This post contains no sports or sports card content. It's just a somewhat random post about somewhat random actresses and TV shows. Feel free to skip it if you're so inclined.
Back in the late 1990s I used to watch a fair amount of teen "soap opera" shows, as my mom called them. I got into Dawson's Creek because I heard the girls at school mention that Dawson was an aspiring filmmaker; I got into Roswell for the sci-fi angle - and because my girlfriend at the time was a huge fan. (My wife was a fan of the show, too.)
The original Roswell starred Jason Behr (my wife's crush), Brendan Fehr (my ex-gf's crush), Shiri Appleby* (my crush), and Katherine Heigl. I don't remember a whole lot about the show or any specific episodes, and you guys probably don't care anyway. *I'll get to the point in a sec, but first I wanted to share something random. There's a quote on Britt Robertson's IMDB page that mentions Shiri:
I eat like no other, it drives everyone crazy. I eat donuts three times a
day and I probably go through four Mountain Dews a day. I'm on like a
sugar high at all times, pretty much. Shiri Appleby,
who plays my mother, is a vegan and works out every day for two hours
before she goes to work. When she sees me with my Mountain Dew, eating
chips and a donut at 4 in the morning, she's like, "Wow. Wait until
you're 30".
Britt Robertson looks like that and eats like me? Now that's a woman after my own heart!
Anyway, where was I? Oh, right.. Roswell.
The CW rebooted the show last year and gave it a new name:
The Mrs. and I started watching Roswell, New Mexico a couple months ago - after Superstore and This Is Us ended but before Stranger Things returned. Now that we've finished watching ST3 we've started watching Roswell, New Mexico again. The basics of the original show are still in place: Max, Michael, and Isabel are aliens who crash-landed in Roswell.Max and Liz have romantic chemistry in both shows.
The names are the same - almost (in the reboot, Liz has a more ethnic-sounding surname) but the plot lines and details are different. For example, the current show is a lot more "woke", getting a lot of mileage out of aliens in a
border state struggling to blend in.
My wife hates politics, and the frequent reminders of it annoy her. I get that. But things were different 20 years ago, and the show is understandably geared to a younger, more diverse audience than its predecessor. We're not exactly the target demographic.
Anyway, the point of this post isn't to discuss the actual show - or its forebearer.
A few episodes into season one I noticed that one of the new characters, officer Cameron, looked familiar to me.
Once she had a decent amount of screen time I figured out why (or thought I did, anyway)This girl looks like Taryn Southern, I thought, and immediately did two things:
I hadn't seen Taryn in quite some time, so I checked her Instagram to refresh my memory... and that is when I learned that she's battling cancer (#fuckbob)
After that news knocked me for a loop, I hopped onto IMDB. And maybe from certain angles Riley Voelkel kinda resembles Taryn...but not really.
But! While I was on her IMDB page I learned that I had seen her before - in one of my favorite shows. And she played a significant role in one of the most significant scenes of said show..
Yep, that's Riley - asking the question that serves as a flashpoint for the pilot episode of The Newsroom. Damn I miss that show.
I just wanted to share that with you guys. There's no sports to speak of today anyhow.
A few weeks ago Gavin offered up some surplus customs for trade. I was happy to take a few off his hands.. but what I really wanted were originalBaseball Card Breakdown creations.
I had received a "Pretty Girls" mini in a previous trade package and was hoping he could whip up a few of my favorites. The Allen & Ginter set is a nice one, but I never really sought them out due to their size (I can never find Ultra-pro pages that fit non-traditional cards.)
Gavin indicated that this template was kind of a tough one anyhow, and so Itried to make his work a little easier. I made a list of six famous ladies I like, e-mailed him a few pictures to choose from, and gave him one design element request for these Pretty Girls cards:
fairly basic, borderless design...but with "Pretty Girls" written in ribbon/cursive at the top left and the first name written in the same style
Naturally, I went with Jennifer Lawrence as card #1. Around this time last year I spent actual money on Hunger Games cards just to have her in my collection. (retailers like Dave and Adam's are practically giving those cards away.)
This is not a new picture of Jennifer (I miss her long locks) but it is my favorite of all-time. I'm thrilled that Gavin chose it for the front photo.
