Big Damn Commentaries http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/ A clearinghouse of audio commentary tracks recorded by Browncoats for episodes of the Joss Whedon television series Firefly and its major motion picture follow-up Serenity. en Copyright 2006 Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:41:51 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Catching Up (Or, Where The Hell Have You Been?!) Obviously, I let this site lapse into dormancy some months ago. Well, more than half a year ago, to be slightly more precise about it.

There are a few commentaries which never got posted at all, and a few new ones which have come in over the last couple of weeks. If I've marked my email correctly, I think there's a total of seven commentaries in need of posting.

I'm going to get them all posted over the course of the next week, beginning with the very old submissions from months ago, which I'll get up this weekend. My apologies for the abandonment. I think I hit a kind of overload with the number of Verse-related things I was doing over the course of the last year, and when I hit the wall, I just sort of stopped.

Time for the long-overdue catching up.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/catching_up_or_where_the_hell_have_you_been http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/catching_up_or_where_the_hell_have_you_been Site News Sat, 23 Dec 2006 12:41:51 -0800 Commentarius Interruptus Several people have submitted commentary listings in the last couple of weeks. They, and you, may notice they have not been posted.

That's got nothing to do with the commentaries. Rather, it's because I've been working more the last two weeks, and also things have been picking up on the charity screening front, and so that's been taking much of the time I normally have set aside to get commentaries listed here.

I'll get them posted. It's just going to take a bit longer than usual. My apologies for the delay.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/commentarius_interruptus http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/commentarius_interruptus Site News Thu, 04 May 2006 20:48:20 -0800 The Firefly Experience: Bushwhacked Continuing the sudden surge of new submissions, another episode commentary from The Firefly Experience, one of the several commentators or groups of commentators working their way through the entire Firefly series.

Description:

This is the next commentary for the Firefly Experience, as we make our way through the whole series.

If you like the commentary at all, please, check us out at either www.geekexperience.com or www.fireflyexperience.com. We've got message boards set up to chat about whatever you want, including our commentaries. We can also be reached via e-mail at geekxp@gmail.com, if anyone has anything to say about the commentary, or whatever else.

Start the commentary whenever you want, we'll give you the cue to hit play.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/the_firefly_experience_bushwhacked http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/the_firefly_experience_bushwhacked Bushwhacked Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:21:09 -0800 An Ode To Serenity After something of a lull in submissions, BDC brings itself back into play with an international commentary recorded across the ocean by two of our regular commentators.

Description:

A couple of weeks ago I contacted John through MSN to discuss the possiblity of attempting a transatlantic link-up commentary - I'm in Scotland, while John is in Texas. It took us some time to find the necessary software and setup that would allow us to talk and hear each other clearly while simultaneuously recording (very few programs did what they promised...), but we finally did it and this mp3 track is the result. We hope you enjoy it :)

My side of the commentary was recorded using Goldwave through a generic, unbranded headset microphone. John recorded his half separately using his own setup and sent me it as an mp3. Fortunately the two files mixed perfectly to form a whole.

Both of us watched a RealMedia version of the episode using Winamp and the Real Alternative plugin. This allowed us to mute the episode audio and still hear each other (RealPlayer does not support this). The communication itself was handled using a program called Xfire, which is primarily intended for use in online games.

You will be prompted to start the episode with a countdown during the commentary's introduction.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/out_of_gas/an_ode_to_serenity http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/out_of_gas/an_ode_to_serenity Out Of Gas Sun, 23 Apr 2006 22:16:46 -0800 BDC Hits Major Milestone As of today, Big Damn Commentaries has reached the milestone of having at least one fan-recorded audio commentary for each and every Firefly episode, for Serenity, and for the R. Tam Sessions. All told, the site now has twenty-four such commentaries listed and available for download.

To mark this occassion, we now offer a new RSS feed containing all commentary listings in a single file, in addition to the normal feed which includes the fifteen most recent listings.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/bdc_hits_major_milestone http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/bdc_hits_major_milestone Site News Sun, 09 Apr 2006 16:10:44 -0800 Sponsored By Mudder's Milk Nearly five months after the first fan-recorded commentary was submitted (and slightly longer than that since we opened this site), one of our regular contributors (again via Sofa Dogs) offers this commentary on the last remaining episode to be without one. As of this listing, we now have at least one commentary for each and every Firefly episode, Serenity, and the R. Tam Sessions.

Description:

Special guest Keith Kinney returns to help me bring you another Firefly commentary. This is for Jaynestown. We discuss the themes of symbolism and what they mean for each character.

