Welcome to the sixth issue of WHOOSH! The Journal of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF XENA STUDIES (IAXS).
IAXS is a voluntary amateur organization of arm- chair scholars who wish to devote time to the contemplation and study of all things to do with the world-wide syndicated television show, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (XWP) and to share their findings in a supportive and creative environment.
WHOOSH! was created as the repository for the creative output of IAXS members. Membership to IAXS only requires that each member make at least one contribution to WHOOSH! once per year.
This issue was possible only through the hard work of IAXS members who submitted some very thought provoking and fun papers, and the technical and creative help of Betsy Book, the On-Line WHOOSH! Designer and Tricia Murphy, the IAXS Webpage Editor. Without these people's dedication and service, above and beyond the call of duty, you would not be reading this.
WHOOSH! will strive to be eclectic and entertaining. We will try to offer varying viewpoints on the general to the specific, from the popular to the arcane. You should be able to get a very intense Xena fix whenever you visit our pages. We want you to reminisce, laugh, ponder, and mostly, be entertained.
WHOOSH! could not have been possible without the help of its staff and contributors.
WHOOSH! STAFF:
Kym Masera Taborn (ktaborn@lightspeed.net)
http://userzweb.lightspeed.net/~kym
WHOOSH! Editor-in-Chief
Chairperson, IAXS BA History 1980. MA Music 1984. JD 1991. When not busy with various Xena or Star Trek activities, Kym practices law for the federal government in the Central Valley in California. She is currently serving appointed terms on the Hearing Board for the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District; the Greater Bakersfield Legal Aid Society; and the organization Advancement and Improvement of Minorities (AIM) for government employees. Other than being an insomniac, Kym was the founder and first Chairperson of the Board for IAXS. In her free time, Kym also edits RESISTANCE IS FUTILE, a Star Trek parody newsletter; XENA MEDIA REVIEW, a XWP world press review; and THIS WEEK IN XENA NEWS, a bibliography of XWP news articles. Kym is 38 and lives in Bakersfield, CA with Wes, her tolerant husband of ten years, and Ira, her patient nine year-old son. Both her and Ira each have their own five-inch Xena action figure.
Favorite XWP episode: It is still...DREAMWORKER (#03)
Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle to Xena: "You're not much for girl talk, are you? Of course, you're not like most girls." PROMETHEUS (#08)
Betsy Book bsquared@interport.net
http://www.users.interport.net/~bsquared/
WHOOSH! Editor of Graphic Design and On-Line Administrator
Vice Chairperson, IAXS Betsy Book is a newly-employed Web Production Assistant for iVillage, a Silicon Alley start-up. Her hobbies include reading, watching television, and organizing large Xenafests for her fellow crazed Xenites. She would like to congratulate Tom on finding a new apartment in New York City (one of the hardest things a human being can undertake) and would like to thank both Tom and Bret for their help with the technical mumbo-jumbo for Issue 6.
Favorite XWP episodes: DREAMWORKER (#03) and WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30)
Favorite XWP lines: Princess Diana talking about Xena: "She looks just like me, *before* I've brushed my hair." (WARRIOR...PRINCESS, episode #15); MEG as XENA: "Hold it right there! In the blink of an eye I can split the skull of anyone who moves with my trusty... shamrock!" (WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP, episode #30)
Cynthia Ward Cooper (cyn@netcom.com)
Supreme Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Member of the Board, IAXS
Cynthia Cooper was born in Fort Riley, Kansas on December 18, 1959, to a young Army officer and his Southern belle wife. Her early years were marked not only by incessant travel, but also by the knowledge that her birthdate had been calculated to maximize her parents' tax benefits. After a number of adventures, including her rather surprising matriculation from Rice University, Cynthia moved to Dallas, where a promising career as a neo-punk hair model was cut short due to an unfortunate follicular accident. While waiting for her hair to grow back, she earned a master's degree in library science, and is presently masquerading as a technical librarian in a Dallas-area public library. Present obsessions include bad horror movies, Richard III, and the study of ritual cannibalism (though she hastens to assure all that she's a vegetarian). Cynthia has been an ardent Xenite since the very first episode of XWP, and frequently expresses the opinion that the world would be a far better place if everyone would just sit down together and watch Xena once a week.
Favorite XWP episode to rewatch: ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES (#17)
Favorite XWP episode overall: THE GREATER GOOD (#21) and REMEMBER NOTHING (#26)
Favorite XWP line: Xena: Xena: "I've got nothing but bad news for you" DESTINY (#36).
