RIP Andy Hallett

Sad day. Andy Hallett, best known for his portrayal as the demon Lorne on Joss Whedon's Angel series passed away at the age of 33 from heart failure. He had been fighting heart disease for five years and he lost that battle on Sunday night.

Personally, I loved Andy's portrayal of Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, aka the Host who read people's auras as they sang karaoke in his nightclub, Caritas. He had some of the best lines, called Angel varieties of pastries and was a very welcome addition to the show. I even enjoyed the songs he did for the Angel soundtrack. It's just sad news. He died far too young, only a couple of years older than I am. He will be missed. I found a quick best of Lorne video. Probably not the best out there, but it still made me smile; a nice little in memory of.

Monday Meme: 5 Random Things

So iMike tagged me with a new meme all about the randomness of...me I suppose. Actually it is all about six things you probably didn't know about me. Unless of course you're my sister, brother-in-law or my best friends Paul and Cassie. Then this is old news and sorry to waste your time kids. Have fun looking at the pretty pictures. But the rest of you prepare to be amazed or underwhelmed, possibly both. *smile* I think it's going to be one of those weeks.

The Rules:
1) link to the person who tagged you.
2) post the rules on yer blog.
3) write six random things about yourself.
4) tag six people at the end of yer post and link to them
5) let each of the six persons know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) let the tagger know when yer entry is up.


ONE: I AM OBSESSED WITH BATS
I dont know where it started or when really, but I love bats. Have loved them forever. I even think wee little vampire bats like those two are cute as all helln (how can you not think they are adorable). I have stuffed animal bats, little pewter bats, bat cards, bat stickers, etc. Even cute little ones that used to hang from my ceiling. Back when I lived in Sioux Falls, my family (see aforementioned sister, etc) and I would head down to Omaha to the zoo every year. They have an amazing Nocturnal exhibit which is modeled to look like a cave including an exhibit with a bunch of free flying bats with nothing but a bit of netting separating you from them. I could spend hours there watching them, and I do mean hours. And we're not even talking about their new exhibit in the rainforest building where they are actually flying above you, past you, etc. They made me leave. I even love watching the little Gary Oldman vampire bats eat. I am the girl who squeals happily when there are bats about instead of squealing like a little girl...unless of course that little girl is very very happy. They get such bad press. I don't know why.

TWO: I WAS BORN ON GUAM
As a service brat I have lived a lot of different places and was even born on a very cool island. Where is it? Guam is part of the Mariana Islands, near Micronesia which is over by Indonesia and the Philippines. It is a US Territory, fairly small, but beautiful. My dad used to fly his C-130 into typhoons because he was a crazy person. *grin* And he did this a lot. They sometimes call Guam 'typhoon alley'. I don't remember it because they moved away when I was just a baby, but I love the stories that my parents used to tell me. I also haven't been there, but it is something I want to do before I die. I am hoping that before I come back from Japan that I can visit. Would love for my dad to meet me there and show me around.

THREE: I LOVE GREEK MYTHOLOGY
I love the myths. Zeus, Artemis, Athena, Apollo, Nemesis...their stories make me smile. Maybe it started after watching Clash of the Titans when I was a kid. Or maybe it was stargazing with my dad. He'd point out the constellations and I would want to know the stories behind their names. Another bit on the to do list is to go on a mythological sabbatical and visit Greece and then to Italy and do the Roman side of things (even though they blatantly stole from the Greeks because like Eddie Izzard said: They invaded Greece,conquered them and stole all their gods... and renamed them with Roman names, ‘cause the Roman gods before that were kind of crap, you know - Geoff, the god of biscuits, and Simon, the god of hairdos… "Oh, let's get some of those! Thank God they've got some gods, ‘cause we have these crap gods")*smile*

FOUR: I HATE NEEDLES
I don't have too many of the traditional fears. Spiders, not a problem. Actually bugs in general not really a problem. Not that I want them crawling all over me mind you, but not that scary. Mice, also not scary. Afraid of the dark - nope. What about heights - not really. But needles. Yeah, we are not friends. This scene was the most horrifying of all of them in any of the Saw films. I seriously don't know how Shawnee Smith did it, fake needles or not. In fact, I think I watched the whole scene through a hand in front of my face. Zombies, monsters, scary serial killers not that frightening. I am a horror fan, but needles... *shivers* I would give blood, donate to the cause, but can't. I tend to freak. Even looking at that picture gives me the heebie jeebies.

