Bear released a behind the scenes video that gives an amazing behind the scenes on how the music for Blood and Chrome was created. It’s definitely worth a watch.

You can also pre-order the Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (Unrated) at iTunes now.

I’m hoping they hurry up and make the soundtrack available. I need it. Like, nao.

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Sometime in the past year or so a thing happened that I’ve been waiting and hoping for: my little sister asked me about Battlestar Galactica. You see, she’s not nerdy by nature. We watched some of the series when she visited a while ago, and she liked it but I don’t think she was ready to commit to the show or the possible “g” word that accompanied it. I didn’t pressure, just rambled on a bit about Starbuck and Apollo and the quest to find Earth. I think the episode of Portlandia that explored BSG obsession might have been the tipping point that pulled her back.

Soon, she asked about Doctor Who. Then during a visit, she watched Star Wars with me for the first time. We watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. She approved. She saw The Avengers of her own accord. We lived in the same city briefly, and I showed her season one of Game of Thrones and she asked to borrow the book.

Then, a couple of days ago, do you know what I saw her like on Facebook? An article about Joss Whedon directing Avengers 2. I squealed. It’s just so much fun to see her excited about stuff that’s traditionally been in my world. And then, she followed it up with magic. She started watching Firefly and has been inhaling the series at a pace that would make any Browncoat proud. She’s texting me stuff like “Kaylee is so adorable” and tweeting quotes. My geek heart is swelling with happiness. She figured out on her own that these shows and movies have potential – and I just helped her along with my enthusiasm (I have that in spades).

And I think that’s the best way to foster curiosity for geeky interests. 

Be helpful.

• Do suggest things you think someone would like based on what you know about their interests.
• Do mention things you love and why you love them without pushing. We know how awesome Blade Runner is, but people who don’t aren’t sold by you bringing it up every time you talk with them. They’ll eventually feel guilty because they haven’t watched it yet and stop talking to you.
• Do answer questions but don’t be a know it all. Someone asking about the Death Star doesn’t need to know about how the Battle of Yavin serves as a point in time in the Star Wars universe against which other events are measured. It’s a fine line, and let me tell you – flooding people with too much information just because you know it can scare them off.
• Let new geeks digest stuff. Don’t make them feel bad because they didn’t watch all of a series in a day. Don’t barrage them with tons of questions about what they liked until they’ve had time to process it. In short, don’t freak them the frak out with your intensity.

Be open. 

• Realize that not everyone is going to love the same series or books as you and even if they do, they might not love them in the same way. When that happens with a new geek, don’t immediately react with “Are you crazy? This/that is the best thing ever!” Create an environment where people can tell you what they like and dislike without judgment. It will just help you figure out new recommendations.
• Show new geeks that it’s an open club which welcomes new members and let them know that you don’t have to know all the trivia or all the facets of everything or have been a fan for decades to be a geek. Tell them they don’t need to do anything to “earn” the title other than being passionate, and if they run across anyone who tells them otherwise, they should run the other way.

I came to a couple of my greatest geek loves late in the game. I didn’t see Star Wars for the first time until it was re-released in the theaters. I was around 16. And yeah, that means I call it Episode IV: A New Hope and that I’ve seen the special editions more than I’ve seen the original versions. Some folks tease me about that. Now? I can roll with it (it still occasionally annoys me). However, if I would have heard those remarks in a condescending tone while I was new to the movies? I would have walked away, too worried about being judged and not fitting in.

Lord of the Rings is another example. I didn’t pick up the books until I saw Fellowship at the theater. There was no one around to really guide me along the path. I mean, I saw that trilogy and Star Wars with friends who liked the universes but not so much that any of them sat me down to tell me about The Hobbit or Silmarillion or how I needed to see the original trilogy as it was first shown – so I stumbled along. It was okay, but boy, if I would have had Twitter during that time… Seeing people share their excitement about stuff like Doctor Who and comics opened so many corners of geekdom to me – all because people followed the general guidelines above. I try to pay it forward as much as I can, and so should you.


Feel free to share more helpful tips on how to properly care for new geeks in the comments!

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To that end, the CIC Project got industrious and started a letter writing campaign.

Blood and Chrome: A Letter to SyFy.

So Say We All.
This is the link to the letter. I’ve already printed mine out. I’m including an image for you below as well.

As I like to say “Geek Squad. Activate.”

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Choose your side – HUMAN or CYLON – as you engage in the ultimate intergalactic battle between good and evil on the world’s tallest dueling roller coasters!  Themed after the hit television series Battlestar Galactica, these spectacular, intertwined coasters offer a truly exhilarating adventure as you twist, turn and drop in an intense aerial dogfight. 
 
