manually, click here.

It's a long one this time (sorry!) and in fact there is more to come, as in a fortnight we have an interview with the team promoting Kids Need to Read. That's on the 30th, so see you then!

Qmx's "Mal's Pistol" now available to the UK

2007-12-18T15:18:00.000Z

All avid watchers of Qmx will be pleased to learn that they've overcome an impossible and are now free to ship this item to the UK!

In early October, the UK Government tightened the existing law regarding the importing of replica firearms rendering it impossible for "Mal's Pistol - Stunt Replica" to be shipped to the UK and unfortunately for us, Qmx's release date was some nearly 3 weeks after the law was amended.

However, Qmx has been working hard to get a shipping licence and all that effort has now paid off.

The replica costs $150 (give or take a few cents) and they have a special offer with regard to shipping until 31 December. So what are you waiting for? Head over to their website, check this out as well as their other "SERENITY" goodies and treat yourself for 2008 - you know you deserve it.

December Show now available!

2007-12-17T20:34:00.001Z

The final show of 2007 is now available, and it's a blinder! A couple of months back, Wendy and Andrew interviewed some of the crew behind the fan film project Bellflower, a movie set within the Firefly/Serenity universe. In this we talk to MJ, who is writer, producer and director on the project, as well as people behind the design, set construction and music. For those of you who don't know about this, you really must visit their website by clicking here. You will need to register to get the best content, but it is well worth it.

If you would like to manually download this show, click here.

That's it for 2007, we will see you next month!

Mutant Enemy Strike Day

2007-12-09T21:09:00.000Z

On 7 December, Mutant Enemy's planned strike picket took place at the Fox Studios joined by 400 fans.

Members of the "Firefly" cast joined former cast members of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" as well as writers of all three productions, in a show of solidarity for the ongoing WGA strike now entering it's second month.

We thank the forum of www.fans4writers.com for posting a list of cast members and writers who took part:

Joss Whedon, Amy Acker, Morena Baccarin, Jeffrey Bell, Nicholas Brendon, Felicia Day, Steve DeKnight, Eliza Dushku,
Ben Edlund, Jane Espenson, Sarah Fain, Michael Fairman, Raphael Feldman, Yan Feldman, Nathan Fillion, David Fury,
Drew Goddard, Ron Glass, Summer Glau, Harry Groener, James Gunn, Erich Hoeber, Samantha Humphery, Juliet Landeau,
Robert Lee, Tom Lenk, William Mapother, Brett Matthews, Tim Minear, Marti Noxon, Rick Parks, Doug PetrieLoni Peristere,
J. August Richards, Douglas Romayne, Mere Smith, Keith Szarabajka, Camden Toy, Alan Tudyk, Brian K. Vaughn

Fans4Writers now have a cafepress shop selling mugs, badges, tees and other items for you to show your support for the writers. Visit their main site: www.fans4writers.com.

Marti Noxon is on the organising committee for "Write Aid", a fundraising benefit for employees affected by the WGA action. It's taking place in Los Angeles on 14 December, tickets are $75 and performers include Eddie Izzard and Tenacious D - go to www.unitedhollywood.blogspot.com for full details.

Writers are arguably the most important people in entertainment; this strike is about writers obtaining a share of profits from the new media - and without them, the people we all like to see in films and TV can't work. Support the WGA strike.

Writers Strike 2007

2007-12-04T22:10:00.000Z

Where would we be without writers? Simply our favourite universes wouldn't exist. As Steven Spielberg said at one of his Oscar acceptance speeches - it all begins with the written word.

Show your support to the Writers Guild of America; they have a blogsite at www.unitedhollywood.blogspot.com and you can watch their "Speechless" shorts here or on YouTube

2007-11-23T09:46:00.000Z

As our latest show testifies, none of us at Sending A Wave are particularly shy about voicing our opinions and generally being bolshie, so when Equality Now sends out the message that you will read below - we feel that including it on our website is the right thing to do:

EQUALITY NOW CONDEMNS SAUDI ARABIAN COURT RULING SENTENCING RAPE VICTIM TO 200 LASHES AND 6 MONTHS’ IMPRISONMENT

A 19-year-old woman from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, was brutally attacked and gang raped by 7 men approximately 18 months ago, according to media reports. While seeking justice in her case, the woman was herself sentenced in October 2006 to 90 lashes for being in the company of an unrelated man at the time of the attack. She appealed this decision to a higher court, and the Qatif General Court announced on Wednesday November 14, 2007, that the victim’s sentence had been more than doubled to 200 lashes and 6 months in prison, a gross violation of human rights including the right to be free from discrimination and from torture and other cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment. Following this decision the rape victim’s lawyer had his license to practice revoked. While the courts have not clarified why the sentence was increased, media reports suggest that the harsher sentence for the rape victim and the confiscation of her lawyer’s license were directly related to their decision to speak with Saudi Arabian media about the injustice in this case. If true, this retaliation clearly violates the fundamental human right to freedom of expression.

Equality Now is calling on the Ministry of Justice of Saudi Arabia to immediately revoke this sentence of lashing and imprisonment of the rape victim, which is a travesty of justice. Equality Now is also calling on the Ministry to restore her legal representation by rescinding its decision to revoke the license of her lawyer. Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director stated, “This verdict by the Saudi Arabian court is blatantly discriminatory and violates several fundamental rights of the victim as well as her lawyer. We urge the Saudi Arabian authorities to undo this injustice immediately. They need to ensure that the victim is treated as a victim and not as a criminal. The international human rights community will continue to closely monitor the case and provide solidarity to advocates on the ground until the victim is safe from state sponsored violence and discrimination.”

ACTION
Please contact the Saudi Arabian embassy in your country, as well as your country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Call on these officials to convey your concern over this injustice and to take whatever action is in their power to protect this Saudi rape victim from lashing and imprisonment.

To find out more about this and to learn about their current projects, please visit www.equalitynow.org.

Show 27: November 2007

2007-11-21T17:11:00.000Z

Only one show this month, and it is out there now!

On this show, Wendy talks to someone who went to the Serenity LA convention run by Starfury Conventions. We also discuss the likely outcome of the latest campaign designed to give us a sequel to the Big Damned Movie - to go to their website by clicking here.

Finally, we play a song by Firefly Fan Marian Call, who has an album available, one song on it is about a character in the Firefly Verse (or two if you get the special edition). When you hear the song we play (called It was good for you too) you will want to check out her website.

That's it for this month, see you next time!

Breaking News: Serenity LA

2007-11-04T22:22:00.000Z

Despite everything, we just learned that Nathan Fillion has taken to the stage in the last 10 minutes in a surprise appearance at Starfury Serenity LA.

Although none of the team could make it, we have been speaking to people who are at the con and by all accounts it has been very successful for Sean Harry who has announced dates for a second convention in October 2008, again at Element in West Hollywood.

Second October Show now available...

2007-10-16T19:50:00.000+01:00

Yes, show 26 is here!

In this show, Wendy tells us about the Serenity: Infinity convention. Although she does tell us over the phone because she forgot we were recording!

We also bring you the report from the Oxford Serenity Screening, complete with some songs performed by Nick Edwards and family.

Finally, we talk to the Serenity Now, Equality Now Global Event Coordinator Devin Pike, who gives us an (almost) final round up of this years events. We would like to really thank Devin, who has always put himself out to be available for our show, and we would also like to congratulate him on a brilliantly coordinated event.

To download the episode direct, click here.

There are only plans for one show next month, we will give you more details about it closer to the time.

Show 25 now available!

2007-10-03T21:06:00.000+01:00

The first of our October shows is here. Show 25 concentrates on the latest goings on for our Big Damned Heroes (loads of them are on TV series now, isn't that fantastic?)

