Hello Magazine Canada Gets It Right!

As you all probably know I am a big Spice Girls fan, and this month's Hello Magazine Canada had a feature about Sporty Spice and her "beautiful baby girl" - so of course, I had to pick it up! But elsewhere in the magazine, I stumbled upon a hidden gem! The magazine included a brief review of Emilie-Claire Barlow's latest album and in the first sentence, wrote words to please any Sailor Moon fan! Click the image for full size! Our review will be posted soon!

Sightings in Fan Land

Hey Moonies, it's been a while, but The Me is back with some fun tidbits for you. We came across these gems in various corners of the internet.

First up, a custom bedroom in Morrowind:

This would definitely be a fun room to have in any game, or even out here in the real world.

Next is an interesting crossover:

In case you can't identify her at first glace, that is Hatsune Miku, dressed up as Super Sailor Moon and yes, her Moon Kaleidoscope is actually a leek. And if her name still doesn't ring any bells, she was the first release from Crypton using Yamaha's Vocaloid2 singing synthesis software. Which explains her musical note motif and the 01 on her brooch. The significance of the leek is a much longer, non-Sailor Moon related story, but if you come ask me on the forums, I might just tell it to you!

But, the fun with the Vocaloids isn't quite done yet. Last up is another Vocaloid, Kagamine Rin, singing and starring in the Sailor Moon OP: Moonlight Densetsu!


Rin's twin brother Len is consigned to play Luna, and Miku and an older Vocaloid1 character, Meiko play Ami and Rei.

Whatever you do, though, do NOT watch the version of Miku singing Moonlight Densetsu that shows up under the related videos. While Rin's rendition is very good and a nice example of the music you can make with the Vocaloid software, it is much, much easier to make things that are not so nice. Don't take that as a slight against Miku, though. In capable hands, she is a very good singer.

Forums are Down...

Hi Moonies - we are all experiencing difficulties in loading the forums and we think this is due to some error in some new features which were installed this week by FreeForums. So if you are having troubles, it's not your computer! And sadly we can't do anything to fix it on our end either :(. We apologize for the inconvenience and we hope it's resolved soon!

Edit: The server DNS issues appear to be resolved, however if you are still having problems please send us an email and we'll forward it to our support contacts. The system was restored as of 1:30 AM EST this morning.

Flashpoint Continues Cutting Edge Presentation

Hey Moonies - Flashpoint isn't on today, but that doesn't mean we can't bring you news about it!

Flashpoint to be Broadcast Online in HD

CTV announced yesterday that a new beta player was being launched online, and that three of their top shows, Flashpoint, Corner Gas, and Malawi's Song were going to be the first shows in Canada to be offered online in HD! This also makes CTV the first network in Canada to stream HD content online! The player uses a combination of technology: Akamai's Adaptive Edge, Microsoft Silverlight, and Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) 7.0 Smooth Streaming Technology. It promises instant startup time and no buffering (then again, this is the internet and we expect there to be some buffering at the very least). We checked it out and we were impressed! It really seems like Canada is leading the US when it comes to the distribution of this series. Canada can access the show's previous and current seasons on iTunes, and in standard and high definition on CTV's website, as well as on television. CBS has not put the show up on iTunes, but the show is available on their network in SD & HD, and in SD on their site. Still no word on a North American DVD release, but we are working hard behind the scenes to get a copy of the UK release soon after it is out.

Do Not Buy This Boxset... Flashpoint Edition!

Speaking of DVDs, a pirated boxset has hit the internet. Please don't buy it! The DVDs are region free, which in the legit DVD world always rings alarm bells for not being official. We don't even think that's the official cover, it looks just like a screencap of a promotional picture we've seen kicking around CTV (when you load their official page, this image is a placeholder for whatever video is they have featured). It also features a monochrome CBS DVD logo, but the CBS store does not have a Flashpoint boxset listed anywhere! We haven't seen this boxset appear at any reputable online sellers - but should any of our fans see it, please email us with where you saw it and we will take action and get a letter campaign started (we've been here before)to get this set pulled in favor of an official release.

