That Time I Nearly Bought Stuff

 Many of you may have seen recently that a whole bunch of screen used Xena costume pieces appeared on eBay recently. This was blogged about by Xena Prop Treasures - a veritable treasure trove of Xena information and updates on props, costumes, auctions and discoveries. The costumes listed were a variety of characters and prices and the full blog post can be found here: Awesome costumes sale!

As someone who is normally a total tightwad, it is practically unheard of for me to drop actual CASH on anything expensive, but I was actually tempted by some of these - mainly Gabrielle's sari from the Indian episodes of series 4.

My thinking was partly that this is SUCH an iconic costume that it would be a beautiful thing to have, but also partly that I could use the actual piece as reference in order to colour match fabrics and replicate patterns, plus finding out how it was constructed and exactly what those white decals on the top are made of. Are they embroidery? Are they beads? Who can say? Well, the person who wins the auction, that's for sure!

Well that person wasn't me. (There, that put you all out of your misery didn't it?) I did bid though. I bid quite a bit. But I didn't bid $1200 which is around what the thing eventually went for. Hardly surprising either as I do think this is one of the most beautiful and unique (if not excessively shown) of all Gab's main costumes. The colours are also some of the most difficult to pin down. The top looks orange in some shots and bright mustard yellow in others! So in the absence of having the funds to outbid the many, many other fans who fought to purchase this piece, I shall look forward to replicating this one from picture references and the like once I have worked my way through to season 4. Of course the photo reference from the auction itself has already proved more than useful - is that a ZIP in the back of Gab's skirt? Oh well, plenty of time to put this plan of action together. Judging by that skirt I shall have to get the hang of screen printing...

Oh well. Who doesn't love a challenge?

Congratulations to all those who won any of these auctions! Enjoy your shiny things.

C25K WEEK 3 – Bournemouth

Week 3 saw me “running” all over the country as I was taking some time to go catch up with friends. At top of the list was fitness guru, hypnotherapist, swordsman and re-enactment veteran Jon-Michael. (I’ll be talking about him a lot. He’s been a wonderful help to me in every aspect of my life and I couldn’t be doing this journey without him.)

He accompanied me on my first run of the week, taking me through the park between his flat and the Bournemouth coast, which was far nicer than the suburban routes I was used to taking at home. He also spoke to me about technique and breathing and various other elements of training which I had not come across before. For instance, my breathing has always followed one certain pattern of being deep but fast. I’d figured you were just supposed to do what came naturally, until Jon informed me that you’re supposed to deliberately slow your breathing down, preferably inhaling through the nose.

This was news to me, and the first day trying it was a challenge. It can feel rather unnatural and leave you feeling out of breath, despite the fact that your breathing is actually deeper and more controlled and giving your body MORE oxygen, not less.

Breathing aside, he said my technique was pretty good.  Straight back, high head, arm movement solid and directional. It’s good to know when you’re doing things right! We kept pace pretty well through the park. One of the strange things about doing this is the fact that as my fitness improves and the distance I can run increases, the programme adapts at the same speed. At this point its normal for me to start flagging about 20 seconds before the little voice in my ear (courtesy of Zen Labs) tells me to slow to a walk. And it’s been doing that since I started despite the run length now being triple the time it started at.

Around the end of the session we were approaching a stone marker between the park and the pier. It was at this point that Jon broke it to me that this marker was actually the half way marker on the 5k run he’d done along this same route – so it looks like I have some way to go!

Before heading home we wandered down the pier and the sea front, and it was at this point I decided to A) carry on running because it was cold, and B) go up a huge great steep hill cut into the side of the cliff face. I’m not sure which of these decisions was the most stupid but I was certainly regretting at least one of them by the time I was halfway up the hill!

We ran up this. Not sure how...

 I’ve also taken away from this session the useful idea of setting little mini goals along the route as you find yourself flagging. As you struggle, pick a lamppost somewhere along the street and tell yourself you can stop for a rest when you get there. Then once you do, you’ll probably feel you can pick another one further up and aim for that, dividing the route up into smaller, achieveable goals as your energy levels begin to drop. It may sound like silly mind control stuff, but it works.

Swordplay

So today I took a step out of my comfort zone and had an introduction to sword fighting!

My mentor Jon, in his Robin Hood days.

My training came courtesy of Jon-Michael Lindsey (right), experienced stage fighter in sword staff and bow, re-enactment performer, Robin Hood impersonator, and all round awesome guy of many, many skills.

