Beastly is in the Eye of the Beholder - Part III

The first program that I remember seeing this in was “Roswell.”  It’s the story of the small town in New Mexico where aliens are believed to have crash-landed.  In the series, the aliens take the form of three teenagers, a girl and two boys, who are living with adoptive parents.  They believe they must keep their alien identities hidden, even from their parents, or face being “hunted” and/or “studied” in laboratories.

Liz is the girl next door who works at the local café.  One day, Max and his friends are eating in the café.  While they are there, the café is held up and Liz is shot.  In the confusion that follows, the three aliens would normally just slip away.  They are used to keeping a very low profile in town, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to their lives.  But Max can’t leave; he has admired Liz from afar for a long time and cannot let her die.  Going against everything his instincts for survival, and the other two, are telling him he uses his alien power to save Liz’s life.  His healing leaves a hand print on her body and so there are lots of questions afterward.  Eventually, Max tells Liz the whole truth and asks her to keep his secret.

The main mistake that this show made was having it be all about the teens.  The parents (one of whom was played by Jo Anderson) were 100% clueless to all that was going on right under their noses, and this got annoying very fast.

Right around the time this show ended, “Smallville” premiered and improved on the concepts that “Roswell” had started.  “Smallville” corrected the adults-are-all-stupid flaw in the “Roswell” premise. Clark’s parents were fully aware of their unusual child.  Jonathan and Martha Kent were the most intelligent and supportive parents you ever wanted to meet, and this went a long way toward giving the show appeal to a much wider adult audience. 

The main underlying theme that both these shows shared was the idea of an alien in the role of the Beast.  Both Max and Clark were secretly in love with the most beautiful girl in town.  But they knew they were Different.  They both had a big secret.  Max felt that his secret was a burden for Liz to share.  Clark feared telling Lana the truth for the same reason.  Clark believed he too would be rejected by everyone he loved if they knew the truth about him.  There was also a lot of guilt.  Clark knew that Lana’s parents had been killed in the meteor shower that brought him to earth.  In essence, he blamed himself for her pain.  In addition, both Max and Clark knew nothing about their planet of origin and that made them doubt themselves even further.  In each case, they reacted much like Vincent would to the progression of a romantic relationship.

Of these two shows, granted, “Smallville” had a lot of themes going on, and especially when Lois came along, lost the Beauty & the Beast flavor.  “Roswell” was much more focused on the romance overall.  In what may have been one of the best TV theme songs ever, the singer Dido echoed Vincent’s words in “Nor Iron Bars a Cage” in haunting beautiful tones:

I am what I am…

I’ll do what I want, but I can’t hide.

I won’t go, I won’t sleep, I can’t breathe,

Until you’re resting here with me.

I won’t leave, I can’t hide, I cannot be,

Until you’re resting here with me.

 

 

 

(continued...)

Beastly is in the Eye of the Beholder - Part II

Versions of this story, which scholars like to categorize as “Animal Husband” stories, exist in all cultures and time periods throughout history.  As most of us know by now, the first written form is generally thought to be the Greek Myth of Cupid & Psyche.

But the version we would recognize as Beauty & the Beast was first published in France in 1740 by a woman named Gabrielle de Villeneuve.  She was a frequenter of the Paris salons where the telling of “Fairy Stories” was a popular form of entertainment.  Her version was long, complex and clearly geared toward an adult, aristocratic audience.

About twelve years later, another French woman named Madame Le Prince de Beaumont took that version and shortened and simplified it, with the idea of a children’s audience in mind.  In doing so, she helped to create the new concept of Children’s Literature, which really had not existed prior to that time.  So, contrary to what the library staff was thinking back in 1987, Beauty & the Beast started out as a story for adults.

What makes this story so attractive and versatile is its symbolism.  Beauty & the Beast asks big, timeless questions like: What is Beauty? And, maybe more importantly: What is Beastly?  These are questions that could be debated endlessly, and can be changed and adapted quite easily, as Madame Beaumont did, to just about any audience.

