28 December

• The SciFi Channel has removed Xena from it's lineup. Starting from next week that old faithful Star Trek will be back.
• The Norse Trilogy won an award from Sci Fi IGN for Best Episode for 2000
  "Best Episode: The Ring Arc, Xena: Warrior Princess. For sheer audacity, this three-part arc (consisting of The Rheingold, The Ring, and Return of the Valkyrie) wins, hands down. Not only does it incorporate outrageous, epic twists into an already epic show, but it also throws in wild cards like Beowulf, Grendel, and a subtexty twist on the Sleeping Beauty legend (guess who gets to awaken snoozing Gabrielle with a smooch? Mmm hmm). The whole shebang is akin to a bigass Xena movie, and it's a fine, emotionally-wrenching mark to leave on the show's final season. Here's to hoping that Xena and Gabs ride off into the sunset in similarly b*tt-kickin' style."
  http://scifi.ign.com/feature/5950.html

24 December

• 2001 Xena Convention - May 2001
  Suzanne contacted me to say that she has a spare Preferred seats ticket (with a proof of purchase) that she wishes to sell. If you are going to the convention and don't have a ticket - email Suzanne and grab it. Her email addy is Suzanne21@btinternet.com
  
• The Oxygen Channel (US) will be showing a 14 hour Xena Marathon starting 1 January 2001 from 8 am "Sins of the Past" and ending with "Athens City Academy of Performing Bards". So if you missed the first 14 episodes of Season 1 now's the time to catch up.

• New 2001 Calendar Pages
  http://www.geocities.com/gabrielle_army/2001-Xena.html
  http://www.geocities.com/gabrielle_army/2001-Gabrielle.html
  http://www.geocities.com/gabrielle_army/2001-HerculesIolaus.html
  http://www.geocities.com/gabrielle_army/2001-AresCallisto.html

12 December

• Very good news times: Shadowfen site is back up. You will all remember that the site was closed down by Pantherweb but now it's found a new home.
  http://www.shadowfen.com/ffindex/ Xenarulz is also back up which is great news!
  at http://www.xenarulz.com
• Lunacy has moved her site and now has a domain name. Lunacy's Fan Fiction Reviews can be found at http://lunacyreviews.com
• Mailing List Info: Beginning January 1, 2001, the Ex-Guards will become "The Bards' Village." This is a place where bards learn their craft, have fun, and encourage one another. Readers are more than welcome too. Anyone can read until you drop here and even step into the world of fanfiction yourself. All we ask is that you obey the rules, according to the FAQ, and offer Feedback to the bards (whether on list or  off). We have a little of everything & everyone here. Authors, both published and not, poets, musicians, artists, and folks who just plain love to read Xena fanfiction and original works. Just a reminder that this an "age 18 and over" mail list. http://www.art-with-attitude.com/exguards/exguards.html

8 December

• (SANTA MONICA, Calif.) December 6, 2000–Fandom, Inc. (www.fandom.com), the pre-eminent media company focused on Expanded Reality Entertainmentä (ERE), announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Creation Entertainment. The Glendale, California-based company is the nation’s leading producer of live events for fans of fantasy, science fiction and horror, and invented the concept of touring fan conventions almost 30 years ago.
  [Click here to read press release]
• How does this affect the Official Xena Fan Club? Sharon Delaney has confirmed that the fan club will be still be going strong and she has plans on producing Kit #5. Kit #4 (with the Behind the scenes video and bloopers) is now being sent out to those who subscribed. Sharon has said that there was enough footage from the Behind the Scenes of Who's Gurkhan? for a second video in the next kit.

7 December

The following is from Sharon Delaney

As you may have heard, the sixth season will be the last. I can't believe six years have gone by so quickly. Since the announcement was made, people have been writing asking how they can say thanks to Lucy, Renee, Rob and everyone who helped make the show. If you have some thoughts, you can send a letter via email or regular mail -- outback@primenet.com   or 100 W. Broadway #1200, Glendale, CA 91210. We'll make sure the cast and crew know just how much this show has meant to you. I'm also going to print some of them in upcoming newsletters and on the fan club web page. Put attention: Last Season.

