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When I was a baby, my parents took me to Universal Studios in Hollywood. They took me to see all the shows, like Backdraft (screamed my head off), Miami Vice (screamed my head off), and in fact, I didn't stop screaming my head off until the backlot tour tram got captured by Cylons and saved by a Colonial Warrior. At least, that's how the story goes. I choose to believe it. It does sound like me.

Years later, (or should I say "yahrens"? I always get tripped up on the translation) I actually watched the 1978 movie. Not long afterward, a squadron of lego Vipers and a tiny ragtag fleet appeared in my bedroom. Thus began my quest for my warrior uniform. Being pretty much flat broke, I rightly concluded that I would have to make mine from scratch. Weeks of searching, sewing, accessorizing, agonizing, begging mom for help, and finally just resigning myself to the outcome produced something that looked like a baseball uniform with a brown curtain draped over it. And that is still what I have to work with. But it is mine, and it is brown, and it has four shiny gold...I'm not sure I'd call them buckles...pseudo-buckles? Maybe it's an act of desperation, obsession, or insanity. But it's a brown coat. (with sparkly gold, rhinestone, and pearl viper pilot pins XD)

Well naturally, my wearing of this thing started getting me attention. That, and the (I will openly admit AWFUL) fanfiction I was writing. A friend of mine started to read this fanfiction, without having seen the series, and in spite of the awfulness of my original character, decided she liked BSG enough to start watching it. Voila, a new convert! We marathoned the series and to this day, she still goes by Athena. (and they call ME crazy!)

So there it is, my Battlestar history. Oh, and I met a Muffit suit at the EMP science fiction museum in Seattle. I have the beginnings of my own little museum, myself, got some old BSG books and action figures, some of the Majestics collectible dolls, anything I can pick up here and there. I may not be quite as obsessive as I used to be about the show...but who knows, the craze will probably come around again!

At the Comicpalooza panel in Houston, Texas this past weekend, Edward James Olmos announced his project that he's working on with his son, producer, and  co-writer Michael Olmos and co-writer Bob Layton (IRON MAN's amazing "Demon In A Bottle" comic and creator of Valiant Comics),  The project is a superhero story called METTLE.  There will be comic books based on the character in his youth, and then a full-length feature film.

The premise of the story concerns Olmos' character, a Latino soldier from the Vietnam War, who when captured by the Vietcong undergoes various medical experiments that grant him superpowers.  When he gets home he learns to adapt to his powers (which were unspecified at the panel, but I'd imagine some super-strength would be involved, based on the hints they gave).  Come present day, Olmos' character is struck ill and loses his abilities, and also must deal with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the traumatizing events of his life.  It's at that moment that his enemies decide to strike, and Olmos' character must deal with the return of his enemies and their plots at the moment in his life when he's most vulnerable.  Layton, especially was talking up the story, which Olmos said, "has a killer ending.  Maybe better than SEVEN's.  A killer opening, too."

The way Olmos pitched the project, it really sounded amazing, big in scope, and Layton talked about how in the end, it's what the character is willing to die for that counts.  There would be flashbacks to earlier in Olmos' superhero career, and they clearly stated that Olmos would be playing the character at all stages of his life.  Whether this would be achieved through CGI, or makeup, was unclear, but they were very specific that Olmos would be playing Mettle (which I'm assuming the hero would be called) through the entire film.  There is a plan to release a comic book with Mettle's younger exploits in it, as well.

Edward James Olmos also stated that he hopes the project gets enough success that he would be able to launch his dream project - the story of Roy Benevidez, American Congressional Medal of Honor winner, and soldier in Vietnam.  "If this weren't real, people would never believe it," said Olmos, who went on to describe a story of pure heroics as Benevidez jumped out of a helicopter to help save his fellow soldiers in a firefight in Vietnam.  "This guy out-Rambos Rambo."

I hope EVERYONE here knows who Tom DeSanto is....I'm sure you all do.

Amazing is an understatement and a half, I assure you.

