Bits & Pieces
Happy New Year, friends and neighbors! This week, I would like to address a couple of different issues that I've meant to talk about, but haven't gotten to for one reason or another in recent months.
First, Creation Entertainment has released the fourth official fan club kit. It contains many of the same things found in the previous kits - a poster, 8x10 photos from the show, a membership card, as well as the first issue of the quarterly newsletter, The Chakram (not to be confused with the excellent Chakram Mailing List).
The kit also includes videotape with behind-the-scenes footage shot by Sharon Delaney (the Xena fan club president) on a recent trip to New Zealand. It focuses on the sixth season episode, Who's Gurkhan, and is a wonderful peek behind the scenes of this excellent series.
The video is worth the price of the kit all on its own, and if you can, I strongly recommend that you order the new kit, if only to view the tape. It is incredibly enlightening, and emphasizes how much work Rob, Lucy, Renee, and all the rest of the cast and crew put into the adventures we see on our screen every week.
The kit can be ordered from Creation Entertainment's web site for $35.95 (plus shipping and handling).
Whoosh! recently celebrated its landmark fiftieth issue this past November. While the more scholarly aspects of Xena fandom aren't for everybody, I am fairly certain that somewhere in the archives of this expansive website is something that will entertain, inform, or enlighten you.
The fiftieth issue has retrospectives from dozens of fans of the show, and it shows what a diverse and wonderful fanbase the show enjoys. Most recently, Bret Rudnick interviewed Rob Tapert, and the show's producer provided some wonderful insights into the series - what has been in the past, and what will come in the future.
In addition, Whoosh! has one of the best episode guides on the net, with commentaries and synopses from some of the biggest names in Xena fandom. In fact, the episode guide has expanded to cover other action/adventure shows that owe their existence to the territory Xena first staked out. Features include Relic Hunter, Cleopatra 2525, and Queen of Swords.
I intended to do an interview with Kym Taborn (the editor-in-chief of Whoosh!) in honor of the webzine's fiftieth issue, but my schedule didn't allow it. I hope to do that interview in the near future, and I'll share it with you then.
Latest Articles