From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V4 #46 Reply-To: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Sender: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk chakram-refugees-digest Thursday, February 19 2004 Volume 04 : Number 046 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies [IfeRae@aol.com] Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies [KTL ] RE: [chakram-refugees] Lucy on Access Hollywood tonight Feb 18 ["bookdaft] Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies [Meredith Tarr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies [Meredith Tarr ] [chakram-refugees] [Flawless] Con 04 Hudson [KTL ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 00:57:23 EST From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies In a message dated 2/18/2004 6:54:31 PM Pacific Standard Time, cande@sunlink.net writes: > However I thought leaving just a bit of doubt in > that audience's mind about what exactly Xena and Ares relation was, wasn't a > bad idea - it left just a bit of mystery there. I always thought the TPTB > did > that on purpose but obviously I was wrong. Rob and Liz said the ambiguity > was > just bad plotting on their part. > I think it worked, too. I thought it fitting that Ares be Xena's sort of "spiritual" father, especially since her mortal father wasn't around. Ares' blood might as well have been in her veins, and that always reminded us of why he would always represent an inner battle she would have to fight. Plus, I loved the irony of Xena's having to claim a tie to Ares that she would never want, while he had to dispute what he would've been proud of claiming. On the other hand, the ep did leave the door open for the sexual tension between them -- without the"ick" factor. I bet there are tons of cases where we loved and discussed forever the "ambiguities" they never intended. Heh. - -- Ife ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 21:55:37 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies Damn you woman! I was JUST composing a post along these very lines... On Wed, 18 Feb 2004, Cheryl Ande wrote: > I just watched The Furies commentary and a couple of things struck me. First > I thought Liz Friedman and Rob did a great job and seemed to really enjoy each > other. What *I* was going to say was that it's very obvious that Rob and Liz are buds. Just the way they smile at each other, giggle together, laugh at the same jokes and pick up on the same things as being funny show their affection for each other . I love how they tease each other AND RJ who was interviewed also but at a different place/time. His interview is intercut with theirs on the separate interview part. Rob's got such a HUGE smile--takes up his whole face when he's really pleased. I LOVE listening to Friedman. Love her East Coast accent and sense of irony and teasing. She's hilarious! I like the way she looks too, just quirky. She's got "cool" glasses (maybe those are worn in another commentary she does), red ones where the ear hookers don't end up directly attached to the frame, but end at little pieces that are attached to the sides of the frame by the lenses. These little pieces lie along the same plane as the lenses. I just never saw glasses like that before. She's got wild curly hair too--she's just "regular" as my mother used to characterize some people whom she liked and felt comfortable with. I also enjoyed how "tart" she was with comments on XWP signature things. She jokes about how XWP established that tumbling to get somewhere was faster than running to get somewhere. As they watch Lucy fight, Liz says, "See if you're driven crazy by the Furies, you fight like the Three Stooges". Rob says, "Nothing wrong with the Three Stooges." And Liz agrees in a very "Oh yeah, honey, not arguing" type of voice. They relate towards each other almost like an old married couple or like very good old friends. I loved Rob's astonishment that they got away with the Furies' lap > dance with Ares.y Friedman says as they watch the girl wag her mostly bare a$$ at the camera as she bends into Ares, "One of our smuttier moments. (Pause) But there were many, really. Anyway here are a few points I thought were interesting. > > One of things Rob and Liz seemed puzzled about > was why Gabrielle was always being sent off on her own. I always assumed Xena > kept trying to get rid of Gabrielle to make sure she didn't hurt her friend > while she was insane. Well I think they were looking for plot points or story development, the reasons why they spent precious minutes on scenes that didn't really advance the story. Gabrielle's time in Orestes' asylum helped the plot along because she finds out that Orestes was made crazy by the Furies for killing his father even though they demanded he do so. But the other scenes with Gabrielle were mostly filler. The conflict in Furies is between Xena and Cyrene, between Xena and Ares. Gabrielle doesn't have much to do with this story. And it shows. And I think that's what Liz and Rob were responding