Though a very young, very scared, Casey watched some Doctor Who when she was a kid, I didn’t really start watching seriously until Christopher Eccleston jumped aboard. I liked his take and, though I didn’t see every episode that season, I was extremely upset to hear he was leaving the show so early. When David Tennant came on, I didn’t really get to know him as a Doctor until Rudy sat me down to watch some Doctor Who specials. By that time, news had already spread that Tennant too was leaving the show, and I was disappointed because I finally loved him and wanted to see more. Then, I heard about Matt Smith. Rumbles from friends and reliable sources told me that he was going to be the “Robert Pattinson” of Doctor Whos so, naturally, I thought it would suck (pun not intended). Still, I started watching it from the beginning on BBC America.

What I experienced smacked me in the face. The first episode was a little chaotic, but the tease and promise of a good ride was set. And now, I am smitten.

Matt Smith’s Doctor Who fascinated me and captivated my imagination. Though he’s a young looking actor, he has convinced me that his character is old (907 to be exact). All this ain’t easy… I’m one of the pickiest sci-fi fans/viewers in the known universe, so this is quite the feat. I don’t think I’ve been this enraptured since Seven of Nine joined the cast of Star Trek: Voyager… but Smith has done this without the help of large supple borg boobies. Well done, sir, well done.

Now I’m glad to see his star shine even brighter. This weekend Matt Smith performed the Doctor Who theme with techno artists Orbital at Glastonbury. What. A. Fucking. Treat. I have no doubt that nerds all over the world were (and probably still are) jizzing their pants.

Thanks to Chris Hardwick for his post about Matt Smith at Glastonbury, and Antony Johnston for the link to the “Fezzes are cool” video.

N.B.: Unfortunately, I’m behind on Doctor Who episodes while traveling. Please be kind and don’t give anything away for me in the comments… thanks. XOXO

Plus this:

Equals this:

Thanks to Daniel Logan for being silly with me…

I follow a lot of awesome people on Twitter, and I often suggest various users on FollowFriday… but here are 5 of my favorites (other than my high-larious boyfriend @Rudy) who have less than 10,000 followers… although, perhaps not for long!

1. @AdamLeiphart: Adam Leiphart is the star of Fall of Kaden, but doesn’t tweet so much about his work as he tweets awesome links and news stories.
2. @Fee501st: John Fillers is a geek extraordinaire… one of my most supportive fans and a true source of AWESOMENESS. I could retweet everything he posts.
3. @GavinPurcell: The KING of insane links (you should follow him EVERYWHERE) and former G4 producer now working on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
4. @SeanBonner: Blogger/Activist/Punk-ass Jetsetter… Sean links to things both hipstalicious and socially conscious.
5. @BrianLynch: Whedon fans know him as the writer of Angel and Spike comics for IDW. He’s got the kind of brilliant humor that makes you forget that Joss Whedon never joined Twitter.

Got more suggestions for awesome users with less than 10,000 followers? Suggest them in the comments!

[Above photo courtesy of respres / Jeff Turner on Flickr]

Last night Rudy and I had a very candid conversation with one of the folks at Tubefilter. He’s a great guy that I’ve known since early 2007 and he’s never fed me any bullshit. As a result, he finally talked with us about what’s been happening behind the scenes.

Firstly, I’m not going to reveal the details of our conversation since he made it clear that this wasn’t something Tubefilter wanted to discuss online. As forward-thinking as they are with their online presence, they feel it’s important to keep certain business affairs off the web. Completely understandable. But, if you read Liz Miller’s article on NewTeeVee today, you’ll see the gist of what we talked about.

Over the past few months there’s been a lot of bullshit surrounding the Streamys and yesterday’s blog post just reflected that I can’t take any more of it. You know the expression “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”? At this point, I feel like they’re trying to fool us a fourth time and it’s really trying the community’s patience. Some of the community wants to fight, some want to forget, all want to move on.

Here’s what I think should happen:

1. Tubefilter should stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes and be completely honest with us from now on.
2. IAWTV members should appoint a new chair and board of directors (not necessarily 100% new, but definitely approved by the community) made up of a devoted selection of creators and executives that have the time to be involved. I don’t think it’s necessary that Tubefilter have two people on the board of directors, as long as they have one liaison for the Streamys.
3. The two organizations should work together to plan the 2011 Streamys.

Yes, I really did just say that.

From what I’ve heard and seen over the past few weeks, Tubefilter (although they never properly apologized the way we wanted them to) has their tails between their legs and wants to prove that they can still make a great award show. I think we should give them a chance… but under the supervision of the IAWTV. I would like to see the Chair (or an appointed board member) overseeing all the decisions made for next year, and members of the IAWTV volunteering to help with the preparations.

