Sunday, February 15, 2009

Passionate fandoms

According to Wikipedia, “A fan, aficionado, or supporter is someone who has an intense, occasionally overwhelming liking and enthusiasm for a sporting club, person (usually a celebrity), group of persons, company, product, work of art, idea, or trend. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom.”

I’ll admit that when I find something in pop culture that I like, I glom onto it and try to learn all about it I can. Back in the day when I was a teenager and got some new celebrity crush, I caught them on TV when I could and once in awhile could procure a copy of something like Tiger Beat. I remember clipping photos and putting them on my bedroom wall. And back in those days way before TiVo or even a video recorder in our house, to miss an episode of a favorite show like The Young Riders was a tragedy beyond compare!

Now I have the wonder of TiVo, the Internet, YouTube, TV shows on DVD and Netflix to feed my fan cravings.

I read and enjoy a great many books, but there are some for which I watch the calendar for releases dates. In the past few years, I’ve done this for Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Colleen Gleason’s Gardella Vampire Chronicles series and Libba Bray’s YA trilogy that started with A Great and Terrible Beauty. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.

In the summer of 2006, I became a late but rabid fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I seriously would watch eight episodes a day because I HAD to know what happened next. I was only able to get some work done when I’d gotten through all seven seasons of Buffy and all five of Angel. Soon thereafter came Roswell and Supernatural.

Speaking of Supernatural, I’m such a huge fan of the show that I and four other writer friends, who are also fangirls of the show, recently started a blog called Supernatural Sisters. We blog about various aspects of the show five days a week, including a recap and observations about each week’s episode on Fridays, the day after it airs.

After watching the movie House of Flying Daggers, for a time I became kind of obsessed with Asian actor Takeshi Kaneshiro. I bought a couple of his other movies – one good, one not so good. But, honey, he sure is pretty to look at. :) Sorry if that’s objectifying, but it’s true!

One of the biggest fandoms out there is that for Harry Potter. Though I’m not active on the boards, I really enjoy The Leaky Cauldron’s Web site (which is PACKED with all things Harry related) and listen to the affiliated weekly podcast, PotterCast. I totally geek out over how dedicated the Leaky and PotterCast crews are to this fandom in all its glorious minutiae. Melissa Anneli, PotterCast’s original host and still one of the four hosts, even wrote a nonfiction book called Harry, A History about the Harry Potter fandom. I have the book and plan to read it when I get through my impending deadlines. And I have to admit that it’s an intoxicating thought to a writer to think that it’s possible for something like this to spring up to celebrate your work. It’s extra cool because J.K. Rowling is such a wonderful, kind person and one who got a whole new generation of kids interested in reading books. Not to mention a gazillion adults.

And if you want to see passionate fandoms of all kinds, just go to a conference like Dragon*Con or ComicCon. Imagine tens of thousands of people who are so dedicated to things like Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, anime, steampunk, Battlestar Galactica and basically every sci-fi or fantasy offering out there that they will attend events dressed as their favorite characters and stand in line for hours to hear panels given by their favorite actors or creators. I attended Dragon*Con for the first time last September, and I had a ball! I’m going back this year, and I plan to take a couple of costumes. I’m still mulling what I want to be, though I have some ideas. That's me at the left with two Star Wars fans. I'm wearing one of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer shirts.

People who are passionate about their favorites often delve into writing fan fiction, and there’s an amazing amount of it online – some good, some bad, some amazing. Others put their video editing abilities to use and create fan vids and post them on YouTube. You can find videos dedicated to favorite fictional couples, odes to period dramas, and clips of a show’s best or funniest moments. Trust me, one can spend hours and hours (did I mention hours?) on YouTube watching these.

So, I’m curious, have any of you ever found yourself totally engrossed in a fandom to the point that you were looking up every scrap of information you could about it? Have you ever peeked at a fan board or site and looked up hours later? Tell us about your fandoms. Really, I’m curious.

69 comments:

Unknown said...

Is he mine again! He has already ate all of the candy!

limecello said...

lol Congrats, Virginia! As for fandoms... not so much, really. But I have stumbled across fanfic before, and have some friends who [used to] write it.
I do go on "binges" though where I'll super like an actor and troll google images, but I have a short attention span :P

danie88 said...

