February 2012 Archives   24 February 2012 Actions Speak Louder Than Words – Lucy Lawless Protesting   We hear about celebrities who support a cause and that is fantastic, they give money and that’s great to but it takes it to a whole new level when your actions back your words. This morning Lucy Lawless backed up her words with action. Along with Greenpeace New Zealand she boarded a boat that was going to drill in the Arctic. Think about this for a moment. The arctic is one of the few places on earth where it hasn’t been drilled, mined, polluted. Should we just sit on our hands and let Shell and others do their thing? If we don’t speak up now, when are we going to speak up? When the drilling rigs are dotting the Arctic like cancerous growths? Lucy has backed up her words with action; peaceful action. SPEAK UP and ACT! Check out the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Stop Shell Drilling The Arctic Event page or @RealLucyLawless on Twitter @GreenpeaceNZ on Twitter @AUSXIP on Twitter     22 February 2012 Interviewed by New Xena Site BatteOnXena.com I was approached recently about an interview from a new Xena site. I liked the site becuase it's not a regular Xena site. It has carved out a niche in the Xenaverse which, in my opinion, makes it special because it gives back to the fans by allowing them to tell their story and there are a million stories in this Xenaverse and all of them unique. The site is called BattleOnXena.com BattleOnXena.com is the place to share your story of how the iconic television show Xena Warrior Princess inspired you! It resembles the book "How Xena Changed Our Lives" and takes it a step further. Fans contribute their story of what this show has meant to them. I'm listed under Heritage Xenites and I'm quite honoured by the request. So sit back and read while I bore you! <g> Click here to read     19 February 2012 AUSXIP Interviews Campbell Cooley - Actor, Voice Over Artist and Director; Multi-Talented Man AUSXIP Interviews Campbell Cooley Actor, Voice Over Artist and Director; Multi-Talented Man With An Incredible Dedication To His Craft Interviewed by MaryD 19 February 2012 For many a Xena fan, Campbell Cooley was a very familiar face and he will always be known as the poor soul (or not so poor) who got drooled upon by Renee O'Connor (Gabrielle). There is more to Campbell Cooley than that drool scene and many other scenes on Xena, Spartacus and numerous other shows. AUSXIP Interviewed Campbell back in 1998 so it's been a long time (and quite neglectful) since we had a chat on AUSXIP to this very talented man and dear friend to myself and AUSXIP. Campbell recently got one of his acting wishes fulfilled by starring opposite Peter Mensah in Spartacus Vengeance. Sit back and enjoy this fascinating interview and learn more about Campbell, actor, voice Over Artist and director; a multi-talented man with an incredible dedication to his craft. Read Interview     18 February 2012 Lucy Lawless On Twitter! The Real Deal! 100% Lucy Lawless The twitter account you have been waiting for. LUCY LAWLESS. The real deal, @RealLucyLawless is 100% organic Lucy Lawless! GO GO GO FOLLOW! http://twitter.com/RealLucyLawless Let the fun begin! Lucy has 233 followers so far - guarantee you that this will be double that before I finish this sentence! It is 100% Lucy's account. Guaranteed. No ifs, no buts, no fakes. It's Lucy. Have fun!     14 February 2012 2012 AUSXIP Charity Auction 21-28 March 2012 It's that time of year where AUSXIP is gearing up for our annual Charity Auction to benefit The Starship Foundation! This is our 6th Auction since 15 December 2006. Help us raise money for The Starship Foundation in New Zealand. Since 2006 we have raised money for Starship and other charities we have raised close to $90,000 (to be exact $88,682.60). What goodies have we got? Whilst I was in New Zealand last June, some very special items were donated by Lucy Lawless, Rob Tapert, Viva Bianca, Katrina Law and since then we have received more items to be auctioned off. 100% of the money raised goes to Starship. - Autographed A Good Day Script with photos and notes. Photos of Lucy, Renee, Karl and others from that episode. It was donated by Lucy and Rob and autographed by them both. SUPER RARE AND EXTREMELY UNIQUE - The AUTHENTIC and original mask worn by Viva Bianca in the Spartacus Season 1 episode "Whore" - Lucy donated it, Viva and Lucy signed it and I accepted it with glee. It still has the markings on the inside where the Sparty crew made adjustments for Viva. Signed by both Lucy and Viva on the inside of the mask. - This item truly made my eyes bug out - Season 1 DVD signed by EVERYONE on the cast and some from the production crew (except for Andy Whitfield). There are 14 signatures on it. A SUPER RARE item - Autographed Spartacus T-shirt including Andy Whitfield of the main cast! - Renee O'Connor Autographed DVDs and Photos - Autographed photos from Xena, Spartacus and other roles by Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor - Costumes and Jewelry worn by Lucy Lawless and Adrienne Wilkinson - Hard to find books by Writers from the Xenaverse - Autographed artwork - Autographed t-shirts from the entire cast of Venice The Series with Crystal Chappell, Adrienne Wilkinson and more. - Photos and much more there is something for everyone. I will have a complete list of items a few days before the auction starts on 21 March. Stay tuned of more!     9 February 2012 Back From A Land Far Far Far Away....Premieres, Cons, Emmy Awards and Football! I'm back home in Oz and thank goodness I don't suffer from jetlag; that's the only saving grace in a long 14 hour flight. Where is my Star Trek transporter? I heard some time ago that scientists were working on it. I sure wish they would hurry up. Never mind the long flight in a tin box, I'm back home and I realise, I left summerish weather back in Los Angeles and walked into a strange situation at home. It was wet, it was coolish for February in Sydney. Normally it's hot, stinky and humid but it wasn't. How strange. Anyhoo...it was great to be back home. My heart does a little flutter when I looked out the window and there was the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House..it makes my heart glad to see these two icons. I'm