to--the story could just as well have been done without Gabs in it at all. Send her away once and leave her gone. Though I enjoyed Renee's work in this ep. Gabrielle's defense and protectiveness towards Xena are very well done. She's reassures Xena that everything will be fine in a very tender tone that she'd never get away with if Xena was all there. I think that was a real nice touch by the writers and by Renee in playing it that way. But again, this is backstory, not necessarily necessary to the story they were telling. > > Let's see what else. It was nice to hear Rob's obvious admiration of Lucy's > comedic skills. Liz says, "Actually in these Three Stooges moments is one of the rare moments when I feel like I see Lucy creeping through. There's something about that goofy sensibility...that's just her." They both laugh happily at Lucy's "I love the smell of warrior sweat in the morning." Liz asks, "Why did she start calling Gabrielle Mavis?" She and Rob crack up. And he says, "I don't know! That was a total Lucy". And then Liz says of Lucy's work, "That was a great comedic performance." And they both burst out laughing on the "I could lose the daisies" line. What struck me is that this is the first time I've seen a commentary where the folks talking come across as fans. At times, they are just two fans of the show talking together, sharing their joy in it. Hell, they even look like us. They could be sitting in the audience at a con and nobody would look twice at them (if they didn't know who they were, I mean.) They just "fit in" with us. He is right Lucy is a wonderful physical comedian. It's too > bad there doesn't seem to be any place for that kind of comedy today on TV. > During the 50's you had Lucille Ball and Joan Davis on TV and they were > wonderful clowns. Eve Arden too. Even later on you had Carol Burnett but I don't think there > is a female today who does that kind of comedy. It would be nice if Lucy > could bring that kind of comedy back again. Rob is right it was a shame Lucy > never won a best actress award from someone for Xena - he's probably right > that she didn't care - but she still should have been recognized for Xena in > someway. > I think had it been a network show they would have won a lot of awards for many things. > Now lastly the most astonishing revelation made during the commentary was that > the woman who played Alecto, Asa Lindh, was a nurse with no ambitions to be an > actress. Now how exactly does a nurse with no acting ambitions wind up on the > set of Xena dressed in next to nothing doing a lap dance with Kevin Smith? She couldn't help herself? KT > > CherylA ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 06:01:29 -0500 From: "bookdaft" Subject: RE: [chakram-refugees] Lucy on Access Hollywood tonight Feb 18 So far as I could tell, it didn't happen. Unfortunately. But I'll check my tape. I may have missed it. On ET I thought she looked great. bd - -----Original Message----- From: owner-chakram-refugees@smoe.org [mailto:owner-chakram-refugees@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Creation (Sharon Delaney) Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 1:00 PM To: flawless@yahoogroups.com Cc: chakram-refugees@smoe.org Subject: [chakram-refugees] Lucy on Access Hollywood tonight Feb 18 As well as Entertainment Tonight she's also going to be on Access Hollwood tonight. More Euro Trip promotion. Sharon Official Xena Fan Club ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= _____________________________________________________ This message scanned for viruses by CoreComm ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 06:21:15 -0800 (PST) From: Meredith Tarr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies Hi, KT opined: > I think had it been a network show they would have > won a lot of awards for many things. I'm not too sure about that. _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ was a network show, and the only Emmy it ever got was for some obscure technical category. Many say (and I believe) that the show's title kept it from being taken seriously as the brilliant piece of work it was. I doubt that a show called _Xena: Warrior Princess_ would have been given any more credibility by the Academy. Meredith meth@smoe.org __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:39:59 -0600 From: "S. Wilson" Subject: [chakram-refugees] Re: Awards for Funny-Soundin' Things (was re: The Furies) At 06:21 AM 2/19/2004 -0800, Meredith Tarr wrote: >Hi, > >KT opined: > > > I think had it been a network show they would have > > won a lot of awards for many things. > >I'm not too sure about that. _Buffy the Vampire >Slayer_ was a network show, and the only Emmy it ever >got was for some obscure technical category. Wasn't that category something like Best Application of Vampire Teeth and Dramatic Hairbrushing? Ok, yes, I'm being a little facetious. But I think the category was Best Makeup. The makeup was neat - all the vampires, and the monsters, etc., and they didn't really have any