This was recorded on the 6th of April, in Lake Dallas, Texas. We watched the DVD on my Media Center PC, while recording our voices on an NEC microphone, using Nero audio software.

Note: Start when you're ready and listen for my cue to begin the episode on the DVD.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/jaynestown/sponsored_by_mudders_milk http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/jaynestown/sponsored_by_mudders_milk Jaynestown Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:50:06 -0800 A Very 'Special' Commentary The debut of Saffron gets its second fan-recorded commentary treatment, this time from one of our regulars plus a special guest. It also serves as an introduction to the Sofa Dogs podcast.

Description:

This is a commentary for Our Mrs. Reynolds, as an introduction to my podcast show, Sofa Dogs. Joining me is my special guest, Keith Kinney.

We recorded this episode on the 6th of April, in Lake Dallas, Texas. We watched the DVD on my Media Center PC from HP, while recording with Nero Audio Software, and an NEC microphone.

Note: Start the commentary when you're ready and listen for my cue to begin the episode.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/our_mrs_reynolds/a_very_special_commentary http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/our_mrs_reynolds/a_very_special_commentary Our Mrs. Reynolds Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:41:33 -0800 The Lion, The Witch And The Airlock One of our regular stable of commentators launches themselves headlong into one of the other "untouchable" episodes, that for which your humble webmaster feels Joss recorded one of the best audio commentaries ever. But, someone had to tackle this one eventually. And with this, BDC has commentaries for all but one remaining episode.

Description:

The stars aligned, leaving Objects In Space as the next episode I just had to commentate on. All my previous commentaries have been live and unplanned, however I always promised myself that if I tackled Objects I'd make an effort to compile some notes beforehand. I watched the episode once through, pausing extensively to jot things down, then went straight upstairs and watched it again, recording what I'd written on the fly. I contemplated attempting a fully edited commentary to squeeze everything in, but that seemed like too much work so I just went ahead and did my best to talk quickly. Not everything made it from the page to the mp3 - in my haste I missed out one or two notes and also slurred a few words here and there. You will also hear pages turning rather loudly, as well as a few seconds of pure silence (followed by furious mouse-clicking) where my phone rang and I edited it out. This may have messed up the episode sync by a second or so, I'm not sure.

The track was recorded through Goldwave with a cheap Game brand microphone. The episode was played using RealPlayer. The episode sound is almost totally inaudible due to the fact I inadvertently set my player too quiet. One day I'll get this setup right - good thing I have plenty more episodes to practice on...

Note: You will be prompted to start the episode with a countdown during the commentary's introduction.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/objects_in_space/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_airlock http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/objects_in_space/the_lion_the_witch_and_the_airlock Objects In Space Sun, 09 Apr 2006 15:35:32 -0800 Curt's Commentary: Out Of Gas At long last, a commentator has tackled Out Of Gas, seemingly considered one of the holy grails of Firefly audio commentaries, and away from which everyone has stayed until now. With the submission of this commentary, only two episodes remain without fan-recorded commentaries.

Description:

My second submitted commentary on one of my favourite episodes of the series. The commentary was recorded using a low-quality microphone and freely downloaded 'Audacity' software. Occasionally I breathe into the mic, making an annoying noise. Something to improve upon in future commentaries!

Note: The listener will be prompted to start the episode by a countdown during the commentary.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/out_of_gas/curts_commentary_out_of_gas http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/out_of_gas/curts_commentary_out_of_gas Out Of Gas Sun, 02 Apr 2006 19:45:44 -0800 Safe Commentary By A Not-So-Safe Commentator We'll be honest. We never thought that Safe would be amongst the episodes to have more than one fan-recorded commentary before each and every episode had at least one. But this makes the second commentary for this episode.

Description:

My commentary for the episode, Safe is anything but. I bring up the topics of Buffy, The Village, Dogma and even my big, comfy couch. There's no telling what I may ramble on about. Please throw caution to the wind and join me in my delusion that I'm interesting. :)

This was recorded on the 29th of March, in the year of our Joss, 2006. Within my minimalist apartment in Lake Dallas, Texas, I watched the DVD on my shiny Media Center PC, and recorded the sounds of my vocal chords with Nero's audo software and my NEC microphone.

Note: Begin the commentary when you wish and listen for my cue to start the episode.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/safe/safe_commentary_by_a_not-so-safe_commentator http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/safe/safe_commentary_by_a_not-so-safe_commentator Safe Sun, 02 Apr 2006 18:40:21 -0800 'How Many In A Brazillian?' Or 'What's She Doing With That Prick?' Another group of podcasters, this time who focus on commentaries for "classic science fiction" join the ranks of commentators for Firefly.

