Absolute Disbelief

by spacepug

Checked out another excellent article by Maureen Ryan over at the Chicago Tribune about the upcoming BSG prequel series, Caprica, and my jaw dropped open in shock.

If you thought going from SciFi to SyFy was a bad marketing move, get a load of the new poster for Caprica. Wow, not only have they produced a completely unoriginal image (echoes of Dollhouse, Terminator, how many others?), they’ve sexualized an underage girl and made a mockery of their own claim that the show will be serious drama. All with one poster. WTF were they thinking?

Honestly, now I’m worried. Not at all because they have cut the series order by one episode, but because the marketing department’s move is, in my opinion, a huge misstep. Caprica is going to be a tough sell, period. It’s a drama with just enough sci-fi to make mainstream viewers nervous, and probably not enough sci-fi to guarantee the dedicated geek following. Why shoot yourself in the foot so early? Perhaps they’ll come up with a better game plan before January 22nd.

Agree or disagree? Comment below.

Post Dragon-Con Post

Wonder why it’s been a month and no report about Dragon*Con from Frik or Frak?

Frakked

‘Nuff said. Recovery continues. Truly, a real report will follow soon….from Spacepug. Frik will never be the same, I’m afraid.

Meetup with 13th Colony @ Dragon*Con

There will be a gaggle (a horde?) of 13th Colonists attending Dragon*Con this year, from Canada, the US and overseas.  So, we’re going to schedule our very first non-Vancouver Meetup:

Friday, September4th at 7pm at the Consuite (Room 226 Hyatt) is where we will gather, and then possibly move to an alternate location for food and/or drinks.  We ought to be easy to spot…look for some shiny 13 stickers prominently displayed and we guarantee a lively conversation about Battlestar Galactica.  For the steely eyed amongst you….Frik and Frak, our mini-mate mascots, will also be in attendance.

We’re really looking forward to meeting 13th Colonists, our blog readers, and just BSG fans, from all over!  Look forward to meeting you…So Say We All!

Spacepug

“Perfection Achieved. End of Line”

by spacepug

It was an amazing experience. 110 enthusiastic Battlestar Galactica fans jammed into LaFontana Caffe in Burnaby, chanting “So Say We All” for the benefit of a live television viewing audience across Canada.  I’m proud to say we gave our favourite show the frakkin’ good send-off it deserved.

Space Channel did their first ever fully live, coast to coast event called the “Fandom Forum” after the airing of the final episode of Battlestar Galactica.  The discussion was based in their studio in Toronto, but Vancouver provided a number of live interludes, and most of the entertainment value.   The 13^th Colonists in Vancouver really stepped up.  With a little less than two weeks to prepare, we had many people in costume, lots of BSG decorations, and our very own hybrid.  Seth had them in stitches in Toronto when he delivered his opinion of the last episode, “Perfection achieved.  End of line.”   Of course, that may have had something to do with fans wondering just where Natasha Eloi had put her hand when it went into the tub of “goo.”

Natasha impressed all of the 13^th Colonists with her wit and enthusiasm.  Many of the people who got to meet her seemed as “wowed” as they might have been had one of the actors from the show been present.  The night was all about the fans, and none of us will ever forget the experience.  Space was thrilled with the Vancouver contribution to their show, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see further collaborations between Space and the 13^th Colony in the future.

And yes, the topper had to be when Ron Moore came on and thanked the Canadian fans, including the 13^th Colony, for their support of Battlestar Galactica.  You are very welcome, Mr. Moore.  You and the rest of the cast & crew have given us so many hours of amazing quality television in return.  We’ll be talking about this show for a long time, and we’ll keep the friends we’ve made through BSG fandom for even longer than that.

We can rightfully say that the 13^th Colony is the biggest BSG fan club in Canada.  The last episode may have aired, but we’re not going anywhere.  Caprica, The Plan…we’ve got plenty to do.

“So Say We All!”

We slayed 'em in TO

Space Visits the 13th Colony

We’ve been planning our Battlestar Galactica Finale party for months, and now Space Channel’s getting in on it.

Space is sending Natasha Eloi out to join us for The Frakkin’ End on Friday March 20th, and she will be reporting live from our location during the one-hour Fandom Forum after the show airs.  If you’re not one of the lucky people who gets to participate at the CTV studios in Toronto, or our Vancouver event, the forum will also be streaming live at spacecast.com The forum broadcast starts at 8pm PDT, 11pm EDT, following the two-hour finale of Battlestar Galactica.

