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First and most timely, a relay by Helper Paulette Edwards from Edward Albert:
Says Paulette:
Nan: Like everyone else this week, I have watched stunned and saddened as the stories unfold about the attack on our nation--so many lives lost, but so many heroes. Because I knew that Edward Albert has also been deeply touched by this week's events, I asked him to share his feelings in writing. His resulting statement of concern and support is both uplifting and heartfelt and speaks volumes about the heroism in each precious individual. Toward unifying what we are all feeling, please help us in sending Edward's words out to any and all individuals we can reach via e-mail, web sites, mail lists, etc.--let his words instill courage in all who read them in the days ahead! God bless all of you!
Paulette Edwards
Coordinator, Edward Albert Fan Club
And then from Edward:
"You don't have to be dead to be a hero..." (G.S. Patton)
In the year 2000, Americans voted plain-speaking Gen. George S. Patton their favorite general...over everyone from George Washington to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, et al. In 1969, at the age of 19, I was lucky enough to work with George C. Scott in the definitive portrayal of his career over a period of many months and several countries on the definitive film version of Patton's WWII career. Having survived a few revolutions and coup d'etats myself, I am profoundly aware of the value and contributions of the unsung heroes, the everyday heroes, the quiet men and women who step up every single day. You, you, and you. We see them now, every hour of every day on every channel. Faces on the faceless...the plumber with his tools waiting patiently until his abilities are needed. The housewife or househusband taking the children to school then passing out water to the thirsty. The singer in the cathedral lifting all our voices, all our hearts, all our hopes. Even those who do nothing but care in their hearts and wish they had some contribution to make. The simple act of caring is heroic. Some days it is a heroic act just to refuse the paralysis of fear and straighten up and step into another day. My 95-year-old father pulled 'his' Marines out of the water at Tarawa under a withering triple crossfire, having four boats shot out from under him, refusing a direct order to retreat, and returning again and again and again and again until he had every single man back to the hospital ship. Yet that heroism pales in the face of his ferocious optimism as he battles to maintain his dignity while I button his shirt today. In times of life crisis, whether wild fires or smoldering stress, the first thing I do is go back to basics...am I eating right, am I getting enough sleep, am I getting some physical and mental exercise everyday. Sometimes you have to be selfish to be selfless. Then I start looking into my fears. Courage is just fear, plus prayers, plus understanding. Fear is the only true enemy, born of ignorance and the parent of anger and hate. On a level of simple personal survival, understanding and forgiveness are crucial...whether in an intimate personal relationship or on a global level. As a lifelong warrior, I still remember my first lesson in combat...get your opponent angry, and he will defeat himself. Let us begin by doing our best to do our best, every single time, no matter what, forever. That is a truly heroic goal. Yesterday, someone wrote 'God Bless the Everyday Hero' in the dust of my car's rear window. Like a kiss from one's beloved, it will wear off before I wash it off. God bless us everyone.
Edward Albert
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In the context of last Tuesday's horrific events, everybody's been trying to check on everybody. Those I know and could check on were safely distant from the World Trade Center towers, but others do not have e-mail and only a guessed-at address, and we're worried about them. For instance, I relay Sue Haley's anxious concern about Pam Tuck. If anybody is in contact with Pam and knows she's OK, post me and I'll pass it along to Sue. And Stephanie Wiltse likewise is worried about members of Perlman's Posse from whom she's hasn't heard. Again, anyone is welcome to contact me, and I'll relay.
In her post, Steff also added this welcome news in regard to globe-trotting Roy Dotrice and wife Kay: "I'd only heard from Roy and Kay via a postcard saying they were enjoying sight-seeing in Salt Lake City even though it was a muggy 97 degrees. Roy was afraid he was going to "fry" filming out in the desert. It wasn't until this past weekend however that I heard from him again (as you might imagine was that ever a relief)."
A related thought: At one time, Peg McNabb patiently gathered and maintained a database of the fandom with addresses; it's now unavailable and would be out of date anyway. Would someone with a website be willing to catalog and carry such information, including e-mail addresses when available, for those in the fandom willing to send that information? It would be a VERY useful resource. Often I'm asked for contact information for this or that person; sometimes I know--more often, I don't. I suggest this as a project for some Helper to take on for the fandom. Some security would be needed lest the database be used for purposes other than the contributors listed therein had intended, but I imagine someone could figure out how that could be done.
Nobody needs my permission to undertake this chore, but I'd appreciate it if such a database were being assembled, the assembler/proprietor would let me know so I could spread the word.
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Staying with Edward, here's an appropriate invitation, in this time of national mourning, from Helper Linda Moore, of the Band of Angels group associated with Edward, as relayed by Helper Leslie Burton:
Linda says:
Greetings to all,
As some of you know, I maintain a web site called "Beauty and the Beast Memorials." While it is comprised mostly of memorials to those connected in some way to the fandom of the TV show "Beauty and the Beast," it is in no way restricted. In the episode "Ashes, Ashes," one of the characters in the tunnel world dies. Vincent says: "But sometimes bad things can happen in life and all our courage and all our love can't change them. And then all we can do is cry for those we've lost and remember them always in our hearts and go on."
