Felicia Day

I tend to love things that enable me to procrastinate.  So when iTunes requested a “Celebrity Playlist” I jumped at the opportunity!  Unfortunately, they weren’t able to find room in the US store for my playlist.    Canadian iTunes DID post it, so if you’re in Canada you can click to enjoy.  Since I put like 12 hours worth of time winnowing the playlist down, I thought I’d share them here with you anyway for US and non-US alike!
EDIT: Lala doesn’t work overseas I guess, but reader Tor made the playlist on Spotify for those streaming challenged, THX Tor!
1. Take Them Down:  The Main Drag When we couldn’t afford When in Rome’s “The Promise” to end Season 2 of The Guild, I Twittered a request for music to use for the show.  Listening to over a hundred submissions, a track “Love During Wartime” jumped out at me, I couldn’t believe how great the song was for what we needed.  This song is from their new album.  Their followup does not disappoint.

2. Control:  Kid Sister It’s pretty obvious I’m not cool, but finding this song and loving it lets me PRETEND I am.  Rap/Hip-Hop/Electronica fusion awesomeness.

3. Teflon Man:  Ghost Dog I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this, probably because I have a thing for Nordic Rock.  This track is from the band’s debut album. They’re Norwegian.  And I love them.

4.  Men in Love:  Gossip This screams groovy modern disco to me, and the lead singer’s voice is so catchy.  I definitely want to play this on Rock Band.

5. The Walls Are Coming Down:  Fanfarlo I love orchestration that’s out of the norm.  This track has standout trumpet and mandolin, and they’re used joyously.

6.  Nobody Lost Nobody Found: Cut Copy Think this style is called electropop.  I just know it makes me want to dance.

7. Dance With Me:  Nouvelle Vague New Wave song covered in Bossa Nova style?  Yes please! (Had to embed a few YouTube vids instead of streaming because I couldn’t find them in Lala, and no other service allows full stream embedding. What happened to imeem?!)

8. Hell: Tegan and Sara I’m vaguely obsessed with this band.  I’m pretty sure if we ever met in real life we’d be best friends and go shopping together, and have tea.  And go to the spa. Now it’s awkward.

9. Aftermath:  The Southland This is the former band of Jed Whedon (Dr. Horrible, “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar”)  I’m glad I hadn’t heard this before I asked him to write The Guild’s Avatar song with me, I’d probably have been too intimidated.  I love his vocals on this track in particular.  He’s ridiculously talented.

10.  100 Little Curses: Street Sweeper Social Club Sometimes I get obsessive and play a song 200 times in a row.  Like this one.  It demands to be played VERY LOUDLY.

11.  Worm Mountain: Flaming Lips Huge fan of the Flaming Lips, but combined with another one of my 2009 obsessions, MGMT, this track rules.

12.  Atman:  Rodrigo y Gabriala When I was in music school for violin, the acoustic classical guitarists would always play outside the music practice rooms in the hallways, primarily to pick up chicks.  If they had played anything like this duo, they would have been very very popular.

13.  All the Right Reasons: The Jayhawks The Jayhawks are 100% one of my favorite bands.  Every track on the album is breathtaking, the harmonies are gorgeous and romantic.  Alt country rock perfection.

14. Navy Nurse:  The Fiery Furnaces This band is strange and wonderful.  Definitely not stereotypical, but I’m completely drawn in by the fusion of sounds in this song.

15.  Re: Your Brains:  Jonathan Coulton Listing this here on the off-chance someone is not aware of the grandmaster of geeky folk.  If you can catch one of his live shows, the audience generally floods the stage walking like zombies during this number.

Hope you enjoy some of the tracks! And feel free to embed your own faves in the comments for other people to enjoy! Also, my blog is sometimes weird about spam filtering, so if it doesn’t show up immediately I’ll be sure to approve it as quick as I can if it gets caught up!

Don’t have full time to add the whole blog post I want to about my role on Dollhouse right now, but wanted to put up a post where everyone can comment.  If you have any questions I can answer, add them in the comments and I’ll update the post with answers over the weekend!

SPOILERS BELOW SO BE WARNED!

