Ginny You

A girl of many voices and a love for anime, manga, and black cats, actress Ginny You has done primarily voiceover work so far and considers herself a voiceover actress first and foremost. Her most recent voiceover role was that of Maid Marian in Robin Hood: Ghosts of Sherwood 3D. However, the Purdue alumna has proven she can be more than just a voice behind a character.

Ginny has also been chalking up on-screen acting credits since 2008, beginning with the piranha-owning lead in the short film Abby (one she'd rather forget because her acting skills have come a long way since) to the more notable roles in the web series Candy Girls, Lewis Schoenbrun's sci-fi adventure Aliens vs. Avatars, and David S. Sterling's 3D Bikini Beach Babes Issue #2.

1993 Lakeport Revival Bikini Contestants

Back in 1993, the band I was in at the time, was booked to play a weekend at a club in Lakeport, California, which is about a two hour drive north of San Francisco. While I was up there, I caught a poster advertising the Lakeport Revival Classic Car Show (now defunct), which included a bikini contest, at the Lake County Fairgrounds. Me, being a fan of classic cars and an even bigger fan of bikini contests, decided to go check it out and I made sure to bring my camera along. (35mm, this was the pre-digital age.)

Most of the contestants were from  Northern California (Santa Rosa, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, etc.) and were obviously professional or semi-professional models, with one notable exception, who gave away her amateur status with her less-than-perfect posture. I don't remember who won, or even the names of any contestants, but "Stars and Stripes Girl" here, was the show-stealer who got the biggest response from the crowd once she dropped her white blazer to show her patriotism.

As I look at these photos now, I notice there doesn't seem to be any real differences between the hair and fashion styles of these ladies vs. those whom would be competing in such contests today. However, I can point out the absence of tattoos and piercings (visible ones, anyway) on these ladies vs. the inked and body jewelry-laden bodies you'd be likely to see in bikini contests these days.

Japanese Female Celebs' Final Acts

There have been many comparisons made between Japanese and Korean cultures. One such comparison is the how changes, pressures, and social stigmas of modern life has effected the two, and who are more prone to commit suicide due to the aforementioned factors. In recent years, several top Korean entertainers have committed suicide when it seemed like they had everything to live for. Money, fame, family, friends. Yet, they still felt like they needed to end it all and checked out at young ages. I wrote this piece on that Korean "cultural phenomenon" back in October of 2008 and have updated it several times since, every time another Korean female celeb has taken her own life.

In the almost four years since I wrote that entry, I've been asked how the celebrity (more specifically female celebrity) suicide rate in Japan compares with that of Korea. I'm, in no way, going to present any analogies or official statistics of this, but since it's news whenever a famous person dies (by whatever means), all it took for me to find out how female celeb suicide rates compare between Korea and Japan, was some Internet research. In short, Korean female celebs have been more prone to take their own lives in recent years (the "trend" beginning in February, 2005 with actress Lee Eun-joo's death) but the suicides of Japanese female celebs started two decades earlier. Also, the Japanese ladies seem to be a bit more creative than their Korean counterparts when it comes to the method to end it all, sometimes employing the use of toxic chemicals while the Koreans overwhelmingly favor hanging as the preferred means.

In my initial search for Japanese female celeb suicides in recent decades, I came up with six names. However, I later found out that one lady, whose cause of death was reported by most sources as heart attack, was actually a suicide, so that made the count seven. Of those names, the suicide of the one who was best-known occurred 26 years ago and the ones since weren't all exactly household names in Japan (as Choi Jin-sil was in Korea). The most recent being gravure idol Miyu Uehara (above), who was found hanged in her apartment on May 12, 2011. She left no note but was apparently unhappy with her chosen career, despite becoming quite popular in her field, and with over 400 television appearances to her credit.

Annie Cruz

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Lacey Hernandez

Actress and model Lacey Hernandez is another beautiful and talented lady who was brought to my attention by my friend and master of indie film promotion, Carlo Rodriguez. Carlo also seems to have the same keen eye for beauty and talent as I do. (Well ....the proof's right here.)

A native Texan, Lacey's background in front of the camera has mainly been in modeling, thus far. ("I've done some great gigs!" she proudly told me.) She focused on her college education before transitioning over to acting. Now, with degrees in psychology and nuclear medicine under her belt, even though she hasn't been in the acting biz long, she's managed to get some great parts in a short time. Namely, Terissa Kelton's Dear Boss Ripper and Bug Davidson's The Beauty Memory Project, both soon to be released. One of the films she's currently working on is the Doggett Brothers' Horror, a project she's grown particularly fond of. She's also picking up some good experience working behind the camera, as well. Most recently on Twitchy Dolphin's Daughter of Werebitch Meets Skankenstein (my favorite B-horror title since the classic Frankenhooker).

Lacey's eagerness to do this interview with me was very flattering and I'm happy to present one of the first of what will surely be many interviews in her career.

Inkerbella

Since she started modeling in 2006, Inkerbella has been featured in some of the most popular pin-up and tattoo magazines in the US. She firmly believes that "you gotta love the skin that you were born in" and the skin she was born in is adorned with many colorful designs, reminiscent of the traditional American tattoo artwork of the 1940s and 50s. Speaking of that time, many of Inkerbella's photo shoots bring to mind the World War II-era pin-up models that graced the noses of fighter planes and GI footlockers, in addition to being tattooed on the arms of US servicemen.

Also an actress, Inkerbella's credits include appearances in such TV shows as 1000 Ways to Die and 8.13. One of her most recent film roles is in Jun-seong Kim's upcoming thriller Innocent Blood, where she's cast against type as a conservative-looking university student. She also has her own signature perfume line from Black Corset Scents, that come in bottles with mini handcuffs attached.

Bella (as her friends call her) was very happy to take some time to answer my questions that included the "regular" jobs she's held, who the best Phantom of the Opera was, and of course, her tattoos. I didn't ask about her piercings during the interview but found out about them later.

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.