Joss Whedon Commencement Address

Joss Whedon was honored with a Doctorate by Wesleyan College in Connecticut.
Full Commencement Speech Transcript Here

From Tor.com

Whedon was present to accept an honorary Doctor of Letters from his alma mater (class of ’87) and was charged with delivering the commencement speech for the graduating class of 2013. In it, the writer touched upon what it is to go forth and change the world, and how it begins with being present for the changes within yourself.

. . . I don’t know if your parents have explained this to you about the world but we…broke it? Ummmm, we’re sorry? It’s a bit of a mess. It’s a hard time to go out into it.

And it’s a weird time in our country. And the thing about our country is…oh, it’s nice. I like it! But it’s not long on contradiction or ambiguity. It’s not long on these kind of things. It likes things to be simple. It likes things to be pigeonholed. Good, or bad. Black, or white. Blue, or red.

And we’re not that. We’re more interesting than that.

. . . The connection we have is part of what defines us on such a basic level. Freedom is not freedom from connection. Serial killing is freedom from connection. Certain large investment firms have established freedom from connection….

But we as people never do, and we’re not supposed to. We are individuals, obviously, but we are more than that.

So here’s the thing about changing the world. It turns out that’s not even the question, because you don’t have a choice. You are going to change the world because that is actually what the world is.

You do not pass through this life, it passes through you. You experience it, you interpret it, you act, and then it is different. That happens constantly. You are changing the world. You always have been.

Joss Whedon on Jimmy Fallon

From Variety:

After confirming that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would be in “Avengers 2,” Joss Whedon gave some clarity to why he chose those characters to appear in the next pic on Friday nights Jimmy Fallon Show.

. . . “I found their powers to be very visually interesting,” Whedon explains. “In the last film a lot of the characters had very ‘punchy powers’ where they were always punchy something and that got kind of boring after awhile.”

Whedon added that no one had been cast yet and Fallon followed up by jokingly suggesting Selena Gomez and Channing Tatum.

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Buffy and Angel Love Themes

There are two different Buffy and Angel "Love" Themes, both by Christophe Beck and both quite beautiful: "Close Your Eyes" and "Moment of Happiness."

More About Buffy on Christophe Beck's Official Website
Amazon's Christophe Beck Store

The composer's biography from his website:

Canadian composer Christophe Beck started piano lessons at five, and by eleven he was learning Bee Gees songs by ear and performing with his first-ever band, the unfortunately-named Chris and The Cupcakes. During high school he studied piano, saxophone, and drums, and wrote many tender 80's love ballads.

While studying music at Yale, Beck wrote two musicals with his brother Jason (a.k.a. Gonzales, the Paris-based pianist-producer-TV Host-prankster), as well as an opera based on "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe.

Upon graduation, Beck moved to Los Angeles to attend USC's prestigious film scoring program, where he studied with Jerry Goldsmith. A personal recommendation from the legendary Buddy Baker, head of the USC Music Department, led to his first assignment for a Canadian TV series called "White Fang." Several TV series later, he was asked to score the second season of WB Network's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Beck received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for his score to the "Buffy" episode, "Becoming, Part 1."

In 2000, the cheerleading comedy "Bring It On" launched Beck's film career, which has included such credits as "Under the Tuscan Sun," "Saved," "The Pink Panther," "We Are Marshall," "Year of the Dog," "What Happens in Vegas," and more recently, "The Hangover," now the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time.

Close Your Eyes plays in the Season Two Episode "Becoming." It is included on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album (1999 Television Series)

The meaning of the title comes from the tragic fact that Angel can't be happy with Buffy because as soon as they find perfect happiness together, he loses his soul and she has to kill him. We see the flashback in "Becoming Pt. 1" just before the vampire Darla kills Liam in order to turn him to Angelus, she tells him to "Close your eyes." In "Becoming Pt. 2", just before Buffy kills Angel, she too says, "Close your eyes."


The "Moment of Happiness" version appears in "Innocence" and is included on Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Score

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Trailer 2

Trailer 2 is out - looks good!

