Twister

34" x 36" Acrylic in Progress

Happy 25th Anniversary Beauty and the Beast

Way back in 1987, on this day, a show premiered on CBS that I fell in love with.  CBS Television's version of the old Fairy Tale, Beauty and the Beast.  I was hooked from the first episode.

I already knew who Linda Hamilton was from Children of the Corn & the original Terminator.  I liked her in the Terminator.  She was real.  Not dolled up, fake, super skinny, but real.  And kinda hot.  She was the lead, Beauty or in this case, Catherine Chandler.

Then there was the Beast, played by Ron Perlman.  OMG.  *Swoon*  The Beast, Vincent, was gorgeous.  Plus, he was totally into Shakespeare and romantic poetry.  He appreciated art & music & dance.  He was sensitive, yet barbaric.  Absolutely PERFECT.

For my High School Graduation present and after much begging & doing all the work to figure out tickets & hotel,  my parent's drove to Austin, TX in 1993 to a Beauty and the Beast Convention.  It was one of the best experiences of my life.  Mostly due to Edward Albert and David Schwartz, who took me under their wings & made me feel like the whole thing was happening just for me.  I was sitting in the back of the Costume Workshop on the first day, all by myself, and Edward Albert, who played Catherine's other love interest, Eliot Burch, snuck in & quietly sat in the seat next to me.  

I was incredibly excited, but remained calm.  He leaned over and whispered if I knew what this was.  I smiled and answered.  He sat with me for about 5 more minutes.  Just me & him at the back of the room.  He then leaned in and said he was going to go check out the other stuff.  I said okay.  I was so giddy.  I waited a little longer, jumped up, and ran to tell my Mom!

(Sketch by Jen Tucker 1993)

I was right in the middle of telling her, when he walked up, put his arm around me & said, "Hello." to my Mom.  I was grinning from ear to ear.  He hung out with me all day it seemed.  We talked about other stuff he was working on & how he was filming in Russia while the USSR was still crumbling and it was becoming the Russian Federation & how the whole crew got caught between sets of tanks with their guns pointed at each other.  We talked about Linda & Ron & he only had the most wonderful things to say about them.  He was the one that told me Linda was fired/let go/quit (unfairly) for not wanting to breath in all that tunnel smoke while she was pregnant. 

That night at the special dinner, every table got a celebrity.  I didn't get Edward & David.  Edward came over and apologized.  I thought that was sweet.  There was a charity auction for his presence at your table.  I think it went for a thousand or more.  Beauty and the Beast fans were called "Helpers" after people that lived in the Tunnels in the show.  They were always wonderful at raising money for charity events.  I did get to sit with a guy I'm sure you'll recognize now.  George R.R. Martin.  He was one of the Writer's for the show.  He was very pleasant & funny & helped swipe a table center piece for me to take home as a souvenir.  They were supposed to be raffled.  I still have it.

(I will post a pick of it later)

Finally, after the dinner came the celebrity auction.  Edward asked me what I wanted more than anything & how much money I had.  I only had 50 bucks.  Actually, I didn't have any, but my Brother said he wanted to give me $50 for Graduation. I told him I'd be happy to get an autographed pic of Linda Hamilton.  He & David looked at each other & grinned.  Edward went & changed & came out in the original costume Ron Perlman had worn as Vincent.  I got to touch it.  It was so cool seeing it in person.  The auction dragged on & I attempted to get a few items but always ended up outbid.  The last item was an autographed picture of Vincent that Linda had signed.  They started the bidding at $20.  David told me to bid $50.  I said $50 & Edward shouted going, going, gone and didn't let anyone else bid.  David brought it to my table, gave me a big kiss on the cheek & said, "There ya go sweetie."  I almost cried.

(I will post the autograph pic here)

David (he was a producer, btw) mentioned he was meeting with both Linda & Ron about doing "Love Letters" together the following weekend.  Before the end of the night I politely asked if there was any way David could take my picture with him and have Ron sign it at well.  Without hesitation he said, "Absolutely!"

I wrote my address down for him, he stuck it in his wallet/appointment book thing & I handed over the picture.  It arrived not more than 3 or 4 days after he met with them with Ron's autograph added.  I always smile when I look at it.  Thinking about that night, that day, the magic.  

That show was really magic.  It was wonderful & beautiful & tragic.  Much like real life.  Edward Albert asked me if he would see me the next day & I told him no.  My parents were only allowing me one day of the three.  We were headed to the beach from Austin.  He was genuinely disappointed.  He asked who he would hang out with.  I hugged him good-bye & told him I'm sure he would find someone.  He was too handsome not to. 