For all those...and I can't imagine who wouldn't be familiar with his work, let me give you a brief overview (though I can really get into detail!).

Tom started off in the Hollywood game with his friend, the director Bryan Singer (don't get me going on that...whole other chapter I would have to write), suffice to say Bryan is a mega-talent in his own right.

Anyway, their first movie together, on which Tom was a contributing writer was Stephen King's "Apt Pupil", which stared Ian McClellan (Magneto of "X-Men" fame & "Lord of the Rings"), taken from the pages of his anthology "Differrent Seasons".

Little sidebar on that...that particular book also spawned "The Shawshank Redemption" featuring Morgan Freeman (Insert movie name here!) & Tim Robbins (pick a movie!)  as well as "Stand By Me" with River Phoenix  (yup, the brother of Joaquin!) and Jerry O'Connell ("Sliders").

Moving on from that point Tom also was a writer on the Original "X-Men" movie & then moved on to co-write & Executive Produce "X:Men: United").

The concept came to him to do a live-actiion version of "Transformers" which he did the film treatment for & then Produced with Steven Spielberg ("Jaws", "Raiders of the Lost Ark") Executive Producing.

He went on to to create "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" & is currrently hard at work on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon".

Hard at work right NOW on that last mentioned film...!

(I know there are many out there who cannot wait to see it!).

He's also written introductions to such graphic comic book collections as "Superman: Red Sun" by Mark Millar & "Wolverine: Origin" by Paul Jenkins.

So how does this all relate to "Battlestar Galactica"?

Wellll....I will tell you, back in the day...

Actually back in 2001, when the Battlestar Galactica Fan Club was just a baby (2 years old back then), Tom DeSanto & Bryan Singer had the VERY bright idea to revive Battlestar Galactica.

If you all recall, Richard Hatch was lobbying very hard at the time for the revival & of course we here at the club were as well.

Tom took an interest in what we were doing & contacted myself & Chris Feehan (who Co-Founded the site with me).

That was the start & things were looking VERY bright for Battlestar Galactica back in the summer of 2001.

Then September 11th came.

That set not only the entire country back on it's heels for a while....it also basically forced the Hollywood machine to a profound stop.

When things had geard back up again & a measure of normalcy had come back...the "Battlestar Galactica" project had been sadly put aside...matter of fact if I'm not mistaken, the Sci-Fi Channel actually came up with "Firefly" in it's place.

Don't get me wrong..."Firefly" was a great show, as well as the "Serenity" feature film....but I would have liked to have seen what Tom could have done with BSG.

Picture Commander Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) aboard the bridge of the Galactica, welcoming back his long lost & just rescued friend Captain Apollo (Richard Hatch), who in turning away from his friend & facing the camera has an eerie red light drifting back and forth across his eyes.

I'm not making that up!

That was to be the end scene of the the mini-series pilot that was going to launch the new show!

Anyway, despite that setback, I remained in touch with Tom...& finally met him at Richard Hatch's "Galacticon" celebrating 25 years of BSG, here in Los Angeles in 2003.

(I had just moved to California from the east coast, truth be told).

Anyway, having talked to a person & emailing back & forth had set the stage for our actual person to person meeting.

"Whas up bro?"

"Not much buddy, wassup?"

Literally, something like that...Tom is a real down to earth guy.

Tom was also kind enough to grace us with his presence on our 2008 "Galacticruise" which was the 30th anniversary celebration of Battlestar Galactica.

While not able (due to scheduling) to accompany us on the celebrity cruise, he did join us on the Queen Mary (berthed in Long Beach) & yeah the original ship!...for a very excellent dinner & just blew everyone away with everything he brought to show everyone relating to his Battlestar Galactica project.

Listen...I love the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" & I have to hand it to Ron Moore...but I am VERY curious to see how Tom's version would have worked out.

Anyway, obviously I still keep in touch with Tom & he mentioned to me the other day that he had just directed a video with Austin Brown...a mashup of 5 of his songs wrapped up in this incredibly visionary video.

