L&L Brigade Newsletter April 18, 1999
Brigaders,
Whether you knew what was going to happen or you had somehow managed to stay scoop free, Friday was a horribly sad day for all of us. I thought I was prepared and I even made it through Lucky and Luke's good-bye scene with dry eyes. When Lucky and Liz said their final good-bye at their window, though, and I got my long awaited "window kiss," I broke down. The final montage of their dances, with that all-too-familiar music being stopped by the siren, was my complete undoing. I don't mind telling you, I sobbed until I gave myself a head ache. Then I watched it again and sobbed until my stomach hurt. I know a lot of you probably reacted the same way. And why shouldn't you? We've felt every kind of emotion with L&L over the past 14 months. Of course we are going to feel grief for them as well. We know that their story and their characters aren't real, but the emotions they make us feel are. Don't let anyone tell you any differently. We've all had our days when we knew L&L were going to be on and all we could think about was getting through whatever was on our schedule so we could rush home and watch them. Now we have those days where every few minutes we remember what's happened, or what's going to happen, and our stomach knots up and our eyes water. That's OK, it's all part of being a true fan. We get to experience everything, the good and bad, to the fullest. Those people who may sneer at you for that don't have any idea what they've missed out on. They won't understand, so don't even try to make them. Just go ahead and feel sad. Go ahead and grieve.
WINDOW KISS: I can't resist, guys, I have to say something about this. In spite of the sadness on Friday, there was a bright spot. I got my window kiss!!! For those of you who may not have been around as long, my obsession with this window kiss started last July. It actually proceeded the Brigade! I said I was waiting for a window kiss to be my keepership, so I eventually became "Keeper of the Future Window Kiss." I can't even remember how many threads we've had about this wished for event. There was one recently wondering if we'd ever get it now that JJ was leaving. Well, we have all realized for some time that TPTB read our posts. Liz's charm bracelet, the boys photo with LuLu, Lucky's portrait, these were all things Brigaders first demanded online and TPTB eventually provided. I am convinced TPTB purposely waited until now to give me my window kiss. I've harped on it so very long, and it was nice of them to give it to me in such a special way. So, in spite of my sadness, I have to say "Thank You!" (BTW, you wouldn't believe how many messages I had Friday saying, "Boo, you got it! You finally got!").
NEW MISSION: The new mission for the Brigade is very simple. We must make sure TPTB stay true to L&L. We need to let them know that we aren't going anywhere. We will all be faithfully watching in hopes of Lucky's return. In the meantime, we will be keeping close tabs on how they handle Liz's character and what groundwork is being laid for future storylines. You all know the kind of stuff I'm talking about. If they even think we'd tolerate a story where Lucky comes back to find Liz hooked up with Nik, they just don't know who they are dealing with! :) Along this line, I've noticed that many of you have starting to sign your salutes "|_ _| FOREVER." I love that! I'd like to give credit to whoever started it, but I imagine it was just one of those things that developed. That's what we're about now, guys, keeping that statement true. Regardless of what JJ does in his career, because we support him either way, TPTB must stay true to how THEY'VE created our L&L.
ABC BOARDS: The L&L board at ABC is where this Brigade began. When they put the new boards up, L&L were the only couple given their own discussion. We need to keep it that way. We cannot let TPTB take down our ABC L&L Board. I know that the new boards are very hard to use and for that reason I haven't been posting there much. We all need to make an effort to do so, though. I suggest that we try to stick to a few Brigader threads and that we reply at the bottom of the last post in that main thread. Maybe we'll be able to keep track of each other and the discussion that way. I intend to try to post at least once a day, just to let TPTB know how they are doing. I hope you will all do the same. We've got to make sure they know we are still around.
LETTER CAMPAIGN: I guess great minds think alike, because I got several emails this week suggesting a similar project involving letters to TPTB. Combining everyone's ideas, here's what we're going to do. I'd like each of us to write a SHORT letter to TPTB. Thank them for the L&L story.... so far. I also intend to thank them for the window kiss since we've all been waiting forever for it! If you'd like, give a brief explanation of why L&L are so special to you or what their story has meant to you. Make sure they know you will be continuing to watch GH for Liz and in hopes that Lucky will somehow still come back to her. And, most importantly, let them know you are going to be making sure they stay true to their story. If you'd like to add something about not tolerating a recast or a Liz and Nik pairing, go for it! But that, of course, can stay an individual choice. I really hope that each and every one of you will participate in this. Remember, the mission goal is VOLUME! Pvt. jnelmom was the first to present this idea and will be helping me with it. Thanks Mel! Here's what I'd like each of you to do:
1) Keep your letters short! They probably won't read past half a page, if that, so put the most important stuff up front.
