From: owner-chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org (chakram-refugees-digest) To: chakram-refugees-digest@smoe.org Subject: chakram-refugees-digest V5 #160 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 Saturday, June 25 2005 Volume 05 : Number 160 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [chakram-refugees] Con 05 Meeting Lucy [KTL ] Re: [chakram-refugees] Season 2... [cr ] Re: [chakram-refugees] Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Review ["Xena Torres" Subject: [chakram-refugees] Con 05 Meeting Lucy The easily amused Ms. Cheryl Ande was also instrumental in me having a picture taken with Lucy. (Though neither I nor Cheryl can remember exactly who took the picture.) At cons you meet not only people you personally know online or have met at prior cons, but also the people who are known by the people you know. It never ceases to amaze me how many Xena fans have never been online at all and yet are so passionate about the show that they spend the time and money to go to cons. So anyway, at cons you may wind up hanging around in extended groups that sometimes consist of a majority of people who have never talked to one another before and indeed may have absolutely no idea who each other are. If one were to look down from on high on such a group of Xena fans at a con and then make a diagram assigning a different color to each person to use for drawing connecting lines between who is the online and/or met at a former con friend of whom, you would have a very colorful and very complex and endlessly branching "Xena kinship" chart. Okay, so after the last performance of Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, a great fan of Faith Prince had arranged a reception for fans at the Space Needle after dark. It was fairly expensive and I didn't think I would go. (My invitation had arrived in the mail after I had left for vacation and so I hadn't seen it.) A friend who had her invite told me that the event was actually a fund raiser for the Men's Chorus, to support their programs. One of which includes funds towards high school clubs for gay/straight alliances and others that provide support (and free concert tickets!) for people with HIV and aids. So then I could easily justify the expense. Which pleased me no end. Grin. So, after the last performance me and a Flawless list friend took off for the Space Needle. This was WAY cool-I've always liked the Space Needle but haven't been up in it in years. It's such a 50's vision of what space age architecture was going to look like. Heh. We went in, claimed our name tags and went up in the elevator to the tippy top. Though we had rushed over from the play, there were already people there. (I guess they hadn't gone to the show.) I really wanted a table by the window but we walked all the way around the circle and there weren't any available. So we took a table in the second tier, where a friend from the Chakram list, Cheryl Ande and her friend Ed from no list, was seated. This table was away from the window, close to the back wall. Once we claimed our seats, I of course circulated, visiting friends at their various tables and having a great time. There were servers bringing food and wine trays around and it was just a fun party. Two young women who had gone up to Canada to get married joined us at our table. They had their infant daughter with them. Lovely young women and a sweet little baby. Cheryl had told her friend Ed that she was pretty shy and that he would probably have to encourage her to go up to Lucy. She wanted to be sure she got a picture with her. He agreed to make sure she got it. We continued to eat, drink and walk around teasing friends for about an hour or so. Finally, most of us were back at the table, chatting with each other. Ed mentioned that there was an outside platform that let you walk all the way around the wheel of the Space Needle and see the whole city stretched out below. Just then I noticed movement behind me and turned in my seat to see the elevator door sliding open. And-out walked Lucy. She was with Sharon and they walked over to the closest table (which was ours). Lucy walked up to me, bent over, extended her hand and said hello. I shook her hand and said hello back and we just smiled at each other for a few seconds. Then she turned to the other people at the table and shook all their hands also. She was at our table for a minute or two before the rest of the crowd noticed her-and then there was an outbreak of excited exclamations and a rush for the grrl. Lucy began to work her way through the crowd, talking to people as she went. Then some people began to ask her to pose for pictures. Which she did. Then some people began to ask her to autograph stuff for them. Which she did. Then some of the people who had taken pictures with her tried to get back through the crowd to get her to sign stuff for them also. Which she did. I stayed in my seat, where I had a great view of the goings on. Lucy is so tall that you could easily keep track of her in the crowd, even from a sitting position. Suddenly Cheryl came back to the table and plopped into the seat next to me. She