Art, Love, & Action Figures

What day is it?

2012-02-06T14:51:00.004-06:00

Hello.

Xena Con 2012 was awesome.

I wasn't able to keep up with the blog like I had hoped due to the lack of free wi-fi. I refuse to pay $14.00 a day. Especially when I'm already paying for everything else.

The final highlights of the Con were:

Lucy & Renee on stage. Lucy & Renee reading Katherine Fugate's little script she wrote that Renee & Claudia Black had read the day before.

Gabrielle asking Xena to marry her right there in front of my eyes. :o Holy Hera!

The Video above was our vantage point. In fact, if you look, & are familiar with the backs of our heads (*snicker*) then you will see they make an appearance.

For me, this was absolutely amazing. It was almost like the last two episodes were fixed immediately. It is still making me smile.

Right after that moment T & I were scrambling madly through the crowd to get to the Lucy photo op line.

That too, was awesome. She was warm & friendly & I still can't believe it all happened. Best 15th Year Anniversary present EVER!

We loved Southern California. The weather was so nice & everyone seemed very friendly & smiley. We even saw a guy see his car get bumped in the parking lot. Hey ran over to check it out & once he decided it was no big deal, he came strolling back to the Starbucks with a smile on his face.

THAT guy taught me a bunch. He witnessed, he reacted, he investigated, he let it go. I have a very hard time with the "letting it go" part. I don't want to anymore. So that is what I am practicing since I got back. Letting it go. I do not want to hang on to emotion that should have passed anymore. I want to feel in the moment & move on. So far, so good.

So, we've been back for a week now & I still have not adjusted. In fact, I'm not sure I ever will. I feel different.

Xena Con Day 3 - Saturday!

2012-01-29T12:57:00.008-06:00

Saturday finds us up early & nervous. Renee O'Connor's photo op is bright & early at 8:45am. We are hoping she has on the outfit we want, otherwise we will have to wait until Sunday. She's wearing two different outfits on two different days. Will it be the BGSB or the Red Outfit or the Little House on the Praire Outfit or what!?

I am totally expecting T to freak. LOL.

We get in line. Finally word comes down the line that she is indeed in the classic Gabby attire of the BGSB (Big Green Sports Bra).
Once we get in to the room where we can see her...T starts to feel weird. To be honest, I was taken aback a little seeing Renee for the very first time in her classic Gabby outfit. It was a bit surreal. I mean, holy Hera! There was Gabrielle! It was like someone plucked her out of ancient Greece & plopped her in Burbank just to take pictures. LOL.

She seemed pretty sleepy still. It was cute. She's so shy. I am amazed she does this for her fans. It must be incredibly hard for her.

T cried. It was so cute. She waited until we got back to the room, and she will absolutely hate me for telling you this, but she cried. She met the Bard of Bards! Her idol! The person that plays the character that helped her realize she wanted to be a writer & helped bring us together. It was adorable.

It really is neat being surrounded & immersed in the Xenaverse & being part of the experience we have always heard about.

Being there though, you could feel...it's a little too late for a Xena movie. This broke T & I's heart...just a little. we expected it was a possibility, but we had hoped that with the interest & fervor of the X201MC & other things we had read & watched, that maybe there was a resurgance. Nope. The Con room has yet to be a little more than half full. This is THE Xena con. If they can't fill that up...well, the market for the film looks pretty damn slim to me. Still, It'd be awesome if it ever happened.

So there were a few tears. T worked so hard on that script. However, at the same time, we are having so much fun. Even if it is the tail end of the grand experience, I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

We got to see Claire Stansfield, Tim Omundson, Brittany Powell, Michael Hurst, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, & Jacqueline Kim. Whew! That was a whole lot of awesome in a short amount of time. We also got autographs from all of them as well as Renee's autograph.

Later that night at around 10:30pm we headed on over to the cocktail party. Dancing, music, & drinks. Hudson showed up. She was on the dance floor with all of us. There were several dance offs. She is HI-larious guys. Brittany was there as well. I got hugs. Good, strong, happy hugs. Such wonderful hugs. *sigh*

Many of the stars asked us about the Con. They asked us if we were having a good time. They asked why we decided to come. Was it because it was the LAST con? It was neat, because we got to tell our story to most everyone. The people that helped bring us together. Some of them genuinely thought it was freaking cool. Everyone was very sweet. It was amazing. Brittany even told other people. Can I just say, I liked Brittany's character on the show, but man, I LOVE the real Brittany. She is crazy fun. Also cool & drop dead gorgeous.

Jacqueline Kim was also fantastic & so warm & lovely to meet. Gods, we had such great experiences. The stars were all so incredibly warm & friendly & funny. I have never been to a fan convention where all the stars are so relaxed & friendly & giving & warm. A big thank you to all of them.

After the party, we crashed.

Sunday is next. Lucy Freakin' Lawless day.

Xena Con Day 2 - Friday

2012-01-28T11:33:00.003-06:00

Wow. What an amazing first day! We slept in until around 10:30am because we opted not to pay $120.00 to do Yoga with Hudson Leick. It was nice. We needed it. We stumbled over to the Starbuck's, grabbed some coffee & relaxed a bit before rejoining the swing of the Con.

Steven L. Sears talked first. He was a writer for the series. One of the main writers. T got up & asked a question. I filmed part of it. I was proud.

Then Adrienne Wilkinson, the woman who portrayed Xena's daughter, Eve/Livia, was up next. She was very fun.

David Franklin was up next. He was everyone's favorite Brutus in the Rome episodes of Xena. The man is like a combination of David Tennet and Hugh Jackman. Hey, BBC, I think I found your next Doctor. This guy would be awesome!

Rob Field followed David. He was an editor on Xena. He was very Hollywood. It was pretty cool seeing such a stereotypical Hollywood type.

All of this lasted for hours. Finally, at 4pm, Ted Raimi is introduced. Ted played Joxer the Mighty & is Sam Raimi's brother. It was cool seeing Ted. He was funny & pretty much what I expected from a Raimi. Those guys are awesome, sarcastic & funny as hell!

After Ted came the Con legend Hudson Leick. Hudson scares me. She always has. She has this presence about her. It's like she could suck out your soul before you knew what was happening. LOL. Turns out though, that she's really pretty cool. Although I still think she might suck out my soul. After her talk was her photo op.

I was pretty terrified to stand next to her. Seriously, she scares me. So, we get up there, and she looks at T & says, "Hi!" in a high pitched friendly voice. Then she looks at me & says in a lower sulty voice, "Why Hello." Panic. She.Is.Going.To.Eat.Me.
I bravely returned her greeting with my own low confident, "Hello." & she raised her eyebrows & replied to my hello with an even sexier "Hello."

Um,...gulp. Hawt & Scary.

After the picture was snapped it was dinner time & then off to get some of our many autographs. After autographs we attended the special cabaret with Michael Hurst & Jennifer Ward-Lealand. Fun, fun, fun! We were signed up for Karaoke afterwards, but man, we were exhausted. So we went back to the room & crashed.

We had a great first day & did manage to meet some cool people.

We came to grips with the fact that the X201MC people were snubbing us. Very strange after having been on their FB & talking for so long. I thought I had built some pretty cool friendships there, but man was I wrong. Apparently the X2011MC operates like a small junior high school. Of course, being the weird kid & having people treat me like I'm the weird kid is the story of my life. So, feel free to go UNLIKE that page.

Next up, Saturday & Renee!!!

Xena Con Day 1 - Thursday

2012-01-27T12:34:00.003-06:00

Awkward.

That's the word for Thursday.

We got up around 5am to start the journey from Oktaha (My Brother's place) to the Tulsa airport. Our flight was on time & despite my mini panic attack & tears upon the first take off, I managed pretty well. There was quite a bit of turbulence on both the flight to Denver & the flight from Denver to Burbank. I sort of like turbulence though. For the first time ever, I did not throw up after the second fight. THAT was awesome.

Once in sunny Burbank, we walked out of the airport, took a deep breath & T started crying. (To be fair, I cried when the plane landed) Neither of us could believe we finally not only managed to get a vacation, but that we managed to afford one. It didn't even matter what we where doing, or that there was a con at all. We were free. Free from all that mundane routine crap. Just me & T.

We looked around & decided to walk rather than to take the complimentary shuttle bus to the hotel. That's how we roll. We wanted to feel every bit of California sunshine.

As we entered the Hotel, the noise grew loud, and there were obvious Xenites filling the lobby already. Many of them very large robust type Xenites. We checked in, smiled shyly & ran up to our room.

We weren't quite sure what to do. I'm completely lousy at being social & T hasn't done it in years. So we stayed up in our room for a little while. Finally, we decided to go down & explore. Find where & when everything was supposed to be. Once we returned to the lobby, we were overwhelmed by the fact that the Xenite number had doubled & people were screaming joyously & hugging & so excited. No one seemed to notice us. It felt like it would be interrupting to walk up & say hello. So we headed toward the convention part of the hotel.

Soon I saw members of the X2011MC. T tried to make conversation, but was brushed off rather quickly, or so it felt. I smiled with recognition at a couple of them that I have been FBing with for 6 months & they looked right through me. No hello, no nothing.

Awkward.

I had no idea what to do. So we sat in the lobby for a couple hours watching people come & go, hugging, screaming, being excited. Then Hudson Leick walked by. T was whispering to me, "Hudson, Hudson, Hudson! Hudson Leick!" I was all, "What? Oh, Callisto. Yep, that's Hudson. Damn. She looks hot."

So we explored a little more, went back up to our room, came back down, attempted a few more times to initiate conversation & went to get in line for Pre-Registration.

No one seemed interested at all in hanging out with us or including us. As we walked to pre-registration, I looked over & saw Bill Shatner sitting next to the pool with a cameraman & boom mike guy. Ha! Cool.

As we stood in line, Bill's TV crew came down the line & the girls behind us started doing the Xena war cry. The camera stopped & there we were. Us the the girls behind us on camera for Bill Shatner's show Fanatics. LOL. If we end up in the final edit, I'll be pretty stoked about that. 'Cause if anything fits me well, title of fanatic is pretty close. I mean, you guys know this.

We did manage to talk to the people in front & behind us & finally feel like we were no longer invisible. So that was good.

We Pre-registered, got our 8 x 10's t be autographed, a new coffee mug, and a couple of scripts & headed back to the room. We were so exhausted. For the first time in my life I was asleep before 11pm.

Now, it's Friday. We're at Starbucks. Free w-fi. The hotel charges $13.00 a day for internet that works. We've got about a half an hour before the festivities start. So glad we passed on the 8 am Yoga with Hudson. LOL.

And so it begins....

2012-01-24T10:47:00.006-06:00

Friday, Saturday & Sunday of this week are going to be a little different here at the blog. I will be blogging from what is being called the FINAL Xena Convention. Of course, it won't be the final one, but it might be the final US Creation sponsored one.

Anyhoo, this space will be filled with all sorts of exclamations of joy and pictures as me & my Amazon Bard trek to Burbank to hook up with the tribe & stand in the presence of our idols. Plus, we get to have our pictures made with them!!!

O.M.G. I have been practicing my "Not Stupid Face" for a month.

We begin travel on Thursday. So far the tribe is undecided on when to meet up. Imagine that?! A bunch of Amazons having trouble deciding where to meet & when. LOL. The Australian & European Amazons are ready to party, as are some of the newbies, but this Warrior is feeling a little too old to go tear up LA the night before the big festival starts. LOL. However, the call to Starbuck's in the wee hours of the morning Friday is looking like a go & I am sure the party gals will need some coffee after their crazy night.

Friday will be the start of the festival with Joxer (Ted Raimi), Callisto (Hudson Leick), La Mao (Jacqueline Kim), Brunnhilda (Brittany Powell), and Xena's daughter herself, Eve (Adrienne Wilkinson. Saturday will be the arrival of the Amazon Queen & Battling Bard of Potedia, Gabrielle, Renee O'Connor & the evil of all evils Alti (Claire Stansfield). Eli (Tim Omundson) will also show up on Saturday, as well as Hercules' best bud Iolus (Michael Hurst). There are so many people showing up on Sat.! The costume contest, which I sadly will not be participating in due to lack of boobs to fill my borrowed breastplate, will also be Staurday.

