Ok, here’s one last photo from my mission to Kobol yesterday!

Grace, yo leen en alguna parte el ayer por la noche que usted está aprendiendo español también. Nosotros si el meetup en Soma en Main Street uno de estas noches y de práctica junto.

I went on a walk today in Lynn Valley Canyon and just happened to stumbled upon the cast and crew of Battlestar Galactica. Imagine that! I had a chance to chat with Grace Park (Boomer) for a few and she’s really nice. She was kind enough to let me snap a couple pictures of her too. Thx guys!

I also got a chance to snap a quick couple of Tahmoh Penikett (Helo). He was cool too, but his car picked him up for the day before we had much of a chance to talk.

From the Chicago Sun Times, comes a great article about the first season of Battlestar Galactica including a cool list of 7 reasons why the new BSG is better than the old one. The critics really seemed to love the first season, and now that production has begun on season 2 (here in Vancouver by the way) I’m starting to see a lot more talk about the show on the web and I’ve noticed an increase in people searching on the term too.

7 Reasons Why the SciFi Channel’s Present-day “Galactica” Beats the Frak Out of the Original 1979 Series on NBC

1. The word “frak”

Forget the frakin’ FCC. The original series field-tested this f-word substitution and no one cocked a puritanical ear. Sci Fi’s version makes liberal use of the pseudo-curse, allowing its characters to sound, you know, real.

2. The best space shots ever on TV

It’s like Kubrick-vision. Every time we’re brought back to the setting of the ragtag fleet of remaining human spaceships, it’s via an arresting “2001: A Space Odyssey”-like shot with a very nervous zoom lens — and the most disquieting silence.

3. Flesh-and-blood Cylons

OK, it was a budget-minded decision, but it’s turned out to be kinda cool and seems to be driving the plot. We’d like to see more of the actual metal monsters, sure, but given the choice between those titanium toasters of ‘79 and lithe looker Tricia Helfer … well, duh.

4. Starbuck’s a chick!

Original Starbuck Dirk Benedict’s smarmy smirks were a better foil to Mr. T’s constipated grunts on “The A Team.” In the new series, the character is still an antiauthoritarian space cowboy but one played by the tomboyish Katee Sackhoff. She’s shown real depth, too, and we can’t wait for more butt-kickin’ in season two.

5. Mary McDonnell

The underappreciated actress finds a nice niche playing the education secretary-turned-president of the 12 colonies. Life on Galactica is harried and stressful, but McDonnell’s subtly strong President Roslin inspires calm, faith and hope.

6. Apollo striking poses

Richard Hatch, the original Apollo, probably qualified as handsome in 1979. But the new series’ Jamie Bamber lives up to the character’s Greek god name. Here’s to a second season of those sleeveless uniforms!

7. Religion in the storyline

Amid calls for more “wholesome” programming (definitions vary widely), here’s a show that weaves in religious themes seamlessly and without evangelical bellowing. Not since “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” has spirituality been handled with as sharp an eye on the impact of a “higher power” (definitions vary widely).

Yeah, so I’m a SciFi nerd. Now that that is out of the way. Subscribe to the new Battlestar Galactica blog and their new podcast feed. They’re now posting audio commentary (like what you usually have to buy the DVD series to get) on their website to be played while you watch the show.

The only thing I don’t get is, what’s up with the big ugly generic ad-network banner ads on your blog SciFi channel guys? Wouldn’t that space be much more effectively used to push visitors to your online store full of nerdy branded BSG merch?

Watch the Entire First Episode of Battlestar Galactica Online

SciFi Channel ‘gets it’ and has released the first episode of the best SciFi show on TV on their website.

Dereck is totally right on about Sci Fi Channel show Battlestar Galactica. Big ups to this sweet new show, it has me totally addicted.

Don’t waste your time lamenting the cancellation of Enterprise - the show’s been a dog since the first time that sappy theme song aired. If you want to see the best science fiction on television, watch Battlestar Galactica on the Sci Fi Channel.

It was beautiful. Spooky. Personal. Dark. Imagine a robot that looks like a human having a conversation about God with a human scientist who’s given up on his humanity. Imagine spaceships that travel silently through space with maneuvering thrusters that account for actual physics - the ships keep going when the engines go out as they would in space. And, of course, imagine menacing mechanical evil - not the cheesy Terminator kind, and not the sprawling dirty Matrix kind - a truly robotic kind, scary because of how little of it is revealed.