Well... I guess you could say I'm a Disney fan... I love anything dealing with Disney... movies... music... the tv channel... like I said anything... I'm always researching to find out what new movies are coming out in theater/releasing on DVD, what CD's by disney stars are releasing and such...

as far as being a fan of a celeb or whatever then thats a no... i can't stand how some fans are, screaming there lungs out for someone who there most likely never gonna meet... *sigh* i just don't get it :P

Helen said...

Congrats again Virginia he really enjoys it at your place have fun with him

Loved the post Trish when I was a teenager I had lots of bands and singers that I really followed had scrapebooks filled with news cuttings and pictures and my walls were covered in posters.

These days I do follow the authors I love on blogs and can't wait for their next release I have a great collection of coverflats and bookmarks and postcards I do love collecting these types of things. If I know that a favourite author is blogging somewhere I will try very hard to get to it.
So yes I guess I do become a fan and try hard to find the time to keep up with everything that is going on.

Have Fun
Helen

Becke Davis said...

I was a Beatle fan but that didn't mean much back in the day.

My daughter was a Backstreet Boys fan, though, and our whole family got caught up in the insanity. She was too young to go to concerts by herself, so we made it a family event. We've all seen them at least five times, even though my son is now embarrassed to admit it.

My daughter and her friends quickly got hooked on fanfic, and I was stunned by how hot some of it was!

My daughter and her best friend wrote fanfic all the time (the G-rated kind, thank goodness), and I wrote a few with them, just for fun.

For my daughter's 16th birthday I wrote a fan fiction story where she and her best friend played starring roles. It ended up being about 50K and I had Kinko's print and bind a few copies for her and her friends.

I had written several gardening books by then, and, on a lark, I sent a copy of this story to my editor. The morning it arrived in her office, she called me about it.

"You won't believe this," she said. "I just came from a meeting where I was told to find authors who could do cross-over writing for us. They want someone who can write in a teenage voice. How would you like to write a book about 'N Sync?"

So my fanfic story led directly to a book contract, and, best of all, they hired my daughter to co-author the book. We had soooo much fun writing it, and it sold more than 50,000 copies!

Also, danie88, my daughter was a Disney fan, practically from birth. Two of the Backstreet Boys came from Orlando, so we once combined a Disney visit with a tour of their old haunts (I know, I know).

This same daughter ended up doing a Disney internship, which she liked so much, she transferred to the University of Central Florida. She's worked as a waitress at one of the Disney resorts through college and even now, because she's had no luck finding an editing job.

And, in a related story, while she was working tonight, one of the other servers introduced her to a regular customer -- who works for a big publishing company in New York. She interviewed my daughter on the spot, gave her a business card and said they might have a job for her in the screen writing production department!! Un-freaking-believable!

Fingers crossed, ladies, and never estimate the powers of fandom!

Becke Davis said...

Sorry for writing such a long post, I got carried away! (Ten lashes from the cabana boy?)

Becke Davis said...

And, of course, that should be "underestimate" not "estimate." Okay, I'll stop hogging the board now.

jo robertson said...

Great post, Trish. I knew it was yours before I even scrolled to the bottom.

Back in the day, all we fans had were "movie magazines." I'd religiously cut out pix of my favorite stars and tape them around my room. Or I'd write a fan letter and request an autographed picture. No net, no YouTube.

I've never been one to go wild and crazy with fandom, but I do have my faves. The Winchester boys, of course, are at the top of my list. Wouldn't miss one of their segments for anything.

jo robertson said...

Oh, forgot to mention that once a friend of mine had backstage passes to see the Beetles. She asked someone else. Needless to say, she's no longer my friend LOL.

Yay, Virginia! ALL the candy you say? What a sneaky bird.

jo robertson said...

I guess I could actually spell the group right, eh? BEATLES, forever!

Donna MacMeans said...

I have favorite movies and actors & actresses - but I've never joined a fan club, cut pictures from a movie mag, or screamed at a concert.

Suddenly, I feel so deprived :(

Hey Treethyme - what a cool story. Crossing my fingers for your daughter.

MJFredrick said...

I know all about passionate fandoms. Mine usually start by being a fan of an actor, say, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and watching everything he's been in, like, say, Supernatural, and becoming hooked. I have all his movies, too, including some absolute stinkers. I would have killed to go to Comic Con last year, when he was there promoting Watchmen (in theaters in three weeks.)

