WHOOSH! STAFF:

Kym Masera Taborn (ktaborn@lightspeed.net)
WHOOSH! Editor-in-Chief
Chairperson, IAXS
http://userzweb.lightspeed.net/~kym
BA History 1980. MA Music 1984. JD Law 1991. Kym practices law for the federal government in the Central Valley of California. Kym was the founder and first Chairperson of the Board for IAXS. Kym is 38 and lives in Bakersfield, CA with Wes, her incredibly patient husband of ten years, and Ira, her loyal nine year-old son. Both her and Ira each have their own five-inch Xena action figure and look forward to hanging out at Carl Junior's this summer.
Favorite XWP episode: It is still...DREAMWORKER (#03)!!
Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle to Xena: "You're not much for girl talk, are you? Of course, you're not like most girls." PROMETHEUS (#08)

Betsy Book (bsquared@interport.net)
http://www.users.interport.net/~bsquared/
WHOOSH! Webmaster
Vice Chairperson, IAXS
Betsy Book is a Web and AOL Production Assistant for iVillage, a Silicon Alley start-up. Her hobbies include reading, watching television, and organizing large XenaFests for her fellow crazed Xenites. She currently lives in Brooklyn and would rather not leave the city unless: 1) it is to visit Kym , 2) a Con is scheduled outside the NYC area or 3) she is GABducted by a group of Canadians.
Favorite XWP episodes: DREAMWORKER (#03) and WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30)
Favorite XWP lines: Princess Diana talking about Xena: "She looks just like me, *before* I've brushed my hair." (WARRIOR...PRINCESS, episode #15); MEG as XENA: "Hold it right there! In the blink of an eye I can split the skull of anyone who moves with my trusty... shamrock!" (WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP, episode #30)

Bret Rudnick (brudnick@head-cfa.harvard.edu)
WHOOSH! Token Male Who Wields Mysterious Power
Member of the Board, IAXS
When he's not working for a big Science/Engineering company that (amongst other things) designs, builds, launches, and operates exploratory spacecraft, Bret writes fantasy novels and short stories. Bret is a man of many skills, having also previously been an olympic-qualified archer, a drummer in the Butch Grinder Band, a newsreader for Public Television Station KVCR, and a Deputy Sheriff for the County of San Bernardino, California. He also collects Japanese swords, armour, and art. He and his dog hunt down stray Bacchae in New England.
Favorite XWP episode: HOOVES AND HARLOTS (#10) and WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30)
Favorite XWP line: Joxer: "Ha. Ha." A COMEDY OF EROS (#46)

Tom Simpson (thomas@xenafan.com)
WHOOSH! Art Director and Whipping Boy
Member of the Board, IAXS
http://xenafan.com
Tom Simpson is the sort of guy your mothers warned you about: shy, smart, and prone to use Adobe Photoshop to pretend that he has an interesting life. Tom is rumored to be an employee of Citysearch NYC, and to live somewhere in Brooklyn, New York. Supposedly he's a web designer, and whenever he's nearby he seems to keep mumbling about his latest update to his Xena page. Please do not feed the Tom, and keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.
Favorite XWP episode: Just about any of 'em.
Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle's hem line. Watch it go up, watch it go down. The fun never ends!

Cynthia Ward Cooper (cyn@netcom.com)
Supreme Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Member of the Board, IAXS
Cynthia Cooper was born in Fort Riley, Kansas on December 18, 1959, to a young Army officer and his Southern belle wife. Her early years were marked not only by incessant travel, but also by the knowledge that her birthdate had been calculated to maximize her parents' tax benefits. After a number of adventures, including her rather surprising matriculation from Rice University, Cynthia moved to Dallas, where a promising career as a neo-punk hair model was cut short due to an unfortunate follicular accident. While waiting for her hair to grow back, she earned a master's degree in library science, and is presently masquerading as a technical librarian in a Dallas-area public library. Present obsessions include bad horror movies, Richard III, and the study of ritual cannibalism (though she hastens to assure all that she's a vegetarian). Cynthia has been an ardent Xenite since the very first episode of XWP, and frequently expresses the opinion that the world would be a far better place if everyone would just sit down together and watch Xena once a week.
Favorite XWP episode to rewatch: ROYAL COUPLE OF THIEVES (#17)
Favorite XWP episode overall: THE GREATER GOOD (#21) and REMEMBER NOTHING (#26)
Favorite XWP line: Xena: Xena: "I've got nothing but bad news for you" DESTINY (#36).

