We Have a Winner of the Buffy Episode Tournament!

September is over and here we are at the exciting finale of September Silliness! We want give a big thanks to everyone who participated in this tournament, by both voting and spreading the word throughout the internets. This was a fun one and really tough at times!

The results of this last match are even closer than March Madness, with the top ep winning by a mere 3 votes! It always gets so close at the end. Without further ado, we give you the favorite Buffy episode as voted by the fandom. drumroll....

Becoming, Part 2

She loved him, she abhorred him, she killed him. "Becoming Part 2" is an episode with a real emotional punch. Angel's spell worked, Willow's spell worked, and Buffy had to make a sacrifice worthy of a hero...heart-wrenching as it was. Add a little school expulsion and family issues, it's no wonder she couldn't do it a second time, when the issue became Dawn's sacrifice.

That might be how this episode took down the amazing singing and dancing that is "Once More, With Feeling". Congrats to both episodes for being so beloved by the fandom.

Click the image below to enlarge the entire filled in bracket.

Angel tattoo Laser Design in Los Angles

This tattoo is very good because it is made using the method of laser and machine and done by people who are already professionals.

Bitsy Rant: Xander and the Duckie Effect

Warning: This post contains spoilers for Buffy Season Eight Issue # 28

In 1986, John Cryer played the character who would define his career. To his parents he was Phil Dale, but to the annals of history he will always be Duckie. The film, of course, was Pretty in Pink, and the plight of Duckie's unrequited feelings for Andie Walsh (as played by John Hughes' it girl, Molly Ringwald) would become a point of contention for nerd boys for generations to come. What was originally intended to be a film about the effect of economic class structure on the hierarchy of high school students ultimately was boiled down to "Damn that dress she wore at the end was repulsive" and, more importantly "Why didn't she choose Duckie?"

I have always thought of Xander as being Buffy's Duckie. He's nerdy, self deprecating, says things addressed solely to himself, dresses funny, and is, frankly, kind of a douche when he doesn't get his way. I'm not sure if this makes Willow Annie Potts (although I now kind of want to see Alyson Hannigan play a Ghostbuster for some reason) but there's no doubt that Xander is profoundly Duckie-esque, especially in the early seasons. Just like Duckie, many geeky guys have long bemoaned the fact that a relationship between Xander and Buffy never took place. Wait... now I'm picturing Andrew McCarthy playing Angel and it... no. Doesn't work. Moving on.

So here's the thing: Andie shouldn't be with Duckie and Buffy, in turn, shouldn't be with Xander. Horrendous accusations, Batman! I know, I know. Nerd-core dudes everywhere, just chill a minute and let me explain. The reason Andie and Duckie didn't wind up together is because, and keep this between us because it's a super secret, she didn't have any interest in being with him. That's it. Simple, no? Sometimes you feel it and sometimes you don't. Andie never got the warm fuzzies when she thought about Duckie and that's okay. Sometimes the cute, funny guy who moons over you is just a friend. It's tough when you're smitten but, if you really care about someone, want to be a part of their life, then you take the friendship and value the person for the place in your life that they fill.

I could totally see Xander doing this

For seven seasons Xander did exactly that. Not once did Buffy ever show even the most remote of passing interests in him and, though I think he always held onto the crush, Xander moved on to greener pastures and accepted Buffy as being exactly what she was: a fantastic, life saving friend. No more, no less. Oh, sure, he'd occasionally try and get her boyfriends killed but that was just... because... he's a complete toolbox. But so is Duckie because he's always being pissy pants about Andie not loving him and all dragging Annie Potts around even though everybody knows he's crazy not to jump Annie Potts' bones because, dude, she's Annie Potts! But I digress.

Sudden romantic feelings developing between Xander and Buffy are an insult to platonic friendships between men and women everywhere. It says that Xander really was only waiting to score and never really cared all that much about his friendship with Buffy. It also means that his three dead ex girlfriends were all just stand ins for Buffy. Now, I'm cool with that because I think Xander is just that much of a box of Summer's Eve but anyone who actually likes Xander should hate this development.

