August 12, 2007
GWC Podcast #58
Home rocks! Between BSG’s closest approach to the holodeck and Athena’s first “test,” this episode resonates even more in the rewatch. Highlights: we talk constellations, explore Athena’s motives, mention how much we miss Elosha, welcome Helo back to the fleet, and punch like never before. Yep, it was a long week, and we enjoyed getting back to BSG and the GWC sci-fi funhouse. Enjoy.
Galactic Watercooler 
Modern Geek 
Save Eureka 
Eff This Week 
FitSmart
Oy.
Penultimate
1 : next to the last
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/penultimate
M
A new 19 second trailer about Razor is available on YouTube
It is very short but has anyone any comments?
Speaking of roller coaster pictures – try playing chess:
http://xkcd.com/249/
Lol – great comic, Bob! And great handle.
Just popped in to correct the ‘penultimate’ thing, but Mard has me covered. Back to the ‘cast.
Grand Puba — If it was what aired during the series premiere of the re-imagined Flash Gordon I have it recorded. If there is interest I can see about trying to get some notes done on it by Wednesday and try to thread those in with the notes from the trailer that aired during Eureka’s season premiere.
The podcast is still downloading here so I have yet to fire it up yet…
So now that I actually have time to listen to the podcast when it’s out (finally!), itunes hasn’t put it up yet. 🙁
Frakin’ cylonz!
A couple of quick comments: The faux holodeck view gave the constellations of the zodiac (the WESTERN zodiac, and not even all of the zodiac, just the 12 we use today. There used to be 13, Ophiuchus anyone?) as viewed from Earth’s location, obviously not from ON Earth, where, as it was pointed out, no one could see all the zodiac constellations at the same time. AND, many, many, many nebulae are luminous! The Horsehead nebula is a big old cloud that is in silhouette from our viewpoint, which is why it appears dark. The Orion nebula, for example, is filled with massive stars and is visible with the naked eye and is very colorful and bright in a good telescope.
(PS. Shawn, please no more ‘ebonics’… not funny.)
Frak yea! BSG Marathon on my sick day. woohoo!
Joe: That’s what ya get for good clean livin’.
I can’t believe that someone beat me to the punch with an XKCD reference…
If you want to see actual photos of people doing just that, see here:
http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/
Woohoo videogame talk. Right down my alley. Mass Effect is looking to be one of the best games this holiday season Chuck and there is also a Novel that the bioware guys (the guys making the game) have written that you can read before the game that gives you the situation of the galaxy. As far as a Galactica videogame there is one game in the making. Being published by Seirra Online and Developed by Auron. linkey – http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/battlestargalactica/index.html
we can hope they don’t screw it up but in my mind when movies/tv shows get made into videogames it usually blows. But we can hope for a miracle.
Lil off topic (sorry) but just found out that the R2 (Great britian etc) release of the DVD’s for Season 3 is due out on 9/3 – I’m hoping that means we’ll get something definitive soon.
I’ll d/l the podcast tonght and post something a little more on-topic next time. 🙂
Dave
HALLELUJAH! I finally got to finish listening to a whole podcast.
The Numbers of the Beasts…um…err…Cylon(z): We only know numbers for Doral (Five), D’Anna (Three), Six, and Boomer/Athena (Eight). Simon and Cavil are still unknown. As to our bestest friend Leoben…is either “flashlight” or “red shirt” usable for a number?
Galactica Character Test: See for example: http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=77810 . And yet I wound up with Chief as my result…
Disappearing listeners: I doubt I am going anywhere. This is better than some of the craaaaaaaaaaaap on TV let alone local radio.
TK4271 or whatever Sean was saying (I got lost at one point): It is TK421. There is interesting mailing hosted at that with a dot net at the end. (Trying to avoid two links in one comment as that gets marked for moderation and all) The site I obliquely reference is an interesting one but you have to click on the storm trooper screen cap to get in.
Hmm…I thought I had typed “list” after mailing above. Oh well. The site concerned (since this is a separate comment) is http://www.tk421.net .
Hey, gang, if the “Previously on…” segment is as critical as you say it is, then that reinforces the idea that Sharon is repeating what Adama told Boomer’s corpse, since (I believe) that is included in part 2’s “previously on.” The other theory is nice since it avoids a continuity problem (maybe), but the other really seems to be what we are supposed to connect Sharon’s comment with. Unless the creative team is intentionally misleading us…
Glad to see you have already been duly corrected about “penultimate.” Won’t stop me from correcting you again. 🙂 This is right up there with modifiers of “unique” on my list of pet peeves (e.g., “very unique”). Sorry to be anal. 🙂
chuck i watch scrums too so SUCK MY SHINEY METAL ASS in a pimpmobile, with dandilions painted on it
Chuck play the Starwars Knights of the Old Republic, the first has an aweosme story…yeah Mass effect, i saw that game when the first trailer and im like YEAH
im totaly gonna buy the BSG game, then use it as a coaster IT BETTER HAVE COOL DISK GRAPHICS
seans new nickname is:Quarter Cubit hehehe
Hi bob the heavy raider
you have the second coolest name here..only followed by me
pentulmit is latin, and translats to top of the ultimate
i feel smart
So I know that I usually instigate some sort of big discussion on philosophy, religion or other underpinnings of BSG. Today, however, I have to write that, like Chuck, I like it when “Head Six” shows up in sweats and her hair pulled back. That outfit (which apparently is how Tricia Helfer dresses when she’s not working) does, indeed, put the focus on Ms. Helfer’s facial features, which are nothing to sneeze at.
