Kylara's Fandom Fun

It’s a stressful time for anyone, regardless of how healthy you are. Thankfully, I am still working during this pandemic — albeit remotely. But that means I’m missing out on a lot of the great stuff that is being offered to keep people entertained and enlightened.

It makes sense, however, that when I do engage, I’ve been resorting to something familiar for the sense of comfort it gives me. But I also still want something ‘new’. So, I’ve compromised — and am looking at new things from creators I’m familiar with. Here are five things I’ve been doing to stay culturally engaged.

Read the full article on my website.

{Header image by Pete Linforth, used courtesy Pixabay, under a Creative Commons license.}

By now, you’ve received an email from every company you’ve ever given your email to on how they are dealing with COVID-19 (commonly known as the coronavirus). Additionally, events are being canceled left and right in order to flatten the curve and encourage social isolation to stop the spread.

But you might be wondering what you can do. 

Read the full article on my website.

Lost Notes, produced by KCRW, and hosted by Solomon Georgio for season 1 and Jessica Hopper for season 2. Released weekly in a season format, with an approximate running time of 40 minutes. Started April 2018.

I like to think I have fairly eclectic taste in music. My mom was a fan of musicals and classical music (and grew up in the 40s and 50s), my oldest brother tended to lean into the soft rock of the ’70s, the younger of my two older brothers meanwhile got into punk and metal, while I grew up in the 80s with the pop explosion.

Additionally, at least where I grew up, in the late 80s there was an interest in the rock of the 50s, and my town was pure country where I couldn’t throw a stone without hitting someone who was into Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams Jr., or Dolly Parton. (One of my favorite moments from early college: coming across a guy who was rocking out — headbanging and everything — to Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans”.) Meanwhile, my undergrad college had an alternative rock radio station that I helped DJ a time or two, and I briefly dated a guy who was seriously into Christian rock.

And I soaked it up. There are not many genres I don’t like. It helps that I’m a pretty passive listener: I’m not a big fan of concerts, and for the most part I listen while doing something else. I typically can’t just sit and listen to music.

Read the full review on my website.

LeVar Burton Reads, produced by Stitcher, and hosted by (obviously) LeVar Burton. Released weekly in a season format, with an approximate running time of 60 minutes. Started June 2017.

I was a little on the upper age range in the target market for Reading Rainbow when it came out in the mid-80s. But I loved to read, and I had connected to Geordi LaForge’s character on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and so I watched anyway. And loved it.

In fact, in 2014, when I heard he was bringing the show to the web and to an app through a Kickstarter campaign, I gladly donated $50 (and still proudly wear the t-shirt I got, which almost inevitably gets someone excited at seeing Reading Rainbow when I wear it). Additionally, I loved that he seemed to be embracing this side of his personality, such as reading “Go the F*ck to Sleep” as part of a fundraiser Rooster Teeth put on back in 2014.

So, when I heard that he was doing a podcast that was basically him reading short stories, I gladly subscribed on iTunes. My off-line reading has dropped off tremendously in the past few years, and I’m trying to make up for it when I can. I listen to the occasional audiobook when I have the time, and this sounded exactly what I needed to expand my reading.

Read the full review on my website.

Sorry for the radio silence on the podcast. I’ve been going through some stuff that I go into a bit more in the audio, but the important part is that I’m back — albeit back to a monthly schedule.

Back in February, I attended my second Gallifrey One convention here in Los Angeles. While there, I managed to snag 30 minutes of time with animator and artist Alisa Stern, the woman behind the YouTube web series Doctor Puppet. We talk about what got her into animation, why she chose to do a Doctor Who-based series, and what’s next on her plate now that she’s decided to wrap it all up.

Head’s up that I interviewed her in the lobby early Sunday morning, so the background noise is a bit crowded — and it only gets worse as the interview progresses.

See the full show notes and listen to the episode here.