Wordless Wednesday - 179

Virtual Advent Tour - 2010 - My 1000th Post!!

Welcome to this year's edition of the Virtual Advent Tour. The tour has been running for five years now, and this is my third year participating.

As a lifelong Christmas devotee, I was in an odd place during the Christmas of 2007, when I first came across this blog event. My dad had passed away nine months earlier, my grandmother had just passed away at the beginning of that December, and my father-in-law was in the last month of his life.

I was a little numb. A part of me reached out for Christmas, while another part of me could only watch Christmas stumble past. When I found this blog tour of other Christmas enthusiasts, writing about all the things that made this season special for them - it was a lifeline to sanity. It helped me to celebrate even in the midst of my sorrow.














So now I'd like to invite you to the most special night of the year for my family - Christmas Eve.

My family and my cousin's family grew up together, more as one group of eight rather than two groups of four. We were constantly at one another's homes, so the evening of Christmas Eve needed to be super special.

We began dressing up in our most formal wear for this biggest night on our social calendar. When we were kids, we settled in to watch the Christmas TV specials that were on, like Rudolph, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, The Grinch and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

That's me above, waiting for my second wind, with my cousin Julianne looking on, and our Gram. We're pictured in Auntie's living room, where the adults gathered for drinks and to chat while the kids played around the house and chatted our little-kid chats. We always knew we had progressed into a new era of our lives when we gravitated toward sitting with the adults rather than hanging out in the TV room with the kid hors d'oeuvres of cheesies and pop.


















As we got older, we stopped eating the kids' meal of hotdogs and french fries, and we discovered the wonders of my aunt's seafood bisque, a dish I dream about all year long.














She's usually busy stirring it as we arrive, because it can't be left unattended even for a second.
































Spouses were folded into the mix, and new little cousins as they appeared.





















My musical family began having a musical Christmas Eve. It's an East Coast tradition to have impromptu musical parties erupting in homes all over this region. But we do rehearse just a tad. We try to keep our performance pieces as secret from each other as we can so there will be a bit of a surprise for everyone.
























There's always the possibilty that we try to dress up on this special night as a way of keeping the silliness factor under control.

But as you can see, it only ever meets with mixed success.



































This year we'll be in Toronto to celebrate with my husband's family.

*insert excited squeal*

But the East Coast Christmas Eve will carry on while we're enjoying the love and hugs from our Big City family and friends.

From our celebration to yours, may you have the Merriest of Christmases.

Thank you to Kailana @ The Written World and Marg @ Adventures of an Intrepid Reader for hosting this beautiful event. ((hugs)) to you!

Weekend Writer's Retreat - 36

Here's the latest installment of Scorpius' boyhood back story.

Scorpius is a character from my dark fantasy work in progress. For the first twelve scenes posted for the Weekend Writer's Retreat, we follow him as a seven-year-old, outgrown from the nursery where he'd been brought up with the other children of the blood. When no one from his family claimed him, Scorpius was released to serve a scarred and intimidating master.

The next twelve scenes follow Scorpius as a ten-year-old seasoned falconer's apprentice. The more he understands of his world, the more he learns to beware the nobles who come to the cottage for the hunt. The political intrigues that take the lives of its players can burn anyone who comes too close - including a falconer and his boy.

We rejoin him at age thirteen.

You can follow the progress of this story arc by clicking on the Works in Progress link just under the blog header.


Scene 36

He watched the sweep of Ingerith’s skirt as she disappeared around the crest of the boulder. Scorpius scanned the sky for dragon signs, but in truth he sought to avoid hearing the bittersweet laughter, the muffled sounds of his master and his lover.

An hour passed while Scorpius sat on watch. His master had not seen Ingerith since that two-night absence, just before the nightmare hunt began. The two of them never knew when they would reunite, which served as a hurtful reminder that their lives were not their own. This meeting today set them all on edge, as Ingerith’s current noble patron had proven himself to be a cruel adversary.

Scorpius’ mind kept latching onto the way Richolf no doubt cradled his lover behind their screen of granite. Shaking his head to stop his mind from wandering back, Scorpius couldn’t prevent his memories of her neckline when he’d met her in the ravine, revealing her soft curves beneath her bodice. His body insisted on responding to something that was none of his business.

Whenever Ingerith smiled at him, even when she didn’t smile at him, merely looked at him, Scorpius’ skin shivered. Yet her sighs were for his master, and not for such as him.

