Hey, we’re back in the realm of the affordable! These gloves were worn by a Reaver during one of the chase scenes, and they’re now available from The Prop Store of London at a price less than the average mortgage payment, which means they’re probably already sold.

Just in case they’re not: “The arm guards are made from vac formed plastic and have Velcro to hold them tightly together, attached at the wrist are a pair of black leather gloves which have rubber attached on to the back of the hand which make them appear as though they are armoured. The gloves are sized XL. “

You know, usually when girls dress up to go clubbing they don’t actually club anybody, unless I’ve just been sheltered. But River’s dress is all ready for a fight at the Maidenhead.

“It consists of a short blue dress, with a sheer patterned blue dress worn layered over the top and a black woolen bolero cardigan. Both dresses have small slits in the material around the hip area for the stunt rigs to be attached so that the actress could do the energetic jumping stunts. No sizes marked.”

At the Prop Store of London.

> Chris says “Want to jump into the ‘Verse and start roleplaying your own Serenity games, but you don’t have people handy to play with?”
> Chris says “No problem! Just get into the SerenityMUSH and get started!”
> Chris points to www.serenitymush.com for more information.
> You are welcomed into an online, text-based, multi-user world of Browncoats, purplebellies, Companions, Shephered, Reavers, Readers, and more, all laid out and ready for you to play.
> You log in to telnet://serenitymush.com:2020 with your free MUSH software client, available from several sources such as PennMUSH, and you create your character by choosing your archetype (think “character class,” but not as limiting) and generating your stats, feats, skills, background, appearance, etc. Your brand new character will get dropped at the Persephone spaceport and then it’s time to get going, you’ve got a life to live and it ain’t easy, out in the black.
> Chris says “SerenityMUSH” puts a heavy emphasis on roleplaying, to the point where you have to get permission to be Alliance or a Companion (since they both require higher-than-average RPing skills) and you can’t be a Reader without Admin invitation, and then only after you’ve proven yourself for awhile. There’s a wide variety of settings, planets, situations, and other people to interact with, and the system uses HSpace for 3D ship navigation, combat, repairs, etc.”
> Chris smiles wryly. “That said, I’ve never played a MUSH, including this one, so I can’t speak from experience, although I’m sure that like any RP game a lot depends on getting the right group of people together. However, there’s a nice review of the game here, and according to this reviewer the SerenityMUSH, like most Browncoat endeavors, seems to attract good people.”
> Chris spread his hands and asks “Anyone out there tried it? What did you think?”

I can’t play a note on anything more complicated than a kazoo but I wanted this anyway, and I’ll bet you do too. It’s “Firefly: Music from the Original Television Soundtrack,” a folio of 12 arrangements for piano from show composer Greg Edmonson. 40 pages, no extras or intro, unfortunately. But you get 11 of his playful, haunting compositions in the combinations he created for the official soundtrack CD, scored for piano solo, along with Joss’ theme song:

– Firefly Main Title
– Cows/New Dress/My Crew
– Dying Ship/Naked Mal
– The Funeral
– Inara’s Suite
– Inside the Tam House
– Leaving/Caper/Spaceball
– Out of Gas/Empty Derelict
– River Tricks Early
– River’s Dance
– River’s Perception/Saffron
– Tears/River’s Eyes

There’s a great interview with Greg Edmonson at TrackSounds from a few years back, by the way. And a new one with Firefly Talk that mentions the sheet music, along with the Backup Bash and more.

Order it at Amazon or bug your local music store to get it. Request it for your school’s band class!

If you’ve ever wanted to get into Kaylee’s jumpsuit, now’s your chance! (Kaylee not included)

New at The Prop Store of London, Kaylee’s familiar and well-worn khaki-colored jumpsuit ”has been customised with its sleeves cut off, embroidery on the legs and lace detailing on the knees. No sizes marked.”

Brand new from Black Market Beagles: the Mandel & Earls Shipbuilders clothing line!