20 November

• The second auction to benefit the Starship Foundation's Safe and Sound Appeal is posted up on the Sword and Staff site at http://sword-and-staff.com/auction.htm   There are a number of autographed items, as well as some leather items, magazines. amd other assorted Xena memorabilia. The auction will run until 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, November 26, 2000. All proceeds go to the Starship Foundation in New Zealand in support of the Safe and Sound Appeal that Lucy Lawless has been very active in supporting. Once again, you can use a credit card to charge your donation. To date, donations to the Safe and Sound appeal made through Sword and Staff total $5,420.
• The following is from Dawn:
  In cooperation with the ATX newsgroup and a may other friends from the Merpups, NorthernAmazons and Xenaversity, I am finally able to announce the sale of a t-shirt for charity. We've been planning this sale since they first announced that Lucy & Renee will be in Pasadena, and we're very excited about it!! With the Pasadena 2001 Xena Convention fast approaching, it is our goal to sell at least 500 (hopefully more), t-shirts to raise money for the following charities: The Starship Foundation's Safe and Sound Appeal, The Starship Children's Hospital and the James B. Ellis Foundation. These shirts will be available in a variety of sizes, will be silk-screened, 4-color process on a 50/50 white t-shirt. The picture of this t-shirt will be available for viewing as soon as I can upload it to my site. We would like to take orders beginning immediately. For more information, please send emails to XWPCharityT@aol.com.  We will be able to give you sizing info, pricing (which will include priority mail shipping prior to the convention...so we can all wear them), and answer any other questions you may have.
  We will be doing this as a thank you to Lucy and Renee and the rest of the XWP cast and crew for the 6 wonderful years of entertainment they have given us, and donating this money in their names. Deadline for orders will be on or about February 1, 2001, unless the orders are pouring in, then we may extend it , just to make sure everyone who wants one, gets one. We will need to give the silkscreening company at least 30 days to print them and then we will ship them out to everyone priority mail. Overseas shipping will take a little more time, so we are trying to allow ourselves about 6 weeks (or pretty much the months of March and part of April), to pack and ship them all out. Please check my site soon at: http://hometown.aol.com/ltpaws/index.html   to view the t-shirt design.
• The Xenaverse Online Publications group has announced it's first auction to raise money for the Safe And Sound Charity. If you would like to participate go to http://www.geocities.com/boris1953usa

• For Canadian Xenites
  Space, The Imagination Station ( www.spacecast.com ) will begin showing reruns of Xena beginning with Season 1. The show will start airing on December 4, 2000. Shows will run Mondays to Fridays and will be on at 3:00p.m. EST.
  Many thanks to Cheryl for the information

2 November

The following is from Sharon Delaney/Official Xena Fan Club

The Xena Behind-the-Scenes video for kit #4 with Season Five bloopers is approved -- no changes :) I think we said in the ad it was going to be 40 minutes long, yes? I lied -- it's 60 minutes long plus 10 minutes of bloopers! One hour of life on the set of Xena with no commercials! (grin) 
[click here to read more]

All those burning questions are answered. What lipstick does Xena wear? What brand body wash do they use to turn the fair-skinned Lucy into dark and dangerous Xena? What does Renee have for breakfast? Get to be in the rehearsal room with the choreographer as Renee learns her dance. And peer into the dark shadows of the set as Lucy learns hers. And what do two friends do when they're lying in each other's arms on a stack of pillows waiting for the camera crew to set up? Share the hard work, the laughter and the tears that go into the making of the show. And if you're not whistling "Baby Elephant Walk" for a week after watching the tape, you're a better man than I am Gunga Din.

I'm hoping to have all kit parts in house and starting to ship the end of the month. The kits are shipped priority mail.

**

Global Television in Canada has also not shown Heart of Darkness and Legacy in Quebec and Ontario. They have now changed the REGULAR broadcast times to very late at night: 1:37 AM in Quebec and 2:37 in Ontario, both on Thursday (actually early Friday morning) Starting November 16 with the broadcast of Heart of Darkness. [Many thanks to Cindy for the update.]