Tom Simpson (thomas@xenafan.com)
WHOOSH! Graphics Designer and Whipping Boy
Member of the Board, IAXS
Tom Simpson is the sort of guy your mothers warned you about: shy, smart, and prone to use Adobe Photoshop to pretend that he has an interesting life. Tom is rumored to be an intern with MTV productions, and to live somewhere in Brooklyn, New York. Supposedly he's a web designer, and whenever he's nearby he seems to keep mumbling about his latest update to his Xena page. Please do not feed the Tom, and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
Favorite XWP episode: Just about any of 'em. Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle's hem line. Watch it go up, watch it go down. The fun never ends!
Rita Schnepp (schnepp@pepperdine.edu)
Encyclopedia Xenaica Administrator
Member of the Board, IAXS
Rita G. Schnepp, also known on-line as Athena/Rita Reckless, is a Network Engineer at Pepperdine University. She lives in Malibu, CA, and was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. A former Ironman Triathlete, she loves cross-country running. She is the creator of the "Coffee TaWk" website (http://pc-rschnepp.pepperdine.edu), and a member of the Southern California Xenafest I & II Organizing Committees.
Favorite XWP episodes: SINS OF THE PAST (#01)
Favorite XWP line: Salmoneus to Xena: "You should always address your troops from the right side. It's your GOOD side...NOT that you have a BAD one!" (THE GAUNTLET, HTLJ #12)
Debbie Cassetta (dcassett@duke.poly.edu)
Yet Another Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Member of the Board, IAXS
Debbie Cassetta lives in New York City where she works as Budget Director at a university there. In addition, she teaches American History to college students and is a doctoral candidate at New York University. Her other interests include photography and anything Star Trek.
Favorite XWP episode: ALTARED STATES (#19) and IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (#24).
Favorite XWP line: Xena, pulling herself and Gabrielle out of a well: "I'm lovin' every minute of it!" (ALTARED STATES, #19); Xena: "I have many skills." (THE BLACK WOLF, #11; TIES THAT BIND, #20; HERE SHE IS...MISS AMPHIPOLIS, #35)
Karen Maeda Allman (Heparin@eor.com)
Assistant Editor
Member of the Board, IAXS
Karen Maeda Allman (aka Heparin) is doggedly trying to finish her dissertation so she can at last put the letters 'PhD' after her name. When not reading and publishing on multiraciality (and its interconnections with gender identity and sexuality) she is one of the booksellers of Red and Black Bookstore Collective in Seattle, Washington. Heparin is also a registered nurse, teacher, former punk rock singer/songwriter with Conflict U.S. (Unjust/Placebo Records) and has been published in music papers (Slash, Slit, The New York Rocker), Asian American Community Papers (The Pacific Reader, International Examiner) and in academic periodicals and books (most recently in Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier edited by Maria PP Root). Rumor has that she can cook some mighty fine vegetarian eggplant dishes.
Favorite XWP episodes: THE GAUNTLET (HTLJ #12), SINS OF THE PAST (#01), and THE RECKONING (#06). (I tend to like angsty episodes that dwell on Xena's inner turmoil and have lots of Bulgarian style music in the scoring.) Favorite XWP line: Xena: Xena: "I'm a problem solver!" THE BLACK WOLF (#11)
Diane Silver (dwsriter@idir.net)
Assistant Editor
Member of the Board, IAXS
Amazed by her fervent Xena addiction, Diane Silver was once a serious sort who would have scoffed at the idea of a whoosh or a chakram cam. Today, she loves them. Silver has been a professional writer for more than 20 years, including stints at United Press International and The Wichita Eagle. She once took a brief detour into politics, working as press secretary for a Democratic candidate for Kansas governor. Currently an editor for a nonprofit foundation, Silver is also pursuing a freelance writing career. Her second book, THE NEW CIVIL WAR: THE LESBIAN AND GAY STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, will be published by Franklin Watts in 1997. She is at work on her third book, a memoir called SACRED MOMENTS: THE JOURNEY OF A LESBIAN MARRIAGE. Her work has also appeared in national publications, including Ms. magazine. A graduate of Michigan State University (Hi there, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert), Silver shamefully admits to never having been much of a Spartan sports fan. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with her son, dog and two cats. A recent convert to the internet, she posts on the mailing lists as Silver and on the NetForum as Freedom2.
Favorite XWP episode: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? (#24) Favorite XWP line: Xena: I have many skills. THE BLACK WOLF (#11), TIES THAT BIND (#20), and HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (#35).
