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My Interview with Supernatural’s Alaina Huffman

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Supernatural's Alaina Huffman

Supernatural actor Alaina Huffman

Depending on what shows you watch, you’ll recognize Alaina Huffman from any one of a number of notable roles. Most recently she’s portrayed the last Demon Knight of Hell—Abaddon in the long running CW show Supernatural.  Abaddon is a terrific character to play as she’s a super baddie, getting to toss around the Winchester Brothers while wording some great lines.  Others may recognize her from SGU Stargate Universe where she portrayed Lt. Tamara Johansen.  Although I’ve seen Alaina in 4-5 previous roles, it’s her role as the Lieutenant where I recognize her work the most.  For those of you that were always wondering, Alaina was pregnant during part of the show with child, so all those pregnancy scenes was real.  Not the actual birth of course.  More on this in the interview.  And for you super hero fans, she portrayed the hero Black Canary in the show Smallville.  I do believe this was the first incarnation of the Justice League on any screen.  So you’ve got to admit, she’s had some pretty cool roles.  And yes, she was even on the show Painkiller Jane.

I meant to ask Alaina about her stints on Dawson’S Creek and The O.C., two shows which I’ve seen every episode of.  Go on and make fun of me, but I was young once too.  In the moment, you deviate from the prepared list of questions, and that’s alright.  It gave us time to talk about filming the mini-series Jack Hunter and sightseeing in Turkey, motherhood, the coloring of hair (mostly mine), and a variety of other topics such as current television favorites.

She’s truly as fun and personable as you’ll soon see and hear.  A shame you folks weren’t around for the conversations before and after the interview.  There was some funny stuff coming out of our mouths, well mostly hers like “man handling” and “yogurt makers.”  She was kind enough to take time away from all that was Pop Culture Expo to sit down for this interview.  It’s my pleasure to bring this interview for you all to enjoy.  And Alaina, next time you (and hopefully your husband) come to Boston, we need to get you some time in our fair city and do some sightseeing.  I look forward to seeing you soon on the TV in future projects.

For the past two weeks I’ve been trying out how to begin this written segment of the interview.  Although we filmed this interview over two weeks ago, my delay in getting this to you folks and to Alaina wasn’t due to writer’s block.  Unfortunately two weeks ago, and I’ll keep this brief, I had a bad fall in my home and dislocated my left shoulder. I tripped over an ottoman; how Turkish of me.  A week later, it was relocated (put back into place) which hurt even worse.  And this was capped off two days ago by throwing out my lower back while lifting my new cat Elmas. (She just emigrated from Turkey the day before; a common theme you may have recognized by now.)  I don’t recommend any of you following in my injury missteps.  For those of you that know, I am recovering and will be whole again soon.

In case you were wondering, we filmed this in the offices of the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA, hence all the trophies. There were cases full of them, most off screen.

You can follow Alaina Huffman on Twitter at @AlainaHuffman

You can follow the show Supernatural at @cw_spn and at http://www.cwtv.com/shows/supernatural/

STM Bags Review – The Brand To Own

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STM, three letters you’re probably not used to seeing together. By the time you’re finished reading this post and reviewing the photos and video, you’ll be quite familiar with them. STM is a bag maker from all the way across the western pond based out of Sydney, Australia. They have a variety of bag collections: Annex, Canvas, and Velocity. But they’re more than just a bag maker. They also offer attractive and functional cases for mobile phones and tablets and sleeves for laptops. Their complete lineup is presented on their website www.stmbags.com. Feel free to peruse and try out their sizing calculator.

A little over one month ago, STM introduced their Annex line of bags. For the purposes of this review we’ll focus on two models, the Link and Trust from within this line. The Annex line is available in three colors (charcoal, olive, and red), two of which I have in hand.

The STM Link is a quick cam-adjustable shoulder bag for use with 10” tablets that I would describe as cute, yet it’s not particularly aimed at women. It comes with two external sleeves, one of which is closed via magnet and three oversized aluminum zipper pulls with #10 YYK self-repairing plastic zippers, the latter a feature you don’t usually see on bags of this size. This feature helps prevent a zipper from malfunctioning. How many times over your life have you had a zipper fail? You can’t recall can you, but I bet it was plenty.