Description:

So, here's how it is: We have been trying our hands at podcasting. Our podcasts are commentaries on classic science fiction television that we grew up with; Star Trek and the like. But recently we have been turned on to Firefly and Serenity. David now swears by his pretty floral bonnet (and sadly, we are not making this up, he has a very pretty bonnet indeed for just such swearing occasions) that we WILL have commentaries for all the episodes, and eventually Serenity. Bill doesn't swear anything at all. He cleaned up that potty mouth of his long ago. Al's just in this cuz he's got this thing for Inara's left nipple.

Why Shindig? Because we like it very, very much, as opposed to love it, so if we totally screw up we are less likely to beat ourselves up to a pulp over it, as we might be wont to do over a poorly chosen comment made on, say, Objects in Space.

If you like this commentary, check out our show notes and other episodes at:

abdwatchtv.blogspot.com

Note: Queue your dvd up to the one second mark (does anyone outside of IT or the UK know how to spell that without using a dictionary?). We'll do a "three, two, one, click" countdown after a brief introduction.

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  • Commentator Name(s): Al, Bill and David
  • Commentator Location: Boston, MA (At least officially. In actual fact we are secreted in various locations around the US, in deep underground bunkers, lest our significant others find out we do this sort of thing and dump us forever.)
  • Date(s) Recorded: 18 March 2006
  • Variety: Live, Multiple-Person
  • Language: English (as far as we can tell)
  • Download Commentary (mp3)
  • More Information On Commentary/Commentator(s)
  • (Submitted by Al, Bill and David)
]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/shindig/how_many_in_a_brazillian_or_whats_she_doing_with_that_prick http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/shindig/how_many_in_a_brazillian_or_whats_she_doing_with_that_prick Shindig Sun, 26 Mar 2006 21:22:22 -0800 My First Away Team Your humble webmaster is beginning not only to fall behind on the recording and the listening, but of the keeping track of how many audio tracks some of the people, such as this commentator, have submitted.

Description:

Having finished with the unaired episodes I decided to pick from the remaining episodes with no BDC.com commentary. I was all set to do Shindig, but then came across another alternative commentary site which seems ready to post their own Shindig commentary. With any luck those guys will allow BDC to link to their track, but if not Shindig will probably be next on my agenda.

The track was recorded through Goldwave with a cheap Game brand microphone. The episode was played using RealPlayer. I think I managed to reduce the muffled episode audio to the point where it's practically inaudible. Hopefully I'll have a new mic for the next episode.

Note: You will be prompted to start the episode with a countdown during the commentary's introduction.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/war_stories/my_first_away_team http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/war_stories/my_first_away_team War Stories Sun, 26 Mar 2006 20:05:23 -0800 Curt's Commentary: Safe In the midst of a burst of regular commentators continuing building their catalogue, a new commentator tosses their hat into the ring.

Description:

This is the first commentary I concidered good enough for submission. It containes my personal views and opinions on the events of 'Safe', looking at the plot, errors and mistakes, cinematic features and anything else I thought was interesting at the time.

Note: Start the commentary at the same time that the episode begins.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/safe/curts_commentary_safe http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/safe/curts_commentary_safe Safe Sun, 26 Mar 2006 19:19:51 -0800 A Sad Little King Of A Sad Little Commentary Everyone else continues to rack up the commentaries while your humble webmaster continues to be missing in action, recording nothing, and falling even further behind in listening.

Description:

The professionalism continues as I babble through the episode, Shindig. Darkman, Cowboy Bebop & Brisco County Jr. all get honorable mention. I marvel at the pretty sets and costumes, while praising the big, squishy brain with arms that is Jane Espenson.

This was recorded in the corner of my apartment, which resides in the corner of Lake Dallas, Texas. I watched the DVD on my HP Media Center computer, while recording the event with Nero's audo program and my NEC microphone.

Note: Start the commentary when you're ready and listen for my cue to begin the episode.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/shindig/a_sad_little_king_of_a_sad_little_commentary http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/shindig/a_sad_little_king_of_a_sad_little_commentary Shindig Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:43:04 -0800 Anyone Up For A Game Of Spaceketball? One of our regularly-heard commentators continues his path through, well, anything and everything, by finishing off the first disc of the DVD set.

