Thursday 5 January 2012 - Filed under Announcements
As if I don’t already have enough to do: realized I have old pages with bad links and stuff that just needs to be “pruned”.
Sigh. Adding it to my list to peck away at a little at a time…
:: Share or discuss :: 2012-01-05 :: pkristen
Thursday 5 January 2012 - Filed under Convention + LGBT Media + Television
Summary:
Advertised as the last official Xena convention with scheduled appearances by the famed leading ladies. Taking place in Burbank, Ca., on the weekend of Jan 27th – 29th. http://creationent.com/cal/xebur.htm
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
I’ve only seen one episode of Xena, and that was years ago at the hands of my Xena-phile friend Rachel, who was also the one who told me about this convention.
Since I am currently in the phase of life of trying new things, the opportunity to go to a convention devoted to characters who are icons in the lesbian community was too good to pass up.
But to prepare, I did ask Rachel to send me a “Top 5″ episode list so I can come somewhat educated. And true to Nico’s prediction, she couldn’t stay to just 5:
(copied and pasted with Rachel’s comments)
Season 1
ep1 Sins of the Past
ep10 Harlots and Hooves – intro to the Amazons
ep22 Callisto – Hudson Leick will be at the convention
ep24 Is there a Doctor in the House – subtext in full force
Season 2
ep4 Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – vampire episode
ep15 A Day in the Life – a fan favorite. A must see.
Season 3
ep1 The Furies – one of my favorites. good Ares episode. must see
ep2 Been there, done that – good comedy. Joxer will be at the convention
ep 6 and 7 The Debt – Jacquline Kim will be at the convention
ep13 One Against An Army – a must see….very good
Season 4
ep 1 and 2 Adventures in the Sin Trade – actress playing Oteri will be at the convention.
ep21 Ides of March – Xena dies again. Episode was important because this is when Gabrielle stops being a pacifist and kills someone.
Season 5
This season is known as the ‘The Unfortunate Season’. UGH!!
Season 6
ep1 and ep5 were written by Melissa Good who got her start by writing
fan fiction. Her stories were so good she has her own fan club. she will be at the convention
ep1 Coming Home
ep5 Legacy
ep10 Ares had a farm – I think the best Ares episode. very funny. Must see
They will be having a tribute to Kevin Smith. He died about 5 years
ago during a convention.
ep18 When Fates Collide – THE BEST EPISODE EVER!! MUST SEE! Kathryn Fugate, the screen writer is the producer and writer of Army Wives. She will be at the convention.
We all think that this should have been the final show.
ep19 Many happy returns – sweet
:: Share or discuss :: 2012-01-05 :: pkristen
Thursday 5 January 2012 - Filed under LGBT Media + Movie
Summary:
The next installment of the butch/action oriented versions of the famous detective and his doctor partner.
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
Like its predecessor, this movie delivers more of the same. And like its predecessor, it definitely plays with the “bromance” between the leading men. There are more than a few moments that in context or out of context would raise a few eyebrows.
Though I quickly became bored with the over-indulgent visualizations, the character interactions were enough to regain my attention.
And I must say it has the most interesting interpretation of Mycroft, Sherlock’s older brother as someone who doesn’t spend much time in the company of women.
I recommend it to those who like gay sub(overt)-text at its most playful.
:: Share or discuss :: 2012-01-05 :: pkristen
Thursday 5 January 2012 - Filed under LGBT Media + Movie
Summary:
Based on the autobiography of the former lead singer, Cherie Currie, this movie is the fictionalized version of the ground-breaking, all-girls rock band in the mid-70′s, that were the starting point of Joan Jett (and Lita Ford.)
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
To the most jaded, if you’re tired of a movie that’s the combination of how drugs destroys someone’s rock career, you can pass on this.
For me, the other factors of this project were the true appeal: the early story of some of the most ground-breaking women in rock music, a story that takes place in South California that felt a lot like my childhood (though I’m a little bit younger), and by a female writer/director.
And the fact that it’s also rather frank about the lesbian aspects of Jett/Currie’s relationship doesn’t hurt at all, though I wouldn’t call it the main reason to watch the movie. I will admit though the blu-ray copy is part of my personal library.
:: Share or discuss :: 2012-01-05 :: pkristen
Tuesday 27 December 2011 - Filed under Announcements
Yes, the fighter in me has come out swinging now that my plans to self-publish fiction books has bit the dust.
Since I feel the stories I have to tell are worth carrying into a larger, non-downloadable audience, I’ve finally decided to dive into a creative outlet that has been calling my name for decades, and probably the scariest I’ve ever faced.
Unfortunately, timing is absolutely horrible in that I have to get first draft done by early May. As if my plans for 2012 weren’t already crazy full before this mess.
Update 12/28: First table reading planned on May 7th in Seattle (Thanks, Jill!)
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-27 :: pkristen
Monday 26 December 2011 - Filed under Anime + Comics/Graphic Novels + LGBT Media + Yaoi
Summary:
The story of a man who abruptly quits the successful business career to open his own European-style bakery with a small staff of interesting male characters. But time progresses which shows his venture may be directly tied to his quest to track down the man who had kidnapped him as a boy.