Sarah Michelle Geller Tenth Anniversary Quote

Huffington Post had a nice quote from Sarah Michelle Geller:

From Huff Post

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" ended 10 years ago on May 20, 2003. Yes, it's been a decade since the Slayer and the Scoobies closed the Hellmouth in Sunnydale, California.
. . . At the CBS 2013 upfront red carpet last week, Gellar was surprised by how much time has passed since she last wielded a wooden stake on TV.

"Wait, wait. Hold on. Really?" she replied when The Huffington Post told her the 10th anniversary of the "Buffy" finale was upon us. "Wow. God, you just blew my mind." Williams, who accompanied Gellar on the red carpet said, "It's kind of wonderful."

"It is," Gellar said. "I'm incredibly proud of that show -- proud of everybody on it, of what we did ... You can't be prouder of that show. It still holds up in reruns and I'm blessed every day ... I've been pretty lucky."

There was also this quote from Danny Strong, who played "Jonathan" - a classmate at Sunnydale High and in later seasons a member of the "Nemesis" gang of three who fought against Buffy.

"It just gets bigger each year. It's really exciting how much it penetrated this public consciousness in a way. People teach courses about it and there are Joss Whedon courses in universities. People write their dissertations on it," he told The Huffington Post. "It's incredibly flattering and I'm really honored just to have been a part of it. It's very exciting."

I definitely agree - people are even still creating new blogs about Buffy after all these years. :)

Slayer Soundtrack Sunday ~ Laika's "Black Cat Bone"

"Laika" is the name of the first dog the Russians put into orbit around the earth, but ironically the band with that name may be best known for a song "Black Cat Bone" which is played in Season six, the episode called "Wrecked."

The song is included on Laika's album Good Looking Blues as well as the extended UK version of Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale Click links or pics to buy the albums.







Willow is going through a crisis due to magic, with the analogy to drug addiction - the meaning of the title. She follows her old pal Amy the ex-rat (Elizabeth Anne Allen) to a private "magicks den" where she trades some of her power to a sort of guru/junkie called "Rack" (Jeff Kober) for a psychedelic mystical experience.

The song "Black Cat Bone" by Laika plays during Willow's mind-trip, and captures the sinister illogic of it.

We know her experience isn't entirely pleasant because Willow has to take a shower afterwards to "sober up."


But Willow hasn't had enough, so she returns to Rack's house - rhymes with crackhouse - dragging along Buffy's teenage sister Dawn, who is creeped out but who can't leave. When Willow realizes she has accidentally conjured a demon during her bad trip, they have to steal a car to get away, ending in an accident which injures Dawn.

Buffy is ticked-off to say the least. But Willow is forgiven because Buffy isn't acting responsibly either, finally consumating her flirtation with Spike during which they literally "bring the house down" on themselves - another meaning of the title "Wrecked." At the end of the show, a contrite and sober Willow is alone and so is Buffy, surrounded by cloves of garlic to keep out the amorous Spike.

The Real Joss Whedon on Twitter

Director and Writer Joss Whedon is really, actually on Twitter now - and he's funny, of course!!!

Imagine if Xander Harris was on Twitter - yeah, that's it. :) This is going to be a fun Follow.

It's me! Joss!My own account!No more hiding under studio skirts!I'm FREE! @muchadofilm @agentsofshield @marvel @roadsidetweets #free
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 13, 2013

I'm on a plane!I'm having tea!I'm wearing shoes!This is how twitter works, right?I tell you guys EVERYTHING. Great! #syphilis
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 13, 2013

Ugh... Out late with the SHIELD peeps. Feel like all that drinking & partying is hanging over me somehow -- should there be a term for that?
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 15, 2013

Can there be no more action movies where the lead is named "Jack"? Lazy. (Jack Ryan gets grandfathered in, I guess.) #upsetaboutdumbstuff
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 16, 2013

Seattle is actually beautiful and soothing, like a... beautiful, soothing... soothing beauty I HATE WRITING IT'S HARD!' #stabstabregret
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 16, 2013

"SIX CENTAURS TEAR AT US!!!" - what John Wilkes Booth actually yelled #insanityplea
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 17, 2013

People keep questioning my use of hashtags, but I know what I'm doing, okay? #peoplekeepquestioningmyuseofhashtagsbutiknowwhatimdoingokay
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 17, 2013

If I could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, I would probably choose the Olive Garden.
— Joss Whedon (@JossActual) May 19, 2013