(Autograph thing here)

I cried before I got back to my room.  I couldn't help it.  It was the only time I ever remember crying from being so happy.  If this show hadn't existed, then that moment wouldn't have happened.  If Edward Albert, David Schwartz, George R.R. Martin & all the others that saw what that moment was for me hadn't been so kind & amazing to me that weekend, it would have just been another convention.  Fun, but nothing special.  I will be eternally grateful to them for that.  The world lost a wonderful man when Edward Albert passed away in 2006.  I've heard many other wonderful stories of his kindness.  Seems he was quite the Knight in Shining Armor.  

So, Happy Anniversary Beauty and the Beast.  Happy Anniversary to all those Helpers still out there.  Be well.  Grab a copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets, make some hot tea or coffee, and curl up tonight and watch the Pilot Episode.  Netflix is streaming it.

A new version of Catherine & Vincent hits the CW network this fall.  I'll probably watch it, but I know in my heart it will never compare.  How could it?

Sailor Neptune & Sailor Uranus

As I've mentioned before, and recently, I love Sailor Moon.  It's one of those totally girly things that I just can't get enough of.  I mean, a bunch of girls that get along & can work as a team!  How much more mythical can you get?  Of course these girls have super powers, so that helps.  Seriously though, it's a great show about love & friendship & acceptance.  

The outer Sailor Soldiers are my absolute favorites.  They are older girls.  Haruka Tenoh & Michiru Kaioh or Sailor Uranus & Sailor Neptune especially.  After the end of Xena,  T& I really wanted to find another couple of bad ass chicks that kicked butt together.  These two were totally it!   Haruka rides a motorcycle & gets mistaken for a really cute guy by the younger scouts at first.  Whenever Haruka & Michiru show up anywhere not as Sailor Soldiers, this really elegant music plays, and the younger scouts are always awestruck.   Sailor Moon Super was INTENSE!  There's this whole episode where Sailor Uranus & Sailor Neptune get all shot up & are dying & Sailor Moon is bawling, and I'm bawling & T's bawling, and OMG guys!  You have to watch the entire Sailor Moon Super series.  For real.  

   

In the US dubs of Sailor Moon, these two were "cousins".  LMAO.  Um, yeah, they ain't cousins kids.  Just like Xena & Gabrielle weren't just "best friends".  LMAO.  Oh, America...making them cousins makes it really weird.  And wrong.  So wrong.  

Anyhoo, that's a whole 'nother issue in itself.  Right now over at Hot Topic.com and in their stores, they have really sweet Sailor Scout stuff including Haruka & Michiru stuff!  Belts & shirts!  SaWeet!  I bought T the Sailor Uranus one the day of her book signing at 50 Penn Place.  I'm going to get myself the Haruka one ASAP.  Right now hottopic.com has Buy one, get one for 50% off on all their non-clearanced T-shirts!

Even GoHastings.com has a Sailor Moon shirt!

It's like a Sailor Moon revival up in here!  Woo-hoo!

Ghostbusters Figures on sale NOW!!!

Attention Ghostbusters fans!  Head over to Entertainment Earth & check out their Summer Clearance Sale if you want those 8 inch MEGO type Ghostbusters dolls/figures of Peter, Ray & Egon.  They have them right now, in stock, for $14.70 each.

RAY!

EGON!!

PETER!!!

Another New Mythos Statue!

I can't tell you how much I am enjoying these Mythos statues from Sideshow Collectibles.  The newest one is one of my favorite Star Wars creatures.  The Gamorrean Guard.  You know, the pig guards in Jedi.  Now, I can't exactly say it's beautiful, but it is awesome.

It is available for pre-order Sept. 13 & will run $324.99.  

Mythos statues are generally 18 inches high.  I'm guessing this one is around the same.

Make sure to pop by Sideshow on the 13th & pre-order yours!

Sailor Moon & Utena! Etsy! OMG!

So, I was just wandering about on Ebay when all of the sudden I am tempted away to this store on Etsy.

They make Sailor Moon stuff!  Not only that, but they make Utena stuff as well!  OMG!

Stuff like this:

and this!

OMG!  

So if you have any idea what I'm talking about at all, you are gonna want to go check out this store!

BROM has a Kickstarter

Brom's Kickstarter here: Click me!



Many of the top tier stuff is gone, but you can still get a great book for a great price straight from the artist & Publisher.  Go give an artist some money!

Happy Warrior Princess Day!

