I have not really talked about a lot of the other outside projects that I work on here in Chicago- if you haven't noticed I also am part owner of a theater space here in Chicago.  It's a cute little intimate black box theater you can see more photos at www.stage33chicago.org.  We launched our first production called "Keenerville" and we brought in tello fav. Elizabeth Keener to host an improv game show with some awesome chicago improvisors.  To follow that up we are bringing in Bridget McManus to hose another game show.
We will be posting some of the projects to tello so you will be able to see some of the best sketches!  If anyone is in the Chicago-land area please come to the show.

Hey Nikki & Nora Fans!

On Thursday, October 22nd, 2009, there will be a  a highly unique show at the special starting time of 9 PM EST:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allaine/20 09/10/23/Nikki-and-Nora

Nikki & Nora's Nancylee Myatt, Christina Cox, and Liz Vassey Answer Your Questions

On this show three people will talk - creator/writer Nancylee Myatt and stars Christina Cox and Liz Vassey. It's going to be an unusual show in more ways than one. Not only will it be the first time I've interviewed actual celebrities for my show instead of fan authors, not only will the show run longer than sixty minutes, but it will also be the first time where every single question will have been asked prior to airing. Due to scheduling conflicts that prevent all three of the guests from appearing in person, the entire interview has been conducted via email, and their answers will be read over the air by longtime N&N fans Silk, Inspectorboxer, and Docwho2100. Those questions are from the fans themselves. And to top it all off, my guests have expressed a willingness to answer questions about other projects. That means television programs like CSI, Blood Ties, Defying Gravity, and South of Nowhere are all on the table. So be sure to tune in - there's no telling what you might find out about your favorite pairing.

This show is special, not just because of the successful television actresses who will be appearing, not just because their answers will be given by proxies, but also because of that title. "Answer Your Questions." My guests and I are actively asking the fans to supply the questions for this show. I've already let the members of certain communities (primarily femslash communities devoted to the various television programs referenced above) know in an unofficial capacity that they have until midnight EST on Friday, October 16th, 2009 to submit a question for your favorite star - or even all three of them. Well, now I'm telling everyone. This is your golden chance to ask Liz, Christina, and/or Nancylee one question. They'll be answering up to 20 questions apiece. So more questions is better. More questions from different people is better. And more people tuning in is definitely better.

So remember - midnight EST on October 16th is the deadline for question submissions. 9-11 PM EST on October 22nd is when the show will air. You can always download prior episodes at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/allain e, including my N&N discussion on October 1st with Silk.

I was up late chatting to my friend AJ online, so when I woke up this morning… Let’s just say I could’ve added another hour’s worth of sleep easily. (To give you an indication it was 05:50 hrs Halifax time, or 01:50 hrs San Francisco time.)
Radio host Diederik called me to see if I was ready for the interview, told me that “Cup of Blood” by The Dudes was released in The Netherlands several weeks ago (oh? I didn’t have the heart to tell him that song is on the previous album), then explained shortly what he was going to do. It was all very simple, and nothing I hadn’t done before… Except this was going to be aired live.

With a minute left of an Oasis single he called me and told me we were going to go on air when the song had finished. And we did.
Before you start wondering what I was doing for Kink FM, here’s a short explanation: I’m their one time “Zomerscout”, meaning that I share whatever good music I heard in the country I visited. Always up to plug good Canadian music, I submitted an E-mail telling Diederik I’d like to put in my two cents.

I recently sent him another to share what music grabbed my attention, and of which I thought fits the station’s format.
I told him about The Lost Fingers, who are hot in the French province of Canada, Bif Naked, The Dudes and (of course) Serena Ryder. Diederik likes them all, but decided to plug The Dudes.
On air he asked me what I was doing in Canada, how much Canadian music I’d heard, and general questions about Calgary’s finest “The Dudes”. I tried to answer all the questions without trying to sound like a rambling idiot (I didn’t, according to my brother). There were a couple of silences, which - as Diederik later explained - was all thanks to him trying to locate a certain radio jingle to prelude the single.
All in all I think the interview went pretty well. It’s going to be online, but I don’t know when (Diederik couldn’t tell me either) so I’m going to keep you updated on that.

Outfest is one of tello's most favorite times of the year.  We have made some wonderful friends who we get to see and hang out with each time we go out to LA.  We love Chi-Town and enjoy visiting LA and seeing our friends.  This year we are again going to get some awesome interviews and just have an all around great time.  We will be tweating from Outfest and posting twitpics and video.

I was reading a story about an on-line network that has closed it's doors: Ripe Digital. Now this on-line network really was targeting young men- and not really the demographic of tello- but I must say I feel very proud that in this economic downturn, after ourchart bit the dust- tellofilms.com is still around and creating content.

Ripe is also the latest content startup to fail this year. Other casualties in the online video world that shut down recently include ManiaTV and 60Frames.

Thanks for all of your support ladies!

