The Signal - Crew Page

You all know Les and Kari, and maybe a couple of other voices you hear occasionally. But behind the scenes there's a whole load of other people who are just as interesting and every bit as important to the running of The Signal. These are they:

Kevin Bachelder Voice Talent/Newshound	Kevin lives just south of Boston, MA in the USA. He first became interested in sci-fi by watching the original Star Trek series in reruns during the early 70's. Along with Firefly the other popular sci-fi and fantasy topics he enjoys are Farscape, Buffy, Blood Ties, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Matrix and The X-Files to name just a few. He works on three other podcasts - Firefly Talk, The ScapeCast and Dragon*Pod. He also runs the SaveBloodTies.org website Kevin has worked as a computer network support engineer for many years. Between his strong interest in sci-fi and computers Kevin says he is a "true geek". When he isn’t watching sci-fi DVDs, dealing with computer issues or posting on his techie blog Kevin enjoys spending time with his lovely wife and two daughters.
Lindsay Techel Editor	Lindsay lives in North Carolina with her 3 kids... the four legged furry kind. She works as a computer programmer and also does freelance web design and programming. As a random side note, she's also getting certified as a dog trainer. Lindsay came to the Firefly verse after being an avid Buffy fan. Seeing that Joss had created another show, she bought the Firefly dvd and was hooked. Other shows she enjoys include Stargate, Charmed, Star Trek, and Xena. When not working or watching Firefly, Lindsay enjoys volunteering with the local Golden Retriever Rescue Group, hiking/camping, finding new and interesting podcasts, and playing rugby.
James Parkinson Voice Talent	James is an eighth grade science teacher who hales from Southern California via Michigan. A self-styled science geek, James is never happier than when he is blowing something up in the service of educating his students. Never, that is, except when he is able to spend time with his wife, Carolyn, away from the concerns of either of their jobs. James has been a fan of the 'verse since its television days and somewhat annoyed his then fiancée when he spent the money to by the DVDs. Money was a little tight then. He has since had the great pleasure to see her hooked on the series, so much so that she started writing for some podcast or other just so that she could spread the word to the masses. James spends the small amounts of freetime that he calls his own playing poker, reading science fiction novels, assistant coaching for his schools Science Olympiad team, and lately, thanks to his wife, reading unhealthy amounts of Firefly Fanfic.
Carolyn Parkinson Writer and Voice Talent	Carolyn Parkinson's primary job at The Signal is writing features that others read. However, she also does some voice work, like Season 2's "Sci Fi Reviews." Also, any time you hear a detached, computer-style voice, that's probably her. Carolyn has a bit of a background in writing and editing, having worked at small publishing companies and trade associations, as well as doing some freelance writing. She is currently embarking slowly but surely on a freelance career. It took her a while to get into firefly, but after repeated urging by her husband, she eventually became a die-hard fan. She says that she "looks like Inara, but has the personality of Kaylee."
Les Howard Host and Tech Geek	Les is a long-haired occasionally-utilikilt-wearing computer geek. He was born in New Jersey and lived there & in Massachusetts untill the age of 18 when he moved to Georgia to go to college and has lived there ever since. He is currently living in the Atlanta area with his wife of 10 years and their three cats Mulder, Leeloo & Petaline. He likes to play MMOs with his wife and friends. He learned about Firefly from an item on Slashdot. He started watching Firefly with the airing of Bushwhacked on Fox and was hooked by Our Mrs. Reynolds (the third episode in air-order). He participated in some of the early postcard campaigns to write Fox and the sponsors to support Firefly, and a little later to try and get SciFi to pick it up. He is a professional software engineer and have been using Perl as hi primary development language for the last 7 years or so. He has a background in information security (CISSP) and in Unix admin (he has been using Linux since the 0.99pl12 kernel) & networking. He is currently employed by a large bank in the field of quantitative finance. Current podcast subscription list: 7th Son: Book One - Descent - A Podiobooks.com production, A Brobdingnagian Minute, A Way with Words, alt.NPR: Press Start, Cat Lovers Podcast, CBC Radio: Quirks & Quarks Segmented Show, Celtic Music News Podcast, Chess Is Cool Podcast with Alexandra Kosteniuk, Distributing the Future, DragonHearth, Earthcore - A Podiobooks.com production, Engines Of Our Ingenuity, Escape Pod, Firefly Talk, FOO Casts: Podcasts from O'Reilly and Friends, Freakin Funny Music, Geek Fu Action Grip, Great Big Sea Podcast, How to Succeed in Evil, Intellectual Icebergs, Irish and Celtic Music Podcast, IT Conversations, iTom: Tom Smith's Song A Week, Jonathan Coulton, Lullabot - audiocast, MAKE Magazine, Manic Mondays, Marc Gunn's PUB SONGS PODCAST, NPR: 7PM ET News Summary, NPR: Driveway Moments, NPR: Station Showcase with PRX, NPR: Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, Perlcast, Pirate Comedy Show Downloadable Audio File Show, Renaissance Festival Podcast, Rencast - Renaissance Festivals and Faires, Skepticality - Science and Skeptic Thought, Slacker Astronomy, Slice of Scifi - Science Fiction TV & Movie News, Interviews & more, Tales from the 'Verse, The Instance: World of Warcraft Podcast!, The Seanachai, The Signal, Thing a Week, - This Week in Science - The Kickass Science Podcast - & Variant Frequencies Podcast.