30 September

• Creation Entertainment has released information about the Official Xena Fan Club kit #4. This kit will have a behind the scenes video of the show during the filming of Who's Gurkhan? which is pretty good and all the regular goodies plus a blooper tape. For Aussies the price is $103.55AU (at the current exchange rate of $0.55c to $1 US) From the recent Creation Entertainment newsletter they said:
  The documentary is about an hour long and we're extremely proud of  this production. We captured all the hard work and fun of filming our favorite series when we spent two weeks down in New Zealand. You'll see Lucy, Renee and director Michael Hurst, along with the rest of the cast and crew, giving us total access as they prepare and rehearse. You're gonna love this! And, of course, the kit has bloopers, pictures, the giant poster, newsletters and more! http://www.creationent.com/XENA/XENA_FAN.html
• Cathy at the Xenaville Site has a con report from the Starfury Convention which was attended by Hudson Leick, Ted Raimi and Paris Jefferson, Adrienne Wilkinson and Tim Onmundson. The various pics can be seen at
  http://www.fandom.com/xena/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=234199
  and a summary of the convention is at
  http://www.fandom.com/xena/editorial.asp?action=page&obj_id=233669  

29 August

• Congratulations to Joe LoDuca for winning an Emmy Award!
  OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A SERIES (DRAMATIC UNDERSCORE) for Fallen Angel. Check out the Emmy Awards site for more winners. The live telecast of the major awards is held on the 10th September.
  http://www.emmys.tv/awards/52ndarts.htm
• This is way cool - and quite a good resource. Xena Torres has finished putting togethers the transcripts for Season 1 - 5. A lot of hard work has gone into compiling these. Check them out at http://www.geocities.com/xenatorres
• At the recent Cherry Hill Convention, Ted Raimi was asked if it was true that he was in the new Spiderman movie that brother, Sam Raimi, is producing. Ted told the fans that it was just a rumour.
• The push is on from Xena Fans to see Season Seven. If you feel the same way there is a petition now online where you join in with other xenites to see a continuation of the show past Season Six
  http://www.PetitionOnline.com/XWP4aS7/

22 August

The following is a followup to Bookdaft's message a few days ago about the cancellation of the Dark Horse Xena Comic.

I was away for the last few days and did not make in to talk to my comic store rep. He knew it, however, and sent me an e-mail regarding the most current news. I won't post everything he mentioned, but only the salient points.

1. The shortfall for making money comes to around 7 to 10,000 copies for total distribution.

2. Cancellation of the series is pretty much a forgone conclusion. As he put it "I spoke to Dark Horse today, Xena total distrubution is around 7-10,00 shortof making money, it is being cancelled & there is not much that can stop that short of personal intervention from GOD Herself as they will not be overprinting enough to save the title."

3. He recommends the fans of the comic either e-mail Dark Horse or buttonhole the DH reps personally at the comic conventions. The latter seems a less likely intervention, as I suspect most Xena fans don't go to comic cons. However, the first suggestion is doable for all of us who want to support the comic.

4. Dark Horse will bring a mini-series out. Alternatively, they MAY bring the series out every other month (he urged me to use Every-Other Month or EO-Monthly rather than bi-monthly - its a long story). I think it is contingent on fan response - so get those e-mails in if you want to support it.

5. I'm posting this bit because I think this will not benefit him over any local comic stores. He is offering, for free, every Xena comic book he can lay hands on to all females first, males second after he has enough in stock. Dark Horse is sending him as much as they can spare for his promotion. If any of you are interested in obtaining free Xena comic books, contact me privately. As of this date I haven't learned the fine details, but I will and can put you in touch with him if necessary.

bookdaft
bookdaft@voyager.net

17 August

The following is from Bookdaft about the Dark Horse Xena Comic:

Some of you may be aware that Dark Horse will be canceling the comic  XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS with the fourteenth issue. I had promised I  would report back the reason the comic is being canceled. Frankly,  the problem appears to be low sales, especially in the last 3 months,  coupled with a high licensing fee. Dark Horse has tried several  options to reduce their costs or increase their revenue, including  negotiating a reduction in the fee, but nothing has worked so far.

I had a long discussion regarding this subject with my comic store   representative. He had talked with the Director of Sales, Michael  Martins, and the substance of his conversation was: the comic CAN be  saved, but the fans need to get cracking if that is to happen. There  are several things we can do, some fairly easily. I have made a list  of them:

1. If you have looked for the comic in bookstores or grocery stores,  you won ’t find it. The Xena comic is direct sales only, meaning it   goes only to comic specialty stores. If you want to locate a comic  store near you, Diamond Comics has a store locator service (see  www.diamondcomics.com)

2. If going to a comic store doesn’t work for you, you can contact  Dark Horse directly. Use either www.darkhorse.com or  mailorder@darkhorse.com  In the past I have ordered back issues of  comics and received them in a timely fashion, no questions asked. I’m  sure Dark Horse would be more than willing to sell any back issues   they may have.