His gaze scanned the treetops, recalling the horrible sight of the dragon on that morning years ago when he’d raced for the pillar rock. Clapping hands over his eyes, Scorpius grasped for something else to fill his mind. Insistent moans from Richolf and Ingerith brought the equally horrible images to mind from the slave hunt several nights’ past.

How his heart had broken for that poor girl who had not been able to stop herself from crying. Such a pitiful figure she’d made, her body ghostly as she struck out into the darkness. Lord Dirske had toyed with her, chasing yet not quite grabbing her down, until eventually she’d turned to face him in exhaustion, wordlessly pleading with him to get it over with.

Scorpius didn’t want to know what that moment felt like.

To be driven to the point of embracing his own ruin, it was starting to weigh on his mind, ever since the last of the nobles has ridden away for the estate.

Dwarfing leathery wingspan or vindictive lord – which was worse? The shrieks of his little friend just before the dragon fire burnt her down to cinders, or the cries of the slave as Lord Dirske pierced her body before the cheering assembly – all of it rattled around in his mind, dogging him when he tried to be about his work.

Hugging his knees to his chest, Scorpius thought about the guard who’d shared his food with him before the hunt had turned gruesome. He must have known what the evening would bring. He’d even grinned at him and said, “Well, aren’t you the sly pup,” when Scorpius had assured him his master provided successful hunts.

Should Scorpius feel repulsed by that young man? How could he when his attempts at preventing the crying slave from disrupting the surprise had not been blows but quiet words? How could he when the guard had walked toward his penance with calm dignity?

Things had seemed so simple only a few years ago. Back then he’d still longed to discover his unknown mother and father, nobles like the ones who attended the hunt of screams. He hadn’t known who might have come for him at the nursery. He’d been so crushed when it had been the falconer and not his father.

What would his life have amounted to, if it had been Lord Dirske to collect him? If his father had been such as that man, what would Scorpius be like now? If Lord Dirske had taken him to serve on his estate, would he have been able to bear each day as the young guard did?

Tears welled in his eyes. For a moment he resisted them. But he heard the sounds coming from behind the boulder, and so let them roll down his face with no one to see or hear.

© Julia Smith, 2010

I'm blogging at The Popculturedivas today - scroll down for 5 on Friday

Today at The Popculturedivas I'm posting about blog events like the Virtual Advent Tour.

I'll be joining the tour on Dec. 14th - hope to see you there.

5 on Friday - 44

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

My sister and I just had our annual Christmas Lights Party, where we put the outside lights up at my mom's house (where I live, as well.) We look forward to this all year.

First: pour whisky or wine into our Christmas mugs














Second: put Frankie on the CD player out on the front steps and begin the event with "I love those J-I-N-G-L-E bells, oh!"

Third: try to remember the labyrithine electrical cord set-up (my sister always comes through)

Four: chat about stuff while untangling wires, winding twist-ties around bannisters and propping up ornamental lights

Five: laugh

Six: go in for supper that Mom whips up for us




























So in celebration of Christmas lights everywhere, here are the light shows devised by ordinary joes of all stripes, whose dormant creativity bursts forth in this season that embraces the waning light of winter.

1 - Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney and Wings

The mood is right
The spirit's up
We're here tonight
And that's enough

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

The party's on
The feeling's here
That only comes
This time of year

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

- Paul McCartney



2 - Jingle Bells - Ochre



3 - Dig That Crazy Santa Claus - Ralph Marterie

Dig that crazy Santa Claus
With his red suit on
Dig that walk, that crazy talk
Man oh man, he's really gone

Drags his sack through a chimney stack
All the little hepcats jump for joy
So cool it, Rudolph! Cool it!

With your nose a-glow
Tell those groovey reindeer
When Santa starts to blow
Go! Go!

- Johnson / Rene / Rene



4 - It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Andy Williams

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle bell-ing
And everyone telling you 'Be of good cheer'
It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings
And gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It's the hap-happiest season of all

- Pola / Wyle



5 - Wizards in Winter - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Thursday Thirteen - 188 - 13 Ways to Admire Kevin Smith

1 - The wonderful thing about a career in film and television is the vibrant legacy of memories that allow a performer to reach out to all of us, even after they've gone.

That's the way it is for late New Zealand actor Kevin Smith.


















