Kick-Ass Women: Kima Greggs

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Yes, I am a Baltimorean, and no, I haven't finished watching The Wire yet. I actually started watching mid-season 4, where my boyfriend was, and then backtracked to watch season 1. Kind of unorthodox, I know - way to ruin the surprises, Monica!

Anyhoo, the moment I first saw Kima Greggs I knew she was a badass. She was wearing a suit and heels, driving around the projects in her unmarked police car, and because she thought something was up, she got out of the car and entered a drug dealer's house. Through the back door, gun drawn, by herself. BADASS. I was convinced this would be the last we'd see of her character, or we'd hear something come over the radio during another scene that would alert us to the fact she'd been shot. But no. This is KIMA. Instead, she was back at her desk, casually sitting there, having gone into that drug house without back-up and single handedly arrested the suspects. Yessss.

So now I'm slowly working my way through Season 2, and after Season 1, I know that Kima also happens to be invincible. Can't wait to see what else she gets up to through the course of the show!

And Sonja Sohn, who plays Kima, is pretty impressive herself - she opened up Re-Wired for Change, a non-profit to help kids in troubled circumstances break the cycle of violence/incarceration.

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Small Boob Awards: Bitsie Tulloch

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Last year my boyfriend and I decided to give two fairy tale themed shows a try: Once Upon A Time and Grimm. Although we still begrudgingly tune into to Once now and again, we've long since given up comparing the two. Grimm - with its endless supply of interesting beasts, moody Portland locale, and Monroe - is the clear winner.

And Bitsie Tulloch, gorgeous ginger wife of Nick the Grimm, is the latest addition to the Small Boob Hall of Fame. Yay! You work that amnesia!

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Small Boob Awards: Sutton Foster

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The first time I caught a glimpse of Sutton Foster, I'm embarrassed to say it wasn't in any of her amazing, Tony Award-winning performances on Broadway. Nope, it was in Flight of the Conchords.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8jaGs7xJ0]

But yet, just by that small performance alone I was able to immediately recognize her when she showed up in my latest fave new show, Bunheads. Her comedic timing and facial expressions are what really do it for me, but I also love that she's tall, gangly (though pure muscle from all that dance), and she's on my team. And even though it's an annoying pre-requisite that apparently any woman in the media with smaller boobs has to constantly be told they have smaller boobs (see: every episode of Bunheads so far), I still relish the fact that we've got another one on our side. Go Team Small Boob!

Er, boobs. You know what I mean.

Past Small Boob Award Winners:

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Small Boob Awards: Sandra Bullock

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It's Small Boob Awards time again! It's not every day, but once in a blue moon I come across someone who's on my boob team, and in the spirit of keeping up with Small Boob Solidarity, I like to mention that person on my blog. It's not much in the way of accolades, I know, but I'm sure they appreciate it.

Today's entry - SANDRA BULLOCK!

I'm a Bullock fan. Way back from the days of Speed and While You Were Sleeping, I've been very loyal. I applauded her dark turn in Murder by Numbers. I cringed when I saw her go through The Proposal and All About Steve. I forced my friends to watch The Net with me.

One thing I've never thought about her was that she was on my team. And by "my team" I mean "had boobs of equivalently tiny size as me". Even though this has been a theme of hers in her movies.

"He was a lot like me. Dark hair, flat chest."

Then I was going on an obsessive Craig Ferguson binge the other week and caught some of her hilarious appearances on his show. And almost every time she kept hitting the small boob comments!

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaKR0wY7rik]

 

So I'm not sure if that's been beaten into her over the years of Hollywood living, but regardless, I'm happy to have her on our team. Congrats, Sandra! Way to class up the joint.

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Kick-Ass Women - The Michelles

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I know this was supposed to be a WEEK of Kick-Ass Women, but I've been a little busy this week prepping for Spring Bada Bing, so I think I'm going to turn this into an ongoing series on them instead. Because, let's face it - I will never get tired of talking about them.

The next Kick-Ass Woman is actually THREE women who all impacted my view of what at a kick-ass woman could be. And they all happen to be named Michelle!

No, not Michelle Obama, even though she has charmed the entire country with her guns:

The three Michelles I want to talk about are Pfeiffer, Rodriguez, and Yeoh.

MICHELLE #1: Michelle Pfeiffer

After I saw Tim Burton's Batman, I wanted to be Vicki Vale. I don't know what it was about her I admired so much - the blond hair, the big red lips, the awkward way she handled herself around The Joker? I would draw her face over and over again, I suppose thinking I could transfer some of her power into my own body.  I couldn't see her being surpassed in my mind as a memorable female character in Batmanverse until, of course, Batman Returns rolled around.