3. Contact Dark Horse and request a subscription service for XWP from  them.

4. If you are burning to tell a Xena story, submit it to Dark Horse.  They will entertain these stories from lay people.

5. If all else fails, contact me privately for one other option.

Finally, my friend at the comic store said that Dark Horse sincerely  wants to keep the comic going. They have more story lines in the   works, but can’t ignore the problem of low sales. They are willing to   work with the fans to keep it alive, even to the point of only  covering their costs and making a minute profit (I was quoted 10  cents, as an example).

Folks, I really like what Dark Horse has done and is doing with this  comic. I’d like it to continue. If you feel the same way, please   support it.

**

I'm not sure where this bit of news goes but here it is. Xena has been cloned <g>
oink oink alalalalallalalala
It seems some enterprising scientist has gone when no one has gone before and cloned a pig and the little oinker is called Xena. The little piglet has a dark coat but there are rumours it has blue eyes (sorry couldn't resist). You can find out more on http://news.excite.com/news/r/000816/14/science-pigs

Speaking of animals called Xena...the Wedge Tail Eagle that was last seen flying the coup from Taronga Zoo in Sydney has escaped into the wilds and is on the run..er..on the fly somewhere. It hasn't been seen in a long time..I guess Xena the Eagle isn't going to land any time soon...

10 August

• Starlog 2000, September issue #278 (USA), has a pull-out Xena episode guide poster. It lists every episode from the Hercules Warrior Princess trilogy all the way through "Motherhood," and includes the writer, director, and a very brief synopsis . The bottom of the poster has a list of actors for regular and recurring cast members, and a photo of Xena with her new chakram.
• Dark Horse Comics Xena: Warrior Princess #10 has a very nice photograph (not cartoon) on the cover of ROC in her season five outfit.
  Many thanks to Linda Crist for the information above

The following isn't Xena related but I thought I would add this.

• Cleopatra 2525 will now be a one hour show instead of half an hour due to the demise of Jack of All Trades.
  Many thanks to Cathy O'Grady for that news

• The following is from Mist at Sword & Staff
  The S&S auction to benefit the Domestic Violence Center of Howard County will end tomorrow (Tuesday, August 8) at 10:00 PM EDT. You can find the auction at http://sword-and-staff.com/auction.htm
• If you haven't caught up with the new 3D Xena Webisodies - check them out!
  http://www.brilliantdigital.com/bde/page.asp?channel=xena

4 August

• Creation Entertainment has announced that Meg Foster (Hera) will be a guest at the Cherry Hill Convention So, along with the previously mentioned Ted Raimi, Ebonie Smith (M'Lila), Tim Omundson (Eli) and Adrianne Wilkerson (Eve/Livia), For more information visit Creation's web site
  http://www.creationent.com/calendar_frame.html
• For Aussies wishing to buy the Sony Playstation Game - Dick Smith Stores have it (and others) in August Promotion for $42.55 http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/DSE.storefront/1441748020/Product/View/Y9742 (this is WAY cheaper than yesterday's update so many thanks to Stephen for the updated info)

2 August

 

• News from Andrew of Andrew's Xenaverse Page
  The Second Graphics Contest was a rousing success with over 70 entries compiled - That's a whole lot more than the 20 something entries the first contest racked up! The results are in, and the winners and their outstanding graphic artwork are online at: http://www.TheMoogle.com/xena/contests/index.shtml
• For all those Alison Bruce (Melosa) fans - Alison is has a new kiwi movie out. Check it out at their website
  http://www.magikandrose.co.nz/mainjs.html
• Cindy McBain contacted me to alert everyone to a new Xenafest/Con being held in the UK in September 1 - 3, 2000 called Panathenea - this will be a charity event - one for the children's hospital The Richard House Trust in England and one for an international one chosen by Kevin Smith called War Child. The guest list includes: Kevin Smith, Dean O'Gorman (Young Iolaus/Homer) and Karl Urban (Caeser/Cupid). Kevin has kindly agreed to appear in a Saturday night Cabaret as well For more information go to
  http://freespace.virgin.net/dragona.hc/Panathen/
• A contest is underway for Xenites to win some interesting prizes. Check Greyhounds Online Publications first anniversary and contest page
  http://sites.netscape.net/ylion1953/gop_secret_webpage

The following is from Sword and Staff:

There's a new auction up at the S&S site. You can reach it at http://sword-and-staff.com/auction.htm  

Items include a number of autographed pix, including one that Lucy signed for us at the taping of Politically Incorrect. There is also an autographed glossy of Renee, and for Argo fans, there's an Argo autograph (all right, so Renee actually signed it for Tilly, but it still counts! <g). There are several other autographed photos, including some from Hudson Leick, Kevin Smith, Allison Wall, and the ladies from Cleo 2525.  There are a number of other items including art by Rebekah Lynn; audio fan fiction tapes of stories by WordWarior, Missy Good, and LN James; an Aussie Xena phone card; some magazines, as well as a few other items. Feel free to check it out.