competitors in that category so I want to say it was a gimme. I believe it won in something else... but I don't pay close attention to awards shows unfortunately. :( But, yes, BtVS was so amazing on so many levels that I still shake my head and sigh when I remember it never really won anything else. Same thing with XWP. I remember thinking for SURE that The Debts would get something, at least a nomination. I believe Joe LoDuca won awards for the music, which I'm still happy about, because his pieces for Fallen Angel and AFINs are really strong. I've played them at work before, and everybody always comments, up until I say it's from Xena, then they ho-hum and roll their eyes and think it's nothing worth talking about. > Many say >(and I believe) that the show's title kept it from >being taken seriously as the brilliant piece of work >it was. I doubt that a show called _Xena: Warrior >Princess_ would have been given any more credibility >by the Academy. I agree. I mean, having titles like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess certainly makes them stick out, draws the curious, and guarantees them a place in memorable TV show title land, but fantasy stuff and comedy have never been appreciated so much by the award-givers. Perhaps that's why XWP and BtVS took such dramatic turns at certain points. JMO, S. ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:24:57 -0800 From: "Creation (Sharon Delaney)" Subject: RE: [chakram-refugees] Lucy on Access Hollywood tonight Feb 18 I'm checking with my friend Scotty at Access Hollywood to see if he knows if/when the piece will run. Sharon >So far as I could tell, it didn't happen. Unfortunately. But I'll check my >tape. I may have missed it. > >On ET I thought she looked great. > >bd > >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-chakram-refugees@smoe.org >[mailto:owner-chakram-refugees@smoe.org]On Behalf Of Creation (Sharon >Delaney) >Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 1:00 PM >To: flawless@yahoogroups.com >Cc: chakram-refugees@smoe.org >Subject: [chakram-refugees] Lucy on Access Hollywood tonight Feb 18 > > >As well as Entertainment Tonight she's also going to be on Access Hollwood >tonight. More Euro Trip promotion. > >Sharon >Official Xena Fan Club >========================================================= >This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. >To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with >"unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. >Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. >========================================================= > > >_____________________________________________________ >This message scanned for viruses by CoreComm >========================================================= >This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. >To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with >"unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. >Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. >========================================================= ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 12:14:32 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies > Hi, > > KT opined: And the gods know I'm EVER an opiner. > > > I think had it been a network show they would have > > won a lot of awards for many things. > > I'm not too sure about that. _Buffy the Vampire > Slayer_ was a network show, and the only Emmy it ever > got was for some obscure technical category. Many say > (and I believe) that the show's title kept it from > being taken seriously as the brilliant piece of work > it was. I doubt that a show called _Xena: Warrior > Princess_ would have been given any more credibility > by the Academy. > > Meredith > meth@smoe.org > Wellll, I have to come clean and say that I am not the person to talk with about the brilliance of Buffy. I have never been able to get into that show at all. I TRIED. So many people recommended it to me that I turned it on with the expectation that I would like it. It just never held my attention. I would be watching it and nothing grabbed me. I had no feelings at all for the characters, I wasn't interested in the stories they were involved in. What would happen is that at the first commercial, I would start reading or flip channels and I would literally forget that I had been watching the show. That's not a good sign. I MADE myself try to get through at least six episodes, since it took me six episodes of paying attention to get into Xena. (Having ignored many more that had just been scrolling in the background.) And I was unable to keep my attention on it for more than about 10 minutes. I would just space out and wander off. Lucky I didn't hurt myself... We just discussed this lack of "honors" for Xena on another list. Ever being the researcher, I went online and searched out academy awards for fantasy/sci-fi genre shows. And they NEVER do well. The only significant numbers of nominations or awards are given in the costumes and special effects