2) Sign your name or screen name, location (just state if you want), and L&L Brigade. You don't have to explain what the Brigade is, they all know us by now :) Letters can be typed, but I think it will have a better affect if your name is signed in pen. It won't look like someone just mass produced them.
3) Mail your letters to the Brigade box.
4) If you just don't have time to send a letter, or you forget until the last minute, you can do it by email. Write the letter just as you want TPTB to see it, and email it to Mel. She will put them in letter form, print them out, and mail them to me. She will need to receive your emailed letters by Wednesday night!!!
I will gather all the letters up, hopefully close to 160 since that's our membership now, and put them together with a cover letter. Then I'll deliver the whole bundle to the Studio when I take JJ and Becky's gift. It's been suggested that I take some hot pretzels to deliver with the letters, so I'll see what I can do. We want to do this next week, so please don't put it off. Remember, the goal is volume of letters! Please just write something short and sweet and put it in the mail tomorrow, or email it to Mel on your lunch break or something. Let's let TPTB know that the Brigade isn't going anywhere, so they'd better watch their steps! Thanks!
GOING AWAY GIFTS: Still not calling them "good-bye" gifts! Thank you to every one who contributed, and I'm pleased to say it was a lot of you. In fact, it turned out just as I had hoped. A lot of small donations went towards something big. I love seeing us all pull together like that :) As I told you last week, I finished Becky's gift with the "Boris" bear. I ordered JJ's gift this week. It was slightly different, but I think you'll be pleased. Rather than doing a plain plaque, I had the engraving put on a small, brass clock. The clock is 6" X 6" with a rounded top. The engraving will appear below the face. It's small enough that it won't be difficult to find a place to put it. Also, since we are speaking of the future and the past, I thought a clock representing time went very well. I hope you all agree. Thank you very much to Pvt randjluvr! Her mom owns a trophy shop and is doing the engraving for us. With a Brigader hovering over her shoulder as she works, we know it will look great!
R.A.I.N.N. FUNDRAISER: There is good news and bad news. The bad news is
we did not reach our minimum number to order the mouse pads. The good news is we have still raised a very large donation to RAINN for JJ and Becky's birthdays. We will still be taking straight donations for RAINN until May 1st. Any amount would be greatly appreciated. Please email Cpt. LL1998 on where to send the money. Again, for those of you who ordered a mouse pad I'm sorry we can't do it. I appreciate those of you who sent money by the deadline and, of course, I'm always so grateful to those who sent straight donations. Your generosity is
so wonderful. I think you are going to be pleased at how much we raised in spite of not getting the orders we needed. One final note, MORE THAN HALF of the money was raised by MizVamp who sold her SSW3 tapes for this occasion. Thanks so much, MizV, for all you did for this fundraiser. Cpt. LL1998 will be giving us the final
amount the first week in May and we will have plenty of time to get the certificates of donation sent to JJ and Becky before their birthdays. Thanks again.
NNN GIFT SHOP: The gift shop at the NNN Regiment page has been updated with more L&L and early Lucky tapes. I'm sure we will all be going on "Lucky" withdrawals soon, so now might be a good time to order some missed episodes. There is a link to the regiment pages at HQ, so check it out!
A MESSAGE FROM Cpt. LL1998....."I wanted to let every one know that the
Boxcar regiment's web page should be up at HQ this week. I wanted to say thanks to all of the Brownies who have worked so hard over the past few months on this web site. GHlover, Carly VH, Jamie, CA2B, and Andrea have done an awesome job on this page. Lt. Erica and Ynette have helped with research as well. The site has a family tree--with pictures, a recipe page with recipes for Brownies-- of course!, a crossword puzzle, a "what if" section about GH entitled "Half-baked ideas from the
Brownies, a fanfic page, our roster page, and three sections still in construction called The Spenssadine Boys, the History of L&L, and an entire page devoted to The Man--Luke! Our site is very picture happy. I got one of those video captures for Christmas so most of the pics are video captures that we didn't have to borrow from other sites--they are Brigade pics--woo hoo. I have enjoyed the other regiment pages and I hope you all will take the time to check ours out too. If you should see any errors on any of these pages, please let me know. Every one has
worked so hard and I know they would like to make corrections if there are any.
