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.

Tristan Risk

I'll admit, I'd never heard of Tristan Risk until I saw the movie American Mary, in which she played Beatress Johnson (yes, "Beatress," not "Beatrice"), a stripper who had 14 surgeries to become a real-life Betty Boop look-alike. She gave such a striking performance, hers was the first name I Googled right after the final credits rolled ....and that's saying something because American Mary was full of memorable female characters. It also has the makings of a potential cult classic.

Tristan has been described as a "corsetier, chocolatier, baker, ta-ta shaker, hip-swayer, tight lacer," and a "troublemaker." While all of that's true, first and foremost, the Vancouver native is one of the best-know names in neo-burlesque, incorporating fire-eating and vaudeville-style magic into her act. She was originally recruited by the producers of American Mary, Jen and Sylvia Soska, as a choreographer for the film's dance numbers. The role of Beatress had not yet been cast since none of the actresses who'd read for the part so far, seemed to understand the character. When Jen and Sylvia decided to give Tristan a shot and saw her audition, they knew they'd found their Beatress and the rest is history.

After doing a bit of research on "Little Miss Risk," I sent her a link to the piece I wrote on the female cast of American Mary and told her I'd love to do and interview with her sometime. When she promptly replied, saying she'd love to, I was flattered, feeling that she was an admirer of my writings. However, it turned out, Tristan's a self-admitted attention whore and relishes any chance to talk about herself and her doings at great length. Certainly nothing wrong with that but I was a little disappointed that my journalistic qualifications didn't play a role in getting her to agree to this interview. Anyway, regardless of her reasons for doing this, I'm proud to add Tristan to my list of lovely interviewees. Above photo by Black Opal Images.

Calamity Chang

When American burlesque was in its heyday, Asian striptease performers were practically unheard of. However, with the emergence of "neo-burlesque" in the mid-1990s, a few Asian ladies have taken to the stage, doing the retro "bump 'n grind" acts. One of the most prominent being New York City's "Asian Sexsation" Calamity Chang. Above is Calamity doing her "Nunsploitation" routine at a show entitled "Meat My Friends," hosted at Full Cup in Staten Island. See more of Calamity at her official website and you can follow her on Twitter.

The Ladies of American Mary

Above is the trailer for Twisted Twins Productions' 2012 thriller, American Mary, which became available on DVD this month. The twins behind TTP are the eerily provocative Jen and Sylvia Soska, who also brought us 2009's Dead Hooker in a Trunk.

American Mary stars Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Freddy vs. Jason) as a medical student who applies for work as a dancer at a strip club, named the Bourbon a Go Go, to help make ends meet. When a "medical emergency" occurs during Mary's interview, the club owner, knowing that Mary's a med student, offers her five grand on the spot to save the victim's life. Mary does, but sure doesn't seem to appreciate the chance for the hands-on experience because she goes home, gets sick, and tries to shower the ordeal away.

Korean Dance Team Waveya

Most Korean female vocal groups work with choreographers to develop dance routines they perform to their songs that they’ve recorded in the studio. However, it’s no secret that when on stage, they usually lip-sync so they can focus more on the dancing. Well, Waveya is one girl group who can’t be accused of lip-syncing to their songs, because they’re not a singing group, they’re a dance team who perform their routines to mainly (but not strictly) current popular K-pop songs. Some of those performances have been before students at colleges and even high schools, sparking a little controversy due to the girl’s provocative dance moves.

Above are the ladies doing their thing to HyunA’s “Bubble Pop” and “Change.” They are (from left to right in the above still); Hyang, Miu, Ari (leader and choreographer), Doori, and Yuna. Occasional sixth member Yuji isn’t part of this one. See more from them at their Youtube channel and Facebook fan page.

Coco Komatsu

Born and raised in Tokyo, import model Coco Komatsu was brought to my attention by another very talented lady, model, artist, and designer April Syrup, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing last year

Coco began her modeling career in Japan, where she still calls home, but she's gradually making quite an impact in the US market and her trips to the States are becoming more frequent. One of her most notable appearances has been on the cover of the May 2012 Super Street magazine. More recently, Coco was in Los Angeles for a shoot with her favorite photographer Rey Trajano and an appearance at Autocon, where she was one of the featured models.

Despite her very busy schedule, Coco took some time out during her recent stay in California, where she was very willing and able to answer most of my questions. Besides being an extremely sweet and gracious lady, she speaks much better English than she gives herself credit for ....particularly impressive since she's mostly self-taught.

Jessica Cameron's Truth or Dare

Here's the very intense teaser to Jessica Cameron's directorial debut, Truth or Dare, a thriller about six college students who find Internet fame when they make “truth or dare” videos with violent twists. It’s all fun and games until their biggest fan decides he wants to play.

In addition to directing and producing the film, Jessica plays the role of Jennifer Collins, a straight-A student with a handsome boyfriend, great group of friends and a bright future ....if she lives to see it. Jessica describes her character as "the most level-headed of the group, and is very strong emotionally." She added that given Jennifer's past, she had no other choice than to be as she is. The movie also features two other lovely fright film alumnae, Devanny Pinn (American Girls) and Heather Dorff (Scary Story Slumber Party). Check out my November, 2011 interview with Jessica here.