It should also annoy any woman who knows what it's like to have a dude who just won't take no for an answer. Suddenly having Buffy interested in Xander is like telling comic book nerds everywhere "Hey, keep harassing that chick to be with you because, eventually, when her life is completely in ruins, she'll give in". Does that sound awesome town to you? It sounds like last stop Frown Town, everybody off, no refunds to me.

In short: a Buffy/Xander romance makes zero canonical sense and is an affront to the sensibilities of 80's kids everywhere. That's like messing with the Goonies and, when you do that, those kids make you slip, crush your own balls on a slippery log of wood, get beaten up by your own kind of retarded, monster brother, get arrested, and miss out on all of One Eyed Willy's awesome pirate treasure. Nobody wants that. Nobody. Because pirate treasure is awesome.

the end.

Take time to look beyond your own plot, please.

I am a supporter of the Prince's Rainforest Project, headed by our very own Prince Charles, or Charlie as I like to call him. I hope you too will join in, we are losing our Rainforests not only by the day but noticeably by the minute. They are not a finite resource, the wildlife they give home to, the CO2 they take in from our pollution, the people they house and the beauty and hope that they give to this world we are all slowly destroying is measurable. Please support the cause and think out side your own garden/plot today.

The website is very informative if somewhat shocking in the statistics that it provides. I for one know more about stupid celebrity gossip than I do about this. Shameful.

My SOS message:
'Please help save the rainforest and all it's inhabitants, needlessly being made extinct from the Earth we all the same right to share. Plus, this world, well, it's the only one we have and the only source of chocolate!'

Preaching over, hugs x Plus, sorry if I don't get to visit your blog today, my broadband connection is playing up (took 4 hours to be able to write this!)

Buffy and the Chipmunks

I think these speak for themselves...

New: a picture tattoo design examples

This example Aadal tattoo tattooing attracted many of the existing worldwide, is designed with a picture kept in photo-shop images with lasers.

Easy Glow, Now in 4 Ounce.

It is finally here, it is in stock and ready to ship. We have every color ready to go in 4 ounce bottles. ( We still don't have Flesh) But we do have all the other great colors. If you have tried the 1 oz and like the colors now is a good time to splurge on 4oz. It is also great to break up some 4oz grab a white and yellow and mix up some of your own tints. Give us a call or check out the site. If you have been waiting for us to stock we will be calling everyone tomorrow and the next day, thanks for your patience.

Watcher's Council - Dollhouse 2x01 "Vows"

Tara's take - I actually thought Vows was both incredible/Jossy and odd/confusing still. But even the confusing was in a much better way. Basically, I think they are just going to focus on the "souls can be erased, new souls can be created in empty bodies but now who are they?" god complex thing. Which I think is cool b/c it goes back to our endless discussions about vamps and their original owners souls and Angel's newer manufactured soul. Really, an active is very much like Angel.

As long as they don't get too much into the controversy of human trafficking and the prostitution metaphor, it really works. Shame is, you really can't ignore those 2 things. Herein, has always lied the problem. But really I want to stay focused on the soul/personality thing and be able to ignore the hard questions about that other stuff. It's a pickle. Since you can't ignore that stuff, the many atrocities going on at once makes it very heavy and actually way too deep in a bad way.

Another thing, Eliza's acting was still clunky (she's gorgeous in a bridal gown but clomping down the aisle like a horse wearing 2 size too big Uggs) but there was one scene where she was fantastic! The reason I know this was bc I was engaged in the scene and not realizing she, Eliza Dushku the actress, was in it at all...gratuitous bra showing for no reason and everything. Weird times.

Bits, what did you think?

Bitsy's take - I won't deny that the show seems a lot more focused at the start of this season but I do still think it suffers from a number of the same issues. I find it very hard to believe that DeWitt would genuinely want Ballard in the Dollhouse and it's equally unlikely that he'd reciprocate. Also, how exactly does Echo convince Jamie Bamber's character to marry her so quickly? There are just so many things that don't make sense.