Rita Schnepp (schnepp@pepperdine.edu)
Encyclopedia Xenaica Administrator
Member of the Board, IAXS
http://pc-rschnepp.pepperdine.edu
Rita Schnepp, also known on-line as Athena/Rita Reckless, is a Network Engineer at Pepperdine University. She lives in Los Angeles, CA. Rita 'was' a triathlete whose favorite hobby was cross-country running until she came across "Xena: Warrior Princess" on the 'telly' back in October of '95. She has since grown into a 'Xenaficionado' and veritable couch potato. Having been through "Xena De-tox" twice, she can now make it once around the block without having to stop to watch a re-run. She is creator of the "Coffee TaWk" website, (http://pc-rschnepp.pepperdine.edu), and a member of the Southern California Xenafest I and II organizing committee.
Favorite XWP episode: SINS OF THE PAST (#01)
Favorite XWP line: Salmoneus to Xena: "You should always address your troops from the right side. It's your GOOD side...NOT that you have a BAD one!" (THE GAUNTLET, HTLJ #12)

Debbie Cassetta (dcassett@duke.poly.edu)
Yet Another Keeper of the Sacred FAQ
Member of the Board, IAXS
Debbie Cassetta lives in New York City where she works as Budget Director at a university there. In addition, she teaches American History to college students and is a doctoral candidate at New York University. Her other interests include photography and anything Star Trek.
Favorite XWP episode: ALTARED STATES (#19) and IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (#24).
Favorite XWP line: Xena, pulling herself and Gabrielle out of a well: "Loving every moment of it!" (ALTARED STATES, #19); Xena: "I have many skills." (THE BLACK WOLF, #11; TIES THAT BIND, #20; HERE SHE IS...MISS AMPHIPOLIS, #35)

Diane Silver (dswriter@idir.net)
WHOOSH! Assistant Editor
Member of the Board, IAXS
Amazed by her fervent Xena addiction, Diane Silver was once a serious sort who would have scoffed at the idea of a whoosh or a chakram cam. Today, she loves them. Silver has been a professional writer for more than 20 years, including stints at United Press International and The Wichita Eagle. She once took a brief detour into politics, working as press secretary for a Democratic candidate for Kansas governor. Currently an editor for a nonprofit foundation, Silver is also pursuing a freelance writing career. Her second book, THE NEW CIVIL WAR: THE LESBIAN AND GAY STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, will be published by Franklin Watts in 1997. She is at work on her third book, a memoir called SACRED MOMENTS: THE JOURNEY OF A LESBIAN MARRIAGE. Her work has also appeared in national publications, including Ms. magazine. A graduate of Michigan State University (Hi there, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert), Silver shamefully admits to never having been much of a Spartan sports fan. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas, with her son, dog and two cats. A recent convert to the internet, she posts on the mailing lists as Silver and on the NetForum as Freedom2.
Favorite XWP episode: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? (#24)
Favorite XWP line: Xena: I have many skills. THE BLACK WOLF (#11), TIES THAT BIND (#20), and HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (#35).

Karen Maeda Allman (Heparin@eor.com)
WHOOSH! Assistant Editor
Member of the Board, IAXS
Karen Maeda Allman (aka Heparin) is doggedly trying to finish her dissertation so she can at last put the letters 'PhD' after her name. When not reading and publishing on multiraciality (and its interconnections with gender identity and sexuality) she is one of the booksellers of Red and Black Bookstore Collective in Seattle, Washington. Heparin is also a registered nurse, teacher, former punk rock singer/songwriter with Conflict U.S. (Unjust/Placebo Records) and has been published in music papers (Slash, Slit, The New York Rocker ), Asian American Community Papers (The Pacific Reader , International Examiner) and in academic periodicals and books (most recently in Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier edited by Maria PP Root). Rumor has that she can cook some mighty fine vegetarian eggplant dishes.
Favorite XWP episodes: THE GAUNTLET (HTLJ #12), SINS OF THE PAST (#01), and THE RECKONING (#06). (I tend to like angsty episodes that dwell on Xena's inner turmoil and have lots of Bulgarian style music in the scoring.)
Favorite XWP line: Xena: "I'm a problem solver!"