looked at me and suddenly yelled, "HEY! DID YOU GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH LUCY? I DID!" I smiled at her and said, "No, but that's alright." She answered, "WHAT!? NO, NO, YOU *HAVE* TO HAVE YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH LUCY. YOU *LOVE* LUCY!!!!" It was suddenly apparent to me that Cheryl had decided to boost her courage by freely imbibing the wine. I solemnly said in as sincere and gentle a tone I could muster, "No, really-it's okay." Cheryl was VERY concerned. "NO, NO, I INSIST. YOU GO GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN WITH LUCY. *RIGHT NOW*!" I grinned at her in delight and laughed as I said, "No, it's fine. I don't really feel the need to have a picture taken with Lucy." But Cheryl was adamant. We exchanged comments on the situation, Cheryl at the top of her lungs, me getting more amused by the minute. Then she began to grab my arm and try to pull me to my feet. To avoid a scene, I got up with her and talked to her about how this wasn't necessary as she tugged me along over towards Lucy. She got distracted talking to someone and I gently pulled my arm away and went back to the table and sat down. Suddenly she appeared at my side again and took my arm again and hauled me to my feet again, saying, "YOU HAVE TO GET A PICTURE TAKEN WITH LUCY!" Again she wormed our way into the crowd. Again she got distracted and again I snuck away. I was sitting at the table talking to a friend when I suddenly heard a roar from the center of the crowd, "HEY! WHERE'D SHE GO!" Before I could run away, Cheryl was back again. This time she reached down, grabbed my blouse near my belly and hauled me up and out of my seat and over towards Lucy all without saying a word. I was laughing too hard to even protest. Man, that grrl was good--she maneuvered us right up to Lucy's back. And then tapped her on the shoulder. And kept tapping her on the shoulder as she finished signing something. Finally, Lucy turned her head towards us. Cheryl held out her handful of my blouse and ordered Lucy to: "Here-hold this." And Cheryl backed away from us and put her camera up to her face. Lucy and I stared solemnly at each other for a milli-second. Now, I honestly cannot remember if Lucy actually grabbed Cheryl's handful of my blouse. I think she didn't, but she did wrap her arm around me and turn me towards Cheryl. That woman is SUCH a professional. (Lucy that is, not the drunken Cheryl.) She also squatted down some to bring our heads to the same level and put her face next to mine. Cheryl was too far gone to take the picture. She fumbled with the camera. And nothing happened. She began to loudly exclaim things like, "WHAT THE HECK. . . WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING? DID YOU HEAR A CLICK? WHERE'S THAT BUTTON?" I began to feel just a tad self-conscious. (Finally-I obviously have a HIGH level of tolerance for being part of a foolish public show.) But also I was concerned because we were taking a fair amount of time and there were people there who desperately wanted to get a picture with Lucy or get an autograph or even just say hello. After what seemed like way too many seconds, I began to murmur to Lucy, "It's okay Lucy-go on to the other fans." Lucy said, "No, it's okay". Then to Cheryl, "Try again." Cheryl continued to fumble and loudly exclaim. I kept saying, "Lucy, it's okay, go see those fans over there." Finally Lucy straightened up, pointed at me with one of those incredibly long fingers of hers (hopefully the index one, not the middle one) and said, "I WILL get back to you". She turned back to the fans she had been involved with before Cheryl tapped her on the shoulder. I was totally hemmed in by fans who were trying to get to the woman who was now standing right behind me. (If we'd had swords, Lucy and I could have reenacted one of my friend md's favorite images-two women back to back keeping the encircling enemies at bay.) Meanwhile, someone had taken a hold of Cheryl's camera and was checking it out to try to tell her how to use it. I was working on inching my way away when Lucy suddenly swung back around and again wrapped her arm around me and again hunkered down by my face. Cheryl took her camera back from the helpful stranger and again brought it up to her eye but once again failed to find the right button. A woman standing next to her said, "Allow me" and snapped off a shot. I was blinded by the flash and so didn't see who had taken the picture. I sallied an as jaunty, cheerful and heartfelt "Thank you, Lucy" as I could and clutching the remnants of my besieged dignity (along with my handful of blouse), I let the crowd wash by me as they followed along in Lucy's wake, until I was able to break free and go back to my seat. Where everyone at the table asked me if I had gotten my picture taken with Lucy. I merely replied, "Yes". I looked over towards Lucy again. Despite having been there in the reception area for a long time, she had only gotten about 40 feet or so away from our table. Some guys came out and strung up some crowd control lines to try to help move the fans along more easily and quickly. And they