categories to these shows. In my quick look, the only modern show I saw in the sci-fi/fantasy genre that regularly received a number of nominations for the "big" awards, like best drama series, best actress, best actor, best writer was X-Files. And Gillian and Carter actually WON emmys for their work. Which was amazing since it was not only a Sci-Fi/Fantasy show but also was a "runaway" show, filmed in Canada. And thus not providing jobs for the people who vote on what shows win the emmys. I also firmly believe that part of the reason XWP was overlooked by so many critics and was never nominated for any emmys or other awards had a lot to do with the T&A factor of the show. It was just so easy to look at XWP and immediately consider it a Baywatch in Old Greece series. Carter of course didn't go the eye-candy route so they didn't have to overcome that handicap either. (In fact, I bet it was REAL sweet to him that Gillian won as best actress since when the show first started, the suits considered her too dumpy and unattractive and wanted him to dress her more provocatively in order to make her more popular. Heh.) X-Files was a truly excellent show but I think in many ways the best of XWP was better than the best of X-Files. I think XWP was more uneven in general. But XWP was a show that pushed the envelope far more than most did. It ranged from highly dramatic myth to wild, campy, slapstick and everything inbetween. Now to me, Xena far outshines Scully as a character. And this was due to Lucy. And you all should know by now what a Xenaho I am. So of course I have to agree with Liz and Rob that Lucy just never got the awards her work deserved. KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 13:42:35 -0800 (PST) From: Meredith Tarr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies Hi, KT responded: > And the gods know I'm EVER an opiner. > Wellll, I have to come clean and say that I am not > the person to talk with about the brilliance of Buffy. Your loss. :) I say this only because I know I won't get kicked off the list for it ;) ... but IMSHO, on the whole, BtVS was a far superior show to X:WP. The only category in which it never came even close to X:WP was the music. With the exception of the musical "Once More With Feeling", I never noticed the score at all; but Joe LoDuca managed to keep me riveted every week. And yet X:WP turned me into a besotted fan. I never hung out on any Buffy lists (I do run a list for a friend that ended up being a Buffy list, but that only happened by accident later on) or obsessively checked out web sites. I've never been to a Buffy con. X:WP just had that *something* (I'm still trying to figure out exactly what) that made me all goofy. Go figure. > We just discussed this lack of "honors" for Xena on > another list. Ever > being the researcher, I went online and searched out > academy awards for > fantasy/sci-fi genre shows. And they NEVER do well. No, they don't. There is a general bias against any genre work of art across all media ... TV, film, books, you name it. If it's not grounded in "reality", it's assumed not to have any redeeming social value. Which we all know is a steaming pile of bullpuckey, but there you go. Meredith meth@smoe.org __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard - Read only the mail you want. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 17:55:38 EST From: IfeRae@aol.com Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] The Furies In a message dated 2/19/2004 12:57:41 AM Central Standard Time, fsktl@aurora.uaf.edu writes: > What *I* was going to say was that it's very obvious that Rob and Liz are > buds. Just the way they smile at each other, giggle together, laugh at the > same jokes and pick up on the same things as being funny show their > affection for each other . And you know what also impressed me? Their tolerance of and respect for each other's differences, not just the sentiments they shared. E.g., Liz would make sardonic remarks about the T&A moments, which RT mainly chuckled at. But when she asked why Xena needed to be naked at the beginning of Furies, she accepted RT's explanation that it showed Xena's vulnerability and true mental state at the time. I truly got the sense of two people who worked together in a way that was honest and very collaborative. I have a tremendous regard for RT's management style -- his ability to get the best from those around him, to surround himself with people who bring different viewpoints and to share in the ownership of his baby. - -- Ife ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 14:42:33 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Award orphans (Was The Furies) On Thu, 19 Feb 2004, Meredith Tarr wrote: > Hi, > > KT responded: > > > And the gods know I'm EVER an opiner. > > Subtlety from List Mistresses. How nice...;-> > > > Wellll, I have to come clean and say that I am not > > the person to talk with about the brilliance of > Buffy. > > Your loss. :) I have heard this many times before on this topic. (Actually, on