THIS MONTH'S WHOOSH! CONTRIBUTORS:

Ed Baker (Oshram@aol.com)
"The Pittsburgh XenaFest, May 3, 1997"
SPECIAL to WHOOSH!
Ed Baker is a double major (English/History) from the University of Virginia. He graduated in 1987 and has spent the last ten years trying to find a job other than teaching in which he can use his skills. When he's not watching/talking about/writing fanfic about/ obsessing over Xena, he's either doing pretty much the same with Star Trek, burying his nose in a book (of nearly any type), rooting for the Chicago Bulls, or trying to find the newest hard-to-get action figure. Lately, he's also taken up a fascination with the band Dead Can Dance (great stuff to listen to while working on Xena articles and fanfic!) and wants to take this opportunity to again thank everyone who planned the NYC Xenafest for doing the best job that could have been done.
Favorite episode: FISTFUL OF DINARS (#14)
Favorite line: Xena, to Joxer, about Meg: "She'll be the victim of a lot more circumstances when I get my hands on her." WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30)

Virginia Carper (carperv@FRB.GOV)
"Joxer from a Disability Perspective"
IAXS Project #229
My goal is to be a garden variety human being. My friends know me as a squirrel. I am, however, a card carrying member of the Squirrel Lovers Club, and do squirrel studies. The FRB.GOV means that I am in U.S. Federal Government Service, and proud of it. My husband, the Civil War Buff, introduced me to things military. Together, we have visited every Civil War battlefield in PA, DEL, MD, W.Va., VA, and NC. I am also a disability activist. My family watches XWP for the marvelous things Xena does and for Joxer, the warlord with autism. (Yes, we all have various disabilities.)
Favorite episode: DESTINY (#36). It brought back memories of high school Latin, Caesar's GALLIC WARS, and Miss MaCarn, the purple haired teacher who knew Caesar when he was a pup.
Favorite line: Julius Caesar to Xena: "Gaul is divided in three parts. Each with its own dialect..." DESTINY (#36)

Kristi Eaton (CRISEEE@aol.com)
"XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS: Something for Everyone!"
IAXS Project #240  I am a 22 year old college student with a major in Psychology. I will be graduating in December of 1997. I hope to go to graduate school in order to get my Masters so that I can help people. Although I do have a secret desire to participate in the television industry. I would love to write, edit, or perhaps direct. I love to play tennis and enjoy singing, writing, reading and watching television, especially XENA.
Favorite episode: WARRIOR...PRINCESS...TRAMP (#30). I liked the comedic flair and watching Ms. Lawless portray three very different characters.
Favorite line: Xena looks down into a pit and sees skeletons and says: "So what's your point?" THE BLACK WOLF (#11)

Donna Kaye (dkaye@unixg.ubc.ca)
"Scenes from the First Pacific Northwest XenaFest"
Special to WHOOSH!
Donna Kaye is a 41 year old assistant text buyer at UBC Bookstore in Vancouver, Canada. When not working, she is either in front of the telly watching endless sitcoms (ELLEN and 3RD ROCK top the list) or in front of her new toy, her very own computer at home, slogging through her mail. She collects TV-related memorabilia and is the proud owner of MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. trading cards, comics, etc. Of course, her XENA collection is growing daily.
Favorite episode: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39)
Favorite line: Gabrielle: "Xena, I can't lose you again." Xena: "Gabrielle, I'll always be here." THE QUEST (#37)

Richard LaFleur (rlafleur@msgate.cv.com)
"Is Xena a Warrior Born or a Warrior Made?"
IAXS Project #124
Richard LaFleur completed his Master's Degree in Mathematics at Boston College. He is married and has a daughter (a young Warrior in her own right). Richard has taught mathematics and computer programming from the junior high school level through college. He was also a software support instructor at Raytheon Data Systems and is now part of the software engineering group at a CAD/CAM company in the Boston area. He has completed 25 years of military service, retiring as a First Sergeant from the Massachusetts Army National Guard. His interest in mythology, psychology and ancient history first turned him on to XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS. The rest, as they say, is history.
Favorite episode: RETURN OF CALLISTO (#29)
Favorite line: From Xena's prayer in RETURN OF CALLISTO (#29) to "anyone who's listening": "*Please* don't let that light that shines off her face go out. I couldn't stand the darkness that would follow."

