SCAVENGER HUNT WINNER & MORE AUCTION ITEMS!

Our Scavenger Hunt winner is Binh Nghiem and here are his pictures.

With a beagle

 

 With a Chinese sign

With a protein (chocolate) cake

In front of a hospital

 With incense

In a (sort of) Jayne's hat

With a parasol

With a (plastic) dinosaur

With a rainstick

Eating a strawberry

Congratulations, Binh!!

Here are the last of the posters donated by Kathleen & Simon.  They are Set #2 of the travel posters designed by well-known designer & artist (and geek) Adam Levermore, aka lexigeek.  We will be selling them separately.

In addition to all the shiny auction items - both silent and live auction - we have door prizes and of course grab bags for $5 each.  They always go fast so come early and bring lots of cashy money to support our charities.  See you tomorrow!!

SCHEDULE

Saturday's Schedule - subject to change without notice (but probably not)

Noon     Doors open

12:30     Welcome
              Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog sing-along

  1:20     Evil Laugh Contest

  1:40     Live Auction

  2:15     Costume Parade & Prizes

  2:30     Whedon Trivia Bingo

  3:00     Silent Auction ends; doors close
              Prize draws
              Special videos & introduction to movie

  3:30     SERENITY

  5:30     Silent Auction winners announced
              Closing remarks and acknowledgements


PLEASE NOTE:  There is no food allowed in the auditorium although you are welcome to bring food with you - and certainly try some of the delicious Firefly & Serenity-inspired confections from C&C Cakery - as long as you eat outside the auditorium.  Only liquids in containers with lids are allowed inside.  For anyone who wishes to stay after the event, we have the Lounge booked until 9 pm and will probably order pizza while we wind down.

Those people who are entering the costume contest, please proceed to the Lounge between Noon and 12:25 so the judges can see your costume and make their decision.

Don't forget to bring lots of cashy money with you, as we don't accept credit cards at this point.  There is an ATM in the lobby of the building should you find something so irresistable that you must bid on it.  Most of all, enjoy yourselves with old friends and new while you help women and girls less fortunate than we are.

LOOK WHAT ALBERTA BROWNCOATS SENT US!!

The Alberta Browncoats had a poster signed by Nathan Fillion and Jewel Staite, especially for us!

The signatures are not showing up in the picture but Nathan's is on the left, Jewel's on the right and they both wrote something - Jewel addressing the BC Browncoats!

Standard Action has donated a signed DVD of Season 1 so you can start catching up before Season 3 starts.

VCON has once again donated two memberships to this year's convention, which will feature pirates!!

The schedule will go up later today.

COSTUME CONTEST & MORE DONATIONS!

This year's costume contest will follow the same format as past years - one prize for the best costume from the Firefly/Serenity 'verse and one prize for the best costume from anywhere else in the Whedonverse.  Costumes will be based on originality, authenticity and creativity. 

We have been fortunate this year to have some wonderful and different donations, including passes from the Space Centre, the Museum of Vancouver, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden, VanDusen Botanical Gardens and the Royal Museum of BC in Victoria.   In addition, Storm Crow Tavern donated two $25 Gift Cards and West Coast Geeks versus Nerds donated two passes for one of their shows next season.

Laura has donated the card that Nathan signed and handed out at last year's San Diego Comic Con.

 Bianca's handmade Viking helmet attracted a lot of attention at our FanExpo table this year.

Not only did Julia crochet the Kaylee doll that Jewel signed, but she made Mal, Jayne and Zoe.  All will be separate auction items and are about half the size of last year's, should you want a comparison.

More Auction Items

We have been very lucky to have such wonderful supporters as Kathleen & Simon who have donated many t-shirts to our auction in the past few years.  In addition, this year they have also donated three sets of posters - which will all be sold separately.  From the "Firefly Les Femmes" series, I already posted the picture of the Kaylee one which Jewel Staite signed.  Here are the others (shortened pictures - the posters are actually 24" x 12", which you can see if you click on the link above and then click on "View Gallery").

Inara actually has Jewel's signature on it, as well, so you get a bonus with this one.  (They are good friends, after all. ;) )

Next up, "Firefly Les Hommes" series:

For some reason, I can't grab Simon's poster, but if you click on the link above and then go to "View Gallery", you can see Simon and all the posters full length.

TOWEL DAY & VOGON POETRY!

I have been reminded that May 25th is also Towel Day.  So, since we are non-denominational geeks (although there will be a fair number of Browncoats present, I expect, we also enjoy other aspects of genre), we will honour Douglas Adams at CSTS Vancouver.  This will happen in two ways.  First, if you bring a towel, you will get an extra chance at the draws for door prizes.  Secondly, if there is anyone who would like to write - and then read - some Vogon Poetry, we will have a prize for the best (worst?) poem as judged by the audience.  Poems to be no more than two minutes long and no more than two poems per person.  Have at it!  I know there are at least a couple of people who have written Vogon Poetry!

AUCTION T-SHIRTS!

Have you seen a Whedon-inspired t-shirt that you wished you had?  Check out the t-shirts we have in our auction.  The first one is "A dragon they call... Jayne", designed specifically for the Seattle Browncoats.

Yellow Serenity and VCON 2012

Toy Story Mal & Jayne

Mal & Jayne as Calvin & Hobbes characters

Don't forget to bring cash for the auction.  Although we don't take credit cards, there is now an ATM in the lobby of the Space Centre if you need it. :)

WHY "CAN'T STOP THE SERENITY"?

Why do we do this? Why do organisers spend so much time and money for each event?  Why do people volunteer, paying for their own tickets to do so?  Why do Browncoats - and others -  keep coming out to CSTS events?