On the plus category, however, I am thrilled to see Jamie Bamber and Alexis Denisof appear on the show. They're both very talented and it doesn't hurt that they're so easy on the eyes. The best bits from this episode by far though have to be the ones between Topher and Dr. Saunders. Amy Acker is absolutely stealing the show right now and Fran Kranz did a fine job of keeping pace with her which is no mean feat. Claire's questions about her own existence and fear of death really touch on the more compelling philosophical elements this show can delve into.

I agree, Tara, that it's best to let sleeping dogs lie when it comes to the question of informed consent. We all know there's no way anyone can truly understand what it means to become a Doll so it's best just to accept that it's screwed up and move on or else the show can never be enjoyable. I think that's what they're going to do and that's a relief.

All in all, it's one of the best episodes of Dollhouse so far. Next week's episode looks kind of ridiculous though. What did you think, Michelle?

Michelle's take - I didn't watch it.

Oh, right. Well then. What did everybody else think?

You're part Daffodil

I learnt this weekend that we all share over a third of the same genes as a daffodil. I believe the correct percentage was 36. So that means inside each and everyone of us there lies the ability to be sunny, happy, bright and cheery joy givers. 'A host of golden thirds of human beings' doesn't sound that nice but you get the idea.

Let that 36% shine within you. Mine is a very dim light, not visible to the naked eye today but tomorrow maybe conditions will be better, the clouds will lift I too shall be more cheery.

Hugs x

Fine Art Returns

We were away last Friday at the Paradise Tattoo Gathering and missed the update, but we are back. Josh Hoffman did this awesome "Rock of Ages" painting for us. He substituted the traditional stone cross for our gear logo. Josh's work has a special touch to it, he is a great composer and constructor of both paintings and tattoos. Clean lines and great layouts!

Over the years I had built three or four machines for Josh, but they never seemed to hit hard enough for him. I did just about everything I could think of to make a hard hitting machine, in fact the last rig I did hurt my thumb as I tested it without a needle set up. Trust me it hit, but I still don't think it was hard enough. I guess Josh Hoffman is like L.L. Cool J "Hard as hell".

The piece also made it's way to a Pulse T. We are very happy with it.

We are also the proud owners of Josh Hoffman's Abrasions skate deck. Josh painted the piece on paper then cut it out and shellacked it to the board. That is some serious scissor control. JoshHoffman

Back to School Books

Just in is the new issue of Tattoo Artist Magazine with some great articles. We are also stocking a new book from Incognito Press entitled Lost Art that features some vintage flash. Both are available now. TAM 16 & LostArt . Get ready because this is just the start of a great fall season of books. In the next couple weeks we expect new books from Joe Capobianco, Bloodworks (Sleeve Book) from adrian lee and company, as well as the new book from Martin LaCasse.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP of September Silliness: The Buffy Episode Tournament

This is it! We've come to the final of finals for our little tourney du Buffy. There's just one last choice to make and, oh boy, is it a doozy. Two of what are quite possibly the finest hours in the history of television lay before you. But before we get there, let's look at the tale of the tape, shall we?

"Becoming Part 2" defied all the odds and finally silenced "Hush" just barely.

"Once More, With Feeling" easily staked vampy Willow's super sequel "Doppelgangland".

It's a big decision and we here at Buffyfest know it. That's why we're giving you until Wednesday at 11:59 pm EST to chew it over. Then, at long last, we'll finally find out who the prettiest girl at the ball really is.

If you still need a refresher, click here for the full list of episodes and their descriptions.

East vs. West

Location: Right here at Buffyfest Central

Happy Voting!

If your curious to see the entire bracket listing the entire tourney history, click here to enlarge:

fanvid sunday: crossover edition

While I'm sure the right and proper thing to do today would be to show a Dollhouse fanvid (what with it's return and all) I have instead, after my usual exhaustive research (which typically takes five minutes) concluded that what we really need is a full on Buffy/Supernatural crossover event. Again. This time with a little help from MJ.


Find more videos like this on BAM Vid Vault


See? I told you that was the way and when have I ever steered you wrong? Well, there was that time I put a hat and tie on a bear and told you it was safe to feed him from your picnic basket but that was hilarious and most of the scarring eventually healed. I think I'm going to lay around like a lump today. What's on the plate for you today? Happy Sunday, everybody!