Sword and Staff is a fan-run organization. It has no affiliation with Universal Studios, StudiosUSA, Renaissance Pictures, Creation Entertainment, Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, or any other person or entity associated with the show Xena:Warrior Princess.

Mist
http://sword-and-staff.com

21 July

• Joe LoDuca has is nominated once again for an Emmy for "Outstanding Music Composition for a Dramatic Series (Dramatic Underscore)." The episode nominated is Fallen Angel. He is also nominated for "Outstanding Main Title Theme Song" for Jack of All Trades. http://www.emmys.org/awards/52ndnoms.htm#48
  Many thanks to Jane for the alert

20 July

 

• TV Alert for Lucy and Renee on Foxtel Cable Network
  For Aussie Foxtel subscribers:
  For the first time on Australian television, cable network channel TV1 aired an exclusive interview with Renee O'Connor on the 12th July that was later repeated at 8:25pm eastern standard time. The interview will be repeated many more times throughout the next few weeks of up to 3 times a day on Mondays. Most likely time to catch the interview is 8:25pm weeknights. This interview was never shown on television before and TV1 have the exclusive rights. TV1 also plans to show an exclusive interview with Lucy Lawless as part of their TV1 on one series of interviews.
  Many thanks to John Stirling for that information
  
  **
  Foxtel shows Xena on Monday nights and is currently airring Season 2 (Last episode airred was Ulysses - I remembered why John D'Aquino reminded me of a tree <g

More TV Alerts - Hudson Leick

• Hudson's movie "Denial" is currently being shown on Foxtel's Showtime network
  The movie will air July 25 and 31 (it has already been shown on 2, 7 and 18 July)
  Please be warned that this movie is billed as an "outrageously sex romp comedy"
  It does contain some very explicit sex scenes by Hudson and course language.
  Many thanks to John Stirling for the information

In the August issue of In Style Magazine a letter was printed asking why Renee wasn't in their "body and soul" article click here to see scans and transcript from that article that featured Lucy. The magazine's response was that Renee couldn't attend due to a previous engagement at a charity function.
Many thanks to Virginia Kelly for the news

19 July

• Bruce Campbell news - Bruce may be up for a permanent role on X-Files. He is one of 4 to be considered as a replacement for David Duchovny. Interesting.
  http://idealists.simplenet.com/hftfbismu/newguy.html
• More about Bruce - he is going to be directing an episode of VIP and it looks like Jack of All Trades has been cancelled with 8 episodes remaining to be screened.

18 July

• Sword and Staff - the fan run organisation that raises money for charity  is encouraging donatings to charity in honour of the engagement of Renee O'Connor to Steve Muir.
  [Click here to find out how you can contribute]
• Earl Brown reports from Toronto Trek with some tidbits about the filming of Motherhood and Renee's less that dry drag through the rain
  [Click here to read]
• The Xena Photo Club Pictures are now online for March to June 2000
  http://xenamultimedia.com/xpc/xpc-combo/ulthm4.htm
• Updated Season Six Rumours from the Palace chat with Adrienne Wilkinson (Eve) and a follow up to the rumours from Toronto Trek Convention.

14 July

• Adrienne Wilkinson (Eve) will be chatting live at the Xena Palace!
  Saturday, 15 July 2000 at 6:00 pm PST/9 pm EST (US) Times
  Sunday 16 July 2000 12:00pm EST (Australia) Go to http://www.whoosh.org/palace/   for more info about getting the software to join in.

13 July

• At a recent convention, Hudson Leick has revealed she won't be appearing in any further episode of Xena.
  Many thank to Melosa for that information
• For photo club members and those who just like to browse, I've posted the photos for the Xena Photo Club for April, May and June. They can be found on the Creation web page at https://www.thegrid.net/pub/creationent/XENA/XENA_PHOTO.HTML