Serenity Day was apparently a success, and I thank everyone here who was so kind as to not rise as one and slay me for polluting your Star Wars bloggage with my Serenity bloggage. We have no numbers yet, but I expect that they will be big when they arrive. I hope that some of you have taken an interest, and that I and a few others actually made a difference. Luckily, it won't happen again, or, at least not for another year, anyway.

Friday was Serenity Day, as June the 23rd is Joss Whedon's birthday as well as being the one year anniversary of the first Serenity Pre-screenings. It was meant to celebrate everything Serenity, and that is exactly what I did.

My day started with the finishing of my Serenity Day blog, employing my favorite method of attracting readers, Mace Windu's purple lightsaber. It takes time to create that many links, mind you. I left it up to some of my friends to pick up the slack and do the real work, and they did that work, for sure. Many fantastic blogs were written on the subject, my favorites being those by Rex and Kenobi-fan, while Marvy did some fine work, herself. K-fan even got some outside attention on the Whedonesque site, while I got only a small mention. It was my idea, after all. I had a bit of a contest going, the writer of what I considered to be the best of all of the Serenity Day blogs was going to receive one of my famed Vicomte Blogging Awards (Worth drastically less nowadays) as well as a basic set of the Firefly Trading cards, as I have a few extras on hand. I've declared K-fan the winner, mostly because his blog was amazing, and if the good Browncoats at Whedonesque take notice, you must be doing something right.

I'm glad that everyone took it in good humor, I wasn't sure if Bonnie would show up and say, "Enough already! Make it stop!" but she didn't, for which I am grateful. I was hoping maybe Moose would get in on the fun, as he is a fan of the show as well, but alas, brown dusters are hard to find in moose size, and I was short on pineconez. I was surprised at how many people participated, and all in all I think it went well.

Later in the day I left for Boston, where I would be attending a Midnight showing of Serenity, benefiting the charity Equality Now. It was at the Coolidge Theater, an old-school place with a big flashy sign out front. I brought my father along, as I try my best to make him partake in any venture involving science-fiction, and just maybe he could one day call himself a Browncoat. It took us about two-odd hours to get there, with the aid of an in-car GPS system. I'm not sure if there are any brave souls out there that would dare to navigate the streets of Boston on their own volition, but I am not one of them. We made it there at about eleven-fifteen, where we decided to wait until eleven-thirty to depart the comforts of the car and venture into the rain. They weren't letting folks in until eleven-forty-five, you see.

We left, made it across the street to the theater, where we noticed that people were starting to accumulate, in large numbers. We were stopped momentarily by a man who wondered what all the fuss was about this film, but he spoke poor English, so I left him to fend for himself after a few moments explanation. I had to move quickly, Browncoats wait for no man. I made a trip to the bathroom (two-hour drive) then I met up with my father and prepared to enter the cinema. At the door, they were handing out Equality Now wristbands and raffle tickets. I wasn't aware that there was going to be a raffle, so I was pleasantly surprised.

We found decent seats, despite the rapidly filling theater, and sat and waited. On the screen were some selected scenes of the fan documentary Done The Impossible, which held my interest until the third loop started. A few minutes later the theater was completely packed, as in, not a single seat was empty. Not since the premier of Sith had I seen a theater so filled, and this was at midnight on a rainy day in a crowded city with no parking whatsoever. That, gentle reader, is dedication.

The night started with a taped speech made by Joss at an Equality Now function. Always humorous, and quite entertaining. Then the raffle started. Among the things offered were signed Buffy comics, signed copies of the novelization, a certificate for the upcoming Firefly Visual Companion, some fan-made trinkets, and two props from the movie itself. Over the course of the raffle, it soon became apparent that some people had not been so careful with their tickets, as many numbers were called for each item before someone actually claimed anything. Among these people, my father. Prize after prize was given away, until we came to the final two. A mounted display of cashy money used in the bank heist, and a Reaver weapon. I won neither. The worst part was when the number of the final prop was called, and nobody claimed it, I couldn't help thinking that that was my father's ticket, lying somewhere on the floor, laughing at me. Needless to say, the final number called was not mine.

The film was started. It was exhilarating, seeing it on the big screen for the first time. I imagined that is what it was like on opening night, possibly midnight, a theater filled with die-hard Browncoats, amazed that their pitiful little series made it into the big time. The film commenced, with laughter and cheers at the appropriate times. My father, Force bless him, is notorious for falling asleep during movies. This late, I knew he wouldn't be able to make it. I kept the situation under control with well timed elbow jabs. Thankfully, he only snored once.

The best part? "I'm a leaf on the wind..." There were gasps in the theater. Gasps from people that have seen this movie a hundred times, and know every word and direction. Just like the way I get all choked up when Vader dies, every time. I swear the Operative gets cooler every time I see him.

I left the theater that night, and dizzily trudged out into the rain of a quiet early-morning street. I had a peculiar feeling, when I quite literally raised my hands in the air, and could almost here a familiar voice.

"We're still flying."

"It's not much"

"It's enough"