In that same episode, the tunnel community honored that character (Ellie) by writing letters to her that were burned so that the messages would be sent heavenward. I offer you the opportunity to do the same at our virtual memorial fire. http://www.mindspring.com/~lcmoore99/mem/guest.htm
Blessings and a wing,
Linda
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Thought you might be interested in this item from the SCI-FI wire concerning a new series for Adrian Paul (Dimitri, "Ashes, Ashes"):
Tracker
Syndicated
Premieres the week of Oct. 15
After the ultimate prison break from the interplanetary prison Sar-Top in the Migar system, 218 of the nastiest fugitives in the universe escape through a wormhole that ends in Chicago. The alien criminals take over human bodies and blend into society, maintaining some of their alien powers. They are led by a brilliant scientist named Zin, who creates a mafia-like criminal empire with evil plans that may extend well beyond Earth. An extraterrestrial named Cole (Adrian Paul) is sent to track down every one of the fugitives, and stop the villainous Zin. But Cole has a problem. Tracking down criminals is nothing compared to negotiating the complexities of human society. Luckily, he has Mel Porter (Amy Price-Francis), a Chicago bar owner, and her British barmaid, Jess (Leanne Wilson), to help him through the tough spots. Called a romantic action comedy, this series is executive produced by Adrian Paul and Gil Grant.
The Outlook: Tracker wasn't available for preview and there's very little buzz on it, so it's difficult to know what its odds are. Paul is a proven performer with six seasons of Highlander under his belt, and he has the ability to do romantic comedy if the script is right. Besides that, he has a pretty strong fan base, which can't hurt. How it will do is anyone's guess, but what Tracker does have is a 22-episode commitment, so it will make it through the first year.
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From a post from Helper Deb Smith:
ANNOUNCEMENT
Sale 3 of 5 - BATB Zines
ANNOUNCEMENT
The items for sale or auction from the NYC con2001 folks just keep coming! We expect all sales to be complete by the end of September.
This time - Sale 3 - we have:
ZINES - LETTERZINES - NEWSLETTERS - DIGEST ZINES
These will go to ebay for auction on 12 Sept 2001. However - you can go to the following URL to get a PREVIEW of what's going to be listed - so you can check your closets and boxes and shelves - before the auction begins!!
Go to http://www.i-star.com/users/sshelton/stuff/merchandise/index.html and click on the link at the top of the page to go to the zine page.
On other fronts - an update:
1) Sale 1 (the NYC con merchandise) - continues until the end of Sept - information at same URL as given above.
2) Sale 2 (the tunnel clothes) - has just finished on ebay.
3) Sale 3 (BATB zines) - is being announced now.
4) Sales 4 and 5 will be announced next - first, "other fandom memorabilia" - then "BATB memorabilia". These will be listed on webpages and sold on a first come, first served basis - via e-mail.
Look for these announcements in mid-September.
And there you have it! Hope you're all doing well out there!
debbie
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In the last update, I passed along this notice from Gwen Lord, president of the Roy Dotrice fan club, via Helper Kathy Bayne:
Sunday, August 26, 2001
Roy will be appearing in an upcoming episode of "Touched By An Angel," directed by Bethany Rooney. Roy plays MICAH the angel guarding "The Ark of the Covenant," and he lives in a cave. Filming starts this week. Keep an eye out and don't miss this episode.
I'd appreciate a video copy for the club archives.
……..
Now there's this update, again from Gwen:
Roy has asked that if fans like his portrayal of the Archangel Micah, that they write to CBS and ask that he be a recurring character.
You can write to:
CBS
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10014
Nan again. It would appear that that episode will air on Saturday, 9/29--from the Sightings:
8 p (ET)
If someone is willing to tape it for Gwen (I assume she either can view VHS or has a means of converting it to PAL format), her address is:
Gwen Lord
The Roy Dotrice Fan Club
6 Meadow Lane
Leasingham, Sleaford
Lincs NG34 8LL England UK
Gwen doesn't have e-mail, but you might relay to Gwen your intention to send her a tape through Kathy (KathyBayne@aol.com), since Kathy was kind enough to relay the information in the first place. That way, Gwen won't get 50 tapes from 50 different people. I assume Kathy would be willing to act as gatekeeper in this respect. If you post her, she'd be able to say whether or not someone had already offered to do Gwen that favor and provide a tape.
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Now, the information I know you've all been aching for--why two weeks went by without an update. It was the Sightings that stymied me for awhile. I figure I'll be doing the Sightings for the foreseeable future since Helper/Correspondent Maxine now has had a daughter and new grandchild (congratulations!) added to her household and likely will have neither the time or energy to do them as she has for so long.
My resource is the online TV Guide. A couple of weeks back, I found myself suddenly confronted with over 200 channels, as the complete/expanded listings of my cable company, Time-Warner, were added to the schedule. There were abbreviations for cable channels I'd never heard of and couldn't decipher from the abbreviations; there were about 6 flavors of HBO and of Showtime, sometimes carrying the same programming and sometimes not. I did the sightings…and it took me two full days. I knew I couldn't keep up at that rate. So I did what I do when confronted with an insoluble dilemma: I froze. Naturally, there were distractions--a holiday, the birthdays of several friends and my own, and then what happened in NYC and Washington D.C. But there are always distractions of one sort or another. What I needed to think out was how to render the researching of the Sightings into a more manageable form. What I've decided to do is to follow the principal actors in detail, and do a quick pass of SOME of the supporting and one-time cast (like Lance Henriksen, for instance, of whom many of us have become quite fond) on an occasional basis. And I've been helped by the fact that the TV Guide online now lets me search ONLY Basic Cable--I don't have to get into all the flavors and exotics if I choose not to (it wasn't that way to begin with--I had to search EVERYTHING or NOTHING!).
So that's why there's been a delay in formulating, posting, and uploading the updates. I froze until I could think my way out of the problem. I hope you'll find the result satisfactory--detailed listings on the principles, and mentions of others from time to time. That, I think I can manage on an ongoing basis.
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The Sightings are at http://home.fuse.net/helpnet/sight.htm.
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If it's news and has to do with Beauty and the Beast, please think of the Hotline and relay. We're all in this together keeping the dream of Beauty and the Beast alive however we can. Beast wishes, be well, and goodbye.
http://home.fuse.net/helpnet