2 - To the shock and distress of the film and TV industry, and his legion of hot-and-bothered fans, Kevin passed away after an accidental six-story fall from a prop tower on a film set in 2002.

While he was with us...

Kevin Smith

6' 3"

Eyes - Brown

Hair - Dark brown

Type - Athletic / Mid-30's

He worked as an actor / Co-founder of a theatresports troupe, Scared Scriptless

Worked in television / Film / Stage















3 - Kevin grew up in Auckland and later Timaru, New Zealand. He played rugby and sang in rock bands in school, continuing with his musical interests all through his acting career.

Appeared as the same character on Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess and Young Hercules for seven seasons (1995-2001)

Unlike the three previous hotties showcased so far in my Thursday Thirteen Eye Candy series, Kevin's only other genre work was his final project, Riverworld (2003). Because of his death, his voice had to be looped by another actor in post production.

Kevin did a wide variety of roles, including:

Lawless, a three-film crime series for television following a Kiwi private investigator (1999-2000)
Jubilee, a comedy featuring Kevin as an All-Blacks Kiwi rugby player (2000)
Desperate Remedies, an art house film featuring Kevin as a settler in colonial Down Under (1993)

He also participated in an improv comedy theatresports troupe, and had considerable stage credits, including:

Cabaret
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
A Streetcar Named Desire
The Blue Room
Othello

Next photo is straying into Not Safe For Work territory...



























4 - Kevin kept in tiptop shape for the grueling stunt schedule required of his role on Herc and Xena. His role as the god of war meant his call sheet contained a steady stream of fight sequences. He excelled at these, and in fact took his final role in a film shot in Beijing in order to work with a stuntman from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

This saucy fanvid clip contains a tongue-in-cheek homage to the side of Ares we didn't see very often. There were a few episodes in a story arc where Ares had lost his god-powers, which is where all the footage for this video came from.









































5 - No matter how delicious Mr. Smith might have been, he was strictly eye candy, ladies - he belonged to Mrs. Smith. Suzanne was his childhood sweetheart and the mother of his three boys.

We all have her to thank for our introduction to Kevin, as it was her suggestion that he go to a casting call after a sports injury which led to his career before the cameras.













6 - Kevin played himself in a mockumentary directed by Hercules co-star Michael Hurst, which follows the fictitious development of a unique shellfish industry in a small New Zealand town.

CLICK HERE to watch clip of Love Mussel

The scene where Kevin discovers the aphrodisiac qualities of the local seafood begins at the 9:32 mark.

















7 - Kevin appeared for seven seasons as Ares, God of War on three connected series - Hercules, Xena and Young Hercules.

He ranks up there with Keith Allen's Sheriff of Nottingham as one of my favorite TV villains. Ares relished his every rotten impulse and apologized for none of his self-interested mayhem.

I suspect Kevin imbued this character with an aspect of himself, as his co-star and director Michael Hurst said of him:

"It was always a riot when Kevin was around because (and I think I can speak for many people here) he made you want to be naughty. He had a streak of madness that seemed to call to everyone's inner lunatic, and my memories of working with him throughout this time are of both laughter and insanely hard work."

Here's a scene featuring Bad to the Bone Ares from Hercules the Legendary Journeys.



















8 - Remember my soft spot for a man in chains?

...well...

Herc and Xena only gave us a few tied-up Ares moments. The nature of the god of war made this moment pictured above a rarity.

In the less-is-more category, the sight of Ares in this predicament had a far more powerful effect because of its singularity.

It led to big character growth for him, as well. Awesome stuff.















9 - Although Xena's character developed a longterm romantic relationship with her sidekick Gabrielle during the series, she also had several male romantic relationships, which included an ongoing love-hate thing with Ares.

Contrasting his uber villain persona with his lovestruck side, Ares' black shades lightened to much more fascinating grays in his pursuit of his warrior princess.

















10 - And Kevin was an awesome crier.

CLICK HERE to watch clip












11 - Have I ever been able to resist a sword-wielding warrior?
















12 - But what can send me into more paroxysms of joy than a hunky man who can act, sing, dance AND swing a sword?
















13 - When the Xena producers decided to do a musical episode in season 3, they hit the jackpot with triple threat Kevin as their war god.

CLICK HERE to listen to Melt Into Me, sung by Kevin and by Hudson Leick, who played Xena's nemesis Callisto.

Wordless Wednesday - 178