If you have not had the chance to watch Fox's new show Glee- stop reading this and go straight to Hulu and watch the first episode.  It is a fantastic comedy / musical romp!  Funny lady Jane Lynch is in it as is Lea Michelle (from the musical Spring Awakening).  I am so excited be sure to set your DVR/TiVo or just watch it on Hulu!

starting at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16.

MTV is currently looking for subjects to participate in a documentary about
people who lead "other lives" online. They're especially interested in
documenting people who are out of the closet online, but in the closet in
real life.

If you appear between the ages of 18 and 30, and live another life on the
web, email us at: brosen@leftright.tv with your story.

Please be sure to include::

   - Name
   - Where you live
   - Your phone number and e-mail
   - If possible a photo of yourself
   - Your story

http://www.logoonline.com/about/casting.jhtml

I'm counting down a week and a half till Montréal and Quebec City - before returning to the Maritimes. I've already decided to get a two-way bus ticket for the Montréal - Quebec City corridor as it's way cheaper than getting there by train.
Today's Globe and Mail ran an article on the horrific tragedy that happened last year, and it got me slightly on edge:

The scream that haunts the forgotten passengers of bus 1170

Ten months later, the witnesses of Tim McLean's horrific murder aboard a Greyhound bus have lost the lives they had before.

Read the article here.

Even though I know I'll be perfectly fine (I was so the last time), I can't shake the feeling I need to be more vigilant this time. I know it's crazy, and that I'm overreacting but combine that with the Air France plane vanishing on its way from Brazil to France... Did you know people are still alerted about the Mexican flu in Canada? (I think I read that half the new cases are reported in the province of Ontario.) Although the flu is the least of my concerns: I was in Hong Kong shortly after the height of the SARS pandemic.
Oh, the excitement!

Did you hear the sarcasm in that? Good.

Anyhoo, out artist Terry Guy offered me to come and audition for his live band. I must say it was terribly tempting, but as I'm currently trying to relocate I declined. Somewhat disappointed he then suggested a stint as a studio musician, but I declined that, too. Knowing myself I'd get to pumped on that I'd end up auditioning (and possibly joining) Terry's live band as well.
The drummer and the bass player of my old band have contacted me to ask if I feel like jamming with them. Their own band is currently on indefinite hiatus, and they're itching to play again. I can't deny I feel the same, and an old friend of mine want to come and train her vocal chords... It's been a while between dislocating my shoulder and frequently crossing the Atlantic. I'm looking forward to play with those talented ladies.

I am so excited that Girltrash will be made into a movie. I thought it was really fun and funny with a great cast. It really bothered me as a webseries because it was so short and they always had "Previously on girltrash" - which you can see here on tellofilms.com. Nicole and I had a chance to view it as one full short and it was so much better. I think the format that Angela Robinson used- with flash backs - is better as a full-length movie. We here at tellofilms are so very excited to see this! Statement from Angela Robinson from afterellen.com We are in talks with producers to shoot a (very low budget) Girltrash! movie in December, starring the original cast, plus some new characters. I'm writing the script now, and Alex Kondracke (writer on The L Word, who shot the original web series and directed part of it), will be directing. We are in the midst of getting the Girltrash! website back online and will be bringing updates from the production as we go. Killola has agreed to write a bunch of songs for the movie, which is awesome.

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I was supposed to go to the first home game of the Chicago Red Stars, the new Women's Pro Team in Chicago- but it was cold and raining so I wussed out.  Instead some friends went to a pub and watched the game.  I was really impressed with the level of play and I'm so excited that there's a women's pro league again.  I want to give a shout out to Carli Lloyd who got the "player of game" award and most definately deserved it.  Carli Lloyd played on the Olympic team that won a gold medal in Bejing and now plays for Chicago.  The game was a tie but Chicago out played New Jersey in the first half.

If you have a chance check out the interviews that tello did with the players.

I think this league is going to be better than the last one because they have reached out to the international women who are very strong and exciting athletes.

Go Red Stars!  but more importantly "GO WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL SPORTS"!

In my last blog post I discussed the new kind of TV viewing where, thanks to youtube, we can now watch story lines that we like. I have been catching up on the Guiding Light Otalia story line and it brings back memories of the Niki/Helen story line on Bad Girls. I wonder if the writers or one of them watched that show. There are many similarities between the story lines. The engagement and hesitation of Natalia is much like Helen- the longing looks of Olivia remind me of Niki (although the actress Olivia has the most amazing eyes compared to Niki and the long and drawn out story line and the very short kisses before the first real kiss. I hope the writers are looking to Bad Girls as a good example of how to bring the two together- I think viewers would all agree the scene where Niki escapes and goes to Helen's house is really a fantastic one- and the climatic kiss scene is one of my favorites. I do want to say well done to the writers. I think the emotions that both women are expressing are very real and true- although whoever is writing Frank's lines really needs to revisit them- he's so freaking sappy I want to kill him. This is pretty good TV people- and since we have so few lesbian characters on television right now I'm thankful that this one is well written.