Jon was initially trained by the same guy who trained the talented Xena impersonator Jo Marriott, who I remember from many years ago having met her when I was 13, and who was probably the first person to really inspire me in the field of costumed entertainment and charity work - even though it took me many years to get into it myself.

The swords we used for this basic training session are worth a mention for the genius of their design and re-purposing: sleek, nicely finished wooden blades with a solid hilt wrapped in rope for extra grip. Weight and sound aside, they make you feel like you're carrying a real weapon. Apparently they are primarily used as toy swords by the youngsters at re-enactment fairs, but double up as training swords for beginners as you can smack them against one another and they are solid enough not to sustain too much damage. Nonetheless they can inflict a fair bit so the first advice I was given was: "If you can't block, get out of the way!"

A "toy" sword - also used in sword training for dummies!

The biggest difference I found between this and my experiences in Live Action Role Play (in which I used squishy foam swords which don't do too much damage no matter how hard you whack people with them) or in martial arts (I did karate for a couple of years a long time ago) is that here you are not actually trying to hit anyone. Because, y'know, that'll hurt. As such Jon taught me to 'telegraph' my attacks, and to read the intended attacks of my opponent. A big swing level with the intended point of attack not only gives the defender plenty of time to block, but also gives onlookers the impression that you mean business and makes for a more dramatic fight scene.

The defence side of it was, strangely, fairly natural. Even without my distant experience in martial arts, if someone swings a bit of wood at you, swinging your bit of wood right back at it or stepping back out of the way is pretty much a reflex. The challenge came in controlling that reflex in order to make the right call and make the defence more efficient - or as Xena and Gabby put it in 'The Prodigal', "Act, don't react!' Choose the right block for the right attack; know when to block and when to move; push the blade away far enough so it doesn't get you anyway; and most importantly, know how to position your own blade so it doesn't bounce back and hit you in the face!

These early exercises consisted of simple attacks and blocks following patterns which Jon called "Xs and Ys". We started with the X plan: Attacks are aimed at specific points, in this case either the shoulder or the knee, left or right, and follow an X-shaped pattern, starting at the shoulder, then the opposite knee, then repeated in the other direction:

Edward, Earl of Carrick. Sorry Ed!

Sounds simple, yes? Well strange though it sounds even this simple process got me breaking a sweat. The movements are fast and you are actually using your muscles. Then gradually the pace picked up and suddenly this became a workout! Once we broke out of the patterns and I had to rely solely on reading Jon's moves and my own instinct, the adrenaline really got pumping. We switched between attacking and defending, first for set numbers of blows then gradually reading when to swap, advancing and retreating across the battlefield (garden) and "fighting" in a fairly fluid fashion. Initially this was just using those four points of attack, but the next level was to throw another three into the mix - two side blows and an overhead strike. This was more complex, as sometimes reading the difference between a side and a shoulder blow, or a side and a knee, was quite tricky and you find yourself with your sword facing the wrong way up and having the block at an odd angle. I expect this will come with time, but it was useful in terms of learning to use the space provided, and utilising snap-judgements in order to realise when I'd made a mistake and deciding when to get out of the way and when to follow through with the block.

Pretentious as it may sound, there is something delightfully primal about swordplay as a sport. There is so much instinct involved one can't help but feel a link to the past, reminded of our ancestors for whom this was a way of life (or death). It's hard to describe the feeling one gets when another person - albeit a trusted and skilled friend - is advancing towards you swinging a pointy bit or wood at your head! A "fight or flight" response kicks in and you have to channel that into a constructive and well-judged defence. It's exhilarating.

C25K Week 2: "Music, Maestro!"

Following my initial pottering around the block, I started trying to get in place the mental and physical techniques to try and assist me on the programme.

First things first: a suitable soundtrack. I’d managed to download a few songs from the Xena albums which seemed appropriate enough and suitably stirring. It also proved rather appropriate once I hooked it up to my C25K app and the first track title that came up was “The Way of Pain.” Sounds hopeful!

The main tracks that are helping at this stage are the main title theme and the "Warrior Princess" track. These are suitably stirring tracks for the short 3 minute runs I am doing at this stage and about the right length at 2.5 minutes a piece. I also use "Warrior Princess" as my alarm so I get that same burst of adrenaline to help me wake up in the morning! All in all the music I listen to is making a huge difference to my determinism while running, but it does lead to some technical issues:-

Of course once again huge portions of the first lap were eaten up by me trying to stuff my phone into various pockets having forgotten that it must live down my cleavage so as not to wind up committing suicide. This led to a somewhat ‘Edina Monsoon’ style calamitous first day ('Ab Fab', sitcom clip below) and I ended up doing about twice the normal distance as every time my phone fell out and switched off it was easier to just start again (because C25K doesn’t appear to have a fast forward feature).

