Asian Cheerleaders of the NBA

If you've seen an NBA game at any arena, then you know the high energy routines of the cheerleaders (who are more often called dancers, these days), keep the crowd pumped-up during halftimes and breaks in the action. With the current NBA season now down to the playoffs, some of these ladies may not be returning to the court until later this year but many of them stay busy during the off-season by appearing at promotions, special events, and touring as ambassadors of the cities and teams they represent. One dancer whose season is not yet over is Chicago Luvabulls co-captain Erika, whose team, the Chicago Bulls, are still in the running as of this writing. Erika is a University of Illinois alumna who's in her ninth year with the Luvabulls.

Liane Langford

My first telephone conversation with Liane Langford lasted well over an hour, but it seemed like only about 10 minutes. I had my list of questions ready for a straightforward Q&A session, but we quickly fell into a conversation like two old friends catching up. The former centerfold model and current interior designer and art dealer has a very colorful background. With anecdotes that include names like Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), Roger Taylor (of Queen), Alice Cooper, Rosanna Arquette, and Peter Frampton (who taught her how to properly make tea), I'll definitely buy her tell-all autobiography, if and when she writes it.

When Liane mentioned the titles and issues of some of the magazines she's appeared in, I knew I'd seen her before. The titles and dates coincided with the collection of men's magazines I compiled as a teenager. (If the clerk wouldn't sell a copy to me, I'd hang out outside the store and ask a clearly-over-21 male to do me the favor of purchasing it for me.) I did some checking and I was right. It's not every guy who gets to meet one of the ladies he ogled on the pages of his favorite girly mag as a teen, so talking with Liane was quite a fulfillment for me. What follows are the extracted and condensed Q&A from my conversations with Liane. It had to be condensed because her tales of Toby alone could fill a whole book ....and may someday.

Tara Cardinal

Actress Tara Cardinal grew up on a small farm in Indiana but struck out on her own at 16. A self-admitted class clown, she says she frequently acted up during school but fortunately, was so funny that she rarely got in trouble for it. Only returning to her hometown once since she left, she's now giving thought to buying her childhood home after the sale of her creation and best-known character, "Aella the Red Reaper." Speaking of which, the soon-to-be released movie The Legend of the Red Reaper has already spawned a comic book that's almost completed (with the stylings of Michael Champion and colorist William Anderson).

Looking like a young Annette O'Toole (to this writer's eyes, anyway), Tara has built up some impressive acting credits over the last few years, alongside some notable names. Three of which are Song of the Shattered (which also stars Devanny Pinn), Ripped Memories (with Debbie Rochon), and Spreading Darkness with Rena Riffel (Showgirls). Her character's name in the upcoming movie Zombie Massacre is "Eden Shizuka," a part that was originally written for a stoic Japanese man. Despite being far from passing as Japanese and further from passing as a man, she not only got the role, but was actually the very first person to be cast for the film. The character was re-written as a White female who was adopted and trained by monks.

Billie Sherman

I've spoken with many ladies who've taken detours from show biz-related careers to pursue fields that offer more job security. Although the career path Billie Sherman has chosen, may not be a popular one, it's definitely a secure one because it involves one of the two things in life that are certain (the other being taxes).

When I found out that Billie is studying to be a mortician, I was immediately intrigued. Usually funeral homes are family-owned and staffed businesses but that didn't seem to be the case with Billie, as she has no relatives in the field of mortuary sciences. So, curious to know why she entered a field where she'll have to deal with death and grieving on a daily basis, I contacted her and asked if she's be interesting in being interviewed for a feature here, to which she replied ....

Friday the 13th Victim, Annie

Even though many of the actresses I feature and interview here have done primarily horror films, this is not to be considered a horror film blog. However, in honor of Friday the 13th, I've decided to ask you, dear readers, if you know the full name of Jason's first female victim in the original 1980 horror classic Friday the 13th. See the answer after the jump.

Korean Female Celebs' "Lasts"

As sort of a long belated follow-up to this piece, here are a selection of "lasts" from a few of the Korean female entertainers who took their own lives within the last several years. The above ad for Enprani cosmetics, was the late Lee Eun-ju's last ever TV commercial. Upon news of her suicide, the company immediately stopped running this and print ads featuring her. Enprani cited it was out of respect for her family, but I'm sure it was also because having an actress who committed suicide while she was still under contract with them, as the face of their company, would have been terrible for their public image. The following month, Enprani signed then-little-known actress Park Si-yeon as their new spokesmodel.

What would have been Julie Anne's interview

Sometimes, despite efforts, some of the interviews lined up for this site, just never pan out. Such is the case with the one slated with actress Julie Anne Prescott (who goes professionally by just "Julie Anne"), whom I contacted through Facebook about an interview way back in August of last year. Even though she enthusiastically agreed, it just never happened. I'll leave it at that and not go into details regarding the subsequent (and yes, polite) back and forth messages that were exchanged.

Anyway, it's a shame to let good questions go unanswered (especially since research was done to come up with them) but they don't have to go unappreciated. So, rather than let my part of what would have been another great feature, go to waste, I decided to post my half of what would have been a complete interview with Julie. Of course, the blank space above is where a photo of her would have been, had this interview actually occurred and a full feature been published.