My disappointment of the week, perhaps the month, was the return of Paris Hilton to the slammer. Her release only three days after starting her sentence was an unexpected boon to my entrepreneurial habits. Yes Paris was going to make me some money and no clothes were going to be removed. Bizarrely several of my obsessive hobbies had coincided in one fine moment of celebrity roasting and tribute. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, or BPAL as it’s fandom knows it is a gothic and literary perfume oil company. With over 800 scents in it’s catalogue this place has a fandom Stargate should envy. While I have yet to come across any BPAL slash the fandom is replete with forums, trolls, flame wars, livejournal communities and a history increasingly hard for a newcomer to unravel, if they even want to. It warms my heart to see the joys of fandom spreading to products other than media. This is the way life should be.
In honour of Paris Hilton’s incarceration BPAL released two limited edition perfume oils, Pruno and Priviledge. Pruno is a jailhouse moonshine brewed by prisoners from such diverse ingredients as ketchup and apples. Those prisoners are so creative! BPAL promised that these limited releases would be available only for as long as Paris remained in the prison and that a portion of the profits would be donated to a women’s shelter in Los Angeles. Being one of those of creatures who have the collecting gene, inherited from my father, I could not pass this up and promptly ordered both of them. With a rare BPAL going for US700.00 on ebay last year this could be a good investment (a common collector delusion: past prices of other items mean you should buy THIS item). So I was ECSTATIC when Paris was released because that meant the limited editions had only been available for three days!! They were even more limited than expected. That night I felt like I’d suddenly discovered my Dathon action figure came with ~~omg~~ a pog. (I refuse to add links for this. You wannabe fandom geeks will have to do your own research.)
But then they returned Paris to the slammer. What a total bummer that was. I am hoping she appeals as there is NO way a delicate flower such as herself should be behind bars. She should be released or, even better for collectors with foresight, die. Perhaps from a tussle related to the unwelcome advances of Mr. Darcy with a butch cut. This would be a bitter pruno to drink for her fans but the oil would then take on Marilyn proportions as a collector item.