Also, while you didn’t know what “penultimate” means, you actually used it correctly, as the “cheap holodeck” (that was low!) scene is, in fact, the second-to-last scene in “Home.”
Now, as to the antepenultimate scene…
maybe Shawns nickname could be Penultimate?? 🙂
NO DAVE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
howe aboot fiddy cubit?
All:
re: penultimate
Indeed, I gave an incorrect definition of penultimate. However, I was (as Armando points out, and in other ways, too) using the term correctly. Often in drama, the climax is indeed the “penultimate” moment as almost no dramatical forms end immediately afterward. There’s almost always a “third act” — to rip off a screenwriting term — that follows.
re: TK421
Props to Sean for even getting close. GMDB stumped us with this one at the meetup, and I couldn’t even come this close without looking it up. Thanks, TAH, for clearing it up. GMDB: Got another one for us?
re: Mass Effect
CodeAndrew, I hadn’t heard about the novel. I suffered through the Halo novels because I enjoyed the story so much I wanted all the little nuances. Damn, it was tough, though. The story was fun, but the Halo novels, well, suck pretty hard. I really hate to criticize that way — and if you’re a Halo fanatic, you should push through them — but ouch. I got the feeling that Mass Effect’s gameplay was going to focus heavily on the single player mode with controllable squad, etc. I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of Halo is two-player co-op. I’m a two-player co-op fiend. I’ll play almost anything with good 2pco.
re: Bob The Heavy Raider
Great, great name. You rock.
Their ‘Cheap Holodeck with grass’ reminds me of ‘Stellarium’ which allows you to have your own planetarium in 3D on you computer:
http://www.stellarium.org/
And it’s free 🙂
“re: TK421
Props to Sean for even getting close. GMDB stumped us with this one at the meetup, and I couldn’t even come this close without looking it up. Thanks, TAH, for clearing it up. GMDB: Got another one for us?
”
I’m mid-way through the ‘cast, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you probably explain this on it? Cause, you know, everyone knows that’s the stormtrooper whose uniform Luke steals on the Death Star who “has a bad transmitter.” DUH!
(Super geek out! By the way, I love the idea of calling Sean “fiddy cubit.” Totally awesome!)
Good recommendation Yorick, I install computers for schools and I have Stellarium installed on all of them.
There is also a program called Celestia which lets you see the planets, moons, the gravitations, zoom in, etc… Kind of like if you had a really fast spaceship and went exploring. Great because it gives you an accurate idea of the distances and sizes of stellar objects. Also, but not related, if you have a kid and want him to get his feet wet in programming, great free program called Scratch came out recently, by people from MIT. This concludes the dorky teacher corner of this comment.
Maybe I should check out Halo, I enjoy a good storyline along with a video games. The Half-Life2 trilogy of episodes have a good start at a story, I’ll be picking up ep 2 when it comes out.
I also love Venture Bros.
IGNORE ME!
Oh, by the way Chuck, I second Boxey’s suggestion that you check out Knights of the Old Republic, if you haven’t already (it’s like three or four years old now), to get your sci-fi game kick. It’s a pretty kick ass RPG in the Star Wars universe (the sequel was almost as good, but the ending ruined it for me).
Have you guys and gals seen this – fraktastic….this is the youtube link, but it is also posted on the main scifi site (so I’m told, I can’t find it).
They apperantly played it during the marathon they ran today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdLrJunKPmw
Re: Chuck
Well I never read the Halo Novels and usually stick away from novels based off of videogames. But against that I found out that the novel that is written for Mass Effect is the same person who wrote the story for Mass Effect (which if you didn’t know is the first of three games that bioware is going to make (at least thats what I read)). As far as Halo reading goes you should visit your nearest comic book store and pick up the first issue of a mini-series called Halo: Uprising which will tell you what happens between the end of Halo 2 and the beginning of Halo 3. It is written by Brain Micheal Bendis who is great writer. Wiki him if you want to see what else he has written.
Oops didn’t read all the comments. I would also highly recommend Knights of the Old Repulic which is a great game by Bioware. Personally I think the ending to that game sucked but the story is great. I think he second game Knights of the Old Republic: Sith Lords (made by Obsidian Games) which has a more in depth ending in my opinion. Both of these you should be able to get easily for 20 bucks each. The Sequel to the first might not be made by Bioware its still very awesome. Awesome Podcast again guys and gal.
*Meatbags* lol
All right, y’all, GOSH. Please, no more emails suggesting that because I’m an English instructor I should know the definition of “penultimate.” I do know the definition, but will ask silly questions for fun in case I get an unexpected answer. (Hey, didn’tja learn something new about Tagolog?)
Besides, I claim to be neither an expert nor a dictionary. In my academic field we’ve got a lot of bunched up panties and it’s my mission to pluck each of those things out until we’re having fun with it again. Booya!
Trak101 said: “The Orion nebula, for example, is filled with massive stars and is visible with the naked eye and is very colorful and bright in a good telescope.”
Definitely, and a most beautiful nebula it is. I was only joking that the nebula they saw in Athena’s tomb would probably not take up half the night sky and be decorated with thousands of pink and yellow colors unless they were practically inside it. Of course, as we know, the holodeck thing is probably just a representation or symbol, but it’s still fun to poke.