FIVE: FANTASY JOB
I am pagan, not prescribing to any particular religion as any religion that says my god is better than your god kind of makes me giggle. Faith and spirituality are part of my life though. But in the end it is a hodge podge of a little bit of everything. If I was independently wealthy not only would I travel a lot, but I would love to have my own little pagan shoppe/herbalism store. I would call it High Spirits and it would be brim full of books on many religions, chock full of supplies from herbs to candles to live plants, you name it. There would be a place where people could have tea or coffee too. Nice, feel at home atmosphere. However, if I am traveling all the time due to being independently wealthy, the hours would vary...a lot. *smile*

SIX: I HAVE MET MOST OF THE BUFFY CAST
Many moons ago I fell in love with a little show called Buffy: the Vampire Slayer brought to me by Joss Whedon, whom I heart tons and tons. I also made my foray into the interwebs chatting on threaded and linear posting boards that Fox used to have up when the show was still on the air. It was called The Bronze and I was an unabashed Bronzer, posting and chatting happily to my fellow fans and sometimes writers, actors, and crew from the show. Every year the Bronzers would get together and geek out in sunny California for a Posting Board Party. We'd all get together and visit set locations and then party down at a local club/bar. Cool thing...the organizers also invited the entire cast and crew and we also did a lot for Make a Wish. My first year to one of the parties I went to California to meet a bunch of online friends. My father was convinced I would be kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery or that my friends were actually axe murderers. Neither was discovered to be true. I had a blast and more parties followed. Not every day you can meet and actually have decent conversations with people like Eliza Dushku, Joss, Seth Green, Tony Head, Danny Strong, and more. Fandom brought us together and it was made of awesome. I even have a little scrapbook of photos from all of it. Sadly I never got to meet James Marsters which is a damn shame considering my obsession with him, but it was good times. Good times. I kind of miss my old Bronzers.

So there you have it, six little known facts. But I am not going to tag anyone in particular so if you want to be part, chime on in. I would love to read your answers.

The end is frakking nigh - An ode to BSG

It is ending. One of my favorite shows ever. It is not only the best sci-fi show since my beloved Firefly left the small screen, but one of the best shows on television. I started out a fan of the original series. It was shows like BSG, Buck Rogers, Bionic Woman, etc that made little smirking a very happy camper. When I heard that sci-fi was re-imagining the show I was intrigued, but a bit worried. Then I found out Starbuck was a girl. *gasp* the shock and horror. I even tried to watch the mini-series and found myself changing the channel for something else.

And then I tried it again and fell in love. Starbuck became the character I identified with and I stick to my firm belief that Kara Thrace could kick old Starbuck’s ass any day and yes I would pay to watch that fight. It had elements of the old show I watched as a kid but became something much more. I had my space battles and my humor, but it discussed war and terrorism, of what it means to be human and the question of god as a whole. There wasn’t the hamming it up of the old series. It was dark. It wasn’t afraid to go to places people didn’t expect. It made you think. It made you yell and laugh and scream at your television. And let’s face it provided some very pretty people to look at for an hour every week.

And now it is ending. *sniff* The end is frakking nigh. Just a few hours to go really. I decided to hold off watching the first part of Daybreak and have a nice good old send off watching all precious three hours. Me and some comfy pjs, some of those delicious brownies, a drink filled with mostly rum and my two best friends in the entire world on the speaker phone. Its not the frak party I would have liked, but my family is too far away from me right now.

I thought the show deserved a proper send off in my fangirlyness. So here are some of my favorites of BSG as well as some assorted BSG goodies for fans out there.

Favorite character: Kara “Starbuck” Thrace. This should come as no surprise. Actually I love all of the women (okay maybe not Tory) of BSG. They are strong, intelligent, and yet vulnerable. But Kara, she is my favorite. She is strong, passionate, damaged, snarky, and beautiful. Every time she is on the screen, I kind of ignore everyone else which is difficult because the show is filled with amazing characters played by amazing actors. I see so many parts of myself in her. I get her, even the parts that are broken. I love where they have taken her character, even the parts I don’t understand yet. I just love her to pieces. And come on who doesn’t have a big old crush on Katee Sackhoff?






