GGB Reno’s “Joss Whedon July” Brunch

GGB Reno held its “Joss Whedon July” brunch at a new location – Liberty Food and Wine Exchange in Midtown. We had a private room reserved just for our group, so we were able to geek out to our hearts’ content!

We quickly discovered that the Whedonverse encompasses far more than we could talk about at any one brunch. Not only does it include the standards – Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dr Horrible’s, but it also includes all of the Marvel films and TV shows AS WELL AS now Justice League and the whole DCEU! Needless to say this brunch was filled with a multitude of tangents, including gas prices, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Tom Lenk’s Lewks for Less, and the new Doctor.

Co-officer Vanessa started off the intros, talking about how she loves Firefly, Dr Horrible’s, but never watched Buffy. She actually watched Serenity before Firefly, and thankfully forgot how it ended when she finally watched the show, so she got the full gut punch at the end ☹ She really loves Dollhouse, and thinks it doesn’t get enough credit. She watches Agents of SHIELD and thought the second half of season 4 was AMAZING, particularly because it really reminded her of Dollhouse.

Second-time brunchette Angela followed, admitting that she fell asleep during Firefly but loves Buffy and Angel. Her favorite couple is Wesley and Lilah, because they are “fun and complicated.” She’s also firmly on Team Iron Man, and may or may not have gotten into a few Cap vs. Iron Man arguments…with young kids!

Kate regaled us with her awesome Mal cosplay! She was recently featured in the calendar made by the local geek group “Great Basin Geeks” and her love of cosplay has only grown from there. She’s such a big fan of Firefly, she even named her daughter River. She prefers Marvel to DC, and also falls on the Team Iron Man side.

Julie is a fan of Buffy and Angel, and she loves Firefly so much that she refuses to watch Serenity! “It’s not over if I don’t watch it!” We all admired her dedication! She urged us to check out Joss’ Much Ado About Nothing, which many of us hadn’t yet seen. She also talked about being a foodie, an unsung area of geekdom many of us could relate to. She introduced us to the concept of “diminishing returns,” specifically as it applies to the enjoyment of food (include link).

Lindsay has seen almost everything Joss Whedon, except some of Angel. She grew up watching Buffy as it aired on TV. She called out “Once More With Feeling” as one of the greatest episodes of TV ever made. She also loves Dr. Horrible, Much Ado About Nothing, Firefly & Serenity, and was also one of the few brunchettes who loved Dollhouse.

Amy watched Buffy in college, thinks Angel is “OK,” which seemed to be the general attitude across the group. She made everyone laugh when she told us about one of her favorite memes –>No need for explanation if you’re a fan of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog! She also got us onto a wonderful Squirrel Girl and comics-related tangent.

First time brunchette Erin also watched Buffy as a kid, and also didn’t love Angel as much. Her favorite relationship was Oz & Willow. She also loves Firefly but didn’t feel that way the first time; she only loved it when she rewatched it. She refused to watch Dollhouse, however, because she can’t stand Eliza Dushku! But she does approve of Felicia Day, who most of us agreed is awesome.

Co-officer Erin has seen everything in the Whedonverse except Dollhouse, for the same reason – no love for Eliza Dushku (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-4384494/Eliza-Dushku-wasn-t-invited-Buffy-reunion.html). She connected with Buffy in high school because she was the same age as the characters and was able to grow with them. She even went on a date once with the bassist from Nerf Herder (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhXpAMPbesU)!

Jenna was also a first-time brunchette. While her boyfriend loves Buffy, she could never really get into it. She does love Angel and Firefly. She also has 2 kids with whom she can share her geeky ways😊 She was the first to remind everyone of Cabin in the Woods! Many of us were shocked that we had forgotten to mention this great movie!

GGB Reno co-founder Katie loves practically everything Joss, except she could never finish Angel. But she actually does love Eliza Dushku! This brunch was bittersweet for our group since it marked Katie’s final Reno brunch. We are so very thankful to her for starting this chapter and for being such a great friend, mentor, and geek girl to all of us to admire!

Cheyenne admitted that she did not grow up geeky, and only got into sci-fi later in her life. She discovered Firefly when Netflix recommended it to her based on her viewing habits. She knew nothing about it and even googled “when is season 2 coming?” (https://moviepilot.com/posts/3794014). She’s a fan of Dr. Horrible’s as well but not really The Avengers, and she never watched Buffy.

There was no shortage of conversation topics for this brunch, which was particularly successful thanks to the private room that the restaurant provided for us. We will certainly be returning here soon! Stay tuned for next month’s “August Authors” brunch!