This idea was brought home to me in 2006, while doing research for a Beauty & the Beast themed English paper.  I came across a critique of Jean Cocteau’s 1946 French movie version “La Belle et la Bête.” It spoke about how there is more to the Beast than just his physical appearance.  He has little of the social refinement that would have been expected of someone in his class and time period.  This Beastly lack of social graces is lost on contemporary audiences. 

Another example is Disney’s Beast.  When you think about it, he basically behaves like a naughty child.  This is evident in how he is repeatedly told he must learn to “control his temper.”  There is also the sweet scene in which Belle tries to teach him how to have more acceptable table manners. 

In contrast to Cocteau and Disney, our Vincent certainly does not need to learn better manners. Yet, he is still the Beast of the story.  The definition of Beast here is much more a comment on our society than on Vincent himself.  After all, we claim to value the princely traits Vincent possesses on the inside – but most people miss them – because of how he looks on the outside. 

It is true that in all of these versions the Beast does look the part – other than human.  Vincent conforms to how a Beast should look, but not how he should act.  Vincent is also the first Beast to remain as he is and not turn into someone more human looking.  This is due, as least in part, to the medium that gave birth to Vincent - television. 

A book or a movie simply ends at a given time. You can hint at the “happily ever after” but you don’t necessarily have to see it.  In television, the end is much harder to pinpoint.  You have to plan for a next week and a next season.  As a result, Vincent and Catherine were the first Beauty and Beast that we really got to know in an on-going and personal way. The more we knew them, the more we loved them – and the more we wanted them to have their version of the traditional “happily ever after” ending. 

These factors created a unique situation in Beauty & the Beast history.  Ron Koslow didn’t intend a “happily ever after” ending.  He didn’t even think it was possible.  Those in charge completely underestimated the power of this story – the very power of love itself!  When they realized what had happened it was almost too late to “fix” it.  Censors would surely pass judgment on Vincent and Catherine having their happily ever after.  Many misguided souls would call it “bestiality.”  There was no easy solution to this dilemma.  But there was no denying the appeal of the story. 

So with Vincent having been the first Beast to step outside the box of expectations, it makes sense that future attempts would have a Beast that doesn’t even look the part at all. In order to have their cake and eat it too, television writers found other ways to create the Beast.

(continued...)

 

Beastly is in the Eye of the Beholder - Part I

This essay began as a speech that I wrote and presented at a Toastmasters Club meeting in 2010.  With the news of the new CW series (based on the 80's original series) I was inspired to update it.

It was a Saturday in the fall of 1987, just weeks after the premier of Beauty & the Beast.  My first impulse, after falling head over heels in love with Vincent and Catherine, was to find out more about the original fairytale. I headed to the public library, where I found nothing at all in the main adult library. I decided to try the separate children’s library next door.  As I walked in, I felt more than a little foolish because I obviously hadn’t been inside that building in ages.

But I had to know more.  I knew almost nothing about Beauty & the Beast at that point. I grew up with many fairytales: the Disney versions of Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and others. I had even seen a version of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid with its horribly sad ending.  But my only childhood memory of Beauty & the Beast was being shown a quick slide show presentation of the story one day in grammar school.

The book I found that day in the children’s library was nothing special.  The illustrations were very gloomy and vague – not at all like you would expect to find in a good children’s book.  After reading through it, I noticed that the last page of the book had a brief summary of the story’s origins.  This was before the ubiquitous phrase, “a tale as old as time,” and I was fascinated to learn that this show that had me so mesmerized was, in fact, nothing that new, but a story that has had many, many incarnations over the centuries.  You could say that from that moment on, the history of Beauty & the Beast became a passion of mine – every bit as much as the CBS series.

While the Beauty & the Beast story had a long history before Vincent and Catherine, they were still a most unique interpretation for many reasons.  We know that they had a major impact on us as fans, but I’ve had suspicions for years now that they also had a major impact on the medium of television.  I’d like to suggest that our Vincent and Catherine forever altered the concept of Beauty & the Beast and television romance in general. 

Since our show ended, there have been a myriad of other stories that were Beauty & the Beast-like. These are love stories that are special or unique in the same way that Vincent and Catherine were.  These couples have a special soulful connection - with each other - and with the viewers.  I guess it’s possible that such a category of romance could have existed before 1987, but I never noticed it.  And back then, I was a lot less discriminating in the television that I watched.  Now, keep in mind, these characters and the shows they belong to may look nothing like our Beauty & the Beast on the outside, but we fans should know not to judge by appearances. 