Then...TheGreat Creation Celebrity Cocktail Party. For GOLD members ONLY. Which we are. I can't believe we are, but um, yeah, we totally went for it & we got golden tickets!!!

Then it's Sunday. Sunday. Sunday!!!!

Sunday is the day the Warrior Princess herself shows up. Callisto (Hudson Leick) runs the charity auction breakfast that morning.

Now, in between all the scheduled stuff & after the scheduled stuff & before the scheduled stuff, we are doing other stuff. We are going to Graumann's Chinese Theatre. We might even catch a show there. We could possibly be going to drunk Karaoke with other Xenites. We are hoping to get to play in the charity softball game which pits Xena's hometown Amphipolis against team Potedia, Gabrielle's hometown. There's pool time with some of the other Amazons & more. Oh, and T pitching her script. Look for the Xena film to be out sometime in late 2012, early 2013. ;)

We are so ready for this.

New Ladyhawke album

2012-01-19T11:50:00.002-06:00

Don't Blink

2012-01-19T10:34:00.002-06:00

I don't know why, but I want these.

They are electronic googly eyes. They blink. How cool is that?

I simply adore googly eyes. ThinkGeek has them for $29.99 on sale.

Do What You Dream

2012-01-18T15:39:00.002-06:00

When I was a kid I saw the above movie. The Neverending Story. From that moment I knew I had to, HAD TO, do what I dreamed. I have worked at it. Not nearly as hard as I should have. Last year, I started anew. Wonderful things happened. I am convinced that this year will be no different. No excuses.

You might watch the clip above & see cheesy effects & a silly kids movie. If that's what you see...I feel sad for you. Try it this way. Close your eyes. Now, listen.

Do what you dream, people. Nothing is stopping you.

Contest

2012-01-11T14:09:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I have been considering having some contests from time to time on here. Looking for feedback. How many of you would be interested in a free Star Wars figure now & then?

Happy 2012

2012-01-03T11:28:00.002-06:00

Hey there! Glad to see you back here. I'm going to reflect a little here. 2011 rocked. I mean, it was awesome. So many cool things happened in my life. I also set up so many cool things to happen in 2012.

When I started this blog, action figures were an obsession of mine. I couldn't wait to see what was next to be molded into plastic! Now, I've found other things. I've gravitated back toward my art more. Also, back toward really understanding what I love.

The blog will still have lots of action figure news, but be prepared for more posts on artwork I am working on, things I'm doing, places I'm traveling, and Xena. Well, Xena for a while. I'm sure a few months after the Con, the Xena stuff will wind down. It's just the thing I'm most obsessed about right now.

This year I've been able to write quite a bit. I discovered I really love writing. I'm not nearly as good at it as T or some of my other friends, but I enjoy it. So, if I can stick to my guns, you will have a chance to read something I've written other than a blog post sometime this year.

I also have decided to stop taking the world so seriously. It's ridiculous. No more news. No more NPR. No more headlines. No more papers. I'll do my part when I should & I will make informed decisions, but I am done being upset & angry. I'm not a protester, a marcher, a person that is in any way shape or form made to go out in crowds & change things. Neither is T. We change things in other ways. We create. She writes, I write. I paint and she paints. We write music. We just haven't ever gotten it OUT there before. THAT is what we are going to change. We are putting it out there. All of it. That is how we change things. Through our creations. If anything we create touches one person, then we have met with success. We don't even have to know it has.

There needs to be more beauty & positivity in the world. Like just then, positivity showed up in my spell checker. That's a little crazy, isn't it? It underlines positivity in red because it doesn't think it's a word. However, type negativity & it has no problem recognizing it. That says something about our world right there.

Life is too short. Way too short. Being a person who doesn't necessarily believe in an afterlife where we all retain our conscious selves makes THIS life the only one I've got & way too precious to be worrying over the state of the world. If the world is bad or on the verge of collapse then it makes what I need to do all the more urgent.

I'm blessed with love & laughter & comfort & friends. It's time I make my focus my art. My dreams. In turn, making those things my reality. Hopefully, changing someone else's for the better.

I really feel like 2011 was the first step of a new journey. 2012 is going to be even more fantastic. The path is in front of me. I am taking it. The recent past might have beaten me up, chewed me up, pummeled me & kicked me while I was down, but I am standing back up. I'm brushing myself off. I'm geared up, sword in hand, or paintbrush, and ready to go.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

New Years Party Fun!!!

2011-12-14T12:43:00.003-06:00

Sometimes, on New Year's, to get things rolling, it's fun to start off with a party game. This year, you could try this: Star Wars Mad Libs. Mad Libs have always cracked me up. Mad Libs had been the cause of some of the hardest laughing I have ever been a part of. Who doesn't want to end one year & start the new one with laughter. ThinkGeek has them in stock now & for only $3.99!

Swiftwind

2011-12-05T11:23:00.006-06:00

Okay Masters of the Universe & She-Ra collectors, listen up! You absolutely have to have this one! It's She-Ra's faithful steed Swiftwind from the Master's of the Universe Classics line!

You can order it from the Big Bad Toystore for $47.99 plus S&H, Brian's Toys has it for $79.99, Amazon has them from $42 - $60, Ebay has them listing from $17.00 on up. Some of the Ebayers have Swiftwind combined with the MOTU Classic She-Ra.

I would also like to point out a cool shirt you might want to snag if you are a big She-Ra fan. ThinkGeek has it & I think it is exclusive through them. It's a two-sided She-Ra Costume Babydoll. It ranges from $20 to $21 depending on what size you need.

If you play your cards right, you could be a Princess of Power this holiday season!

Sick

2011-12-05T09:47:00.003-06:00

Hello viewers! Welcome back. Here at Art, Love & Action Figures we have been experiencing the bacterial infection from hell for nearly a month. It has been traded back & forth, subsided & then returned like a screaming Valkyrie from Vahalla. While I feel better than I did last Thursday, Friday & Saturday, I have learned that the nasty little bugger might just be laying another clever trap for me, or it knows it doesn't have to work as hard to destroy me, since the old people faculty do a great job of that themselves here at my j.o.b., and that it will make another victorious return & try to conquer me once & for all. It's been quite the battle. I'm exhausted.

To make matter worse, my sweet puppy is also sick.

She went to the vet today. I am anxiously awaiting results.

So, if you've noticed a lack of Action Figure related posts lately, now you have an explanation. As soon as I can kick this things ass, my puppy is all fixed up, and my house is in order, I promise I'll be right back to posting as much as I can.

Join the Campaign to bring Xena Back!

2011-11-28T15:51:00.003-06:00

Help grow the numbers by heading over to FaceBook and "Liking" the X2011MC page!

You can also get cool gear to show your support over at Zazzle!

Batwoman Comic

2011-11-22T22:54:00.005-06:00

I've read quite a few comics in my life. I wouldn't say I'm an expert, but probably somewhere above an amateur comics reader. Not quite a Professional comic reader, but close. I don't know a bunch about certain artists & writers, but I do have a few favorites. Probably the first comics writer I ever paid attention to was Ed Brubaker. I mean REALLY paid attention to. I had read Daredevil for years, but Brubaker made him more than a comic. He made Daredevil a real person. Deep, emotional, with real world problems. Mr. Brubaker was at the last Wizard World Texas Con I went to. I skipped his workshop, something I really regret, to get or see something else. Luckily, T went to the workshop, so I got a pretty good account of his workshop from her. I think it was Mr. Brubaker that really put the writing bug in T's ear.

There are few comics that really grab me. I like great writing & complex characters combined with good to freaking fantastic art. Brubaker's Daredevil had both. They were top notch. I really miss them. Mike Mignola & Eric Powell are the other two who light my comics fire. I have yet to ever pick up a B.P.R.D., Hellboy, or Goon that I haven't loved. I have almost everything Mr. Mignola & his team have ever made. I'm catching up on Mr. Powell's Goon.

So where does Batwoman fit into all of this? I'll tell you what, for me...she is right up there with these guys. DC's new 52 relaunch didn't really change anything for Batwoman, other than her issue number. She was just re-launched Spring of 2006. There was tons of media hype about how DC had made the character a lesbian & blah, blah, blah. I actually avoided picking it up at first because I didn't want anyone thinking I was buying it just because she was a lesbian.

Once I did pick it up, I was awed by the art. It was gorgeous. Stunning. I had to see more. The writing was pretty good to boot. With the new 52 Batwoman, not only is the absolute beauty of this title still intact, but the writing is better. It is co-written by J.H. Williams III & W. Haden Blackman, with the art also being composed by Mr. Williams III. I say composed because that's what it feels like as you move across the pages. Mr. Williams had been the artist on the Batwoman graphic novel "Elegy". Personally, I hope he never leaves. This guy is a master.

I realized, after reading Batwoman, that it was really refreshing to see that even though there was tons of media hype about Batwoman's sexuality, it didn't really translate into the comic. It's written much like Brubaker's Daredevil. Real world problems & real world situations. How refreshing. A strong female lesbian character that isn't being forced. I know women just like Kate (Batwoman). Her sexuality doesn't define her, it just happens to be part of who she is. No big deal. Batwoman has a thing for cops & Batman has a thing for cat burglars. It isn't the main thread of the story.

If you haven't picked Batwoman up yet & you enjoy great writing combined with fantastic art, I suggest you go grab the first three issues. I can't wait to see where these guys go with this. I think it's going to be one of the best comics of 2012.

New Xena Fan Video

2011-11-22T20:50:00.000-06:00

Dutch Schaefer Sideshow Figure

2011-11-11T09:38:00.005-06:00

Now available for $349.99, the Dutch Schaefer premium format figure from Sideshow Collectibles. This figure is available with the flexpay option, which means you can pay it out in installments of $105.00 a month. The piece is 20.5 inches tall & weighs in at 13lbs. The exclusive version comes with a separate head or "additional portrait with cigar for alternate display" as listed on the Sideshow page under the summary tab.

Funko Maleficent

2011-11-09T16:52:00.003-06:00

These aren't my bag, but quite a few people are really into the Funko type toys. Here is my favorite Disney Villain of all time available through Entertainment Earth for $9.99. Looks like they have her available in December, but I bet you might be able to get your hands on one before then if you just google around a bit.

Adventure People by Fisher Price

2011-11-09T16:32:00.006-06:00

Here we have a cool picture that my Flickr buddy Skip the Frogman put together of the complete line of Adventure Time figures released by Fisher Price from 1975 to 1985. I loved these figures. Skip helped me finally identify a figure I have kept all these years. I always wondered where he came from, but wasn't positive that he was with this line because he was a robot.

He fit right in with my Star Wars collection though. Anyone else out there have any of these awesome figures?

Slideshow

2011-11-08T13:32:00.001-06:00

A Bit More Progress on the Xena Painting

2011-11-06T01:49:00.003-05:00

Well, I've really started in on the metal work on the painting now. This should be interesting.

Xena Painting...Finally, Two Eyes!

2011-11-05T21:29:00.002-05:00

Whew, man, there was some serious anxiety about getting that second eye done. I was sure I was going to screw up the whole painting. Nope, in fact, the second eye looks better than the first! Now, back to work! She's getting there!

Captain America

2011-11-04T21:28:00.004-05:00

I just finished watching the latest Marvel movie Captain America. Two thumbs up, five stars, excellent job Mr. Johnston! I was never a huge fan of Cap, but let me tell you, I LOVED this movie! Marvel has perfected their superhero movie. DC really needs to take a cue & learn how to keep a character true while still making the hero accessible to everyone. Red Skull was perfect, as was Cap & the rest of the characters and cast. The pacing was good and the climax was satisfying. I would have liked to see Cap punch Red Skull in the face though. That's my one complaint. It was a beautifully shot film and also had an excellent score. I cannot wait for the Avengers. I expect it to break all previous box office records.