many others too.) There's a whole bunch of people who are amazed that I can so love XWP and so yawn at Buffy. This is supplemented by the folks who are amazed that I could never get into Alias either. Again, the only comment I can make on this is to repeat how astounding it is to me that Lucy made me not only watch but LOVE XWP. > > I say this only because I know I won't get kicked off > the list for it ;) ... TCH. Take advantage, why dontcha... It was hardly a flame, anyway. I KNOW and accept I'm in a teensy little minority on these lists regarding Buffy. but IMSHO, on the whole, BtVS > was a far superior show to X:WP. Again, I will happily admit that I know a goodly number of fans who feel that way. Among whom are some who keep trying to hit Rob over the head with how much more talented and skilled Joss Whedan is at their mutual craft. (Or USED to until he killed a certain character off...) Some friendly snippiage > And yet X:WP turned me into a besotted fan. I never > hung out on any Buffy lists (I do run a list for a > friend that ended up being a Buffy list, but that only > happened by accident later on) LOL! Boy I'd like to hear that story! "The Accidentally Buffy List" or obsessively checked > out web sites. I've never been to a Buffy con. X:WP > just had that *something* (I'm still trying to figure > out exactly what) that made me all goofy. Go figure. > Now that's fascinating! Hmmm. There is something very special about XWP I think, just because I know so many fans like me who never EVER watched a T&A action adventure show before. (One area where I do think Buffy was far superior to XWP. Whedon just didn't get into any of that T&A crap that I'm aware of, or at least it wasn't a major factor in the show like it was in XWP.) I see this online and at cons too--a fair number of people who wonder what the hell they're doing here. Just stunned mullets to find themselves so obsessed with a TV show. It really is odd. Of course, *I'd* say it's due to Lucy. But I know there's one or two people who watch the show for Renee. (KT chuckles to self.) The only other fantasy/sci fi Genre shows I go out of my way to watch now are Farscape (GREAT show!) and X-Files reruns. I loved the original Twilight Zone too. Of the new shows this year, I really enjoyed Karen Sisco, I thought that was the best new one. I'm REALLY sorry that they're not renewing that one for more eps. Sniffle. Joan of Arcadia is second on my list. (Oh--I guess that's a fantasy show too huh? Duh.) I like Cold Case more now that they got Lily her sidekick. (Her "Gabrielle", so to speak, who illuminates Lily's character and lets us access her thoughts and feelings in a way that this show wasn't doing before that guy joined her.) I'm just marking time until Crossing Jordan comes back. Soon I hope. Otherwise, I like the new West Wing a lot, they got back to the old Sorkin feeling lately. And of course with access to cable for the moment, I'm watching the end of Sex And The City. (Which until last week, I thought was titled Sex IN The City.) Took me six years just to figure out the title... There is a general bias against any > genre work of art across all media ... TV, film, > books, you name it. If it's not grounded in > "reality", it's assumed not to have any redeeming > social value. Which we all know is a steaming pile of > bullpuckey, but there you go. Exactly. And that's so odd, since classic literature and art absolutely fed off myths, legends and character archetypes, all of which, even the "historical" ones, had seers, magicians, gods, ghosts, and heroes and villains all with fantastic powers. Life writ large. My reading genre of choice, murder mysteries, is also derided and dismissed in many quarters as tawdry crap. Though oddly enough, it's quite well respected in TV and movies. (And gets awards!) KT > > Meredith > meth@smoe.org ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 15:35:11 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] Con 04 The Night Before "Last night, the night before, a lemon and a pickle came knocking at my door." But it was alright-it was just Bonnie and Julie. Hit the hotel in the late afternoon on Thursday and checked in. At the elevators, we were standing by a tall, thin, attractive woman dragging an airline roller suitcase behind her. She looked over at me with this HUGE, gob-smacked smile on her face. And said very excitedly and breathlessly, "I never saw so many women in one place before!" I grinned back and said, "You've never been to a Xena con before, have you?" And she laughed and replied with vast delighted joy, "NOOOOOO!" I LOVE con virgins. They're just always SOOO jazzed. Grin. It's "strange" to not be in Pasadena for the convention as we have been for so many years. Different feel, different amenities, different layout of areas. Burbank of course was where the first two cons were held. I came here for the second one (my first) in 1998. As I walked across the lobby for the first time this year, I suddenly remembered back to '98 when literally my first view of