We also look back to the Serenity Now, Equality Now screenings from earlier in the year. We talk to Almar, who organised the Dublin screening, and she also arranged for someone to run around interviewing attendees. Thanks to Almar and Stevie for their hard work, which can be heard here.

Finally, on a more serious note, Wendy talks to Equality Now's London Office, or more specifically Jacqui Hunt about exactly what the charity supports and the kind of work they do. To find out more about Equality Now, click here.

To download this episode manually, click here.

Our next show is provisionally scheduled for two weeks time, but that may change... watch this space!

Nathan Fillion cancels "Serenity LA"

2007-09-28T13:35:00.000+01:00

Due to work commitments, Nathan Fillion has had to cancel his intended appearance at Starfury's "Serenity LA" convention in November.

Hear Wendy getting passionate about someone other than Nathan Fillion!

2007-09-26T02:59:00.000+01:00

Yes, Wendy is a guest presenter this month over on Cadmium 2, where we are discussing the 18th official James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and you get the vague impression on this one that she likes the star of the film, Pierce Brosnan!

Click on the link above to go to the Cadmium 2 website, or to get the episode direct click here.

October Shows being recorded

2007-09-20T12:08:00.000+01:00

The shows for October are hopefully going to be recorded this weekend. Both will be related to this years Serenity Screenings - we are hoping to chat with worldwide coordinator Devin Pike again to get a round up of this years events, as well as some of the individual event runners to see what their final thoughts were.

Wendy has also recorded an interview with Jacqui Hunt from the London office of Equality Now which will also feature in the October shows.

Shows 25 and 26 will be released into the podosphere on October 3rd and 17th respectively.

Convention additions and cancellations

2007-09-18T23:58:00.000+01:00

Starfury Events have, within the last week, announced the addition of Nathan Fillion to the line up of the inaugural "Serenity LA" convention. You can find all information on www.starfuryusa.com

Due to work conflicts, both Sean Maher and Adam Baldwin have had to cancel their appearances at next month's "Serenity: Infinity" convention. There are still plenty of guests attending the convention and please visit the Starfury UK site for full line up and information.

Show 24 Now Available

2007-09-12T00:36:00.001+01:00

Last month, we forced a Firefly Virgin (Paul from Cadmium 2) to watch the pilot episode of the series and this is the result! Kevin (Gossi from the boards), Nick from The Signal and others join us.

Next month we will be going back to the Serenity Screenings for some reports on the events and to get an idea of how much money was raised. And Wendy has a couple of interviews up her sleeve!

To manually download episode 24 click here.

See you all next month.

"WAITRESS" at Deauville

2007-08-31T16:04:00.000+01:00

"WAITRESS" is in competition at the 33rd edition of the Deauville Festival of American Film 31 August to 9 September.

Other films include "FACTORY GIRL" and "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION"

Utterly Star Trek Review

2007-08-29T15:01:00.000+01:00

Okay, this is nothing to do with Firefly at all, but I have started keeping an occasional blog in which I review Star Trek episodes. My plan is to do the original series (I am twenty episodes in) followed by the films, then onto the more recent series and films. I would love people to comment on my thoughts, so if you would like to click here to be transferred to the site!

Thanks to you all!

2007-08-27T21:30:00.000+01:00

The team would just like to say a special thanks to everyone who took part in the recording of show 24 this weekend. In essence, we forced someone who had never watched Firefly to watch the pilot episode. Thanks to Nick, Bill, Ben, Elanor and Kevin, and especially Paul from Cadmium II (who was the Firefly virgin). The show is being edited and will be available from September 12th.

Once again Browncoats show their might ...

2007-08-24T12:36:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Eric Olsen, Miranda and all at Firefly Talk for their well-deserved win at the 2007 Podcast Awards. Firefly Talk won the People's Choice Podcast Award for Best Movies/Film Podcast.

Show 23: Bill and Ben Take Over!

2007-08-22T03:05:00.000+01:00

For your second August show we hand the reigns over to two of our listeners, Bill and Ben. Cue hilarious jokes about flower pots.

Bill and Ben take you through the CSTS Oxford screening, tell you about their favourite episodes, characters and also provide enough information to ensure at least one member of one of their families will be investigated by Social Services!

Thanks to Bill and Ben for their enthusiasm, you will no doubt hear from them again in the future.

To download the episode direct, click here.

Remember that episode 2 of Cadmium II is now available, click here to visit the site for that show.

We are recording the September Wave this weekend, if all goes to plan it will be a Cadmium II style review of the pilot episode of Firefly - including the reactions of someone who has never watched the show before that day. Will we have a live, on-air conversion or just someone disappointed that the show didn't live up to all of the hype? Tune in next month and find out!

Cadmium II Show 2 now available!

2007-08-20T21:52:00.000+01:00

For those of you interested in our Cult Britannia podcast, Cadmium II, you will be pleased to know that episode two, which is a feature on the making of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio production "The Wishing Beast" is now available. In the show we interview Jean Marsh, Bonnie Langford and John Ainsworth, the Marketing Director for Big Finish and also the director of this play!

For information on how to download the podcast or to subscribe, click here.

Show 23 of Sending a Wave is out this Wednesday!

Extra Stuff Available

2007-08-18T20:16:00.000+01:00

Well, those of you who have seen our podcast feed will have seen that the first show that is available is show 3. This is because shows 1 and 2 were not produced by Futility Radio and, whilst very enthusiastically put together, the production standards are, well, awful. We were worried that if the first show available on the feed was show 1, once people listened to it they might never ever come back!

So, we have now put together a short promo (a short of "Show 0") to head up the podcast feed, as well as an apology at the start of the first two episodes explaining why they are so... different! We know that some completists want the early shows (clever boffins have managed to download them even though they have not been in the feed for quite a while!)

If you want to download these shows manually, please click on the links below:

Show Zero
Show One
Show Two

Show 23 is out Wednesday,

See y'all,

Brian Wiser Interview - Show 22

2007-08-08T07:57:00.001+01:00

The first of our two August shows is now available - an interview with Brian Wiser from Quantum Mechanix.

For those needing to download direct, click here.

Show 23 will come out on the 22nd August, more details when it is released!

Recorded Today

2007-08-05T20:44:00.000+01:00

Wendy, Andrew, Nick Edwards met up today and recorded the two shows for this month. In the first we will hear the interview with Brian Wieser from QMX as well some brief discussions about the Serenity and Firefly DVDs being in space.

The second show was an experiement where we gave total control of the show to Nick's son Ben and his friend Bill, who have an interesting view on fandom.

We also recorded a short mini-episode supporting the Firefly Talk "Summer of Serenity" campaign in support of thier nomination in the 2007 podcast awards to be held later this month at DragonCon.

Show 22 will be out in about a week, the Bill and Ben show (show 23) a couple of weeks after that. Enjoy.

Martin Firrell Interview - Show 21

2007-07-29T19:05:00.000+01:00

You get an extra show this month - and it is an interview with Martin Firrell, the man behind the Hero project that heavily features Nathan Fillion. Martin spoke to Wendy at length about this project, his past work and indeed his thoughts on Firefly fandom on Friday, and we were so pleased with it we decided not to hang about and get this episode out there as soon as we possibly could. We would like to thank Martin very much for talking to us, and would like to remind people that he is actively encouraging your participation in the Hero project. There is a blog site set up to leave feedback and comments, click here to be directed to it and to link to the Hero project too. You can find out more about Martin's other work on his website, click here.

Martin would also like to thank SFX magazine for being one of the sponsors of the project - it's a great magazine, I've read it since issue one, and I strongly recommend you take a look at their website.

If you are not a subscriber and would like to download this show manually, click here.

The show does contain a brief clip from the recording of the project of Nathan that is currently excusive to Sending a Wave. So once again thank you Martin, and Wendy and I hope you all enjoy the show.