Partly of course, because the events are fun.  Each city is different and has ideas and plans that work for them.  A lot of people come out to see Serenity on the big screen or to sing along to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.  Some people come to spend an afternoon or day with their friends at a fun event - or to bid on an auction item they can't find anywhere else, especially handmade items.  All those are legitimate reasons, of course, but I think a lot of people come because the events enable them to make a contribution to better the lives of women and girls globally and locally.

Last year I wrote again about D'ua Khalil Aswad and how it inspired many of us to continue to work hard for Equality Now.  This year I want to talk about Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for having the desire to get an education - something we in the west take for granted.  She was targetted because, at 15, Malala was already known around the world for her blog on education and the state of women's rights in Pakistan.  Here is a video from the New  York Times, recorded with Malala and her father when she was only 11. Even then she was determined to continue her education.  Now she is doing that, albeit in Birmingham, England, where she was taken for her surgery and safety.

I also want to talk about the heinous crimes committed against women and girls as young as five in India.  There have been numerous accounts lately of girls being kidnapped and raped.  Some have died as a result; some have committed suicide.  These things don't just happen in India or Pakistan or Iran or Ethiopia or Egypt, of course, as we saw this week with the rescue of three young women who had been held captive for a decade in a house in Ohio.  But when it happens in the United States or Canada or England, our laws are (usually) strong enough to punish the perpetrators - and deter a lot of people from committing the crime in the first place.

This is where Equality Now comes in.  They work with groups in various countries to educate and to change the laws to protect women and girls from violence and discrimination aimed at them BECAUSE they are female.  You can check out some of their successes and some of their ongoing campaigns on their website.

Our local beneficiaries also work to help women and girls to a better life.  BC Women's Hospital & Health Care Foundation supports BC's only hospital just for women and focuses in areas of research, teaching and care for women and their families.  The Avalon Recovery Society provides safe drop-in centres for women in recovery from alcohol or chemical dependency with programs for education, recovery and peer support.

Over the past seven years, CSTS Vancouver has raised close to $25,000 and CSTS Global has raised over $800,000 to support Equality Now and various local charities around the world.

This year, we need you more than ever - to buy a ticket, bid on an item or two or more, to spread the word and bring your friends to support these causes - and to have fun while you're doing it.  Dress up in a Whedony costume, sing your heart out along with your fellow fans, maybe enter the Evil Laugh contest - or write some Vogon poetry.  We will come together to have an enjoyable afternoon, made more so by the fact we know we are helping women and girls around the world - and locally - have a better life.

Tickets are available by clicking on the button at the top right or with cash from Gian at La Fontana Caffe, Boundary at Hastings.  If you can't make this year, you can use our Donate button on the right. See you on the 25th!

JEWEL STAITE IS AWESOME!!

Of course we all knew that already, but she proved it again today - and you'll want to gather your cashy money to bid on these items.  Jewel went out of her way to come by and sign several items for our auction, including this fan, donated by Firefly Cargo Bay;

this Kaylee (crocheted by Julia, along with Mal and Jayne, who will also be available);

Finding Serenity, in which Jewel wrote one of the essays;

this Serenity comic TPB;

and the Kaylee poster in the Women of Serenity lithograph set, donated by Kathleen & Simon.

(picture from QMx website)

In addition, Jewel has agreed to donate a recording for a ring tone to our live auction.  The winner will get to choose from several different Kaylee quotes from Firefly and Serenity.

In appreciation for her continued generous support, C&C Cakery made a dozen mini Kaylee cupcakes, with which Jewel was very impressed!  Wait till she tastest them - and wait till you see what they have in store for us this year.  (Pssst, visit their website to enter a Star Wars treat contest.)

Our thanks to Jewel for being such a class act and supporting CSTS Vancouver from Day One!

SCAVENGER HUNT!!

This year we're going to try something new to get you primed for our event on May 25th.  This is a Firefly/Serenity-based scavenger hunt.  You must submit a picture of yourself with each of the following ten items.  The first person to submit all ten pictures will win a prize at CSTS Vancouver! Deadline is Thursday, May 23 at midnight. Judge's decision is final.

1. Picture of you with a parasol
2. Picture of you wearing a Jayne hat.
3. Picture of you with a beagle
4. Picture of you with a rain stick
5. Picture of you with a Chinese sign, extra credit if the sign says Serenity. :)
6. Picture of you in front of a hospital - with the hospital name showing
7. Picture of you with dinosaurs (plastic or otherwise)
8. Picture of you with incense
9. Picture of you eating a strawberry
10. Picture of you with a chocolate (protein) cake

Pictures should be submitted in .jpg format to cstsvancouver@gmail.com, with your name and e-mail address and you must be present at CSTS Vancouver to win your prize.  Happy hunting!

Speaking of games, this year's Whedon trivia bingo is going to be a slightly different format - still bingo, still two lines in any direction, but the questions will be in the form of "Who am I?" and the categories will be Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity, The DHs (Dollhouse & Dr. Horrible) and Joss's movies (The Avengers, The Cabin in the Woods, Toy Story and Much Ado About Nothing).  Although most of us will not have seen the latter, the questions will be such that you should be able to guess the answers from what you have on the card if you have even a cursory knowledge about the play.

Jayne's hat by Serena (2009).

AUCTION ITEMS!

I hope you have been saving your cashy money for our event because we have some shiny things for you to bid on.  Here are just a few.

R2D2 flashing colour thingy. :)

Buffy sketch book, signed by artist Georges Jeanty

Buffy comic signed by James Marsters (Spike)

Dollhouse S1 DVDs signed by Patton Oswalt (Joel Minor in "Man on The Street", ep 6) and Felicia Day (Meg in "Epitaph One").

Stay tuned for more pictures and an online scavenger hunt!