Hercules and Xena |
The Ghosts of Solstice Past | Hercules and Xena Essays |
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Hercules and Xena |
The Ghosts of Solstice Past | Hercules and Xena Essays |
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The Ghosts of Solstice Past
I've been suffering from Solstice Flu throughout much of December and had to radically adjust my online time and projects to allow for plenty of rest and medicine. So, unfortunately, I missed the boat on discussing online fandom's solstice wishes. But wait, you miserly Scrooges! The power of the Web lets me take you back, back, back to a Solstice just passed.... It seems like every year I find something new relating to Hercules, Xena, and the Solstice. The Solstice is a thinly disguised metaphor for Christmas (which historians would tell you is a Christian takeover of an old solstice celebration -- but that's another topic area altogether). Although the 1998-9 season did not bring any new Solstice episodes, I did find a fan fiction site that reminded me of the cheap shlock album commercials we have to endure every autumn along with numerous reruns of "It's A Wonderful Life". The Xena and Gabrielle Ultimate Solstice Album is a fun-filled rewrite of "Christmas favorites" in a true fannish foray into the world of Xena and Gabrielle. As with any good parody, the tune to which each song is sung is indicated just beneath the titles. But I'll only give you a list of the titles here. You'll have to visit the site yourself to find out which tunes have been rewritten. Some are a bit obvious, but the lyrics are very well done.
The Solstice parody has bloomed into something new, a bit different, neither pagan nor Christian. It's a phenomenon born of HercXena fandom. We've taken the Solstice away from religion. Another odd parody from 1997 which mentions the Solstice in passing occurs on Snoop's List of Commercials. Someone decided that Salmoneus could move just about anything on television with a little help from everyone's favorite warrior princess. December is a "down" month for the two shows when we get to see reruns. "A Star Shall Guide Them" and "A Solstice Carol" were shown two years in a row but they were sadly left out of the 1998 fall schedule. I hope Renaissance elects to show them again in 1999. They're nice shows. One thing I did notice in December was that a lot of fans were promoting the new URLs for the "official" Hercules and Xena Web sites. Yes, I've been a bit slow in updating the links here, but you can now go directly to the official sites from Suite101 again. They've picked up a new look but still load a little slowly because of the immense number of graphics. The old "original" MCA URLs, btw, still work for both the official sites. Well, I looked around to see if there were any new year's resolutions by the fans. Apparently too few were excited about the prospect of starting a new year of fandom to really get into the resolutions business. I, myself, don't make resolutions that I don't keep. And just to be on the safe side, I seldom make new year's resolutions. Fandom will be around for a while, marching into the 21st century (which starts on January 1, 2001, not in 2000 as some people believe), and I plan to be right there with 'em, all the way, one way or another. Hope y'all had a happy (and healthy) Solstice. Down the reruns, up the new eps! |
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