Buffy/Angel Emmy Reunion

How fun is this shot from Alyson Hannigan's Twitter page.

Last time we saw see these three together, Willow was trying to get Angel's soul back in his body after Evil Cordy stole it and Wes was a gun-toting, bearded man. Ah, good times.

What's the Sitch? Real Doll Edition

Watch Echo come alive on your desktop with the finally released "Virtual Echo" application. Basically, I downloaded it and the next thing I know, Echo came out of nowhere and shot a hole in my monitor. Um, why is she wearing Spike's coat though?






It turns out that the Dollhouse is real, kind of. Unfortunately, we don't know how long the TV world Dollhouse is going to stick around. Check out these ratings.

Eliza's on the cover of this magazine. The tag line reads: "Ultimate Buyer's Guide for Men." Do Dollhouse clients get a complimentary copy of this magazine with every purchase?








Check out these awesome Dr. Horrible cakes. Yummier than fro yo, I'm sure! Thanks to Captain Elias for that awesome find.








Whedon confirms what we already knew. More importantly, what about a Buffy movie? David Boreanaz doesn't think it'll happen. Or, at least that's what we think he's saying here.

Death to the Dollhouse Death Watch

Last season of Dollhouse, some of us here at Buffyfest were convinced that the series was headed for certain death at the hands of FOX and one of us was a bit more positive about the whole situation. An argument was had, a wager was set, and a little game called The Dollhouse Death Watch was born. For those keeping score: Michelle was the optimist, thinking that it would make it through the season and more (which, of course as we now know, it had!) Bitsy, always the Hardcore Skeptic, believe it would be vamp dust blowing in the wind faster than you could say "Firefly" (holy mixed metaphor thingee.) And I, Tara the Realist, thought it would have it's active day in the sun, then be wiped from our memories at the end of the season.

The crazy twist here was that by episode 10-ish Skeptic Bits ended up loving the thing and Michelle...well the optimist in Michelle had died and she ended up hating Dollhouse with a passion. So much so that she refuses to watch it AT ALL this season, Whedon blogger chick and all. Shame. She has her reasons and I'm sure she'll explain them all if prodded, but most of the reasons start with an EL and end with an IZA.

So...we've decided to shelve the Dollhouse Death Watch. It won battle against FOX, even if it does end up with a Tru Calling-esque fate. But Bitsy and I have made a new side bet to see how long it will take Michelle to break, if at all. Now we can't really discuss the terms or who chose what result, as we don't want to influence her either way. So whaddya think?

THE FINAL FOUR - September Silliness Buffy Episode Tournament

THIS ROUND IS CLOSED FOR VOTING

We're down to the final 4 Buffy episodes. Two are obvious and the other two are pretty remarkable having made it this far. The bracket made things funky, but these are the 4 outstanding eps. In fact, 3 out of the 4 left are listed in today's Television Without Pity article listing their top 20 episodes in the Whedonverse. Guess everyone is in agreement then! (Except me, wahhh about The Gift's elimination! She saved the world...a lot!) Ahem. Let's review what happened in The Elite Eight:

"Becoming Part 2" beat "Restless"
"Hush" beat "Innocence"
"Once More, With Feeling" pummled "Becoming Part 1"
"Doppelgangland" beat "Tabula Rasa"

So now it's pretty much:

Season 2 vs. Season 4

and

Season 6 vs Season 3

The Final Four has 2 matches and these last 2 rounds will go a little longer. Voting for this part ends Sunday at 11:59 pm EST, at which point the Championship top 2 will begin.

If you still need a refresher, click here for the full list of episodes and their descriptions.

The West

Location: Angel's Mansion

The East

Location: Cleveland Hellmouth

Happy Voting!

If your curious to see the entire bracket listing the entire tourney history, click here to enlarge:

Pride goes before a fall (well, I hope not!)

Oh, I know the old saying but I truly am proud of what Andrew and I achieved last week. You may even be jealous...we made a Patio at the lottie!

For a long time we have wanted an area outside the shed to be able to sit and work on without the wet soil and grass making it all uncomfortable. Plus in the winter this area turns into a little quagmire and we needed to get it sorted before the blasted season returned once more. Further to that, I wanted somewhere I could walk safer (a flatter surface) and which we could put a bed for Maggie on without it getting terribly damp from the bottom up.