Xena Painting Update: Hello November!

2011-11-04T00:10:00.004-05:00

Started in on the shoulder guards & some of the metal. Finished up the background. Not sure I want to keep it. I almost want something more abstract & geometric. We'll see.

Wonder Woman & the New 52 from DC

2011-11-02T16:40:00.009-05:00

DC Comics recently decided to revamp their entire comic line. All your beloved favorites get re-hauled, re-tooled, etc. The one I was most looking forward to was Wonder Woman. For years, DC has shied away from who the Amazon Princess really is & where she came from. They've been uncomfortable with what it is to be an Amazon. They have hesitated to play with the mythologies laid out in front of them. Unlike Marvel's Thor, who has always been in touch with his Gods, DC always tries to stick Wonder Woman in our time & strip her of any link to her past & her culture. I was happy to find that Writer Brian Azzarello, so far has NOT decided to follow in those past footsteps.

There is a costume change. Honestly, I like the change. Not too dramatic, pays homage to the old, and doesn't try to apologize by adding pants. Thank you for that.

Now, there are a few problems I have with the New 52 Wonder Woman, but not many. Of course, we are only 2 issues in. Okay, you MUST get your mythology right. Sure, you can play around with it, but make sure you have a damn good reason for changing it & don't just change it to change it. For example, in the picture above, you can bear witness to a female Centaur. *sigh* Alright, alright, there were very scarce references to female centaurs, but generally speaking Centaurs are thought of as an all male species. I'll let that one slide, since, technically there are both males & females. They did get the female one right on, though. She was considered to be a white Centaur. So that one is just nit-picky of me really. Let's not screw too many myths up though, okay?

The next thing though really chaps my ass. Hippolyta has, was & should ever be dark haired, raven tressed, possessing of locks as dark as the night. NOT BLOND. OMG, WTF. Wonder Woman's mom is now blond. Seriously? I'm blond myself, but the Queen of the Amazons is not. First of all, how many blonde Greeks do you know? I don't like it. It cheapens Hippolyta. CHANGE IT BACK.

I also dislike it when characters take control of humans to do their bidding & then without any reason kill them, when it's obvious that they might need them again for the same purpose. I call it Gratuitous Death. We already have this in issue 1. Really? Look, have the god take them prisoner in his giant mansion of a penthouse, or keep a godly spell on them, but to just have him lure them up, use them & kill them without any sort of care in the world, well, honestly that OMG impact you wanted in the story you were writing...yeah, didn't happen. I didn't get to know them enough to give a crap. So really, the whole scene ends up completely pointless emotionally. Yeah, I got the info, but man, was that a completely overdramatic way to deliver it or what?

The writing is not bad. It could be a little tighter. There are a few pages where I had to read twice because the dialogue seemed really choppy. The panels didn't seem to pull off exactly what was being told either. The art is average. Nothing to be awed by, but not just puked out either.

Things I love? Diana's attitude. Diana NOT shying away from WHO she is. The naughty Amazon jokes. The feeling that this time, DC is going to embrace their Amazon Princess & let her be who she should have always been. Push the boundaries a little.
Make her mythology part of her story. Take us into her world rather than plucking her out & putting her in ours and making her forget where she came from.

So, if you have ever wanted to read Wonder Woman & didn't really know where to start, please go grab issue 1 & 2 of the New 52 Wonder Woman at your local comics shop. Go on! It's 15 to 20 minutes of fun each month for $2.99 a comic. I think this could possibly end up being the best Wonder Woman run ever. You wouldn't want to miss it would you?

(All images in this post copyright by DC Comics)

3:30AM-ish and I'm still at it. Xena Painting.

2011-10-30T03:36:00.003-05:00

More progress made. Got one of those baby blues done. I have to admit, the eyes on this painting have got to be right on or it isn't going to look like Lucy. Xena/Lucy has very well known eyes. You can't achieve the Xena look without them. So, lots of anxiety trying to get these eyes right.

Xena Warrior Princess Painting Update

2011-10-30T00:36:00.001-05:00

Work done as of 10.29.11 16 x 20 Acrylic

New Xena Fan Video

2011-10-28T16:59:00.001-05:00

Yep, I made another one.

Happy Birthday (you sexy statue you).

2011-10-28T09:41:00.013-05:00

The Lady Liberty was unveiled on October 28, 1886. Her image was created by the Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi.

The Statue was a gift from France to America to commemorate the centennial of the American Declaration of Independence. Benefit theatrical events, art exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds in America, while the French used public fees, various forms of entertainment, and a lottery as methods of building money to complete the project.

Lady Liberty was built in France, then transported by the French ship "Isere" to New York Harbor & arrived in June 1885. It took 4 months to assemble her on her pedestal for the whole world to see.

I love this statue. I'm sure their is some bias in my love for her since I was born American, but the whole idea of her is romantic. A beacon of hope for those who struggle to be free. The torch lighting their way to a land of Freedom & Opportunity. Can you imagine what the sight of her standing in that harbor has meant to millions who have managed to reach her shores?

One day I will stand at her feet & weep. I don't care who sees me. I will weep for the idea to create her. I will weep for the effort to raise money to make it real & those who saw to give to a cause of creating art. I will weep for those fought so hard & braved so much to get here, and for those who didn't make it. I will weep for the joy that she was not one of the targets on 9-11. I will weep for all those that made it possible for me to have the Liberties I have, even though for me, they are less than some in my country. I will weep for her as she watches liberties being stripped away from women as we descend, falling backwards, rather than moving forward. I will weep knowing that I was lucky enough to live in a time & place in the universe where she stands & where what she stands for exists.

(photo by murphydean)

Happy Birthday Lady Liberty. May you stand for countless ages to come.

Bow Ties Are Cool. (Not really, but whatever.)

2011-10-24T13:58:00.004-05:00

Okay, Whovians, Thinkgeek has the Bow Tie of Bow Ties for you! The 11th Doctor's Bow Tie to be exact! Unfortunately, it looks as though they are already out of stock! However, you can get on the e-mail list to be notified when more show up. It fits necks 15-20" & when combined with any old tweed jacket & a sonic screwdriver, will complete your 11th Doctor Halloween costume! However, if you desire to have an exact replica of the 11th Doctor's jacket, you can fork over $329.99 for that at the same place, Thinkgeek. It too has sold out right now. Holy cow! Really?!

Lucky for you, Entertainment Earth has both as well. The jacket is available for $309.99 pre-order due to arrive in November & the bow tie is available to arrive in November for $29.99. Unfortunately that's after Halloween, but who cares, right?! You can dress as the Doctor any day!

The ENTIRE Jem Series on DVD! Outrageous!

2011-10-18T09:13:00.004-05:00

Finally, all 65 episodes of Jem in one place! Rhino Entertainment had released 3 sets prior to SHOUT releasing this boxed set, but Rhino never finished out the series. Finally, not only do you get all 65 episodes in one box set, but this box set is also loaded with extras!

There are a few issues with the new set however. Apparently, past the third season, the master tapes sat on the shelf for 25 years untouched. SHOUT did what they could, but the quality is still less than perfect. Still, at least they are out there. Hopefully in the future, if sales are good, they can clean them up a little more.

Amazon.com has the box set ready to purchase right now here: JEM

The Power of the Future is in Your Hands!

2011-10-18T08:18:00.006-05:00

Today I'm changing it up a little bit. I'm going to bring to your attention some Blu-ray & DVD releases. Some that you can go ahead & pre-order right now.

First up, the entire Captain Power series. Captain Power came out in the late 80's and dealt with some pretty serious issues. It was dark & gritty. It was also a combination of live action & computer animation. Also, in each episode there was a segment that included visual and audio material which interacted with toys produced by Mattel. My brother had one of the ships. It was pretty neat.

So, if you've never seen Captain Power or you just want to relive those post-apocalyptic storylines, make sure to head over to Amazon.com & pre-order your copy right now.

Another great 80's animated series coming to DVD is M.A.S.K. or(Mobile Armored Strike Kommand). It was a Japanese animation distributed by DIC Enterprises which was also accompanied by a toyline. Kenner toys produced 2 inch figures and vehicles that were really pretty cool. Again, head on over to Amazon.com to pick up the entire series on DVD.

If those weren't your cup of tea, hold on, I still have more! Also, now available on DVD, Skeleton Warriors. Skeleton Warriors ran 13 episodes and was by Landmark Entertainment Group. It originally aired in 1993-1994. It was one of those unfortunate shows that would have thrived in the 80's, but the 90's rejection of anything 80's or fantastical killed it. If you love fantasy good vs. evil stuff & never saw this one, you should check it out. It is also available over on Amazon.com.

Battlestar Galactica Viper Pilot Helmet

2011-10-13T09:52:00.005-05:00

This retro Battlestar Galactica helmet is a replica of the helmets worn by the Pilots Starbuck & Apollo in the 1970's series.

The helmet is an exact screen worn replica. It is limited to only 500 pieces worldwide and has a numbered plaque hand signed by both Richard Hatch and Dirk Benedict!

You can find them online at eFx Collectibles and over at Entertainment Earth for $599.00.

The Warrior Princess Painting

2011-10-12T10:56:00.002-05:00

It was inevitable. I have started a Xena painting. Small 16 x 20 Acrylic on canvas. It's in the same style as my Wonder Woman painting. I'm trying to get it done for the Xena 2011 Movie Campaign's Art Contest. The deadline is the 17th. I am bound & determined to make it.

Ghostbusters Demon Dogs

2011-10-11T08:54:00.003-05:00

Just in time for Halloween, Diamond Select has unleashed the giant demon dogs from hell in the form on light up statues. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next Halloween to use them. They are only up for pre-order right now & showing an availability of sometime in February. However, if your sweetie is into devil dogs, this will make a great Valentine's gift! These puppies are 7 inches tall and run $67.99 ea. over at Entertainment Earth.

Battlestar Galactica "Top Gun" Stein

2011-10-10T12:05:00.004-05:00

Here's something all you fangirls & boys have been asking for. The Battlestar Galactica Top Gun Stein as used by "Kat" & "Starbuck" in the relaunched Battlestar Galactica series.

The Stein is 9 inches tall and 4 3/4 inches wide at the base. It is reasonably priced at $59.95 & available through Quantum Mechanix as well as Sideshow Collectibles.

It is a kiln fired piece with a cast metal lid & it is recommended that you hand wash it, rather than sticking it in the dishwasher to keep the hand-painted details intact.

New Dark Crystal Merchandise

2011-10-10T11:30:00.005-05:00

Not only does Knucklebonz Products put out Rock god statues, but they also have some sweet limited edition Dark Crystal sculptures coming out. The first one shown here is the Jen statue as he prepares to heal the Dark Crystal with the crystal shard. Limited to 3000 pieces, this statue can be pre-ordered from the Knucklebonz Products homepage for $124.00. I didn't see a size on this statue anywhere on their page.

The next Dark Crystal statue is of Kira & Jen. Kira sacrificed herself to help Jen in his quest & this statue is from the moment right after the scene represented by the first statue. I also did not see a size on this statue, but it is also limited to 3000 pieces & runs $149.00 on the Knucklebonz Products homepage & is available now for Pre-order. There is no release date for either statue at this point.

Rush's Neil Peart Statue

2011-10-10T11:16:00.002-05:00

I'm not a big Rush fan. Honestly, I'm not a fan at all, but I do appreciate & understand the amazing man that Neil Peart is. He is a drum & percussion god. If you do happen to be a Rush fan or if you are just a collector of Rock God statues, then you're going to want this one. Limited to only 3,000 copies made, this Rock Iconz statue produced by Knucklebonz Products is around 9" tall & comes on a wooden base. It is available for pre-order right now at both Entertainment Earth for $114.99 and on Kucklebonz Products homepage for $115.00.