The card backs feature a second photo...
Gavin wrote the text on all of these. I had thought about writing some myself but his reputation and knowledge speaks for itself. Also, these are in Card Savers because I didn't want to smudge the ink; Gav warned me about it and I didn't take the cards out of the sleeves, but a tiny bit of text did start to smudge (on other cards, not this one.)
Kristen Bell is a mutual favorite of ours. I have a couple Kristen cards in my collection but Gavin has a much, much better one.
Here's a look at the back. As is the case with Jennifer, I've seen all of the films/shows mentioned.
If you've heard of Katherine McNamara before, there's at least a 65% chance it's because of this blog.I adore this young actress (and she's quite a good signer, too.)
The photo Gavin chose for the back is probably my favorite. I really hope that Shadowhunters helps her land some more significant film/TV roles in the future.
Batting cleanup in this set is Supergirl star Melissa Benoist.
She's another multi-talented actress who can sing better than most chart-topping pop stars. Glee never interested me, but I wouldn't say no to seeing her perform as Carole King in the Broadway hit Beautiful.
Melissa is featured in the Cryptozoic Supergirltrading card set(no autographs though). I picked up one card on COMC and might grab some more before the end of the month.
When I made my request for six custom cards (eight, counting some MusiCards you'll see in a future post) I told Gavin that he didn't have to make all six, if he was too busy or I was asking for too much of him (I've got a complex, what can I say?) The first four would have been fine with me, but he had no problem fulfilling my entire order. And so, we have card number five...
Here's another under-the-radar actress that might make you say "Who?"
Britt Robertson first caught my attention in Under The Dome..and then I forgot about her (I haven't seen her in anything mentioned in this text) until I heard about a film called Ask Me Anything, where she plays...a blogger. I really want to see that someday - if I can ever find it. I'd also like to get my hands on one of these Under The Dome autographed cards. They're not cheap though.
Until then, I'll try to catch Britt in the Shonda Rhimes legal drama For The People.
Rounding out the "original six" we have my dream girl Anna Kendrick..
...and by "dream girl" I mean that she has literally appeared in my dreams. This photo was featured in that dream journal post, wherein I alluded to a potential card connection.
I hadn't noticed until this card, but Gavin used different colors for each name. The black really pops here, and it matches this photo perfectly. I read a preview page of Scrappy Little Nobody and I'm making a mental note to read the whole thing. (now that I've just typed it out, it's not a mental note..)
As I said, I offered to trim this list down to four. Gavin's response was to suggest I add three more to the list, so I'd have enough to fill a 9-pocket page. Sounds good to me!
In the seven spot I chose yet another talented signer, Victoria Justice. She's been featured on this blog - and on a trading card - before.
I don't care what anyone says, Victoria is the most talented and strikingly beautiful Nickelodeon alum ever..and this is coming from a guy who straight-up obsessed over Amanda Bynes back in the day. So... when Gavin gave me the option to choose three more Pretty Girls subjects, I had to think a little bit. This time last year Taryn Southern would have been right at the top of the list - which is why I commissioned Corky to produce a 4-card set of Southern singles.
Did I need another custom card of her? I suppose not. But I'm very happy to add this one to my collection. I didn't have a lot of photos to choose from, but this outdated close-up looks fantastic. Taryn has one of the most perfect faces I've ever seen. That smile..my god.
The back features another classic pic. Oh hey, I just though of an idea..what if Taryn and Victoria played partners in a police or courtroom drama? It would be called Southern Justice..lol. No mention of her latest album I Am A.I. but Corky's cards covered that.
The ninth and final card in the set is someone who has just recently landed on my radar. College sports fans probably know Laura Rutledge better than I do; I've only seen her a few times on SportsCenter and Get Up. (Didn't realize they were the same person at first. But when I did...)
Gavin appears to be more familiar with her work, possibly due to her San Diego connections?
She's a beauty queen and a sports personality. Who's the lucky bastard that got to wife her up?
That would be former Rockies and Red Sox infielder Josh Rutledge. Now I have husband and wife in my collection.
Gavin, thank you very much for these fantastic customs! I'm thrilled to add them to my growing custom card stash.
