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It's all about the Sci-fi!

"Punch it, Bishop!"

-Ellen Ripley, aboard USCM drop ship from the USS Sulaco, lifting off from planetoid LV-426 ('Aliens', 1986)

This is a simple page dedicated to my geekery as a sci-fi fan. I can't tell you which episode of Star Trek it is just from the Stardate and I don't even own a tape or DVD of hardly any sci-fi shows, but I do enjoy a lot of the genre.

What's new?

Stardate 12-28-2018

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA STUFF...

Dreams can come true...

 

The EMP/Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle had their new BSG exhibit which ended in 2011. I was there for the opening night in my BSG BDUs and the Colonial Fleet people. It was incredible to see both the show's Vipers in person! One of the lead costume people from the show saw my BDUs and didn't initially believe they weren't some of the ones she'd made for the show originally. Talk about a compliment! Two weeks later, Aaron Douglas ("The Chief") showed up for a talk. He turned out to be a really nice guy, he even showed up in one of his show uniforms!

 

SPACE ABOVE AND BEYOND STUFF...

"Hey, anyone got a hundred they can loan me?"

This is one of the "$100" notes made for the show, "Space: Above and Beyond." They seemed to have appeared only in the "R&R" episode where Vansen was playing pool against Alvin EL 1543 (aka 'Handsome Alvin',) played by David Duchovny as seen below:

The bill itself was very well-designed and it's easy to imagine US currency in the future looking something like this.

This is an orignal screen-used flightsuit from S:aaB! It was for the character of LT Kelly Anne Winslow (call sign "Queen of Spades"), played by Tasia Valenza. This was purchased from someone who worked on the show. It lacks the nametag but the character's name was written on the tag on the inside. They also added the elastic bands at the bottom to keep the leg cuffs inside the boots. It's a size small so it'd never fit me. Still, it's a great addition to my collection!

(This might be the same suit shown above, Winslow is to the right)

Around the same time, I scored a crew jacket that was owned by an extra who'd worked on the show. The size is a Large. The front has the same types of patches the flight suit has, but it's the 8X10 inch patch on the back that was the neatest thing. The jacket itself is a MA-1 flight jacket design from the late 50s.

I recently picked up one of the armor sets for the flight crews while flying the SA-43 "Hammerhead" fighters, complete with 'XD unit' which was actually a Zelco flashlight. Now all I need is a flight helmet and aircraft mockup to sit in:

This is what the whole rig looked like on the show:

 

DEFYING GRAVITY STUFF...

I wasn't a fan of the short-lived show "Defying Gravity" until I caught it on DVD much later. I never caught a single episode when it aired (so yes, I'm partly responsible for it's demise as I never watched it at the time). Still, it had great promise. It deserved better than one season. Anyway, I have found some nice small items used on the show recently, some from a great French collector: http://defyinggravity.jimdo.com/

These are some items I got from him. The ID cards were very well done, much more than you would expect from a simple prop!

I also elsewhere scored one of the candidate flightsuits named for Santini. Best yet, it's a character I have a nametag from in the above set! After a long search, I finally found it being worn in an episode, the scene is when the ASCANS have their first ranking where some have to leave and Zoe just found out she was kicked out of the program. Santini is standing in the center, in the background, as Zoe turns to leave.

This is the Communication headset worn by William C. Vaughan as "Arnel Poe" in the Control Room scenes, along with a photo of the actor wearing it on screen.

Man, how I wish this show could have kept going...

What the heck is S:AaB?

Mostly, I'm a fan of the short-lived show, "Space: Above and Beyond" (S:AaB) . The show was made by the same producers of "The X Files" and was promptly killed by Fox networks after it's one-season run from 1995-96.

I was a fan of the show when it was on and re-discovered it in a big way when it was released on DVD a couple of years ago. Then I found out a small, but rabid, fan base of the show. So just for the heck of it, I decided to make a copy of the costumes they wore. I haven't gone so far to make a flight helmet yet, but who knows?

As former Army officer, it irritates me that for some reason, the Marines get all the fun roles in sci-fi ever since "Aliens" came out in 1986. I'd much rather wear US Army on something like this, but there it is...

This is my reproduction S:aaB flightsuit and web gear. The flight suit is made out of a cotton-poly blend, like many used on the show were. They alternated between these lighter ones and real issue Nomex flightsuits. The patch to the bottom right has been replaced with a more screen-correct pattern one. The box with the red bar to the left is is one of the "XT Unit" lights that were mounted on everything in the S:aaB universe (really a highly-modified Zelco brand battery powered lantern from the early 90s). The dog tags were copied off one used on the show by a fan in Scotland. The web belt and M-9 bayonet were.... liberated from Uncle Sam when I was in the Army. The pistol is a resin replica, cast off an original prop gun used on the show. The name in the top left corner is a reference to the call signs painted on the flight helmets. Each member of the "Wilcards" squadron had a face card and a name painted over the character's names.

Eventually, I'll look to make more of the ground-pounder stuff, armor, helmet and the works. Someday I might even build a real, shooting copy of the pistols they used on the show (long slide Glock 17s with scopes and rail systems added).