Riders on both coasters will experience unbelievable thrills as they race towards each other and nearly collide!

Battlestar Galactica: HUMAN^® 
Zooming at speeds of 82.8 km/h, the HUMAN Viper Mark II is a seated coaster that propels you 14 storeys into the air while pursuing your enemy


Battlestar Galactica: CYLON^®The CYLON Raider is a suspended roller coaster that will turn your world upside down as it runs through a vertical loop, corkscrew and cobra roll.
 

Seriously, I need to get to Singapore. Like, today.

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These are production pics of the upcoming BSG Top Gun Steins from Quantum Mechanix.

1) Yes you can drink out of them.
2) No I don’t have pricing yet, but I have a feeling you’ll be pretty happy with it.
3) If you want to know when they’re available to buy, sign up for the QMx Insider at qmxonline.com.

So. Stoked.

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Okay, so. Now that I’m an official Quantum Mechanix employee, I’m thinking of getting myself a set of Battlestar Galactica Personalized Artisan Dog Tags for SDCC.

Here’s the problem. I can’t decide what to get. I could use my name, but if you’ve noticed, I don’t really use my name. ::grin:: I could use my Twitter handle, but that seems sort of…non BSG.

Or I could use a callsign.

The problem is, I don;t have a callsign and — as I understand it — callsigns are generally given to the pilot, not chosen.

Which means I need your help. ::grin::

I need a callsign.

Any suggestions? ;-) Help me out here.

And, while I’m on the subject. What’s your BSG callsign?

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Also of note, this was uploaded by McCreary himself and he has his own You Tube Channel, so hopefully we’ll have more goodness to come?

via Geek With Curves

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This may be my fave BSG recap ever.

p.s. If you haven’t seen BSG and want to avoid spoilers, don’t watch this. ::grin:: There. I said it.

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Jimi Hendrix is in heaven digging this. I just know it.

via Topless Robot (who made my morning with this one)

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When you mix Rosie the Riverter and Starbuck, you get a shirt I MUST have.

You have 24 hours, so if you want it, head over to TeeFury and nab it ;-)

Product Page $9 (Jan 10th only)

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After 4+ years of barely surviving, brilliant tactics and existential wanderings, the main characters in BSG ended up abandoning all their technology and going native on a primitive earth. The only indication they didn’t all get eaten by sabertooth tigers? Hera’s fossilized or mummified remains.

Are you kidding me?

They deserved better. Some deserved worse. Here’s my version of how the Battlestar Galactica crew should’ve reached their rewards or punishments:

The Galactica

Face it: She’s a character. And I didn’t mind her flying into the sunset, literally. But some bit of her should live on.

My ending: They save the jump drives and computer core. At worst, the human race gets to play some epic games of Quake while watching the gazelles leap by.

Lee Adama

Here’s a guy who spent the entire series putting himself on the line for everyone else. First as CAG a board the Galactica, then as the commander of the Pegasus (remember his dramatic rescue of the Galactica in season 3?), then as President. He stopped a lynch mob in Baltar’s trial, stopped a Cylon suicide team from venting the Galactica to space, and stopped the new President from getting nuked (twice) in the mini-series.

Conservatively, he kicked ass.

So, instead of leaving him abandoned, alone, with no internet access and no flush toilets, can we at least let him finally get together with Starbuck for real? And maybe give him a tent, for christ’s sake?

My ending: Lee and Starbuck marry and live in a prefabbed structure on a beautiful stretch of African Veldt. They raise a herd of tough, smart kids of mixed sexual preference who head back to space.

Starbuck

After all she’s been through, she just goes poof. POOF. The greatest Viper pilot, Oracle and who-knows-what-else. She Took On All Eight, for heaven’s sake.

Dumb.

Starbuck should be at peace, in the real world, with Lee. They were meant for each other. Then, when she gets old, she can vanish to her eternal reward.

Admiral Adama

No one, except perhaps the President, gave more to keep humanity alive. The Adama maneuver (jumping into the atmosphere of New Caprica to break the Cylon blockade in Season 3) is one of the coolest geekgasmic moments in science fiction history.

So he ends up alone on a pile of rocks, weeping for his dead love.

That. Sucks. Ass.

Can he at least get to grow old with his little Starbuck/Apollo grandkids running around him, telling them stories of the great exodus? And maybe having an occasional drink with Tigh?

My ending: He buries Laura Roslin, grieves as you’d expect, then sees his family name live on. At a minimum, he doesn’t die alone on what looks like the British Isles, surrounded by nothing but half-evolved monkey men.