KEEPERSHIP PAGE: I want to do a new page at HQ with all of our keeperships listed. I need someone to help me gather the information first, though. If someone would volunteer to receive emails from all the Brigaders who have keeperships and put them in a list for me, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry HQ hasn't been fully updated in a while.
DAYTIME EMMYS: The Daytime Emmys will be held at Madison Square Gardens in NYC on May 21. Tickets go on sale Monday, April 19. The prices are $200,
$150, and $100. The New York's Hotel Pennsylvania, which is across from Madison Square Garden, charges $169 for 2 people a night. Of course. there are many hotels in NYC. So far only a few of you have mentioned going, but I know that was before the prices were announced. Let me know if you are still wanting to attend and I'll try to get you a list of each others names and emails. Thank you MizVamp for researching this information for us.
PUSH FOR ROSIE: I've been asked again to remind you guys that pre or post Emmys is the perfect time for Rosie to have JJ and Becky on her show, so keep writing those emails and snail mails!
SOAP FAN MAG: I appreciate all of you who read my new online magazine last week. I look forward to hearing more comments from you. What you guys think of it means a lot to me. I wanted to let you all know that it will be updated with more articles every Wednesday. This week I am putting up a GREAT pic of JJ and Becky. This snap shot was taken by a friend of mine so none of you have seen it, but you won't want to miss it. She is selling 8X10 copies too, and I suggest you all take a look. https://www.angelfire.com/or/soapfanmag
If we thought last week was hard, I fear this week will be much worse. Hang in there. Keep close to your email buddies. And remember, in Liz's own words, don't let anyone make you feel bad for feeling bad.
Keep the faith!
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L&L Brigade Newsletter April 25, 1999
Brigaders,
This was a hard week. I don't know if I've ever know a week quite like this before. Not only were we all in pain watching Port Charles mourning, but we were witness to that horrible, all too real tragedy in Colorado. I couldn't help thinking of the families of the victims as I was watching Lucky's memorial service on Friday. I'm still trying to recover from the emotional drain.
I can't let last week pass without saying something about the performances of Genie Francis and Tony Geary. Once again I was reminded why they are legends on Daytime. Their grief was so real, not only the words they said, but their physical reaction to the pain. It was mesmerizing!
I also have to comment on Becky's performance, specifically on Tuesday's episode. It would have been so easy for someone to play those scenes over the top, but she didn't. She has grown so much as an actress right before our eyes.
For those of you who are scoop free…… who didn't have any idea what was coming at the end of Friday's episode…… I honestly don't know how you made it through the week!
TUESDAY'S PREEMPTION: In my humble opinion, the 4/20 episode of GH was one of the best hours that I've ever seen on TV! It's so unfortunate that so many of you missed it. Half the episode was pre-empted on the East Coast, and all of it on the West Coast. However, some of us were able to catch a reshowing in the middle of the night. I know a lot of you have said you think you need a copy and….. you are right! If you missed it, you definitely need a copy. It was THAT good! I have several people working on dubs already. Please contact them directly (not through me) and make your own arrangements.
Liberty Regiment: Please contact Pvt. Steph
KEEPERSHIP PAGE: I was so thrilled with how many people volunteered to help with the keepership page at HQ. You guys are great! Pvt JonoSRFan of Liberty Regiment was the first to get back to me, though, and she will be helping with this project. I know that a lot of the Regiment pages have their own rosters with keeperships. What I'd like to do, though, is to have a page with all the keeperships alphabetized. That way when someone thinks of one they'd like, they don't have to hunt around to see if someone beat them to it. You can easily check the list. Hopefully, we will soon have someone else to contact when you want to claim one, because I haven't been able to regulate that for you guys as many of you have wanted me to. I do think, however, that there should be a limit to the number of keeperships one person can have so everyone has a chance. For now, please email you keeperships (no more than 3) with your "Brigade" name (that's your screen name) and your Regiment to JonoSRFan.
NNN HAVE NEW OFFICERS: Captain Kreyn of NNN Regiment isn't able to participate in the Brigade right now. I know she still loves L&L and all of us, and hopefully she will be back with us again someday soon. DSARA is now Captain of the NNN, and Galor5 has been made her Lt. Thanks to both of you for all the work you've already done for the Brigade. I'm really looking forward to working with you more. And a big, special thank you to Kreyn for all that she has done for us, especially leading the group to SSW3. We all miss you so much, Kelly!