This also put an end to my original plan of running past my old school where I was written off from PE as a no-hoper and got sent to the back of the line with the asthmatics and the kids with a note from Mum. But after a while I began to get the hang of running with a tad more dignity and less chaos.

By the end of week two I’m starting to feel like a little less of a fraud, and look like a little less of an idiot. Although running onto a sheet of ice early one morning wasn’t the most calm and focusing experience of the programme so far...

C25K, Week 1: "Awkward!"

There’s something remarkably strange about those first few times you set out on any sort of fitness programme. In my head, healthy things were done by healthy people, and I am NOT one of those people. I can picture them leaping dynamically out of bed and doing a hundred pushups before they even have a coffee, then standing under a cold shower to wash away the buckets of perspiration they’ve worked up being SO VERY VERY ATHLETIC!

"NIKE: Just do it!" Do I REALLY have to?

I always feel a bit of a fraud putting on my moth eaten yoga pants and Primark zippy top, struggling halfway around the block before I’ve found a suitable pocket to stuff my phone in where it won’t fall out and smash at the tiniest hint of a gentle bouncing jog. (Truth is, there isn’t one: I just stuff it down my bra. Works wonders.)

It was comforting setting out in the darkness for this early part of the programme. I have yet to earn my place among the lycra-clad veterans of the pavement and it was probably best that I be left to haul my pasty, podgy frame around the block under cover of darkness. It also made me feel as though I had got up early for my run, whereas actually it’s just that it’s January in England and the sun doesn’t rise until about three o’clock in the afternoon.

Starting the programme at the beginning second time around was strangely easy and difficult at the same time. Reverting back to only short spells of running with many rests seemed like no exercise at all but I was clearly also very out of practice. It will take a LOT to get back up to that level.

Here goes nothing!

A Sign From the Gods?

Ever had that thing happen where you got a really amazing thing ages and ages ago but then totally forgot about it until years later? Well, this is one of those things!

Suffice to say having been attending cons for half my lifetime, I have a fairly respectable collection of autographs. Some of these were purchased from traders, and a portion of these were PRINTS rather than the genuine article. (What can I say? I was young and it was all my pocket money would stretch to, but they looked so pretty on my bedroom wall!) I had since filed them away in a big ring binder so as not to gather dust.

Having moved house lately, I decided to de-clutter and sell a few of these autographs on. Nestled away in the ring binder, I found an autographed photo of Lucy Lawless. I've never met Lucy in my life, and as I didn't remember parting with an exorbitant amount of money for it, I assumed it was a print and therefore not worth selling.

I put it back on the folder.

And thank the Gods I did - as a few weeks later my dad was reminiscing over my Xena fan days, and recalled in particular the Lucy autograph his sister had sent over from New Zealand, via her tennis buddy - Lucy's mum!!

I had totally forgotten. The autograph is real! And, naturally, not hiding in a folder any more but hanging on the wall where she can inspire me to stick to my plans and projects in true Warrior Princess fashion! Hopefully this is a sign that, just occasionally, impossible things can happen.

Introducing Your Bard

So I decided to do one of these blog things. I can’t say I’m entirely sure what I’m doing here. Writing fiction is really more my style, but it’s been pointed out to me that it’s actually rather fun (and perhaps not entirely self indulgent) to write about real life experiences for the benefit of an online readership. I don’t know yet who that readership is going to be but I guess this is my hello to you people (yes, all three of you) and a little background info on what I’m doing here, what you can expect, why I’m doing it and where I hope to get to.

I’ll start at the very beginning....

“I Have Many Fandoms.”

I’m a lifelong, die hard geek. This is the first thing anyone needs to know. I’ve spent the past two years working at ‘Doctor Who’ charity events, before that I was propelled through adolescence by ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and discovered my love of both science fiction AND comedy through ‘Red Dwarf’.

In many ways ‘Xena’ was my first fandom: not just a TV show that I loved, but one which allowed me, at the tender age of 13, to begin to explore the sort of activities which would not become a regular part of my life until some 5-10 years later. I read my first fanfiction via a none-too-nippy dial-up internet connection that cost my parents a fortune and tied up and phone lines for hours on end. I attended my first conventions – both the small local affairs and one big national one. (Starfury: Chariots of War – anybody remember that one?) I also created my very first costume – a VERY slap-dash Gabrielle outfit thrown together from the contents of a scraps basket, along with a fighting staff made out of string and a bit of wood.