The bag can simultaneously hold a 10” tablet (high density foam padded on both sides) and a thick reading book, in this case, all 630 pages of Walter Isaacson’s biography Steve Jobs (see photo.) The bag’s exterior is Cottna 320D/640D (D for Denier) water resistant poly. Its interior is 200g polyester and brushed nylex. Each Link comes in at 0.8 lbs. with dimensions of 10.2” x 7.5” x 0.6”. This is for you specification nuts.  And yes, there’s plenty of space for your cards, keys, pens, wallet, and mobile phone. The Link has a list of price just under $60.

The STM Trust is a true messenger bag available in two sizes: for 13” and 15” laptops. Like its smaller cousin, the Trust has a quick cam-adjustable shoulder strap but this model also has an added padded shoulder cushion for comfort.

Oversized aluminum zipper pulls with #10 YYK self-repairing plastic zippers are a plenty, with four by my count. No magnets this time but there is one external sleeve in the rear with another within to hold a mobile phone. The latter is a nice feature, one in which may have to be enlarged as mobile phones keep increasing in size.

The laptop compartment is padded with high density foam on both sides. There are also two water bottle pockets with compression straps, one on each end. Now here’s where this comes in handy. If you’re heading to the gym, one side could hold your pre-workout drink, the other, your post-workout protein. The bags exterior and interior materials are just like that of the Link. This is across the Annex line. The small Trust comes in at 2.2 lbs. with dimensions of 11.2” x 15” x 4.7”. The medium Trust comes in at 2.5 lbs. with dimensions of 12” x 15.7” x 5.5”. With the Trust, there’s even more space for your cards, keys, pens, wallet, but this time, enough space for a laptop battery and an airport sandwich to spare. The Link has a list of price just under $130. And in case you’ve wondered, the workmanship and stitching is impeccable. I checked thoroughly on both models.

STM also offers a couple perks of purchasing. Register your product at www.stmbags.com/rt and they’ll be able to provide assistance in the case of a warranty. They’ve also partnered with RewardTagTM to help recover a lost bag. Just look for the information collar inside each bag to get started. Plus, there’s a monthly bag giveaway contest open to new registrants.

You can find STM products at a variety of online retailers, i.e. Amazon, eBags, and REI to name some. And if you look right now, you can catch some deals at REI’s current sale. You can also find STM at your local retailer. In the Boston area, they’re available at Eastern Mountain Sports and Micro Center. This way you get to touch and feel them.

Game of Thrones Panel Interview with Kristian Nairn and Esmé Bianco

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What happens when you put an Irishman, and English lady and an American journalist on a stage?  Well, you get a question and answer session with none other than actors Kristian Nairn (aka Hodor) and Esmé Bianco (aka Roos) of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, moderated by entertainment writer Jim Sullivan.  Throw me into mix and you get someone filming the panel session for you all to enjoy.  Add two more Americans into this cauldron of fun and you have Deric Shea and Gary Sohmers, the founders of Pop Culture Expo.  These two gentleman are the brains behind PCX, a mix of pop culture, science fiction programming, comic books, costume play, gaming and more which took place for the first time this past weekend at the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, MA.  The Q&A is broken down into two parts, the first running for about 40 minutes, and the second for about 20 minutes.  With three episodes remaining in this 4th season of GoT, there may or may not be some spoilers so beware.  There may or may not even be an update on the 5th season of GoT which begins filming in two months. (Update: there’s been a 5th and 6th season announcement.)  So…plug a speaker into your mobile device, tablet, laptop, or whatever you have got and enjoy.

Finally, I’d like to add that it was a pleasure to meet and converse with all these folks listed above.  It was a fun two days being with these great people.  There will be more Pop Culture Expo’s coming every 6 months so check them out at www.popcultureexpo.con

You can follow the super friendly Kristian Nairn on Twitter at @KristianNairn

You can follow the insanely attractive Esmé Bianco on Twitter at @esmebianco

You can follow super writer Jim Sullivan on Twitter at @JimSullivanInk

Hakan Y Can is a Editor & Owner of this website. Twitter: @BeantownReview