It helps to first think about the following question: Why is the Beauty & the Beast story so popular and enduring?

(continued...)

 

 

A Tale of Six Roommates

I've never been a part of the “in crowd.”

That's always been true, whether we are talking about junior high and high school, or even more recently in various church groups or work related activities.

But it has always been MUCH easier for me to talk to people at Beauty & the Beast conventions than just about anywhere else.

I've been to the big cons of years ago when there were hundreds of people in attendance and always thought I did very well. Even though, in reality, I may have spoken to a relatively few people. But to me it was a lot of talking!

In recent years, with smaller groups of 100 or so at the conventions, it has occurred to me that even though the numbers are smaller now, there are actually so many more people that you want to chat with
that it's almost harder to get to everyone.

There was some discussion this year about what it's like to be a new person, or “con virgin” as they are affectionately called, at one of today's conventions.

Beauty & the Beast fans are, as a rule, the most friendly people I have ever known, but I guess it's possible for any group that has known each other as long as we have to appear clique-ish to newcomers. Like I said, I've never been in the “in crowd” - certainly never been in a clique. In fact, the very sound of the word strikes dread in my heart! So maybe you can understand how much I would hate the thought that anyone sees any group I'm a part of in that way.

So, I've been feeling the need to explain how my group of friends/roommates came to be. There are six of us now and sometimes we may take up almost a whole table, leaving little room for newcomers to find a seat with us. And I feel bad about that – I really do. But our group didn't happen overnight, that I can assure you. In fact, it's probably a more complex story than most - and one that I find quite amazing myself when I stop and think about it.

I attended my first few Beauty & the Beast conventions with an assortment of people. It was like they appeared to help this shy little girl get to the convention and then just faded into the background.

The first was a local fan that I knew here in New Jersey. She was first and foremost a Ron Perlman fan and was only going to South of Oz to see him. She had no interest in going to any cons after that because he did not attend again for many years. So, naturally, we lost touch and she eventually moved out of state.

The next year I took a chance and asked my best friend at the time. She was not by any means a Beauty & the Beast fan, but was interested in going to Las Vegas, the location of Tunnel Con II. Not long after that Vegas trip we had major problems and ceased being best friends.

The next two years I roomed with a fan from New York who happened to be a Catholic nun. The first year, at Great Expectations, she and her roommate were desperate to find a room because they had put off making a reservation and the hotel was, by that time, completely booked. I was happy to have them in the room that I had booked for myself.

The following year, the sister was already thinking about not coming. I encouraged her to come, saying how I would love to see her again. Well, that turned out to be a mistake. She was in a very sour mood throughout the weekend and I soon learned that we weren't the budding friends I thought we were. Shortly after that con, she dropped out of Fandom, and, seemingly, off the face of the earth.

As a result of that experience, the next year, in 1995, I decided I was better off not spinning the Wheel of Roommates. I didn't have one and that was that. BUT...I knew I couldn't not go because I needed my B&B "fix." Looking back, it's hard to believe I did this myself, but I went to the con alone. I mean, I had almost done it two years ago. So now was the time. I will admit that I had an extra added incentive that year. The convention was in Los Angeles and I had a long time non-B&B pen pal there. We made plans to meet for the first time after the convention.

As fate would have it, that was the year Kat came alone to her first con. We only spoke briefly that year but exchanged addresses (snail mail – that is) over a copy of a pic I asked her to send me of the two of us on the Griffith Park Carousel. (We just happened to be sitting next to each other on the carousel when someone offered to take our photo and used her camera.) We began writing to each other and by the next year, we both felt we knew each other well enough to room together.

CP says that year in LA was her first con too but I don't think I noticed her that year. It was the following year in Norfolk that the three of us spent the afternoon together in Colonial Williamsburg and I realized that we got along so well. Kat and I continued to see CP at the cons and had long chats with her, sometimes late into the night in our room, but she didn't become our official roommate until she needed a place to stay in 2000.

