This is an article that came out in Oct. but I missed it. It's still relevant so I wanted to post it.
"We've all heard the stereotypes and the tired cliches. If you're a fan and other people know about it, someone had told you to "Get a life," per William Shatner. The person probably even thought it was funny, because as my dad would say, there's always someone who'd laugh at a rubber crutch, too. The truth is, we do have lives. We have jobs and classes and families and pets as well as our fandom-related hobbies. What's more, because fandom acts as a large, loosely-knit community, we can spread information and gather help with just a quick post or email, and when that particular power is turned towards helping others, we bring out something else the get-a-lifers don't see: fandom's unlimited capacity for giving.
Shelters are popular recipients for fannish charity funds. Over Labor Day weekend, a Supernatural fan-run group called Fandom Rocks raised over $1,000 for the Lawrence Community Shelter, a homeless shelter in Lawrence, Kansas. Lawrence is the hometown of the Winchester brothers, so naming a charity in that city seemed fitting. Fandom Rocks raised another $1,000 for SOS Children's Villages, a non-governmental organization that operates in over one hundred countries providing assistance and resources to children and families in poverty and in the wake of humanitarian and natural disasters.
So the next time your pet mundane is laughing at your online habits and telling you to get a life, feel free to tell him or her that you and your fandom friends gave your time and energy to raise money for people in need, and that you had a great time doing it. If they're still laughing, hit 'em with the rubber crutch."
Events in the small town of Jericho, Kansas have recently taken a scary and confusing turn. What started out as an ordinary day has quickly turned chaotic. The residents of town have seen with their own eyes a mushroom cloud in the sky to the West. They suspect that some sort of nuclear explosion has taken place, most likely in the Denver area. But this is really all they know by the end of the day. The frightened townspeople are left with many questions: what happened? Who did this? Are we safe? Will anyone come to help us? Let’s listen in to two of Jericho’s oldest residents (and town gossips), as they try and figure out just what happened on that September day last fall.
Edna: Margie, what happened??
Margie: What happened? How do I know? Do I look like the New York Times?
Edna: Well for crying out loud, didn't you see that mushroom cloud in the sky? You'd have to be blind to miss it
Margie: I didn't have my glasses on. A mushroom in the clouds?
Edna: Turn up your hearing aid!! I said a mushroom cloud. Lord, give me strength.
Margie: Me too, Lord. Oh, Edna, I don't think that's good.
Edna: Me either, Margie. Do you think it was an accident?
Margie: I wish, but you know the news has been so bad about war and bombs.
Edna: I know, but how anyone could knowingly kill anyone else, I'll never know. It looked like it was maybe near Denver. Do you think there were others? I didn't see any....
Margie: I don't see anything. Maybe we should ask Mayor Green.
Edna: Maybe we should, he always knows what to do. But guess what??
Margie: What?
Edna: Speaking of the Greens, you'll never guess who I saw in town earlier today. Go ahead, try and guess!
Margie: I hate that guessing, Edna. Stanley? That cute boy.
Edna: You nincompoop, why would I be talking about the Greens if I meant Stanley? Honestly! It was Jake Green, big as life, right there in Gracie's Market.
Margie: Jake Green? He's been gone for 5 years. I'd better call Emily.
Edna: Oh, Emily knows, he talked to her right outside the market. She didn't look all that happy to see him.
Margie: Well, they sure belong together. Oh, maybe not. He did leave her.
Edna: Where do you suppose he's been all this time?
Margie: Knowing Jake he's been gallivanting all over the world. That boy can't be still.
Edna: I heard him tell Gracie that he was playing baseball, but that doesn't seem right. It looked to me like he was wearing dog tags; you know, like soldiers wear?
Margie: Dog tags? Maybe he was in the Army but he doesn't seem the type.
Edna: No, he sure doesn't. He always was a little wild. Remember how he and Stanley used to run around town, getting into trouble?
Margie: I sure do. I always said they'd come to no good but Stanley is a good man now. Well, except for owing those taxes.
Edna: Taxes? How much does he owe? You know, you shouldn't mess around with the federal government
Margie: I heard he got a letter from the Revenuers and he owes thousands and thousands of dollars.