This penultimate mistake is one of my biggest linguistic pet peeves… But what’s really bugging me now is, when in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series is it used (I think in the podcast the dude mentioned The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)?
OK, I cannot let the opportunity pass to mention “Marathon,” the best FPS EVAH!
Back in the day, Bungie (the Halo developers) were a Mac-oriented gaming company. Marathon came out roughly at the time Doom did on the PC, and it had similar play characteristics, but it stood out in two areas. The first was story. The way the game was constructed, it was possible to play through without paying much attention to the story, but the real joy was in discovering, and deciphering, what was REALLY going on. Your (the character you played) story was the most interesting, and least apparent at a casual glance, of them all.
The second stand-out area was multiplayer. All the standard multiplayer games (capture the flag, kill the man with the ball/oddball, etc.) are a result of Marathon.
When Microsoft decided they needed an in-house developer for the X-Box, they bought Bungie (who had demoed a version of Halo for the Mac just before.) Bungie released Marathon as Freeware, and it has sinced been hacked to run on all three platforms. Go to Bungie.org and D/L a copy of M1 and see why it still has fans to this day.
It’d be cool to do a meet-up in multiplayer Marathon. (A Frak-each-other-up Party?)
Sean – those “dancers” also do Queen’s Radio Gaga – which isn’t exactly as recognizable as Thriller, but entertaining nonetheless.
I’m listening to the podcast, and I just remembered one of those faux “previously on Battlestar Galactica” moments for Season 1’s Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down – in the original miniseries, when Tigh burns the photo of Ellen, the woman in the photo is not Kate Vernon (who, in yet another nice piece of symmetry, is the daughter of John Vernon, best known to all of us as Dean Wormer from “Animal House”). But, when they do the “previously”, they substituted her photo. I get why they did it, but I think that lends credence to the whole “oh do it and no one will notice” theory. Do they not get how obsessive we can be?
Wow, Melissa, I never noticed that before – and also didn’t know Ellen Tigh is Dean Wormer’s daughter! “Cylon Houuuuusssse!”
The Fair Melissa: I’ll have to check out the other dancers clip on you tube!
Boxy: If I haven’t said it recently, you frackin rock… Fiddy Cubit. I dig it.
On the TK421 thing… well I was close. At midnight on friday I was doing pretty good to be hit with that cold. What’s an extra 7 between Stormtroopers? 😉
Oh, and FYI – the “TK421” trivia question was posted by the (in)famous Timbuck, not GMDB. He’s annoying that way, with the obscure trivia (Armando, back me up, right?)
lol! thanks for the link Raemani, awesome 🙂
Did you notice that in “Home” they mention that some of the civilian fleet ships are equipped with ship-to-ship missiles? So maybe there other military …or maybe just semi-military (i.e. Coast Guard, Customs service etc.) personnel …in the fleet who are not on Battlestars? It’s not common in our universe for civilian ships or aircraft to be missile armed. Maybe as a defensive measure Adama has stationed some military personnel and missiles on other ships. It all seems a bit odd.
“”Besides, I claim to be neither an expert nor a dictionary. In my academic field we’ve got a lot of bunched up panties and it’s my mission to pluck each of those things out until we’re having fun with it again. Booya! “”
Oh Audra! You silly, misguided, petulant fool! You’re going to have a lonely academic career! 🙂
(But God how I hope you succeed in your mission.)
“I’m listening to the podcast, and I just remembered one of those faux “previously on Battlestar Galactica†moments for Season 1’s Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down – in the original miniseries, when Tigh burns the photo of Ellen, the woman in the photo is not Kate Vernon (who, in yet another nice piece of symmetry, is the daughter of John Vernon, best known to all of us as Dean Wormer from “Animal Houseâ€). But, when they do the “previouslyâ€, they substituted her photo. I get why they did it, but I think that lends credence to the whole “oh do it and no one will notice†theory. Do they not get how obsessive we can be? ”
I always thought the change in the photograph was reflective, in a way, of RDM’s obsession with Seinfeld. Larry David is, apparently, fastidious about that sort of detail and would ask to reshoot scenes from earlier episodes for syndication when a character like, say, Frank Costanza had started as a one-shot deal played by one actor then became the recurring character played by another (Jerry Stiller).
Or maybe _I’M_ being too fastidious…
“Oh, and FYI – the “TK421″ trivia question was posted by the (in)famous Timbuck, not GMDB. He’s annoying that way, with the obscure trivia (Armando, back me up, right?) ”
Hey, at least it wasn’t a “THX-1138” reference!
I don’t mean to hijack the thread but I had a thought the other day that might fit into the “BIG THOERY” category. What if Earth isn’t a place but a person. I was thinking about Hera the other day and everything that has been said about her and done for her. President Roslin said something to the effect of “that child is the/our shape of things to come…”. The cylons also seem to want Hera for their own. What if Earth is just a metaphor for peace and unity culminated in a sort of guru or spiritual leader type character. So in a way Hera represents salvation for one culture (i.e. the colonists can stop running) and illumination for the other (i.e. the cylons have found their “god” that they are seeking). Hera has been a theme through all three seasons so far and I can’t help thinking her role in season four will be key to finishing this story. Anyway, just some passing thoughts.
dave
Armando on lonely academic careers: Such happens throughout all sorts of disciplines at all sorts of institutions. In BSG…where are the academicians? I cannot imagine that they’re all on the tylium ship.