Bret Rudnick (brudnick@head-cfa.harvard.ed u)
Assistant Graphics Designer and Minister of Good Clean Fun
Member of the Board, IAXS
When he's not working for a big Science/Engineering company that (amongst other things) designs, builds, launches, and operates exploratory spacecraft, Bret writes fantasy novels and short stories. Bret is a man of many skills, having also previously been an olympic-qualified archer, a drummer in the Butch Grinder Band, a newsreader for Public Television Station KVCR, and a Deputy Sheriff for the County of San Bernardino, California. He also collects Japanese swords, armour, and art. He and his dog hunt down stray Bacchae in New England.
Favorite XWP episodes: HOOVES AND HARLOTS (#10) and WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30)
Favorite XWP line: Xena: Xena: "What's going on here?" Gabrielle: "I'm... an amazon princess?" Xena (rolls eyes): "Great." (HOOVES AND HARLOTS, #10); Xena after being goosed by Joxer: "Are you suicidal?" (WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP, #30)
Tricia Murphyiaxs@teleport.com
http://www.teleport.com/~ia xs/
IAXS Web Page Editor
Member of the Board, IAXS Tricia Murphy is a graduate of The Institute of Children's Literature, and a member of Teleport's Nonprofit Web Builders Guild. She has previously written columns for the Star Trek publication "Resistance Is Futile", and continues to write when the mood hits. Tricia is 34 and resides in the Pacific Northwest with her boyfriend, two children, two cats named "Zeus" and "Xena", an iguana named "Taz", a box turtle named "Gerdie", and a cockateil named "Zoey". Though she stakes no claim to the wild ducks which converge on her patio every day, she does feed the poor things when they peer begging in her window.
Favorite Episode: MORTAL BELOVED (#16) and A ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES (#17)
Favorite line in XWP: It would be too difficult for her to list her favorite line from XWP, as there are too many. (Basically, she has a decision-making impairment. Yet, she does find herself laughing quite often during any episode with Salmoneus or Joxer.)
THIS MONTH'S WHOOSH! CONTRIBUTORS:
Jessi Albano (seuneaeryk@hotmail.com)
"So You Want to Be a TEDite?"
IAXS Project #126
Jessi Albano has a degree in International Studies she has never found a use for and is currently eking a living writing for a computer company. She writes everything except autobiographies. Currently she keeps busy with her new niece Janelle, making a detailed study of all the brands of instant noodle soup available in the market (at least that what she tells people so they won't think she's crazy,) lighting votive candles in hopes that the saints will take pity and bring the second seasons of Xena and Hercules to Philippine television and incessantly demanding that her cable service sign up the Sci-Fi channel. (Gotta get this girl a hobby.)
Favorite episode: WARRIOR...PRINCESS (#15)
Favorite line: Princess Diana: ""This? This is my round killing thing."; Princess Diana: "She looks exactly like me..._before_ I brush my hair." WARRIOR...PRINCESS (#15)John H. Beckwith (76715.2512@CompuServe.COM )
"Bacchae and the Successful Mixing of Traditional and Contemporary Vampires"
IAXS Project #187
John H. Beckwith holds a degree in research psychology, practices aikido, recently completed a horror novel about thirteen vampires (which still stands on an unnamed publisher's desk awaiting a Y or N response), and is currently working on a novel that is based on Advanced Dragon's & Dungeon's Planescape.
Favorite episode: After GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN (#28), I'd have to choose DESTINY (#36), because of its hypnotic dialogue, cunning use of flashbacks to smoothly foretell a sad ending, the "We have a stowaway," martial arts choreography, and the emotionally potent imagery of all those crosses along the beach.
Favorite line: When Xena sees the body of her father and screams, "Take the villaaaage!" (Because in that moment when her army rode down the hillside, you just found yourself shaking your head in sorrow at the knowledge that no one was controlling her mind.) TIES THAT BIND (#20)Virginia Carper (carperv@FRB.GOV)
"Was and Is Xena an Effective Commander?"
IAXS Project #095
My goal is to be a garden variety human being. My friends know me as a squirrel. I am, however, a card carrying member of the Squirrel Lovers Club, and do squirrel studies. The FRB.GOV means that I am in U.S. Federal Government Service, and proud of it. My husband, the Civil War Buff, introduced me to things military. Together, we have visited every Civil War battlefield in PA, DEL, MD, W.Va., VA, and NC. I am also a disability activist. My family watches XWP for the marvelous things Xena does and for Joxer, the warlord with autism. (Yes, we all have various disabilities.)
Favorite episode: DESTINY (#36). It brought back memories of high school Latin, Caesar's GALLIC WARS, and Miss MaCarn, the purple haired teacher who knew Caesar when he was a pup.