After a few years of The Three Musketeers, it happened that both Kat and CP, due to real life issues, could not attend the same convention. That was 2004 in Kansas City and I was again left without roommates – or so I thought.

That's when I joined up with Deb and Cyndi.

We had added Deb the year before in 2003 because the San Francisco hotel was a bit more expensive. That was Deb's first con. I clearly remember arriving at the hotel very late at night. Kat was not arriving until the next day, CP was in the shower. A stranger opened up the door. “Deb?” I said having only the briefest contact with her on our B&B Yahoo group. She said yes, it was her and I immediately felt very comfortable with her. This feeling of being immediately comfortable with a “stranger” is something that happens often in B&B Fandom in general, yet still a strange and wonderful feeling when it happens to someone like me.

Cyndi and I had been coming since South of Oz, but didn't really know each other that well. She would often find me and Kat and the three of us would chat – or rather she and Kat would do most of the chatting. It seemed to me during those early years that she had much more in common with Kat than with me. However, I was soon to find out how wrong I was. That same year, 2004, her roommates “abandoned” her as well and she needed a place to stay. Since it was going to be just Deb and me, we were happy to have her room with us.

Are you seeing the Beauty & the Beast magic at work here?

It was me, Deb and Cyndi for a while until, in 2008, the five of us came "together again for the first time." We all knew each other, but had not all been roomies at one time before. That year in New Jersey, the year I organized the convention, was wonderful. The hotel rooms were all suites and there was plenty of room for the five of us. We all blended so well! We all have different personalities, yet, we all have major things in common too. I could not have asked for a better group of friends if I had been able to pick them out at that original South of Oz convention!

Most recently, Tamara has joined us. She was a guest in 2009. Deb organized that year's convention, and as is customary, Tamara sat at Deb's/our banquet table. We were delighted to get to know her and I remember having several long conversations with her about creating Catherine's crystal necklace for the show. When she said she wanted to come to the 2010 convention as an attendee, we were happy to have her stay with us. I certainly never thought I'd be rooming with the creator of such an important part of our show!

So, if anyone out there should attend their first Beauty & the Beast Convention and come home feeling a little left out - take it from me - with a little patience, things might just work out better than you could have ever imagined!

Thy Sweet Love Remember'd Con Report: One More Time in the Big Easy

It hasn't happened in a very long time that the con returned to the same hotel a second time. So it was a great feeling to go back to the Inn on Bourbon. This time we had a Bourbon Street balcony and it was wonderful! At least one night, after the con, I sat there for a long time just watching the activity down below. Strangely enough, this hotel has always reminded me of the Jersey Shore. (The real Jersey Shore - not the stupid TV show) On childhood family vacations, we would often stay at the only motel that was right on the boardwalk. The noise from the boardwalk could be heard until very late at night. But this was never a bad thing. It was just a sign that you were on vacation! So, for this reason I didn't think the noise from Bourbon Street would bother me and it didn't – although it was louder than the boardwalk ever was.

Thursday was a great day of tours. The first was the Courtyard Tour. The guide for this tour was amazing. He really knew his stuff and told stories in a lively and interesting way. We sat in various courtyards around the French Quarter and listened. The courtyards were lovely – something you would obviously never see otherwise, but the tour really turned out to be more about the history and stories that he told us. He talked about the family who owned the Laura Plantation and that worked out really well because we were going there! If we had not been going there, I would have wanted to after listening to him. And because Deb had taken the tour months ago, we even got some insider information that he had stopped giving to his current tours. That afternoon we did the Mardi Gras and Katrina museums in the Cabildo building and the 1850's House that was a short distance away. These museums were very good – I loved the Mardi Gras museum especially – but unfortunately, the guides just didn't stand a chance after being compared to the courtyard guy.

After the museums, I walked a bit with Liz, Sally & Roz and we wound up near Cafe du Monde because we heard music coming from that direction. There was a street band on the sidewalk playing “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It was so cool to happen across such a scene. It became even more fun when the singer began changing the words during the second verse to apply to the Saints winning the Super Bowl. It was one of those unplanned moments that was just perfect!

