Are you the kind of person who takes great joy in planning, organizing, and directing weekend activities for your friends and family? Do you love games? Writing? Excel spreadsheets? Then we want to hear from you, because Gamesville and our parent company Lycos are looking for an Associate Games Producer. To apply, please visit the Lycos jobs website.

Best known for playing iconic NYPD detective Christine Cagney on the 1980s drama, “Cagney & Lacey,” it is not an overstatement to say that Sharon Gless is a television legend.  The Emmy Award-winning actress currently stars in the USA series, “Burn Notice,” as Madeline Westen, the mother of the main character, Michael Westen (played by Jeffrey Donovan).  The premise of the series is that Michael was fired as a covert operative and now works as a freelance spy as he tries to discover why he was fired – and by whom.  Gless has also recently appeared on the series “Nip/Tuck” as a twisted talent agent.  We just had the chance to talk to Sharon about “Burn Notice” and her illustrious career.

GV: How did you decide to participate in “Burn Notice”? 
SG:  The pilot script was sent to me.  I read it and I was sitting alone and I laughed out loud.  I just thought it was very clever and I had not remembered anything like it on television.  The fact that [the main character, Michael Westen, played by Jeffrey Donovan] had been burned  – or fired – as a spy … I thought it was a fascinating premise and very funny. 

What appealed to you about your character?
I always said I never wanted to play mothers, but the last two roles I played were some of the most interesting mothers on television.  Sometimes the mother can be a thankless role, but [Madeline] was a very colorful character.  I never knew the show would become what it became. 

How in general do you choose which roles you want to take?
I try not to repeat things.  I played two mothers in a row [on “Burn Notice” and “Nip/Tuck”], but they are totally different.  I try to do something that is unusual or something you don’t see on television all the time.  There is so much more to Madeline than just a manipulative mother.  She’s a difficult person, and she’s difficult for Michael to deal with, and there’s a lot of stuff underneath that is interesting about her. Both of her boys were damaged in their own ways. And with the potential longevity of a television series, a lot comes out about the characters.

Which of your characters are you most like?
There’s a little piece of me in everything that I’ve played.  I wasn’t like Chris Cagney, but there is a piece of me in there because I played her for so long. 

 What qualities of “Cagney and Lacey” do you think made it so resonant with audiences – even today? 
I think it was very daring for it’s time.  There were some episodes that some affiliate stations would not air.  It was the first time that there was this type of honesty between two characters – they talked about their intimate feelings and you saw their lives outside of the jobs. No other shows really dealt with alcoholism the way we did. I’ve seen shows where in one episode, a character is an alcoholic, and then she is cured.  We had the luxury to build it up over many years. 

What was it like reuniting with Tyne Daly for the “Cagney & Lacey” TV movies?
It was great!  When we finished the four movies, I was very, very sad saying goodbye to her.  We had a wonderful time together.  I didn’t enjoy playing Cagney in those movies as much as I did the series.  When they had Cagney married, I said “Ew! You can’t have her be married!” [laughs]  But being back onscreen with her again, it touched me more than I thought it would. 

Did you rewatch the series when it came out on DVD?  Any favorite episodes?
I never watch myself.  I cannot watch “Burn Notice,” and I couldn’t watch “Nip/Tuck.”  I’ve never been able to do it – all I see are the flaws.

 What’s next for “Burn Notice”?
They’re doing some fun stuff with my character this year.  You’ll see some stuff with Michael and me, maybe some stuff to resolve our issues.  It’s all very secretive. 

 What else do you have planned?
I am coming back to “Nip/Tuck.”  But I also can’t really say much about that – I’m sorry!  I was sworn to secrecy.

 That’s OK!  I’ll just have to watch and see.

Please be advised, Gamesville's database will be upgraded at 4AM eastern time on Friday, June 20, 2008. During that time, Gamesville games will not be available. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you very much for your patience.

Yesterday, we received a question asking how to export your Gamesville avatar for email.  This is a great question about which many of you may have been wondering.  Hopefully, this will help...

There are four options for downloading your avatar on this page.  You can download it as a 48x48 buddy icon for AIM, a 100x100 avatar for social networks like Facebook, a 150x235 avatar for your cell phone, or the full size - 300x400.

If you would like to add your avatar as a signature in your email, follow the following steps.  I will use Lycos Mail as an example.

1.  Upload your downloaded avatar to a photo client like Photobucket or Picasa - whatever you prefer.  Most of these sites have included an embed code, meaning the site generates a snippet of HTML that you can copy and paste to use photos you have uploaded on other websites.  On Picasa, you can find this HTML code under the option "Link to this photo," for example.

2.  Log into your Lycos Mail account and click "Options," and then find and click on the "Signature" link.

3. Here, you will find a box where you can add content for your signature.  In this box, paste the embed code for your avatar given to you by your photo client.  

4.  You will then see your avatar!  Now, simply click on the option for the signature you have created and your avatar will show up on the bottom of all of your emails.

If you use an email client other than Lycos Mail, you can find instructions regarding how to create a signature through the following links:

Yahoo! Mail

AOL Mail

Hotmail

We hope you find this helpful - let us know if you have any other questions. 

Special effects guru Stan Winston died this Sunday.  Stan is most well-known for his visual effects work on "Aliens", "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", and "Jurassic Park", for which he won Academy Awards. 

A pioneer in the world of visual effects, Stan was a co-founder of special effects companies Digital Domain, Stan Winston Digital, and Stan Winston Studios.  Most recently, he worked on special effects for the films "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". 

Personally, I will never forget sitting in the darkened movie theatre as a kid and watching the dinosaurs of  "Jurassic Park" come alive in the most eye-popping and thrilling of manners.  Stan created some of cinema's most imaginative and enduring images that will live on through new and old movie fans for years to come.  He was truly a genius of the entertainment industry.

Here's a clip show of some of Winston's best work. 

Please note, Gamesville's database is going to be upgraded at 4AM eastern time on Tuesday, June 17, 2008. During that time--which should only be a few minutes--Gamesville games will not be available. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Chris Cummings
Manager, Gamesville.com 

Pet Names: Pharro

(Yikes!)

Pet Owner: Gamesviller becky73072

View Becky73072's Profile
Get Your Free Gamesville Avatar Today

Distinguishing Personality Traits:

 
Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please include:

• your Gamesville member name
• your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

Please note: All submissions become the sole property of Gamesville, which reserves the right to hold, reject and/or edit submissions without notice and without limitation in perpetuity.

Hi all,

We regret the disruptions over the past several days.  Thanks to our team - who have worked long hours this week - we believe that we have resolved the site-wide game freezing issues many experience.  We are working to make GV Rewards updates more frequent. While we implement a better fix, we will only update your profiles with newly awarded GV Rewards about once an hour. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. The popularity of the new Bingo Zone surprised even us, so we're adding extra capacity to ensure a smoother experience for all.

Thanks!

As all Gamesvillers know, playing games - online or off - can be pretty addictive.  But the best time to play is probably not when you are serving your civic duty. 

A judge in Sydney, Australia recently had to excuse a trial in which the jurors were a little too distracted by a popular word game.

From the article:

An Australian drug trial lasting more than three months and costing taxpayers over $947,000 has been aborted after a number of jurors were found to have spent up to half the time doing Sudoku puzzles.

"Some of the evidence is rather drawn out and I find it difficult to maintain my attention the whole time," [one] juror was quoted saying by the Australian Associated Press.