We had dilly dallied about this for a while and so finally it came to the crunch and we set to work, it helped greatly that we had free recycled patio slabs from a friend's brother and that pink granite stones were buy 3 bags, get one free at the local nursery. You know, we aren't made of money!!

This is what our patio area around the shed looked like before.....

(Way back in April - damp but some little slabs here and there)

Slabs lifted - work begins

After the above hard work (2 blisters on my hand!, don't go thinking I'm a lady who lets her man do all the hard grafting) - skimming off the turf (= blisters), cutting and laying weed membrane (I did that bit all alone), putting down wooden joists to hold it all together (Andrew's job), placing the slabs and spreading the granite, this is what we ended up with.

I am, as I have said, very proud. I believe it to be delightful and invite you all to come have a cup of tea on our extensive social area. It took Maggie a while but she now likes it too, the pebbles I like to think, remind her of the beach - she's a beach babe, she loves the sea side. I have also installed a new and improved bug hotel on the site and hope for many residents in the winter to come. It is a cosy little establishment and much superior to last years backpackers' hostel.

Tattoo Body Art angle design

This tattoo image has a history of the kingdom of java, she told the shackles were a woman who always be subject and obedient to the king

Lion-tribal

An award? for me!!?!

I have been given a award, yes, little old me. This came from allotofveg, whose blog I read regularly and who I am glad to say won it herself and then passed it along to me, like a 'you are a good read' chain award.

I think I am supposed to write 10 things about myself and then pass it on to some people I think deserve it. So, if you will allow me to be so self indulgent I shall do just that. Incidentally I have no idea where this originally started but thank you to whoever made it up and allowed us 'winners' to be both praised by others and be completely egoistical within the one bloggette.

I shall be passing it along to Joy at GardenJoy4Me and VP at vegplotting, both 'great reads'.... Quite frankly I would pass it on to everyone on my blog roll if I didn't think that sort of went against the idea. Love to all my fellow bloggers, you're all winners in my eyes x

1 ~ I like instructions, rules to follow to the letter. That way I know where I am and where I have to go. (Shame on you Jessica for not proving detailed instructions about this award process. Are you sure I just have to write 10 random facts about myself?)

2 ~ Apart from working on my Lottie and thus getting to write about it here, my other great passion is for taking photographs. These things combined make for a happy girl. Now I just have to find a way to become filthy rich whilst doing them.

3 ~ I wish to become filthy rich as I like travelling and want/need to see more of the world. To go on holiday is like packing up your clothes etc and just leaving behind all the crap in your life at home in the wardrobe. Unfortunately it is still there when you get back but for those glorious days away you are free! Yes, the depression and anxiety do come along and somehow pass through customs unnoticed but for some reason you can kick them in the butt and make more of an impact on them when in a sunnier climate.

4 ~ I LOVE MY HUSBAND Andrew, he is lovely.

5 ~ I'd be lost without my little dog Maggie. We adopted her some years ago from a dog pound (horrid places) and I knew she was 'the one' just by the glimpse of her nose that I got before we got into the kennels properly. Love at first sight for me, though her hair was so overgrown and matted I don't think she could see, poor baby. I hope she's happy with us.

6 ~ Like most people I never got to know my idols, my paternal grandparents. My papa had a stroke when I was a young teenager and was gone in soul for a long time before he eventually died. My most cherished childhood memory is of him and I would love for him to have met my husband; I think they are alike. His back garden was an allotment. My Nana fought Cancer gallantly and was forever the lady. I was only beginning to know her as a person (not just as my nana) when she was taken, too soon. I think of them everyday and the pain of their absence never seems to ease. I guess that is love for you.

7 ~ I have permanent double vision! A real pain in the ass but I have to live with it. Yes, I see 2 of everything and one of those images moves around all the time - tiring to say the least. Also another reason why I love photography - you only need one eye to take a picture.

