11.19.01

11.19.01 (2nd Anniversary, The Axe, Cy Voris, Barvoolian coffee mugs, really subtle Invader Zim plug)

Been a little while since the last update and I have my long list of excuses of why. At the top of that list is the fact that I'm a senior and as this semester comes nearer to closing, the hectic level seems to be snowballing. Myself and another have been toying with VCD creation, which is just one more project I shouldn't be putting time into. The two things that calm me right now are: 1) One more semester to go 2) Received confirmation that my previous calculus credit counts at my new college, resulting in my permitted absence from next semester's Calc class. Whoohoo.

This month marks the 2nd anniversary for Betamountain.org. That's right, we've been around since 1999 and we've registered the domain for yet another two years. Looking back, this year has gone by pretty well. Dan Fiorella has volunteered a number of episode guides (including a new one with this update), Robert Mandell mentioned that the DVD talks were still on (sadly, no update since...), Christopher Rowley has been ever quietly present on the mailing list and most recently, we've had word from Cy Voris (see below). The number of people emailing me about where to get VHS copies (see FAQ) of the series is ever growing, showing that people are finding this site and, more importantly, new fans are finding the show even now.

Thanks for all the contributions and I hope this next year continues on in the same spirit. If anyone wants to help out with the site, drop me a line. That's enough babble for now. On to this update!

Dan Fiorella took some time this month and cranked out a synopsis on 'The Ax' for the episode guide section. Along with the storyline, Dan sheds a little insight on what was his first script for the Ranger series and where a few of the running Doc jokes originated. Read The Ax!

Cy Voris (credits as series writer & storyboard artist) dropped a line via email awhile ago (sorry for the long delay Cy). Check out what he has to say:

"So here's some Rangers scoops, blast from the past, etc... The lack of writing credits on the show had something to do with Rangers being a total nonunion show & not wanting to deal with any credit claims, etc, down the road, hence the vague credit of STORY PEOPLE (not to be confused with STORYBOARD ARTIST) which encompassed all the writers on the show. In addition to the late, great BRIAN DALEY (of "Han Solo at Star's End" fame, etc) -- who penned "Supertrooper", "Smuggler's Gauntlet", "Heart of Tarkon", "Ariel", etc, and was the key guy in filling out the back story of Shane Gooseman AND Niko, there was TOM DeHAVEN (a novelist & National Book Award Nominee from New Jersey??!!) who wrote "One Million Emotions", "Rainmaker" and "Galaxy Stranger" and CY VORIS (who was also a Storyboard Artist) who wrote "Rusty & The Boys" and "Renegade Rangers" (creating the memorable Daisy O'Mega) and went on to co-write the feature film "Tales From The Crypt presents Demon Knight", a straight-to-video series of sci-fi flicks for a young audience "Josh Kirby - Time Warrior!" and co-created the Fox TV series "Brimstone! A pretty interesting bunch."

Not only did Cy write us, he hooked Lee T. up with a copy or two of original scripts for the series. During the next update, we'll be posting a copy to the script for Renegade Rangers! Just debating on how to provide it, as it's weighing in at 7MB+ as it is right now. I'm leaning towards PDF format.