Xena Sword & Scabbard

2011-10-07T21:50:00.005-05:00

I know, I know, ANOTHER Xena post?! Yep, sorry, but I'm excited. I finally got my prop replica Xena sword & scabbard. So I have to share! Licensed by Universal in 2004. Limited to 3000. Numbered. The weight is good & it feels nice in my hands. The scabbard is well made & looks exact. Sword is cast aluminum & one solid piece. Not sharpened. Wouldn't be hard to sharpen it right up though, but aluminum doesn't hold up to any sort of actual swordplay. You need tempered steel for that. It's a really nice piece to have & I'm excited to include it in my collection!

Now all I need is an ICON Chakram & Gabrielle's sais & staff.

Two Broke Girls

2011-09-30T16:15:00.005-05:00

I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but every Fall I try to catch the new ones that seem to look interesting. This year there is a freakin' gem of a comedy. This show is HI-larious. It's on CBS Mondays @ 7:30pm Central & called "Two Broke Girls".

It stars Kat Denning & Beth Behrs. It takes place in New York in present time. Kat plays Max, a diner waitress & Beth plays Caroline, daughter of a billionaire in prison for running a Ponzi scheme. Caroline finds herself, for the first time in her life, without money, food, a place to live or anything else. She ends up getting hired at the diner, convincing Max to let her move in to her Apt., and coming up with a scheme to get rich...selling Max's delicious cupcakes & raising $250,000 to start their own cupcake business. Every week at the end of the show, their savings are tallied & we see how far they are to their goal.

Now, that might not sound interesting, but this show is so very well written & acted. There are so many funny lines. The actresses already have great chemistry & so far I have found absolutely nothing to dislike. And we're only 2 episodes in!

CBS also made a great decision to post full episodes online in case you missed any. Right now you can head over to the highlighted link below & catch up on the first two episodes: Two Broke Girls

Go do it! Laughter is good for the soul.

Xena 2012 Calendar

2011-09-30T12:29:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again! Time to find that calendar to decorate your space with. This year, guess who showed up in her own calendar again? That's right, the Warrior Princess herself, Xena. It looks like Universal is starting to put some Xena Merch out there, which bodes well for those of us interested in a movie. The calendar has all your favorite characters from the series, one per month for all 12 months of 2012. You can find it over at Amazon.com from $10 to $12 bucks.

Robby the Robot Model Kit

2011-09-30T11:35:00.005-05:00

I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not, but I love model building. I love the scraping, sanding, filling, gluing, & painting. I love the tiny parts on models. I find them absolutely fascinating.

This model, by Round 2 , is something I really want to get my hands on. Robby the Robot is the most iconic robot there is.

Robby first showed up in the film "Forbidden Planet" and made numerous appearances afterwards in shows like "The Addams Family", "Lost in Space", "Columbo", "Wonder Woman", "Mork & Mindy", "Doctor Who", "Futurama" and more. He's been in movies, video games & commercials as well.

This model of Robby stands at 7 1/2 inches high & is labeled as a skill level 2 for ages 10+

He sells for $19.99 over at Entertainment Earth or around $14.00 on Amazon.com

Sideshow & DC Comics

2011-09-30T11:26:00.002-05:00

At last! Sideshow has acquired the rights to make DC Universe comic hero figures, statues & more. Check out their official announcement video above.

Doctor Who Merchandise Alert!

2011-09-29T14:44:00.002-05:00

These cute little wind-ups are only $9.99 ea. ThinkGeek has them now! You better hurry though. I bought two TARDIS' myself.

Fear of Legitimacy

2011-09-28T11:57:00.003-05:00

This post was inspired by one of my beautiful friends. Several of my friends are creatively blessed. Some take photos, some write, some paint, some make music, & some do all four or a combination of some.

Most of them hesitate to accept themselves as legitimate creators though. They refuse to call themselves Musicians, or Writers, or Artists, or Photographers. Why? I think it's because of three things.

One, they enjoy it & don't take it too seriously & haven't tried to make a career or money out of it.

Two, people fear that a "real" artist, musician, writer, or Photographer will call them out.

Three, society says you have to choose one thing & that's what you are. You can't be an IT tech & a writer. What you call yourself, if you do both, is determined by how much money you make at both. If you get a steady paycheck at the IT gig, and only make $20 off an article, then you are an IT Tech, but you're not a writer.

I call bullshit.

When you are IT'ing, you're an IT Tech, but man, when you are writing...you're a freakin' writer. Period. Even when you are IT'ing, you are STILL a writer. You write. That makes you a writer. Artists art, Painters paint, photographers take pictures, musicians make music, and writers write.

Be proud of those creative things you do. Don't sell yourself short. If I never sold anything in my life & worked my 8 hr. a day job for the rest of my life, would that make me less of an artist? Hell no! I might not ever be considered a Professional artist, but I'd still be an artist. We need more creatives in this world. So please, if you create be proud. Don't hide it. Don't deny it. Come on out into the sunshine.

Godzilla Shirt & Other Munsters

2011-09-26T16:22:00.004-05:00

Show your love of the King Monster of all monsters! Find this awesome shirt Here.

$18.99 & 100% cotton!

Prefer a different kind of Munster? Like models? Check out this Polar Lights model of the Munsters relaxing in their family room!

Glow in the dark 1:16 scale for $24.99

Not Saints...and Certainly Not Angels

2011-09-23T14:24:00.003-05:00

Charlies Angels, a reboot of the 70's show, premiered last night on ABC at 7pm central. Drew Barrymore produced so I had somewhat elevated expectations. They lost me in the first 5 minutes. Bad dialogue, horrible direction, cardboard characters & a lousy plot. Sure, the 70's show wasn't brainy, but it had something. Something besides pretty chics kicking butt. Honestly, these girls looked like they needed to taken to an all you can eat buffet & kept there for a couple days. Eat something for god's sake & keep it down! These girls are extremely cliquey & unlikable. The script was juvenile, the technology they were supposed to be using was laughable, and seriously...the girls were really unlikable, save the Eve character. Even Eve's character felt tied up & not allowed to really break through & make us care. I know, it's the first episode, but it's a bad sign when your very first episode is lame & had to be re-written once just to get it to the point it was. Which was still lame. I won't be returning for episode two.

Reworked Youtube Xena Fan Video

2011-09-23T11:30:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I used Windows Movie Maker Live to make my first ever Youtube Fan Video of Xena & Gabrielle. The first time I forgot to turn the sound off of some of the clips. I went back in & turned the sound off except for a couple where I really liked the sound, deleted one clip & replaced it with one I liked better & shortened the end. I still haven't figured out the whole title thing at the beginning & credits at the end, but still, I'm having fun with it. I know they make all kinds of add-on effects & animations that I would love to eventually learn how to use, but for now, here is the edited & updated version of the first Video. Thanks for watching. Feel free to critique & comment here or on Youtube. Also, if you wouldn't mind, and you like it, give me a thumbs up on Youtube & a +1 google here on the blog. Thanks!

The Muppets!!!

2011-09-23T10:37:00.006-05:00

The Muppets are returning! This makes me oh so happy! Squee-ably happy. I love the Muppets. Before I graduated High School it was a dream of mine to work for Jim Henson. Unfortunately he passed away just two years shy of my graduation. I probably should have moved to New York anyway or gone to puppeteer class somewhere despite this, but I was so sad & figured it wouldn't be the same. It hasn't been, but that doesn't mean that the love & joy & positive energy isn't still there. It's nice to see all my felt friends returning. This movie looks great. Great cast. Can't wait to see it! It opens this Thanksgiving. Make sure to go to Youtube & add MuppetsStudio to your Youtube channels!

Godzilla & Mechagodzilla by Bandai

2011-09-21T15:29:00.003-05:00

These are a must have for any Godzilla collector. Priced at $69.99 for Godzilla & $79.99 for Mechagodzilla, these figures have 29 points of articulation & stand at 6 & 6.5 inches tall. They are produced by Bandai & distributed by Sideshow Collectibles.

Masters of the Universe Classics She-ra

2011-09-21T14:49:00.006-05:00

The Masters of the Universe Classics line has been going for about 4 years now. These figures are remakes of the classic He-man characters but re-sculpted & improved. They recently released a She-ra that is absolutely awesome. Not only that, but they also released She-Ra’s alter ego Adora & have plans to release She-ra's horse Swiftwind.

These figures run $20.00 ea. on MattyCollector.com but they sell out FAST, so you might have to head over to Amazon or Ebay to snag one. That will cost you a little more.

My First Youtube Video

2011-09-16T18:03:00.001-05:00

Spartacus...Alright, Alright...I Give

2011-09-15T10:21:00.004-05:00

I have watched two or three episodes of Spartacus & I have to admit I'm interested in seeing more, but I've been avoiding investing myself into another TV show. Spartacus is so incredibly violent. Of course, it is Rome & gladiators & all the politics & awful things that happened during that time. It isn't about a hero going around fighting for the greater good. It's gritty & dark & terrible. I tend to like more happy fantastical worlds. However, with every new interview I watch with Lucy Lawless, the more I want to watch. She's a great actress. It would be a shame to go see her in Burbank & not have any sense of her work on Spartacus. I mean, she is my second favorite actress of all time. Also, the show is written & produced by much of the same team that worked on Xena. So, why have I been avoiding? Strangely enough, naked Lucy Lawless makes me really uncomfortable.

No, seriously. I'm not sure why. T & I have also discussed the rapey parts. We do not do well with rapey stuff. Again though, it is Rome. Romans were very rapey. So, we're going to give it a go. We are just going to make sure that if at any point either of us feels icky we can fast forward. The blood & guts are fine. Swords battles are bloody. I enjoy a good sword battle. Just like I enjoy my UFC fights. Any idiot can point & shoot a gun, but swords & fists take skill. I'll let you know what we think about it as we go along.

Hunted: Demon's Forge Update

2011-09-13T13:34:00.002-05:00

DO NOT BUY THIS if you are wanting a good two player game experience. If you are just wanting it for one player it's alright. Not great, but fun. The two player game play is horrible. The split screen is only available with top & bottom, not side to side. Messages pop up & cover the playable area even when you are being attacked, which makes it nearly impossible to defend yourself. It's like they didn't even try.

Hunted: The Demons Forge PS3

2011-09-12T13:45:00.004-05:00

I have rented a video game that looks promising. HUNTED. I haven't played it yet because I also rented the movies "Priest" & "Dylan Dog" & watched those first. "Priest" was great. I liked the mythology they built & the characters were really great. Karl Urban, Caesar from Xena, was in it. Good effects & a really wonderful score by Christopher Young. I hadn't heard of Mr. Young before so I looked him up. Seems I just hadn't noticed his scores before this one. He has a long list of credits including "Drag Me To Hell", "Ghost Rider", "The Grudge I & II" & more.

Dylan Dog however was meh. It was fun, but they really screwed up at the end. The protagonist does absolutely nothing but get his ass kicked & other random nameless characters defeat the antagonist. Lame. It had promise & like I said, it was fun, but in the end, unsatisfying. If you have a couple hours to waste, you might waste it with Dyaln just for the ride.

Now, as soon as I get into "Hunted" I will let you know how it was. I'm big on Hack 'n Slash two player games. T & I love to play these types of adventure games together & it's rare to come across one nowadays that lets us play at the same time. I just happened upon this little interview about the game today & low & behold, Lucy Lawless does one of the voices. Now, I'm even more excited to play!

Han Solo in Carbonite Ice Cubes

2011-09-12T11:48:00.003-05:00

Han Solo is here to cool off your beverage & make any party an event as cool as any Hutt's. ThinkGeek is temporarily Out of Stock, but you can find these on Amazon as well as over at Entertainment Earth. They vary in price from site from around $10 to $20.

Tiny Doctor Who Figures For You!