17 years ago on this very day, the very first episode of a show that changed my life aired.  "Sins of the Past", the very first episode of Xena Warrior Princess filled the airways.  Almost a year to the day, on Sept. 3, 1996, I met some chick named Turayis online.  In channel xenafan on IRC.  16 years later I still have my Bard.

  If that wasn't amazing enough, Turayis' book was released today in stores.  Today is the official release/laydown date.  What are the chances?!  That a girl from a small town in Ohio, Piqua, which sounds sort of like Gabrielle's hometown Potedia, would leave her home to follow me around.  Me,  A girl born in a city that starts with the same letter as Xena's birth place, Amphipolis.  Who knew that girl would end up actually becoming a Bard, just like her hero on TV?  Pretty cool stuff.  I can't believe these two dates happened to coincide.

If you want to get a copy of my Bard's book head over to Barnes & Noble.com

I have it linked directly to her book there.

If you want an autographed copy, either comment below & I can hook you up, or show up at one of her signings: 

September 8th - OU Bookstore (Gate 3 of OU Stadium) just before 1st home game, from 3:30-5pm.

September 15th - Full Circle Books, from 12-2:30pm.

Happy Warrior Princess Day!  Happy Laydown/Release Day T!  Happy 16 via #xenafan on IRC! 

Something Fun

Here's Kelly Clarkson's new song.  Darkside.  A fan had fun making a video for it.  A Star Wars video.

Artist of the Week

Yep, another totally Random Artist of the Week.  This time it's Amanda Visell.  Why?  Because she does really cool wooden Star Wars sculptures.  See!

How cool are those?  See more on her blog: Amanda Visell's Blog

If those aren't cool enough, she has all sorts of sculptures she does.

Like this awesome Robot painting:

Or this super Wonder Woman/Justice League Painting:

She even has a store where you can buy things.  Real art for sale.  Not that crap most people hang on their walls from Wal-mart or Target.

So go forth!  Support art & artist by actually buying their stuff!

Electric Tiki Tron

Electric Tiki has figured out a way to give you the TRON statue/figure you always wanted.  They teamed up with Sideshow Collectibles for distribution, so you can find most of their stuff there.  $189.99 is the asking price for this cool, 14 inch high statue that will burst with glowy awesomeness under any college room blacklight.  Or your basement blacklight.  

Even without the blacklight it's super cool looking.

Sideshow has the payments at $63.33 a month if you want to use their flex-pay.

Steampunk Tonner Dolls

Now this is a pretty cool doll.  The Steampunk Tonner Wonder Woman Doll.  She's 16 inches high & very limited to only 500 pieces ever.  Nice.  She has a faux-leather suit, Goggles, Black rooted saran hair (I have no idea what that means) and her golden lasso.  She is pre-sale priced at $174.99.

If you head over to Entertainment Earth, you can get in on their deal of buy one get one 50% on all dolls right now.  

Maybe you'll want to pick up the TRON: Legacy Gem as well.  She's also $174.99 and limited to 500 pieces.  

Or Maybe you just want to stay in thew Superhero Genre.  There's Black Canary.

Standing at 13 inches high & also limited to 500 pieces, she sells for $149.99.  With the sale she'll be half that if you pick her up with Wonder Woman!

Maybe you want to go a whole other direction though & pick up a Momiji Doll instead.  These non-opening nesting dolls are 3 inches tall & have a place to insert a secret message.  

I kind of, sort of, love these.  

They are only $16.99.  Buy one get one 50% at Entertainment Earth.

Firefly Posters for Your Retro Room

Quantum Mechanix has released some great Art Deco type posters of the characters from Firefly.  The posters are each 24 x 12 inches on 100 lb. paper.  There is a set of the Ladies & one of the Gentlemen.

Both sets are Around $30.00 each.

You can acquire them from Entertainment Earth or many other suppliers.  

Google it.

RIP Muppet Man

Jerry Nelson was a Muppeteer.  He was one of the originals.  He started way back in 1965 with Jim Henson as the right arm of Rowlf the dog.  You know him best as the Count from Sesame Street.  Count Von Count.  I loved him best as Sgt. Floyd Pepper.  That's Floyd there in the picture.  The Muppets have always been & continue to be a never ending source of love, imagination, dreams & possibilities.  Thank you Mr. Nelson, for all the laughs & joy.  

Wonder Woman + Superman

If you haven't heard yet, Geoff Johns over at DC has decided that Wonder Woman and Superman should have sex.  It will happen in Justice League #12.  