Altair IV on the missiles: Such may seem odd but not necessarily out of place. In BSG there are no phaser cannons or the like. If you run into debris you cannot maneuver through or a nasty big of rock what do you do? The missiles are likely for clearing navigational hazards. Such is a bit of a Dave Barry touch, though, as he advocated the installation of such on vehicles for use in Miami-area traffic on at least one occasion.
Pike on things Bungie: Some day I may start actually looking for a Universal binary to run on my Mac. Such would be cool especially with the TV outputs already available on my system. The most complicated I have been playing in terms of video games has only been stuff from VidElectrix which is part of the Homestar Runner site.
Hi audra
BTW do you guys have Facebooks, caause id totaly find you, that goes for all PPs including cast, and the bloggers
Alpaca:wow you really like marathon dontcka?
i actually own a copy of all the marathon games in my house in this very moment, they only run on some really old mac laptop we have,if i wasnt so lazy id post a pic of both, but i am lazy
To all who played KOTOR2:do you know the difinition of love according to HK-47? i do, and i agree
Alpaca: “In BSG…where are the academicians? I cannot imagine that they’re all on the tylium ship.”
Naw, just the socio-linguists and the like. Bloody useless otherwise.
BTW, The OSX port of Aleph One (the open-source Marathon engine) is a Universal Binary.
Hey for all GWC fans with Facebooks, I just found a group for us. Just search for “Galactica Watercooler Galactigeeks United”.
It currently only has 3 members, so let’s build their ranks!
Dang it! I need another group to be a member of like a hole in the head. 🙂
And yes, Adult Swim has gone downhill. I miss “The Brak Show.”
I just joined the facebook group. here’s hoping no crazies use my personal info lolol.
Just listened to the piodcast–and I actaully felt badly about posting something off topic! LOL
Aurdras the coolest – dictionary or not.
FairMelissa — On faux “previously on” moments, I cannot vouch for this myself, but I have heard from others in the second half of the second season, the produers started putting deleted scenes in the “previously on” segments. If true, it doesn’t seem quite cricket. Does anyone else know if this is so or not? (Although I guess we can pay attention soon enough in our re-watch.)
Mike, definately true, although I don’t remember them doing that until the third season.
I’m not sure if I think it’s cricket or not, but I sure do pay attention to them now!
i joined the group, i feel specil
audra would be the coolest if she was a dictionary
Just a heads-up: The new Flash Gordon Pilot is free on iTunes right now.
In reference to the roller-coaster photo: http://www.xkcd.com/249/
I remember the deleted scenes popping up in the “previouslys” at the end of Season 2. Scar was the first one I remember that did that-something about Starbuck trying to convince Adama & Roslin to rescue Anders. Could have been even earlier though.
Slightly off topic, but can we get the frak party for The Towel Episode soon?
Yay I got mentioned (sorta) in the cast for being juvenile enough to mention “go faster stripes”
Also this has probably been mentioned before and I’m sure everyone realises it in the first episode they watch 9they probably mention it at some point but I dont have the second series so can’t see the episodes at the moment in the re-watch) but I just noticed that all the colonies are named after the starsigns. So I was trying to get all the pairs and I was hoping some people could help me finish the list.
Aeries – Aerelon
Tauras – Tauron
Gemini – Gemenon
Cancer – Canceron
Leo –
Virgo – Virgon
Libra –
Scorpio –
Sagittarus – Sagittaron
Capricorn – Caprica
Aquarius –
Pisces – Picon
Thanks in advance to everyone and anyone who helps.
Phoenix, that scene about rescuing Anders is from Pegasus – Starbuck, Adama and Roslin are talking about it and get called away because they start picking up Pegasus on dradis. The scene is intact in the extended version of Pegasus.
According to Battlestarwiki its:
Aeries – Aerelon
Tauras – Tauron
Gemini – Gemenon
Cancer – Canceron
Leo – Leonis
Virgo – Virgon
Libra – Libris
Scorpio – Scorpia
Sagittarus – Sagittaron
Capricorn – Caprica
Aquarius – Aquaria
Pisces – Picon
The Battlestarwiki page also matches each planet with its banner. I think the artistic designers of the show had a sense of humor when the came up with some of the symbols. It would be cool to have Two Bit’s thoughts on the designs as he is the official graphic designer of GWC.
DocP, here are the names from Battlestarwiki:
Leonis
Libris
Scorpia
Aquaria
My personal favorite pair is Pisces-Picon only because of the way Mary MacDonald enunciated the word “Picon” when she said the name of a book she was reading which i think was something like “Murder on Picon”.
AAAHHH, you beat me Phil!
I have a different take on the “Holodeck of Athena”, and don’t really see any significant plot holes in its depiction. I never got the sense that it was supposed to be an actual representation of the night sky on Earth. It was just demonstrating that each of the original symbols of the 12 Colonies was based on Earth constellations, and that the Earth was in the vicinity of a particular nebula. I always took Starbuck figuratively when she said they were “standing on it [Earth].
Even this stylized depiction of the night sky (simultaneously showing all 12 constellations) provides an adequate map to Earth. In fact its the simplicity of the map that makes it powerful. While theoretically a complete depiction of the night sky might be nice, in actuality a realistic star chart would be untenable. There didn’t appear to be any way for them to record that much information from within the Tomb to take back to the ship. Instead the map conveniently used information they already had (the original symbols of the colonies), thus enabling one quick look to show the way to Earth. In fact, just lining up the sight-line of two constellations will pinpoint Earth’s location.