2011-09-12T11:28:00.006-05:00

Underground Toys & Entertainment Earth offer you some sweet little Who's. There are two series of these little guys/gals/aliens. There are ten different figures in each series. Each package contains 6 figures. Be aware though, these are what is called "blind-packed", which means you can't see what you are getting, making it likely that you will get duplicates or triplicates if you order more than one bag of 6. Each package will run you $17.99 online at Entertainment Earth. You might shop around & see if you can find them at Hastings or Vintage Stock a little cheaper or have your local comics shop order them for you.

Like or Dislike Stamps

2011-09-12T09:56:00.003-05:00

Unlike that social networking site we all love/hate, you can "Dislike" things as well as "Like" them with these handy stamps! A great gift for that Secretary...er, um, I mean Receptionist. You can find them over at Entertainment Earth for $12.99!

My Top 15 Favorite Xena Episodes

2011-09-09T16:16:00.022-05:00

Yes. Top 15, because it's impossible to pick 10. Mostly due to trilogy episode arcs. Besides, 15 is my favorite number.

So, coming in at #1 - "Sins of the Past" The first episode EVER! Why? Lots of reasons. Xena meets Gabrielle being the best reason. Now to be honest, I could not stand Gabrielle until the end of the first season. I thought Xena was tough enough to not need a side kick or anyone for that matter. I also thought I was the same way. I was wrong on both counts.

#2 - "When the Fates Collide" Season 6 - episode 18. Holy crap what an amazing beautiful script Katherine Fugate wrote. She only wrote this one episode for the entire series, but it was absolutely breathtaking. It is also mirrors how I feel about T. It wouldn't matter where we were or how we got there, we still would have found each other. We're soul mates.

#3 - "The Rheingold" part 1 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 7. OMG! Xena goes Norse & does a retelling of Beowulf & Sleeping Beauty. Two of my favorite stories of all time intertwined with the best show ever! How could I not love this? And Xena as a Valkyrie? C'mon...AWESOME!

#4 - "The Ring" part 2 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 8. OMG! More! No, wait! Xena don't put that ring on! OMG!

#5 - "Return of the Valkyrie" part 3 of "The Ring" trilogy. Season 6 episode 9. What!? What the What!? One year later!? OMG! What's happened to Gabrielle!? More importantly, what's happened to XENA!? Holy crap Xena's going to full on kiss Gabrielle! OMG!

#6 - "One Against an Army" Season 3 episode 13. Best Xena fight scene EVER! One of the absolutely most touching heartfelt Gabrielle/Xena moments of the entire series.

#7 - "A Day In the Life" Season 2 Episode 15. Absolutely HI-larious. So many great one liners. Directed by Michael Hurst (the guy that played Hercules' sidekick Iolaus.

#8 - "Remember Nothing" Season 2 Episode 2. We get to meet Xena's brother Lyceus. It makes me miss my brother. He's the awesomest! Also, we get to see that Xena isn't really to blame for what happened 10 years into her past.

#9 - "The Bitter Suite" Season 3 Episode 12. How better to fix a rift between our two characters than with a good old fashioned Musical? Lucy Lawless sings & so does Kevin Smith, but everyone else is dubbed over by pros. Joss Whedon loved it so much he copied it in Buffy.

#10 - "Adventures in the Sin Trade I" - Season 4 Episode 1. Northern Amazons. Cyane. Alti. Xena's dark past. Borias. Yummy Borias. My Favorite Xena outfit.

#11 - "Adventures in the Sin Trade II" - The vision Xena has that will tease us for the rest of Season 4. Or haunt. It still gives me the chills every time the music starts & we see that little vision.

#12 - "Devi" Season 4 Episode 14 - Xena & Gab in India. India has their own set of unique & awesome gods! We run into an important new character named Eli.

#13 - "Between the Lines" Season 4 Episode 15 - More Xena & Gab in India. The Mehndi. Souls intertwined. The return of Alti. Future lives. That damned vision again. This episode really should probably be in my top 5. It's so hard to decide!

#14 - "You Are There" Season 6 Episode 13 - Michael Hurst directs again. Remember "Day in the Life"? Yeah, this one is just as good. The ending is priceless.

#15 - "Many Happy Returns" Season 6 Episode 19 - The last fun & carefree episode before the end. It really has a season 2 or three feel to it but with the quality of season 6. It was originally going to be another musical episode, but they didn't quite have the funds to pull it off. The gift Xena gives Gabrielle & the way the two actors play their parts right here makes me cry every time. It's so incredibly sweet & romantic.

Crap...I'm already to 15!?

I didn't even get to "The Ides of March" or "Fallen Angel" or "Destiny" or "The Quest". All such good episodes.

And what about "The Crusader" or "A Good Day" or "In Sickness & In Hell" or "Paradise Found" or "The Way".

Not to mention, the absolute great Raimi-esque episode "The Haunting of Amphipolis" or the painful "Who's Gurkhan"?

The touching moment in "The Abyss" when Gabrielle thinks she's dying is worth a mention.

The awesome 1940's episode "The Xena Scrolls" is so much fun.

The scene in "Blind Faith" where Gabrielle puts Egyptian Senna in Xena's eyes is so precious.

"The Lost Mariner" guest starring Tony Todd is fun!

"The Greater Good" & "Is There a Doctor" make me cry.

The ones that made me laugh so much, like "The Quill is Mightier", "Femmes, Fems, & Gems", "Warrior... Priestess... Tramp", & "A Tale of Two Muses"!

What about the attempt by Gabrielle to domesticate Xena in "Kindred Spirits" or the fun of "Old Ares Had a Farm", where Xena seems pretty comfortable & shares little special moments & memories with Gabby?

The introduction to Xena's grown-up daughter in "Livia" then "Eve" and "Motherhood"?

There's a reason this is my favorite TV series EVER. There are so many great episodes.

Even "Friend In Need I & II" are beautifully done. I never thought I would say that. When Xena is hacking & slashing her way through men with arrows sticking out of her & screaming Gabrielle's name...wow, it gets me.

So, there you have it. My top 15. Maybe my next post should be my top 10 worst Xena episodes. I'm not sure there were 10. Well, Season 5. That entire Season was pretty damn bad until the last 5 or 6 episodes.

New Gauntlets & Fighting Through

2011-09-08T08:54:00.010-05:00

Writing is tough. Writing is hard. Writing takes a whole mess of energy. Writing is scary. Writing is exciting. Writing is jumping into the vastness of the universe & going with it. Writing is letting go of control & letting creativity control you. Writing is something I can do & T can do better.
It's something that ANYONE can do, but the above mentioned things are reasons people don't.

The Xena finale really made it hard to keep going. There was the realization that what we had come up with wasn't working now. We panicked. We felt lost. We almost gave up. Then we got over it. Mostly because we had to. T made a commitment for class. So we watched the first episode again.

We kept thinking about the show. Talking about it. What we loved & what it meant to us. Then we realized that it meant many of the same things to everyone else. The campy fun of it, the deep serious moments, the incredible things that that team were able to put on the small screen that had never been done before & honestly, haven't been done since. The love. Oh, yeah, the love! That's why we wanted to do it! It made us laugh & cry & touched us to the very core of our being.

Then our 2nd official Xena Prop came in the mail. A pair of screen used gauntlets from the episode "Remember Nothing". Perfect timing.

See this pic below? See the baddies gauntlets? Yep, that's them. Cool.

See that dude (Maphias) helping Xena in the pic below? See his gauntlets? Yep, same ones! So cool.

It hit us like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself. Our story DID still work! We just needed to move some things around & change a couple of perspectives, but the whole of the plot was really good & could still stay intact. What we were missing, really, was all the campy fun. The last two episodes were so serious that we let that bleed into our story. But really, is anyone that loved Xena going to want to see that? Or, do they want to see what made them love her in the first place? And for that matter, isn't that what WE want to see? Well, of course it is! Duh!

So, we're off again with a happier disposition & the passion we had before. Battle on Xena! We will bring you back.

Seeing Xena from a different perspective

2011-09-05T15:41:00.000-05:00

Well, we finished it. The whole series from episode 1 to episode 134. Again. I haven't seen the final two episodes since they originally aired. I grieved for years. Funny, T & I didn't realized how much we missed this silly little TV show. How much it meant to us & how much laughter & strength we pulled from it. It's way more than a silly little TV show. It's a pretty amazing piece of work. The depth, the touching moments, the pain, the sadness, the fears, the awakenings & the friendship & love. It has given us so much to look forward to as well as a great way to escape the real world every night for the last couple months.

I have been dreading getting to those last two episodes. I was so completely distraught last time. I had traveled with these two characters & their friends for 6 years. I had met my soulmate because of this show. T & I learned things about ourselves & grew up together & grew together because of it. So on the 15th anniversary of the day we met, we watched the final two episodes. Actually, I think we watched the final 5 or 6. Two of which are among my favorite episodes ever. "When the Fates Collide" & "Many Happy Returns".

It was different. It all made sense this time. I wasn't so caught up worrying & anxious about what would happen. I knew what was coming. I always felt like Xena had been completely out of character in the last two episodes, but she was just the opposite. She was 100% herself. She did EXACTLY what Xena would have done. So did Gabrielle. The story is beautiful & tragic. Absolutely tragic. I cried hard again. This time though, it wasn't because I didn't feel like it was fair or that someone just didn't want the two characters to be together or any of the things I had seen before. no this time it was because there wasn't any other way out. It had to be this way. I'm still feeling pretty blue about it.

Now, this brought us to a bit of a conundrum as far as our script. Suddenly what we thought had happened & what had actually happened in the end were two totally different things. What we remembered & what we saw this time...not the same thing at all. Now our character motivations & character conflicts are all sorts of messed up. It also makes it harder to have as much passion to bring back a character once you realize they did indeed have a good ending. A just ending. Tragic or not.

Now, all that being said, we would still love to see these two characters reunited & have them walk off into the sunset. I still feel Xena never forgave herself & that's a big one for me. I feel Gabrielle also felt that Xena never forgave herself & I think her heart would always ache a bit at that. So back to the drawing board. Lesson learned. Do your research. Don't think you know something, make sure you know it. Still, I gotta admit, I am loving every minute of this. Battle On Xena.

Futurama Planet Express Blueprint Shirt

2011-09-02T10:18:00.005-05:00

Oh yeah! ThinkGeek has this really awesome shirt available for $18.99 - $20.99 depending on what size you need. Plus, with it's purchase you rack up 225 Geek Points for other merchandise! Win Win!

Sometimes You Have to Choose the Hard Path

2011-08-30T09:13:00.009-05:00

This script writing stuff is hard. Especially when you take characters that are already established that you LOVE because you don't want to hurt them. You feel like they are a part of you. That's the "Fan" talking though. The "Fan" can really screw up a good story.

While on this journey with Xena & Gabrielle for the second time as we re-watch all the episodes, we have laughed & we have cried. We've cried more. The characters have hurt so deeply & overcome incredibly difficult situations. There is something beautiful in the pain they share & what they give to each other. I realized last night that part of the problem with our story was that I wanted to save them. I didn't want them to hurt. Sure, they could get physically beat up a little, but no more emotional hurt. I wanted to fix everything & it end happy and everything be okay, just in an exciting way.

How uncharacteristic & boring. And how impossible. As a writer, you have to make the hard choices. You have to up the stakes. You have to hurt your characters or they will never move past things & grow. Xena left Gabrielle alone. After all the promises of forever & eternity & never again, she left her. Not only that, but she left her just as she came into her own as a warrior. Xena always had Gabrielle to lean on, but who does Gabby have?

Now, the anger & frustration I need my character to feel is difficult. I don't want her to be upset & angry. I don't want her to have to become hard. Just like Xena, I don't want that "light" to go out in her soul. However, as a writer, it sure would make an interesting story. It sure would hurt to see that happen. It sure would make you cheer on Xena in attempt to bring Gabrielle back from that. It would be interesting to see what Gabrielle tells Xena about how she feels about being abandoned. Much of it wouldn't be pretty & we all know we can't just go back to who we were in the past. We can only move forward & decide what direction we are going to take now. Sometimes, in order to move forward, you have to let go. I love this creative process. I love everything I'm learning. Even if it hard sometimes.