brought Lucy back near the elevators and so near our table. So for the next two hours or so, Lucy stayed put about 6 feet from us as the crowd moved by her. Our table was totally besieged by fans, maneuvering for space to take pictures or just to stand nearby and look at her. As the night drew on, I suddenly remembered that I hadn't taken that walk on the promenade that circled the Space Needle. So I got up and stepped outside. It was a gorgeous night. And as the door closed behind me, I was left all alone in an enveloping quiet, lightly punctuated with the occasional muted sounds of very late nighttime in a big city. It was a marvelous and soul enriching contrast from inside the Space Needle, from spending a few hours smashed in a small space alongside a seething, loud, boisterous and highly excited crowd. Out there on the promenade, I found soft, warm darkness, dotted with spots and pathways of lights spreading out before and below me. You could see for miles. The city was awash in lighted patches from neatly spaced lampposts and shuttering red, green and orange traffic lights. But further out, the hills were dark mounds of live earth, outlined by lit roads that curved up along the sides and the tops of the hills. Puget Sound looked like black, faceted obsidian, shimmering with citylight reflections and the soft movements of waves, wakes and the swimming of all the things that live beneath the surface. It was so beautiful that I walked around the perimeter twice, not ready to give it up and go inside. By then it was nearly midnight. I did finally head inside. I went back to the table yet again. Someone at the table asked me where I'd been. I told the group that I'd been out on the walkway. To my surprise, they were surprised. One person said, "How could you leave the room when Lucy was still in it?" My only answer was that I wanted to see how it looked out there. And I thought to myself, when would I get such a chance again? How often would I be up in the Space Needle on a warm beautiful non-raining spring midnight in Seattle? How could I pass up that chance? You know, I wasn't sure how I would react to meeting Lucy. While I know from being at the con and seeing so many of the stars up close and personal that I seemed to not be very star struck--I just don't get all excited by seeing them and talking to them at cons. However, I honestly wondered if this would hold true for Lucy. Or if I would be stupid or silly or babbling or speechless or whatever. While I was very glad to see her and happy to shake her hand and say hello, it didn't turn me into a drooling fool. So now I know. But one thing was different than when I've seen Claire, Danielle, Hudson, etc. And I think it was because of my much more intense interest in Lucy. I've gone out of my way to read and see things about her. I've seen so many pictures of Lucy as Lucy and have seen her in so many interviews and seen her at in person at cons and on stage so often that she is truly familiar to me. A few days after the reception, I was thinking about watching her walk out of the elevator towards me and I realized as I thought about it that it almost seemed like I was back home on one of my visits and was at a family event. And I had just noticed that one of my cousins had just come into the room. The pleasure in recognizing Lucy, the welcome I felt in my heart was much the same. Like, "Ahhhh, here's one I know and care about and ain't it great to see her again". Strange, since I'd never met her face to face or talked with her before. But that's really what it felt like-not like meeting a stranger, but more like getting together again with someone you've known for a while and are happy to see heading for you. Anyway, that's my story of meeting Lucy. I enjoyed all of it very much. And damn, she is one fine, generous, patient, giving and tolerant towards silly fans woman. And to quote the little blond kid, by the gods she IS beautiful. 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: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 07:24:51 +1200 From: cr Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Season 2... On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:08, IfeRae@aol.com wrote: > In a message dated 6/20/2005 12:39:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > > cr@orcon.net.nz writes: > > It seemed to me - prompted by the occasional appearance of a Fate in the > > alternate reality to taunt Xena - that, rather than just letting things > > happen in the alternate reality, the Fates may have been deliberately > > steering it in a particular direction. And if so, then they may have > > been deliberately making the alternate reality intolerable for Xena, as I > > said. > > > Ah. I chaulked that up to dramatic purposes -- reminding the audience of > the deal with Xena and the times when, in the "other" world, she might've > handled things differently. On one hand, they seemed to truly feel they > owed her a second chance. On the other, I do think they wanted her to > appreciate the positive aspects of a path where she focused on the > negatives. I would agree that they seemed a bit biased toward her > accepting