Favorite Cylon: At first I would say Leoben because somehow there is something about him that manages to hit quite a few of my personal kinks. Also, I have adored Callum Keith since Due South. But my lustful delusions aside, I have to be honest in admitting I have really liked Six. Tricia plays her many copies well and my favorite has been Caprica Six. She really has changed since the first moment we met her. And yes, the boys love her. So for you, I give you…





Favorite Episodes: Wow that is difficult. There are so many good ones, and yes a few bad. I will restrict to my top 5. Okay scratch that top 10 with honorable mentions.

1. “33”. It took me two tries to get through the miniseries, but it was “33” that had me hooked. The fatigue, the tension, the drama, the paranoia of having to jump every 33 minutes. It was crazy. And the destruction of the Olympic Carrier…heartbreaking. Here’s where we see that anything can happen and it did.

2. “Scar”. The Kara Thrace happy hour, well maybe not happy. This episode is great because we also get what life is like for the Viper pilots and we learn that even the Cylon raiders can learn, remember and harbor vendettas.

3. “Revelations”. Because admit it the last final moments of that episode was a swift kick to the gut. More than that, Papadama’s reaction to Tigh being a Cylon and so many other brilliant moments.

4. “Maelstrom”. It showed us that Kara is more than we thinks he is. I remember watching the episode and screaming at the television. No, it couldn’t be. They wouldn’t. It was the first time I broke my ‘no spoiler’ rule I was so despondent. And yes, another Kara episode, but it is so good.

5. “Someone to Watch Over Me”. A beautifully directed episode that was as filled with questions and answers to make your brain ache. And there was pain, a lot of it and for making me almost weep right along with them, the cast deserves shiny gold stars. The Daniel/Kara/Seven mystery continues.

6. “Crossroads”. We learn four of the final five and sit there shaking our heads going no…and wanting to throw Tory out of an airlock or maybe that is just me. It is a great two parter that definitely changed everything.

7. “Rapture”. Another gut punch when Helo murders his own wife so that she can save their daughter. Ack. As Helo holds his wife’s body I am sobbing right there with him. But also D’Anna sees the Final Five and we begin to wonder about them even more.

8. “Exodus”. Best space battles evah. Goodbye Pegasus, hello atmo-jump. It is the best episode of the New Caprica story arc and I loved every single moment of it. Kind of makes me forget the whole love square.

9. “Flight of the Phoenix”. We needed something to keep everyone going. When Chief decides to start making his own Viper from scratch, I adored him just a little bit right then.

10. “Final Cut”. Hello Apollo. To be Kara at that moment, sitting behind Lee as his towel nearly falls to the floor. Shallow of me…yes, but Jamie Bamber = yummy. Plus I love D’Anna doing her little documentary on the people saving the fleet’s ass every day.

Honorable mentions: “You Can’t go Home Again”, “Kobol’s Last Gleaming”, “Downloaded”


Other goodies: It's BSG day in a lot of places.

A beautiful picspam ode to one of the best casts and shows ever. http://users.livejournal.com/radon_/34551.html


The cast tells us why they love BSG

The end credits of Ron and David from Season One. I am going to miss those too


So what are your thoughts? What are you going to miss? What do you love? I will have my last picspam recap sometime over the weekend after everyone has a chance to watch it.

If I was a Superhero

Who doesn't want to be a superhero? Now you can see what your superhero self would look like over at the The Hero Factory. You can customize everything from the hairstyle, to your superhero outfit. And great song while you customize. I love that I would be a Baroness and you have to dig my wicked lightsabery whip.

Islanded in a Stream of Stars - A BSG Recap

After last week’s episode, which was made of awesome, I am not sure what to expect. Ack, why is this show ending. With Galactica falling apart, the end is coming. Makes a girl sad. As always spoilers if you havent seen this week yet.


Can I have BSG toys like Hera? I’d have my own little battles. Maybe incorporate some Firefly dinosaurs. It would be great.