Favorite line: Julius Caesar to Xena: "Gaul is divided in three parts. Each with its own dialect..." DESTINY (#36)
Nusi P. Dekker (nush@itsa.ucsf.edu)
"Who Was Xena's Father? Theories on the Warrior Princess' Origins"
IAXS Project #174
Native Californian, born 1951 (old for a Xenite, but my 81 year old father is an ardent fan!) I live in the Bay Area and work at UCSF Medical Center, where I manage an oral pathology research lab. I run experiments on human biopsy tissue (mostly cancers) and am primary or co-author of over 30 research papers. I was an art major before I switched to cell biology, but I still love ancient art and mythology. I have never in my life done any fan thing until Xena!
Favorite episode: It was IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (#24) until I saw A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39)!
Favorite line: Xena to Petracles, her ex-fiancee: "You hurt my friend and I will rip your throat out." A FISTFUL OF DINARS (#14)
Maria Erb (maria@erb.mv.com)
"XENA: WARRIOR Princess Scenes We'd like to See"
Special to WHOOSH!
Maria B. Erb is a freelance writer living in New Hampshire (that's right, the state that voted for Pat Buchanan). When she's not wondering what editors are doing with her copy, she is busy working on *Seedtime and Harvest*, a bimonthly newsletter about organic gardening, and writing stuff she hopes will appear in the *Christian Science Monitor* some time.
Favorite episodes: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39) and anything with Callisto in it.
Favorite line: Xena to a bunch of thugs who've captured Gabrielle and now think Xena is some sort of goddess: "I got nuthin' but *bad* news for you." DESTINY (#36)Merry Gilmore (c/o ktaborn@lightspeed.net)
"A Fan's First Introduction to Fan-Fiction"
IAXS Project #147
Merry Gilmore lives in the N.Y. metro area with her canine companion of four years. After spending major bucks and time obtaining a Juris Doctor, she realized what she had suspected all along: a legal career was not for her. After more career changes than Gabrielle has scrolls, she has found job satisfaction for the moment and is afraid to discuss it further for fear she will start noticing the things she really hates about her job. Since a stray glance at a TV while Xena was being wooed by Ares in THE TIES THAT BIND (#20) she has become rather single-minded in her devotion to XWP, believing that "God inspired television so that in the fullness of time Xena could come forth." Her hobbies include: watching XWP, reading WHOOSH!, reading and writing XWP fanfic, checking XWP sites on the web and working on the board game, Xenopoly. She used to have other hobbies, but can't remember why.
Favorite Episode: REMEMBER NOTHING (#26), DESTINY (#36), CALLISTO (#22), SINS OF THE PAST (#01), and THE RECKONING (#06)
Favorite Line: Xena to Mael: "Be careful, I am in a bad mood!" ALTARED STATES (#19)Cathy H. McLain (GallusMag@aol.com)
"Xena and Heathcliff: Classic Byronic Heroes"
IAXS Project #108
Cathy McLain is a displaced Mississippian dwelling in Wisconsin. She majored in English too many years ago to accept, and has written sporadically since then. She presently passes her time working at a small-town newspaper, gardening (in the two months of summer) and wallowing in Xenarobilia.
Favorite episode: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39)
Favorite Line: The ever-selfless Warrior Princess to the ever-willing Gabrielle: "G'ahead, climb up my body." ALTARED STATES (#19)
Kate Maynard (ccarter@shentel.net)
"In Praise of Bards: Missed Opportunities and THE XENA SCROLLS"
Special to WHOOSH
Aliases: Perfessor Puppet, the Handpuppet, that sock-of-a-Gabfan, The Perf, the *hatless* one, Jeezil Pete, Sr. et al.
*Several* decades ago, a mouthy puppet was unceremoniously dropped into the laps of a Mr.& Mrs. Maynard, a very deserving man and woman type couple who live somewhere in Ohio. We cannot tell you precisely where in Ohio this place might be, because it is so often referred to as the middle of nowhere.
Mr, & Mrs. Maynard raised their puppet to be a good citizen, which of course meant that at soon as she was old enough, she hopped a train to art school where she aspired to become a thorn in the side of society. But after eight years of these shenanigans, the puppet became bored and decided to do something totally different. So this time she hopped in her pickup truck and drove to Virginny and became a machinist in the shipyards. It sure was different. She did that for ten years, and came away secure in the knowledge that she will never, ever take a vacation on a cruise ship.
Now she lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains with: Carmen, a writer and stereotypical intellectual-type; her three Scottie dogs, Fergus, Annie and Millie, and three cats who don't deserve names. The puppet does what she d**n well pleases these days, including freelance art thingies and writing thingies, like covering the local loonies for small-town newspapers.