who she had become. I just don't think they interfered in any > way to make the "new" path any better or worse than it might've been. Hmm. I agree, btw, that the Fates owed Xena one for defending their temple. Myabe it was just the manner of the Fate who appeared to Xena from time to time in the alternate reality, that made me wonder if they were setting Xena up - she seemed a little smug in reminding Xena about the no-killing rule. (snip) > > And, don't you get the impression that if Xena had resisted killing on > > > > this > > occasion, the Fates would just have found a way to turn the heat up > > further? > > No. The key for Xena seemed to be Lyceus. Remember, it was her ritual > honoring of his death that set things in motion. Of all the tragedies > caused by her actions, it seemed she felt most guilty and anguished about > his death. What she seems to have forgotten was Lyceus' own desire to > fight and his encouragement of her to do so. He basically says he'd rather > die defending the village, than live under those circumstances. His > telling Xena to accept her responsibility (destiny) to use her talents to > fight people like the warlords is what finally persuades her that she can't > use Lyceus as the reason for why she shouldn't have become who she did. > > The Fates gave Xena the chance to see Lyceus as the self-determined hero he > was, rather than an accidental victim of her own choices. She could angst > all she wanted over becoming a warrior, but at least the Fates helped her > ease her conscience about that leading to her brother's death. I don't > think they wanted to force her into spilling blood, so much as giving her a > different - more full and objective -- perspective on it. > > -- Ife I agree, that's what fair-minded Fates should have done.... and maybe what they intended. cr ========================================================= 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: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 20:52:21 -0500 From: "Xena Torres" Subject: Re: [chakram-refugees] Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Review > Hmm, we'll have to send you to paparazzi school. Of course, we'll have to > pretend we don't know you -- *after* we see the photos. LOL! I had no qualms about it. I mean, I know why they say that - because they can say, "Take pictures, but no flashes and be quiet" because people WON'T and that would disturb the performers. I've taken pictures at a play I went to at a Star Trek con of Roxann and Robbie doing "Love Letters" - but I know not to use the flash and not only did I make NO sound - I only snapped a shot when the crowd laughed or whatever. So REALLY impossible to be a bother. But, I just did NOT want to risk some usher ushering me out of LUCY'S play. Nope, nope, nope - NO WAY! Also - new camera - knowing my luck I'd turn the flash on in the dark my mistake. ;) BATTLE ON XENA! Xena Torres: Bitch of Rome http://www.geocities.com/bitchofrome http://www.bitchofrome.com - COMING 07/15/05 "Time to put you out of my misery." - Livia "Eve" ========================================================= 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: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:32:08 -0700 From: "Roach" Subject: [chakram-refugees] RE: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - Pictures and stuff Taking pictures in "The Dark" is not an easy task, but it can be done, one just has to be prepared. don't think because it's dark, that it won't turn out, the stage is lit, one just needs to do the "Mental Math" on distance, light intensity, and open up that iris, lower that shutter spead, --and watch that depth of field -- and WHAMMO! EXCELLENT picture. but if ya go too far, you get white blobbies. (That sucks). This is why people, (DP's -- Director's of Photography on movies) and Photographers get paid the big bucks Not only do they get to play with and adjust the lights, but they know how the camera will react to that particular set-up. these guestimations take years of experience to eyeball for the particular camera you're using...One must become one with your equipment. Know what it can do under the circumstances and totally run with it. (and even the bestest best of them all have Ooop's that will never see the light of day). In the "Age of Digital" it's different than 35mm Film, for both video and photography. While the basics are the same, they all have their advantages and disavantages. If you're seriously considering attempting to get some good photo's with a digital camera, investigate, find out what it can do, learn what all those numbers, settings, and options can do, and USE THEM! For those of you who'd like to get a general idea (And are shooting digital) take a look at DVinfo.net or DV.com both have an amazing amount of information. And while one usually feels overwhelmed with all of it, if you pick up one little tidbit to make that photo better, wouldn't that just make you a happy camper? Later Roach ========================================================= 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 V5 #160 **************************************