Liane Langford - Red is Better

It's been over three years since actress, model, and (no kidding) Reddi-wip heiress Liane Langford has appeared on these pages. Since my last interview with her in October of 2012, Liane signed with a top San Francisco modeling agency and has done shoots with several notable photographers. She was a Vampirette for Pat Johnson's Malevolent Magazine shoot, posed with pink flamingos for Mark Pernal in Florida, was a girl with a gun in black lingerie for Lance Miller, and the flaming red muse for Robert Gifford's above photo illustration.

Liane's film appearances since her last interview here are even more notable. They include Joe Hollow's A Blood Story, which was released earlier this year, and her role as "Brenda the Badass Bartender" in Steve Oakley's Natural Born Filmmakers, which premiered at the Action On Film International Film Festival in September. Among her upcoming films are Ted V. Mikels' 10 Violent Women: Part Two, Cameron J. Scott's The Krokodil Chronicles, and Lawrence W. Nelson's You Found Me, that has a cast chock full of some of the best-known and talented ladies on the indie film scene today.

To find out details on all the aforementioned, as well as much more, including her feelings for Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry and what she has to say to Edward Cullen of Twilight, just press play to have a listen to my latest interview with Miss Langford.

November 17, 2015 interview with Liane Langford

Natalie Stephany

Born and raised in San Francisco, actress Natalie Stephany began her acting career on the stage in such plays as Footloose, Beauty and the Beast, and Gypsy, where she had her first speaking role as Baby June. Moving to TV and films enabled her to get her SAG card in 2006 and she's been busy ever since. One of her most recent roles is as the stand-in for Kate Micucci (Garfunkle & Oats, The Big Bang Theory) in the 2016-slated Unleashed.

Looking somewhat ethnically ambiguous and younger than her almost-25 years, allows for Natalie to fill a wide range of roles. Having nice hands has landed her some hand modeling commercial gigs. Knowing how to drive a stick shift led to her picking up a stunt driving credit in a 2010 episode of America's Most Wanted. It was a piece of driving she pulled off skillfully, despite making her feel like she was "about to shit her pants." Natalie tells me she plans on attending stunt driving school in the near future to add that to a regular pert of her repertoire. Read on to see the other topics we covered in this recent interview. Above photo courtesy of Natalie, herself.

Marisa Churchill

Celebrity chef Marisa Churchill is well-known for the low-cal pastries and desserts she creates that don't taste low-cal. Her best-selling book, Sweet & Skinny: 100 Recipes for Enjoying Life's Sweeter Side Without Tipping the Scales will tell you how she does it.

A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and  the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone (in the Northern California city of St. Helena, where some of the region's finest wine is made), Marisa has worked at some of San Francisco's premiere restaurants, including Rubicon, which, unfortunately and despite having several celebrity investors including the late Robin Williams, shut its doors in 2008. Marisa's TV appearances include her being a contestant on the second season of Top Chef. She's also whipped up some of her specialties on The Talk, Access Hollywood as well as a few TV shows in Greece, a country she often visits, where she also enjoys culinary celeb status. When she's not in the kitchen, Marisa, an avid swimmer, can usually be found at wherever the nearest pool or beach is.

I first contacted Marisa for an interview back in July of 2012, a few months after I caught her on the show Eye on the Bay and making note of her name. She promptly replied, stating she'd be happy to do an interview with me, but it just didn't pan out. In January of this year, I decided to forward my original e-mail back to her, to see if we could then make an interview happen. She replied, it seemed like it might happen, but after a while, it still didn't look like it was going to be, so I told her I'd settle for a "one question interview" if she's just pick one of my questions to answer. So, citing her busy scheduled for not having the time to reply to all of my questions, she seemed to like that idea and answered one of my questions, and, for my patience, she said, answered a second. The above photo of Marisa was taken outside of the Kifissia flower show in northern Athens, Greece last month, where Marisa was on hand to whip up some of her famous Sweet & Skinny desserts for those in attendance.