Description:

Completing the first disc in the Firefly Box Set, I'm back with the episode, Bushwhacked. In this commentary, I make comparisons and references to Event Horizon, Hellraiser & South Park. Obscure pop culture, a shout out from my telephone and the occasional seconds of dead air prove that I know exactly what I'm doing.

I'm like a trained ape, without the training.

This commentary was recorded at my tiny apartment in Lake Dallas, Texas. I watched the episode on my HP Media Center PC, while recording my melodious voice through an NEC microphone and audio software by Nero.

Note: Start the commentary whenever you're ready, and listen for my cue to begin the episode.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/anyone_up_for_a_game_of_spaceketball http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/anyone_up_for_a_game_of_spaceketball Bushwhacked Sat, 18 Mar 2006 16:11:44 -0800 'Knight, Sweetie BDC is playing catch-up with submissions that have come in over the past couple of days while we've been otherwise occupied. Again, here's a commentary on an episode that doesn't otherwise have one on the DVDs themselves.

Description:

For all those people who didn't want me to do another commentary; too bad, you should've spoken up sooner.

This is my commentary for Our Mrs Reynolds. I decided to do this episode because there isn't already a commentary for it, Big and Damned or otherwise. Hopefully, if people do like this one, I'll get cracking on some other episodes that remain commentary-less.

One final note; living in Australia, I only have access to PAL DVDs, which are faster than most other reigons. If you think that you're behind me in the episode, just pause the commentary and wait for it to catch up.

Note: Start the commentary as soon as the episode starts playing - not in the menus, but the episode itself.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/our_mrs_reynolds/knight_sweetie http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/our_mrs_reynolds/knight_sweetie Our Mrs. Reynolds Sat, 18 Mar 2006 15:38:17 -0800 BDC's First Press Mention Big Damn Commentaries received its first (to our knowledge) press mention this week, in a Tampa Bay Times article on podcast audio commentaries for television shows.

Although there's a problem with how the article renders on their website, BDC is described in the article as being "a clearinghouse of podcasts for fans of the cult hit Firefly and its movie spinoff, Serenity" and is included in the sidebar/inset list of relevant links.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/bdcs_first_press_mention http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/bdcs_first_press_mention Site News Tue, 14 Mar 2006 12:19:58 -0800 Honeymoon On Bellerophon One of the original commentators returns once again, this time to tackle another of the episodes which originally went unaired during Firefly's brief time on FOX.

Description:

Since I'd already talked over the other two unaired episodes The Message and Heart Of Gold, Trash seemed like an obvious choice for commentary number 3.

The track was recorded through Goldwave with a cheap Game brand microphone. The episode was played using RealPlayer. Despite being convinced that I'd improved my hardware setup, yet again a muffled version of the episode's audio was picked up along with my voice, albeit a slightly quieter version this time. I still can't isolate the cause, but for now I've come to terms with it - hopefully you can too!

Note: You will be prompted to start the episode with a countdown during the commentary's introduction.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/trash/honeymoon_on_bellerophon http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/trash/honeymoon_on_bellerophon Trash Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:18:33 -0800 The Firefly Experience: The Train Job Hot on the heels of the previous submission comes another for the same episode, by the other set of fan commentators who have pledged to work their way through each and every episode.

Description:

This is the next commentary for the Firefly Experience, as we make our way through the whole series.

If you like the commentary at all, please, check us out at either www.geekexperience.com or www.fireflyexperience.com. We've got message boards set up to chat about whatever you want, including our commentaries. We can also be reached via e-mail at geekxp@gmail.com, if anyone has anything to say about the commentary, or whatever else.

Note: Start the commentary whenever you want, we'll give you the cue to hit play.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_train_job/the_firefly_experience_the_train_job http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_train_job/the_firefly_experience_the_train_job The Train Job Thu, 09 Mar 2006 21:10:21 -0800 If I Get Killed, You Can Have My Microphone Our second commentator ever to announce their intention to methodically go through every episode returns with a commentary on the first one ever aired, following up on his commentary for the series pilot.

Description:

The fun continues, as I record a commentary for The Train Job. This time around, I have notes and I've fixed my microphone.

Actually, I fixed myself. In my previous commentary, I was too close to the equipment. I've since learned to restrain myself from making out with my mic.

This was recorded at my apartment in Lake Dallas, Texas using an ancient NEC microphone and my wicked shiny HP Media Center PC.