Fillion & Tudyk double at Lorcarno Film Festival

2007-07-26T11:33:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to both Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk as both "WAITRESS" and "DEATH AT A FUNERAL" are screening at the Lorcarno Film Festival in Italy this August.

This year's festival marks it's 60th anniversary making it one of the oldest festivals in the world. Both films will be screening as part of their open-air "Piazza Grande" programme. The festival runs from 1st - 11th August with "DEATH AT A FUNERAL" on 5th August and "WAITRESS" on 8th August.

Show 20: Pimp My Ambulance!

2007-07-18T22:23:00.000+01:00

Yes, show 20 is here, in which we interview two key people involved in the restoration of the Ambulance from the episode Ariel - Scott Akins who discovered it, and Adam Whiting who is coordinating the talent behind the restoration. Visit the website about the restoration by clicking here.

You can get the show from iTunes, subscribe using the feed to the right or download direct from here.

Hope you enjoy, see you in a couple of weeks!

Toni is going on Hiatus!

2007-07-12T18:21:00.000+01:00

Hey all,

just to let people know that you won't be hearing from ME for the next few months at least. I need to concentrate on other things for a while.

I am leaving you in the very capable hands of Wendy and Andrew, and I know they'll keep you entertained.

Catch y'all soon,

Toni.

"Drive" has left the building ...

2007-07-10T09:13:00.000+01:00

Despite the decision by current Fox executives to make the most of their investment and air the last 2 episodes of "Drive" - firstly over the Independence Day weekend and then changing their mind to reschedule it for Friday 13 July, the TV Squad website is now reporting that the Fox programmers have pulled these episodes yet again. Please see http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/07/09/fox-takes-drive-off-the-schedule-again/ for further details.

Another new show from Futility Radio!

2007-06-25T10:29:00.000+01:00

The much vaunted podcast - Cadmium II - is finally available. The point of this new show is to look in detail at British Cult TV, Film and Radio, and we have a lot of ground to cover!

In this first show, we examine the first ever episode of Doctor Who, entitled An Unearthly Child from 1963. Future topics include shows such as TimeSlip, cult radio such as The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, and even some movies, including some James Bond!

The website for the new show can be found by clicking here, at the moment we are in the process of registering the show with iTunes, but you can subscribe by opening iTunes first then clicking here. The show does not have an explicit tag, (we bleep out the occasion profanity) but the show has the same light hearted feel that makes Sending a Wave so much fun to listen to.

The email address for Cadmium II is cadmium2@futilityradio.com. Please send us some feedback or suggestions about the show.

The next Sending a Wave should arrive before the weekend... fingers crossed!!

Andrew

Big Damn News from Firefly Store and a correction for the Joe Murphy Memorial Fund

2007-06-18T21:45:00.000+01:00

We have some very exciting news; our good friends over at the FireflyStore (www.fireflystore.net) are currently raising money for Equality Now with their "Big Damn Draw" raffle. Amongst the many coveted and extremely shiny prizes on offer is the chance to join us on the sofa and be a guest presenter on the show either in person or via telephone. We will be making announcement within the next couple of shows about how to up your chances of being a winner for any of the fabulous prizes on offer. The raffle will continue until October where it is presently planned for the draw to take place as part of the Serenity LA convention organised by Starfury.

You've already listened to our latest show and I hope you've enjoyed listening to Devin and a small number of the worldwide organisers for this years Can't Stop The Serenity screenings and much as Andrew and I enjoyed talking to them; however Brian from Arizona made a slight mistake on the Joe Murphy Memorial Fund website - which as it was not long after 6:00am his time was perfectly understandable - and he has requested that we post the correct address: http://joemurphymemorialfund.org/. Joe died of cancer and has been a loss to both the Farpoint Media family and podcasting in general; he never lost his sense of humour concerning his illness, something that was embraced by his closest friends and listeners to "Michael and Evo's Wingin' It".

Show 19 now available!

2007-06-12T18:19:00.000+01:00

The first of this months two shows is now available - in this episode we look into the Can't Stop the Serenity charity event.

We have already spoken to Global Coordinator Devin Pike a few shows ago, he is back to give us a bit of an update - live from his Honeymoon, what a great bloke!

We also speak to people involved in seven of the local showings around the globe, from the Oxford Screening to Sydney Australia, and many countries in between. Thanks very much to everyone who spoke to us, visit the the Can't Stop The Serenity website to find out where your local screening is.

The event is to raise money for the Equality now charity. If you do not know what this charity is for, click onto their website for more information. For those of you living in the UK, the recent news story involving the honour killing of a twenty year old Curdish girl by her family illustrates perfectly what this charity is about. If you would like to know more about this new story, click here to read it on the BBC News website.

To listen to the show, subscribe via iTunes or your podcatching software (the details are on the right) or download it direct by clicking here.

If you go to a screening, and are able to report back on the event we would love to hear from you, email us on the address on the right to let us know.

See you later in the month for our second show,

Wendy, Toni and Andrew

Nathan Fillion "super secret" revealed!

2007-06-08T22:53:00.000+01:00

Finally, the reason for Nathan Fillion's recent visit to London has been revealed. He has been collaborating with reknowned artist, Martin Firrell on a new project entitled, "Hero".

Martin released this first look at the project this week and go here to view and also have the opportunity to sign up for mail updates and tickets (when they become available). Martin is also interested in your views and thoughts on the subject which could very well be incorporated into the piece as he continues to develop and hone the project for it's presentation later this year.

Wendy

"Sarah Connor Chronicles", "Chuck", "Drive" has one last tyre burn and Wendy's seen "Waitress"

2007-05-22T22:05:00.000+01:00

Before we bid a total farewell to "Drive" (we hardly knew ye), Fox will air the final 2 episodes in early July. Scripts have been posted online on Tim Minear's website - www.timminear.net.

We hello to Summer Glau in "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" - the TV incarnation of the highly successful "TERMINATOR" franchise airing on Fox (gulp!) as part of their autumn schedule. Summer plays "Cameron" (I do wonder if the name was, ahem, intentional?) who is described as "an engimatic and otherworldly student at his [John Connor's] high school, who soon proves to be more than his confidente - she assumes the role of Sarah and John's fearless protector." Could the online rumours be correct and Summer's playing a Terminatrix?

Adam Baldwin returns to the small screen in NBC's "Chuck", the story of an everyday computer geek who becomes a government operative when a friend sends him an encoded email. Adam plays "John Casey" and the pilot has been directed by McG who brought the first "CHARLIE'S ANGELS" film to the big screen.

I was able to attend a screening of "WAITRESS" recently. It is a lovely, sweet picture and deserves to follow it's Stateside success here in the UK. It has had it's release widened in the US this past weekend and has made it into the US box office weekend top 10.

There is also still time to purchase tickets for the Equality Now Serenity Now charity screenings in Dublin, Oxford, Edinburgh and London - for full details go to www.cantstoptheserenity.com for more details.

Show 18: Greg Edmonson Part 2

2007-05-20T18:07:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

Show 18, which contains the second part of our fantastic Greg Edmonson interview, as well as some great banter (as always) about the cancellation of Drive, plus an update on what else is coming from Futility Radio.

We are still looking for correspondents from around the globe to cover Browncoat happenings from a local perspective, we would like to hear from anyone who is interested.

Show 18 can be downloaded via iTunes, via the podcast feed on the right, or directly by clicking here.

We will be back next month, plus in the next couple of weeks you can expect an annoucement about another show from Futility Radio based on general sci fi stuff!

Show 17 now online!

2007-05-11T09:34:00.000+01:00

Show 17 is now available to download. Nick Edwards from The Signal was with us again, and he presented a review of Songs from the Black, the superb album put together by The Signal podcast. Click here to go to their website and download the music.