Like you (shocking, I know), I got Tiger Beat and papered my wall with pictures. Speaking of Supernatural, I had Katie Cassidy's uncle all over my wall at one point.

MJFredrick said...

Speaking of concerts, U2 was another big passion....I had U2 EVERYTHING, including a charcoal of Bono my friend made me and a jean jacket my dh's friend made me.

Anna Campbell said...

Virginia, clearly you treated him right yesterday! Congratulations!

Trish, what a great post! Clearly I'm not the only person who gets a bit 'obsessive' (can one be merely a bit obsessive?) about things. I tend to get crazes no things, books, movies, TV shows, actors. I had a huge craze on Doctor Who when I was a teenager, back in the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker days. They, to me, are still the two best Doctors. Oh, and I don't think it's any surprise if I say I kinda look up Richard Armitage on IMDB every now and again, just to see if there's anything new there to find out. But I'm only a BIT obsessive! Oh, and I had a huge obsession with Blake's 7 when I was in my early 20s. It was such a thrilling moment when I saw the guy who played Avon (ha! Just got the connection!), a very sexy antihero type, in a play when I visited England for the first time.

Hey, Becke, loved your story!

p226 said...

Yes.

Formula1 and MotoGP racing. And for a while AMA Pro Superbike racing.

Formula1 Friday Practice starts in 39 Days 18 hours, 32 minutes, and 52 seconds.

It is the absolute pinnacle of automotive technology and driving skill. What else is there for a speed freak with a geek streak like me?

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Hey, Trish! Fandoms, huh?

Let's see....Kate, do you and I consist of a fandom for Julie Garwood? I'm thinking if we add Sandy Blair to the mix, we're at least a fantrio!!

Does knowing the ERA stats for the entire bullpen, the RBI and slugging percentages for the hitters, and reading the news daily about the Indians make me part of that fandom?

And yes, I read JR Ward's Dark Lover in one evening and immediately went to her website to read more and wait salivating for each of the next books in the series.

Same with Sherrilyn's DarkHunter series. In fact, I've hooked several friends and one daughter on her work. (Loved the latest Dream Hunter book, by the way!!)

Then there's the whole Gerard Butler issue these days...

OMG...I am so totally like a fan girl!!

B.H. Dark said...

I think being a rabid fan is a prerequisite of being a romance writer! It's all part of being passionate, you know. :-)

Trish, I so so envy your convention! I wrote about a comics convention for my last book but I didn't get to go to one, I just interviewed people who'd been and watched videos on YouTube. One day, I will go...

Anna, did you know that the Romantic Novelists' Association in the UK just voted Richard Armitage The Sexiest Thing On Two Legs?

I've been a fan of many, many things but the oddest at the time was probably Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. At 18, I joined a Sherlockian society and twice a year would meet with a bunch of men old enough to be my father (or grandfather) and happily discuss all things Sherlockian with them.

B.H. aka Julie Cohen

Anna Campbell said...

Julie, I didn't know that - but it confirms my judgement of the RNA girls as women of extraordinary taste and discrimination ;-)

Actually I was thinking about obsessions (I've had quite a few!) and thought probably the geekiest one was Shelley the poet. I discovered him when I was studying romantic literature and seriously I was in love. Pathetic, I know! LOL! Now I think I'd probably bop him on the head with a heavy frypan but at the time, he made me swoon.

Margay Leah Justice said...

Trish, I am so glad you admitted to being a fangirl of the Twilight series because I am, too! I don't know what it is about the stories but they just resonate with me (maybe it's because Bella's so awkward and kind of geeky and that's how I felt in school) and I have to admit, I went all fangirl waiting for the movie to come out. What can I say? I love Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone (whom I was already familiar with) and have become a fan of the rest of the cast.

As for other fangirliness, I am electrified by the show Lost. I have been following it closely since day one and have been trying to figure out what the heck is going on ever since! Hey, I figure any show that gets you to think and try to figure it out on your own (here's a tip: With Lost, you're almost always wrong, so don't even try; just sit back and enjoy it!) is a winner in my book.

What a fun topic!

Margay

Oh, yeah, I'm also kind of a fangirl of the Banditas.

Anna Sugden said...