This may not be what either Tubefilter or the IAWTV want to do, but a compromise has to be made in order for us (the community) to move on to other issues (e.g. union agreements, IMDb credits, etc.). I think that giving them another chance, but under heavy supervision, is a fair idea. What do you think?

[Above photo (cc) Matthew W. Jackson]

We need to talk…

It’s been over three weeks and the web series community has been waiting to voice their opinions to the International Academy of Web Television and the Streamys organizers about the future of the Academy and the awards. I sent an email a couple of weeks ago to Michael Wayne, Chair of the IAWTV, to suggest a meeting and he responded saying they will be holding two meetings (in NY and LA) very soon to address our concerns.

Since then, I’ve heard rumblings that the IAWTV may be trying to separate themselves from the Streamys organizers and “taking back” the Streamys. Sounds great! The thing is… Tubefilter were a big part in creating not only the Streamys, but also the IAWTV itself. As a member, I believe the IAWTV should be independent and representing our community interests. And frankly, if Tubefilter hadn’t of founded the IAWTV, our community advocacy group New Media West would’ve founded something similar instead!

Today Tubefilter announced the launch of a new site called Rebuild the Trust. At first glance this looks like an admirable idea, but when you look at it closer you can see the agenda. This is a preemptive strike against the Board of Directors of the IAWTV.

Some quick points (because, otherwise, this would turn into a waaay longer blog post):

• Why a new site? Control. The ideal solution to the Streamys problem would’ve been to create a community discussion board on IAWTV.org, but since Tubefilter has already lost control over the IAWTV, it seems clear why they created a whole new site.
• What is the “Manifesto of Change”? Politics. It’s a manifesto created by Tubefilter, but written to sound like it was created by the community. If they get lots of “signatures” they can then use it as leverage in negotiations with the IAWTV.
• Isn’t Point 1 of the manifesto ironic? Totally. Why would we trust the people who established the close door policies in the first place? It’s time for the community to take charge, without having words being placed in their mouths.
• Why is Point 4 of the manifesto a really bad idea? More control. Privately a lot of community members agree that the Streamys organizers (Tubefilter) is to blame for the StreamyFail. That said, why would we tell them it’s a good idea to “officially” partner the IAWTV with the Streamy Awards? In my opinion, the Streamy Awards still have a lot to prove and making a formal agreement this soon is a bad decision. We need to give this relationship time and figure out what works along the way.
• Why now? Preemptive strike. The IAWTV is finally having meetings with its’ members (today there was a meeting in NY, and a meeting is being planned for LA next week). It seriously looks like Tubefilter launched the site today as a way to place blame on the IAWTV first and to get reactionary responses from their readers before listening to members’ opinions at the meetings.

The real community to me is the non-profit that is the IAWTV. Granted, they’ve been slow to get a decent web site together and it takes them forever to plan meetings, but these (among other issues) are all concerns that will be addressed at the upcoming meetings. I ask that you do not react to the new Tubefilter site thinking it’s the real opinion of the community. And be sure to read and understand the manifesto thoroughly, and make sure you understand the intentions behind it, before you decide to sign it. I will not.

I look forward to the IAWTV members meeting in LA. I don’t have the details yet, but I’m sure it will be a very heated and productive day.

And last, but not least… the annual Galacticast intro re-creation (and boobie grab):

Last night, after months of campaigning, nominating, voting, publicizing, etc. the Streamy Awards finally took place. My show A Comicbook Orange was nominated for Best Hosted Web Series, one of the toughest categories in the ceremony since we were up against some of the best shows online. I spoke to Alex Albrecht before the award show and told him I’d be totally cool losing to him, and he agreed he’d be happy to lose to me too. In the end, he won… and that’s cool, he’s a great dude.

The day, on the whole, was a textbook definition of epic fail. Many people have been writing about this today and I agree 100% with their assessment of what went wrong (I suggest reading Jace Hall, Blake Calhoun and Barrett Garese’s blog posts for the full lowdown). My biggest personal issue with the show was that it disrespected the professional industry that I (and many others) have been working so hard to build over the past 5 years. The constant jokes about lack of funding in web series, lack of viewers, etc. cheapened our hard work, especially when a lot of the attendees ARE making money and have more viewers (and less publicists) than cable television shows.