Q: What technique was used for the shots to the legs?

A: Yay, love this question!  I was “squibbed”, big movie-set term I’ve never experience first hand before, and which was a HUGE thrill.  Honestly, I feel like I can retire now, haha.  What they do is they strap special remote controlled packs to the inside of your clothing that will burst outward with blood and explosion.  It was like wearing REALLY thick knee pads on my shins.  Then there’s a SFX guy ready with the remote to explode on cue remotely while the cameras are rolling.  At the same time the squibs are exploded, a FX guy is shooting air blanks all around to make it look like shots are surrounding me.  We only did one take of that because I was paranoid about having to put on another pair of squibbed pants, and to be honest, the shots and the explosion freaked me out in real life, so I think the acting was pretty real and good, haha.  Quite a thrill to be able to do something that “cool” with a character.

Q:  Did you make any friends on the set?

A: Fortunately I have been friendly with everyone on Dollhouse before shooting this episode, so it was very comfortable, being on set.  Working with Zone again was very easy, because between Epitaph One and Two (cute fact) we’ve played D&D together every weekend!  He randomly knows my DM, so when I walked in one day, he was sitting at the table ready to play.  Totally threw me off, seeing him out of context like that, hah!  The coolest thing was actually ACTING with the main cast, something we didn’t do on Epitaph One.  Eliza is always lovely, and I’ve been to conventions with Dichen, so we knew each other well, and I’ve seen the rest of the cast tons of times at get-togethers, so it really was so easy and fun to work with them.

A:  I enjoyed the table scene because it was a MONSTER scene with about 10 people talking, but working with wonderful actors makes saying dialogue feel like speaking in real life.  Tahmoh in particular sat right across from me in the scene, and brought a gravity to everything that was a joy to bounce off of.

Q: I was wondering what you take away from the strong writing in the series?

A:  For me, the series always had the most impact when the stakes were high and there was something big emotionally between the characters.  I realize watching the progress of the show, that the events don’t even have to be that elaborate, but a having character arc like Topher’s, where he goes from being totally obnoxious to heart-breakingly fragile and sacrificing, that’s what is riveting.  It’s about the characters and their connection together that keep ME personally interested and inspired me about this show.

Q: Which characters from the ‘main timeline’ cast of Dollhouse do you think Mag would’ve got on with the best and worst?

A:  I actually think that Mag would have gotten along with Topher pretty well, like an annoying little brother.  And I think she would have appreciated the depth of Priya (or maybe that’s me just gushing over Dichen as a persona, as usual haha)

Q: Was the last show originally intended to be 2 hours long, and had to be severely cut down to one?

A:  The script I personally got was very close to what we shot.  I think that an ideal situation WOULD have been a 2 hour special, to fit everything they needed in, but that’s not really an option in TV   No huge sections were cut out, it was beautiful editing that made it fit within the time limit.

The short bit at the beginning involving ‘mini-Caroline’ was from the episode “Epitaph One”. It was filmed as part of the first season, but never aired.

True, the way they tried to “Recap” Epitaph One for viewers who HADN’T seen it might have been a bit confusing for people who didn’t check out the episode.  You can indeed download it on iTunes or Amazon VOD to see the whole episode.  Another tidbit:  The whole part with me and Zone and Caroline in the car, up until we pull into the garage, was shot as part of #201.  We shot that with Joss MONTHS ago, but I guess someone decided that bringing the future back wasn’t the direction they wanted to go for Season 2, and it got cut.  Thankfully it got recycled thought!  I had to wear some fake hair because I got a haircut between then and when we did EP Two to match

Q: My question for you is how do you think Mag got involved in all this is in the first place, if you had to give your two cents? She’s a student at Berkley, and suddenly she’s one of the only actuals left. Any thoughts?

A:   I think Mag is a just regular girl.  When we’re faced with something traumatic we go into survival mode.  I think she used her wits (obviously NOT brawn) and was able to attach herself to capable people like Gryph and Zone to survive what was happening in the world.  There’s nothing particularly skill-wise she has that set her apart and enabled her to survive, but I think that’s the irony of the whole situation:  It’s damned luck in a crisis most of the time.  And I always felt she knew that every step of the way.  She felt to me like an idealist who had lost her faith in a way.