I’ll be honest – when the faux holodeck scene came on, all I could think is “Great, we traveled all this distance and went through all this hassle and it turns out we were going on a fieldtrip to the planetarium. Good job, Lords of Kobold. I’d better at least get a Happy Meal on the way back.”
LOL, Atersolitas! “Here’s your mystical epiphany. You want fries with that?” 🙂
Until the frak party for “Final Cut” goes up: Did anyone else notice that the medics who are called in have the red cross on their sleeves? Coincidence? Simple visual shorthand for us Earthbound viewers (i.e., accomodating reality, sort of the same way there are no languages but English in the RTF)? Or more evidence that BSG’s past is our future…?
Well it the Red Cross patch on the medic’s uniforms wasn’t “visual shorthand” it would seem to imply BSG is in the future, almost definitely not the past.
Why?
The Red Cross symbol is itself the colour reversal of the Swiss flag (i.e. white cross on red background), I suspect the idea came from the ‘founder’ of the Red Cross, Swiss businessman Henry Dunant. It’s unlikely that there is a Switzerland among the 12 colonies. The Red Cross symbol was adopted by newly formed International Committe of the Red Cross (ICRC) only a year after they got going in 1863. So it has to be in the future…
…Or does it?
According to the Wikipedia article on the establishment of the ICRC, Dunant got backing for his ideas from a “Committee of Five”. So maybe the Final five Cylons have been active in humanitarian activities on Earth for the past 150 years or so.
Or maybe it’s all just a coincidence….
🙂
CodeAndrew There is a free download of a game based in the Battlestar Galactica universe called Beyond The Red Line
The events take place between The Mini Series and Pegasus, you play a volunteer forcibly conscripted onto the Battlestar Pegasus and trained as a Viper Pilot.
The single player mode currently consist of simulator training, your first combat flight amongst an asteroid field and an escort mission to protect the Monarch from Cylon Raiders, while it is carrying out mining operations.
You have the ability to…
Give simple commands or requests to wingmen (e.g. Attack My Target, Cover Me, Need Fuel etc)
Carry out some of the Viper manoeuvres seen on BSG
shot up anything that moves including your wingmen
Even on the easy setting it’s hard work. On my first tries I have…
Ran out of fuel and become Toaster Fodder.
Shot to pieces by superior Cylon numbers.
Used up all my ammo and become Toaster Fodder.
Flown into an Asteroid at full pelt.
There is also a Online Multiplayer mode where you can fly The Viper Mk II, The Viper Mk VII and The Cylon Raider in Deathmatch or Team Deathmatch. I have not got that part of the software to work but other people have.
The disadvantage is that it is a hobbyist creating the game and thus development is slow.
The excellent sound track is also available as a download
Alpaca Herder Your notes will be very appreciated as there seemed to be a lot to take in from this teaser.
I listened to the podcast whilst walking my dog today. I remember watching “Home” on DVD a few weeks back and seeing the “Holodeck inside the Hill” that the BSG team found at the ancient Temple of Athena on Kobol. I liked the observation made by the podsters that (all?) the constellations displayed can only be viewed from the Northern Hemisphere.
I wonder how astrologers explain that Libras are Libras regardless of what hemisphere they were born in, only being born between the appropriate calendar dates seems important. Maybe there is more to it than that, but, if the stars really do impact personality, as astrologers maintain, shouldn’t there be seperate star signs for northern hemispherians and southern hemispherians?
Anyway as my dog and I wandered on this rumination on the northern hemispheric bias of astrology sparked a further thought.
In “Home” they tell us, and it’s revealed, that the 12 constellations “as viewed from Earth” constituted the original old flags or symbols of the 12 colonies, at least when they used their old names. It took the BSG team’s visit to Kobol, the Arrow of Athena and all sorts of interplanetary hijinx to unravel this ancient mystery and thus reinterpret that old information to point the way to Earth.
Sheesh!! They must have been pretty dumb. The colonials I mean, not the BSG crew or Roslyn’s fleet members. Think about it. For hundreds of years, apparently, their 12 colonies are all flying flags with 12 different alien constellations on them. These constellations are not viewable from their home planets. So presumably they must have generated speculation and research. The 12 colonies are also in close communication with each other. They have generated an impressive space-faring civilisation(s) with interstellar FTL space flight capability. So these guys really know their way around outer space.
But did it never occur to anyone in the 12 colonies to dig up the 12 old flags and compare them to known star maps, ….the same star maps Gaita uses on board the Gallactica to analyse the new revelations from the returning Kobol expedition…, to see if there was a common view point? Surely someone would have tried this out before Gaita. I know Gaita’s a smart guy but this hypothesis is pretty damn obvious, and you didn’t need to go to Kobol to figure it out.
I feel sort of silly bringing this up, but the stars of the constellations we see from earth change over the years. The constellations’ shapes have changed over the years due to the 26,000 year cycle of the Precession of the Equinoxes, as well as the stellar drift of the involved stars over the centuries. The stellar drift would prevent the constellations from simply cycling through the Precession. The constellations in the Temple appeared to be the ones that appear in our sky today. 10,000 years ago, they would have looked different. 10,000 years from now, they will look different. This sort of brackets the time frame of when the “star map” in the Temple was done.