One of the first con activities of the weekend was mask-making with Winter Rose. The masks are my favorite part of New Orleans. There are masks in almost every store and I've decided that shopping for a Mardi Gras mask is THE MOST DIFFICULT THING IN THE WORLD. This is true even if the mask is not for me, and this is true even if the mask is for me but I already have two at home from last time. As you go from store to store there are millions of them and each one is prettier than the one before. I think to me they symbolize all the magic, mystery and romance of “Masques.” But it's also true that they are little individual works of art.

I don't know if anyone has seen the series of Mardi Gras posters by the artist Andrea Mistretta. In 2009, I bought one of her posters at Mardi Gras World. It was a last minute thing that I would not have bought if we hadn't had to wait for the second shuttle to take us back to the hotel. Since then, I've been so glad for that second chance because I love the poster. It was after this poster that I modeled the mask that I made at the con. This year I was able to get another poster, the current 2011 one. Also, I found a book of her art. She has been doing these posters for 25 years, as of 2010, and the book has all of them in it.

Friday midday we walked over to the cooking school's other location and had a wonderful lunch. I liked the pecan pie dessert much better than the bananas foster of two years ago. On the other hand, I liked the jambalaya from last time better than the shrimp creole. It didn't really matter though because the chef, Kevin, was hysterical and he made it a very enjoyable time. He seemed to remember B&B and did a funny impersonation of how Vincent tosses his hair. We took a photo with him afterward and I noticed that someone had given him one of the pewter Vincent pins and he had pinned it to his apron.

After lunch we did Karen's candy dish paper craft. I love paper crafts and this one was ingenious! I also enjoyed the card making - it was good making beautiful cards with such a good purpose. I really love sharing creative time with so many others. The creativity of B&B fans has always inspired me to develop my own creativity more. Bev's Drawing Vincent panel was another favorite hour of mine this year. It was as good as I had hoped and it made me promise myself to continue practicing something that I used to love doing but haven't done in a long time.

Other panels, as I recall, were the Dirty Minds game that I know has been played before but this was the first time I was able to play. The Cheasapeake group has a terrific sense of humor! There was line dancing with Peggy that was a lot of fun. There was Beast Bingo several times and of course making up the care bags for the charity.

The Friday night festivities were lively and fun. I know there must be some that I can't recall right now but I remember songs from Suze and the Fruitcakes, Winter's 1000 Nighties poem and Vincent in a fabulous Mardi Gras tux! The Cheasapeake group led the second line parade that ended the night. I loved catching my very first Mardi Gras beads – thrown to me by Deb. : ) To be continued...

The banquet centerpieces were beautiful. Being a book lover I really didn't think anything could top last year's, but the gazebos with V&C's silhouettes was superb and it was magical to walk in and see them there. These silhouettes have been used before as large banner decorations and I love being able to have my own little copies of them now.

We also got an update on the bench that was dedicated to Chan, in Oscoda, MI. We think we felt her presence immediately after that, when the sound system when crazy during a video. We seemed to be picking up loud music from one of the nearby bars. Deb said that she thought it was Chan, since we had just been thinking of her, and everyone readily agreed.

It is true that strange, unexplained things, usually having to do with technology, do happen in NOLA! We had a camera take a picture by itself last year in Muriel's séance room. Right before the banquet this year I also had a strange glitch with my own camera. It took a weird split exposure type of pic when Helen was using it to take a pic of me with a few others. Our hotel was an opera house after all, if it wasn't Chan it might have been the the Phantom.

A big surprise during the auction was that there had been scraps of fabric from Vincent's cloak waiting for someone to do something with them all this time. Peggy made a very moving presentation of the cloak that she lovingly made from these scraps. It was not a copy of V's so much as Vincentesque. It was really beautiful and we all got a commemorative card with scraps of the fabric on it in our tote bags. Up until that moment I didn't really comprehend what was on the card. I know someone once talked about cutting up one of V's actual cloaks - and I hoped that no one did that! But this is a very special keepsake that I will treasure. Later, I was also lucky enough to win the the rose pouch that Laura G. made from the same scraps. It's amazing how much it looks like the real thing and I am honored to own it!