We also have the first part of our interview with Firefly composer Greg Edmonson. Greg was fantastically enthusiastic and a wonderful guest to have on the show, as you will hear. The second half of the interview will kick off show 18, which will be out hopefully by next weekend.

You can download show 17 by clicking here.

Remember, you can send us feedback (details at the side) and there are two episodes of our comedy satire show, Futility Writ Big available, we would love some feedback on those we well.

See you next week,

Greg Edmonson Interview...

2007-05-10T08:16:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the delay, we decided to put the next two shows out in quick succession as they contain both halves of an interview with the Firefly maestro himself, Greg Edmonson!

Show 17 will be out by this weekend, show 18 will follow in about a week.

"Futility Writ Big" now available!

2007-04-16T12:07:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

The first new episode of our comedy sketch show, Futility Writ Big, is now available to download. We are plugging it here because it is produced by the same team that bring you Sending a Wave. The show, like Sending a Wave, is not for kids, and we would love to know what you guys think. Click here to go to the Futility Writ Big website.

The next Wave will be out at the weekend, featuring our interview with Greg Edmonson! Don't miss it!

Show 16 Now Available!

2007-04-11T23:53:00.000+01:00

Sending a Wave show 16 is now available. In this show we talk about the Serenity 4 convention, talk once again to Vanessa Lauberg about her charity event to raise money for the Fringe Theatre, Edmonton (where Nathan launched his acting career), and finally pay tribute to Joe Murphy, part of the Farpoint Media family, who died at the start of the month. For more information on Joe, click here.

To download Show 16 manually, click here.

Also, Mike has left his presenting duties on Sending a Wave to concentrate on other projects for Futility Radio, the primary one being our tasteless satirical adult sketch show, Futility Writ Big, which (like Sending a Wave) was recorded this weekend. The first podcast episode of that show will soon be available, for information on FWB and how to subscribe click here.

There will be a futher episode of Sending a Wave later this month, probably in just over a weeks time, which promises to be a smashing show, as we will be interviewing the man behind the music on Firefly, Greg Edmonson. Be sure to tune in!

Stuff on the way!

2007-04-09T10:41:00.000+01:00

Well, we here at Futility Radio had a productive weekend! On Friday we recorded the next two shows for Sending a Wave (the first of which will be on the feed and available to download in the next couple of days.) We had Nick from The Signal in studio with us, as well as Paul Greaves from our forthcoming project Cadmium 2.

Then on Sunday we recorded the first show of the new series of Futility Writ Big, an adult comedy sketch show. Actually, Mike and Andrew have recorded several of these before but this is the first show that will be done as a podcast. We will be releaseing older episodes in the forthcoming weeks, and again this first new episode will be available by the end of the week. Click here to visit the website and to subscribe...

See you all soon,

Show 15 Now Available: (Almost) Live from Glasgow!

2007-03-18T21:17:00.000Z

Hi everybody,
Show 15 is now available to download from here. It was recorded on Saturday night at the Serenity 4 event in Glasgow, and was actually available within 2 hours of it being recorded (although I forgot to update this site until today, sorry, so only iTunes subscribers would have got it quickly!!) We recorded a panel show, “Never Mind the Reavers” featuring four volunteer panellists, and some familiar voices. It was the first show we have ever recorded in front of an audience, and we are really pleased with the results, we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it! We would love your feedback on it, please send it to the usual address!
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the show and the audience for turning up, and as you will hear it was a truly European event!
Show 16 is being recorded early April and will be available on or just after the Easter Weekend. There are in fact two shows next month, so show 17 will be available a couple of weeks after that. We will announce exact recording dates and times in a couple of weeks time, and as usual anyone is free to join us in studio!

That’s all for March, see you next month!

Andrew and the SaW Team!

Hi from S4!

2007-03-16T14:56:00.000Z

Well, the team has made it alive to sunny Glasgow (and the even sunnier Quality Central Hotel) and we have all registered at the checking in desk for Serenity 4! We are hoping to do a daily podcast starting this evening, for three days (although we freely admit that each show might go out after midnight, so technically it all may start tomorrow!) We are looking to meet as many interesting people as possible, and if anyone wishes so send us a voicemail saying how upset they are to be missing this just send it to the regalar address by the end of Saturday and we will use it!!

See you all soon,

The SaW gang (minus Mike who ended up staying at home!)

March Show!!

2007-03-07T14:08:00.000Z

Hi,

Show 14 - the March Show.

We've got an exclusive interview with Devin Pike, the co-ordinator of the worldwide Serenity Now Equality Now Screenings. Plus we have 2 guests in studio, and we talk about upcoming events.

For more details on the Serenity Now Equality Now Screenings, including contact information please go to www.cantstoptheserenity.com

To download and listen to this show enter http://www.futilityradio.com/sawlist.xml into your podcatcher, alternatively you can subscribe via iTunes, or click here to download it direct.

(We also forgot to put a link to show 13 on the blog, whoops, we keep forgetting that some people listen that way. Thanks to Nick for pointing this out, to get show 13 click here.)

Hope to see lots of people at the Serenity 4 Convention, come join us for some fun at the Sending A Wave Quiz.

Toni.

"SERENITY" version 2.0, "Drive" & Summer Glau in "The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

2007-03-06T13:35:00.000Z

Hot news in the past weeks:

Summer Glau is set to star in Fox's "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" TV series. This hotly anticipated show is based on the "TERMINATOR" films and will tell the story of Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son, John (Thomas Dekker - a name recognisable to all you "Heroes" fans).

Tim Minear's new series, "Drive" starring Nathan Fillion, is airing on Fox in the US on 15 April. According to the "Drive" site on Fox.com, it is kicking off with a 3-hour premiere over 15-16 April. Nathan as Top Gear's "star in a reasonably priced car", anyone?

Universal is in the process of re-releasing "SERENITY" on DVD with some more extras in the summer. In a recent post to Whedonesque, Joss spoke briefly about the plans for this which you can view here http://whedonesque.com/comments/12606#164745.

Don't forget SaW will be at the Serenity 4 convention in Glasgow. Besides trying to speak to as many of you as possible, we are also having our quiz on Saturday night in the Chill Out Room, so if you are attending the con, please join us.

Wendy

Charity Auction - Jen Cummings

2007-02-27T08:56:00.000Z

This is quoted from an email Jen sent me, it's for a good cause and some of the items have been signed by Firefly cast members.

"Hi everyone!

You might know that I worked with a charity while living in Vancouver. One of the projects I started was "Bears that Care for BC Women's".

With the support of the Vancouver film industry, BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre in Canada is proud to bring you Bears that Care for BC Women's - the cutest fundraiser in town!

Famous personalities from film and television have thrown their support behind BC Women's by autographing these cuddly little bears. And they are just crying out for a new home - with you!

100% of the proceeds from the auctions of the Bears that Care for Women's will benefit the BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre. Charitable Registration No: 890267537RR0001

BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre is Canada's busiest maternity hospital. Your assistance helps us care for the pregnant women who come here from across the province when they're in danger, when something suddenly goes terribly wrong during their pregnancy. By helping us raise money in this project, you are also helping us provide the best possible care for more than 1,200 babies every year who fight for their lives in our Special Care Nursery. You are helping BC Women's, a recognized world leader in women's health, care for women at every stage in their lives.

Each week until the end of March, a new group of celebrity bears will be up for grabs.