Have Dinner with the One and Only Lucy Lawless

2011-08-26T16:37:00.002-05:00

charitybuzz | #262825 - Have Dinner with the One and Only Lucy Lawless in LA or New Zealand

The New Thundercats

2011-08-25T16:10:00.002-05:00

Thundercats - Cosmocats 2011 VOSTFR EP 1 & 2 by Rakuen06

If you haven't seen this yet, or like me have no TV because cable is stupid high, here it is! Episodes 1 & 2 of the New Thundercats! It's awesome! It's like Star Wars mixed with some Lord of the Rings & the old Thundercats all in one show! Let's hope it stays up for a while so those of us without TV who LOVE the old show can catch the new one!

Thundercats HOOOO!!!

Writing Xena

2011-08-23T09:26:00.009-05:00

Well, T & I have been hard at work on this Xena script. We realized we hadn't watched Xena seasons 4, 5 & 6 much at all after the series ended. We knew 1, 2 & 3 like the backs of our hands, but beyond that things got hazy. So, we are re-watching the entire series & just made it to the end of season 4. Oh! Season 4. I remember it like it was yesterday. They teased the fans the entire season with a premonition Xena had of her & Gabrielle being crucified. Watching it again still made me nervous, even though I knew what was coming.

That's where we left off last night. Xena & Gabby hanging on crosses. Xena's spirit comes out of her body & lifts Gabrielle's spirit from hers, a bright flash of light & credits!

Two seasons to go.

You know, this was an amazingly written show. It was nominated for & won many awards, from ASCAP awards to GLAAD awards. It even took home an Emmy. If you are into editing, Xena is probably one of the best television show ever to study. Their editing was pretty flawless. You never notice when we change from Lucy lawless to Zoe Bell & back. Did you know the head costume designer for Xena, Ngila Dickson, went on from Xena to win an Oscar for the Lord of the Rings Costume Design? There were so many talented people connected to this campy, yet deep little fantasy show. If you didn't take the 6 year journey with these characters, you should. Episode by episode. Sure, there are a few turkeys, but it is well worth it. It will change you.

The episodes have really held up. It's not like Wonder Woman or Buck Rogers or even the A-Team. I love those shows, but man, they are really cheesy & dated. Xena however isn't. It helps that it was set in an ancient time. The things Xena & Gabrielle deal with are issues everyone deals with, so that is what helps it hold up so well. Xena & Gabrielle deal with things like trying to figure out what path in life to take & how to know if you are on the right path. It deals with faith & how we shouldn't depend on any deity as opposed to relying on ourselves & our friends. It shows us that no one is perfect, but we all have the ability to be the best person we can be, no matter who we have been. It also deals with that deep connection to another soul that we are all either searching for or have found. These things never change, despite the times.

It's hard, but so much fun, picking these characters apart. What motivates them, moves them, stirs them. Because we are looking at them so hard, T & I are seeing things we never did before. Not to mention seeing how far we have come from where we were when we watched these the first time around. It's an amazing process. Trying to take characters you love & stop being just a fan & start being a writer. To write what the character would do & not what you want the character to do. We have a great plot so far. The hardest part, in my opinion, is going to be summing up the series in the first 15 to 20 minutes of the film script & then having a real convincing reason for Xena to return to the land of the living. Or for Gabrielle to die. We are determined to do this. We are doing this.

If you haven't yet, please go "LIKE" the Facebook Page Xena 2011 Movie Campaign.

Oh, and one more thing. Guess who has a 2012 calendar coming out? Xena. Yep. Makes you wonder what's up. There hasn't been an officially licensed calendar since 2002. Could this be a fresh new marketing push? Let's hope so.

In the Flesh

2011-08-18T13:09:00.004-05:00

Okay, this is pretty cool. A Doctor Who ganger making set. Gangers are the term for the clones made out of artificial flesh in the Doctor Who episode "The Almost People". I don't know about you, but I have always loved sets that come with goo or stuff to mold & molds to do it with! This one is also great because the mold is of the 11th Doctor. That means all you custom figure makers can make endless copies of Matt Smith's Doctor & sculpt him up any way you want! How cool is that?

The set comes with figure mold of the doctor & tools to mix your Flesh compound. Use the included hand pump to squirt flesh compound into the mold and make your own Ganger figure! Set is $52.99 (import from UK) at Entertainment Earth!

River Song is Da Bomb!

2011-08-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

So guess what Think Geek has? It's really cool! You're going to HAVE to have it. Here's a picture:

Do you know what THAT is? Here's a Video:

Yep, River Song's screwdriver. Sonic Screwdriver. With removable parts & flashy lights! $19.99.

You know you want it!

I Wrote This!

2011-08-15T10:48:00.002-05:00

So, yep, I'm now published! Woo-Hoo! Go check out my Xena article online over at Lesbilicious!

http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/tv-film/bringing-back-the-warrior-princess-the-xena-2011-movie-campaign/

The Creature in Barnes & Noble

2011-08-15T08:58:00.005-05:00

You never know where you're going to find action figure collectibles. Sometimes they pop up at places like Barnes & Noble or their online source barnes&noble.com

These Diamond Select Art Asylum Mini-mates are a prime example! They are from my favorite Universal Monster Film "The Creature From the Black Lagoon". I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but here in the "Land of the Red Man", Creature stuff is hard to come by. Universal Monster stuff is something that always seems to rise in price as well. Almost immediately after it comes out. Barnes & Noble has this particular pack on sale for $12.76.

They also have this sweet All Star Superman Collectors Action Figure Box Set for $35.96 onlne which would include free shipping since it's over $25.00.

It's always a great idea to look for sales & clearance online at places you might not think about carrying toys, figures & collectibles in order to find those missing items or hard to find items. So, Happy Monday!

Leela & Leela & a River.

2011-08-11T08:32:00.007-05:00

First off, Happy Birthday to my sweet dog Leela. She officially turned 4 on Aug. 9, 2011. She is the best dog EVER!

Secondly, AWESOME!!! Underground Toys made a Leela action figure! No, not of my dog, of Leela from Doctor Who! Apparently this was one of the San Deigo Comic Con Exclusives!

Leela is 5" & comes with an array of weapons. Right now, Entertainment Earth has managed to snag up a few & they are asking $30.99 ea. for them.

Oh, but there's more! There is another San Diego Comic Con figure that I know you want. They also made my other favorite companion of all time. River Song!!! Not just River Song, but River Song with the Pandorica chair! She is much harder to get hold of though. You can find her on Ebay at anywhere from $40 to $70 bucks.

Don't forget, New Doctor Who episodes start in two weeks!

New NECA 7 Inch Figures

2011-08-08T14:54:00.003-05:00

NECA has some great new 80's movie figures they are releasing this month. If you're a Robocop fan or a Terminator fan, you will want to snatch these up. Robocop is poseable with interchangeable hands & his signature pistol.

The Terminator figure is one I have always wanted to see! It is from the original Terminator movie. When the Terminator T-800 series finally tracks down Sarah Connor in the nightclub he is wearing a very 1980's outfit or Tech Noir clothes. I'm not sure how poseable this figure is, but then again he is a cyborg. Honestly though, he appears to have little if any articulation. He is solid plastic, despite what appears to be cloth. Now, if they will make the Sarah Connor figure & Reese figure from the same scene I can pull off some little videos to make the fanboy & girls proud.

The Terminator figure is $14.99 & I believe Toys R Us will be carrying it. The Robocop figure is $16.99 & I wouldn't be surprised to see him show up there, too. You can also find both figures online at Entertainment Earth.

Thundercats Sale!!!

2011-08-05T14:13:00.003-05:00

You read that right! For every 2 Thundercats items you buy, Entertainment Earth will give you the second one for 30% off! Just put 2 ThunderCats items in your shopping cart and they'll automatically insert a coupon in your cart that gives you the lowest priced of the 2 items for 30% off during checkout.

The sale ends Aug. 9th, so don't wait!

Darth Maul Bronze

2011-08-05T13:48:00.001-05:00

Sideshow's latest Star Wars bronze.

Check out Sideshow's page for Pre-Order info!

Seriously!? THIS rocks.

2011-08-04T16:07:00.005-05:00

So, I am getting more magazine requests & many that promise to do an article themselves on the Warrior Princess. T's is amazed. We have to laugh a little because she is the Professional Writer & I am the Professional Artist. She has had great success with selling her art & now I'm getting paid to write.

The Xena 2011 Movie Campaign FB Page administrators wrote me a really nice e-mail thanking me for my efforts. I feel I've made some friends. It's really amazing. I'm working hard, having fun, & doing something I believe in. Pretty freakin' sweet.

If you are a Xena fan & you want to help by answering some questions for me for upcoming articles, leave me a comment about how to get in touch with you or e-mail me at sisterinarms [at] yahoo [dot] com & please make XENA QUESTIONS the subject of your e-mail.

You know, THIS is really going to happen.

Obsession + Passion = Bravery

2011-08-01T16:34:00.003-05:00

Huh, who knew that if you got really passionate about something & wrote to every magazine you could think of about the Xena 2011 Movie campaign that some of them would write you back & ask you to write them an article? An article they are willing to pay you for! That's exactly what has happened. By trying to get the word out, I inadvertently created work for myself that people are willing to pay me for.

So, my first article will be with the online magazine Lesbilicious It's a UK magazine, but the good ol' internet makes online relevant worldwide.

Now I have to find people to interview. I have already sent my questions out to the administrators of the Facebook page "Xena 2011 Movie Campaign" and to the writer/producer of several Xena episodes throughout the series Steven L. Sears.

I wonder who else I can ask?

My deadline is Aug. 7. I better get on it. Wish me luck!

New Doctor Who

2011-07-28T08:58:00.004-05:00

Bif Bang Pow! has just released pictures of a new Doctor Who set! We finally get a Leela! Woo-hoo! Leela of the Sevateem stands at 8 inches tall & is in a retro-Mego style with real cloth clothing. You can also get a Sutekh figure from the "Pyramid of Mars" episodes of Doctor Who. They are available for pre-order from Entertainment Earth now, but don't have a release date until February of 2012.

Okay, I admit it, I'm re-obsessed.

2011-07-26T16:04:00.012-05:00

Alright, you are all going to have to bear with me a while. I have become completely obsessed with Xena all over again, so everything is going to relate to Xena. Everything I see, hear & do will be in some form or another tied in with Xena. It's an Aspie thing. Okay and a fanatic thing. I will still mention Star Wars, Action Figures, art & stuff, but Xena is going to take the reins for a while.

Now, speaking of Xena, LOL, I mentioned the FaceBook page for the Xena movie in my last post. I have to admit at first I was a little pessimistic. I've changed my tune. Social Media has changed the world. Betty White got a spot on Saturday Night Live because enough people clicked like on a FaceBook page. There is no reason that a Xena movie can't happen if enough people LIKE a Facebook page. Crazy as it sounds, it's true. Execs like numbers. It's how they work. Each click represents a possible $10 to $20 movie ticket sale or a $14.95 DVD purchase. If you have enough clicks or LIKES or adds to show them a profit, they don't care what it is, they will greenlight it & it will be made.

Another important thing to have is a script. At first, T was going to tackle this for her final project for her Masters in Screenwriting, but I decided that since I am so completely obsessed I would. Not to mention that if she were to do this for a final project & we were not able to wrangle every single Xenite, Xena fan, hardcore nutjob or person that slightly enjoys Xena, she would be left with a whole years worth of work that would end up going no where. If I do it, sure I end up with a years work that Universal/MCA won't greenlight, but perhaps I can find another method of getting it out there. E-book perhaps? Anyhoo, I wrote almost the entire outline with a fleshed out beginning & ending last night. Yes, obsessed.