It's nice to see DC paying so much attention to Wonder Woman finally.  Trying to fill out her character.  Give her depth.  I'm not sure why they think boinking Superman is the way to do it, but okay.  Clark is a great guy.  I mean, he's basically Christ when you break it down.  Being an Amazon, if you're gonna go for some penis, Super Penis would be a solid choice. *snicker* 

I mean, she grew up surrounded by beautiful women.  She was a Princess. She could have any woman on the island.   I'm sure Steve Trevor was her first male conquest. I've always figured Diana would be at least Bisexual or Pansexual.  Growing up the way she did and having the desire to protect people I think she must look at souls more than gender.  Of course, we always have the tendency to project ourselves onto our heroes.

In my opinion, the whole reason there hasn't been a Wonder Woman movie is due to her sexuality.  How do you avoid addressing it?  In the real world, sexuality is something that just pops up.  People ask you if your married, dating, etc.  I can't tell you the number of times some dude has noticed I don't have a ring on my left hand, chatted me up all friendly (I'm thinking we're just chatting mind you), and then asked me if I have a boyfriend.  Of course, I always say no.  Then he asks me out. *sigh*   Then it gets really awkward.  I mean, do I want this stranger to know?  And then again, why is that weird in the first place?  But what if he gets violent?  Or gets really offended?  Or says something really hurtful?  What if he feels really stupid?  If I don't say something though, he will think that I just am not interested.  Which I'm not.  But not for the reasons he thinks.  Ugh.

(I adore this picture.  Couldn't find the name of the photographer.  Apologies.)

So really, in the real world it's impossible to ignore. I mean, we know who Batman has the hots for.  Clark has been with Lois forever.  Aquaman has had a couple different Mermaids.  Wonder Woman though?  We just don't talk about it.

I hope this is DC's attempt to start delving into Wonder Woman and opening her up.  Making her a more rounded character.  Again, not sure why penis is involved.  Maybe we will get some great dialogue about Wonder Woman's fluid sexuality & sexuality as a whole.  Maybe they are just trying to main stream her more in order to wash away any question that she might hook up with chicks so they can present her to a larger audience in a theater.  I hope not.  Wonder Woman has the potential to be an amazing step forward as an icon.  She already has been, but she could be so much more.

Personally, once she's done with Supes, I hope she runs into Kate.  Man, the drama & intensity in that relationship might cause the Sun to Supernova.

Oh, one more thing.  Go check out NPR's take on this.  It's Hilarious!!!!

NPR Link.

Thundercat Tygra

Pop Culture Shock has released a new Thundercat statue of Tygra. 

It is a mixed media statue, which means it's probably mostly polystone resin, a little bit of cloth on the costume &  metal used for the Bolo whip.  

It is listed as Limited Edition with the edition size still to be determined.  Sideshow Collectibles is selling it at $339.99.  Their super limited Sideshow Exclusive edition has a second head that can be switched out for the price of $369.99.  

It has a release date of March 2013, but you can pre-order right now & make payments to sideshow of around $75.00 a month.

Leia vs. Xena

A student wandered into my office today asking for information on how to get advised for Graduation.  It's a student that has wandered in before.  He has a full shaggy mane of blonde curls, blue eyes & a fabulous mustache.  Think Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday but more full & blond.

He's always pretty hyper, but I can't lie, I adore him.  He always brings good conversation with him.

Today it was "Who would win in a fight if it was Xena vs. Leia?"

Wow.

 

Now, I almost instantly said Xena, but then I stopped.  I remembered that article I read about Leia a couple days ago.  I realized just because Xena has a sword & a Chakram & happens to have killed thousands of people doesn't make her a clear winner.  Leia has the Force.  Xena has the possible demi-god thing.  Both are smart.  Leia also has some awesome friends.  Xena doesn't really have friends other than Gabrielle & the bumbling idiot Joxer.  Occasionally the jerk Hercules shows up, but this fight ain't between them & their friends.  It's just between these two ladies.  Xena does have superior charisma.  She can turn on the sex charm & get anyone, male & female, to pretty much do anything.  Leia has more of the cute charm. One that doesn't work so well on her own sex. Both are great at strategy.     

Leia has more to lose.  Xena feels like she has a debt to pay.  Leia is awesome with a blaster.  Xena is more than human in her skill with the Chakram.  Xena has accepted herself for who she is.  Leia is always iffy about being a real Jedi.  (I haven't read ALL the novels in the SWU yet)  Sheesh, this is tough.  I'm not sure I can answer this question.  

What do you fanboys & fangirls think?