Jackie Dallas

Born in Syracuse, New York, actress and model Jackie Dallas now resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, by way of Miami, New York City, and Chicago. Even though she was on the road to a successful medical career, Jackie made the decision to leave medicine and pursue her true passion; acting. Now being able to focus on acting full time, she's landed small parts in a few major productions, such as the soon-to-be-released San Andreas. Her more prominent roles include the very pregnant Maggie in Jay Davis' horror parody, Not Another Zombie Movie....About the Living Dead and Terrell Holden's drama, Catching Broken Glass, in which she portrays a war veteran suffering from PTSD. In addition to that, she made a recent IMDb list of the "Top 40 Asian Actresses Under 40 to Watch for in Hollywood," which is another good indication that she won't be regretting her decision to leave medicine for acting.

Also an experienced model, Jackie, being a car enthusiast, got her start doing import car show modeling at an event she used to bring her car to. She currently has an impressive portfolio that includes a Mélange fashion show and a very recent RAW:natural born artists event, in which she modeled for top San Francisco makeup artist Adrianna Reloba. As of this writing, Jackie's in Atlanta, one of the cities very dear to her, where she's shooting scenes for some yet-to-be-announced film projects. Above photo by Lisa Keating.

Scarlett Dark

Scarlett Dark is the lead singer, keyboardist, and a founding member of the San Francisco Bay Area rock band, Lipshok. Their music is described as "progressive symphonic metal that is unique, gothic, haunting, melodic, ethereal, and highly commercial." At one time a cover band, they now have three albums behind them with a fourth due out later this year, in which most of the songs are penned by Scarlett.

In the mundane world (as she puts it) Scarlett is known as Debbi Douglas; wife, mother, and tennis pro. No kidding ....and her tennis credentials are impressive. As a competitor, Debbi (as I'll refer to her when I'm talking about her tennis career) was ranked as high as number 4 in women's singles in California. In college, she reached number 7 in the NCAA, and was a two time All American. She was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Cal State Hayward, just last year. Even though many of Debbi's colleagues and students at the Harbor Bay Tennis Club (where she works by day) are aware of her alter ego, Scarlett Dark, this revelation will probably come as a "shok" to Lipshok fans reading this. Just read on to learn more about the Lipshok frontwoman. Above photo of Scarlett performing at the Mojo Lounge in Fremont, is courtesy of Scarlett, herself.

Caroline Blind

Singer and guitarist Caroline Bokman currently fronts the San Francisco-based punk metal band Dammit!, but she's probably best-known by most fans as Caroline Blind, from when she was lead vocalist of Sunshine Blind. Described as a "goth/trip hop/darkwave" band, Sunshine Blind was co-founded by Caroline in 1991. Over the next 12 years, they extensively toured clubs throughout the US and released four studio albums before breaking up in 2003.

These days, Caroline calls San Francisco home and she can be seen performing with Dammit! at many of the Bay Area's premiere hard rock venues, such as Oakland's Uptown Nightclub, Johnny V's in San Jose's and the City's own DNA Lounge, where she reunited with Sunshine Blind for a show just last year.

What casual fans may not know about Caroline, is that she holds a BA in psychology and worked as a marriage and family therapist intern. She tells me her goal was to counsel bands and artists, who often have the same issues and dysfunctions married couples face, and those of us who have been in touring bands sure can concur with that. Caroline talks about that and more here in my recent interview with her. Other topics we cover are, why she doesn't have a definitive home town, the possibility of further Sunshine Blind reunions, and her current gig with Dammit!, in which she now may be handling bass, as well as vocal duties, on a permanent basis.

Burlesque Queen Noel Toy

The above circa 1940 video of Chinese-American burlesque queen Noel Toy performing her famous fan dance, makes it clear to see why she was was often billed as “The Chinese Sally Rand.”

Undoubtedly the most famous Asian-American Burlesque performer of her time, Miss Toy began her show biz career as a photographer’s nude model at the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939. Since Asian nude models were a rarity at the time, word soon spread around the San Francisco Bay Area and Noel was contacted by the owner of “Forbidden City,” a once-popular nightclub in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Believing Noel was just what he needed to spice up his club, the owner offered her 50 dollars a week (good money for that time) to headline at Forbidden City, which was where she first became known as the Chinese Sally Rand. There, she made famous her fan and “bubble dances,” the latter in which she used large balloons, rather than fans. According to Miss Toy, some customers were successful in popping her balloons with their cigarettes, “but they also go it on their bill.”