home. Firstly I want to say what an absolute STELLAR job Lori has done in keeping up with everything. It was fun to be a visitor rather than editing AUSXIP while I was on holidays. It's an interesting perspective and one I don't usually do. Thank you Lori! Outstanding. It's not an easy job but she managed to be good humoured and cool for 4 weeks in my absence. I had a ball on this visit; got to do some very out of the ordinary things like my close encounter with Mr William Shatner a couple of times (talk about fandoms colliding and going BOOOOOMMMM!). Before that there was the Sparty premiere and afterparty which was a total blast. Had fun! There was the Xena / Venice Meet and Greet party which was such a great way to raise money for charity and to have fun. Of course the main reason for the visit (other than to go to Frys and to hang out with my mates) was The Final Journey Convention which turned into The Dress Rehearsal For the Final Journey Convention. I'm not even going into that whole topic of is it or isn't it the final con. As far as I was concerned this was The Final Journey. Mind you, I've been saying this will be my last con every time I go but I still keep going back. I suspect that next year's convention may be The Final Journey Mark II judging from the comments from all the stars and the fans. The Dress Rehearsal Con was my final one. Not my final US trip as I have lots of great friends over there and visiting them is a priority. If you haven't caught up with my live blogging from the convention, here are the links: No Goodbyes...Just Good Memories 2012 Xena Convention Final Report Mr Bill Shatner Wants To Come To My Room To Check Out My Gadgets... 2012 Xena Convention Update - Lucy & Renee - The Final Journey 2012 Xena Con Update: Saturday Fun and Laughter! 2012 Xena Convention Friday Cabaret Update 2012 Xena Convention Update - Friday AM 27 January 2012 2012 Xena Convention Update Fandoms Collide and Then Go BOOOOMMMMM! 2012 Xena Con - Thursday 26 January 2012 The Party is About To Begin! On my second last day in the US I participated in an revered annual event..the SUPERBOWL! I had a total blast. I actually found myself understanding what was going on with the game. Many many many thanks to my dear mate Christa who patiently explained it. I was rooting for the team wearing red (red is my favourite colour) and since the NY Giants were wearing red on their jerseys..well I was rooting for the NY Giants! It was such a fantastic game and I have a huge crush on Eli Manning. My favourite moment is when Mario Manningham caught the ball right near the sideline! Damn that was good. Catches win matches and Mario won the game with that catch. I actually found out what a Hail Mary is (heard it so many times in various media about politics and such but never knew what it referred to)...that was close by the Patriots but not close enough. EXCELLENT game. LOVED IT! I can't leave the Superbowl report unless I mention Queen Madonna. Oh my goodness this woman is incredible. It's been some time since I saw Madonna perform and she was just superb. Speaking of Christa, I'm going to tell you if you didn't already know...my mate Christa is the Executive Producer of the Emmy Award winning series Venice The Series. I was going to post the photo of her with the Emmy but she's shy but here is the pic of base of the Emmy with her name on it. How cool is that? Never held an Emmy Award before and it's heavy! I am so proud of her. She has come a long way in the industry and has worked so hard. Success doesn't happen overnight and hard work pays off. Add to that mix a bit of good karma coming to such a beautiful soul. Her partners in crime are Crystal Chappell (the superb actress from Days of Our Lives and other shows who has created this ground breaking series), KT Jorgensen (another mate and superb photographer) and Maria Webster (another mate who never ceases to amaze me and who graciously sings Hallelujah acapella in my hotel room just to make me happy). Check it out and support them; streaming tv shows is the new medium and one that will become more and more common as television shows evolve. What's coming up this year? Well we have 6th AUSXIP Charity Auction to raise money for the Starship Foundation in New Zealand. LOTS AND LOTS of great stuff donated by Lucy, Renee, Viva Bianca, Erin Cummings, Crystal Chappell, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Katrina Law and more. Fans have donated items which is just incredible! It's going to be FANTASTIC. The auction will run in it's normal week of 21-28 March 2012 (Lucy's birthday week). More about the auction in the coming weeks. I'm also very pleased to welcome a new AUSXIP Reporter to the ranks. Rachelle Yates has been added to the AUSXIP Reporters list! I do love it when someone wants to volunteer their time and energy in making AUSXIP even better. Many thanks to everyone who stopped me at the convention to thank me for AUSXIP. I'm stoked everyone is loving AUSXIP as much as I do. I was asked how long will AUSXIP be around now that the conventions may or may not be ending. The answer to that question is: For as long as the passion is there, AUSXIP will be around. It's guaranteed to be around for another year as I have prepaid the server fees until March 2013 <g> So thank you to everyone for their support! The AUSXIP Final Journey has not begun. It has a few more years left of following and supporting Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor and the other actors and shows we love. I hope you stay for the journey; it's going to be interesting and mega fun! Battle On! MaryD     3 February 2012 Spartacus Season 2 Episode 2 A Place In The World Preview by MaryD - NO Spoilers Spartacus Season 2 Episode 2 A Place In The World Screener Preview by MaryD Spartacus and his men liberate a Roman villa, but its slaves are wary. Oenomaus throws himself into the brutal Pits, and Glaber supports Lucretia’s prophecies, despite Ilithyia’s protests. I held back from watching the second episode from the press kit until today. There are no spoilers in the preview below so it's pretty safe. Credits | Official Site | Episode Stills Continue to Spartacus Season 2 Episode 2 A Place In The World Preview by MaryD - NO Spoilers     Read More Archives