Nuked Earth + Nuked Con + Nuked Food!

The last week or so has been a difficult one for Battlestar Galactica fans.  Hopes had been high for the Galacticon IV convention in Seattle but were disappointed in the days leading up to the event.  While a much smaller convention did go ahead this past weekend, a lot of BSG fans were left with a bad taste in their mouths.

Had we been holding on for this as the last gasp of BSG fandom?

Hell of a way to let it die.

The debacle seems to have reinvigorated the fan base.  As anger fades, there are new ideas for another convention in 2018 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Classic version and others just saying we have to try again.  Will something positive come out of it?

I don’t know.

A bunch of 13th Colonists got together in Vancouver on the day after the convention to talk about it.  We even brought out our Cylons. We chose Centennial Beach, the site the “Nuked Earth” sequences in Season 4 of the newer version of BSG.  And we talked about what we loved about the show, and what we want to see happen in the future.

We’re not ready to see the fandom die just yet.  So in the coming months, there will be new 13th Colony Video files, a fan table at a local convention and perhaps even another location scouting mission.

Hang on fellow BSG fans.  We’re still out here…

See Classic BSG on the Big Screen

Canadian Battlestar Galactica fans really are lucky.  We were the only ones who got to see Battlestar Galactica on the big screen back in 1978 before it aired as the pilot of TV show in the US. Now Cineplex is giving us the chance to see it in theatres again, as part of their Great Digital Film Festival 2014.

At a number of Cineplex theatres across Canada, the classic Battlestar Galactica starring Lorne Green, Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch will play February 2nd at 12:30pm. This will be the 2 hour pilot “Saga of a Star World” that launched the one and only season of BSG’s first incarnation.

Here in Metro Vancouver, home of 13th Colony, there will be two participating theatres, the Scotiabank Downtown and Colossus Langley.  There will be members of 13th Colony at both screenings, including a few dressed as Colonial Warriors, so come on up and say hello!

If you want to revel in the old sci-fi film goodness, other treats the same day include Tron, Flash Gordon, Planet of the Apes and Logan’s Run.  Tickets are $6, available here.  Price reductions are available if you are seeing more than one film.  Note: you have to search for the film by day, February 2nd, to bring up the proper result.

Fan Expo Vancouver 2013

Fan Expo is returning to Vancouver April 20th and 21st and once again, 13th Colony is thrilled to be playing a part!  Vancouver’s Battlestar Galactica Fan Club will join local chapters of the 501st Legion (Outer Rim Squadron), the Ghostbusters of BC and Can’t Stop the Serenity Vancouver to offer con-goers a glimpse into Vancouver’s fan scene.

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!

2013: The Year of the 13th Colony

Is it too early to predict that 2013 will be our year? It’s been a dark time for Battlestar Galactica fans. A very long wait for the release of Blood & Chrome is now followed by more waiting to see if the downloads and DVD sales will lead to anything more. Yet with no new content on the horizon, our ragtag fleet of fans is hanging on.

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.

BSG’s Back Baby!

Once again, Fridays will bring us new Battlestar Galactica!  How long has it been since we could say that?  Since March 2009.

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!

The 13th Colony is Throwing a Party

Feel like your planet has been nuked by technology you created and the entire human race is on its last legs, finding new ways to both argue and get along in the vast black distances between stars?  Bummer.  Want to party anyway?

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!

Merry Frakkin’ Xmas to All!

13th Colony's 2011 Christmas Card

So Say We All! in San Deigo

For you frakkers who are lucky enough to be going to San Diego Comic Con (No, not jealous, not one bit….grrr) there are a couple of special BSG things to watch out for.

The makers of some really cool replica BSG costume items like the double tanks, ANOVOS, are getting together on Friday afternoon from 1 – 1:30 at Booth 2913 to take a really cool picture of all the BSG fans in their costume gear.  (Interesting tidbit: Mythbusters very own Grant Imahara tweeted recently how thrilled he was to get his ANOVOS BSG Duty Blues in the mail!)  And if you don’t have ANOVOS gear, you can still show up and take part.  When the photographer says “On three…1, 2, 3” you just know you all have to say “So Say We All!” as loud as you can.  And if, like me, you won’t be able to make it to SDCC this year, you can watch the event on Ustream here.

Also on the apparel front, female BSG fans should keep an eye out for the Her Universe booth, where they will be unveiling some new BSG items specifically aimed at female fans.  They will have just 300 of their new Cylon toaster necklace.  Since the creator of Her Universe is Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, you can find her merchandise at the Lucasfilm Booth 2913-F.

There will be a “Battlestar: So Say We All” panel on Thursday morning, hosted by Richard Hatch,  featuring BSG Science Advisor Kevin Grazier and writer Michael Taylor.

For those of us who can’t be there…have a great time at SDCC!

Walking on Kobol

Episode #3 of the 13th Colony Video Files is up on Youtube.

Episode 3

Capilano River Regional Park in North Vancouver was a popular location with the producers of Battlestar Galactica.  They went back several times for Battlestar Galactica, The Plan and Caprica.

We’ve done something different with this episode, trying to give you an impression of how close together some of the various locations (and different planets!) really are.  From the parking lot off Capilano Road, you can get a clear view of The Lions, which were seen in Caprica‘s “The Heavens Will Rise” and in Battlestar Galactica‘s Season Two episode, “Home Pt 2.”  A short walk to the south where there are some picnic tables and a wooden fence is where Jordan Durham was shot later on in “The Heavens Will Rise.”  If you walk over the Cleveland Dam, turn left and walk up the hill, you will see a trailhead on the left that heads off into the trees.

You are on Kobol!  The first 500 metres of the Upper Shinglebolt Trail is where several sequences for Season Two of  Battlestar Galactica were shot.  We know The Plan was in there filming scenes at the camp of the Caprica resistance, and we suspect this is where Sam Adama and the Graystones went into V-World on horseback, looking for Zoe.

We’re going to take a couple of weeks off before we do the next episode.  It is winter in Vancouver, so it’s raining almost constantly.  Wonderful atmosphere for Cylon Earth, but much harder to shoot in.  I’m holding out for some sunshine! So Say We All!

Happy Holidays