Mary-Madison Baldo

Filmmaker and actress Mary-Madison Baldo (who'll ask you to call her Madison, not Mary) has all the makings to realize her dream of hearing her name announced at the Oscars someday. Besides her talents, the not-quite-21-year old filmmaker has the drive, focus, and positive attitude needed to succeed in her field. Of course, her looks don't hurt either, and have landed her some modeling jobs, most notably for Northern California-based Soul Clothing & Co.

A native New-Yorker who now lives and goes to school in the San Francisco Bay Area by way of Los Angeles, Madison and her partner started their own production company last year, entitled Bardo-Bretow Pictures. She's currently in production with two of her own; The Glittering Girl and Snake Eyes, both of which she'll also be working on in front of the camera, as well as behind.

A recently completed solo project of Madison's, which the above photo is from, is her submission for Team Oscar 2015, an annual competition for young filmmakers, put on by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. If hers is one of the six winning videos selected, you'll see her on stage as an Oscar Bearer on award night. What follows is my recent interview with the very charming lady, in which she reveals, besides her passion for filmmaking, she also dreams of being a roller derby queen and has some very good taste in music.

2014 Christmas Compilation

With Christmas around the corner, here are a selection of some of the lovely and talented ladies whose interviews and featured articles have graced the pages of this site, decked out in the spirit of the season. Starting it off is actress and talk show hostess Michelle Tomlinson who could have, but did not bake that pie herself. A big thanks to all the ladies here, especially to the ones who took the time and effort to take a photo exclusively for this feature. Happy Holidays!

Judy Cerda Revisited

Since my first interview with actress Judy Cerda, more than three years ago, she's continued to stay very visible in San Francisco's indie film scene. Last year, she appeared in Last Doorway Productions' Monster of Golden Gate, and Forgotten Tales, the former of which she was on hand to promote at this year's Big Wow ComicFest in San Jose. The latter, currently in post-production, was filmed at an actual cabin in the woods that Judy says added to the horror-movie feeling of the shoot and helped her get into character.

Some of the recent short films Judy has done, include Jon Schipsi's Cosplay Dreams and Jeff Lunzaga's Agent 6, in both of which she plays a psychologist, albeit within very different storylines. In David Millett's Autum's Fall, Judy took on the role of a jaded, tough-talking prostitute, a role she tells me she had a lot of fun with. Always a true professional and highly-respected by those she works with, Judy was prompt and gracious to accept my offer for this follow-up interview.

Welcome to My Darkside - Women in Horror Documentary

Slated for release in November, Last Doorway Productions' documentary Welcome to My Darkside, features interviews and commentary from 35 talented ladies who've made names for themselves in the horror genre. Their characters have been on the giving, as well as the receiving ends of murder weapons of choice, and they have worked on both sides of the camera.

Debra Lamb in "Event"

The above 2001 USC student short film Event, is a rarity in that it features Scream Queen Debra Lamb in one the few student films she starred in during the early 2000s. During this period, Debra did just this and one other USC, and two UCLA student films. Event was produced by director Teresa Kuan and her cinematographer Sarah Johnson.

Asian Ladies of the Gold Rush

With the 2014 NFL Kickoff Game just under four months away, most of the teams’ cheerleading squads have already held their try-outs and selected the ladies who will be donning the midriff-baring uniforms and entertaining the fans on game day with their spirited dance routines.

As San Francisco is the NFL city with the largest Asian population, it’s a given that the 49ers cheerleaders, know as the Gold Rush, will have Asian ladies representing in the red and gold. One of whom is Airi (above), whose first year as a Gold Rush cheerleader will also be the first season the 49ers will be playing at their new home field, Levi’s Stadium.

Ysabel Young for Doritos

On this Super Bowl Sunday, here's a commercial produced by Last Doorway Productions' Reyna Young for Doritos' 2011-2012 "Crash the Super Bowl" ad contest. According to Reyna, who shot the commercial in Pacifica, California; "there were quite a bit of zombie-themed entries, but every time I checked, it looked like ours had the most hits, which was cool."