I went to church at St. Louis Cathedral on Sunday morning with Rita. For some strange reason it didn't occur to me last time to do this. But this time I was so glad to be able to say that I attended mass in such a major landmark. I don't even think I can say that about St. Patrick's in NYC! I'd have to say that St. Louis is even prettier inside than St. Pat's. Usually old churches can be very dark inside, but this one was very light and airy and the ceiling was painted in such detail that it reminded me of pictures I've seen of the Sistine Chapel.

Sunday activities included the brunch, art auction and a great role playing game in which Vicky and Amber, as V&C, were the stars. But the thing that stands out most to me is the Closing Ceremonies. This is only the third year that we have done the Closing Ceremonies in this way, but it has already become a not-to-be-missed moment. I know that sounds odd – the end of the convention has never been a favorite part for anyone. But Deb's idea to form a circle was outstanding. I don't know for sure, but I assume that it was JoAnn's idea to expound on that concept and have the virgins stand in the center just like Catherine. I wish I could have been a virgin at these last two cons and experienced that! The feeling in the room is truly amazing. I am suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to hug everyone! This little bit of magic makes the end of the con so much easier. There is more of a feeling of completeness when you finally do leave the room now. I can hardly believe we went so many years without it.

Following almost right after that was the Cat's Meow and what was probably the best Sunday night at a con EVER. From the minute we went in and they sent us upstairs I knew it was going to be good. It was like we had our own special room. The way it looked down on the stage was awesome! They mentioned B&B so many times and at one point I looked up and there was a scene playing on the screen. My sister was watching at home and she said at times you could only hear what was happening on stage because the monitor showed B&B clips. I really thought it was so nice that they would do that for us. I can't really believe that was me on stage. I was so happy that Sonia taped it so I could see that I didn't look totally stupid! ; ) It seems that the good feeling from the Closing Ceremonies, paired with a Hurricane and roomies that encourage me to step out of my comfort zone, all came together that night for one amazing and unforgettable time! My sister said everyone in the B&B group was great and she also said to tell the girl who did Flashdance (Vicky) that it sounded to her exactly like the original.

On Monday, we got another chance to hold a baby alligator on the Swamp Tour. This tour company was a bit more conservative – they had its mouth taped shut. I don't know, it seem to me like that was not really necessary. But because his mouth was taped some of us felt compelled to kiss him! To paraphrase the Katy Perry song, “I kissed a gator...and I liked it!” : )

On Tuesday morning I thankfully found time for a deliciously cool and refreshing dip in the beautiful courtyard pool before heading off to the Laura Plantation. I really liked Laura in many ways better than Oak Alley. The stories about the women who ran it and the fact that Creole women had rights to own property and vote on property issues long before American women was fascinating and right up my alley of interest. I wound up getting the book of Laura's memoirs for both myself and a friend.

Finally, on Wed morning before leaving for the airport, Kat, Tamara and I were able to squeeze in one add-on of our own. We went to The Degas House on Esplanade Avenue. It's a beautiful house that the artist actually lived in for about 5 months. While the house owns one of his paintings and several of his drawings and etchings, it was not really about seeing his work. It was more of a “Washington Slept Here” for art lovers. : ) Degas is one of my favorite artists from art history class. Famous for his ballerinas and racehorses, I've always felt that he is a famous painter whose painting are actually beautiful to look at – as art should be. A bonus was that the tour guide is actually Degas' great-grand niece.

Very quickly some favorite food memories: Crab Cake Alfredo the first night at Oceana, The Court of the Two Sisters Jazz Brunch, a roast beef po' boy that was out of this world, a muffalatta at the Cajun Cabin, the last night at Galatoire's with their delicious Crab au Gratin. And Camellia Grill, this wonderful little place that had only counter seating! We squeezed that in right before leaving for the airport on Wednesday afternoon.

So many memories that I will cherish always. : )

ONE LIFE without Limits...

We only have one life to live.  I've always wanted to say that! : )

But seriously, I have been extremely distressed over the news that One Life to Live and All My Children have been canceled. I know that these long running shows still have A LOT of fans. I know that they are also gaining new fans because I am a relatively new fan. I became hooked on OLTL six years ago when I was in the hospital for a month with a very bad case of pneumonia.  I grew up watching CBS soaps and was delighted to see Hillary B. Smith, Nora, again after so many years.  The show really helped me through a difficult time. However, by the time I went back to work, I was fascinated with several other characters and considered the show good enough to make time for in my busy daily schedule.  I began recording it every day and have been a loyal viewer ever since.  It's great to be able to record something to watch when there is nothing good in Prime Time - and OLTL has been much better than a lot of Prime Time shows at many points during the last six years!