Deb E McGhee (demcghee@u.washington.edu)
"R. J. Stewart: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS has consumed my life, such as it was. This hit home for me when my graduate advisor walked into my office recently and handed me the TV Guide with Lucy Lawless on the cover -- unbidden! I still dig TREK and X-FILES but I have noticed that Xena and Gabrielle seem to get in the way of pursuing those interests. I am currently trying to devise a way to quietly get out of graduate school while I still have some hold on reality. I think my dissertation will be entitled: "Studies of Greener Grass and Better Climates in Locales Called 'Elsewhere': A Social Cognitive Approach".
Favorite episodes: THE QUEST (#37) and A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39)
Favorite lines: Callisto: Any new husbands since the last one I killed? A NECESSARY EVIL (#38). Xena: Lovin' every moment of it. ALTARED STATES (#19)

Stacey Robillard (XENAadict@aol.com)
"Why Doesn't Renee O'Connor Get More Credit? Or What Have *They* Got Against Gabrielle?"
IAXS Project # 230
Stacey Robillard was born May 10, 1969. She is a New Hampshire native currently residing in Milwaukee (and to think, I don't like beer, cheese or the Packers ... what am I doin' here?). Occupation: Vidiot aka Video Buyer (Fave Movie: "Heavenly Creatures"). Hobbies: obsessing over all things XWP.
Favorite episodes: Who can pick only one?!?! I'll have to break it down . Fave Renee O'Connor episode: THE QUEST (#37). Fave Lucy Lawless episode: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? (#24). Fave Comedy: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39). Fave Drama: THE PRICE (#44). Fave Callisto episode: CALLISTO (#22).
Favorite Line: Too many to possibly go through them all. So I'll go with my current favorite. Gabrielle: "Can anyone stop them?" Xena: "Yeah, but it won't be warriors, it will be someone like you. I just hope that wherever the Horde is from, they have a Gabrielle." THE PRICE (#44).

Bret Rudnick (brudnick@head-cfa.harvard.edu)
"An Interview with R. J. Stewart"
"An Interview with Robert Mellette"
Exclusives to WHOOSH!
Mr. Rudnick is a staff member of WHOOSH! For his biography, please refer to the staff section above.

Julie Ruffell (norman_ruffell@bc.sympatico.ca)
"The First Pacific Northwest Xenafest: A Xenite Committee Member's Experience"
Special to WHOOSH!
I am sixteen-years-old and in Grade 10. I go to Johnston Heights Secondary in Surrey, British Columbia. I started writing when I was 14. First, I wrote short stories about STAR TREK: VOYAGER, then when XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS started in 1995, I wrote about her instead. When I was 15 I finished writing my first novel, "Star Trek Voyager: Connections." Then my friend Angela Ekkert and I wrote a Xena novel called, "Blood Lines." When I heard about WHOOSH, I contacted Kym. She invited me to write an article and so I put together, "Xena's Destiny: The Events And People Who Shaped Her Life," which I hope will be in WHOOSH soon. I have just finished my first script (which is XENA) called, "Scars Of Tragedy." I plan to submit it to MCA once I find a good agent.
Favorite XWP episode: THE PRICE (#44)
Favorite XWP lines: "I have many skills." THE BLACK WOLF (#11), TIES THAT BIND (#20), and HERE SHE COMES...MISS AMPHIPOLIS (#35); Xena to Draco: "Well ain't love a b***h?" A COMEDY OF EROS (#46)

Suzanne Sheldon (lunar@u.washington.edu)
"Xena: Feminist Icon"
IAXS Project #150
Suzanne Sheldon is currently a senior majoring in Women's Studies/Pre-Law at the University of Washington. She also works as a Resident Advisor (some of you might remember them from your own dorm days) in a residence hall on campus. When she is not watching XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, studying, or busting her residents', chances are she is at her other job at a comic book store or playing volleyball. She's a solitary Xenite since none of her friends appreciate the genius of Xena, and she finds solace in obsessively taping each episode and figuring out new ways to incorporate Xena into all of her academic papers.
Favorite episodes: A DAY IN THE LIFE (#39) and IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE (#24)
Favorite line: So many excellent lines...so little time...