Note: Begin the commentary when you wish, and listen for my cue to start the episode.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_train_job/if_i_get_killed_you_can_have_my_microphone http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_train_job/if_i_get_killed_you_can_have_my_microphone The Train Job Thu, 09 Mar 2006 15:11:22 -0800 Hovercrafts And Laserbeams One of the two fans who contributed the very first fan audio commentary ever posted to Big Damn Commentaries, thereby officially inagurating and launching this site, returns with a solo effort.

Description:

In the absence of a commentating buddy, I decided to test the waters with a solo effort. Heart Of Gold seemed like a good choice since there are no existing commentaries on it. Plus, it's not a favourite of mine so if I botched the job I wouldn't be too disappointed...

The track was recorded through Goldwave with a cheap Game brand microphone. The episode was played using RealPlayer. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, a muffled version of the episode's audio was picked up during recording. I thought I'd protected against this, but hopefully I'll work out what I did wrong before my next effort.

Note: You will be prompted to start the episode with a countdown during the commentary's introduction.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/heart_of_gold/hovercrafts_and_laserbeams http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/heart_of_gold/hovercrafts_and_laserbeams Heart Of Gold Tue, 07 Mar 2006 21:56:10 -0800 I'm Not Rambling! Honest! Our third fan commentary on Serenity comes from Australia, from a name many of you likely will recognize from around the various Verse-related site and boards.

Description:

This is my commentary for the Big Damn Movie. I recorded it as a way to both voice my thoughts on the movie and the characters without anyone arguing with me, and as an excuse to watch Serenity again - oh, the amount of times I had to stop recording and start again 'cause I accidentaly coughed. ;)

I hope you like it, and if you do, please let me know and I'll record another one.

Note: Press 'Play' in the main menu, and then start playing the commentary as soon as you hear the Universal theme music.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/im_not_rambling_honest http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/im_not_rambling_honest Serenity Sun, 05 Mar 2006 17:23:22 -0800 Curse My Sudden But Inevitable Commentary! Another commentary from a fan who intends to work their way through the entire series, including the film. If everyone who is setting out to do that indeed pulls it off, we'll have a rather sizable library of commentaries one day.

Description:

I'm a fellow Browncoat and a fan of all works by Joss Whedon. This commentary for the Firefly pilot is the first in a series which will cover the whole show and finish with the movie.

It was recorded on Friday, February 24th in my small apartment, using an audio recording program from Nero and an old microphone from NEC. I discuss the episode strictly from a fan perspective, while watching the DVD on my HP Media Center PC.

Note: Begin the commentary when you're ready and listen for my cue to start the episode on your DVD.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/serenity/curse_my_sudden_but_inevitable_commentary http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/serenity/curse_my_sudden_but_inevitable_commentary Serenity Fri, 03 Mar 2006 21:42:22 -0800 Up The Down Slide Continuing the growing collective push to record commentaries on episodes of Firefly, the webmaster for Big Damn Commentaries tackles "Ariel" and examines the characters of Simon and Jayne in light of developments and revelations from the film, Serenity.

Description:

This commentary takes its title from this particular line from the episode itself because much of it is about differences between the series and the movie as it pertains to Simon and River.

When it became apparent that Joss had rewritten River's rescue from the story Simon told the crew in the pilot episode, many Browncoats worked on bringing the two versions into compliance once again, eventually developing a fanwank later adopted by Joss himself: Simon lied to the crew, and withheld information from them.

In this commentary, I explore Simon's words and actions in "Ariel" from the standpoint of the new canon of Simon's deceptions.

Since we all had to work backward from the movie into the series in order to develop that fanwank, we were, in a sense, going up the down slide.

Note: You should start playing this commentary at the same moment you press "play episode" on the DVD menu.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/ariel/up_the_down_slide http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/ariel/up_the_down_slide Ariel Tue, 21 Feb 2006 02:25:08 -0800 ZachsWhacked Episodes of Firefly continue, finally, to get the fan commentary treatment, with this commentary on "Bushwhacked" from ZachsMind.

Description:

I'm a fan of Joss Whedon and have little more credentials than that. I believe any fan of Firefly should feel encouraged to pick one or more episodes of the series and do a commentary. This was recorded in my house in Dallas, Texas, on the evening of Sunday, February 19th, 2006. It was mostly improvised with some preparation and scripting. If I can do this, so can you. =)

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/zachswhacked http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/bushwhacked/zachswhacked Bushwhacked Sun, 19 Feb 2006 19:20:32 -0800 File Hosting Now Available For Commentaries One of the tricky things about submitting commentaries for listing here is that if you don't have a place to host the mp3 so it can be directly linked, our podcast-enabled RSS feed won't pick it up.