You can find out what's up for grabs each week at http://tinyurl.com/2whb82

From the small screen:
Smallville - Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Allison Mack, Erica Durance, Kristin Kreuk, Annette O'Toole, John Glover
Supernatural - Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles (5)
Battlestar Galactica - Edward James Olmos, Jamie Bamber, Tahmoh Penikett, Kate Vernon
Firefly - Jewel Staite (3), Summer Glau, Alan Tudyk
Happy Days - Erin Moran

Movies filmed in Vancouver:
Case 39 - Renee Zellweger (2), Callum Keith Rennie (2), Ian McShane (2)
Shooter - Mark Wahlberg
Postal - Verne Troyer (4), Larry Thomas (3), Zack Ward (2)

This week we have the following auctions:

Ian McShane (Deadwood/Lovejoy) Autographed Bear
Callum Keith Rennie (Due South/BSG) Autographed Bear
Erin Moran (Happy Days) Autographed Bear
Jensen Ackles & Jared Padalecki (Supernatural) Autographed Bear & Production Photo
Jewel Staite (Firefly/Serenity) Autographed Bear & Autographed Photo
Larry Thomas (Seinfeld) Autographed Bear & Autographed Photo
Zack Ward (Titus/Anne of Green Gables) Autographed Bear
Verne Troyer (Austin Powers "Mini-Me") Autographed Bear
Kate Vernon (Battlestar Galactica) Autographed Bear
Annette O'Toole (Superman/Smallville) Autographed Bear & Production Photo

Please support the women and babies of British Columbia, and bid on our snuggly autographed bears! If you can share this information around, that would be awesome!!!

Thanks!!

~ Jen "

Please go take a look. Toni.

Slight Delay

2007-02-18T20:48:00.000Z

Hey folks,

just an apology for the delay in getting show 14 out. It will be out soon, and it'll be the last show until the Serenity 4 convention.

Toni.

Show 14 - Recorded

2007-02-03T18:46:00.000Z

Hello all,

We'd just like to thank everyone who was here for the recording of show 14, it was great fun and nice to have some new voices in the studio.

The highlight of Show 14 is an interview with Devin, the guy who is co-ordinating the Serenity Now/Equality Now screenings around the globe, it was a great fun and Devin, you're welcome back anytime.

We hope everyone involved enjoyed recording the show as much as we did.

Show 14 will be out by the 17th February, and Show 13 will be out on Monday.

Enjoy,

Toni.

Come and take part in Sending a Wave!

2007-01-29T12:44:00.000Z

Hi all,

Just to let everybody know the team have decided to open up our recording sessions to people who would like to attend and see the show being recorded, and to take part if they would like to.

This weekend (Saturday, 3rd February) we will be putting together a show to go out later in February or possibly early March. It would be great to have a few extra people taking part, so if you would like to join us please send an email to wave@futilityradio.com. As this is a bit of an experiment for us, we will limit it on this occasion to the first four people who contact us.

We record at 2pm in Daventry, Northants, we will send exact directions to anyone who is interested.

We will be recording show 14 and perhaps some additional feature material for a later show, but we are still in the planning stages for that. We record in (practically) real time, so the main show will take about an hour to record. There is a pub two doors away, which is where we can go for a beverage or two afterwards (although if you want to bring some drinks for when we are recording, that is fine too.)

Hope to see some of you there,

The SaW Team

Nathan Fillion attends Sundance Film Festival 2007

2007-01-24T21:26:00.000Z

Nathan Fillion attended this year's Sundance Film Festival where his film, "WAITRESS" premiered.

In their Sundance 2007 updates, Variety and Screen International have reported that the film has been amongst the first titles to have found buyers and that the film has been picked up by Fox Searchlight for $5M for the worldwide rights.

As many of you are aware, the writer/director, Adrienne Shelly, is no longer with us; she was the victim of a homicide in her New York home last September/October. A 19-year old has been charged with her murder.

Much to the disappointment of Sundance officials, tickets for "WAITRESS" appeared for sale on eBay. One ticket reportedly sold for $385, another reportedly sold for $225 and a third was reportedly listed at $227. On learning of these sales, Festival officials were quoted as saying that they had contacted parties involved and had informed them that the tickets can be remotely deactivated prior to the screening.

The photo is of Nathan attending the Entertainment Weekly Sundance Film Festival 2007 party.

Wendy

February Show

2007-01-24T12:33:00.000Z

Just to let you all know that there won't be a second show this month, we have recorded one but we don't know if we will all be able to get together in February or not, so we are holding that show back until then.

It was recorded at the Oxford Shindig, and the main discussion topics are the Universal Cease and Decist orders, and also there is news about a new Massive Multiplayer Online Game based on Firefly that is currently in development. The show will be out on Monday, 5th February. Special thanks to the shindig attendees, and Wolf, who recorded an interview for us over the phone.

I am attending the Friday part of the shindig in London this weekend, all of us apart from Mike have been able to rearrange our schedules. Yes, I will be taking the studio with me!

So, see some of you at the weekend!

Oxford Shindig (Last Weekend)

2007-01-20T10:15:00.000Z

Sorry, meant to post this last week but what with work and stuff never got round to it!

I'd just like to say a huge thanks to everyone who made us all feel very welcome and record a load of stuff for Sending a Wave at the shindig in Oxford last weekend. Personally, this is only the second Shindig I have ever attended and it was really nice to put some faces to the names on the forums and indeed voices to the faces on the Frappr map!

The four of us had a good time (but then Toni always has a good time if she discovers that she is less than 1km from a Lush shop!) - good food, good company. Thank you all also for letting us record the material we recorded at the pub, this will form the main part of show 13, which will probably be out early February, but we will keep you posted.

So again, thanks to Zol, Sarah and Richard for taking part in the show!

Thanks also to Nick Edwards, who was at the Shindig but had to leave before we went on to the pub and did the recording. He has sent us some great feedback, as well as an article about the Firefly Music Project CD Songs from the Black, which we will cover in a show soon, that is in the planning stages as we speak!

Thanks to Zol for the picture of Wendy outside a curiously named shop, although she denies everything!

Finally, most of us are attending the London Shinding on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th, so we will hopefully meet more of you then!

"SERENITY" creates a new first

2007-01-18T13:44:00.000Z

The BDM has received a somewhat less than illustrious first. A website, Ars Technica, reported that the high-def DVD has had it's coding broken and is now available on the internet as a BitTorrent download. The programmer responsible reportedly hinted about the Volume Key for the HD-DVD encryption coding and has indicated that the same method could be applied to Blu-Ray coding as well. The Motion Picture Association of America has yet to make a comment on this development as part of their ongoing stance to illegal internet downloading/file sharing.

Wendy

Show 12 - January Show - Happy New Year!

2007-01-12T20:02:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

hope y'all had a fantastic new year. We spent New Year's Eve recording this show, hope you enjoy it, because we had great fun recording it!

First off we'd just like to thank Sonia and Mike for this fantastic picture of Wendy hard at work at B3. Thanks guys, we'll let you know what Wendy says when she sees it.

The last 6 months have gone by in a whirlwind, I can hardly believe we're on show 12 already, it's been such a great ride.

This show is going to look at the past, present and future of Sending a Wave and Futility Radio. We look at what's been said about us, what plans are for the coming year and we make a few announcements!!

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for listening. To all those that left us feedback we really appreciate it, and we hope to hear from more of you in 2007.

We kick the show off with a basic calender of event's happening in the coming year in the 'Verse. Here's a list of those events with links to the various sites where you can find information.

EVENTS:

Shindigs (Various times); Most details can be found in the social events thread on the UK Browncoats Board, http://forum.cantstopthesignal.co.uk

Conventions; Starfury Events, details can be found on the Starfury website. www.starfury.co.uk
Comic Con, details can be found at www.comic-con.org
Dragon*Con, details can be found at www.dragoncon.org
Browncoat CRuise, deatils can be found at www.browncoatcruise.com

Charity Events; Details for the Charity Screening in May will be announced on this site as they become available.
Big Damned Do, detail for the vent and a link to their website will be announced as soon as we have them, in the meantime please check out the websites of the 3 charities involved. www.equalitynow.org, www.ctbf.co.uk, www.theannconroytrust.org.uk

We also hear from Andrew in Australia presenting a report with a browncoat, from a special location!!