I was reading the Afterellen.com Best.Lesbian.Week.Ever column and I love the quick recaps that Sarah Warn does of any shows with a lesbian story line.  I think it's a great idea.  One that caught my attention was the Guiding Light recaps.  I have been following that storyline through afterellen and went to see the video of the kiss.
I started watching today - all the past clips on youtube of that storyline and I realized something.  First- we have such choice now with technology of the shows we want to watch- with DVR or TiVo we can choose the shows we want.  I realized that not only can we choose the shows but I can also choose storylines that I like. 
I did this with Bad Girls- some fantastic person took only scenes with Niki and Helen and uploaded them on youtube so that I could follow that storyline and not have to deal with the other ones that I didn't care about.  I did end up watching all the eps of season 1-3 of BG but I can still go back and only watch the threads that I like- this is what i can do wtih Guiding Light.  I basically got caught up on that Olivia and Natalia storyline by watching one fan who put all the clips together - dated them and marked part 1 and 2.  I didn't have to suffer through any other storylines that I didn't like or care about.  I can watch only the ones that I like.
This is the sort of viewing that is so selective and specific.  This is what community sites have done for us.  This kind of specific and personal viewing is the future of entertainment- iTunes has done the same thing with the ability to select songs that we like and not have to purchase the entire CD.
This has really given me a lot to ponder today.

For those of you who read afterellen.com I am a huge fan of BJ Fletcher the webseries that the site supports.  The great thing about BJ Fletcher is that the 2nd season was better than the 1st season which is rare and wonderful.  Congrats to Regan Latimer the producer and director for her talent.
I want to take a moment to give props to Vanessa Dunn who has one of the most sexy voices period and does a wonderful british accent- in addition to that she is a solid actor who makes all of her lines natural and comfortable.  From the moment she had her scene with Dana Puddicomb (who plays Georgia Drew) I was hooked on her character.  In fact-all the leads are awesome and very talented with great comic timing.
What I would like to officially do is thank the cast and creator of BJ Fletcher for ignighting the fire of creativity under my butt.  I did a webseries pilot a year ago and then haven't really done much besides the interviews for tellofilms.com but watching the outtakes made me realize that I love to be creative and I need to start that process up again.
I am very lucky in that I have a camera, editing equipment and access to talent here in Chicago yet I have been doing nothing to exercise my creative muscle so I'm now in the process of getting creative again.  I also have a theater- yes I own a theater and am currently renting it out but I have not done anything creative for my theater either!  I have all the tools but am using none of them to build anything.
So I am now starting- Thanks BJ Fletcher and Regan for putting together a great outtakes reel (which are always my favorite) and helping get my creative juices flowing.
I also extend an invitation to the cast and creator - if you guys ever want to put up anything in my theater pleae let me know.  I'd be happy to host all of you.
This week I am going to donate to support the webseries which is made out of love of the process as no one gets paid and all the people working it it have day jobs that pay the rent.

Best of luck to all of you and thanks for your funny show that has lesbian lead characters.

The L Word Final Season (6) has started airing on Showtime.  The big mystery - that will never be solved (IC's interview in the L.A. Times)- is who killed Jenny.  I'm not opposed to having a mystery at the beginning of a show and then working backwards.  It's all about the journey for me and knowing Jenny is killed does make things interesting.  I'm not a huge fan of one character saying "I'm going to kill Jenny" every episode- but I get it.

I'm not sure how I feel about The L Word going off the air.  On one hand lesbians have their own show- and that's nice.  I think the women are very attractive and some can actually act, which is nice.  That being said I'm not a huge fan of the many storylines that get dropped and the inconsistent character actions.  I'm a big fan of Veronica Mars, Buffy, Battlestar Galactica and Friday Night Lights so I tend to enjoy arching storylines and character growth.  Perhaps having The L Word off the air will open up the possiblity of having another, better written show- that's not part soap opera on TV.  I know there's another prison drama in the works but it's not tagged as a "lesbian" show. 

I've never been a fan of someone telling me that I have to support something so people will make more- if it's crap.  I had a director and producer tell me once "you have to support bad lesbian movies so that people can see that they are commerically viable".  I can see that arguement but at the same time don't I want good quality?  Should I support something that is not good so that they can make more things that are not good?

I bought Showtime to support the L Word- but now I love Dexter, Weeds and Californication so I'm not going to cancel it.  I should be thankful for that.

I am a faithful viewer of The L Word and I appreciate it's ground breaking-ness but I look forward to the lesbian BSG or Buffy quality shows.  Let's hope that Logo starts putting up some of that instead of "Noah's Arc".

I would like to end with the fact that I'm a big fan of Exs and Ohs.  We have some great interivews with the cast on tellofilms.com and I look forward to season 2.  The main problem with Season 1 is that there are not enough episodes!