Now there's a post I know something about *g*.

I admit it, I'm a total fangirl. LOL.

For my hockey team (The New Jersey Devils) and ice hockey in general - I subscribe to The Hockey News, read the blogs, listen to the most awesome podcast - The Puck Podcast - and have even paid for a North American sports channel over here, so I can watch games and record highlights. And we won't mention the memorabilia!

I'm also a fangirl for certain authors and will eagerly await (and buy in hardcover!) the next book - Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner, Susan Mallery, Mariah Stewart, Suz Brockmann, Eloisa James, Elaine Viets, Carrie Bebris, Deirdre Martin (hockey romance writer!), Kate Angell, Virginia Kantra and Susan Elizabeth Phillips to name but a few (and I'm deliberately not naming Banditas or WAP's as fangirldom goes without saying for them!).

*waving* Julie! You're on that list too, babe!

And if I find a new author, I often go back and find all their old stuff. Recent finds include Sandra Hill and PC Cast's Goddess series.

Gillian Layne said...

I'm thinking obsessive fandom and reading/writing must be triggered or located in the same part of the brain.

My middle daughter is obsessed with Inuyasha, and we went to an anime convention last year. What a hoot!

My oldest and I have read Harry Potter fanfic for years. There is one woman who has written an alternate universe trilogy--where Snape adopts Harry--and it's so amazingly well done, we find ourselves confusing facts between the actually HP books and her stories, which are so long they could be books.

We also follow vampire hunter Anita Blake. And we are all obsessed with all thing Edward. :)

Unknown said...

Yes the rooster is quite fat today he over done yesterday with the candy!

When I was a teenager I was big into fandoms. I had rock groups that I whould cut out of magazines. I was real big into The Monkeys, remember these guys.

These days I don't have any fandoms. I have certain shows I watch on TV but not real big into anything except my books. Although it is nice to have the internet when you need to look up something.

Nancy said...

Virginia, congratulations! Sorry about the candy. You really have to keep an eye on him--he's devious!

Hi, Trish--you know I used to be very active in comics and SF fandom. My first writing efforts were fan fiction. As the stories grew longer and longer-- and longer--the dh encouraged me to believe I could actually complete a novel-length, original work. I'd started one, gotten to the middle and realized I didn't know what to do,and then stopped.

I used to be able to list all the noms de guerre, real names, home planets, and powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes. And the Legion of Substitute Heroes, second-stringers who couldn't make the "A" team. Also the members of the Justice League of America, the Teen Titans, the Doom Patrol, the X-Men, the Avengers, and a score of individual heroes not belonging to groups. It was kind of like my son's kindergarten fascination with Pokemon but on a more manageable scale.

My heavy fandom days were before the advent of internet message boards, which have revolutionized the phenomenon. I did belong to an amateur press alliance dedicated to the Legion of Super-Heroes and, briefly, to one for the Teen Titans.

As you know, I faithfully attend DragonCon every year. I also teach courses on SF and fantasy and American culture, trying to look behind the appeal of these genres. I'd also have to say the majority of my pleasure reading is either SFF or paranormal romance.

So I guess I'd have to say I'm still happily a geek girl. :-)

Janga said...

I like to think of my fandoms as controlled obsessions. I limit myself to haunting bookstores for new books from auto-buy authors, following their blog tours, and paying many times the cover price of OOP books to complete a collection. I did start reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a very few minutes after midnight on its release date and stayed up all night to finish it, but I didn't stand in line to get it. I bought it at Kroger rather than a bookstore. :)

Then there's George Clooney. Some may say I'm obsessive. A friend made me a George Clooney calendar, and just yesterday my sister sent me a special photoshopped George Clooney Valentine.

Anna Campbell said...

Margay, being a fan of the Banditas is FAN-tastic (ho, ho!).

Janga, a friend of mine made me a Richard Armitage calendar for Christmas. I think perhaps you and I HAVE crossed that interest/obsession line! ;-) The calendar is the sign!

MJFredrick said...

I made a Supernatural calendar year before last, when they didn't make their own. It fed two obsessions-Supernatural and an obsession with calendars.

Trish Milburn said...

Danie, I know what you mean about the screaming fans. I can be a passionate fan, but I'm not of the screaming sort. I just don't get it. I mean, they're just people too.