You can download the episode by subscribing to the podcast feed (listed on the right), from iTunes or directly by clicking here.

Hope to see y'all in the Verse soon.

Episode 11 - December Bonus Show - Removed

2007-01-05T08:38:00.000Z

Hello everyone,

We have recently been contacted by a number of people saying that Jonathan Woodward had requested that his Church of Woodward Service in Burbank not be recorded or posted on the internet. We were not made aware of this until we were contacted today by people who attended, and as such have removed the episode.

We'd just like to apologise to Jonathan and the organisers for this misunderstanding, and would like to ask any listeners who've already downloaded the episode to delete it!

Oops - Unfortunately these things can happen.

Catch y'all next month.

Show 11 - December Bonus Show

2006-12-29T23:16:00.000Z

Hi everyone (again),

sorry for the massive amount of output this month, it's just we've got all this stuff Wendy recorded from Flan and it seems a shame to keep it all for ourselves.

First up on this show we've got a short Q and A with Shawna Trpcic, the costume designer on FireFly. Followed by a recording of Sunday Morning communion with the Reverend Johnny Wallet (otherwise known as Jonathan Woodward), this is slightly different to his normal communion, he doesn't hand out alcohol but does light candles on shrines for all the BDH's who turned up in Burbank.

Special thanks go out to Dean of the California Browncoats for allowing us direct feed access, to give us some quality recordings, Kudos.

As usual you can subscribe through iTunes using the links on the right, or download directly by clicking here.

Hope you enjoy the show,

and have a Happy New Year!

Now Available: Show 10 - Flangate Fallout

2006-12-23T12:37:00.000Z

Our extra December show is now available, in which we dissect various statements from Booster Events following the last minute cancellation on the Flanvention in LA.

It is available as a podcast though the normal feed (listed to the right) and also can be downloaded by clicking here.

That's the last main show for the year, however we will be putting out a "highlights of the Backup Bash event" show between Christmas and New Year, with the next regular show in January.

Thats all folks!

Extra December Show!

2006-12-17T19:25:00.000Z

Well, Wendy flew back into the UK on Saturday morning and has a lot more to say on the events in LA and the Flanvention. To that end, we have recorded an additional show that will come out at the end of next week. We discuss two statements made by the Booster Events owners about what happened, and also celebrate the work of the Californian Browncoats who made the Backup Bash the success it was.

We are also reviewing the material that Wendy recorded at the event and will probably put out some of that material over Christmas and the new year.

The next regular show will be out in early January.

Kudos!

Now available: Show 9 - Flangate!

2006-12-13T12:12:00.000Z

Hello. As you may have read on previous blog entries, this was supposed to be a live (ish) report about Booster Events latest convention, Flanvention 2 in LA. Wendy was there to cover it, and so was on hand when the event was cancelled at the very last minute as fans were arriving at the hotel!

Show #09 contains some reactions to what happened recorded in LA as well as our thoughts on events over there. There is also a discussion we recorded in Leeds in October on the future for Firefly.

It is our longest show (sorry!) and our final one for 2006, we will see you in 2007!

You can download Show 09 by clicking here.

You can leave us feedback by emailing either text or an audio clip to wave@futilityradio.com or phone 07921350340 (UK) or (+44)7921350340 (Rest of World).

Please also visit our Frappr map and our MySpace site.

The SaW gang!

Cancelled Flan - Back-Up Bash

2006-12-11T11:08:00.000Z

Hi. I'M IN LA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Andrew said in the last post, I'm attending what should have been Flanvention 2. I'm sure that most of you are now very aware that the organizors, Booster Events, took the decision to cancel the convention on Thursday - less than 24 hours from when it was due to start.

Instead of doing nothing, the Californian Browncoats stepped into the breach and have allowed us all to have a simply fucking fantastic time. All of us currently attending the "Browncoat Backup Bash" owe a HUGE thanks to all Browncoats who have made a cash donation. If you wish to support the Californian Browncoats, go to their site and I believe there is a link there. Adam and his team, and all Browncoats who have made donations - you are OUR BDHs; it is as simple as that.

There are other thanks to make: Adam Baldwin who came to the Hilton on Thursday night for a couple of hours; Mark Sheppard who came to see us on Friday morning and stayed most of the day; Brett Matthews, who also spent time with us on Friday afternoon; Alan Tudyk (who delayed his flight back to the "3:10 TO YUMA" set), Nathan Fillion, Jonathan Woodward and Christina Hendricks who came to the Hilton on Friday night; Greg Edmondson and Robert Lee for joining us on Saturday; Claire Kramer, who especially opened her and her husband's new restaurant (they had painted the walls and decored the place that day, brought their WONDERFUL staff in specially and didn't know if the computerized tills were going to work!) for us on Saturday night. Again, thanks to Mark Sheppard, Nathan Fillion, Greg Edmondson, Jonathan Woodward, Jan Feldman, Michael Muhney, Christina Hendricks, James Leary, Camden Toy, Ron Glass, Morena Baccarin, Robert Lee and Michael Fairman for taking the time to be there. Lastly, today (Sunday), we were joined by Tim Minear, who amongst showing us some fab stuff (his title!), also gave a live commetary to the episode, "Ariel". Unfortunately I can't go into much detail, but, believe me, we are all going to want to see his new TV show, "Drive" when it airs next year. Shawna Tripcic also spoke to us very briefly and Jonathan Woodward rounded off the day. We have been entertained throughout the weekend by the Bedlam Bards - Cedric and Hawke, hats off to you, sirs. We have also had the opportunity to see some "Firefly" costumes, including the "Hero" browncoat - thanks to Tammy and all Browncoats for organising this.

Thanks to all of you that has made this weekend into something extraordinary.

Wendy

Wendy
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile; you could miss it." Ferris Bueller

(Posted by Toni because Wendy's a technophobe)

Big Damned Flanvention II

2006-12-04T20:12:00.000Z

This weekend, Booster Events are running their latest convention, The Big Damned Flanvention II, in LA, and Wendy will be there!

She will hopefully be recording an interview with the organisers, as well as fans, and will be phoning live into the next show, which is being recorded at the weekend for release early next week!

The exact release date of the next show will be announced at the weekend, in the meantime if you are going to the Flan have a great time, please leave us some feedback on the event (+44 7870 667905) and try and catch Wendy!

Bye for now!

Voicemail line now available!

2006-11-28T22:20:00.000Z

Due to feedback from several people about there not being an actual phone line for the voicemail, we have now rectified that!

The new voicemail number is +(44)7921 350340 or 07921 350340 for UK listeners. We welcome thoughts and feelings about the show or any events in the Browncoat Universe!

I look forward to your feedback!

Memorabilia, NEC, Birmingham, this weekend

2006-11-20T22:59:00.000Z

Hi y'all,

hope you're enjoying the show. I'm posting this to remind everyone about Memorabilia, this event is being held at the NEC, Birmingham, in the UK on the 25th & 26th November this year.

If you've been listening to the show you'll have heard the interview with Karl Derrick the owner of a large collection of Firefly props, many of which were photographed for the Official Firefly Companion book, Karl will be at Memorabilia with the entire collection. This is going to be the first time the whole collection has been shown all together, some items have been seen before but never the whole collection.

So please go along and support Karl. Our very own Wendy Scott will be there, so go along and say hi to her, and if she shoves a microphone in your face remember we like hearing from you, our listeners.

For more information on the event please visit: www.memorabilia.co.uk

Stay shiny.