We’ll be packed in tight at LaFontana thanks to the enthusiastic response from Vancouver’s sci-fi community, and it promises to be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  To our knowledge, Space has never recognized a fan club in this way, and we are truly honoured they’ve chosen us.

We’ll have a special BSG menu including ambrosia, lots of people in BSG costumes, the largest collection of BSG mini-mates ever assembled in one place, and a special guest…our very own hybrid.

Tune in, geek out!  So say we all…

Never Trust an Eight

What betrayal looks like

A review of “Someone to Watch Over Me” by Gem

I may be in the minority here, but I really wasn’t feeling this week’s episode. It had some great moments, but overall I felt like it dragged on. I was expecting more with only four episodes left. It didn’t need to be action-packed or anything, however the plot could’ve progressed a bit further in my opinion.

(Spoilers Behind the Cut)

BSG in TO

Congratulations, Battlestar Galactica fans of Toronto, your luck is improving!

Well, not so much, you still have to live in Toronto….sorry, no Vancouverite can resist than jibe, but…

BSG fans in TO will have the chance to watch the series finale in the company of fellow fans, and on a big screen no less.  Thanks to an enthusiastic LJ blogger named noizangel, one of Toronto’s local theatres is opening their space for a massive finale viewing party.

The show starts at the Fox Theatre at 9pm on Friday, March 20^th.  Tickets are $7, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Daily Bread Food Bank.  In return for a donation of canned goods at the screening, you can enter to win a BSG prize pack.  Tickets go on sale in early March.

For more information, check the following sources:

• Twitter: follow @battlestarTO (http://www.twitter.com/battlestarTO/)
• Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=66138297224&ref=nf
• Blog:http://battlestartoronto.blogspot.com

Best wishes to the TO fans for a frakkin’ great gathering!

**Sadly, this event had to cancelled due to a licensing issue.**

Humanity Wins, Barely

A review of the new Battlestar Galactica Board Game by Gem

Recently, five 13^th Colonists got together for our inagural Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game experience. When I originally wrote this review it got a little novel-esque, so I’ve done my best to chop it down a bit. Hopefully, you’ll still understand the gist of the game without begging the Gods to spare you.

The objective of the game depends on whether or not you’re a human or a cylon (a fact that can change mid-way through the game). At the beginning of the game, each player is secretly assigned a team, so unlike many board games, you win as a team, not individually.  As a human, there is one way to win: travel eight units of distance and jump to Kobol. As a cylon, the goal is to prevent the humans from reaching their objective. This can be achieved by running the fleet out of essential resources  (fuel, morale, population, food), or invading the Galactica with centurion boarding parties, and last but not least, by destroying the Galactica altogether.

“Abso-frakkin-lutely!”

That’s actually a quote from Aaron Douglas, who served as MC for an event called “Boozapalooza” at the Commodore in Vancouver on Saturday night. It was the 10th anniversary celebration for local band The Town Pants. The club was packed and the music was great and the crowd was obviously having lots of fun. Aaron did a great job as MC, though I think “whiskey delivery boy” would be as good a title for his duties, as the band had to be re-supplied frequently for “toasts” to the crowd. Presto, Aaron would appear, shot glasses in hand!

Aaron wasn’t the only Galactica actor there, Ryan Robbins (Charlie Connor on BSG) played along on a couple of songs on the didgeridoo and Aleks Paunovic (Sgt. Fisher) was also on hand.

There were three of us from The 13th Colony there, and though we didn’t manage to introduce ourselves to Aaron or the other actors, we kind figured Aaron added in the “Abso-frakkin-lutely!” just for us.

Thanks!

To Frak or Not to Frak?

I was surprised at how much thought I put into the question of whether or not I should call our next event “Razor Party” or “Razor Frak Party.” It’s not like frak is a real swear word, or that it means we’re getting together to have sex with shaving gear, it’s just a phrase that helps other BSG fans recognize us. In the end, I chose to include it. So, The 13th Colony will be holding a Razor Frak Party on November 24th at our favourite diner, Eighties. Here in Vancouver, Space Channel will start airing the movie at 6 pm, so we’ll gather early and have plenty of time to settle in and whip ourselves into a frak frenzy. (Ok, now that one did sound a little rude…)