Kari Haley Host and Voice Talent	Kari grew up as a typical Army brat - born in Utah and spending the next sixteen years of her life in Alabama, Colorado, Kansas, and Oklahoma. The bug to move every three to four years has become an ingrained personality trait and since graduating from college, she has lived in Mississippi, again in Colorado, Oregon, California, and finally back to Oregon. She currently works as a lab rat for a large-ish biotech company in Eugene, Oregon. In her spare time, she enjoys computer and board games, reading, sewing, hanging out on the beach, watching movies, and yoga. Kari became aware of Firefly through a couple of co-workers who were HUGE Buffy and Angel fans. Unfortunately, due to the Fox Network's creative scheduling, she managed to miss every single episode. Several years later, while hanging out with some friends, she was introduced to the phenomenon that is Firefly . Instantly hooked, she borrowed her friend’s DVDs, watched the remainder of the episodes, returned the DVDs and bought her own. She currently owns two sets of DVDs because she refuses to be at home without them. Kari’s involvement with The Signal began just before the release of the first show. Having been friends with Les for the past year or two (it’s kinda fuzzy), she instantly volunteered to help in any way she possibly could as soon as she found out what was going on. Somehow, she became a host and has been loving every minute of the process.
Merry King Writer	Merry lives near Seattle—yes, that rainy place in the Northwest—and is currently working part-time for an online bookstore while pursuing higher education. She loves children after coming from a family of seven children, and is headed towards a career in education, but is really a writer at heart. She found Serenity off of a random recommendation, and then fell head-over-heels for Firefly and her crew of motley criminals, and most often shows that love by writing both non-fiction and fiction in homage. Books were her first love and Firefly was the first TV show that she watched, but she has since been daring enough to brave the waters and expand her horizons through watching most of the "classic" science fiction shows, and has fallen for several of them (Battlestar Galactica, all Stargate incarnations). Firefly also introduced her to the wonderful world of podcasts, of which she is now suscribed to over 40. Outside of the media world and writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, gardening, and music. She has never met a history or language book she didn't like.
Nick Edwards Writer, Editor, Producer and Voice Talent	Nick (Lemming on some boards) bumped into Jill and Kari at a Shindig and to his amazement, on the basis of some minimal audio work, was offered a place on the Crew! (I’m sure the begging letters had nothing to do with it.) He now finds himself producing and editing as well! Nick has been married to Joy for 18 years and they have 4 kids, all of whom are Browncoats too. In between dealing with a large family and assorted pets and watching DVDs of Firefly, Buffy, Angel, Heroes, Northern Exposure, Dr Who, BSG and films, Nick somehow finds time to be a mad scientist, ride motorbikes, read SF and comics, hang out on Browncoat boards and the Larry Niven mailing list, go to Shindigs, drink beer, do Archery, play the guitar, do the odd bit of RPGing and very occasionally gets to do his favourite thing…sleep. Becoming involved in podcasting and other audio projects is the latest masochistic attempt to finally eliminate that last thing. Nick lives in a village just outside Banbury in Oxfordshire in the UK and doesn’t miss London one gorram bit (apart from going there to do fun stuff). He has also written for and sometimes takes part in the UK Firefly Podcast, Sending A Wave. Latest audio drama podcastery madness is playing Spike in Buffy Between The Lines as well as doing some editing and various parts in Dark Places. You can also find him reading emails on the new Whedonverse podcast, Joss'd and discussing Whedon related stuff on the even newer chat 'cast, Let's Talk Joss.
