Christmas Countdown Characters #23

X might be for Xmas, but it took some searching to find today's celebrity lurking in the 1990s.

X is for Xena - Warrior Princess.

This may seem a strange selection for a Christmas celebrity list, but there are many Xena fans for whom Christmas would not be complete without a viewing of a Xena: Warrior Princess episode, "A Solstice Carol."

I think I am justifying Xena's inclusion here because she is one of those fictional characters who change from evil to good. The TV series focuses on Xena's quest to redeem herself for her dark past by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. Xena, with her partner Gabrielle, challenge ruthless warlords and their armies in an ancient mythological world. So, it is seemingly impossible for Xena to appear in a Christmas scene, but it happens. In one day Xena met Santa Claus, Jesus, and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, but not without criticism.The Christmas episode of Xena is undeniably another poor imitation of Dicken's ' A Christmas Carol' with even more Christmas ...

For today’s Christmas episode, we’re going to look at a Xena episode that somehow incorporates A Christmas Carol, Santa Claus, and Jesus into a single, gloriously insane story. Along the way, it reminds us of mid-90s syndicated television was really like
A Christmas Carol – Yeah, that’s the whole plot of the episode. Of course, since the episode is set 1800 years before the birth of Charles Dickens, Xena gets credit for coming up with the idea.

Santa Claus – Not only is there a character named Santicles (with a long “e” at the end.),He is clad in a red suit and fake beard, and he has to go down a chimney.

Nativity Scene – Xena and Gabrielle meet Joseph, Mary, and their newborn child.

Holiday Cheer-O-Meter – You know what? This episode is goofy as hell, the plotting is crazy sloppy, it’s cheesy, and most of the story requires everybody to be mentally deficient in some way. But as dumb as it is, I really had a lot of fun watching it. It made me genuinely laugh a couple of times, and even the stupid stuff was good-natured. I’m not going to pretend for one minute that it’s good TV, but I had a good time. That, plus the overwhelming amount of Christmas makes it a 10..... (from http://www.spunkybean.com)

Regardless of all of this incongruity surrounding Xena's association with Christmas, she is nevertheless a formidable tactician, inspirational leader, and strategic thinker - Xena, you belong here - Peace on Earth!

Postscript: Yesterday my friend June and I did something we have not done before... I think this Christmas festive spirit has overwhelmed us! Together we went into our local newsagency and we each bought a copy of the Christmas edition of The Australian Women's Weekly, just to get the recipe for a totally indulgent Christmas dessert we would like to include on a menu sometime during the festive season. It so happens that this dessert , Tiramisu Ice Cream Box was created by another "X" Christmas celebrity, Xanthe Roberts, assistant food editor of The Australian Women's Weekly If you want to see this sensation created, watch Xanthe demonstrate it here on the Nine Now website.

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as w...

In the Pink

At Tag Tuesday . Pinky O' Hagan is hosting a tag challenge which asks for 'a bit of pink".... not so difficult if you like pink. I don't use a lot of pink in my work, so it was quite a bit of a challenge when I thought only of pink - my thoughts went to pink roses, pink hearts, pink confectionery !!! Then I referred to this week's colour prompts, #coloricombo by artists Este MacLeod.... pink with sap green, dark tea, and sea green. I'm not sure I got the colours in this palette exactly, but here is my tag, a stylised landscape - The collaged background of the tag has torn pieces of watercolour art rejects, painted magazine pages and a little bit of gift paper. The tree silhouette is decorated with paper dots, cut with a hole puncher.

STITCHED UP Exhibition

"Heartbroken" by Nancy Crawford ( Canada) Stitched Up is an exhibition featuring 24 contemporary international and national textile artists on show at The Lock Up from Friday 23 June 2017 until 6 August 2017. It coincides with the 150-year anniversary of The Newcastle Industrial School’s opening; and is resulting from a partnership between The Lock Up and Timeless Textiles galleries. Stitched Up is co-curated by Anne Kempton (Creative Director Timeless Textiles Gallery) and fibre artist Wilma Simmons, both from Newcastle NSW. . This exhibition conceptually provides a voice for the 193 girls who attended the Newcastle Industrial School, translated into contemporary fibre art. "Memory Cloths " (193) by Anne Kempton, Australia The title Stitched Up is very apt in two ways… Firstly, each of the artworks has been stitched – mostly by hand for many hours – capturing the story of ‘The Girls’. The artists hav...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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