Edna: Lord-a-mercy! How do you suppose he let that happen? He seems so responsible.
Margie: I know but he got his figures messed up I guess. I didn't think that old farm was worth a hoot.
Edna: Well, the IRS will put it to rights, I have no doubt. Mushroom cloud or not. Oh Margie, I'm so worried, what's going to happen to us?
Margie: I'm not sure, Edna, but aren't we supposed to go somewhere safe?
Edna: I suppose we should. Do you think we might get bombed again?
Margie: I hope not. Oh Lord, Edna, this phone is dead. Let’s go get the car.
Edna: Margie, maybe we should just go to town hall.
Margie: I think so. Somebody should know what's going on. Maybe that Mr. Hawkins. Sweet man.
Edna: Hmm, you think so? He has a lovely family, it looks like. But I heard Gracie Leigh tell Jake that he paid cash for his house. That seems a little, well, odd, don't you think?
Margie: Yes and his wife, Darcy, acts very peculiar when I asked where they came from.
Edna: You know, it's funny. They only just got to town. You don't suppose they know anything about that mushroom cloud, do you? You know I don't believe in coincidences.
Margie: Well, they sure are secretive. They won't even let their children talk to me. What if he does know something?
Edna: I don't know Margie, maybe we'd better just steer clear of him until we find out what's going on. We'd better head to town hall.
*************************** Town Hall
Margie: Edna, look at that crowd. They seem to be awfully upset.
Edna: They do, don't they? It sounds like a school bus of kids is missing, oh Margie!
Margie: Oh no! Is somebody going to look for them?
Edna: I hope so. Uh-oh, it sounds like there's trouble over at the gas station. Think we should check it out?
Margie: I think we should. What's that racket?
******************************* Gas Station
Edna: Look at that, grown folks fighting over gasoline. You'd think they'd never had to prepare for a disaster before. They should be ashamed of themselves!
Margie: Well, they aren't as lucky as we are. Papa taught us to be prepared but a lot of folks live day to day.
Edna: That's so true. Oh my stars Margie, look! It's the school bus!
Margie: Edna, is that Jake Green driving that thing?
Edna: Why, I do believe that it is! Bless his heart, I guess he does know to do the right thing, doesn't he?
Margie: I hope he did it for the right reasons. Who's that young lady? The teacher?
Edna: Oh my, yes, it's Heather Lisinski. She had those kids out on a field trip today, you know. Looks like some of them are hurt, I'm so glad they made it back safely. Oh, hush, it looks like Mayor Green is talking.
Margie: Let me turn up my hearing aid.
Mayor Green’s speech, on any other day but this one, would have sounded like typical politician rhetoric. But Margie and Edna, and the rest of the citizens of Jericho gathered there, knew that it wasn’t. His words about working together in times of difficulty, and about using their imaginations to solve problems, struck home with all of them. And when he said to those gathered, “Folks, don’t you break my heart again,” nobody wanted to.
**************************************
Margie and Edna would have given their eyeteeth to know that Hawkins is able to use his computer and he has found Jake Green with a passport flagged by the government. Why does Hawkins' computer work and why is Jake's passport flagged?
These and many more questions can be answered by watching the season one DVD, available Oct. 2. Why not order yours today?
I recently interviewed Stacey of Jerichon to get all the details for this fabulous Jericho convention. Now I'm sad that I can't go but maybe you can. I sure want to after reading this.
Thanks, Stacey, for the information.
1. What is the purpose of Jerichon?
One of our main concepts that has been in the front of our minds from the beginning was to get the fans together to celebrate the love that we have for the show and for each other. Anybody that has been with Jericho since the very beginning can agree with me, Jericho has created a second family for all us.
2. What do you want everybody to know about Jerichon?
We have a lot of great events planned and we are gaining incredible ideas every day. We are getting ready to implement a sponsorship incentive program for the fans so that everyone can be a part of this great weekend. The GoJ has had an absolute blast putting this together and Jamie Bell from Oakley is really a dream to work with.