Designed by Serenity graphic designer Geoff Mandel as a plaque for the ship, he has given permission for this excellent and stylish version. From Adam at BMB:

“It’s based on several of the designs Geoff created for Serenity’s shipbuilder plaques, which are supposed to be affixed to the ship to say where it was built, who built it, etc. I turned the design into a sort of designer logo, which you can wear even when an obviously sci-fi shirt wouldn’t be appropriate. Browncoats, however, will clearly recognize the 03-K64-FF designation, and the fact that the ship was built at the shipyards in New Aberdeen, Londinum.”

Available in a wide variety of colors and styles, with more designs to come. Click here to check ‘em out.

BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre in Canada is auctioning off autographed bears, with 110% of the proceeds going to the best maternity care in Canada, and this week there are bears signed by Alan Tudyk and Jewel Staite.

“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. ”

Every week in March more bears will be auctioned off, and along with our BDHs this week you can also bid on bears signed by Tahmoh Penikett, Renee Zellweger, John Glover, Kristen Kreuk, Larry Thomas, Verne Troyer, the Supernatural guys, and more).

Good luck!

Chris Buchanan, executive producer of Firefly and Serenity and all-around nice guy, has once again donated an Extravaganza box of rare Serenity merchandise to benefit his son’s school. The pile includes:

“1 official SERENITY miniposter from Comic Con 2004 (listing the release date as April 22, 2005) that is SIGNED by the entire original cast – Nathan, Adam, Gina, Morena, Alan, Ron, Jewel, Summer, Sean – and Joss Whedon. I will add a personalized letter on official Serenity letterhead stating that it’s the real deal and that I saw them sign it.

“1 official SERENITY brown T-shirt size Men’s XL which was a “points” prize from the official website.

“1 official SERENITY black hat which was a “points” prize from the official website.

“1 FULL SET (5 figures) of mint condition Diamond Select action figures including both Malcolm Reynolds variations, both Jayne Cobb variations, & the Reaver figure.

“1 one sheet U.S. theatrical poster for SERENITY.

“1 Firefly DVD set with a Fruit Oaty Girls sticker on it (I gave this as a cast & crew present to everyone that worked on the show.)

“And lots of extras like key chains, fan patches, novelization, RPL game, etc.”

And if you’re a member of the Official Board and you let him know you won it, he’s promised to “throw in something extra cool“.

The auction is here. There’s also an auction of the Serenity comics, all nine covers, all signed by Joss and co-writer Brett Matthews. Auctions end March 20.

This is a great way to kickstart the heck out of your Serenity collection and simultaneously get Chris some serious PTA brownie points. Good luck!

FireflyTalk is having their second contest, and they’re not skimping on the prizes. First prize is either a metal Reaver short sword from The Prop Store of London or an artist’s proof of Mal’s pistol from Quantum Mechanix (winner’s choice, the remaining one goes to the second prize winner).

Other prizes include diferent versions of the Alliance money packs from QMx (including a unique gold-leaf set), a signed “Bound by Law” poster from Serenity graphic designer Geoff Mandel, and more!

They’re looking for articles, and the more the merrier. You’ve got until March 31st, so get cracking. More details here.

The 2-disc Special Edition of Serenity has been announced for July. And Joss stopped by Whedonesque to give us the skinny. You’ll need to read his comments for the full effect, but the quick n dirty version is that we get the Aussie extras, the River Tam sessions, as much crew commentary as can be managed, and new artwork.

I may emit a manly shriek.

So, if you were granted three wishes and got the wealth and bathtubs of cocktail weinies out of the way, what would you want to see on this special edition? Keep in mind that Joss has gone on record many times as saying the released version was the director’s cut, so no longer versions.

Me, I’d ask for the video we saw only glimpses of in one of the Aussie region’s documentaries: the cast and Joss sitting around a table doing the first read-thru.
I’d also like the DVD artwork to be done by 11th Hour, since she’s already done the best one yet. If for whatever reason Universal is antsy about that, get Jason Palmer. But keep it in the family!
I’d like the entire cast to do commentaries, in groups of three so we can hear them, with Joss or Nathan being one of each set to keep things moving.
And if we’re talking total pipe dream, I’d like to watch the movie exactly as is, rescored by Greg Edmondson.

What would you like?