The awards show was embarrassing and there are so many more issues I can get into, but I won’t. What I will get into are my favorite moments from last night, which actually have nothing to do with the actual ceremony:

• Meeting people IRL: Always the best part of any get together, I was so happy to finally meet Nick Holmes, James Gunn, Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Zoë Bell and Gennefer Snowfield in person. Whether we were getting some “air” in the lobby during the show or having heated discussions at the after party, these people all made my night.
• Technical difficulties working in my favor: Whilst getting some “air” in the lobby, the show was having major tech problems. At one point the DVD replayed nominee videos, including this clip of A Comicbook Orange, and the video apparently paused on my face. FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES!!! I heard about it afterwards and thought it was pretty funny… I only wish my agent George Ruiz’s contact information was up on the screen too! ;)
• Ted Raimi is my new best friend: At the after party, Ted gave me a passionate 3-5 minute talk about how I should have won. I had heard this from a few friends before, but Ted was truly adamant about it. Zod bless him, and Zod bless Suzanne Keilly who backed him up on it all. Love you guys…
• Zoë Bell wins the Community Award: Though the after party took place at a restaurant, no food was served. Zoë wins my Community Award for ordering 10 pizzas at the after party for everyone! Hell, she even got kicked out of the after party for doing it! This chick fucking rocks… and if I was serenading her at karaoke, I would sing “Just What I Needed” by The Cars in her honor.

Congrats to all the winners, including my friends Zadi Diaz, Alex Albrecht and Felicia Day. I was especially touched by the emotional acceptance speeches by Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren, Bernie Su and Rachael Hip-Flores, who all make me feel a little teary-eyed with pride for our community and our industry.

A special thanks goes to Chris Hardwick and Ze Frank for bringing real comedy and class to the event. I would be ecstatic to see either of these guys hosting the Streamys next year. Pretty please? *Bats eyelashes*

And last but not least, thanks to everyone who believed in us and helped us get nominated for a Streamy. Your sweetness does not go unnoticed… I read all your tweets and Facebook messages with shiny eyes. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

[Above photo courtesy of The Bui Brothers]

I got interviewed by Electric Playground this week in light of our Streamy Award nomination for A Comicbook Orange as Best Hosted Web Series. I must say, after years of seeing Victor Lucas on my TV and looking up at him with shiny eyes, it was a treat to hear him say my name on the show! :)

Thanks to the beautiful Miri Jedeikin for conducting the interview. Like me, Miri is also a McGill University alumni! It looks like we may have had a crossover year together, but never actually met on campus. Be sure to follow her on Twitter for more great Electric Playground clips and other nerdy goodness.

All problems aside, I documented most of the dresses on my iPhone (which helps me remember the dresses I liked, so I could make clearer decisions when shopping around). I won’t show you THE dress I’ll be wearing to the Streamy Awards this Sunday, but I will show you a few of the dresses I didn’t get…

This Betsey Johnson dress was one of my favorites, but it was a little out of my price range. Usually I try to steer away from sequins (due to my ancient history as a synchronized swimmer), but this dress made me LOVE sequins. It fit like a glove and looked fabulous, but it was a little too similar to the dress I wore to the Streamys last year, so I tore myself away from it and continued searching.

This was Rudy’s favorite dress. It was a Betsey Johnson sale dress and looked truly elegant. My only problem with it was that I didn’t feel it made me as curvaceous as I wanted… I wanted a dress that showed a tinier waist and a rounder bust/hips. Also, this dress reminded me too much of a dress I wore to the Principal’s Ball in high school… a beautiful dress that belonged to my mother and that I had hemmed waaaaay too short.

I must’ve tried this cream BCBG dress on 4+ times. I LOVED it from the very moment I saw it. Unfortunately, the dress always felt a bit big and the coloring wasn’t really great against my skin tone. I tried this dress on in another material, but it wasn’t as elegant as the plain cream. Up until today, this was my backup dress… and I really thought I was going to get this one.

This green BCBG dress was pretty and simple, but it was HUGE on me and I wasn’t crazy about the color. Also, in hindsight it looks waaaaay too old for me. Perhaps I could get this one after a few kids? :P Although people tell me that green brings out my green eyes, I also feel that it makes my skin look more sickly. In the end, I just couldn’t get myself a real green dress… that’s cruel.

I really liked this LaRok dress, but the color was awful on me. I tried it on in a smokey purple and a pretty pink, but the fit wasn’t right. Also, although the dress is gorgeous on top, the skirt is made from an awkward heavy material that really brought down the quality of the dress. Not a great red carpet choice.

This casual dress from Guess fit like a glove and looked EXACTLY like something I would buy. I had considered getting it for the Craft Awards (being held tonight), but it seemed too typical for me and I wanted to look outside the box. Maybe I’ll swing by Guess in a few months and get it on sale ;)

So, you’ll have to wait until Sunday to see my dress choice! Until then, enjoy the above rejects… and the below dresses, which I tried on as a joke :P

Felicia Day’s dress from last year’s Streamy Awards: Because if I wear it I’ll win, right? This lovely number was a few sizes too big for me, and you’ll notice that my skin color bra is totally showing through what can only be described as peep holes?

WORST. DRESS. EVER! I saw this ugly frock hanging on a hangar at Macy’s and HAD to pick it up! It was too ugly NOT to try on… happily, it did not disappoint… it was just as ugly as I assumed it was going to be :)