Look at Galactica. The poor girl really is falling apart. All the wounds from the past four years, the scars and the wear and tear of it all. She was never supposed to be the home she has become. She was supposed to be a floating museum that tourists come and gawk at. And in this shot, you see the heavy toll reality has taken on her. Skin and bones. Makes me sad.

And still they try to fix her, to save her. Love this Six. I will call her pony six because of her ponytail. She has moxy. I like her. Stop your bitching.

John’s going to dissect Hera. Let’s hope not. She’s perfect on the outside, all cute and adorable. He doesn’t need to see her insides.

The Colony. Scuse me? So you would have us jump into a Cylon’s hornet nest for one solitary child. Umm..yeah, because cute adorable kids need to be saved. And bonus the Colony could be the Earth you’ve been looking for all along.

Kara the voice of reason to Lee. Usually it’s the other way around. But yes, something did happen. Hera knew the notes to a song, the notes to Kara’s father’s song, and maybe Daniel’s song. The song that led us to Earth. The song that activated the Five and the song that may help Kara understand who and what she is. Did I mention Hera’s just cute and adorable. I mean that other stuff helps, but cute and adorable = automatic save. Its right up there with baby animals.

In other words its our destiny to go and save her. Wrong. I've had it up to here with destiny, prophecy, with God or the Gods. Look where it's left us. The ass end of nowhere; nearly half of our people are gone; Earth, a worthless cinder; and I can't even walk down the halls of my ship without wondering if I'm gonna catch a bullet for getting us into this mess. Great line. And have some more booze Bill.

Look at me. Its not fair. My happy Agathon family is supposed to be the happily ever after.

I hate seeing this much pain. It just kills me.

The dreams are back. Maybe Caprica Six is saving Hera from the Cavil Eight.

Yeah, Roslin’s okay.

Frak.

Would he have saved her if she had been human?

61 Dead or missing. The mutiny only cost us 43 lives and Gaeta’s mutineers were a bit trigger happy on the Galactica population. And only 5 more jumps left before she tears in half.

Must be hard saying goodbye to all of your women at once. *sniff* Don’t say things like that. You must feel like we’re abandoning you. No, you just need a little more attention.

Its nice that they are bringing up the implications of Galactica’s possible demise. Galactica is the civilian fleet’s only means of defense and now it would mean using the Cylon Basestar (who only until a year ago were the reason why humanity is just a rag tag fleet of ships on the run) as the only means of protection and leadership. That’s huge. If I were the fleet captains I would be wary as well. But what can you do. Its not Galactica’s fault she is falling apart. She’s been taking the blows for all of you, saving your asses, but there is a price. Even the hero of the story cant survive all of the bullet wounds.

And now they’re excited to cannibalize her parts? First they don’t want her demise and now they are happy to have her demise if it means that their own ships will profit from it. Bastards. Yep, I’m bitter. I love my girl. Yes, practically and realistically it makes sense to salvage what you can. There is no home in sight and you need what you can. But its like grave robbers, stealing everything they can before the body can even grow cold. Especially after all that Galactica has done for them. She deserves more respect than that. And yes, she is like a character for me. Just like Serenity. Grrr….argh.

Gaius Baltar!?! Yeah, I hear ya Lee.

Angels take the form of those near and dear to you. To steer you back onto the road of redemption. Is that what Kara thinks? Does she remember now, her father’s face? Was it Slick’s? Is she angry at herself for not recognizing him? For not saying everything she wanted to? Does she think she is crazy?

I believe in these angels because I see them. Funny how head Six has gone from the sultry sex kitten in the red dress to wearing white. Her last dress was still sexy, but now she has this girl next door one on. Which I also love. I have said it before, but the Cylons get all the great dresses.

I haven’t decided to join your harem. Good for you Caprica. Its odd how estranged those two have become, so far from the Caprica and Baltar from four years ago.

But Gaius seems to feel her loss. You haven’t changed Gaius not really. But I have. And she really has. Then again Gaius has to, even if it is in small ways. Maybe it is me seeing the best in people, but I want the redemption for Baltar that he preaches to the masses. I want him to find peace.

Thank you for the privilege of finally being able to meet my father before I die. You shouldn’t be thanking me. I spent most of my life trying to kill your kind. *sniff*

I want my mommy. Take me home. I want my mommy. Oh poor Hera.