And to Catch Up on Ratings...

Canada's ratings for last week's episode have just been released - the show scored 1.350 million viewers and was the 16th most watched show in the country that week!

More on the Whereabouts of Optimum Productions

Since our last article over a year ago, we have occasionally spent some time poking and prodding around the internet to see whatever became of the Canadian companies involved with Sailor Moon. Now that Pretty Cure has hit the Canadian airwaves, hopefully to conquer Sailor Moon's former glory, we thought it was about time that we reported our findings.

Optimum Productions is still around. According to an NATPE brochure from 2008, the company had a few dubbing productions in the works - the cartoon Jibber Jabber, Top Gear (we're pretty sure that they handled editing it for time in other markets and/or international language dubbing), the hit Belgian Drama Matrioshki, and Canadian Geographic Presents. Louis Hurtubise (Producer throughout the series' run) also has a profile on popular indie voiceover site, Voice123. Nicole Thuault (Associate Producer, Director, and Casting) was a little harder to track down, however we were able to find out something interesting from her past. She was the director of the French dub of some major Hollywood films in association with Quebec studios Voice Heart and Cinélume. These were My Life So Far with Colin Firth, Norman Jewison's Dance Me Outside, and Pushing Tin. These are listed on Optimum Productions' website, but OP is not given credit on the official site for dubbing in Quebec... things that make you go hmmm... We still don't know what is going on with her Firmin Productions.

Another company which had a very big role in the distribution of the first two seasons of Sailor Moon in Canada was Kaleidoscope Entertainment. This company is also still around - we were able to find an old news release about their involvement in the production of Bathroom Divas on Bravo.

A Random Interlude

Hey Moonies, while we work out the technical issues we're having with the commercial post, we've got a couple treats that we stumbled upon.

First we have a clip from the variety show SMAPxSMAP. We've featured clips from them before as they sometimes have English speaking celebrities and musical guests visit. This time though, they've done a Dark Knight parody, featuring a rather docile Joker running into a very angry man!

SMAPxSMAP Dark Knight Joker Parody -
Seeing the Joker on his knees, apologizing is just hilarious!

And for another cultural crossover, we have the Japanese group Shonen Knife singing their version of Top of the World by the Carpenters on a recent episode of Music Japan. This particular cover was featured on the 1994 album "If I were a Carpenter" as one of three International groups lending their style to the Carpenters' songs.

Shonen Knife - Top of the World - The Carpenters -

Enjoy!

Flashpoint Ratings News!

Before we hit the ratings, we'll link you to an interesting article we found - One of Flashpoint's writers, Tassie Cameron is pitching a new cop series to US networks entitled Copper. The article goes on to say what a pioneer Flashpoint was for Canadian television across the border, since the economic crisis is pushing US networks to pursue alternative productions.

Canada's ratings for the episode "The Fortress" (which was the week before last Friday), scored 1.367 million viewers, and was the 14th most watched show in the country that week! US Ratings for the episode which aired just a few days ago, "Clean Hands", scored 9.44 million viewers, and earned a score of 1.9/6 for the adults 18-49 demographic. This 1.9 score sent off alarm bells with some critics, saying that the show probably won't survive, but it's been teetering between 1.9 and 2.0 the last few weeks. And it is still winning it's timeslot, despite only retaining 85% of the viewers from the preceding show, The Ghost Whisperer. Some other outlets are reporting bigger figures. Dollhouse rose in viewers to 4.42 million, with a score of 1.5/5 in the demographic. However if the previews are to be trusted, next week's episode will be a real kicker, and may be the spark that attracts more viewers. Flashpoint is on a hiatus for the next two weeks , and maybe if we are lucky we can catch up on some summaries - I'll at least be lost without Flashpoint for this time!