And Disney World is one of my favorite places.

Trish Milburn said...

limecello, I've never written fan fiction, but I understand there are lots of writers who got started that way. Oh, and I hear you on trolling Google images. :)

Trish Milburn said...

Virginia, congrats on the GR nab. Does he have his own guest room at your house yet? :)

Trish Milburn said...

Helen, I remember having lots of Duran Duran on my walls as a young teen. :) Later on, it was Bon Jovi.

Cool on the cover flat and bookmark collections.

Anna Campbell said...

MJ, sounds like you, Janga and me, we all need a calendar support group! ;-) Actually I've got to say my RA calendar is mighty purty!

Trish Milburn said...

Treethyme, your answer was fascinating. First off, I'll admit that I have a Backstreet Boys CD and several Britney Spears ones. There, I've said it in cyberspace for all to see. I think a lot of their music is fun, and I like danceable stuff.

I've not read the hot fan fic myself, but I've heard about it. There's evidently an entire segment of it called slash that I believe is same-sex pairings (like Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy).

That's so cool about your books and about your daughter's on-the-spot interview!

Trish Milburn said...

Jo, you know I'm right there with you on the Winchester boys. Author Tayna Michaels/Michna and I are hoping to do some sort of panel at Dragon*Con this year about Supernatural.

Trish Milburn said...

Donna, it's never too late to start being a goofy fan. :)

Trish Milburn said...

MJ, is Katie Cassidy's uncle Shaun? I didn't know that!

Trish Milburn said...

Anna, you look up Richard Armitage on IMDB? I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked! :)

Trish Milburn said...

p226, LOL that you know down to the second when the practice for Formula1 starts. :)

Trish Milburn said...

Suz, you're a girl after my own heart with all of your different fandoms. I think it makes us fun and interesting people.

Trish Milburn said...

B.H. (aka Julie) -- first, hey! (wavimg). If you get a chance to go to a fan con, it's a ton of fun. After I get past some deadlines, I've got to get going on my costumes for Dragon*Con. Yes, I'm a geek girl. :)

How funny that you mention the Sherlockian Society and meeting with a bunch of old men. I'm in a group called the Extra Miler Club in which the goal is to visit every county in every state in the U.S. You keep track on maps by coloring in the counties. I have a big county map of the entire country on my office wall where I highlight the counties when I visit them. Suffice it to say that the majority of the members are older men. I've not been to a meeting, but I'm sure I'd stick out like a sore thumb. I stumbled upon them when I did a story about the group for the magazine I work for.

Trish Milburn said...

Margay, I am a total Twilight fan. And actually I've been annoyed of late by all the attacks on Stephenie Meyer and her "lack of writing ability." To me, if you get tons of kids reading, that's a good thing. If you can tell a story and the reader doesn't even notice a supposed lack in writing ability, it's the story that matters. I think the comparisons (both pro and con) between J.K. Rowling and Stephenie Meyer are unfair to both of them. They're different writers with different styles and different types of stories to tell.

I'm a big LOST fan too. I've missed the past couple of episodes (and all of the posts here on this blog) for the past two weeks because my mom had a heart attack. She seems to be on the mend now, thank goodness, but I'm behind on everything. I'll eventually catch up.

Trish Milburn said...

Anna S., I knew you'd mention the hockey boys. :)

I don't buy tons in hardcover, but I do have 2-3 series that I will buy in hardcover because I can't wait. I've also bought some last-in-series books in hardcover because I didn't want to be spoiled before I could get it from the library or the paperback version.

Trish Milburn said...

Gillian, an alternate universe where Snape adopts Harry? Wow.

Oh, and I'm an Edward fan too. No surprise there.

Trish Milburn said...

Nancy, my sister in sci fi geekdom! :) Dude, I'm finally caught up with BSG, and I still can't wrap my mind around all the origin stuff they've been revealing. I listen and still don't understand.

Susan Sey said...

Hi, Trish! I have to admit, all the years I spent in the woods doing outdoor/environmental education seriously limited my ability to become a fan girl of any sort. For about five years there, I had extremely limited access to all media. But I fell hard for the X Files when I finally discovered it. Boy did I love me some Fox Mulder.

And the West Wing? I own that one on on DVD, at least five seasons worth. Josh Lyman....mmmmm.

