Monday, April 19, 2010

Slayage... Is Coming...

And no, I'm not talking about the inevitable death toll that looms on Lost (waaaah... oh PLEASE Darlton, SPARE THEM!) No, I'm talking about SC4, the upcoming Slayage academic conference on the Whedonverses (remember long ago when it was just about Buffy? No more...)! I haven't been this excited since, well, the last Slayage!

This is where academics from around the world descend on the historic town of St. Augustine, Florida, to talk about all things Whedon for three days. Can you even imagine anything more glorious? No. You can't. We've been discussing on this blog the possibility of doing a Buffy rewatch (or, in the case of the unanointed, a Buffy first-watch) with all of us discussing the show as we go, probably starting at some point in August, and if we do that, it would be a great boon for your analytical skills to attend this conference first.

The keynotes will be Janet ("Steve") Halfyard, author of Music, Sound, and Silence in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, delivering a paper entitled "Listening to Buffy: Music, Memory, Meaning, and Moping"; Lorna Jowett, author of Sex and the Slayer, on "Stuffing a Rabbit in It: Character, Narrative, and Time in the Whedonverses"; and Dale Koontz, author of Faith and Choice in the Works of Joss Whedon, whose paper is entitled, "Twelve Steps Forward, One Step Back: Redemption Through Recovery in the Works of Joss Whedon."

The draft of the program of presenters is now available here, and you'll see the wide array of topics and papers, some of which look absolutely divine.

But of course, what you'll REALLY be there to see is the banquet talk, which is where the name of the conference becomes a literal one. Oh yes, folks, for one night only, you can see a steel cage death match between Nikki "The Slayer" Stafford and Matthew "Silly, Silly British Man" Pateman!! In this corner, standing at 5'6" and boasting a black belt in AWESOMENESS, it's the author of Bite Me!! And in this corner, standing at 6'4" (wait, what?) and specializing in tea drinking and Man U hating, it's the author of The Aesthetics of Culture in Buffy the Vampire Slayer!!

We all know who's gonna win this one.

OK, maybe it won't quite be a steel cage death match. Possibly more like poking each other annoyingly. Or a re-enactment of the Harmony/Xander slap fight. But, you know, I think there will be roast beef. So... yay?

There's still time to register to come and listen. Seriously, this conference is SO much fun, I can't recommend it enough. Hope to see some of you there!

12 comments:

Cedar said...

The intrigue surrounding banquet night continues. I can't wait!

Ian said...

Can. Not. Wait.

Zari said...

For those who want to get a “taste” of Buffy, tune in to http://www.logotv.com

“When she's not doing homework, she's kicking vampire butt! Get to know Buffy and her fellow outcasts in this epic sci-fi series from Joss Whedon. Watch weekdays on Logo!”

Today, for example, Logo (channel 272 DirecTV) is airing 8 epis in 2 sets of 4, but apparently not in original broadcast order.

Word Verf: pandin : Too many pots banging together.

Professor Beej said...

I, for one, can't wait. It makes me happy to see my name in that program. My wife and I made our hotel reservations this weekend, and we're both working on our research for our presentations/papers.

I can't wait for the banquet after the way my wife described SC3 in 2008.

What I can wait for, however, is the crucifixion that I'll receive in the Q&A section for my paper after I tell a conference full of academic Browncoats that Wash deserved to die because he was useless. Fun times!

Zari said...

You can watch every Buffy episode online:
HULU: http://www.hulu.com/search?query=Buffy+the+Vampire+Slayer&st=0

TV.com: http://www.tv.com/buffy-the-vampire-slayer/show/10/episode.html?tag=list_header;paginator;All&season=All

You can buy the complete series from these two sources, same price, but Amazon ships free:
http://shop.logotv.com/category/37923487961/1/Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Buffy-Vampire-Slayer-Collectors-discs/dp/B000AQ68RI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1271715895&sr=8-1

Word Verf: croish : Half-hearted bragging.

Rebecca T. said...

so wish I could go. Love, love, loving Buffy right now. Naomi and I are whipping through the eps. So good.

Maybe next year?

Loretta said...

Huh, you know, I've actually been contemplating doing a Buffy rewatch of my own. Not that I haven't rewatched the series from beginning to end, oh, about 5 or 6 times already (plus random viewings of many episodes), but I was considering starting up a blog solely about the rewatch/project.

So definitely keep me informed on if you decide to do this, and what your schedule will be, so I can post in parallel. :) I could use a good kick in the pants to get me doing that.

P.S. to everyone--if you have a Netflix account, every single episode of Buffy is now streaming (thus no waiting for the mail). :)

Paithan1 said...

Did Professor Beej just say that Wash deserved to die? Are you crazy man?!

Anyhoo, having a baby this summer so no Slayage attending for me BUT I am down with a Buffy rewatch. And so ready to dissect! I've got plenty of books to back me up plus I took a composition course at the graduate level where we examined the themes in Buffy and Firefly.

Page48 said...

If Wash deserved to die because he was useless, I'm pretty gorram worried about where that leaves me.

B.J. said...

I did say he deserved to die. Or rather, more precisely, that he served the least purpose on the crew of Serenity and as a part of the show's ensemble. Joss had to kill someone, and that someone couldn't have been integral to the success of either the franchise or the crew's indeterminate future. Wash was that guy (and so was Book, technically, but I don't think I'll have room in my presentation to cover him).

If Nikki doesn't mind, I'll link to the blog post I wrote a while back that has the abstract for my paper in it.

http://www.professorbeej.com/2010/03/slayage-conference-whedon.html

Joan Crawford said...

“I’m gonna throo ya doon some stee-ahs and help ya have a vishun!”

Hahahahaaha!

I was honestly kinda creeped out by Desmond there - way too persistent, then I again I hate a hard sell. And then weirdo Iliana - I would have been like "Yeah, actually I'm going to leave now, creeps."

Anonymous said...

Nikki,

Will there be a BtVS rewatch in August?

Thanks
Emily Luxor