8 ~ My favourite vegetable to grow on the plot is the green bean - very prolific and very tasty. They just seem to want to grow and make the plot look so abundant and like I know what I'm doing, with wigwams and all. Plus, if I had to eat one veg every single day forever more I could do worse (my real favourite is Sweetcorn which is also very impressive looking to grow on the plot. I have 2 favourites) and I had loads of them in Brittany recently with steak -yummy!!

9 ~ My favourite fruit to grow on the Lottie is the Raspberry, just because they are GORGEOUS and you seem to get a nice steady crop of them, a few more everyday, rather than a glut. I love raspberries. Berries in general are a wonderful gift from mother nature and should only be eaten in season if you ask me, which I know you didn't but I'm telling you anyway. A ripe berry plucked from the plant, warm with the sunshine, popped in the mouth - joy incarnate.

10 ~ Lastly ECOTHERAPY ROCKS! That is a fact and you can take it to the bank (if you trust banks, which I don't).

Thank you for reading this, if you did in fact make it the whole way through. Happy Thursday to you all x

*UPDATE* Recap: Dr Horrible Sing-Along and Joss Whedon Q&A

**UPDATE**

Earlier today, 826NYC posted an important message from Joss and Ira Glass along with the full audio of Monday's Dr. Horrible screening here in New York. In an effort to benefit this important non-profit, we're temporarily taking down our recap and asking that everyone head on over to www.826nyc.org to donate any amount you can. In exchange you'll get a shiny download of the full interview and the deepest gratitude of Joss, Ira, and everyone here at Buffyfest.

Also, we spoke to Sarah Pollock of 826NYC who addressed some of the Q&A issues brought up in our comments section. She said:

"Special Guests" was posted waaaay before we realized that maybe all these television stars would be at the Emmy's, which was held the night before, and was something Joss had to skip to come out to do this event. Which was sorta the same situation for the Q&A - we were under the impression early on that we would do a panel Q&A with the audience but then it got changed. I guess we should have updated the website, but we're just a staff of 5 (non-superheroes) so sometimes things slip through the cracks. Sorry if anyone was extra disappointed!

As we said to her, the night was still extra special without those details!

A, B and C

A

Can of course stand for Apple and indeed here it does; our James Grieve/Elstar tree has given up it's first fruit. They don't look great but if we nibble around the bad bits I have hope that they will taste nice. Elstar is definitely a favourite in our house so fingers crossed that the tree perks up and can go on growing and giving us more and better quality fruit in years to come. It seems to be suffering from a fungal disease, maybe scab but I'm not sure about survival rates. Send happy thoughts to our tree please!!

B

B is for Brambles, or Blackberries. The hedgerows around the plots are full to the brim with ripe gorgeous berries there for the taking. Plus there are many still to come and in some areas there are even flowers in bloom. I reckon we'll have brambles for some time to come. They are a little small in comparison to the blackberries you can buy as plants from the nursery. We have one, but it crops way back in the summer and the damn birds took most of them.

So Andrew and I couldn't help ourselves and we picked some, them some more....it became addictive. A lovely past time and we have done it twice now, even in the dark, way past twilight, I swear we couldn't see, that was the only reason we stopped. We even seriously thought about using the headlights to illuminate the hedges but we wised up! It sounds silly but it was very romantic, reminiscent of what I imagine a pre-war date would be and quite frankly doing that with your beau is nicer than sitting in the cinema not talking or even looking at each other.

We, sorry Andrew, made jam. It's more like tar but it was his first time and it is great in porridge. There's another big bag in the fridge for me to make jam. I took photos of Andrew's culinary adventure. Lovely! He is a fabulous cook by the way, tonight we had a chicken and lottie veg stir fry for dinner and it was delicious. At the weekend he also made a Lottie Soup too, with our borlotti beans - uuuummmmm. No pics of either - too hungry.

Plus Blooms ~ look at Mary's glorious bunch from her plot. Really beautiful and I am more encouraged to get on with my cut flower bed.


C

This is exciting! We got our membership cards!!!! Look at how jolly Andrew and Austin (the secretary)are and me, I couldn't wait to photograph mine. Now we can get discounts in various nurseries, horrah!!!!

I have loads more to tell but there is apple pie to be eating and somethings have to take priority, hahaha xx