Q: Who was is who initially came up with the idea for the Mag/Kilo thing?

A:  I believe that was Joss on a rewrite of the script.  I personally had a backstory that I had been in love with Gryph in Epitaph One, so it was an adjustment, but not that hard a one.  Maurissa is pretty hot as Kilo

Q: When next you find yourself in some fantastic Joss-like production, would you perhaps like to leave the “girl next door” outfit in the closet and instead put on the superhero kickass boots? You got to do that in the final episode of Buffy, and I thought you wore it well.  Or how about something more villainous?

A:  I don’t think anyone but Joss would ever cast me in a role that kicks ass, it’s kind of just the way it is.  Someone asked me my dream job in a podcast interview, and I said I’d love to be in a BBC-like sci-fi series (Torchwood, Dr Who etc), because their sense of humor and casting seem like it fits me more than American sci-fi shows.  That said, I think playing the villain would be REALLY fun.  I’ve never been offered anything like that, but maybe I’ll have to write it, haha.

Q: How do you feel about Joss getting violent with the characters you portray?

A:  I am very flattered.  When you beat someone up, that means you think the audience cares if you get beaten up or not.  I guess it means he thinks I’m a sympathetic person on film?  Nothing wrong with that!

Q: And…honestly..what’s your opinion of the slang used in future Dollhouse world?

A:  It was kinda hard for me to learn at first, but given the environment I thought it was REALLY imaginative.  I just wish there had been more room to establish the world and make the language more organic, heard in more contexts.  I think the whole concept of a “Sci-Fi Zombie” world, which IS what 2019 is in a way, is BRILLIANT and as a fan would have loved to explore it more, even if I personally hadn’t been acting in it.

Thanks so much for commenting all! <3

Wanted to link this interview I did at Comics Alliance because I talk a lot about the comic and process of writing it, but also talk a little bit about format and how media might be changing in the next few years. A snippet:

I drive down the street in LA, and the Borders closed down, all the newsstands closed down. With all these tablets coming out, it’s such an interesting time, and over the next year or two years we’re going to see a huge shift in people consuming everything on a screen, and there’s going to be no barrier to how people tell a story.

It seems like there is a huge convergence happening in the way we’re going to get our video, games, and books/magazines/comics.  With Consoles moving into cable (see this NYT article about Xbox), and magazines moving to the new Apple/HP/Asus/Etc Brand tablets, I think that we’re going to see some really interesting melding of all types of entertainment in the next several years.

They are also holding a contest for a signed comic as well, links are at the top of the interview!

I love food.  I’ll drive 45 minutes out of my way for a cup of great coffee, or a cupcake.  I also like new things.  I tend to pick different routes to drive every day just so I’ll see the world from different angles.  So the combination of the two with my recent visit to The Bazaar in LA made an evening of supreme awesomeness! I normally wouldn’t blog about something so mundane as a meal, but this place does stuff with food that is so different that I had to share. And overshare. Let’s go!

First off, you walk in and I admit it’s ridiculously hip. Reminded me of a Eurotrash Vampire Cirque-de-Soleil movie, but hey, over the top isn’t awful if it delivers, right? And oh it delivers. The drink in the picture above was their “magic mojito” where they bring you the glass filled with cotton candy and pour the drink over, making it melt before your eyes. A gimmick but a good mojito! Onto the food!

There are about five-million things on the menu, it’s an all tapas restaurant so they recommend 4 dishes per person, but that still leaves a lot of yummy choices unchosen. (for next visit perhaps? ) This was the first dish we got. On the top is the traditional olive stuffed with red pepper and anchovy, very good olives, but something you’d expect from Spanish cuisine. To the bottom is where stuff gets weird: Those ARE NOT solid spheres. No. It’s olive JUICE, submerged and somehow membraned with CO2 to contain the olive juice in a semi-solid dollop?! WHAT?!