Laura Roslin

Actually, I’m not sure what else could’ve happened. Roslin was the series’ Christ figure, doomed to give her life to save humanity.

It was sad, but no ending can be perfectly happy.

Chief Tyrol

Not even sure what to say to this one. Just something better, OK? Make him a Boomer clone that doesn’t screw him, or let him see that, in the end, Boomer did the right thing and at least made up for her ill deed a little bit.

Caprica Six

I know I’m supposed to be sympathetic to Caprica Six. But guess what? She helped wipe out billions of people. Then, just to round things out nicely, she helps betray the Cylon race, too.

My ending: She gives her life bravely to give humanity another chance. She certainly doesn’t get to live out her days with them.

Baltar

He’s insane. Brilliant, but insane.

My ending: He shacks up with a primitive Australopithecus chick and they make missing links together.

Helo, Athena and Hera

Of all of the fleshy folk, I think these three did OK. But Hera could use some playmates. They should live near Starbuck and Apollo. See above.

Everyone else

Are you really telling me that every single survivor from the fleet went happily to Earth, where most of them would starve or die of disease? I would’ve been raising my hand: “Excuse me – can we at least bring some shelter and stuff?”

I understand the philosophy behind the ending. But this is about survival, and maybe a little bit of a warm feeling after ‘SyFy’ cancels the best series they’ve ever had, thereby dooming us to years of ‘Megashark versus Giant Octopus’ before Apple buys them for pennies on the dollar to use the channel as a huge App Store.

In the end, the Centurions got the best deal. They got to head out to the stars to rebuild their race. Don’t come whining to me when they return and make us their squishy human servants.

About the author: Ian Lurie writes the marketing blog Conversation Marketing, and continually dreams up better endings for suddenly-cancelled series. Coming soon: Why the end of ‘Angel’ was written by morons. You can also find Ian on Twitter at @portentint

I’ve known the noms were upcoming and, I’ve been hoping that this year would be different.

I was hoping that, after 3 years of bypassing some of the best acting and direction on television, the Emmy voters would give Battlestar Galactica its due.

Yeah — not so much.

Hey, Emmy voters? Question.

Maybe you don’t watch the show regularly. Maybe you don’t like sci-fi. Maybe you’ve never heard of it. Maybe NBC/Universal and the Sci-Fi Channel weren’t able to do the kind of push that more mainstream shows are afforded when it comes to wooing you and suggesting shows to nominate.

But if you’re going to vote, don’t you have some responsibility here?

I know you got the screeners. How do I know? My Aunt is an Emmy voter and I saw hers.

I also know she never watched it. Now, I’ll admit, she’s been ill and in surgery recently and maybe her mind wasn’t on it. However, I have a feeling she wouldn’t have watched it anyway and that may be an indication of where the disconnect was. Because she’s also in her 70’s and doesn’t like science fiction (the woman walked out of the theater halfway through the Cantina scene in Star Wars because it was “silly” — yeah, I still wonder about which side of the family my geek comes from).

And that’s my issue…

If people get the screeners but don’t watch them, if they only vote on the shows with the most visibility, or the shows they “recognize”, or if they don’t take the time to consider the acting/writing/directing/whathaveyou regardless of genre and content because they don’t “get” sci-fi, then what are they doing voting?

Over the last four years, Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell have produced some of the most amazing work I’ve ever seen for any media type or genre.

Period.

Does Hugh Laurie need to be recognized over and over? I know people say “look at the new names” but was Simon Baker really better than Edward James Olmos, or was he more visible to the voting block?

Mariska Hargitay and Kyra Sedgwick are both very talented actresses. Granted. But are you telling me that either of them turned in performances that were better than Mary McDonnell’s?

Or was it just the fact that Hugh Laurie and Mariska Hargitay are both on mainstream television shows, on major networks, with present day storylines?

I defy any Emmy voter to watch Olmos as Adama at the end of Maelstrom or to watch the character progression and depth McDonnell brought to Laura and not call them brilliant.

And yet…that’s just what they did.

Again.

If I’m supposed to believe that your nominations are some kind of measuring stick for the quality of the acting on television. Or if networks are going to use Emmy nominations and winners as yardsticks for excellence, then I’d like to know how it is you can repeatedly overlook performances like these.

The way I see it, you’re either biased against Sci Fi, lazy or too busy to give each potential nominee equal consideration.

So, I have to ask and I want to know. What the Frak is the deal, people?

Why are you voting in the first place?

And why does anyone take you seriously?

Battlestar Galactica Cylon Raider Signature Edition Replica

Of course — part of me wants the Scar version, but we won’t go into that now. One geek things at a time.