Drama has a way of touching peoples lives and soap operas in general do this better than any other form of drama because of the fact that they are there every day with no long summer breaks like nighttime shows.  These characters are like good friends that stay with you. To this day, I have cherished memories of growing up watching the soaps with my mother, grandmother, aunt, and sister.  

I remember very vividly one summer As the World Turns had a masked ball.  For what seemed like weeks, everyone wore formal attire and the ladies carried a very elaborate mask on a stick that matched their ball gowns.  I remember sketching similar costumes for weeks afterward.  It was one of many story lines on that show that really captured my imagination. 

The thing that has me the most worried about this soap situation is that I believe the main reason for cancellation is not lack of popularity but cost to produce. The Powers-that-Be at the networks are turning to reality/talk shows because they cost much less to make.

But I say: you get what you pay for!

Reality/talk shows have their place, but I just can't see a daytime line-up consisting of only that kind of program. It would not be something that I would be interested in watching even if I was home, and I certainly wouldn't bother to record those programs.

I understand that AMC will be replaced with a cooking show. I mean, really, there is a whole network devoted only to cooking shows!  If, on occasion, I wanted to watch a cooking show, why wouldn't I just turn over to the Food Network???? That's what hurts so much, the fact that there really isn't any rhyme or reason that I can see in this decision - just a blind grab at saving money.

Since there are hundreds of cable channels out there that are devoted to just about every interest one could have, I think that there must be a home out there for the soap operas that Networks no longer want. I'd like to ask ABC/Disney please, please sell them to another network so that the fans can continue to enjoy this unique art form that does not deserve to just die off in shame.

The timing of this decision makes even less sense to me with the recent conclusion of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah was a rare talk show that will be very hard to replace. But why not just try out a new talk show in her old time slot?  Would not that be the logical move - since we are used to a talk show at that time and would have no hard feelings about giving a newcomer a try?

But with the careless decision to end two much loved soaps, in the same season that we also lose Oprah, well, I would just like to say that I now have absolutely no reason - or desire - to ever watch ABC Daytime again!

Invitation to a Dream...2010 Beauty & the Beast Convention (Part 2)

Having devoted the entire previous post to Linda Hamilton, let me assure you that the San Diego Convention would have been wonderful even if she had not shown up!

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in Old Town. When I realized how close San Diego is to Mexico, I had some wild thoughts about crossing the border just to say I had been out of the country. But that was really not necessary – just a few blocks from our hotel was the heart of Old Town where you can truly FEEL like you have crossed the border. There were open air cafes with Mexican music playing, a Mexican style market and other interesting shops. At night, it was all lit up and could not have been more fun and festive. We had some authentic Mexican food twice in the Coyote Cafe - both on the night we arrived and again on Sunday night after the convention ended. The food was very good and the atmosphere was wonderful.

On Friday morning, the program opened with the reading of an old story by, I believe, Sue Glasgow. It took me right back to my first Beauty & the Beast convention in 1991, South of Oz, where this story was read aloud at the banquet while a shadow play was performed to illustrate it. The South of Oz banquet was so magical for many reasons - that shadow play being one of them. Years later, I learned that my roomie, Cyndi Rodriguez, was actually the person who played Catherine in that shadow play! The story is epic in nature – all about Vincent and Catherine's legacy in the Tunnel World. I always find it sad - I don’t like thinking about V&C’s deaths, even if it is decades into the future. But the memories made it a very nice moment for me.

This was a year of great joy and great sorrow – and I felt good that we could share that range of emotions as a group. The memorial for Chan was beautiful and I thought it was so lovely that we actually got to live the ceremony from the episode 'Ashes, Ashes.' There was a small fire going on the patio outside of the convention room. It struck me that I don't think there has ever been an outdoor patio as part of the convention space before, but it was perfect for this. We were given small scroll-like bits of paper to write our messages on, and when we were ready we could bring them outside and add them to the fire.