While there are no shortage of free file hosting sites out there, very few permit direct linking to the uploaded file -- you first have to go through a page on their site. That doesn't work for our purposes.

At the early stage, we had room to toss a few commentaries, including our own, into the storage we had on our ISP's servers, but doing so put us dangerously close to our disk quotas there, so it wasn't a viable long-term option.

Some commentators have their own server space and so can just host their mp3s themselves, as both The Spoilers and The Firefly Experience have done.

We now have a working solution for those of you unable to host your commentary mp3s on a server from which they can be directly linked. You can make use of this option in one of two ways.

First, if you do make use of one of those free file hosting sites, just upload it there and use that URL in the commentary submission form. We will download it from there, and then re-upload it to the Ourmedia/Internet Archive account we've set up expressly for this purpose.

Second, if you do not make use of such a hosting site, or don't want to, then put something like "Sending via email" in the URL line of the commentary submission form, send your mp3 to us as an email attachment, and we will upload it to our Ourmedia/Internet Archive account.

With this solution now, finally, in place, there's no excuse. Get recording, and share your commentaries with Browncoats everywhere.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/file_hosting_now_available_for_commentaries http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/file_hosting_now_available_for_commentaries Site News Thu, 16 Feb 2006 11:38:06 -0800 The Firefly Experience: Serenity (The Pilot) Continuing the seemingly-natural link between audio commentaries and podcasters, three geeks bring us our second commentary on an episode of Firefly.

Description

This is a commentary for the pilot episode of Firefly, recorded by the hosts of the Geek Experience, a podcast related to various "geek" things. We're all huge fans of Firefly, and wanted to record some commentaries in addition to our regular show. Our intent is to do one for each of the episodes, plus the movie.

If you like the commentary at all, please, check us out at either www.geekexperience.com or www.fireflyexperience.com. We've got message boards set up to chat about whatever you want, including our commentaries. We can also be reached via e-mail at geekxp@gmail.com, if anyone has anything to say about the commentary, or whatever else.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/serenity/the_firefly_experience_serenity_the_pilot http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/serenity/the_firefly_experience_serenity_the_pilot Serenity Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:12:51 -0800 My One True Commentary Big Damn Commentaries' very own webmaster -- The One True b!X -- finally found the time to record his own commentary for the film.

Description:

First, let me make sure to point out that the title here is My One True Commentary. That word is "my" and not "the" -- just in case anyone thinks I was trying to be so egotistical as to think I'd recorded The One True Commentary.

At any rate, it of course has been my intention since before launching this site to record my own audio commentary for the movie, and I managed to not be the first to do so, since a quartet of podcasters beat me to it.

I haven't actually listened to this yet (I only just finished recording it), and since I held off on listening to the podcasters' commentary, I'll probably listen to that one first. But after all I've written on the various boards as well as my own websites, my commentary at least finally is recorded and made available.

Note: You should start playing this commentary not when you click the "Play" icon on your the DVD's main menu, but when you first hear the music which accompanies the Universal logo at the start of the film.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/my_one_true_commentary http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/my_one_true_commentary Serenity Sat, 11 Feb 2006 19:10:10 -0800 Commentary For Serenity DVD Recorded By Podcasters This movie commentary comes to us via a group of podcasters -- two who regularly record DIY audio commentaries for movies, and two who Browncoats just might possibly recognize from elsewhere.

Description:

The Spoilers is a podcast hosted by Rick Yaeger and Bill Douthett that provides alternate commentaries for DVD movies. We had the privilege and the pleasure of having the hosts of The Signal, Les Howard and Kari Haley, join us and offer their unique perspective and experience to the show as we ran commentary on Serenity.

The Signal, as I'm sure you know, is a very popular fan created podcast that was originally started to spread awareness of the movie Serenity while it was still in production. The podcast became so successful, though, that they are preparing a second season of programming even though the film has come out, left the theaters and been released to DVD--the popularity of the Firefly 'Verse is a powerful thing.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/commentary_for_serenity_dvd_recorded_by_podcasters http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/serenity/commentary_for_serenity_dvd_recorded_by_podcasters Serenity Sat, 21 Jan 2006 19:14:42 -0800 Are We Serious? Oh, Hell Yes Over on the official Versal boards, in a comment on our re-announcement of this site's existence, a fellow Browncoat expresses some skepticism about the concept of fan-recorded commentaries.