JJ AND BECKY'S BIRTHDAYS. As everyone knows, JJ and Becky's birthdays are fast approaching, and we plan to make a large donation to RAINN in their names as our gift. Although we weren't able to do the mouse pads, they still helped us to get the word out and raise quite a bit for this very worthy cause. I'm so proud of all of us!!! Capt. LL1998 is still taking donations for RAINN until May 1st. Therefore, everyone still has time to get their donation in if they are mailed by the first of the week. Any amount donated is greatly appreciated. We are short by just a few dollars to reach that great even number we've been aiming for, so if you wanted to send something but thought it was too late--GOOD NEWS! :) You still can!! You can email her for an address. The gift will be mailed the first week in May. We will announce the final donation amount in next week's newsletter. Thanks so much to all of those who have donated so generously.
LETTER CAMPAIGN: I have loved reading all of the letters that I've gotten so far! As you know, I asked all of you to write a short letter to TPTB thanking them for the L&L story and reminding them that we will still be here watching to make sure they stay true to it. The goal of this mission is volume! I will be putting all of these letters in a box and delivering them to ABC Studios late next week. The more letters in the box the greater the impact. So, PLEASE write you letter!!! Because I cannot get down to the studio as soon as I thought, you have been given a little extra time. You can still mail your letter to me by Tuesday (4/27) and I should be able to include it. You can also still write your letter and send it in an email to Pvt. Jnlemom. She will be sending me another stack of letters that she has printed out for you, but please get them to her ASAP. In light of some of the stuff we saw this week I am more determined than ever to make sure TPTB know we mean business. Please remember, though, to keep your letters positive. Believe me, I'm tempted to write "Get that Cassidine away from her!!!" too. Just remind them, though, that THEY created L&L's story to be beautiful and pure and we just expect them to maintain those standards that THEY set….. regardless of what happens in the future. So, please, write you letter!!! And send it to the Brigade PO Box.
GOING AWAY GIFTS: Thank you to everyone who has contributed to JJ's "Going Away…. But not good-bye" gfit and Becky's "We'll still be here for you" gift. This really is a whole Brigade project because so many of you have been a direct part of it, and that makes it extra special. I am still waiting for the engraving to be done on JJ's clock, but hopefully it will be very soon. He may not still be at the studio to receive it, but it will be forwarded to him immediately. Don't worry, he'll still get it.
DISNEY WORLD DEAL: If any of you are a Florida residence, or know someone who is, and are planning to attend SSW4, Disney is offering a special deal called a Power pass. For $95 you can visit any of the four parks on any four days between now and Sept. 30. Those dates include the weekend of SSW4, so this is a chance to save a lot of money on your passes. It's a good idea to plan ahead. Thanks so much to Gator of Liberty Regiment for sharing this information with us.
NEW MESSAGE BOARDS: The officers and I have been discussing the problem we have with message boards. The ABC message boards have been what bonded this group and it's the best way for us to keep TPTB up on how they are doing. The problem is, the new ABC boards are impossible! I have found that I can't get on them at all either at home or work. It's so frustrating. I have a lot of things I want to say! I simply refuse to go to the PCO's boards anymore. I don't need that negativity in my life! Many of us now use the Brigade boards, but we've found the problem with them is that they don't require registration so there is no protection. Anyone can post under our names and say any nasty thing they want. So, here is the solution we are considering. We have found another kind of free MB to use that will require registration and we can set it up with our own folders. So, we can have an L&L folder, but we can also have folders for other GH characters and General GH comments. I would like to see our MB become an alternative for all GH fans, not just Brigaders, who can't navigate ABC anymore and don't want the negativity of PCO. I would want each of you to help spread the word about our boards on other GH boards and sites. I also have some ideas of how we can get TPTB to start checking out our boards (I know for a fact they read PCO). Now, the new boards ARE NOT up yet. I first want to know how you guys feel about this, if you want other GH people on our boards or if you like it just being Brigaders, and if you are willing to use our new boards if we put them up. I still think it's the best solution for getting our ideas to TPTB. So, what do you think?
Enjoy this next week, Brigaders! Our blue-eyed-boy is back for the time being!
|_ _| FOREVER
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|_ _| FOREVER!
Boo
TK Trauma Unit Regiment and the Reserves: Please contact Pvt. Angela
Boxcar Regiment and NNN Regiment: Please contact Capt. LL1998
Boo