Show 8: an apology to Harry Potter fans

2006-11-17T16:10:00.000Z

Hi

Ah, show 8 is now available for your listening pleasure. Have to make an admission and an apology. During the course of our interview with Karl, we talk about his work on the "Harry Potter" films and I make a reference to the producer, Nick Heyman. I'm wrong, and it was a case of my mouth running way ahead of my brain, as the producer is of course David Heyman. Sorry.

Wendy

Episode 8 now available

2006-11-14T21:37:00.000Z

So in this show we've got the rest of our interview with Karl Derrick, where Wendy talks with him about his collection of FireFly props.

We talk about our competition 'May the best Flan win!' The prize for this competition is a copy of the FireFly Companion (and I mean the book, not Inara) signed by Karl, and it's one of the first editions of the 2nd print run.

We'd like to take this opportunity to ask all our listeners to add themselves to our frappr map, it'd be nice to know where we've got listeners, you can find the map at www.frappr.com/sendingawave please go add yourselves to it.

Dowload show 8 directly from here or though the podcast feed (see right).

How about "It's A Madhouse, a maaadhouse!"

Another Correction!

2006-11-12T11:46:00.000Z

Hi guys, we have a website correction for you! Thanks to Adreinne Muller fro Belgium for pointing this out to us. A couple of listings ago we incorrectly said that Kevin Beaumont (who we spoke to in show 7) had a website called cantstoptheserenity.co.uk, well actually it was cantstopthesignal.co.uk. We have corrected this now in the original listing, but thanks for pointing that out!

As I write this it is the 12th (I am still in Australia) and we are hoping to get at least one very unique item for the December show, perhaps two, and of course our November bonus show, the in depth interview with Karl Derrick will be released on the 15th - hopefully overnight, which should be easy as that is the middle of the day over here in Oz!

Anyhow, thanks to all of you for the feedback we are getting, we are thrilled with the responses and the positivity with which you are all responding to the show. We also had some feedback from Patricia Singleton suggesting posting a phone number if we wanted voicemail! Our original plan was to get mp3 voicemails but I appreciate that some people would prefer to be able to call a phone, so as soon as I get back to the UK at the end of this month I will set up a line for you to use.

Anyhow, enjoy the show on the 15th, hope to hear from you soon!

Show 7 Link!

2006-11-05T12:19:00.000Z

Many thanks to Steve for pointing out that we have not actually put a link for show 7 on the site! Click here for that link, sorry for missing it and thanks once again for the reminder!

Episode 7 - FireFly Fandom - Online

2006-10-31T21:06:00.000Z

Hey all,

Here's episode 7.

We've got an interview with the man responsible for bringing us the UK Browncoat forum www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk as well as taking over the official Universal Board www.serenitymovie.org

We also talk about The Official FireFly Companion, and speak to contributor Karl Derrick about his involvement in the project.

And we introduce our first competition 'May the best Flan win!' The prize for this competition is a copy of the FireFly Companion (and I mean the book, not Inara) signed by Karl, and it's one of the first editions of the 2nd print run.

We'd like to take this opportunity to ask all our listeners to add themselves to our frappr map, it'd be nice to know where we've got listeners, you can find the map at www.frappr.com/sendingawave please go add yourselves to it.

Andrew would also like to apologise for the slight fuzziness in the sound quality, (it's barely noticeable but he's a perfectionist) we had some earphone/mic trouble.

Episode 8 will be out on 15th November, it features the main interview with Karl Derrick and is a really great listen. Definately one to look forward to...........anyway enough of me rambling on, Enjoy this episode and I hope to see you in the 'verse.

Special thanks to Andrew (who's still waiting for his first.....voicemail) he's done all the production and releasing of the shows from Austrailia this month. What a star!

"Y'all have good sex now!"

Interviews, Pistols and Browncoats - OH MY!!!

2006-10-22T01:41:00.000+01:00

This could be the beginning of our shownotes - scary!

Toni made her debut in Northamptonshire this weekend to join us in recording the main November show and for our bonus show, also being released in November.

In the main show, we talk to Kevin Beaumont - the man behind www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk and who took over the former Universal "SERENITY" movie website to create www.serenitymovie.org in order to allow the international community of Browncoats a continuing forum. Kevin - hope it's not too long before we can sink a few bevvies again!

We also talk about the "The Official Firefly Companion" and speak to one of the contributors, Karl Derrick about his involvement.

We are pimping the Memorabilia show at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham 25 - 26 November as Karl will be displaying his entire "Firefly" collection for the first time. We will also be at the show, so please wear something "Firefly"/"SERENITY" related and chances are that either Toni or myself will stop you and ask you for a bumper!

We talk about the October Leeds shindig at the Firefly Bar. Toni tells me that there is a shindig in early November and all details are in the social events folder on www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk.

Our bonus show is very special. We have a more in-depth interview with Karl discussing his career (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1389100/ if you're interested) and the collection. Both Toni and I want to thank Karl for meeting with us and allowing us to get very much up close and personal with Zoe's gun, Jayne's pistol, Vera and Mal's browncoat. We enjoyed speaking with Karl and hope to be able to speak with him again when the second "Companion" book is published. Actually, Karl, if you're reading this - there's always an open mic for you if you ever wish to join a recording and we look forward to seeing you again in Birmingham.

Karl has also provided the prize for our very first competition. He has been kind enough to give us a signed copy of "The Official Firefly Companion" volume 1. To give you all a chance of winning this, we thought long and hard and with the assistance of a fair amount of alcohol, agreed on this: in honour of the Flanvention in December, we are looking for flan recipes. We will decide on our favourite 3, cook them and have a grand tasting in January to find our winner. The competition closes on 31 December.

We mention that Andrew is holidaying in Australia and is looking forward to meeting Australian Browncoats. Wendy is attending the Flanvention in Los Angeles in early December. And Toni and Mike are thinking. Both Andrew and Wendy are hoping to be recording lots of items for future shows. We're not sure what Toni and Mike are doing, but are sure that they will tell us sooner or later ...

Although we didn’t mention this in either of the shows (sorry!), all of us want to thank the listener who kindly added us to podplanet.com. THANKS!

Wendy

News on Upcoming Shows!

2006-10-16T09:39:00.000+01:00

Hi, just to give you an update on what we are planning over the next few shows!

The November show will feature some discussions from the Leeds Shindig that we attended, plus a suprise - I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk about it yet, but Wendy and Toni have an interview planned in for next week that should be rather interesting!

I am in Australia in November, so I am hoping to go to a Shindig in Sydney and meet up with some Browncoats over there, and give us an Aussie perpective on the Firefly phenomenon for the December Show. Wendy will be in the USA at the time, so she will be Skyping in to tell us what she is up to! So our Decemer show will have a truly international feel.

As well as all of that, next year the gang are attending the Serenity 4 convention in Glasgow, and we are hoping to do some more live(ish) shows from there. Also, in September we are hoping to attend DragonCon in the USA. And between now and then we have topic based shows, interviews, a couple more Shindigs and even a Firefly based quiz. (Think "Have I got Firefly For You!")

So keep listening, and please keep sending us the feedback. The next show will be available in early November - exact date has yet to be confirmed - so watch this space!

"Firefly" props at Memorabilia 25-26 November

2006-10-09T14:15:00.000+01:00

We've received this release:

"Firefly at Memorabilia"

Joss Whedon’s short-lived Sci-Fi romp ‘Firefly’ may be gone, but it certainly isn’t forgotten. Firefly fandom is alive and well and is due to be celebrated at the upcoming Memorabilia show this Autumn.

The Firefly collection will be on public display this November 25th and 26th at the NEC in Birmingham. The collection comprises many hand props and costume items, documents, photographs and models.

This is the first time the collection has been shown in it’s entirety, anywhere in the world.

Items of special interest for fans of the show include Mal Reynolds’ original Browncoat, Jayne’s favourite gun ‘Vera’ and the only physical model of the ship ‘Serenity’ ever made.