He said it took them two days to film...& of course that's not counting the time for the CGI...anyway, for all of you who don't know who Austin Brown is...think, um...MICHAEL JACKSON's nephew!

Anyway, here is the video...I hope you all enjoy!

So say we all!

http://battlestarfanclub.com/video/austin-brown-85

Hello everyone,

I hope you all appreciate the humor in the title of this blog and hopefully I don't get any bricks thrown at me!

Well, we were hoping in place of THIS particular article to be bringing you some great video with "The Bear" McCreary.

Didn't quite turn out the way we had planned, so I guess I have a bit of a tale to tell you:

"This morning, I got up bright & early at my home here in lovely Long Beach, California. After my wakeup cup of 1 or 4 cups of coffee, I was ready to make my way to equally lovely (in a different way of course) Burbank, California.

As everyone knows, everything is lovely in California, except of course the former Governor's reputation.

I said to myself...'Self, be good to yourself & the environment & take the TRAIN into town'...I agreed with myself on that & took my own advise.

For all those who know the L.A. area at all, we have of course the blue line, the red line, the green line..well, you get the picture...subways.

Well, my journey took me to the North Hollywood Red Line station...which is in of course lovely North Hollywood...which is a completely different kind of lovelieness than either Long Beach or Burbank.

A bright & Sunny day...not too hot, not too cold...I thought I might just hoof it over to Dark Delicacies...which is a brisk 20-25 minute walk...what the hell, I needed the exercise.

So up Lenkershim I went and making a drastic turn to the left found myself on Magnolia which I proceeded my hoofing on.

But lo & behold, what did I see?

STARBUCKS!

Now you know that I already have a special affinity for that name...not to mention the coffee...so I made another suggestion to myself about the necessity of getting just a wee bit more caffeine into my already over caffenated self.

I argued a little bit, but ended up losing the quarrel with myself & gave in.

Slurping coffee as I trotted along I found myself making great progress towards my destination...and also found myself getting increasingly hot!

I was beginning to question this whole train & walking exercise (especially the walking part!) when I spied a store...one that sold COLD drinks...ok the store in question was a Rite-Aid...but that's besides the point!

Walking out of the store & making my way to what was now W. Magnolia (the street of my desire) I noticed someone standing next to me on the corner...I looked once, then looked again as the gentleman walked past me.

"Bear?"...

At that he turned (mind you, we were in the crosswalk!)...and said "Yes?"

Up until that moment we had been oblivious to each other...and after getting out of possible harms way in said crosswalk...shook hands & started moving towards our respective destination...Dark Delicacies, making conversation as we walked.

Arriving there, Bear broke off to chat up some of his fellow composers who showed up for the signing while at the same time I started chatting up Cliff Gardner...who accompanied Herb Brunner & myself to the Anaheim ComicCon....(okay, so we ARE the three horseman of the Bearaclypse), but I digress.

Literally, we had gotten there 2 minutes to 2:00 pm so I figured, we'll wait...we'll hang out & let all the folks get in, buy the CD's of their choice & get them signed...STAY out of the way in other words & let business be done....and pick up on the interview when all was said & done at the scheduled end of the signing...4pm.

Herb had a few things to finish up & wasn't going to be there till about 3 or so anyway (and he's our film guy) so Cliff & I decided to chill & just hang out till the appointed moment.

(Bear in mind...ok that was a pun...that Bear is a busy guy. The plan was to shoot a couple of minutes with him AFTER the signings, which he was down for and was happy to do, but did mention that he had a busy day otherwise) Ok, now you have THAT scenario.

So now it's approaching 3 o'clock...Cliff & I being in the store & I needing to make a phone call...so I mention to him that I will be stepping out for this brief message & would be right back in.

Fine & good....I make my phone call & I notice that it is NOW 3pm...and of course like all of you, I've been looking at the news over the last couple of days concerning the May 21st "prediction" of well...the rapture.

