ERIN GRAY: My friend Amy is lamenting the fact that she wasn’t able to attend the ComicCon in San Diego this year. She’s certainly not alone- the event is a lot of fun, but if you’re claustrophobic, you probably shouldn’t attend. It’s “wall-to-wall people” as another friend said recently. But I’ve been lucky enough to visit the ComicCon a few times, and on one of those visits I was privileged to meet one of my favorite attractive chicks from. . .I mean, one of my favorite actresses when I was but a young lad. Oh, I can remember all the fun we had. Super Grover, Wilma Deering and I were traveling through the cosmos in search of adventure, when we were captured by an enemy and sent to the dungeons of. . .I’m sorry, you’ve never heard this story, have you? I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait until I write my memoirs for that. Let’s just say I was a very imaginative kid.Back to ComicCon- When I heard that Erin Gray (from “Buck Rogers” and “Silver Spoons” among other things) was going to be signing autographs at ComicCon, I knew I wanted to go. It took me about ten minutes to get up enough courage to talk to her. (I was a very shy kid, too). But I’m glad I did. She was very gracious and easy to talk to. In fact, I realized later that she had tricked me- she made me talk more about myself than about her. She seems to be a great person and I enjoyed meeting her very much. This photo was taken at our meeting.
Erin was back at ComicCon this year, along with Gil Gerard, Margot Kidder and several other celebrities in the autograph section. I couldn’t be there, but if I do get lucky enough to go again, I’d definitely like to talk to Erin. Here’s to hoping we meet again!
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MARA JADE, DANCING GIRL: I must confess that I haven’t read many of the Star Wars novels. That’s a shame, because I understand that many of them are quite good. I have picked up a few things here and there, however. I at least have heard of the name “Mara Jade.” She was “recruited” by the Emperor to kill Luke Skywalker. She didn’t, but her story doesn’t end there. She eventually marries Luke! I won’t give anything more away, but you can peek online to find more information on her. I mention her because I recently became aware of a photo of Mara Jade that stopped me in my tracks. It’s this one:
Holy. . .she was a dancing girl for Jabba the Hutt? She apparently disguised herself as a dancing girl in an effort to kill Luke. Unfortunately, she was not aboard the sail barge that took Luke & company to the Sarlacc pit, so her attempt to kill Luke failed that time. But wow! I suddenly have gained a little more interest in this person. I guess I just have a thing for dancing girls.
More about Mara here:
http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/marajadeskywalker/
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TALK ABOUT A COMEBACK: It was at least five years ago, as I was driving to work, that I heard on the radio that Hope Sandoval, the lead singer for Mazzy Star, had died. It was sad news, as I enjoyed some of Mazzy Star’s work, most notably the song “Fade into you.” I was sorry that she wouldn’t be putting out any more albums. So perhaps you can imagine my surprise when I heard that she had made a new album and was planning a tour! Youch! I’m so glad the radio DJ was wrong. But why was he wrong? I can only think of three reasons:
1. The DJ was somehow given incorrect information.
2. The DJ was an a***ole
3. It was April Fool’s Day.
Anyway, I’m glad she’s still around. I would recommend the song “Fade Into You” if you’re into that download sort of thing.
http://captainsdead.com/tag/hope-sandoval-and-the-warm-intentions