2013 Christmas Compilation

After catching Kristina Michelle (above) in her very recent holiday photo shoot with Scott T. Morrison of Discovery Photo, it gave me the idea for this Christmas-themed post featuring some of the ladies I've had the pleasure of interviewing over the past few years. A big thanks to all of them for sending me their photos, some of which were taken by them, exclusively for this feature. (Clicking on their names will take you to their interviews here.)

Linda Le's FHM Cover Shoot

Popular model and cosplayer Linda Le, who's better known by many as "Vampy," is the most recent cover girl for FHM Singapore. Based out of San Jose, California, Linda is one of the highest-profile cosplayers of today, often appearing at the most popular anime and comic conventions and events all around the globe in carefully-detailed costumes, many of which, Linda creates solely herself. The following are just a select few examples of her versions of well-known comic book superheroines, as well as her own Vampy persona.

Miss Misery's Movie Massacre

As it's coming up on the Halloween season, here's the Queen of Horror in the San Francisco Bay Area, Reyna Young, better know by Bay Area horror fans as Miss Misery, with a teaser for her Movie Massacre.

Besides hosting Movie Massacre, which is now getting ready to go into its fourth season, Reyna is now earning some attention for her acting roles in several short films. The most recent being in two of her own, Sally, and Monster of the Golden Gate, the latter of which she tells me is a throwback to the awesome black and white cheesy B monster movies of the 1950s and 60s. She'll also be appearing in a small role in Patrick O'Bell's The Divine Order, due out later this year and she recently published her book of poetry, entitled Dislocated Thoughts. 

Cherry Poptart

Debuting in 1982, Cherry Poptart was the creation of artist and writer Larry Welz and originally published by San Francisco underground comic publishing giant, Last Gasp Books, who, I'm pleased to state, are still in operation today.

Last Gasp editor-in-chief, Ron Turner, tells me the character Cherry Poptart actually got her beginnings in Bakersfield Kountry Komics. According to Ron, it was after catching her there, that he got Welz and his colleague, artist Larry Sutherland, who were both originally from Bakersfield, where Bakersfield Kountry Komics was published, to "commemorate that lovely San Joaquin Valley shithole."

The title character, described as "blonde, cute, sexy, fun, friendly, and smart," (in addition to always braless, very openly bisexual, and eternally 18) was ranked #82 in the Comic Buyer's Guide's 100 Sexiest Women in Comics.

Shortly after the second issue hit the stands in January of 1985, the Kellog company (the makers of Pop-Tarts® toaster pastries) got wind of the buxom blonde comic cutie, and threatened legal action against Welz and Turner if they continued to use their trademarked name. Because of that, the title of the book was shortened to just Cherry by the third issue and the character's surname changed from "Poptart" to "Popstar." Above is the cover of issue #1. I've seen prices on this one ranging from a few bucks for one in fair condition to well over a grand for one in mint condition.

Jen Rainwater - The Oakland A's Socks Girl

If you're an Oakland Athletics fan and a regular at O.co Coliseum, then you're probably at least casually acquainted with Jen Rainwater, known among A's fans as the "Oakland A's Socks Girl." Even to say Jen's a die-hard A's fan would be an understatement. This girl bleeds hunter green and California gold and almost nothing can keep her away from an A's home game, where, as you can see at left, she's always seen sporting a pair of the green and gold socks that have become her trademark. She knows Oakland coliseum as well as she does her own home because it's practically her second home, and if you want to know the status of any game the A's are currently playing, just follow Jen's Twitter because she'll keep you just as up to the minute as the announcers will.

Jen is actually a native Texan who began learning about baseball from her mother and grandmother at the age of two. At four, her family moved to the Oakland area and she's been an avid and loyal A's supporter ever since. She became a season ticket holder in the mid-90s and hasn't missed an A's spring training in over 10 years.

Despite my being a fan of Jen's most hated Major League Baseball team; the defending World Series champion and A's arch-rivals from across the Bay, San Francisco Giants (She despises the "gnats with a passion beyond anything"), she gladly agreed to do this interview with me.

Erin Tjoe in "Too Good to Waste"

The above video still is from a recent ad for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's water conservation campaign. It may give the impression that actress Erin Tjoe is going to be ill, but in fact, she's portraying a consumer who's made aware of the value of saving water. The 30-second spot is one of a series of ads being put out by the SFPUC, that feature Erin.