Supposedly to happen at 6pm (Eastern Time) I figure with the time difference 3pm (West Coast) time...hey this thing has gotta be consistent...I notice people not vanishing around me, so I figure it's all good.

Walking back into the store though...I can't FIND Cliff!

I mean I had just walked out for cryin' out loud!

Look, Dark Delicacies is NOT a big store and it would be very, very difficult for a full grown man to hide in it.

So now I'm thinking...."hmmm".

Going back outside I call him...just wondering...the conversation went something like this:

"Hello"

"Cliff, WHERE are you?

"In the comic book store down the street, why?"

"Uh, never mind"

At this point, satisfied that Cliff had not vanished and gone where no man has gone before..my reverie was broken by two things...firstly the call I received from Herb that he had arrived with the camera & was making his way to the store and the fact that I just saw Bear pop out the door & head down the street in the direction of the local coffee house.

Not STARBUCKS by the way.

OK, so I'm thinking 'Bear went for a round of java' I'm down with that idea, I do the same thing...UNTIL I notice that the other composer's are taking boxes of stuff to their cars!

About the same time, Herb arrives with camera in hand and we march into the store & notice that the signing tables are CLEARED of everything.

Kindly we ask...'wassup?'

'Oh, the traffic was light...we SAY two hours, but really only commit everyone to ONE if there is no traffic,'(which was a little light, I will admit).

'So you mean....it's done?!' I asked in consternation.

'Oh, yes', was the reply.

Wellllll...now that's interesting!

Now it's kind of clear what happened...it was quiet, they cut everyone loose...Bear was pre-occupied with whatever he had to do, forgetting about the video thing...oh, ok, now it made sense!

If we had known (hindsight being 20/20 of course) we could have just said "hey, hold on for a few!"...but who woulda thunk?

Not a huge tragedy to be sure

We can always reschedule with the Bear, that's the beauty of living in the L.A. area."

The moral of all this is, don't count your Cylon's before they Hatch (another pun).

I'm perfectly willing to take the hit on this one...it was I WHO SAID we would get this video to you....which I do intend to do...but unlike a politician, I'm more than willing to tell you the scoop.

This is one of those Hollywood moments that just didn't come together right...and trust me, there are as many NOT moments as there are one's that do jell.

It's just that the ones that do are ever so much more bright and shiny!

So rather than drone on like an "Inside Hollywood" segment, I will say there was no fault on this one, just bad timing.

It happens...otherwise, just know that there will be more bright and shiny moments in the future and tomorrow is another day.

So say we all!

Good day Colonials,

My Name is Chris Allen, I am the Gemenon Delegate and I am here to serve you and would very much like to hear from you.

 I have created a place on the web where I plan to post radio chats for you to listen to. I plan to post these chats at least once every other month to start out with.

 I have a calendar and a guest book on the site as well so please sign the guest book, I really want to hear from you all. The calendar will have events posted there.

So please stop by the web address below and look around:

 http://gemenon.bravehost.com/index.html

Thank you all for stopping by.

Chris Allen

Gemenon Delegate

Hello everyone, it is with great pleasure that I welcome actor Rick Worthy to our family!

Herb Brunner, Cliff Gardner & I met Rick a few weeks back at the Anaheim CA ComicCon...and I don't think I've met a friendlier celebrity...and I've met a few!

He was delighted to hear about the Battlestar Galactica Fan Club & was absolutely psyched at our invitation to join, so please make him feel at home.

Rick hails originally from Detroit, Michigan & began acting on the stage there and later moved on to Chicago to continue honing his skills.

From there he came out the Golden State to launch his career in Television & Film.

He has gone from playing Nathan Jackson in "The Magnificent Seven" to the TV series "Eyes" as well as "Fallen".

He had a recurring role on "Heroes" as well as a guest role as the Goa'uld Imhotep on "Stargate SG-1".