So, what do I do with all this stuff? Keep it in the closet? Wear it to sci-fi conventions? Beats me. I always thought this stuff was really neat. I'm not sure what the heck I'll be doing with it!

More insanity

Back in the 80s, I was a fan of the older Dr Who episodes. My long-suffering parents indulged the interest because I guess it was better than smoking pot and hanging around with girls, who knows?

Anyway, Dad made this for me, out of solid stainless steel!

Things you never heard on Battlestar Galactica

 

  • Adama: “Oh, you mean all that stuff in my office? Hey, the Galactica Gift shop stock had to go SOMEWHERE, didn’t it?”
  • Crashdown: “Hey, didn’t I see this forest in an SG-1 episode a while back?”
  • Starbuck: “Man, I’m ticked that GM sold the Hummer line to the Chinese. Now I’ll NEVER get parts for mine back at Caprica!”
  • Capt. Aaron Kelly: “Okay, if one more person calls me ‘Plow Guy,’ I’m gonna go postal!”
  • Any Cylon: “All of this has happened before and it will happen again. Really. I have watched it several times on the DVD box set!”
  • Helo (to Boomer, on Caprica): “I don’t care what you say, I still think this city looks like Vancouver.”
  • Apollo: “Hey yeah, what DID ever become of the Cylon’s ability to shut off newer Vipers’ electronics? Why don’t they do that anymore?”
  • Roslin (on New Caprica, before almost being executed): “Let’s get this over with. The National Guard needs these trucks back before nightfall!”
  • Any Galactica Marine: “Okay, at one time, we had these ‘Blade Runner’ looking pistols and P-90 machine guns. Then all of a sudden, we now have these cool semi-autos and these black rifles. There aren’t any gun gunsmith ships in the fleet, so where’d we get all these new weapons from?”
  • Caprica Six (to Baltar): “So, you’re saying I’m evil? What’s truly evil is all those sci-fi fans who’ll be trying to wear a red dress like this at cons but who weigh at least three times what I do. Now that’s just plain wrong!”
  • Adama: “Hey, let’s be careful with all this equipment. You never know, it might be auctioned off for huge cubits someday…”
  • Starbuck: “Yes, I know the way to Earth. Good thing Lee didn't find it, he'd have gotten lost and would never have asked for directions!”
  • Roslin (to Adama): I’ve got a case of Carbola extract, a box of Baltar’s best stogies, plenty of cancer pain meds, enough ambrosia to float a bull moose and two pressure suits. We’re gonna par-tay tonight!
  • Helo (to Starbuck on Caprica after finding that stupid arrow): “A Hummer. Seriously? They couldn't find something that even looks like a sci-fi car for you? Lazy frakking prop people...“
  • Adama (to any Cylon): “Okay, so I hear you have a plan. When are you going to frakking IMPLIMENT it? I’m tired of trying to figure out what you had in mind beyond nuking our home worlds!“
  • Apollo (to Adama): “But Dad, all the other guys got Battlestars, why can’t I have one?“
  • Tigh (at briefing of the Viper jocks, just as they get up to leave): “…Let’s be careful out there.”
  • Any Galactica Marine (while fighting on pretty much any planet): “We can destroy small planets, kill billions at a time, fly between galaxies, but every time we land somewhere, nobody knows how to run a defense for a simple patch of woods? Who trains these officers?”
  • Apollo (at pre-flight briefing): “I'm going out toaster hunting with you. That's right, it's Showtime at The Apollo!“
  • Any resident of Caprica City (while watching the nukes go off): “No big loss, we were never going to get an expansion league team here, anyway.”
  • Apollo: “Tower, this is Ghost Rider, requesting a fly-by”
    Gaeta: “Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.”
  • Cain (to Adama): “That’s right, I’m the Admiral because I was on Star Trek!”
  • Commander Adama (to Apollo): “That’s right, I’m the Commander because I was in 'Blade Runner'!”
  • Random Deck Hand on the Pegasus (right before the impact with the Base Star over New Caprica): “HEY, WHAT DID THAT LAST WARNING SAY over the intercom? I had my headset on, something about an aban –“
  • Apollo (right before launching in a Viper): “To infinity… And beyond!”
  • Tom Zarek (to Apollo): You locked me up all right, but someday, people will find out I was the original Apollo!
I kept waiting for this exchange to happen but it never did:
Baltar (to Gaeta): “I have to come clean. I’m really a Cylon.”
Gaeta (to Baltar): “Really?”
Baltar: “No, but seeing how almost everyone else on this frakking ship seems to be one, it sure would have made sense, wouldn’t it?”

And what should have been the last scene in the final episode:
Normal man on a phone (modern timeframe “our” Earth): “Yeah, this is Dave from the Florida State University Archeology Department. I just came from the northern dig site. You’re not going to believe what we just dug up. It’s early Paleolithic but we need to get some samples for carbon dating to nail down the exact timeframe. It looks like some kind of airplane, with the word ‘Galactica’ painted on its rudder!”

Linkage!