I really hate this Cavil Eight. A lot.

Pirate Saul is wondering where all the whiskey went. Why is all the whiskey gone?

You want to know who my family is lady? The people on this ship. I love that he called her lady.

You were my husband 2,000 years before you even met Bill Adama. But it really is just a number to Tigh. He doesn’t remember it all like Ellen does, only flashes that don’t make sense. To him it doesn’t matter that he is Cylon that believed he was human. He’s Tigh. Saul Tigh, second half of the TighAdama bromance, XO to a Battlestar that is falling apart and the guy who is trying to hold it all together and failing.

You’re wrong Saul. You had millions. Kind of hard to wrap your head around. Concept of being a father. With Liam, it was a concept he understood. But being the creator, the father to all of the models is difficult.

Hera can project too. Awesome.

Missed a spot. I love you Kara even when you are peeing. Snarky even from the john. Regularity. That must be important when you’re full of crap.

The only thing I know for sure is I’m not an Angel. What could Baltar’s tests prove. His Cylon detector was a sham anyway.

And yet in this shot they certainly make her look like an Angel. Subtlety is still not your strong suit BSG, but I love you anyway.

So they brought Anders to an immersion tank in Galactica. He’s Galactica’s hybrid. This must be hard for her. This is her husband. Her Sam. She talks about she once told him that she would put a bullet in his head if she ever found out he was a Cylon and then some frakker beat her to it, but how all she wants is to have him back. Human/Cylon doesn’t seem to matter because you are just Sam. You are my Sam.

Oh Kara, don’t do it.

Hybrid Sam wont let her. Reason function. Reason function. There’s that whole Kara Thrace is the harbinger of death thing again. He blinks and the lights flash. Oh Sam, will you save the Galactica or bring about its end with too many jumps.

I love it when Daddydama reads. So does Roslin.

Coddle wont mind. It’s medicinal. *grin* Remembering all of the plans they had, the cabin, a normal life, a happily ever after. Sometimes I wonder what a home is? I hear ya Laura. Home isn’t a place. It’s a feeling, a feeling of safety and belonging. Daddydama is home. Galactica is home. Its hard to leave home. *sniffles*

Baltar the scientist. We haven’t seen you in a while.

Anders really is Galactica’s hybrid. Theoretically he could jump, but the hybrids know better. There’s a hole in the bucket…dear liza. Dear liza. Yeah well its mah bukkit.

Projection cupcakes. I want one.

If I am supposed to feel something for Cavil Eight. I don’t.

Aw, Daddy Helo wants to find his daughter. Helo needs hugs. I give great hugs. Aw frak, don’t cry. Maybe it is a suicide mission, but at least give me the chance to do something. Something better than just sitting here waiting and doing nothing.

You outed Kara, you smarmy selfish bastard. And she knows it. He uses everything for his own needs. He really hasn’t changed. Caprica was right.

Not my Kara. Kara would have decked the frakker. But I think somewhere in there she's just given up. Part of her knew that Gaius would do it. Did she do it intentionally, just so that someone else knew? That she wouldnt have to hide it all.

Lee’s certainly thinking about the whole decking the egotistical cockroach.

This is all that matters. Aww, my Lee/Kara shipping geek is feeling all warm and fuzzy right now.

Yeah, I’d tap that too.

*shiver* Ugh.

You’ll have all sorts of new playmates to play with real soon. Huh?

You can put all the paint on her you want and she’s still broken Papadama. Tired and broken no matter how much she loves you.

*sniffles* Sad.

No, no stripping. No abandoning ship. Ack, this really is the end. This series is ending, an amazing tale. I’m not ready. I don’t want Galactica to end like this. I want her to go out on a blaze of glory. Pappadama, Laura in his arms, and blow frakking Cavil out of the sky so that the cycle will end. Because we know without his girls, Pappadama wont be the same. He cant survive losing them both. Let them all be together.

Great shot.

This week wasn't as great as last week's which has had repeated viewing, but it was still good. The end is so near. You can feel it in the storylines. Makes me all sniffly. So is Kara being an Angel, an illusion to a being of light or a hybrid? And can there be at least one more Kara/Lee makeout scene please, just for me?! What did you think?