Rick is also very well known for his various roles on within the "Star Trek" franchise, which include turns as an Elloran officer aboard the Son'a vessel commanded by the evil Ru'afo (played to great effect by F.Murray Abraham of both "Amadeus" & "Scarface" fame) in "Star Trek: Insurrection."

He went on to appear in not one, not two, but three of the franchise's spinoff series, appearing as an android on Star Trek: Voyager "Prototype" as well as a human character on the same show by the name of Noah Lessing "Equinox Parts I & II).

He also appeared on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"  as the Klingon Kornan in the episode "Eyes of the Empire" as well as a recurring role as Jenner on "Star Trek: Enterprise".

Of course Battlestar Galactica fans remember him for his role in the Re-imagined series as Simon or in the parlance Number 4...a Cylon agent.

He appeared in a number of episodes ranging from "The Farm", "Six of one", "Exodus Part II", to many others.

He was also featured in "The Plan".

Whew! That IS a body of work!

We look forward to seeing Rick in his upcoming projects & with his talent there will be many others...and a personal thank you Rick for taking up our offer of joining the Battlestar Galactica Fan Club!

A head's up to everyone, in case you didn't read the email that I sent out the other day to all members...& this DOES tie into the Battlestar project...this contest begins now & will contiue to run through this year.

What is the contest? What is the prize?

Well, I challenge EVERYONE who is a member to recruit as many people to this site as possible (make sure they include your name as a reference!) and whoever does recruit the most bys years end (the contest runs till December 31st 2011) will receive the complete reimagined series DVD set courtesy of this club....the second place finisher will receive t the complete original series DVD set.

Start 2012 off right!

Launch all Vipers!

Hello everyone,

In a previous blog I reported that the meeting with Bear McCreary at Dark Delicacies was for today May 14th 2011. That was an error on my part.

Bear's appearance for the SOCOM signing is going to be Saturday May 21st 2011.

We will be there with camera in hand!

Again, Bear will be sitting down with us for a little face time that we will bring to you here.

Thanks for your patience!

I realize that we have a lot of new folks here who may (or probably may not) be aware of our ongoing Battlestar project.

So what is this project?

You (those who think they can command a Battlestar) are tasked with a mission!

Gather around you a crew!

Once you get 25 people recruited (and yes) you qualify as the first member...you will achieve BFC Battlestar status...you pick the name & your are ready to roll...or fly actually.

Of course you can recruit from current members but we'd like to see everyone make the effort to go out & recruit from outside the club...you get your own Battlestar & we all can have the pleasure of seeing new members coming into the fold.

For those interested parties, please contact Admiral Miguel Rivera (ADM Rivera) on this site.

Once launched, your vessel with be part of the Colonial Defense Forces, those that keep us safe from those goll monging Cylons!

WE NEED YOU!

PS: No worries to all as you work towards Battlestar status, get at least 10 people together & you have yourself a squardron!

Everyone,

Herb & I will be attending Bear McCreary's singning of his SOCOM 4 Soundtrack fittingly at Dark Delicacies this coming Saturday.

You will recall that we got together with Stu Phillips there a few weeks ago.

Ironically, it was Stu who introduced me to Bear a few years back when I was helping Stu out at his table at a Con in Burbank.

Anyway, Bear is one of the coolest people in the world & he graciously agreed in advance to sit down with us & yack for the camera.

So stay tuned for the "Bear & Herb Show" coming to you, same Battlestar time, same Battlestar channel.

So say we all!

Yes, you read it right — Katee & Tricia want YOU to be a part of their Acting Outlaws documentary for The LA La Ride.

We need at least 25 of you to send us videos taken with your cell phones, web cams, flip cams, DSLRs, camcorders — whatever you have!
All you need to do is make a video that is 60 seconds or less answering these two questions:

1) What originally interested you in Acting Outlaws and their ride from Los Angeles to Louisiana?

2) What cause do you think they should ride for on their next ride?


You can submit your video in a variety of ways.
Upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitvid or any other video hosting site and send us the link.

