The new baby Princess of Norway is named Leah, and HRH Mom fully admits that she was named after Princess Leia (though I wonder how long it took them to talk her into a more traditional spelling).

The mother of this baby Princess, who is also a Princess (sister of the Crown Prince Haakon and daughter of the King), is a bit of an oddball. She is kind of a Birkenstock princess, who shops at Wholefoods and had her baby at home. For that matter, the Crown Prince was a bit of a wild man as an undergraduate at Berkeley, and his wife was a party girl who had an illegitimate child before he married her. It's a different kind of royalty than the British tradition. The Brits call the Scandinavian royalty "Bicycle Kings" because they are likely to encounter their subjects while riding bicycles in the public parks. Not something that Elizabeth has ever done.

Anyway, even the Royal family must get a court order to give a child a nontraditional name in Norway. There's an approved list of names and Leia isn't on it. Hence the traditional spelling.

Pointing is easier than standing up, it seems, and just getting it right is quite the rush.

I got to shoot three guns -- .357, .22mm Ruger, and a Glock ... 19? Yeah, I think it was the 19. I have to say the revolver was the most satisfying shot, balancing power and recoil, but kind of a dumb gun. The 19 was very splodey, and I braced so much that it made the recoil worse than it needed to be.

It was both sobering and satisfying, and you get to take the target sheets home. So that sheet where I hit 10 times but only made 7 holes? I'm going to keep it for a little while.

And left-handed to boot!

That sounds like fun. I've always meant to go to a shooting range and trying it out.

The 19 was very splodey

Kinda like the antiaircraft gun Mal fires in Serenity (the episode)?

I'm gonna be lazy and stick this here:

[link]

SSC (Tara DiLullo): When you are developing a series, does merchandising for the show factor into your thoughts during the process?

Joss Whedon: The answer is unequivocally, "Yes!" I grew up playing with the Marvel comic dolls and, when I say way later in life than I should have been, I'm not kidding. My best friend and I had quite a collection. I always wanted to make the kind of TV and movies that would exist beyond the shows themselves and dolls are a huge part of that. With Star Wars, I played with the action figures with my little brothers. They've always spoken to me, not just a Barbie or a G.I. Joe, nothing against them, but the ones that were for more specific stories. Making the stories myself with the aid of these little figurines is something I've always loved to do. I've always felt like if a story really registers, it deserves dolls! They actually mean more to me than I usually admit in public.

And left-handed to boot!

That's impressive.

I've shot a .38 revolver, a .44 magnum, a .357 and a tiny .22 pistol.

It was both sobering and satisfying, and you get to take the target sheets home. So that sheet where I hit 10 times but only made 7 holes? I'm going to keep it for a little while.

Target shooting is incredibly fun. Dad was in a target league at his gun club (which is where I got to shoot all his guns) and shot a .22 rifle in competition. Dad bought me these cute, tiny animal shaped, cast-iron silhouettes to shoot at home.

I may have had a very strange childhood.

Kinda like the antiaircraft gun Mal fires in Serenity (the episode)?

Almost, given the crappy way I was holding it (too tense -- my shoulders have been holding me hostage for a week or two now). The instructor said it should have less kick than the revolver, but it was leaping about in my hand, and I really had to zen out to get my groupings tight.

Still, I was pretty much 9 out of 10 for the centre mass shot, and only once went more than one zone away from centre. Satisfying, but then there's that moment where suddenly you're cold and it's all very loud and the glasses pinch (damn! I had no idea shells flew around like that -- at least two would have hit me right in the eye without the goggles -- hate to have that happen on the street) and you just have to stop.

Will be interesting to go with cops and/or krav people.

Also interesting was how the instructor loosened up when I told him I did krav. He works law enforcement, and has bumped into kravvers before, and I think it made him a bit more candid.

More Joss and dolls:

For me, it's about posing them and playing with them and making them fight and have conflict and creating more and more narrative and yes, putting them on top of each other. I'm not judging. Anybody can be put on top of anybody, that's the beauty of my shows.

That's impressive.

Definitely.

Hivemind help needed for my rusty Spanish:

"We're English" would be "Somos ingleses," right? And do I need any accent marks?

For me, it's about posing them and playing with them and making them fight and have conflict and creating more and more narrative and yes, putting them on top of each other. I'm not judging. Anybody can be put on top of anybody, that's the beauty of my shows.

I bought a sheep at Archie McPhee for Spike and Giles to share.

This may be more about my action figure habits than anyone wanted to know, but I think the sheep is still wearing Giles's sombrero.