So yeah, I definitely have fan girl tendencies, though I've never tried my hand at fan fic. I think it's the highest compliment an author can be paid though--somebody loving characters you pulled out of your head THAT much.

MJFredrick said...

Yup, Katie is David Cassidy's daughter.

Anna Sugden said...

Okay - this fan girl just listened to her team win an awesome game via the radio on the internet*g*. This after watching out deadly rivals lose on ESPN America (sorry, Jane!)

Dina - cute hockey hunk!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Virginia! That rascal's haunting your place again, eh? *Shaking head* Watch out for him!

Trish, I love this post. I'm a total fangirl about some things. Star Trek, Mercedes Lackey, Anne McCaffrey, Andre Norton etc. I had some fan girl crushes on movie stars in my misspent youth, but mostly I perved on football players - The Cleveland Browns front line (known as the Dog Pound), and for some now-inexplicable reason, I had a massive crush on Boomer Eisiason and Howie Long. Imagine that?

Now I'm a major CSI junie and I really love Criminal Minds too. I have several seasons and want to get the rest. Horatio Caine mostly makes me insane, but I like all the other characters.

I am dying to go to DragonCon. I'm hoping to join you and Nancy there this year, along w/ my pal Jean Marie Ward. :>

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Boomer! Honestly, Jeanne....BOOMER?!?

Me, it was Clay Matthews.......mmmmmm, loved me some Clay as linebacker...

And yeah, I can so see lusting after Howie Long...I still do!

But BOOMER?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Yeah, yeah, you laugh you Jake Westbrook fan. Boomer has such a nice...smile...yeah, yeah, that's it. Snork. I got to meet him once. That's probably it. He sure can fill out a pair of um...pants. Grins.

Maybe its the name. It's my hometown. Boomer.

And isn't Howie scrumptious? He looks great on ESPN, however he's doing this car commercial w/ this little red-headed girl. I don't know if its the lighting or the color they have him in but he looks terrible.

Trish Milburn said...

Susan, I was a big fan of both The X-Files and The West Wing. Great minds think alike. :) I want to go back and re-watch all those old seasons of X-Files, then the newest movie, which I haven't seen yet.

Trish Milburn said...

Jeanne, sounds like you'd fit right in at Dragon*Con. Hope you get to attend. That would be so fun!

Howie and Boomer, huh? :) I have to say that I'm more in the hockey player camp with Anna S.

hrdwrkdmom aka Dianna said...

I am chiming late, today was one of those....
As a young one I got the Tiger Beat and all of that but was never one of the screaming type.
What I obsessed about then and now was the books. I am still not a screamer but when I discover a new to me author I immediately start gathering his or her backlist and of course anything new. I am now at the point that I have keep spreadsheets of "my" authors so I don't duplicate (there seems to be an awful lot of reprinting going on of late) or miss a new one.

Suzanne Ferrell said...

ahhhhhhhh, Jake Westbrook, yummo...He'll be back in June!! yippee!! The best......uh...backside in baseball....sigh, can't wait for baseball season!!

Nancy said...

p226 wrote: a speed freak with a geek streak

This has a very t-shirt-ishy sound to it. :-)

The DragonCon website counts down the days to the con. I don't think they go to hours, but I'm usually so busy running around packing that I don't have time to check.

Once upon a time, I could've told you how many days, hours, minutes, etc. until the release of Return of the Jedi, but there's nothing that grabs me quite that way anymore. I'm always a little envious of people who do have something they're that into.

Have fun with the racing!

Nancy said...

Treethyme, that's a great story about the fanfic and the contract! Thanks for sharing.

Nancy said...

Trish, I'm so glad you're caught up on BSG because now I don't have to worry about spoilers. It has been pretty amazing.

200 days to DragonCon. I don't see any BSG names on the guest list yet, but I thought of you the other day. Tahmoh Penikett (Helo--didn't you have your picture taken with him?) is in that new Whedon show, Dollhouse.

Tricia Helfer has a recurring role on Burn Notice, which I love and in which the dh enjoys the wry voiceovers about spydom.

Janga said...

Another West Wing fan here! Now the only show I watch regularly (when it's on) is Monk. I love Monk!

Anna, is our calendar-maker the same friend? I know mine is your friend too and that the two of you share a love of RA. :)

Joan said...