Something beautiful was read that included a part about other loved ones we have lost this year. I remember JoAnn identified them only by relationship, and when I heard “a mother,” I felt so honored to have my mom acknowledged in that way. We were invited to write a note to these loved ones as well as Chan, and I did write a second note to my mom. My thanks again, JoAnn, for being so thoughtful.

It was my first time seeing Cory Danziger, Kipper - all grown up, and he very nice and SO cute. He seemed to have a real depth of understanding of what the show means. Considering he was so young at the time, that really surprised and delighted me. He said he did have a vague sense that the show was special at the time, but as he has gotten older he has come to realize the message and why so many people love it more and more.

I was once again honored to be able to model Catherine's costume from the pilot episode in the Tunnel Costumes fashion show. There are two costumes, one from “before” her attack, and a distressed one from “after.” In 2004, I modeled the the “before” set and I just barely fit into the dress. This time, Vicky wore the “before” dress and coat and I wore the “after” coat only, since the dress itself is torn and sewn with heavy tunnel style whip stitching and not easily gotten into. That was a blessing because I would probably not fit into the dress now anyway. But I loved being able to go on stage with my “twin,” Vicky, and model the two versions of what to me is the most inspiring of all Catherine's costumes – the one that started it all and holds the most possibilities, if you will.

One new activity, that was both brilliantly creative and so in keeping with the Mexican theme, was character pinatas! There were three of them: Paracelsus, Lisa and Lena. We didn't all get the chance to go up and take a whack at them, and that was a shame, because I would have loved to vent on at least one of them – probably Lena would have been my first choice. But it was fun just watching those whose names were called.

On Saturday morning, there was Rachel’s Gargoyles presentation. I have since gotten the first season DVDs, and I have to tell you that there really are amazing similarities between our show and this animated series - almost too many. It's very hard to believe that there wasn't at least one Beauty & the Beast fan among the creators. Just to give you an idea – there is an episode where the Catherine-like character, Elisa, gets shot. Goliath, the Vincent-like gargoyle, goes to the hospital and stands over her bed in a scene that was startlingly similar to “The Beast Within.” My thanks to Rachel for making me aware of this series.

Also on Saturday, there was Daria’s Make-a-Bracelet workshop. There were beads of every shape and color and it all looked so pretty, but I have never attempted to make jewelry before - unless you count Tamara's Crystal workshop last year in New Orleans. I really enjoyed that one so I decided to give this a try. It was so much fun! I learned enough to hopefully try it on my own. (I've already been to the bead department of A. C. Moore) And what's more, I was thrilled with how good my bracelet looks. I would not have thought I could make anything that nice on the first try. Thanks to Daria for sharing her expertise with us.

Banquet memories are mostly dominated by Linda H's presence, but one very special moment was when Vicky and Lee Holdridge did a duet of the Beauty & the Beast theme music “The First Time I Loved Forever.” It was just breathtaking to hear that song performed by two such talented people. And beyond that, I was moved by the fact that this was a moment of two people coming together and sharing their talents – in true Tunnel Spirit - with no thought to who was a “guest” and who was a “fan.” A brief, but golden, moment of perfect Beauty & the Beast harmony.

While I'm talking about performances, I also must mention the performance by the band from our charity, the Monarch School. They played for us during one of our lunch breaks and they were wonderful. The selections that they played were so lively. I especially loved “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. I love that song and hearing it live on the steel drums was so memorable for me.

This con ended with our newest tradition that was begun last year: All of us with hands joined in a huge circle that wound its way around the edges of the room as they did in the episode 'Dead of Winter.' This time the Con Virgins were asked to remain in the center of the circle, like Catherine, until they were formally invited to “come and complete the circle.” In some ways, I find this even more moving than the banquet's candle lighting ceremony. And when it was over, we all dissolved into a good thirty minutes or more of hugs. It's the perfect way to end the weekend – and the perfect outlet for “that feeling.”

You know, that warm and wonderful, unique and special feeling – that feeling that I've never quite experienced anywhere other than a Beauty & the Beast convention! : )