November 11, 2002
I've been walking the streets of Stockholm today. The whole city is covered in a white blanket of snow. It's so beautiful. *s* People are giddy, having snowball wars and making snow lanterns. The kids have been busy enjoying the weather too, by building snow men. It's too bad the snow's too soft for that right now, but never the less people are happy about the first real snow of the year. Let's see how they feel in a week, when they remember the downs with snow, hm? Cold, ice, even more coooooold. Anyway... We're closer to Christmas, and THAT'S a big bonus!


Embarrassing obsessions not Xena related:
Yes! I confess! I'm a sucker for Fame Factory! It wipes the floor with Popstars, which is on its third season. FF rules. It's as simple as that. The reality soap is cult. I watch it every day when I come home from work. It's very liberating to howl along a bit, pretending I'm better and to make the neighbours really pissed off. *BG*

Have a look at the students in the Fame Factory:

A look at the students on some of the weekly finales:
Victoria (1st voted off)	I missed that week's finale, but here is her number, anyway.
Anna-Klara (2nd voted off)	"Are You Ready?" -She was brave, but you can see she's nervous.
Emil (won over Anna-Klara)	"If Tomorrow Never Comes" -a healthy(?) portion of butter.
Hannah (3rd voted off)	"It's My Game" -Ok performance, but the song...ok, so she's cute.
Patrik (won over Hannah)	"Nu eller aldrig" -I knew he'd win with this. I'm a Musical dork!
Marcus (4th voted off)	"Actor In the Shade" -I think he wants to be a glam-rocker.
Wiktoria (5th voted off)	"Varje gång jag ser dig" -the gay guys LOVE her. Look! So cute!
Magnus (won over Wiktoria)	"Dancing On A Tuesday" -man, that guy sounds like Tom Jones.
Andres	"Man of Many Reasons" -talented guy, likes ballads and to party.
Michael	"Gilliot road" -wrote it himself! Talented guy, very Pacino.
Maria (6th voted off)	"Cotton Candy Dream" -she wrote it herself! Whaling queen of FF.
Jessica (7th voted off)	"Man, I Feel Like A Woman" -9 months pregnant and singing!!!
The finalists so far:
Patrik	"Till det sista andetaget" -more Patrik, in swedish again.
Mattias	"Ett misstag av mig" -natural grey hair and a smoooth voice.
Fernando	"Tu corazón" -wrote it himself! A very happy fellow with lots of energy.
You need REAL PLAYER to see the clips. And don't back away from the swedish songs.

What's happening right now:
The 3rd Swedish Fanfic Challenge is on, and this time a graphics category has been added. I can't wait to see all the contributions! Deadline? January 1, but the stories and images can be delayed for some hours during coding, etc. I know that several of the previous SFC contestants are writing this very minute. I've heard of classic X&G, Mel&Jan and Ubers. In fact, Carola's writing her first uber! Man, I'm so curious I can't stand the wait! Erik and Anders talked about SciFi-Ubers on the swedish Xena mailing list, so that curiousity is peaked, I can tell you.

Damn, I have to think of something to write myself. That'll be hard. I swore I'd finish my Hope/Callisto fic this time, but I don't know if it will be ready. Hope and Callisto... We've discussed it back and forth among the swedes, and that pairing seems to have quite a following over here. It must have something to do with them being tragic villains and stunning, I guess. *G* The really fun thing we've learned is that a Hope and Callisto subtext isn't that much thought of outside of our little twisted fandom. That surprised the hell outta me. They've got potential!

Btw, the swedish fanclub Northern Realms have founded a newsletter by xenites for xenites. People grew tired of the LITS mag, since it's mainly a Lucy club and magazine. We want a Xena magazine that takes a look at the show from a fan's point of view, an intelligent newsletter with heart. The site will be up and running in December or January and will be linked from the swedish fanclub site.


What's happening right now with the site:
Small bits of something. I've transcribed lots of ROC interviews for the ROC fans' pleasure. I'm looking for copies of The Chakram newsletter #17-20. Or transcripts of the ROC articles in the newsletters. And transcripts of the old ROC Un-quarterly Newsletter. *BG* Perhaps I'll end up on E-bay again, huh?

The Uber Library will be up soon. It's a personal guide, as is everything on this site. The 'library' will list writers, links to their work and a small statement explaining why this or that uber should not be missed. Original stories will also be listed among them.

I'm trying to fix every slow update that's been delayed. The reason for the very, very much delayed TN update was the loss of 50+ New Orleans pics and too few really good images that could be used for the MP wall. For the finish it's also required that I read every story all over again. Just to see if I've missed anything or if I get a new impression of them.

I want to thank everyone who sent mail regarding a Xenario update mailing list. You are very kind, and I'm eternally grateful for all feedback. But there will be no such list right now. I challenge you to change my mind! ;)

On the graphics side, I'm doing the new calendars for 2003. There will be two of those this year. A subtext calendar and another one, with just uber images. The final selections for them will take place this week. When they are up, the 2002 calendar will be moved to 'Uber Walls'. That move should happen sometime in December.


Uninteresting and boring stuff that's happened:
I cut my hair again. Short and black now. I like when it's not in the way.

I went to see 'Les Misérables', the Scandinavian tour, on November 1. It was spectacular, of course. *S* It always is, and Michael McCarthy played Javert! He was outstanding. I knew he would be. He and Philip Quast are my two fave Javert interpretors. Stig Rossen did a very good ValJean. The worst performance onstage was, ironically, given by Carola Häggkvist who sang the role of Fantine. I used to like her when I was younger, and grew up with some of her music. But she's lost my respect after her blunt comments about convertion of 'poor' homosexuals. Well. That, and she sounded like a horny squirrel. I can't bear such a Fantine. I would've loved to see Debbie Byrne from the Sydney production (who sang on 'The Complete Symphonic Recording') or Karin Glenmark from the Stockholm production. And though Alex Sharpe did an admirable job as Eponine, I so prefer Kaho Shimada from the Tokyo production. Her version of 'A Little Fall of Rain' moves me to tears every time.
The highlights of the concert:
Prologue
At the End of the Day
Lovely Ladies
Master of the House
Stars
A Little Fall of Rain
Bring Him Home
Dog Eats Dog
Javert's Suicide
Epilogue

I cursed that I had to leave so soon that there was no opportunity to sneak in backstage this time. It was much easier on 'A West End Night', when I had seats on the third row right in front of the stage. I remember how great it was to laugh and talk with James Graeme and Andrew Halliday. And Kim Criswell, what a classy lady! She was awfully nice. As was Deborah Myers and Richard Balcombe, the director that night. This year and this concert, however, I was up on the balcony and with thousands of people in the way it's quite hard to get a shot for the backstage door. I figured that at least I had the music with me, within me.

And so, after the concert, I've listened to Les Miz about nine times. It's always great to be reminded of something you love. And oh, how I do love that musical! Two of my most beloved possessions are The symphonic Les Miz recording and my Kristina from Duvemåla-CD box (signed by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson). Ok, three possessions, if you count the KFD poster signed by the whole cast and ensemble. Those two musicals are the most REAL to grace the stage. When listening to KFD, for example, you can really feel the emotions, the happiness, hurt and anguish. When music is telling you something that touched your heart, it is as real as any strong emotion.

My name is Johanna and I'm a musical dork... :)

...a hard-rocker...

-And a Xena HCNB, most certainly!

Goodnight, everybody! Sweet dreams!


This week's "To do"-list:
Write.
Write.
Write.
Write.
Oh...and did I mention 'Write'...?