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Per
il ciclo di interviste: Darkamy intervista Mike (webmaster di "Mike's Images") (si ringrazia Scanto per le traduzioni)
_______ Hi, Mike, welcome to "xandrella.com" from me and Xandrella. Your site, "Mike's Image" is very well known for the large amount of wallpapers concerning the Xenaverse. 1 .Tell us something about you and how you knew Xena. I'm 52 years old, born in England and I'm a CAD draughtsman in the construction industry. I first encountered Xena:Warrior Princess in very early 1999 shortly after acquiring cable TV. Xena isn't shown on mainstream TV here so this was the first time I could see the show. After watching the first one I was interested enough to watch the following weeks episode and shortly after that I was hooked! At the time there were two cable TV stations showing a mix of S2 & S3 episodes so at the time I was getting quite confused with the story lines! Later on that year S4 started and I was then watching first run episodes. 2. How did "Mike's Image" get started and why did you dedicate it completely to wallpapers? Shortly before season 4 started Xena was off air for a few weeks and I spent the time surfing the net looking at Xena websites. I also discovered the Xena newsgroup and thus started to see a lot of Xena artwork being shared between the fans of the series. Although I didn't have any real graphics software I had a go at using Paint Shop Pro v4 to produce some simple wallpapers for myself. After some experimentation I felt that some of them were good enough to share so I posted some to the Xena newsgroup and got some good feedback. I then obtained some cheap software that enabled me to create my own website and get it online. In those early days I was limited to a maximum size of 15mb! My current website has an maximum size of 9gb with about 6gb available at the moment. It's mostly about graphics (wallpapers, scans and screencaps) because I'm not very good at writing fan fiction! That's better done by others.
With the exception of the ABMX-H Page all the other wallpapers are solely created by me although some of the source images are from others. Um, one exception! The wallpaper at : http://mikes-images.com/misc_wallpapers/pages/collaboration%20final%203.htm was done as a team effort with Cheri of dancingbones.org. 4 .Did you ever meet Lucy Lawless or Renee O'Connor and, if you did, what of them impressed you mostly? Unfortunately I haven't been able to meet either Lucy or Renee :( But I have been lucky enough to meet many other stars of the show, including Hudson Leick, Ted Raimi, Bruce Campbell, Robert Trebor, Adrienne Wilkinson, Tim Omundson, Melinda Clark, Claire Stansfield and Gregory Lee. I have produced special wallpapers and had the relevant star autograph them, which was an awesome feeling! They can be found at : http://mikes-images.com/cons/con_wallpapers/ 5. Did you ever attend some convention? If you did, tell us about your experience. I have atteneded all four of the UK's Xena Starfury conventions held in London annually from 1999 to 2002. This is where I met the stars mentioned above. Here's one description I wrote at the time of first meeting Hudson. I was queuing to have my photograph taken with her. "As we progress
forward, we get in sight of Hudson with the people at the head of
the queue. She strikes a wildly different pose with everyone. Lots
of facial expressions, wild body poses, all very She's wearing a tight tiger patterned dress with black leather boots. Although the dress knee length, she keeps pulling it up to show off her legs... I can't explain just how much she varies her posing, every onedifferent. One guy gets to hold her totally off the floor in his arms, I just hoped he wouldn't drop her! My turn eventually comes and I step forward... She greets me with a huge smile and I notice just how fantastic she looks - genuine 'Hudson Haze' <g> As luck would have it the cameraman runs out of film and says wait a while. Err, is this good or bad?! <g> I firstly said
'I'm the English guy that did the poster for your fan club', which
seemed to confuse her. I had a 'book' with the wallpapers in it so
showed her the small version of the poster. She I mentioned the effect she has on people - 'What effect is that?' she asks. Oh God, I didn't expect to have to think! 'Everyone is very nervous' - 'Why?' Oh no, more thought required... 'It must be meeting someone that impresses you that does it' (Stupid!) 'I'm just the same as you...' - 'Err, not quite...' <g> I forget the rest of the 'conversation', brain totally gone by now. The cameraman finishes putting the film in the camera and we start. Hudson slips her hand around me onto my shoulder and I do likewise (bare flesh!!!). I try to smile but know it's not possible to look normal! Then I depart still with a befuddled brain (but happy! I survived <g>)"
Tricky question. I probably like season 6 most closely followed by season 4. Favourite character is obviously Xena. Lucy does a fabulous job of portraying this flawed hero in so believable a manner. The way the character moves from deepest drama to lightest comedy is breathtaking. A favourite episode would probably be on of the dramas, such as Adventures in the Sin Trade or The Debt. I like all the eps where Lucy is forced into some very 'heavy' acting and these two episodes are great examples. 7 .What is Gabrielle for Xena mainly: a lover, a wife or a friend? And in what order you'd put these three faces if you had to grade them? I'm probably going to disappoint you and the readers here, I mostly think of Gabrielle as some sort of 'super' friend, commonly known as a soulmate. The theme of friendship flows strongly throughout the series and is a major attraction for all the fans. I think we all wish we had a friend who'd lay down their life for us if need be. This is the basis of all the 'buddy' films that are so popular. 8.What's your opinion about Ares in the show and his role in Xena's sentimental life? I think Ares has played a very substantial role in the entire series. He is marvellously played by Kevin Smith and I'm sure his character is equally attractive to both male and female viewers of the series. It would be very difficult to imagine anyone else being quite so good in the role. He definitely lusts after Xena and occasionally she responds but in the end she knows he's basically a 'bad boy' and steers clear of him and resists his advances. 9. What in the show inspired you so much that you produced so many beautiful wallpapers? Thank you :) The friendship
of the two main stars plus the amazingly varied storylines. |
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