Personally, I don't want to hear fan's commentary on a movie. Mystery Science Theatre? Yes. The people who were there working on it, or wrote it? Absolutely! 2 hours of "Ooooh! Sean's so hot!", "I love Kaylee's t-shirt!", "Here's where Mal makes me cry!" and singing along with the Fruity Oaty Bars commercial? Oh Hell No.

We thought it would be a good time to take a moment to explain why we think the idea actually is a worthwhile one.

Personally, we want to hear Browncoats talk about what it was like the first time they saw Firefly or Serenity. We want to hear about their obsession over the R. Tam Sessions. We want, for example, to hear some of the fans who got to go be extras in the film discuss what was happening on set when their scenes were shot.

Spend some time on any official or unofficial Firefly or Serenity boards and you'll find a wide range of fandom, including posts which reflect the above critic's disdain. But you'll also find a great deal of insightful and considered opinion.

We believe that prospects of fan-recorded commentaries of the latter variety is well worth the risk of having to cull through fan-recorded commentaries of the former variety.

At some point, in fact, we hope to add a rating or voting function to this site, so that Browncoats can rate the various commentaries which will be listed here. If and when we find a method for this which appeals to us, it won't be some sort of simple numerical ranking, but will allow Browncoats to label commentaries across a spectrum of descriptive opinions.

Which means concerns such as those expressed by the above-quoted critic can be addressed by Browncoats themselves, by clearly noting what commentaries seem useful and interesting and which do not.

Of course, in the meantime, that can already be done: Just post a comment to any given listing.

But to assume and suggest from the outset that fans of Firefly and Serenity as a whole can't rise above nothing more than two hours of fannish drooling? Well, that seems needlessly -- and rather embarassingly -- dismissive of the very fanbase of which the above-quoted critic themselves is a part.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/are_we_serious_oh_hell_yes http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/are_we_serious_oh_hell_yes Site News Tue, 13 Dec 2005 13:35:52 -0800 The Pen Is Mightier At long last, the maintainer of the R. Tam Sessions fansite which tracked these viral videos when they were released back in August (and the maintainer of Big Damn Commentaries itself) has recorded a commentary for those Sessions clips.

Description

It's difficult to do a commentary for the R. Tam Sessions, since they run, in total, for just under eight minutes. There's a great deal of information in my notes and on the Session 416 website that simply doesn't make it into this commentary.

But I had been promising people since Big Damn Commentaries launched that I would sit down and do an R. Tam Sessions commentary, so it was long past due.

In recording this commentary, I watched the R. Tam Sessions on SVCD rather than watching them on my computer at the same time I recorded the mp3 of the commentary.

While listening to the commentary while watching the R. Tam Sessions via SVCD on your television is the better way, it's functionally equivalent to doing it all on your computer (presuming you have the complete sessions in a single file): Start the commentary with the initial black screen which starts Session 416, Second Excerpt.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/r_tam_sessions/the_pen_is_mightier http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/r_tam_sessions/the_pen_is_mightier R. Tam Sessions Mon, 12 Dec 2005 14:11:52 -0800 How Not To Commentate On 'The Message' This commentary comes from Stuart and Tom, "brothers and (obviously) fans of Firefly." They say they recorded this "partly because it seemed like a good idea, partly because no one else has submitted anything yet and we wanted to help get the ball rolling."

Description:

We parked two chairs in front of our computer desk and watched the episode on Windows Media Player. We used a cheapo microphone from GAME and a freeware Sound Recorder by Magicsofts. Since we had no headphones splitter we set up some small speakers under the desk and turned the volume down low so we could hear the episode but it would be really quiet on the microphone. As it turned out, this wasn't such a great idea as you can hear the muffled audio in the background. Hopefully it's still listenable, and we'll try to do better next time!

Totally unrehearsed, completely unprofessional and utterly uninformative. In other words it's just two random guys speaking (sporadically) about cow fetuses and guys in boxes for 43 minutes.

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]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_message/how_not_to_commentate_on_the_message http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/firefly/the_message/how_not_to_commentate_on_the_message The Message Mon, 14 Nov 2005 19:05:55 -0800 Quick Notes Before First Commentary Listing We'll be posting the first commentary submission either later tonight or sometime tomorrow. In advance of that there are a few quick things work mentioning, because there no doubt will be some kinks to work out along the early going here.

]]>First off, the podcast-enabled RSS feed will be somewhat intermittently useful, since many of the people who submit commentaries for listing here will be using various file-hosting services which don't permit direct linking to the mp3s in question.