Xena fans in the flesh was the sight of a woman kneeling on the floor of the lobby, with this HUGE banner unfurled before her, covering feet and feet and feet of the lobby floor. And inviting people to sign the banner because later on she would be giving it to Lucy Lawless. And people were getting down on their knees and writing little messages to Lucy. No, I didn't sign it. But I enjoyed reading what people had written. I was so very shy re the Xenaverse then, only lurked online and never posted. I was very unaware of what fans do at these things and was quietly watching everything in wide-eyed wonder, while my body just sang with the excitement of seeing real live OTHER Xena fans. Proof positive that I was not the only person in the world who was frighteningly obsessed with XWP. Gods, it was a heady validation. And later on the fan did get up to the mike and tell Lucy what she had and did get to leave it there on the stage for her. Meanwhile, back in the present: As always, Creation opened Thursday night to let Gold and Preferred people pick up their wrist bands and stick-on badges for the weekend. Registration was due to start at nine that night. We strolled over there around 8:45 or so and bunches of people were already inside and on line. Oh, those anxious fans... We got on the end of the long, snaking line. (We shoulda started dancing the Conga! I think we should do that next year.) People on line were jazzed and happy and just having a great time, reveling in being together with other Xena fans. There's always this real giggly excited buzz that first night since friends who haven't been able to be together in a while get to see each other again. The vendors were already in place and we got to stroll past tables and tables and tables covered with pictures from the show (and other stuff). I always enjoy that. One of the newbies wondered aloud what we were on line for, since she already had received her tickets in the mail. We explained the system. You give them your tickets. (IF you've gotten them. I never do, but so far my name's always been on their handy-dandy computer print out.) Then they give you one wrist band which you gotta wear all weekend. You also get a set of stickers, a different colored one for each day, that you're supposed to peel off and stick on yourself somewhere. This is to help the "muscle" control to know who should be sitting in what section. And it's also used during the autograph times so that we go in order. "Row A is first, row B is second", etc. Makes it easy to bust the row "F" folks and send them back to their seats when they try to sneak in with the row "C" folks. As we waited on line, one of us (not me!) suggested to everyone in hearing range that "If you are right handed, you should put the wrist band on your left wrist. Because, since you have to wear it all weekend, if you put it on the hand you use to wash with in the shower, you can just rip up your boob as you're reach up to try to soap your left shoulder. I've had some bad experiences in the past." Silence reigned, but I could see that the people around us were thinking it over. My friend got a few grateful nods. Kewl. Already making a good impression on the newbies with our experienced con advice... We snuck into the performance hall and checked out our seats since the configuration was different from the way they set it up in Pasadena. Good ones! Back out and back onto the line which went very fast once they started registering us. Then a stop at the pictures tables to get our photos for the autograph signings for the next few days. And then back across the courtyard to the hotel. It was kind of hard to get back up to the room, since every time we headed for the elevator, somebody else we knew came in the front door to register. I LOVE going to cons and meeting up with so many of my Xena friends there. Eventually a bunch of us wandered into the bar and stayed up REALLY late Tomorrow: HUDSON! ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 16:04:00 -0900 (AKST) From: KTL Subject: [chakram-refugees] [Flawless] Con 04 Hudson Friday, first day of the con. Things were going to start at 1:00 p. m. As I walked towards the convention center, I suddenly remembered how back in '98, the con was called the Hercules-Xena Convention. Now they're just called the Xena Convention. In 1998, there were a lot of things for kids to do. Someone had set up an inflatable castle in the parking lot that kids could go into and bounce up and down on the floor. I THINK there were pony rides? and other little entertainments. There was a real feeling of a small town festival going on. Very colorful. Of course, the show was only in early season three then and was much lighter, much more of a kid's show. (As was Hercules.) They didn't have the kid stuff this year. The stage was decorated with a plinth. And with those big vinyl pictures of the various characters. There were two huge ones, maybe 12 feet by 20? and two long banner like ones, maybe 2-3 feet by 12. The banners had pictures of the