Basically you pop it whole in your mouth and then bite down, and it explodes into liquid on your tongue. Who thought this up? Some mad scientist chef?! Great intro to the meal.

Again, weird and wonderful. The caprese salad had beautiful little cherry tomatoes, pesto sauce and, instead of the traditional buffela mozzarella, membranes containing mozzarella cheese liquid. Getting to love these membranes, haha. There are also little air bread croutons included in the salad, so the whole experience was strange but the perfect summary of a very traditional dish.

They tried to describe the process by which the whirled microscopic salt onto these potatoes, it kinda blew past me (think the mojito set in by then). All I know is that I’ve never eaten a more perfectly cooked potato with the perfect amount of powdered salt on the outside. The pesto dip was amazing as well. The taste of the potatoes was just…pure potato. And it was exquisite!

Chicken Croquettes with Bechamel sauce. Like the best pot pie in a fried nugget form you’ll ever have. Think this is definitely one I’d get next time around. I mean, it’s DEEP FRIED, DUDES!!

They have some kind of “Canning” thing they do here that they bragged about, it’s the first list of tapas on the menu. Still not sure what the deal with it is (I guess because it’s served to you in a can?) this had raspberry vinaigrette and raspberries over pieces of king crab. I loved the flavor and glad I didn’t have to wrestle animal legs to get the yummy crab meat out. Something I would have probably overlooked but was glad it got recommended by the waiter.

I love eel at sushi restaurants, and this was a simple presentation of perfectly cooked eel with the traditional sweet sauce, wrapped in a lettuce piece. Called it “Eel Tacos” I believe. So good. They accidentally brought us two orders and told me to eat the extra no charge. BOOYA! Love this place EVEN MORE!

Philly Cheese Steak on the menu? Really? They have this thing called “air bread” there, which is basically a hollow crispy piece of bread puffed up into a hollow cracker-type oval. This dish filled the air bread with creamy cheese, topped with the cured beef slices. Fancy twist. Holy moly yum!

Ok, that’s enough with the food pictures, let’s go onto what I REALLY got excited about. I mean, sure the food was great, but here’s the true piece de resistance, something I spied from afar and HAD to order. “Oh sir, could you please send over the…LIQUID NITROGEN CAPRAHUENA CART!?!”

Yum, evil science meets drunkenness! The cart gets wheeled over, and the woman uses the canister on the right to mix liquid nitrogen into the caprahuena drink, freezing it into a slushie! There’s smoke pouring everywhere, it’s insane looking! Highly theatrical, entertainment value at its best! On top of that OMG SO GOOD! Like the best drunken slushie ever made!

At this point we were totally stuffed, but of course dessert HAD to be ordered. I mean, for research purposes, right? A cool feature of this place is that there’s a separate patisserie where you can walk over to and separately eat dessert. (Or just go FOR dessert, which I plan on doing one day.) There’s also a gift shop with freaky weird and overpriced items you can giggle at while your tummy makes room for sugar. ($2900 hand made child’s chairs, for real?! Ooooh, wait. That was ART. Doh.).

Here’s The Floating Island: Big meringue oval dipped in CO, artfully placed over bananas and 4 kinds of sauce that blew my mind. It looks like a Sci-Fi jellyfish spaceship. Also to the left, 3 candies they make: Chocolate dried rasberries, lime fizzies and a passionfruit marshmallow. All superb. I also had a cup of decaf coffee which I believe they said they grind and brew per cup (If they had told me they cryogenically grew the beans on order too I would have believed them at this point.) I want to go back and try the lollipops, but I was so full at this point I didn’t want to risk feeling awful after such a great meal.

So, that was the trip! I can’t remember when I’ve been more interested in the food I was eating, the meal was truly an event. Didn’t even notice over 2 hours went by! I couldn’t eat like this every day (and DEFINITELY couldn’t afford to, haha) but for a really special evening I would definitely recommend this most most highly! Every detail was just so enjoyable.

Even the bathroom was different! There were mirrors in the stalls so you had to watch yourself pee (NOT A FAN) and the sinks were weird, the water flowed over this flat thing into the sides. I thought it was worth a pic. Ok, I’m done now.