My Leading Lady

Captain Kathryn Janeway/Kate Mulgrew

It appears I have a particular type when it comes to women; fiery redheads, and Janeways definitely no exception. That's not to say I'm exclusive but there's a clear pattern when it comes to my tastes. There's something about a girl with a gun that makes me swoon, I can't explain it but I'm not complaining. I remember one episode of voyager in particular where Janeway must stand alone against some form of macro virus. In it she has one big-ass gun, I gotta say she looked formidable if not sweaty, that teamed with the tank top she was wearing... well lets just say it was a good combination. She's the dame in charge and everyone knows it not to mention respects it. Maybe that's my attraction, the power she possesses. Then again it could be that killer smile she has.

My Weekly Addiction

Star Trek: Voyager

Voyager was my first Star Trek love. I have a friend who is a Star Trek buff and after a great deal of persuasion she convinced me to give star trek a chance, well that was is I was hooked. Gotta say I'm thankful for her persistence, I should have trusted her in the first place after all she's responsible for a pretty high percentage of my TV addictions. Any-who I managed to watch the first season in just over a day and haven't looked back since. One of Voyager's greatest attributes has got to be it's strong female leads, having a female captain like Janeway definitely goes in its favour. Unlike most of my friends I view everything as a separate entity, I don't compare the books to the films, similarly I don't compare one star trek to another. However that's not to say I don't have a favourite because I do and it is inevitable that it would be anything but Voyager. I cant explain why, but I can tell you that with a cast with such great chemistry and unique setting, as far as I know there isn't another show that focuses entirely on a crew lost in space. Whatever its is it works with gusto.

Apologies

I've been living in at work for the last week and unfortunately they have no internet access. Therefore I've not been able to update my blog. But fear not my creative juices have been flowing and I've backdated my posts. I've even been writing a little fanfiction, something I havn't done in quite a while. So I though I'd post the link just encase anyone fancies a read, it's West Wing based and of course femslash. So feel free to have a look and enjoy.

http://www.ralst.com/ComeOutCloset.HTM

P.S. The website it's posted on is great for femslash fanfiction so I've also added the link for the home page. If FF's your thing you should definitely check it out.

http://www.ralst.com/index.html

Thanks for reading.

Marlene

My Leading Lady

Delilah Buchanan/Beth Broderick

As soon as I started watching the 5 Mrs. Buchanans I knew that Delilah was going to be my favourite character. In fact she was the reason I discovered the show, after I decided to have a look at the other persona's of everyone's favourite bewitching aunt Zelda Spellman. The ditsy but endearing southern belle certainly makes for entertaining viewing. I'm not sure I can think of anyone else who could quite pull off the character of a former stripper turned preachers wife, but Beth does it with a unique flare. Then again I wouldn't expect anything else from her. I've also got to admit that I think that her outfit choices certainly go in her favour. Even if the skirts are a bit short for a preachers wife I cant imagine anyone complaining, I'm certainly not.

My Weekly Addiction

The 5 Mrs. Buchanans

I recently discovered this gem of a show on YouTube. Me being the person I am proceeded to watch every episode. It didn't take long for me to get hooked, after all any program that can make me laugh out loud instantly gets my respect. But alas like many great shows its life was destined to be short-lived. After a mere 17 episodes CBS bizarrely saw fit to cancel it, God only knows why. This was one of those rare shows that just works, its difficult to explain what makes it so, perhaps its the unique combination of quirky characters or the simplicity of the story lines, of course the fact that the entire lead cast is female helps. I know its a cliché but its good clean fun and I often think that's the best kind of humour. It such a shame that it never got the chance to continue but at least we have the memories.

Who Do We Care About More?

Pets Or People

Now I've posed the question as a self-confessed animal lover. I admit it I adore dogs and can't imagine life without them. Me and my mum always seem prone to express more sadness or sympathy for situations of suffering that involve pets then when its people involved, I know that proberly makes us bad people but its who we are.