Karl Derrick, the collection’s owner and a big Firefly fan, was a major contributor to the Official Firefly Companion book and will be on hand to sign copies and answer any questions visitors may have about the items on display.

A professional movie make up artist, Karl will also be entertaining visitors to the show (in the Halloween spirit) with a daily ‘zombie’ prosthetic make up demonstration. Karl’s film credits include Gladiator, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Brothers Grimm, and The Mummy Returns. He has just completed ‘1408’, a Stephen King supernatural thriller, starring John Cusack and Samuel L.Jackson."

All of the props/costumes are featured in the "Official Firefly Companion" and after seeing part of the collection at an event held at the National Space Centre in Leicester a couple of months ago, this is a must-see for all fans.

Hope to see many of you there.

Wendy

Oxford Shindig 14 October

2006-10-09T14:08:00.000+01:00

If you're in Oxford this Saturday, 14 October, join your fellow Browncoats for a shindig!

The plan is to meet at Bella Pasta at 1pm; check out www.cantstopthesignal.co.uk, then the "social events" file for full information and to add your name to the list.

Have a great time!

Wendy

October 2006 Sending a Wave now available!

2006-10-08T22:53:00.000+01:00

Hi y'all,

Welcome back for show 6.

In this episode we discuss how the crew members found Firefly, and what other shows and movies get us excited.

We've also got an interview with Steve and Naomi from The Firefly Store which was recorded at Collectormania 10.And we let y'all know about listener contributions and feedback. Also Wendy embarrasses our producer Andrew by telling everyone what he'll do when we get our first voicemail.

Hope everyone enjoys the show. You can subscribe to the feed listed to the right or download it by clicking here.Please come and leave us some feedback, send us emails, and some voicemails.

"Smoke me a kipper i'll be back for breakfast."

Last Chance to See (well, hear!)

2006-09-29T22:26:00.000+01:00

Hi all,

We have decided to remove the first two episodes from the feed. Although the content is great, the audio quality of the episodes are not, and if a new subscriber starts with these we are worried that it may put them off!

The first two episodes will be available until Friday, 6th October, at which point we will be archiving them. You can download them via the feed, or click on the following links to download them direct:
Episode #1
Episode #2

If you want to download the whole set manually, go ahead, here are the other three:
Episode #3
Episode #4
Episode #5

Happy listening!

Join us in Leeds for the Shindig!

2006-09-27T21:29:00.000+01:00

The Leeds Shindig that we mentioned in the last show is happening on Saturday, 7th October. Attendees are meeting at the Wokmania Restaurant in Leeds City Centre (see the map above) at midday (for directions click here) The full address is Park Plaza Hotel, 1, City Square, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 5NS. They will then be moving on to the Firefly Bar (yes, there really is a bar called the Firefly Bar, how cool is that?) They will be there until about eight o'clock. The full address for the Firefly Bar is 21, Park Row, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 5JF. Click here for a map.

Sending a Wave will be there covering the event and hopefully talking to as many of the fans as possible. Presenters Toni Myers, Wendy Scott and new presenter Mike Greaves will be there, as well as Andrew, their "Tech Guy".

So, if you want to attend, just turn up at Wokmania for midday and at the Firefly Bar after about one. We hope to see as many people there as possible!

Episode #5 Online...

2006-09-24T01:59:00.000+01:00

Yes, we sort of planned this, but weren't sure that it would work out, so we didn't tell you all (there's nothing worse than promising an episode and not delivering!)

In this episode, we feature a couple more interviews from the Serenity 3 convention, Wendy and Toni look back at the Con, and as well as a brief news roundup we also introduce Mike, a male voice to add into the mix! (That's him on the left, with Wendy on the right. That's Toni in the middle, courtesy of Skype!)

By and large, the episodes will now come out monthly, with the next one scheduled for early October (we will give you an exact date nearer to the time).

You can download episode #5 by clicking here. If you want to subscribe to the feed via iTunes, open iTunes then click here. Please send us feedback or voicemails at wave@futilityradio.com.

We also recommend that you take a look at the superb merchandise offered at The Big Damn Site.

Finally, for more information on Joss Whedon's favourite charity, Equality Now, click here.

We all hope you enjoy the show, see you in October!

Toni, Wendy and Mike.

Serenity 3 (Part 2) Now Available

2006-09-19T00:36:00.000+01:00

Yes, the second and final part of our convention coverage is now available to download. Either subscribe to the feed or click here to download the episode manually.

Wendy and Toni would just like to say a great thanks to all of the people who took part in these shows, it would not have been possible without you.

The next Sending a Wave will be available at some point in early October, we will post more details as soon as we have decided on them. Hope you have enjoyed the shows, please feel free to email comments or voicemails using the email address to the right, we would all love to hear what you thought about the show.

See you in October!

Serenity 3 (Part 1) Podcast Online Now!

2006-09-17T23:57:00.000+01:00

Hi, well thanks to Toni and Wendy's hard work at the convention, I am pleased to tell you that the first part of our two part coverage of the Serenity 3 convention at London Heathrow is now online! The girls talk to a number of fellow attendees (some of them sober!) covering the Friday and Saturday night!

You can subscribe to the show using the RSS feed to the right, or you can download the new episode directly by clicking here.

The second part, covering the Sunday, will be available tomorrow evening.

Serenity 3 update

2006-09-17T22:17:00.000+01:00

Hi

The convention has ended! And what a convention it's been; the organisor, Sean Harry and the Starfury team have outdone themselves on this occasion.

We've had a great time talking to as many fans as would speak to us - thank you very much.

We're tired and there is still much drinking to be done.

Listen, enjoy and we hope we've been able to give a soundbite to the weekend.

Here's to Serenity 4 in Glasgow in March 2007!

CHEERS

Toni and Wendy

Serenity 3

2006-09-16T18:46:00.000+01:00

Hi Everyone

As you have read from the other blogs, Toni and I are at Serenity 3 over the weekend. Unfortunately (as they tend to) things haven't exactly gone to the all-so-glorious plan that we had worked out beforehand. The main culprit has been alcohol - I was up until 2am after consuming a fair amount of beer and champagne (and almost managing to get chucked out of the con's "meet and greet"). Toni has been more sedate, crashing out just before midnight (how she's going to cope at DragonCon 2007 is a complete mystery to me!), but I think she could have drank more than me - she certainly was drunk before I was! We are taping fan reactions and some fan interviews, but we are respecting Starfury policy of not recording any of the guest talks.

We have had three guest surprises during the convention: Michael Fairman - yes, Niska himself, Nector Rose - Lenore in "SERENITY" and Christina Hendricks - Saffron, thankfully we didn't scare her off as Serenity 2 was her first convention. All the guests have given entertaining talks on the first full day of the con and we expect the second day (Sunday) to be no different.

Unfortunately, Morena is having to leave this evening due to work requirements and everyone is agreed that it was great that she still agreed to join us.

At this stage we are still planning on "something" live-ish during the con - stay tuned!

Wendy

Podcast Update for Serenity 3!

2006-09-16T00:13:00.000+01:00

Wendy and Toni are at Serenity 3 right now and we were due to have our first live show covering events on Friday, however no one is being allowed to record the panel discussions and as a result we have less material than we were hoping to get.

Because of this, we feel that putting out half a show would be a lacklustre way of covering the event so we will wait until Show Two (scheduled for Sunday 17th) to bring you news from the Con.

It All Looks So Shiny! (well it will eventually)
On a seperate matter, you will probably notice that we have started to make some changes to the look of the site and jazz it up a bit, although it would appear that our blog hosts are having some issues with thier templates at the moment so if things don't look quite right, please bear with us.

And don't forget to subscribe to our podfeed for Sunday's show: http//www.futilityradio.com/sawlist.xml