characters of the actors from the show who would be at the con. Of course Xena wasn't on the long banner ones since Lucy was working and wouldn't be able to attend. The guests all sign these and then they're auctioned off. Each one was different, each sporting half of the con cast. Gabrielle was at the top of one and Callisto was at the top of the other. The con started with Adam, one of the owners of Creation, welcoming us. He thanked us for coming. Then he introduced Sharon Delaney. She came out and also welcomed us and talked about what would be going on over the next few days. She mentioned that Renee had been rehearsing there in the hall that morning. And that she started her performance wearing a few layers of clothing. And she had to strip off or add on some layers for the different vignettes. And one time Renee pulled her blouse up and whipped up more than just the outer layer. So Sharon said that Renee would be practicing taking off one layer at a time, thus preserving her modesty in public during tomorrow night's show. Hudson was scheduled to be on first. I don't think she's ever started a con before. Usually they start off with actors who were not on the show as often as Hudson was. Scheduling perhaps, or maybe just trying to get people to show up on Friday. Hudson is always a big draw. Adam came out and announced that Hudson was held up in traffic. So they put on a few of the fan made videos that they have been showcasing at the cons lately. It wasn't too long before Hudson showed up. First of course, they showed us the Callisto video. I can't for the life of me remember the song they play in that one. It ended and Hudson came out on stage. She was wearing a sparkly, spangly, flowing two piece beige outfit. A small bra, bare midriff with her belly button dimpling free, a skirt with a slit right up to her crotch and very high, mostly transparent strappy stiletto heels. For some reason, the skirt part put me in mind of a mermaid's lower half. She was chewing gum as usual. (I always wonder if she chews gum as part of her con character or if she just does it to keep her spit flowing free.) She talked about being stuck in traffic. And said that we need to have guns in our cars. (They DO in Southern California, don't they?) She said the sun roof would be handy for shooting from. Then my notes seem to indicate that she said, "People are driving Hummers out there. I didn't think you could drive those on the highway." Creation always sets up mikes on the sides of the stage so people can ask the stars questions. Someone went up to the mike and asked her if she had worn her outfit while driving over. She said, "Yeah!" like a punk. And then she said, the way you let somebody know they've just asked a silly question, "Noooo!" But that she could see it-there she'd be in that outfit, driving down the highway, hanging out the sunroof and screaming at the traffic. And somebody would scream back at her, "Hey you! You in the sparkly outfit! Nice boobs!" Then she posed around sticking her boobs out for us to admire. Hudson tends to tease us and make fun of us sometimes. Sometimes with more affection than others. Some of the questions obviously get to her. Like last year when one person kept asking about how she dealt with the violence Callisto lived with. And Hudson made a great show of pointing to her image on the banner and saying, "Callisto" and then pointing to herself and saying, "Hudson". She imitated us for a little bit, showing how our faces look when we come up and ask questions. Then she just made generic funny faces at us. She looked around the audience and made it clear that she was trying to think of something else to talk about. She pointed one of those weird wriggly fingers of hers towards us and said, "YOU think of a topic! YOU see how easy it is." Someone asked her about her yoga classes. She talked about it very quietly and seriously. She told us she loves "growing". And yoga has helped her with that. She said that she likes the idea of purification and that is what yoga does. It cleanses you. Hudson always reads and responds to the crowd. The crowd is always smaller on Fridays than it is on the weekends. And thus we're quieter since there's less of us. She wasn't that much of a sex kitten this time. She didn't really assume that wilder character she often does. Perhaps she was still dreaming of gunning down traffic bozos. She was still hysterically witty though. She is just so quick and funny. She'd be great in improv. I also love her physical humor. She imitates "attitudes" sooooo well! Someone requested that she do her yell. But she said she really didn't want to. Some of the fans began to tell her to do it and some of them began to tell her she didn't have to. I THINK she said she might do it later. (Or was that Adrienne again?) I'm pretty sure she never did the yell. She was asked where she got her costumes from. She said, "This old thing?" making that coy, dismissive little pose girls use when they say that. She said she gets the con outfits in L. A. shops