That's about all anyone needs to know. Oh, and you can always find me hangin' out on Xenaverse.
Favorite episode: THE GREATER GOOD (#21)
Favorite Line: Callisto: "Same old torture, every day, every day." INTIMATE STRANGER (#31)
Joanna Sandsmark (JSandsmark@aol.com)
"Women at the Convention: A Survey. Part Two: Heterosexual Women"
Special to WHOOSH!
Joanna is a television writer and former actress who lives in Los Angeles in a very messy apartment because she has too much stuff -- most of it not Xena-related. But that will change.
Favorite episode: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? (#24) Favorite line: Xena: "I could sing for you." ORPHAN OF WAR (#25)Rita Schnepp (schnepp@pepperdine.edu) "Four Great Characters in XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS and CHINA BEACH"
IAXS Project #016
See bio under WHOOSH! Staff
Clayton J. Powers (lrdnlson@capital.net)
"The Battle of Corinth Part 5 of 6"
IAXS Research Project #08
BA MA International Relations concentrating in National Security Studies State University of New York At Albany. 1988.
Single. Born 1/22/1954. Hobbies, Military History, Current Events, Computers. Supercop. #XenaWP Channel on StarLink. Board Member IAXS.
Favorite episodes: DESTINY (#36), THE QUEST (#37), and A NECESSARY EVIL (#38).
Debbie White (horse@prairienet.org)
"Changing Times: THE PATH NOT TAKEN and THE RECKONING"
SPECIAL to WHOOSH!
Debbie White is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and is currently studying Animal Science at Southern IL University at Carbondale. She is 20 years old, single, and has watched Xena since the first Sins of the Past (i.e., the beginning).
Favorite XWP episode: DESTINY (#36)
Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle: "Life IS only what you make of it." IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (#24)Catherine Wilson (cmwilson@wildestdreams.c om)
"Women at the Convention: A Survey. Part Two: Heterosexual Women"
Special to WHOOSH!
Catherine M. Wilson (Kit) is a software engineer, a lesbian, and lives in a redwood forest in California.
Favorite episode: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39) Favorite line: Xena: "Gabrielle, I'll always be here." THE QUEST (#37)MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF IAXS:
Officers of the Board (All Hail the Board)
Chairperson: Kym Taborn (ktaborn@lightspeed.net)
General busy body & insomniac.
Vice Chairperson: Betsy Book (bsquared@interport.net)
Whoosh Web Page Administrator
Members of the Board (All Hail the Board)
Cynthia Ward Cooper (cyn@netcom.com)
Supreme Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Tom Simpson (thomas@xenafan.com)
Graphics Consultant and Designer and Official Chakram Catcher
Rita Schnepp (schnepp@pepperdine.edu)
Encyclopedia Xenaica Administrator
Debbie Cassetta (dcassett@duke.poly.edu)
Yet Another Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Karen Maeda Allman (heparin@eor.com)
Assistant Editor
Diane Silver (DSWriter@idir.net)
Assistant Editor
Bret Rudnick (brudnick@head-cfa.harvard.ed u)
Minister of Good Clean Fun
Patti Casciano (omxena@aol.com)
Xena Corps Commander
Tricia Murphy (iaxs@teleport.com)
IAXS Webpage Princess
Clayton J. Powers (lrdnlson@capital.net)
Military/Political Affairs AdvisorDISCLAIMER: No Bacchae were mistaken for the wrong type of vampire in this issue.
A special thanks to Tom Simpson (again) and Carol Burrell who graciously allowed Whoosh! to use images from their own fabulous XWP Web sites. (Thanks to CJ for capturing the images on the Logomancy site!) We encourage all Xenites to go immediately to xenafan.com and Logomancy. (Well, as soon as you're finished with Whoosh!)
COPYRIGHT NOTICES:
WHOOSH! is the Journal of the International Association of Xena Studies (IAXS), an amateur fan-run organization devoted to the extreme study and analysis of all things remotely related to the world-wide syndicated television show, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, a property of MCA/Universal Television. WHOOSH! is the repository of the research produced by IAXS members. WHOOSH! is released the 1st of every month. It is distributed on the World Wide Web and as a text version to members via internet e-mail. WHOOSH! is published and edited by Kym Masera Taborn through IAXS.
© 1996, 1997, Kym Masera Taborn.
WHOOSH! in no way intends to infringe upon the rights of holders of copyrights held and/or referred to in this non-profit fan publication. All original stories and artwork are copyrighted to the authors. WHOOSH!, IAXS, and Kym Masera Taborn holds an unlimited reprint license on all original material appearing in this publication.Whoosh #6 - March 1, 1997
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