In the summer of 2010, members of 13th Colony built a 10 foot long Viper Mark IV, mostly out of cardboard, PVC and poster stock.  It came out remarkably close to specs, made a great display model and yet fit in the back of an economy car.  Alas, as every group that builds things has discovered, storage was an issue and one winter in a shed was too much for our creation.  The next summer, we decided to give the old bird a good sendoff.  It wasn’t entirely a solemn occasion.  We had a BBQ, on the beach.  The very same beach where the Nuked Earth scenes were shot in the new BSG, and very close to the exact same firepit they used to build Kara’s funeral pyre on the same planet.  We already blogged about it here but now you can watch for yourself!  Announcing Episode #4 of the 13th Colony Video Files  – A Decommissioning Ceremony.

RIP Viper Mark IV.  She was indeed a good ship.

And we’ve got another reason to celebrate! After having to cancel late last year, Michael Hogan (new BSG’s Saul Tigh) will make it up to the Vancouver fans by appearing this year.

We’ll have plenty of Battlestar Galactica (classic and reimagined) items and costumes on display. We’re out to meet and greet fellow BSG fans who might not be aware we’re here and we’re awesome!

In Vancouver, 13th Colony is starting the year off with a bang. We’ve got some BSG fans visiting from the USA and plan to show them some West Coast Cylon hospitality. On January 11th we’re hosting a Frak Party at our old hangout, La Fontana, to view Blood & Chrome in its entirety on a big HD screen. February will no doubt see us all truck off to our local DVD retailers to buy the DVD. April brings Fan Expo back to town, and we’ve got our fingers crossed that Michael Hogan will return after having to cancel last year. May will have a bunch of us looking south for the Galacticon III party in Texas.

Honestly, has anyone told the BSG fans there is no more show? Maybe that doesn’t matter. We are the survivors and we keep the dream alive.

If you find yourself in and around downtown Vancouver — or as we like to call it, Caprica City –this Saturday afternoon, November 24th, between 1 and 4pm, drop in at the Blenz just inside the Robson doors of the Central Library.  Keep your eye open for a couple of knuckle draggers.  If they’re out of uniform, listen for words like “frak,” “toaster,” “cylon” or my personal favourite, “felgercarb.”  Pull up a chair and join in.

We’re working on a full-on Frak Party to celebrate the complete story of Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome sometime in January, so stay tuned for more details.

It’s been a long wait, and I’m hoping not too long. As anyone who reads this blog may have noticed, we haven’t been as active recently.  We are without question one of the largest BSG fan clubs in the world, and yet we’ve barely hung on through this long break.  We’ve been holding out for the one more morsel of our favourite show…and it’s suddenly here.

In a few days we will have a new dose of our favourite epic drama, albeit a much smaller dose, and in a different medium.  On Friday, November 9^th, Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome will make its debut online.  On Youtube, exclusively on a channel called Machinima Prime, previously known mostly for video game content.

The trailer looks good, but with all the fast cuts it’s hard to tell. I see lots of action, but not a lot of character.  To succeed, I believe it will need both.

I have hope.  But it is mixed with a dose of caution brought on by a long wait and the bad taste from “the Plan” that still lingers when I think about it.

Glad Fridays are back to being BSG days.  So Say We All!

13^th Colony-Vancouver’s Battlestar Galactica Fan Club, is hosting a room party at VCON, our homegrown sci-fi convention, on the night of Saturday, September 29^th.  VCON 37’s theme this year is Post Apocalypse, and BSG definitely fits in with that category.  The con is taking place at the Sheraton Guildford in Surrey.  The exact location for the party will be posted around the convention on the day of the party.  We will have snacks and drinks in the theme of BSG, and promise only that everything we find will taste better than algae!

13th Colony was lucky enough to be part of the “Fan Zone” at the inaugural Fan Expo Vancouver back in April. We got a great new poster (from @jediyves) and certainly found more than a few BSG fans in the crowd. Now, the dates are out for next year’s Fan Expo: April 20 & 21, 2013.

Looking ahead, I think we’ve reached a critical point for deciding the future of Canada’s largest Battlestar Galactica fan club.

Do we go on?

With disappointing news about “Blood & Chrome” staying as a web series that SyFy Channel does not appear to know what to do with, and no new BSG content on the horizon, has the time come to take a bow? Attendance at 13th Colony events has been decreasing since the show went off the air and we all expected that. Recently, it’s tough to get anyone to show up at all. We have a reasonably active Facebook group, but our Meetup page is largely inactive. Quite frankly, I’ve been hoping the club would have migrated off the meetup site before now.

Is there enough support out there to have 13th Colony involved in Fan Expo Vancouver 2013? If we’re going to do it, I would like to see the BSG fans put on a display at least on par with the BC Ghostbusters (kudos guys, great booth!) To do it right, we need to build…stuff. Costumes, props, Cylons. I have some great ideas, a few skills and contacts that could make it happen. But, I cannot do it alone. Despite my title, I’m no Laura Roslin or Bill Adama, and I cannot continue to lead us into the future without active support from the club members. We’ve had a great run! It’s been an amazing journey and I’ve met some incredible people because of 13th Colony. It’s because we hit such highs that I would rather see 13th Colony die than just gather dust online.

Are we alive?

Valorie Hoye
aka Madam President

We’re heading out on Saturday, May 12th at 11am to take a look.  Here’s a link to our meetup event.

There were at least two other scenes shot in the park–from the same episode, Six & Doral waited near a swingset for Sharon to report on the status of her seduction of Helo, and later on Kara was shot on Caprica before being captured and taken to “The Farm.”   “Cabin in the Woods” shot there, as did at least one of the Twilight movies.  Currently, there is a large standing set for the sequel to “Percy Jackson.”

We’ve got a good weather forecast for Saturday’s adventure.  We’ve been known to venture off trails to find a matching camera angle, so wear good footwear!  It’s still early enough that we might find some mucky bits.

For more info, check out this link from Battlestar Locations:

http://www.battlestarlocations.com/1/category/burnaby/1.html

Here’s a google map image of where we will meet–the parking lot next to the baseball diamond:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Edmonds+Street,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia&hl=en&ll=49.230497,-122.935295&spn=0.002449,0.006539&sll=49.244584,-122.976322&sspn=0.009792,0.026157&vpsrc=6&hnear=Edmonds+St,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia&t=h&z=18

You may have heard of FanExpo, the biggest sci-fi/fantasy/comic convention in Toronto each summer, which last year drew 75,000 fans. This year, FanExpo is coming to Vancouver for the weekend of April 21/22. They are bringing in a variety of media guests, but the ones BSG fans care about are Aaron Douglas and Michael Hogan -   two Vancouver actors who made huge contributions to our favourite show.

Other guests include Adam West & Burt Ward (Classic Batman & Robin), Lou Ferrigno (Classic Incredible Hulk) as well as Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn and John DeLancie (Troi, Worf and Q from ST:TNG).   Check out the guest page here, and the incredibly low ticket prices here.

13th Colony is one of several local fan clubs participating in Fan Tables at the convention.  Look for us in the main Hall, at the B.I.F.F. table.  We guarantee some highly visible viper mechanics manning the table for at least a portion of the weekend.  Come out and show your support for 13th Colony, and other local sci-fi fan groups.

Let’s help FanExpo Vancouver make a big splash on the west coast!

13th Colony's 2011 Christmas Card