Fifteen years on I have made more costumes than I have room for, attended more conventions than I can remember, raised thousands for charity as a ‘Doctor Who’ companion impersonator, and even had a brief dalliance in being just a normal person with a job and a mortgage (it didn’t work out so well, I don’t recommend it.)

So why the switch back? Well call it nostalgia inspired by all those repeats on the Horror Channel, but I can’t help but feel I missed a trick what with only really getting involved as a kid. I love my work with the ‘Doctor Who’ fan community but the show itself has become hugely irksome in its treatment of women. The female characters are, alas, two dimensional and poorly written, and Xena was beginning to provide a refreshing contrast.

So I made the decision to plunge back into my old fandom, this time with all the experience of my 15 years on the scene to really make the most of the world and what it has to offer. Naturally I am a very different person to who I was 15 years ago, but still with a lot of personal growth to do. As such, I have decided to use ‘Xena’, my love of the show and my love of fandom to set myself personal goals in various fields of my own life. Inspiration is key to all things, after all.

So here are my personal projects and what I hope to achieve (and blog about):

1.) Kick-Ass Costumes to Kick Ass In

As I mentioned above, my first Gabrielle costume was a real throw together with no real sewing involved. I have honestly used more thread when sewing on a button! My aim is to get back into making my own costumes from scratch as I have done for years pre-‘Doctor Who’ cosplaying, and ultimately to create several of Gabrielle’s outfits, learning new skills and strengthening old ones so I can create something I’m REALLY proud of as a costumer.

2.) Run Gabby Run!

This brings us neatly to the second plan. All bar Gabrielle’s earliest outfits show bare midriff and a fair bit of leg. As such this requires me getting in shape, and so I have resolved to start a new fitness programme as of January this year. The first stage of this is to embark upon, complete and maintain the C25K challenge of running 5km in half an hour. I did this before and not only got very trim very quickly, but also got one hell of an energy boost from the regular exercise.

3.) “Why Do You Think I Do Yoga Every Day?”

Cardio and weight loss aside, I also want to be able to build up my core strength, posture, flexibility and balance. Furthermore, as someone who has suffered from depression for half her life and anxiety for two thirds of it, I have found relaxation, meditation and breathing exercises to be HUGELY beneficial in managing my condition. As of mid January I made the decision to come off my antidepressants after some three years of on them. (Sertraline, valium, citalopram and venlafaxine if you’re curious. No, not all at once.) As well as the physical benefits extolled by Gabby (and demonstrated by Hudson at SF:COWII) my aim is to use my yoga practice to gain control over my mind and my mental health without the aid of drugs.

4.) Swordplay

I have always admired performers who can use combat on stage and screen and make it look good. A friend of mine has, for twenty years, demonstrated such skill in sword, staff and bow and he has agreed to teach me how to use combat in performance. Having done two years of basic character acting as Amy Pond and Rose Tyler, it will be great to be able to add to my repertoire with some basic combat moves when I start cosplaying Gabrielle.

5.) The Great Midlands Run

After C25K comes the 10K. Which happens to be the distance of the Midlands Run which takes place in my local Nature Reserve and which my dad has run in several times when I was a kid. This takes place in June, so my aim once I have completed the 5K challenge is to build up to this 10K race. My wonderful friend Jon-Michael, who is my combat trainer, hypnotherapist and all-round motivator, will be running alongside me, and I plan to raise money for charity – like I do with everything.

The Great Midlands Fun Run!

6.) The Reward

By lucky coincidence, next year marks the 20^th anniversary of Xena, and as such what better time to treat myself to the Xena Con event out in Burbank, CA? This year I am out in LA anyway attending the Gallifrey One ‘Doctor Who’ convention, and had briefly considered flying out a little earlier and doing both. But hopefully this way I can also use the interim time to make new friends on the ‘Xena’ scene, either via forums or by blogging about the inspiration ‘Xena’ has become for me, and by the time February 2015 comes around I shall also have a lovingly crafted collection of costumes to take with me, and a newly sculpted bod, and can have a wonderful time knowing I have achieved some big goals in every sphere of my life.

So there ya go. Its a year long plan of costume projects and fitness programmes so here's hoping that blogging about it may help give me some motivation to stick to it, as well as flexing my writing muscles in new and inventive ways!