Let's not talk of the "might nots" though. Let's talk about what you & I can do to make this happen. If a Xena Movie is something that even slightly interests you, the first thing you need to do is log-in to Facebook and go LIKE the Xena 2011 Movie Campaign. Go on, do it now. I'll wait. ........... Okay, now, what I need from each & everyone of you is to share this blog post where you can. If you have a blog, write a little fan blurb for Xena & put a link to the Facebook Xena 2011 Movie Campaign on it. Just mention on your blog that if you like Xena you might want to go check out Art, Love & Action Figures.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to embed this video. Go to any page that might remotely have anyone interested in Xena & leave a link to the Xena 2011 Movie Campaign. Conan the Barbarian blogs, sites, videos, forums, BSG blogs, sites, videos, forums, Spartacus, blogs...etc. etc. You get my point.

Now, there are a handful of pessimists that keep bringing up our two main actors ages. Look, no one cares how old they are really. That's what Photoshop & make-up are for. They are not too old...yet. That's why we have to get ON this. Lucy Lawless said just last year that she wants to play the character again. That's huge.

She told Out.com, "I love that character. I would do it if it was a movie. I doubt I would do it as a TV series. I can't see how you would make it fresh.
"By the time somebody does come up with that I'm just going to be too old. And I'm really sad about that. I feel like it's a completely wasted franchise."

She also said "I would have them sailing off into the sunset together. That way, people could dream about what adventures they would embark on next, as opposed to separating them forever. That was the most hurtful thing about 'Xena.' It’s a cool story if you think about it. In 'Spartacus' people are killed in the worst way all the time. It’s part of the show. However, it wasn’t right for 'Xena.' It’s such a shame to look back because it really hurt fans. People related to those characters in a unique way, creating a different kind of fandom. The 'Xena' fans are an incredible bunch."

So c'mon, let's live up to our title & get the numbers up & connect to everything everywhere. If you had any anger or resentment or hurt about the way it ended, let it go. We are going to fix it. Right here, right now. Let's do something no other fan base has ever done. Bring a lead character back from the dead & have the original Actors portray them on the big screen to have it end the way it should have in the first place.

Battle on!

Xena Warrior Princess

2011-07-24T19:42:00.011-05:00

Many of you know how much I love Xena. I love it equally to Star Wars, which means it is extremely important. When it ended in 2001, I was pretty devastated. The ending was not what I had hoped for. I grieved for a long time. Sure it was just a TV show, but these characters had been part of my life for 6 years. Not only that, but the show led me to my partner of 15 years (15 yrs. in November). We met in #Xenafan on IRC. I had a personalized license tag on my car that read "Xena" until I sold my car last October. We spent $250.00 on a Xena prop (The Amazon Epinon's belt) which at the time was more than our rent.

To put it mildly, I was a little obsessed. Remember though, I have Asperger's Syndrome. Us Aspies tend to do this.

After the show ended, I couldn't watch Xena anymore. It was just too painful. I cried for weeks. Seriously. I cried at work. I just couldn't understand why it had to end the way it did. I logged onto the MCA/Universal sponsored Xena Netforum & quickly realized I wasn't alone. There was a whole lot of anger, confusion & frustration, but mostly there was grief. This show had been empowering. It had been a show that many seem to identify with, especially when it came to the Xena & Gabrielle relationship. *SPOILERS* (Don't read the next line if you haven't seen the series ending) The ending seemed to ignore everything we had learned about revenge, vengeance & finding redemption. Xena sacrifices herself to avenge souls she had accidently caused to die & leaves her soulmate & best friend alone. She never forgave herself finding the true peace I felt she deserved. Basically, she killed herself due to her guilt. It didn't feel like an empowering ending. It felt like a greek tragedy, which maybe that was the point.

Recently, my partner went on a family vacation for two weeks. I no longer had television, but I did have Netflix. I also have a couple 8 x 10's of Xena & Gabrielle in the living room & I started thinking about T & I & how we met & I wondered if I could watch Xena again. As the gods would have it, Netflix was streaming it. So, I watched one. I forgot how much I really loved Xena. I also forgot how great the writing in this silly little show was. The writing, the direction, and the acting. It is a remarkable little piece of television history. There was never anything like it, and there will never be anything like it again. It came about in a unique time & place & for me the right time & place.

T & I decided to go back & watch the whole series again from beginning to end. This time the director's cut ending. Maybe that will help. We just finished the first season last night, so we have a ways to go.

If you were ever on the MCA/Universal Netforums from 1996 (?) to 2001, go check out the FB page Xena Netforum. Hopefully it can serve as a sort of reunion page for all of us old timers who used to frequent the place so often.

If you have never watched Xena, don't write it off as just a silly little fantasy show. There's some really good stuff in there. Give it a shot while it's streaming on Netflix. It's way worth the journey.

She ain't your babydoll, but she can be.

2011-07-19T11:19:00.003-05:00

Hot Toys has some amazing sculpts. This one is good. Not quite as good as some of their others, but still damn fine.

What she comes with:

Authentic and detailed fully realized likeness of Emily Browning as Babydoll in the Sucker Punch movie

Approximately 28 cm tall

Newly developed body with over 30 points of articulations

Realistic long, golden, implanted curly hair

Three (3) pairs of interchangeable palms with straps on right palms including:
One (1) pair of relaxed palms
One (1) pair for holding guns
One (1) pair for holding Japanese Katana
Each piece of head sculpt is specially hand-painted
One (1) set of sailor style navy blue shirt with tie and belt, and skirt
One (1) pair of long black socks
One (1) pair of navy blue high heels
One (1) pistol with accessories
One (1) magazine gun with silencer and sight
One (1) Japanese style metal Katana with case and strap
One (1) black hair band
One (1) headset
One (1) key with neck chain
One (1) pistol holster
Two (2) magazine holsters
Figure stand with Babydoll nameplate and movie logo

Here's the Specs:
12" H (304.8mm)*
Product Weight:
4.00 lbs (1.81 kg)*
Box Size:
15.00" H (381mm) x 7.00" W (177.8mm) x 7.00" L (177.8mm)*
Est. Shipping Weight:
4.00 lbs (1.81 kg)*

The Price?

$169.99 or two payments of $85.00

Where do you get her? Why right Here:

Sideshow Collectibles

12 inches of IG-88

2011-07-19T11:04:00.004-05:00

Wow. Look at this! IG-88, master bounty hunter, standing tall with 20+ points of Articulation. Not only that, but look at those soulless light up red eyes! Creepy! He's loaded down with blasters & mines and things that magnetically attach to his cloth bandolier strap. To top it all off, you can fall asleep looking at him in all his cruel magnificence as he stands atop his light up base.

All of this for $174.99 or split it in two with flexpay & pay $87.50 for two months.

Pick him up here: Sideshow Collectibles

Another Featured Artist: Deanna Molinaro

2011-07-13T16:00:00.003-05:00

Sea Monster Morning

Painter, writer, sculptor, Deanna has some really awesome art to share with the world. Sometimes it amazes me what these big publishing houses pick up & what they don't. She is amazing & inspiring. I fell in love after reading the Sea Monster story. Check her out here: Deanna Molinaro

Featured Artist: James McCarthy

2011-07-13T15:06:00.005-05:00

James McCarthy

Fine Art America site for James McCarthy

Beinart site

Facebook Page

Some seriously cool stuff.

ROBOT!!! Oh & some UFC stuff.

2011-07-11T18:45:00.004-05:00

Toys R Us has some cool stuff on clearance online. Take the robot above for instance. Pretty sweet. Their prices aren't amazingly cheap or anything, but it will save you a little ,ore than if you came across it somewhere else. Not only do they have the robot figure, but they have quite a bit of UFC stuff on clearance as well.

So, if you are looking to complete your collection of UFC, you might want to head here: Toys R Us Clearance.

Futurama 2011

2011-07-07T22:50:00.002-05:00

Okay, as many of you know I was so jazzed last June 24th (2010) when Futurama came back to TV. I had a party & had all my favorite people show up! We had a great time. The first episode was pretty good, but after that...OMG...it was terrible. Awful. So disappointing. The writing was off. The characters were, well, out of character. After having rewatched the old episodes hundreds of times, thanks to Adult Swim, everyone tuning in was intimately familiar with the characters. Hell, the fans could have written better episodes than were being crapped out last season. It was like some weird composite of Futurama, Family Guy, & South Park. It was not, despite what the title said, Futurama.

Futurama

Good News everyone!!! This season is completely awesome. It's like last season never happened & we picked up where the old Fox series left off. It's smart again & relevant to the world around us. The gross disgusting South Park like humor is gone. Leela is Leela again. Everyone seems like themselves. It's like old friends coming home.

I have no idea why this happened. I can't believe that they wasted last season's hype & put out crap & this season there has been barely any hype & it's fantastic. So, if you were disappointed or put off last season, do yourself a favor & tune in this season. You'll laugh. You feel like that horrible 2010 season was just a bad dream & all is right with the world again.

Other Places To Find Me

2011-07-06T20:19:00.002-05:00

If you stop by here often, or even if you don't & are just bored & browsing around, you might be intrested in some of my other sites & places. First off, I have a Flickr page over at www.flickr.com/artistjentucker

I also have a FaceBook Fan page Art Love Action Figures

My art & illustration site is over at www.jentucker.com You can find my work in the gallery with sizes & prices.

Go check them out, if you haven't already! Thanks!

What I Need From You

2011-07-05T20:13:00.004-05:00

Hello my beautiful blog readers. Today I send out a request for help. I am going to attempt something different with my art. Now, to do this I need your help. If you are reading this, in one way or another, our lives have crossed or intersected.

I am going to start a piece called "The Tapestry of the Fates". What I need from you is simple. I need each & everyone of you to send me a thread, or a ribbon (keep it at about 1/4 of an inch or smaller), or a piece of string, or some twine. Anything that you feel like is a material that the Fates would have used to weave the story of your life. Put it in an envelope & send it to me here:

Art, Love & Action Figures
P.O. Box 1332
Norman, OK 73070-1332

The more I get, the bigger the piece will be.

Thanks for your help!

Documentary Heaven... Literally.

2011-07-01T08:56:00.002-05:00

Okay, first off I'm a geek. We all know this. It has been established. With that, you shouldn't find it surprising that I absolutely adore Documentaries. With the recent interest in poisoned food, the economy & politics, it's often hard to find documentaries on any thing else. If you do, they usually turn out to be some sort of new age spiritual crap full of people that have been taking other peoples money for years. I like to think of them as the new gypsies.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I "stumbled" across a website called Documentary Heaven. It's an entire website devoted to Documentaries. Old ones, new ones, and all for free. Most of them are exactly what I've been looking for, and NOT the stuff I've been finding every where else! I am so excited! I want to share with you the first one I watched below.

Ball Of Light from Sam Collins on Vimeo.

San Diego Comic Con 2011

2011-06-27T16:52:00.010-05:00

Comic Con is coming up July 21-24, 2011. Want to know about exclusives? Well, you've come to the right place. Let's start with Sideshow Collectibles.

Sideshow is offering up:

Cobra Ninja Viper 1/6 scale figure

AVP Predator Mask Set

Clone Commander 1/6 scale figure

Iron Man Bust Set

Iron Man Mark IV Secret Project 1/6 scale figure

The Iron Man Mark IV Secret Project figure has already sold out, but you can add your name to the waitlist & there is an excellent chance you'll get one. It's what i did with the 1/6 scale Han & Luke in Stormtrooper disguise figs a couple years ago & I actually got them!

Next up is Gentle Giant:

In the video we see:

a Suckerpunch Babydoll Mini Bust

McQuarrie Stormtrooper Mini Bust

12" Vintage style Jawa with Vinyl cape

Captain America Mini Bust

Neville Longbottom Mini Bust

For you Doctor Who fans, BifBangPow! have a few exclusives and more listed over at Entertainment Earth's site. They are:

Bif Bang Pow! – Doctor Who 8inch Master and Cyberleader

Doctor Who 8inch 4th Doctor + Sontaran

Doctor Who TARDIS bobble

As well as:

Icons of the Twilight Zone Bobble,

Lost Polar Bear Bobble Head,

Venture Bros. Rusty and Jonas Venture Sr. with tin tote,

Dexter 3 3/4″ figure

Twilight Zone 8inch Bob Wilson / Don Carter 2pack

Get this, even Hallmark is getting in on the action with:

an exclusive Dengar & IG-88 2 pack

Batman

Comic Book Guy (simpsons)

Apparently they have in the past, I just didn't know.