Unless, of course, the folks on Kobol designed it to automatically update. But even if that is the case, it still sets the time… to an extent.
Of course, it is always possible that there is a sci-fi explanation for all of this. But I have to wonder if this is indicative that the settlement of Kobol was originally from Earth. Especially given the problematic issue of how the folks who settled in the 12 Colonies would have any knowledge of the guys who set off for Earth. Maybe y’all have covered this before, and there is a perfectly logical answer… but it eludes me.
Trying to sort this stuff out gives me a headache. LOL
Regarding the Zodiac and the southern hemisphere. Aren’t the constellations of the Zodiac defined by the fact that they lie in the ecliptic or the path of the sun across the night sky? Therefore, wouldn’t they be observable in both the southern and northern hemisphere (at least between the Arctic and Antarctic Circles)?
HI GWC Kids!
Just watched that new preview for Razor. I can’t make out what some form of Six says in the very beginning. Anyone make it out?
And, I think you’re being way too hard on the holodeck scene…..it’s not like they could have written them a letter and told them. It’s also not like they could have assumed they had a lot of astronomical info, or, even, what type of creature/species would have evolved and shown up on that spot.
If you were standing on the very tippy top of the world, could you see more constellations all the time? Yes, I flunked astronomy in college – HOWEVER – I aced all my english classes, so I caught the “penultimate” – a word as commonly misused as “per se.” It sure sounded cool though…..and that’s what’s really important anyway….so say we all.
LOL, Altair IV, on the Council of Five. That is great! 🙂
Hybrid — I’ll bite. How do you find “per se” misused? I’m not familiar with any “wrong” definitions of the term.
Oops, I guess technically, I should define the ecliptic as the path of the sun across the star field. Clearly there is no sun in the night sky, but the main point remains the same.
“Regarding the Zodiac and the southern hemisphere. Aren’t the constellations of the Zodiac defined by the fact that they lie in the ecliptic or the path of the sun across the night sky? Therefore, wouldn’t they be observable in both the southern and northern hemisphere (at least between the Arctic and Antarctic Circles)?”
Correct. They occupy a band 8 degrees wide on either side of the ecliptic.
Hybrid Master on the new trailer: Gina said at the opening to Shaw: “Welcome aboard, Lieutenant”. I’ll try to get notes done on the new trailer today and hopefully have such ready to post here eventually. Things keep getting unexpectedly busy with other matters I have to attend to.
Andy L on stellar drift: Sometimes dramatic license comes into play. Science is all great and good but sometimes it really does not either help a story along or serve as being sufficiently exciting itself. Such is the art of creative works.
Altair IV on the colonial flags: The movie National Treasure was out around the time the episodes were likely written. I would not be surprised if that influenced how such came up. I will note, though, that sometimes the best place to hide something is in plain sight.
Grand Puba on Beyond the Red Line: Thank you for the link. The notes about issues with Core Duo processors does have me slightly worried, alas.
Grand Puba on trailer notes: See above please.
Pike on the Flash Gordon pilot being free on iTunes: Perhaps it isn’t now? I was trying yesterday and iTunes kept barfing. Fortunately I recorded such off air with an EyeTV capture card/television tuner card.
Another thing I noticed. M-8, the Lagoon Nebula is in Sagittarius as seen from earth, not Scorpio. To me, it is a prettier sight in my telescope than the Orion Nebula.
I guess there was a colonist named Charles Messier, and decided to name a whole slew of deep sky objects. And the colonial Charles Messier, along with his earthly counterpart, decided to label the Lagoon Nebula as No 8 in their respective Messier Catalogues.
Re Grand Puba
Cool, thanks for the information. The game that is currently being made has I think a Hands-On article on Gamespot where they say that the game is looking good. So it might be good enough to spend a bit of money on.
Hey all, first time poster… Love the show…
1) another Galactica character quiz can be found at http://www.quizilla.com/users/bchlion13/quizzes/What%20Battlestar%20Galactica%20Character%20Are%20You%3F%21
2) loved the discussion on “bored” rollercoaster pics, as I have spent much of my summer at the 6 flags park in IL, and have done a few “sleeping” poses myself.
Keep up all the great work, and I can’t wait to hear the next episode.
Two Bit, take a look at this:
http://www.asciimation.co.nz/bender/index.html
Still want the Centurion?
well based on the tests I am either Captain (non whiney) Adama or Commander/Admiral Adama
cool!
Dave: On the one I posted I came up with Chief Tyrol. On the second quiz posted I wound up as Apollo. I can only wonder what the GWC Three would wind up with as results.
Battlestar Gigzlactica: Thank you for the link.
Thought you all would like this….
The women of BSG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Jc0RhiguM&NR=1
Wow Pike! Beer Brewing Bender is awesome.
I am very impressed by people who can rig up stuff like that. Like the Mythbusters dudes or the people they had in the old Junkyard Wars show.
Bender as a beer tap is a great idea.
Woot!!!
I took the quiz that BSGigz sent and it said I share Starbuck’s personality. Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ about!!!
Uh, I’m still a man, though…
Just back from vacation, 2 podcasts and a ton of messages behind. But I did the Universal Studios tour out in the LA area and have this shiny picture to share for all the Firefly fans:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=53358270710.233666874110.1187207262259&photoid=939976874110&folderid=0&view=1&page=1&sort_order=0&albumsperpage=&navfolderid=2007
Hopefully I can get my short movie up on YouTube soon as you can see more.