Jill Arroway Producer/Editor/Writer	Jill Arroway grew up on the Scottish island of Stornaway, where she made a meagre living sewing lobsters onto the chief fishmonger's buttocks. Believing this was not the life for her, she left in search of wild adventure and screaming. She spent several years in Transylvania trying to get bitten by a vampire, an ambition which she sadly failed to achieve at the time, although ironically she did achieve it many years later, after she'd moved back to England and started eating garlic pizzas. Her favourite hobbies include computer science, experimental mathematics, and dressing up as a mermaid and luring sailors to their deaths. Jill is the editor and primary architect of the Signal, and the captain of this crew. She is also an author, classical composer and has been known to write and perform in a prog rock band. For a long time, her home was a disguised as a vending machine in Victoria coach station, England. Then - disaster - a freak tornado rendered the gyroscopic stabiliser unusable. Stranded in what at the time seemed to be the twentieth century, although it later turned out to have been the twenty first, she had no choice but to settle down and try to take over the world. Oh, and here's some of my music: [Dreams of the Seventh Star] [Merci, Mon Amie] [Entelechy]
Kevin Bayer Editor	Kevin Bayer (aka CapnFatPants) lives in Evansville, Indiana with his wife and their 3 children. When he's not watching Firefly, Star Wars, or the Stargates, he enjoys reading, napping, listening to podcasts, and playing Guild Wars. Kev was recently elected to be webmaster for his regional Star Wars fanclub - the E'ville Jedi, he serves as forum administrator for 911lifeline.org (a website related to his profession), and is the content manager for the intranet where he works. Kev's background includes a degree in communications, 7 years of radio and television, and 10 years of dispatch experience in both in the civilian and public safety fields. Kev has been a Public Safety Communications Supervisor for the past 9 of those years.
Miranda Thomas Editor and Voice talent	Miranda is living the high life in the northern part of Kentucky. Yes, she wears shoes and no, she doesn't have a southern twang. Though she does admit to saying y'all when the mood strikes. Never a Buffy or Angel fan, Miranda came to love Firefly before she knew it was a Joss Whedon creation, even before it aired for the first time. After picking up her Fall Preview guide, as she does every year, this futuristic western style show caught her eye. That plus the fact that it was to air just before a show that she would be taping anyway, made her one of the fans who could honestly say they were there from the very beginning. Miranda spends her limited free time reading fiction novels and waiting impatiently for the newest installments of her favorite television shows (Heroes, LOST, & Veronica Mars). She is extremely grateful to have been included in podcast production and to be a part of the fantastic Browncoat community. You can also listen to Miranda as co-host on another Firefly and Serenity podcast FireflyTalk or on The 9th - A Heroes Podcast
David Moore Writer and Voice Talent	David Moore lives near Chicago with his wife and two daughters, one of whom has been dubbed "Little Browncoat" for her singing of the Firefly theme song. Aside from that accomplishment, David is an avid role player, reader and Flash developer. He does other things, but you don't want to hear about that do you? He found Firefly when it was first on television in the US, but came in late and so only saw three episodes. He found it again when a friend got to go see the Serenity pre-screening in Chicago (lucky dog). Since then, he became a strong Browncoat. When the Serenity RPG came out, he didn't see anyone really running games for it, or a living campaign being run at conventions, and so he started his own with help from his wife and some friends: After Serenity. He also created the After Serenity podcast to go along with the game to help players get into character and keep people up to date with the people and events that happen in the game. You can also listen to David as co-host on other podcasts: After Serenity and The Game Master Show Or visit his blog
Wayne Hutchinson Writer & Editor	Wayne is a full time North Atlanta resident where he spends his time at home with his lovely wife Melissa of 15 years and his 3 kids Jake 14, Sarah 11, and Alex 6. He also has 2 dogs named Luke and Kaylee that round our his family circle During the daylight hours Wayne can be found hiding amongst the clones in Corporate America spending a great deal of each day making Bill Gates and Steve Jobs more rich than they were the day before...and they don't even share...sigh. Wayne's Interests include Playing and listening to music, singing, movies, TV, reading, writing, hiking, running, tattoos, telling stories, motorcycles, guitars, exotic beers, strong coffee, Celtic Mythology and symbology, Asian culture, and oh yes....Computers!....especially online games and editing video. You can find Wayne at DragonCon every year making sure that the Joss Whedon name is being proclaimed upon high by running the Whedon Universe track. Wayne is also the co founder and webmaster of www.whedonuniverse.com and contributes to the site's fan zone on a regular basis in the form of TV and Movie reviews along with the occasional fan video and episode transcript. Wayne is an avid podcast fan and a regular subscriber to these and several other Podcasts: The Signal, Firefly Talk, MacBreak Weekly, This Week in Tech, Cranky Geeks, DragonPod, Dragon In Georgia, The Totally Rad Show, DiggNation, Web Drifter, Buffy Between the Lines, Tekzilla, The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte, Net@Nite, The Battlestar Galactica Podcast with Ron Moore, Internet Superstar, Buzz Out Loud, Learn to Speak Spanish, Jumping Monkeys
Claire Musso Editor/Voice Talent	Claire lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts (US) with her girlfriend and cat. She studied writing and film history in college and so, naturally, ended up working as a database analyst & admin. She is currently working as a consultant for a non-profit fundraising tech company. As for the important stuff: she has been a Whedon fan since Buffy Season 1 and a Firefly fanatic since attending a midnight marathon screening at her beloved Coolidge Corner Theatre in Sept of 2005. She is thrilled to be a part of creating the Signal.

A lot of people have helped with the Signal in the past, or continue to help behind the scenes. These are our honorary crew