that she would never shop in for herself. That she'd never wear stuff like this in her real life. "Truly, what the hell am I gonna do with this?" And she struck a seductive pose as she chirped out, "Hey Mom. Hey Dad. I'm ready for Christmas dinner!" Someone asked her about going on a fan cruise. And she said the best thing about going on a cruise would probably be getting off. Of course some of us laughed at the double entendre which may or may not have been intended. At one point Hudson yelled at someone in the audience, "You're STARING at me!" The she shared with us that people get scared by her sometimes. Right behind me was a little bevy of guys. They were almost as slutty sounding as some of the lesbians I've heard commenting at cons. They kept roaring and applauding her raunchy comments and poses. Some things never change...grin. One fan asked her if she knew she was in the credits every week for Tru Calling. Then she asked if Hudson's agent knew. And said, "You'd better call your agent and get money for that". Hudson thanked her-said she'd get right on the phone and see to that right away. Then she laughed and made some kind of comment about finding it funny that we want to give her and her agent advice. But you know, in some ways we're almost like their moms in terms of how we follow and support their careers. We watch their performances on TV in any damn thing they pick to appear in, good or not, we write fan letters on their behalf to production companies to keep their shows on the air, we send e-mails DEMANDING that the Discovery Channel show Warrior Women in America, we find out when they'll be on talk shows or on things like ET and TAPE them, we go to these cons and sit through their evening performances and applaud them madly. And this doesn't change, whether they're really good or not, whether they've chosen a good piece or whether their choices of material is amateurish and corny. We applaud them when their singing is excellent, yeah, but also when their singing is more loud than on key or their dancing more enthusiastic than graceful. And we also try to give them advice on their careers. We just got that mom pride thing going that makes us smile with besotted happiness at them no matter what they do. It's odd and silly, but I think it's done out of a sense of gratitude for what the show gave us. And love for the people who brought it to us. Hopefully the little dears find it somewhat endearing and not too frighteningly weird. Grin. Finally Hudson offered her dress to be auctioned off for the James Ellis Foundation. The first bid was $1,000, which came from a guy sitting a few rows behind me. He won it with no further bidding. Hudson smiled hugely at him and then called him up on stage. She said that he had just been in her yoga class and she wanted him to talk about his experience in the class. He began to say things along the lines of, This woman saved my life. She's extraordinary. He said many beautiful and caring things about her. She kept saying, "Don't talk about me, talk about the YOGA." He talked about how he used to be so shut in, so tight, so closed off from his emotions. But after taking Hudson's class, his whole life had changed. And he said that if any of us were really stressed out, really unhappy, we should take up yoga. He just couldn't say enough loving things about Hudson and her class. I talked to him after he came back down from the stage. And I said that I was happy for him that he'd felt able to go up there and talk about his experiences. And he said that he could never have imagined doing that before he took the class. But that he was now a totally different person, living a better life, due to Hudson's teachings. This is very interesting to me. Hudson is so involved in so many good things. Like the charities she supports. Like wanting to point people towards a more fulfilling spiritual life. She strikes me as being very concerned with taking an enlightened journey though her own life. She makes deliberate choices towards creating a better environment for herself and for those around her. She doesn't just go tripping lightly down her life's path, but thinks about where she wants her path to go. And makes choices that create the path she's traveling on, rather than passively following along a straight, unexamined track like so many people do. (While still keeping the option open of blowing away traffic bozos in Hummers.) She's such an intriguing person. And man, does she have a great sense of irony and humor about life. As always, she was one of the highlights of the con. Great start! KT ========================================================= This has been a message to the chakram-refugees list. To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@smoe.org with "unsubscribe chakram-refugees" in the message body. Contact meth@smoe.org with any questions or problems. ========================================================= ------------------------------ End of chakram-refugees-digest V4 #46 *************************************