3. What are some of the activities you'll have?
Where do I start?!? Workshops for those that want to learn more about nuclear weapons and EMP, a workshop for the Jeather and Jem crowds to talk about who Jake really needs to be with (Heather), a bbq a lot like the one Jericho had with music and dancing, tours of the area around Oakley. A chance for those that want to celebrate our troops, a multi-faith church service on Sunday. Jericho re-runs playing at 'Bailey's' all weekend long and we have a re-run watch party planned at Bailey's as well the Friday we get there. We have a Blackjack's and we are working on an online live-feed for the fans that can't make it. We've even got a couple of surprises in store that will truly knock everyone's socks off, but that's classified information. If I give it out, it won't be any fun and I'm sure the GoJ will hire a posse to hunt me down, LOL.
4. How did the idea for Jerichon come to be?
The original idea came sometime at the end of last year on the Myth boards at CBS. The Myth board fans are incredible and it seemed right that we should all meet face-to-face. The idea was brought back up again the beginning of this year and we decided this was something that was meant to be. From there, we took the bull by the horns and ran with it, the only time we've stopped planning was during the campaign because we felt it needed our attention 100%. As soon as we won, we were back at it and let me take this opportunity to say that the people on the GoJ are the most amazing bunch of people I've ever met. It has truly been an inspiration for me to work with them, I'm very proud and honored to be a part of this. SpookUSN was the one that came up with the idea first, she's now our Chairperson for the GoJ and she's so much fun to work with, I've gained another sister for life.
5. You have an outstanding website full of information. Will you continue to update it regularly?
We have so many awesome ideas that fans bring to us to research and develop and we are in daily contact with Oakley so absolutely YES the site will continue to be updated regularly. We also want to remind everyone that we have early registration discounts and we will be putting up per day/event rates very soon.
6. Do you think some of Jericho's stars might appear?
This is one thing that we work on daily. We have all the actors saying they are incredibly interested in coming and are working as hard as they can to get there. All the fans need to keep the mindset that these amazing people are working on our beloved story of Jericho, if filming takes them through the convention weekend, we need to honor that and support them. But you can be assured, the GoJ is working hard at getting them there and we are working on the logistics of a live-feed in the event that they can't.
7. What else would you like us to know about Jerichon 2007?
Jerichon 2007 is more than a convention, way more. It's a celebration of our show, our hard work during the campaign and it shows CBS and the rest of the country that we are not going anywhere anytime soon. To some it may seem like just a convention, but more and more fans that I talk to through Jeritopia and the various fan forums agree with me - we're coming home to Oakley, where we've always been, where we'll always be and I will be the first to admit it, meeting the fans is going to make me shed some tears. Jericho fans are not JUST the best, we are a family and the convention is our family reunion.
Tonight (Friday) was a big night for Jericho and the fans. I hope the ratings are good. This is the time when we hope to capture new viewers who will be as enthralled as the rest of us. In anticipation of all the newly created Jericho addicts I would like to offer you some places to go for more information.
http://jerichowiki.cbs.com/ Enjoy the chat or forum plus all the excellent information on the cast, characters, and episodes.
CBS is aware of the convention plans and there is a chance that some of the actors might attend.
There will be a series of events including a dance and a barbecue plus a workshop on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack, such as the one Jericho faced when nuclear explosions took place in metropolitan areas.
At 2 p.m. on May 16, 2007, CBS announced its 2007-2008 primetime slate. Since Jericho was not on it we knew it had been cancelled. Jericho fans immediately converged on the Jericho board at CBS to express disbelief, shock, anger, frustration, and sadness. Those emotions soon jelled into one idea: What can we do to get our show back?
For the next several weeks ideas were born. The most famous was, of course, "Nuts to CBS". Thousands of emails, letters, and phone calls bombarded CBS along with 8 million nuts. Then, June 6, 2007, CBS Entertainment President Nina Tassler brought a successful finish to the Save Jericho campaign with the statement that Jericho would be renewed as a 7 episode mid-season replacement on CBS.
Our campaign, though, is not over. We need more viewers to watch the summer reruns and many more to watch Season 2 this fall.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the campaign- articles, fansites, videos, merchandise, cast and crew messages to fans, Shaun OMac and BlogTalkRadio, and our ads in Variety and Hollywood Reporter, please go here.
If you need flyers, signs, viewing guides, and newer information please go here.
If you'd like to get more involved in our current campaign please go here.
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