Popping in from the DDJ.

Well. I'll confess. Right here. Right now.

I was an OakRidge Boys groupie.

Yes, I was crazy for those 4 fellows, joined the fan club, went to concerts, know...er, knew all the lyrics to their songs. Went to FanFair in Nashville twice. Found out where two of them lived :-)

Sigh. Nobody can "Ba umbaba mou mou" like Richard Sterben!

Louisa Cornell said...

I'm late too, Dianna! My Mom came down to take me out to eat for Valentine's Day. My brothers sent a cute little stuffed animal hedgehog because my second book has a pet hedgehog named Dash in it. Too cute!

Hey, I will Google a guy in a heartbeat if he makes my heart go pitter pat. I was a long time fan of Roger Howarth on One Life to Live. He played the tortured character Todd Manning. I even belonged to a fanfic group and wrote reams of really bad fanfic featuring Todd, including a time travel type serial killer story set in New Orleans. I guess that was my first attempt at writing as an adult.

If I enjoy an actor's work I will try to see all of their films. Did that with Viggo Mortensen and Gerrard Butler.

I'm the same way with authors. Once I read my first Sherrilyn Kenyon, Charlaine Harris, Mary Janice Davidson and Laurel K. Hamilton books I went out and got all I could find. I have a feeling C.S. Harris is going to be the same.

Acquiring all of a romance author's books is a given for me once I decide I like their work. My Library Thing runneth over!

I loved the series Moonlight and did Google the stars to see what else they had done. I hate that they canceled it.

I've always been a big Star Trek fan and I'm old enough to remember the original series! LOL AND I have Leonard Nimoy's autograph !!

Unknown said...

Yes Trish, the GR has his own guest room here. I built him a little house so he would have a place to go when the Little Red Hen comes to visit. Its a little more private for him that way.

Cassondra said...

Funny you should mention being a fan because we just had two friends over today and they confessed that they've just gotten BSG on DVD and they've been blowing off schoolwork and everything else to watch the series. I don't see tv (this is on purpose as I'm an addict and can't get anything done if I watch tv) but I know at least six people who are addicted to this show. They are RAVENOUS about it. Can't get enough of it. Tonight the one friend was saying, "I've gotta go home and study for a Trig test in the morning". And the other said, "but you said you didn't understand the material." First friend said, "I don't. Hmmm. Maybe I'll just get up early and go in to the math lab and get help before the test in the morning." Second friend said, "Oh, that means we can watch BSG!" First friend said, "Oh yeah. I'm definitely just gonna go to the math lab tomorrow."

Sheesh, what is it about that show? Okay don't tell me. I don't wanna know. My husband just got Dexter on DVD, and I saw half of one episode and now I want to see all of it. That's not the same as the BSG fans though. You guys are absolutely rabid!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra, Dexter is dangerously addictive in a sick, psychopathic kind of way. Hahaha.

Louisa Cornell said...

Okay, stop talking about Dexter! I SO want to get that series on DVD. Trying to resist as I know I would spend an entire day off watching it. I know my DH would have LOVED it. He was a prison shrink and serial killers was one of his areas of expertise.

That show really is delicious in a strange twisted sort of way.

Trish Milburn said...

Dianna, I keep spreadsheets of what I've read too.

Nancy, yes, I met and had my pic taken with Tahmoh. Nice guy. I watched the Dollhouse premiere -- very curious where it's going.

Trish Milburn said...

Louisa, I'm about to explode my Library Thing account too.

Joan, I have to giggle at the Oak Ridge Boys groupie-dom. :)

Trish Milburn said...

Virginia, LOL on the little house for the GR!

Cassondra, yes, BSG is all-consuming because you're constantly trying to figure out what's going on -- in a good sort of way.

EilisFlynn said...

Trish,
Some of my oldest friends I know from comics fandom... I married a fellow fan, I had fellow fans as bridesmaids. Legion of Super-Heroes fandom shaped my life like nothing else. (Scary, but true!)

Trish Milburn said...

Eilis, that's cool about your fandom friends. I know that's the case with lots of people. It's easy to understand that we'd be really good friends with others who feel passionate about the same things we do.

Hellie Sinclair said...

I'm an uber-Harry Potter fan. Still am. Still stalking out when movies will be coming to theaters.