Now off to listen, then read, then listen and read some more. 🙂
Oh Frak for got to say it’s a picture of the Mule. Sheesh…brain’s still on vacation.
So I took the BSG personality test (thanks, Gigz!) and I have Apollo’s personality. Somewhat surprising, but not too unflattering. I just hope that doesn’t include the whining….
…oh, who am I kidding? I minored in “bitching” in college.
Took both personality tests…Apollo both times…not that I’m whining about it….
Just to bump the link from about 60 some odd messages back down near the bottom, this is one of the two personality quiz things posted to this set of comments:
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=77810
And to bump the second quiz link down: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2bc8ot
SWEET!!!
Thanks Alpaca Herder!!
Man, I took the first quiz link and I got the Chief.
I’m loving these quizzes. But, it’s pointing out that I’m seriously bipolar. Or schizophrenic.
No, I’m not.
Frak you, yes I am.
I like graham crackers.
Thanks to all those who answered my question, that really helped, and then i discovered Battlestar galactica and stayed upto to 2am reading articles (then woke up late and had to pull a sickie for work, but hey ho, frak happens)
http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=77810
Thanks, Alpaca. I had not taken that one. Turns out, on that quiz I’m Tom Zarek. Who knew?
(Chuck, you can send the “awesome” love my way now, buddy!) 🙂
“SWEET!!!
Thanks Alpaca Herder!!
Man, I took the first quiz link and I got the Chief.
I’m loving these quizzes. But, it’s pointing out that I’m seriously bipolar. Or schizophrenic.
No, I’m not.
Frak you, yes I am.
I like graham crackers.
”
Bryan, you’re either Chief Tyrol or Buster Bluth from Arrested Development. 😉
sweet link Browncoat_Bryan – gots to love the women of BSG
I’d love to explore Athena’s motives -giggedy giggedy goo…aallll riiight 🙂
Hmm. I’m an Adama. Some disagreement about which one, apparently.
took both of the quizzes… one has me as William Adama… the other as Lee. Hmmm…. does that mean i should get whiny and fight with myself?
Lee Adama, twice. Athena was a close second in the first quiz.
I took both, i ended up…Boxy, both times, its like a sick joke god is playing on me….Gods….even though Boxy wasnt an option…..yeah, thats awesome
I was Adama (“SO SAY WE ALL”) on the quizilla and Chief on the quizfarm. I’d taken the quizfarm one once before, and I was Chief then, too. At least I’m consistent.
Hey Chuck. I bought the Mass Effect Novel and so far its very good. The man who wrote it also wrote Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic which was one of the best games of the year when it came out. The book is around 350 or so and its only 8 dollars at your nearest Borders. Title – Mass Effect: Revelation.
Well I took the quiz and got SB Twice. Apparently I have attitude issues and like to beat people down a lot. Who knew? 😉
yeah i got Lee the second time and first…Baltar yeha, nice
fiddy cubit put the beat down on cylon dwags
So Sean, does this mean we need to stage an intervention?
(God, could you imagine THAT episode? “Let’s go around the room and tell Starbuck the ways in which her drinking pisses us off.”)
Took the quiz. It thinks I’m Tom Zarek. I knew I liked that guy. 🙂
“Let’s go around the room and tell Starbuck the ways in which her drinking pisses us off.
“Good idea, Helo! We’re right behind you.”
The first quiz told me i was baltar and the second one told me i was number six. hmmmm…..
Pike, beer bender is awesome!
I am Apollo on both quizzes. Yay! (Now, if I could just get this towel off…)
That’s a mighty distrubing image there, Audra. 🙂
Ditto, Armando. I ranked as Apollo, and I’m keeping my towel on, thank you.
I was a tie between Number Six and Apollo. I don’t know what this means, but it somehow makes sense.
GWC Three: Interesting.
Armando as to Audra’s towel reference: Agreed. 🙂
Phoenix, Number Six was the next one down on my score list. Kind of odd…I’m trying to figure out what she and Apollo have in common. Apollo ranked high in loyalty and doing the right thing, while Six had a high rank for questions about religion and God. Maybe they both like to wear small bits of cloth.
by the lords of Kobol Audra there are little kids here….if only i had a car then it wouldnt disturb me
Limited notes on the new trailer…
First and foremost one must recognize that the editing is very tight on this. Secondly one must recognize that there is most certainly no sense of temporal cohesion. If the scenes were told in chronological order then Starbuck should not be showing up where she is so frequently. The big matter seen in the clips that aired during the Flash Gordon premiere is that we see some fleshing out of the background to Gina which came up in the two-parter named Resurrection Ship when Admiral Cain beat the crap out of Gina in front of Vice President Baltar. In the clips we see that apparently Gina was the perfect mole to possibly cripple the Pegasus but for Cain being very good at what she does.
Of course, we also see Apollo offering somebody off-camerea XO insignia. We also see Starbuck arguing with somebody off-camera about some female being a loose cannon. Who each is arguing with is a matter we’ll have to wait until Thanksgiving for the resolution to.
In the end…I hope the GWC Three can take a quick look at the new commercial for the next podcast and also look at such in light of the notes from the previous trailer.
Boxy, but you don’t need… Oh, never mind.
Pike- Agreed. Boxy should stick with riding his daggit.
I think it’s rigged for Apollo. I got him too.