A recent event made me consider the contrast between how we treat pets in comparison to people. On Friday (my birthday) I was preparing for a family meal when I learnt that my Mum was trying to get my Dad to hospital. As you can imagine this was quite a shock. I quickly rushed home to find out what was going on. When I got there I found my Dad in agony and my mum on the phone trying to get an ambulance. We had a pretty good idea of what the pain was as my Dad had had the same problem before, its nothing life treating but even so he needed to go to the hospital. However it seems the emergency services did not agree with that, they refused to send an ambulance as the situation was not life threatening. Instead we where told to take him to a near-by medical clinic. So that's what we did, by this point an hour had passed but he had been in pain for 3 hours. We were greeted by a guy who answered the door without a word but instead a look, after a rash explanation he let us in and told us to sit down and wait for a while, even though there were no other patients and it was extremely painful for my Dad to sit. Several unhelpful members of staff and injections later we tried to ring for an ambulance again, once again one was not sent. Eventually my mum drove him to the A&E department herself he was scanned, poked and prodded yet again before been referred to another hospital, this time they actually sent him in an ambulance by this time it was 8 hour since we had phoned for the first ambulance, that's 8 hours of excruciating pain. It wasn't until this point that he was given food and painkillers. Every step of the way was an uphill struggle, littered with rude, unhelpful and uncaring people. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to our medical system. When had it become so appalling? But its not just the staff that upset us but general people we came across too. At one point me and my mum had a quick dash to the local store to buy some painkillers on the doctors recommendation. When we got there there was a queue so my mum asked if she could cut in, explaining the situation, one women turned round and said "No, I want my lottery ticket." Safe to say she joined a long list of people me and my mum were prepared to put in the hospital just so my dad would have some company, if your catch my drift.

The whole experience was a disgrace. At one point my mum turned round to me and said " We'd have been better taking him to the vets." and I can't help but think that she was right. If a pets in pain we give them painkillers, if their hungry we feed them, and if their suffering we put them to sleep. We take such good care of them and cater for their every need, so why can't we extend that same kind of treatment to people.

My Leading Lady

Natalia Boa Vista/Eva La Rue

Wow, well let me start by saying that blue is definitely a good colour on Miss Rue. Hell I'd bet any colour looks good on her. She sleek, she's stylish, she's smart and she stunning, what more could a girl ask for. One of the thing that strikes me the most about Natalia is that she is always elegant and delicate and yet you know that she has the ability to be incredibly strong, hey that's another 'S' word to describe her, but anyway, throughout the show she's shown that she is just as capable and dedicated as any other member of the team. She also comes across as very caring, like the kind of person you could go to if you had a problem. Did I mention that she's beautiful, not that I need to because well... duh. But just encase you didn't quite notice the obvious I thought I'd provide you with a little additional visual aid...

...because a picture says a 1000 words.

My Weekly Addiction

CSI: Miami

During the course of this week I decided to indulge myself in a little DVD session, my chosen tipple: CSI: Miami. It's been a while since I watched the show but only a couple of episode to suck me back in. What with the bright colours and many attractive females, who am I to try and resist. Although my heart still lies in Vegas, I must confess that Miami is certainly a close second. I even like Horatio despite he slightly bizarre dedication to never really showing emotion. Maybe its the slight rogue tendencies both him and Delko have. I like the fact that their willing to serve their own form of justice for those who really deserve it. Miami certainly is a stark contrast t the much more dark and gloomy New York and the continuous night-time of Las Vegas. I find it refreshing for the show to be filled with sunshine and beaches, although I have to admit I am fascinated and somewhat bemused with the way everyone feels the need to wear white. Whenever I watch it I can't help but feel that I've been transported to an alternative reality where the good old Miami Vice look is the height of fashion. However I can't complain about the women's fashion because without a doubt they always look amazing. Even in white.

Commonwealth Games

Good Luck England

As we prepare for the beginning of the games in Delhi, it difficult not to wait with baited breath to see if in fact they do pull it off. Through out the last few weeks the papers have been packed with stories of construction disasters and cleanliness nightmares. Many people have doubts that anything will be completed by tomorrow. I however have faith in India. I think that they will pull out all the stops and bring it all together, not to mention I don't doubt that the situation had been grossly exaggerated by the media. I am looking forward to the opening ceremony, with such a rich culture to draw from it promises to be a wonderful celebration of colour and life. I'm also looking forward to the games their self, being an English girl I am of course rooting for my home country and all the other British athletes as well as Canada, since it has a special place in my heart. Looking at the line up of events it seems were in for an exciting couple of weeks of competition and I hope it lives up to expectation. One aspect of the Games I'm hoping gets attention is the Para-sports. These men and women deserve so much recognition for what it is they are achieving, to overcome so much and reach this level requires so much dedication and strength and I hope that everyone remember that and supports these athletes. We should be proud of every person who take part in this event and I wish them all luck.