Debbie White (horse@prairienet.org)
"Changing Times: DEATH IN CHAINS, HOOVES AND HARLOTS and THE BLACK WOLF"
WHOOSH! Series
Debbie White is a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and is currently studying Animal Science at Southern IL University at Carbondale. She is 20 years old, single, and has watched Xena since the first Sins of the Past (i.e., the beginning).
Favorite XWP episode: REMEMBER NOTHING (#26)
Favorite XWP line: Gabrielle: "If you don't know, it must be Xena." (ORPHAN OF WAR, #25)

DISCLAIMER:

The rumor that WHOOSH! has changed its name to the "R.J. Stewart Fan Club Newsletter" has been successfully quashed, however, the one about Gabrielle having a baby when she was 8 is still going strong.

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF IAXS:

Officers of the Board (All Hail the Board)
Chairperson: Kym Taborn (ktaborn@lightspeed.net)
Vice Chairperson: Betsy Book (bsquared@interport.net)


Members of the Board (All Hail the Board)

Cynthia Ward Cooper (cyn@netcom.com)
Supreme Keeper of the Sacred FAQ

Tom Simpson (thomas@xenafan.com)
Graphics Consultant and Designer and Official Chakram Catcher

Bret Rudnick (brudnick@head-cfa.harvard.ed u)
Minister of Good Clean Fun

Rita Schnepp (schnepp@pepperdine.edu)
Encyclopedia Xenaica Administrator

Debbie Cassetta (dcassett@duke.poly.edu)
Yet Another Keeper of the Sacred FAQ

Karen Maeda Allman (heparin@eor.com)
Assistant Editor

Diane Silver (DSWriter@idir.net)
Assistant Editor

IAXS is a voluntary amateur organization of arm- chair scholars who wish to devote time to the contemplation and study of all things to do with the world-wide syndicated television show, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS (XWP) and to share their findings in a supportive and creative environment.

WHOOSH! was created as the repository for the creative output of IAXS members. Membership to IAXS only requires that each member have access to an internet e-mail address and make at least one contribution to WHOOSH! once per year.

This issue was possible only through the hard work of IAXS members who submitted some very thought provoking and fun papers, and the technical and creative help of the self-sacrificial WHOOSH! staff. Without these people's dedication and service, above and beyond the call of duty, you would not be reading this.

WHOOSH! will strive to be eclectic and entertaining. We will try to offer varying viewpoints on the general to the specific, from the popular to the arcane. You should be able to get a very intense Xena fix whenever you visit our pages. We want you to reminisce, laugh, ponder, and mostly, be entertained.

A special thanks to Tom Simpson (again) and Carol Burrell who graciously allowed Whoosh! to use images from their own fabulous XWP Web sites. (Thanks to CJ for capturing the images on the Logomancy site!) We encourage all Xenites to go immediately to xenafan.com and Logomancy. (Well, as soon as you're finished with Whoosh!)

COPYRIGHT NOTICES:

WHOOSH! is the Journal of the International Association of Xena Studies (IAXS), an amateur fan-run organization devoted to the extreme study and analysis of all things remotely related to the world-wide syndicated television show, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, a property of MCA/Universal Television. WHOOSH! is the repository of the research produced by IAXS members. WHOOSH! is released the 1st of every month. It is distributed on the World Wide Web and as a text version to members via internet e-mail. WHOOSH! is published and edited by Kym Masera Taborn through IAXS.
© 1996, 1997, Kym Masera Taborn.
WHOOSH! in no way intends to infringe upon the rights of holders of copyrights held and/or referred to in this non-profit fan publication. All original stories and artwork are copyrighted to the authors. WHOOSH!, IAXS, and Kym Masera Taborn holds an unlimited reprint license on all original material appearing in this publication.

Whoosh #9 - June 1, 1997