Michelle Pfeiffer was amazing as the pitiable, weak "administrative assistant" who, at the beginning of the film, lets people walk all over her. So great, that even when she transforms into the whirligig force that is Catwoman, we don't have to squint too hard to see Selina still in there, calling the shots. Catwoman is incredibly sexy, but she wields her sexiness as an accessory. Her motivation and her appeal is her craziness, her craftiness. (After all, she did whip up her whole black vinyl outfit on her cute little pink sewing machine she had tucked away amid her stuffed animal collection.)

One of my favorite scenes is when Catwoman stops a mugger attacking a woman in a lone alleyway - the stereotypical set-up for a hero to save a damsel in distress. Catwoman instantly recognizes the opportunity for what it is, and DOES save the woman, but she also takes a dig at the woman for letting herself be vulnerable. It's an interesting parallel to her past, having been manipulated and abused at the hands of her boss, Max Shreck. Catwoman abhors the part of herself that was victimized but luckily doesn't use that as a weapon against other victims. She still has her humanity left.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lalexosgwUk]

MICHELLE #2: Michelle Rodriguez

I don't pretend to know anything about Michelle other than in her role as Anna Lucia on LOST (Although my 17-year-old cousin thinks the only movies are the Fast & The Furious movies). Anna Lucia was a damaged ex-cop who wound up amongst the unlucky pack of Tailies on the island TV show. Before the island, Anna Lucia had brought vigilante justice down on the guy who had shot her and unwittingly killed her unborn child. As soon as craziness starts happening to her little group on the island, Anna Lucia defaults into protector mode the only way she knows how -- by blurring the lines between necessary force and an excuse to shoot everything that moves. And yet, even though she lost her confidence in herself as a police officer, she's still damn good enough to recognize Goodwin for being the lying murderer that he is.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYnneXm3ppc]

I really wish they hadn't cut short her character on the show and had allowed her more time to develop. And, I also wish I looked as buff as her in a tank top.

MICHELLE #3: Michelle Yeoh

Michelle Yeoh is the only honest-to-god action star I've mentioned so far. She doesn't just play one onscreen, she IS one. She's in it, doing the action, fighting the fights, falling the falls.

I first saw her alongside Jackie in Supercop, and then in the regrettable Tomorrow Never Dies, playing probably the most competent and bad-ass of the Bond Girls in any of the movies.

But in the graceful, beautiful Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, you get to see how incredible she is in every single scene. LONG, continuous scenes that show you the range of her skills and talent and don't try to hobble it together with cuts and fancy angles.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OxQ-2gR1DU]

She's the real deal.

I'll admit it's been several years since I've seen CTHD, so I won't discuss the aspects of that particular character in terms of an action star. Michelle Yeoh is an action star that WAYYY supercedes any single role.

Those are your Michelle's for the day. Anyone else got a Michelle who's particularly bad-ass that they want to bring up?

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What I Read When I Was Supposed to be Drawing

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I mentioned that when I was at Staple! I was honored to be part of the Women in Webcomics panel with MariNaomi and Liz Prince. Ironically, we didn't talk about much about webcomics at all, but we did get swap a few tales of our experiences being comickers AND female at the same time (or as Mike Dawson/Alex Robinson put it - Ladytoonists!). I might write more about that topic later.

Most importantly, though, I also got to swipe a few of their comics.

First, I checked out Liz Prince's adorable Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed. It reminded me a little of similar relationship/comic strip style comics, but with one important distinction: it was positive. Not just positive, but unabashedly sweet and cute and reminded you of what it's like to be smitten in a totally weirdo way with someone.

After that smooshiness, I turned to Liz's Alone Forever, which I have to admit liking an eensy bit more. This one was fun, witty, sad, mean, and awesome, and a lot more relatable. You get the perfect sense of what it's like to bop around in Liz's world for a while, and her search for love is as familiar as it is fun. Again, a "relationship" type comic that's full of snark and fun, not depresso-ness. Yay!

Next up, I turned to MariNaomi's mondo memoir Kiss & Tell .

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from diving into someone's massive, personal, detailed relationship history in comic form. The book details all of Mari's private, fleeting, detailed, and thorough relationships with lovers, friends, and more over the years. I loved how surprisingly honest it was, but also how matter of fact. Even though she relates very private specifics, she does so in such a way that makes the reader feel comfortable relating to it without feeling creepy for spying. My favorite part was how she shared her experiences. This isn't an aggressive recounting, or one tinged with regret. It's a fun, voyeuristic ride that's peppered with deeper messages that catch you buy surprise. Lovely depth, I'll call it.

Awesome stuff. Guess I'll slink back to work now ...

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