For the podcast-enabled RSS feed to function properly, it needs to have direct links to mp3 files, not links to html pages from which people can then download the audio. So some material as it gets listed here won't be podcast-ready in that RSS feed.

This situation is not likely to change any time in the near future, until and unless we can assess the cost/benefit of finding an mp3-hosting solution specifically for this site, or until and unless we have the bandwidth to allow us to just host the mp3s directly on this server.

Secondly, a quick tip on synchronization issues. Now and then, you might notice that an audio commentary seems to have gotten ahead of the DVD, or the other way around.

If the commentary is ahead of the DVD, pause the commentary for however many seconds it seems to be out of sync, and then un-pause it. If the DVD is ahead of the commentary, pause the DVD for however many seconds it seems to be out of sync, then un-pause it.

All of that said, look forward to the first commentary listing at some point within the next twenty-four hours.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/quick_notes_before_first_commentary_listing http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/quick_notes_before_first_commentary_listing Site News Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:44:44 -0800 Welcome Firefly Talkers Just a quick note to welcome any visitors coming thanks to the brief mention in Firefly Talk #4, this week's edition of that particular podcast. You'll note, perhaps with some confusion, that there isn't anything posted here other than site news. Two reasons for this.

]]>First, this site is relatively new and work is still getting out. Second, not even the editor of this site (who keeps promising people he will submit a commentary on the R. Tam Sessions) -- let alone anyone else -- has yet submitted any Browncoat-recorded commentaries for listing.

Which of course is a backhanded way of inviting you (yes, you, right there) to become the first Browncoat to submit a commentary for listing here. You know you want to.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/welcome_firefly_talkers http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/welcome_firefly_talkers Site News Wed, 09 Nov 2005 23:03:40 -0800 Pre-Ordering Serenity On DVD (And Putting The R. Tam Sessions On SVCD) First of all, Amazon now is taking pre-orders on the Serenity DVD, complete with the monstrously-bad box art which has been causing something of a ruckus today. So, with pre-orders underway for the December 20 release, now is the time to begin contemplating what you'll do for those Browncoat-recorded audio commentary tracks you're all salivating to do.

]]>Meanwhile, you might note that one of the categories here (check the sidebar on the main index) is for commentaries on the so-called R. Tam Sessions, which of course aren't actually available on DVD. There are two ways interested commentators could address this.

You could simply assume people will play both your audio commentary and the R. Tam Sessions themselves on their computers simultaneously. But the more effective solution is for people to download the complete Sessions (available as a Quicktime file at the above-linked site), convert them, and burn them to an SVCD which can be played in any standard DVD player.

That process is more involved than we're going to get into here. But if you're the sort of person who might be likely to do that, you're also likely the sort of person who can dig up how.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/preordering_serenity_on_dvd_and_putting_the_r_tam_sessions_on_svcd http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/preordering_serenity_on_dvd_and_putting_the_r_tam_sessions_on_svcd Site News Tue, 01 Nov 2005 18:03:37 -0800 Your 'Verse, Your Words As it says over at the top of the sidebar on the main index, Big Damn Commentaries will be a clearinghouse of audio commentary tracks recorded by Browncoats for episodes of the Joss Whedon television series Firefly and its major motion picture follow-up Serenity.

]]>As should be obvious, it isn't quite there yet. We have a fair number of things to put together before this site is ready to take your submissions, but it makes some sense to offer at least a brief idea of what we're after.

Obviously, we're not talking about audio commentaries in the traditional sense, meaning those offered as part of DVDs themselves. Rather, this site will be a one-stop guide to Browncoat-recorded commentaries, in the form of mp3s, which can be played while watching a particular episode of Firefly or the DVD of Serenity once it's released.

In the coming weeks, we will be setting forth some general guidelines (once we write them) and instructions, and explaining just how to submit your commentary track, and other necessary information, for inclusion here.

To start with, we will not be hosting the mp3s themselves here on this site. In the early days, you will have to have a place to host those files, and we will simply be linking to them from here. That said, those links also will be included in the feeds here, and our RSS 2.0 feed will be Podcast-ready to make it simple to keep up-to-date with commentaries that have been submitted.

In addition, we will have email notifications for which you can register to keep similarly up-to-date, and this functionality should be available at the individual item, category, and blog-wide levels (once we set this up).

For now, consider this the general pre-launch introduction, and the invitation to check back in the coming weeks for information on how to submit, or make use of, Browncoat-created audio commentary tracks.

]]> http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/your_verse_your_words http://www.bigdamncommentaries.com/site_news/your_verse_your_words Site News Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:02:52 -0800