You can also send it directly via email to video@actingoutlaws.org (max size 10MB)

In order to use your video on the documentary we need you to read the following at the beginning or end of your video:

I, your name, hereby grant Acting Outlaws permission to use my likeness for their LA La Ride Documentary.

(this will serve as your release, allowing us to legally use your footage.)

Thank you everyone ahead of time for participating and make sure you send those videos in ASAP!

(http://actingoutlaws.org/site/?p=385)

Hello everyone,

Herb Brunner & I encountered Mr. Rick Worthy yesterday at the Anaheim Comic Con & he graciously took a few seconds to submit to a little face time.

Herb (who is not only a BFC alumni, but also a delegate to our quorum), was in prime reporting form.

I definitely think that he could host a TV show!

Absolute natural at it.

If you are not familiar with Rick, he is a veteran Star Trek actor...appearing in three incarnations of the Star Trek television series as well as the film Star Trek: Insurrection.

He has also done work on Stargate & Heroes.

Most of you may recall him as Simon otherwise known as Cylon #4 from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.

The Battlestar Fan Club is proud to feature this exclusive video & share it with everyone here at the BFC.

Rick is definitley a very nice guy as well as a talented actor...so if you see his name pop up at a Convention near you, make it a point to visit his table & to say hello.

Thanks Rick!

And again we are showcasing our adventure at Comic Con yesterday with this exclusive bit of film featuring the lovely Tricia Helfer & our very own Herb Brunner.

I have to hand it Herb, he knows how to work in front of the camera!

I don't think he had one bit of a problem talking to Tricia either....sorry though, I can't tell you what they were whispering to each other, top secret...though it may just be a Cylon plot!

I think we need to pull the Cylon detector our & check Herb.

Tricia not only graced Battlestar Galactica with her presence but has also appeared in Two and a half men opposite Charlie Sheen & has joined the cast of TNT's Dark Blue.

The Battlestar Fan Club is honored that she took a few moments with us & that she wanted to say hello to everyone here, so thank you Tricia!

Speaking of Charlie Sheen, I really can't resist this.

WINNING!

Hello everyone,

Herb Brunner & I just got back from the Anaheim CA Comic Con...& we have some exclusive video to share from both Rick Worth (Simon, Cylon #4) & of course the lovely Tricia Helfer (aka 6).

We'll be bring this to you soon..but I can't tell you what Tricia whispered in Herb's ear...Cyclon secrets?

Friends,

I wanted to take a moment with you all.

I thank Dan Allan for all the terrific work he has done for the BFC and will continue doing.

Thanks, Dan!

Most of all, I want to thank all of you, the membership..we, the leadership, will always do the best that we can for you. This is YOUR club, together we will make it happen.

You all know that we have taken some big steps forward and we are going to continue to take even bigger steps in the advancement of this organization.

We do in fact have the best people here in the world, I'm utterly convinced of that & that is how the magic happens.

I resume the Presidency with the honor of serving all of you, here at the BFC & at the CDF.

Let us all move forward, united towards the future & make this something to talk about,

You haven't seen nothin' yet!

Together, United!

So say we all!

Shawn O'Donnell

President & Co-Founder

Battlestar Fan Club

Bear McCreary the Composer of the new Battlestar Galactica music will at the Dark Delicacies shop for a CD signing of the Socom 4 game (look it up if you don't know what it is) It's a pretty amazing first person shooter game; though I like to call em simulators because like Call of Duty, they are awesomely realistic in game play, story line, characters and graphics.

Great music for this game. From what I've read closely follows his awesome delivery and way of using multi-cultural instruments as with BSG that immerses you completely. Should be great to meet him.

Bear's Battlestar Blog

Greeting fellow Capricans,

I've just recorded a mp3 sound file here and have placed it up on my Caprica website. You can get there by typing in your web browser's address bar http://www.usscommonwealth.org/caprica look for a button labeled "Play Radio Chat" and click on that to hear what I have to say. The button labled "Stop Radio Chat" will stop playing the message.