Oh and to settle the question once and for all about whether or not Baltar is big or little “e”… well I found this picture on popular Star Wars artist Grant Gould’s site:
http://grantgould7.tripod.com/bsg/index.album/james-callis-grant-dragoncon-06?i=12
The man has glowing red eyes! How much more evil can you get?
Stroogie said: Maybe they both like to wear small bits of cloth.
Lol! Napkin dress?
Lee quoted his dad and said that sometimes you just roll a hard six. Maybe that’s it?
Phoenix: Nice.
Audra: Perhaps this is why we later see Apollo asked what rolling the hard six actually means and he yet comes up with: “I don’t know what it means.”?
Yea! My first ever post!
Re: What’s the deal with tracksuit Six?
Six is imitating Starbuck in this scene. Watch it again. She’s doing all of Katee Sackoff’s mannerisms – the laugh, the faces, the body language. That’s why she says “Is this what you want?” – because Baltar still has a thing for Starbuck.
At least that’s my take on it…
Welcome Eftiel!
Yeah, thats my take too. I did a doubletake the first time I saw that scene-I thought it was Katee Sackoff.
Eftiel, interesting take. (and welcome, BTW) Now that you’ve mentioned it, I can’t see it any other way.
I have to wonder, if that was the intent, how that was handled in rehersal.
Eftiel, Phoenix, Pike: Tracksuit Six? According to the commentary that is how Tricia Helfer normally dresses in real life. I would not necessarily say that Six was engaged in mimicking Katee Sackhoff’s mannerisms. Such merely might have been a slight break in character.
I didn’t see it that way at all, but I think it’s a very interesting take. I also followed Alpaca’s logic from the commentary track and assumed that Mrs. Helfer was simply acting more like herself in those scenes. Hmm…
Ugh, Audra, I just got a mental picture of Lee in a blue dress. My fault for bringing it up, I guess.
You know, we’ve never actually had a scene with Lee and Six interacting. I think Jamie Bamber even mentioned it in the round table podcast with RDM, that he and Tricia Helfer have never played a scene together. She’s had her smackdown with Starbuck, and brief moments now with EJO, Mary McDonnell, and that great slapping bit with Tylon. After all this time, I hope they have something planned for her and Apollo.
“I’m leaving you, Lee. The weight, the whining, the fooling around, defending Baltar, attacking the President, I could take all of it. But this dress is frakked up. You can’t even walk right in heels. And you call yourself an officer.”
Armando: Watching video interview segments with Tricia Helfer outside the episode concerned also helped me come to that conclusion.
Stroogie: ARGH! Considering the shape and size of Lee…that blue dress thought is frightening.
re: Zarek’s toadie being the Peter Pettigrew. bwahahaha!
I got William Adama for the quizfarm quiz and Lee for the quizilla one.
I’ve never found the regular Six to be all that attractive. I like her better as Ponytail Six and Gina after she’s cleaned up, and especially when she’s wearing glasses.
“Boxy, but you don’t need… Oh, never mind.”
thats debatable
Here, hear, snacktime! Helfer is so much more attractive in her regular clothes than the model get-up.
Now, Lee in the napkin dress….hmm…
Stroogie: Lee and Six *finally* had a scene together in “The Son Also Rises†when Romo sneakily convinces Six not to testify against Baltar. But I don’t think either one spoke to the other–it was all Romo and Six. Anyway, at least they were finally in the same room for once!
Quizzes: Am I the first Roslin here? I was Roslin on one quiz and Adama on the other. Hmm…obviously I have aspirations to rule the entire human race that I never even knew about before…
Supreme President Commander Kappa: You’re right. I thought about that scene after I posted, but like you said, they didn’t even get to speak to each other in that one. It was really all about Romo and C6. Lee was just observing, and was probably too busy hero-worshiping Romo to notice Six.
Chuck–re: your “80’s feathered hair” comment from the podcast….
Great comment, but it should be “70’s feathered hair.” The show ran for one season in 1978-1979.
Yes, there was Battlestar Galactica 1980, but Starbuck was not really in there, and it is TOO horrible to count.
Love the podcast, you guys rock!
As far as Jamie Bamber and Tricia Helfer goes they may have been in scenes together in the first season, however that was Head Six and she obviously interacts with only Baltar. Did Shelly Godfrey interact with Lee? She certainly put the moves on Commander Adama. Come to think of it, Lee is probably the only male lead who hasn’t either been kissed (Baltar, Adama, Helo) or punched in the kisser by Helfer (Tigh).
Chuck- That 2003 BSG game is insanely hard. My brother and I tried for 30 minutes to beat the first part of the first level and we couldn’t do it. I’ve heard plenty of others say the same thing.
A good little game that’s cheap and sci-fi is either of the LEGO Star Wars games (one for each trilogy). Both are $20 (greatest hits) and solid games. They’re easy platformers and the multiplayer is pretty fun. I was playing it the other day with my 6 year old cousin and he was having a blast. Chewie yanks arms out of their sockets, Lando does kung fu, Leia slaps, Han punches, etc. It’s actually a very funny little game with good replay value. http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/826/826594.html
Hey casters!
GMDB weighing in here. I don’t know if this was corrected, but if you are referring to the scene in Office Space where the fax machine is beaten to within an inch of it’s life, it’s not Damn, It’s Good to Be A Gangsta, that plays at a different time.
And Audra, I’m with you. Tricia did indeed look kind of waifish and transparent and ethereal. Definitely vampiric. And probably intentional.