Hasbro & G.I. Joe fans should love this 3 3/4" Zarana (shown above) that comes in two different styles.

Hasbro is also offering:

Starscream SkyStriker with Cobra Commander Pilot

Marvel exclusives included:

Mini-Muggs Avengers Set – Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man, Captain America, Iron Man

Giant Carded Sentinel Figure

Marvel Legends Thor

Then we move to Transformers which will include:

Prime Deluxe Optimus Prime with Matrix

Movie version Optimus Prime Ultimate edition

By far my favorite thing so far is this next offering from Hasbro:

A Revenge of the Jedi 12 figure set in Death Star package. How cool is that?

There are tons more exclusives & I will try to get another post out with more very shortly, but I think I hit the big ones in this one. Stay tuned!

Green Lantern. Meh.

2011-06-20T08:29:00.006-05:00

This is my review of Green Lantern. If you haven't seen the film from Warner Bros., please do not read any further. Spoilers sweetie.

Let me start with the problems. First problem, dumb human bad guy. As in dumb concept or execution. Not only was it completely corny, hokey, & unnecessary, it also caused a problem. Let me back up a bit here.

We are introduced to a nerdy guy who is a brilliant scientist. He lives alone, presumably because he is too nerdy to love. His Father, the Senator, is both embarrassed & ashamed to have a scientist for a son. The hot chick in the film apparently knows him from school & seems uncomfortable talking to him, and our hero, GL, doesn't show any emotion toward him one way or the other until a battle. His students have no respect for him even though he teaches what appears to be a college freshman level class. This is a huge mistake to make in a comic film. Making fun of a nerdy scientist? Honestly, the guy seems like a pretty nice guy, trying to make his way in the world. He is infected with yellow energy after his daddy manages to pull some strings to get him in a special group studying the alien body. The special group seems to consist of him & Angela Bassett. No one else. Weak. Eventually, the guy goes mad with yellow energy. His head swells up & he eventually looks like he has a giant brain. Well, of course he does, right? Scientist = giant brain. Ugh. So, giant brain, lonely, nerdy scientist who has gone mad tries to kill everyone in the film. For no real reason. The yellow energy is supposed to be fear, but this guy kills his Dad because his Dad never thought he was good enough & a complete joke. He tries to kill Hal because Hal has always been so cool. He tries to kill the girl because she never gave him the time of day & because Hal likes her. Seriously? How is that fear? I felt bad for this character. The way he was treated was terrible & then he doesn't choose to be evil, but instead is infected. Does he ever get redeemed? Nope. He gets nothing but dead. No one seems to care or miss him.

Second problem: Parallax as the main bad guy? Really? Parallax is a pretty serious bad guy & a very important part of Hal Jordan's history. The movie Parallax was hardly that. There was no tension. I did not once feel anyone was in danger from this thing. The writing as well as the visuals fell completely flat here. I think it was a case of less would have been more. The Parallax visual was laughable. A giant head on a smoke cloud that supposedly was fear itself. Yep, not buying it. Not even for a dollar. Once Hal goes to destroy it, it takes him less than 10 minutes. It is so simple & anti-climatic that you just can't understand how thousands upon thousands of Lanterns couldn't have figured that one out. Lame.

Third problem: Lame love interest story line. Yeah, no one cares. We just want to see more OA, Kilowog, Sinestro & Lantern. More fighting. Think action movie. No stupid lame love interest stuck in just because. THIS IS SUCH A WORN OUT TIRED & BORING ADDITION TO ANY SCRIPT. Oh, and no one gives a crap about it. It was the only lame part of the Thor movie. However in Thor, it was only really 30 secs of film. It weaves in & out of GL.

Okay, now the good stuff. Ryan Reynolds. Oh yeah, he totally pulled off Hal Jordan. He was fantastic. Sinestro. Holy crap. Sinestro was freaking AMAZING. Too bad these guys didn't get a better script. The lantern glow effects were great. The suit redesign totally worked. The lantern was stupid, but it did the job. All the Green Lantern Corp looked great. Kilowog said Poozer. OA looked great. Hal flew a jet. Holy crap, Angela Bassett is in this movie! It was fun. I was entertained.

That's about it. It could have been so much better. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't anywhere near the quality that DC's competitor Marvel has been turning out. Marvel really seems to be getting it. They understand how to be loyal to the fan base, the character & build a good story to play to people who aren't fans, while DC seems to flip flop around, never being loyal to anything & treating the audience like idiots. Can't wait for Captain American, & I never even really cared for Cap, but Marvel seems to take their heroes & make them even better on screen, while DC takes characters I love & dumbs them down & makes them lame.

Wonder Woman Painting: Even More Progress

2011-06-19T02:21:00.003-05:00

You know what? A 42" x 36" painting in acrylic takes a little longer than I planned. Mixing enough paint to cover one area is a little tricker than an 18" x 20". She's so close to done. So close, but not yet.

Sideshow Han in Carbonite

2011-06-17T16:07:00.004-05:00

A Premium Format Figure of Han Solo trapped in Carbonite as he was hanging in Jabba the Hutt's palace. The figure has electronics embedded inside to light up han like he did when he was melting out & so that the small panels on the carbonite block also light up. It stands at 25.5" H x 12" W x 10" L, weighs in at 12 lbs. & comes in a box 28" H x 14" W & 12" H.

The price is $299.99, but does come with the flexpay option that allows you to pay it out at $100 a month.

Go check it out here: Sideshow Han in Carbonite

Hey Art Fans!

2011-06-17T15:19:00.003-05:00

Got another great artist for you to go check out! James Hance. He paints the things I love most in life! Muppets, Star Wars, Superheroes and more! Even Doctor Who. Go check out his site & buy something to support his art! He has t-shirts if you can't afford his work. It's really awesome stuff.

Sideshow Darth Maul Premium Format Figure

2011-06-10T09:32:00.006-05:00

This is by far the coolest Darth Maul figure I have ever seen. $324.99 with a flex pay option of $108.33 a month. Limited to 1250 pieces. Cloth costume, 24.5" H x 15" W x 17" D & weighing in at 10.00 lbs. Light up lightsaber.

How can you not want this? Head over here & order the dark apprentice today!

Wooden Watch

2011-06-10T09:09:00.006-05:00

ThinkGeek has a really sexy looking watch by WeWood. WeWood plants a tree for every watch sold & the watches they do sell are made from 100% natural, toxic-chemical free wood. How cool is that? Pretty freaking cool.

The watches that ThinkGeek offers are the Chrono model. They are $20.00 cheaper on ThinkGeek than on WeWood's site. Not to mention that you get pretty good Geek points for a $100 purchase at ThinkGeek to spend on other geeky goodies! WeWood does offer some other models though, if you don't like the Chrono.

The one above is the Date brown/army model. I really like it. It is listed for $119.00 on the WeWood site. Unfortunately, no Geek points go with it's purchase.

What I'm listening to. Right now.

2011-06-09T16:03:00.002-05:00

I have mine set with Beach 33% N/S bar, 43% E/W bar, Frogs 13% N/S 0% E/W, Fire 10% N/S 0% E/W & Thunder 26% N/S 0% E/W. This thing is great for feeling calm & relaxed at work or anywhere. Move things around, choose different settings, enjoy!

Go here to set your up now!

"What if" Sketch

2011-06-07T16:24:00.003-05:00

I saw this painting of a girl wearing a fox head on her head. A beautiful watercolor. It was something like the oil painting here, except the colors were bright & vivid & it was beautiful. Beautifully disturbing. The more I looked at it the more disturbing it became. There is a beautiful animal that has been killed & it's head has had the lower jaw removed & it is being used as a type of mask or hat. The girl wearing it is classically beautiful & is smiling as if she is carefree. Much like a happy frolicking fox. She was even a red head.

That painting made me think. Kudos to the artist. I wish I could find it to share with you, but alas, it is hidden in the matrix of the internet.

It made me think about how people view animals as ornaments. Decorations. Accessories. I wondered, "What if there was no discrimination between human & animal?" I mean, I myself, do NOT think of myself as a higher life form, but just a different one. I even think some animals might just be smarter than people. They have kinder souls. So, what if we didn't. Would some people wear human heads, like some people wear animal heads?

So I sketched something. It might become a painting or a pen & ink or something. Right now, it's just a sketch. A disturbing sketch. I'm not sure how far I want to take it.

Garden Gnomes

2011-06-07T08:16:00.010-05:00

Terrapin Set of 4

Garden Gnomes are cool. I don't care who you are or what you do, most of us get a kick out of Garden Gnomes. Little men & women who work when we aren't looking, toiling away creating unique machines & crafts that we either never see or see & don't realize what we're looking at.

Sculptural Gardens Standing Garden Gnome Statuary

Once, as a small child, after a particularly hard cry, I saw Gnomes. Several of them. One of them waved to me. I have loved them ever since. If you love Gnomes or you just want to get some for your garden, you're in luck! Amazon.com is having a Gnome sale!

Terrapin Trading Gnome - Daisy

Yep! A Gnome sale! However, if you are looking for Gnomes & price is no object, go check out the quality Terrapin Trading Gnomes at their site. They have a larger selection of their Gnomes than Amazon. Terrapin also offers ceramic mushrooms.

Full Set of 8.5" Hollow Toad Gnomes

You can also find Gnomes over at Garden Fun. They have a vast variety in a variety of sizes to offer.

By far my favorite Gnomes were found at Garden Gnome World. They have several Barbarian looking Gnomes. Being a Fantasy/Adventure fan who loves Conan, Xena & Sonja, these are right up my alley.

Runic, The Warrior Gnome

Last, but certainly not least, is one of my favorite takes on the Garden Gnome EVER! The Jawa Garden "Gnome". This cracks me up! I have yet to get one, but it remains one of the things my heart desires! You can get them at Amazon or build up your geek points by purchasing it through ThinkGeek. I will personally vouch for the great customer satisfaction of shopping from ThinkGeek.

Jawa Lawn Ornament

Tony Orrico

2011-06-03T11:20:00.003-05:00

I stumbled across an artist today that I have fallen in love with. Generally, I'm not much for performance art. I'm not knocking it, it just doesn't move me most of the time. This guy is different. He uses his entire body to measure & move & create. It's beautiful. The precision & repetition & stamina is absolutely amazing. It's art, science & dance all at the same time with a tangible output. I went to his website & looked up his bio & it stated: "a former member of Trisha Brown Dance Company and Shen Wei Dance Arts". So a dancer, who has used his art in order to create & merge with another form of art. Wow. I can't wait to see more from this guy. He really makes me want to try this. I might be moving the motorcycles out of the garage this weekend.

It's been a long time since some sort of art has moved me to tears. I'm sure it's not for everyone, and many will see it as some doofus with pencils squirming around on paper, but for me, it is what art is & should be. Using your body, mind, & soul to create.

No more DIY

2011-06-01T09:16:00.002-05:00

I'm defeated & exhausted. I just had a new door installed & I got a wild hair to finish the project off myself. I figured I would never get the actually door in, so I hired a contractor for the main door, but convinced myself I could save $$$ if I put the storm door back on. How hard could it be? The frame of the main door would be flush & plumb & I could just stick the old storm door back on.

Ha! Hahahahahahaha! Boy, was I an idiot.

There's one on, but it's not our original beloved storm door & we can't get the lock mechanism to work on the new one no matter how hard we try. I say we, because I pulled poor T into this mess with me. She had concerns, but knows how much I love to tackle home repairs. She figured since I actually hired someone to put the main door on, she'd give me the storm door project. *sigh* Poor kid.

I have no idea what to do. I'll figure it out, but right now....I'm just so utterly defeated by the whole thing.