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
Technically, this award-winning manga (and its faithfully rendered anime) is of the “yaoi” genre, which are stories of the male/male variety written for adult women. Still, it’s one of my absolute favorite stories with its complex characters and storyline.
I loved this series so much that I was thrilled to see that the mangaka (creator) continued with doujinshi (self-published comics), but are sadly not released or translated into English in the Western World (that I know of.)
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-26 :: pkristen
Monday 26 December 2011 - Filed under Documentary + LGBT Media
Summary:
Part of the A&E Biography series, this 50 minute show focuses on the public and private aspects of this iconic activist and humanitarian.
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
Eleanor was one of those “common community knowledge” figures where I knew it was believed she was at least bisexual, but I really didn’t know anything about her. I’ve seen enough documentaries that openly admit she had lesbian friends however this particular documentary has a segment where two “experts” debate if she was truly physically involved with long-time associate Lorena Hickok.
The opinions of pro and con (i.e., inconclusive) were as obvious and stereotypical of the perspectives of the experts: female and progressive (“pro”) and male and cautious (“inconclusive”).
The biggest argument the male expert had against reading that Eleanor and Lorena were lovers was based on the turn-of-the century concept of Romantic Friendships between women. However, these two were in each others’ lives in well into the 1960′s, had lesbian companions and were very progressive. And regardless of the physical status, romantic love is, well, love.
I think it’s obvious which side I tend to agree with but you are certainly more than welcome to make up your own mind.
Meanwhile, I have two other Eleanor documentaries in my rental queue that may end up being delivered one of these days.
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-26 :: pkristen
Monday 26 December 2011 - Filed under LGBT Media + Movie
Summary:
A disgraced investigative reporter is given a chance to redeem himself by solving the mystery of a teenage girl who disappeared over forty years ago. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo aids him in his quest whose technical skills and savvyness make up for her lack of social pleasantries and pretenses.
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
No, I did not read the book. The ONLY reason why I felt obligated to see the movie was because of the lesbian scenes shown in the trailer I saw when I caught “J. Edgar” in the theater.
Now that I’ve seen the movie, I can frankly state that I would have passed given everything else demanding my time and attention. The lesbian scenes ultimately felt like “bait and switch” advertising.
As for the movie in general, it’s a very well executed mystery thriller. Acting and cinematography are great.
However, I spent most of the film mildly or blatantly annoyed by the portrayals of women as weak/victims. The feminist in me was frowning by the end. I will not write more because that’s just going into unnecessary spoiler territory.
As long as you don’t have high expectations of lesbian content and the subject-matter is your thing, go for it.
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-26 :: pkristen
Wednesday 21 December 2011 - Filed under Announcements
Did a random search of my name in google and saw that my self-published book ‘Deseo’ was loaded on a torrent with 2,556 downloads. And that’s certainly not showing up in my bank account for the fact that I haven’t sold enough copies to even remotely pay off the original expenses (over $1,000 worth).
This is especially insulting when you consider that I have made the pdf version available for only $5 via lulu.com as well as made public about 2/3rds of the novel so people can decide if they wanted to pay for the rest.
In fact, if I had received just $1 per download as payment, I would have made a very, very nice profit that would have incented me to write and publish even more books.
I admittedly did the project as a self-publishing experiment and I knew the risk of someone taking advantage of that would happen, however the experience of publishing meant more to me. But to see the free posting actually happen is quite another thing.
Needless to say, I’m not pleased — and I’m more disappointed and saddened than anything. And this is making me rethink how I want to make my “Active Voice” book series available, or any other original fiction work for that matter, which will still be self-published with money out of my own pocket (I work for a living!)
If you became a “fan” of mine because of reading that free copy, well I hope you learned your lesson of what free downloadings do to independent self-publishers like me. And yes, I wrote “fan” in quotes because true fans support their artists by rewarding them for the work they’ve done and encouraging them to continue to do it.
After all, I will always write stories, whether I decide to make them available to the public is another matter.
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-21 :: pkristen
Tuesday 20 December 2011 - Filed under Concerts + LGBT Media + Music
Summary:
As only the Japanese could envision: a project that is the combination of various aspects of JP pop culture with cutesy goth S&M cat characters with rock music and fashion.
My Thoughts (with potential spoilers!):
Another case that I feel that I need to officially clarify why I consider H&A-f(uture) as part of my LGBT list.
Rika Ishikawa and Hitomi Yoshizawa are JP idols enlisted to be the “human” representation of these characters and have released a couple of CDs internationally as well as a DVD of their 2010 concert in JP. Being long-time performing partners, they’re the perfect representation for this project the more you look at it.
Now, as someone who saw them at their first U.S. appearance in Seattle and then followed them on their 2010 Euro tour, I can safely say that regardless of the rumors of the actual idols themselves, the fans LOVE the lesbian aspects portrayed in H&A-f music, videos and stage shows. EVERY time they touched each other on stage, the audience genuinely screamed in support.
And their music videos are no less subtle about the girl/girl interaction.
Now waiting for them to come back to North America for another performance!
:: Share or discuss :: 2011-12-20 :: pkristen