BSG Panel at World Science Festival

We now have some coverage of the BSG Panel which took place at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan as part of The World Science Festival. The event was called Battlestar Galactica: Cyborgs on the Horizon (see link for list of participants, which included cast members Mike Hogan and Mary McDonnell), and the discussion revolved around just what the title suggests - What place will cybernetics have in our future? Here's a roundup:

Discover Magazine's online blog Science not Fiction summarizes some of the key points and comments by the panelists.

Sam J. Miller posted an even more in depth account at Galactica Sitrep.

... and here's io9's write up, which includes some ideo clips and a description of a clip from the upcoming movie The Plan which hasn't been aired to the public as of yet!

Image borrowed from The World Science Festival Flickr photostream

Colonial Dispatch 3.24.09

The Colonies are now gone, but a distant signal still echoes through the stars... Hoo boy. It's been a long weekend and there's a lot to keep up with in Battlestar world.

How about starting with something that is looking future forward? io9 has posted a collection of 7 clips from Caprica giving us some insight on the series and the pilot DVD coming in a few weeks! - That's April 21 to be exact.

According to Sci Fi/NBCU (still refusing to use the new name), the Battlestar finale topped the charts when it aired, although I had heard otherwise - I guess that's why I'm not a statistician. See the numbers at Futon Critic

If you don't like imagination killers, the don't read yet another commentary/interview (from Monday's press screening) with Ron Moore about what he was thinking with the finale at Sci Fi Wire. Okay, how can you really not read that? Ron also talks about what kind of "extended cut" material we'll get on the DVD, so perhaps those who feel unfulfilled by the finale will find satisfaction when 4.5 comes out on DVD.

As much as I dislike having things explained so much, the following is what I've been waiting to hear from Ron Moore - Ronald D. Moore on the Meaning of God in Battlestar Galactica's Finale on AMC's Sci Fi Scanner blog. Ron also talks a bit about the future of the franchise.

Mary McDonnell has a job lined up with The Closer which stars Kyra Sedgwick. Mary will be playing a police captain who "butts heads with Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson" (played by Sedgwick), and is likely to debut in the upcoming 5th season of the show. via TheStar.com

Speaking of Mary McDonnell, here's some words from her about the finale during the press screening at The New York Post blog Pop Wrap.

We'll try and filter all the finale reviews and commentaries into one big post here soon.

One more link for Mary McDonnell, a little late but still relevant... The LA Times caught up with her before her appearance at the UN event last week, and talked a bit about the themes of her character.

Check out this HUGE interview with Bear McCreary from German fan site Caprica City (Yes, it's in English - phew!).

CNet Asia has a nice little walk down memory lane with The Technology of Battlestar Galactica, comparing it to real life tech we have today. I like to think of it as a "greatest hits" of sorts.

If you're fascinated with the subject of robotics and technology, and the way it worked out in Battlestar Galactica, Terminator, and other sci-fi, you might find the book Wired for War by P.W. Singer well worth the read:

"Wired for War takes the reader on a journey to meet all the various players in this strange new world of war: odd-ball roboticists working in latter-day “skunk works” in the midst of suburbia; military pilots flying combat mission from their office cubicles outside Las Vegas; the Iraqi insurgents who are their targets; journalists trying to figure out just how to cover robots at war; and human rights activists wrestling with what is right and wrong in a world where our wars are increasingly being handed over to machines."

The 4 part comic book series Battlestar Galactica: Cylon War continues with part 3 tomorrow, March 25. Check out a preview at comicbookresources.com. That review I promised might as well wait until after the 4th book comes out next month, since I've procrastinated this long.

Eddie just rules - Edward James Olmos, CardPartner Promote Latino Literacy at PR Inside.com

Kotaku offers some not so great BSG fixes in the gaming world. I'd personally like a Fallout 3 meets Mass Effect style series of console games that takes place on all the planets from the Battlestar universe; The 12 colonies, Kobol, algae planet, Tillium mine moon (from "Scar"), Earth 1, and prehistoric Earth 2. I'll get right on developing that.

Movie Moron looks at the movies that influenced Battlestar Galactica. Of course, you knew all of these, but it's fun discussing the details, isn't it?

PC World has learned 10 lessons about business from Battlestar Galactica, and maybe we can too!

This simply must be read - Battlestar Galactica: Watched the Finale? Exclusive Interview With Kevin Grazier, Science Advisor at Discover magazine online.

Hit refresh! More updates on the way...

Frik and Frak

Poor attempt at an original headline, I know. Let's just cut right to it, shall we?

Emmy nominated BSG writer Michael Angeli talked to Variety about his research for the show. Surprisingly, it's not so much about science:

...his research usually involves classical literature, Westerns and history.

"Those have struggles of obsession, survival and possession, which we feel is what the show is really about," Angeli says.

"If we go to the Bible, a Western or the transcripts of the trial for Saddam Hussein -- which we did at the end of season three -- we can look for cultural differences, questions of race, gender, class, conspicuous consumption and sex," he adds. "We like to touch on the idea of what it means to be human."

Michael recieved some well deserved kudos from Variety for his work on BSG episode "Six of One" as well.

Speaking of award snubs, Television Without Pity tells it like it is with Emmy: TWOP List of the Most Egregious Snubs, of which Battlestar gets some respect.

Sticking with the above theme of lists, EW.com, famous for lists, has a top 25 of the scifi genre (TV and film) in the last 25 years, and of course BSG is in the mix. Not quite sure how Blade Runner snuck in there, since it's actually 26 years old, but I'm okay with that! Uh, no Star Wars except The first Clone Wars series? WUWT?

Bear McCreary's Eureka soundtrack came out yesterday, and top40-charts.com talks about the composer's accomplishments. Interestingly, I've caught some recent reruns of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I'm now totally hearing Bear! When the series first aired, I didn't realize Bear worked on it (the music is waaay subtle on that show). Another duh moment was when I realized Bruce Davidson, who plays the not so ethical Dr. Robert in BSG's The Woman King, plays the also not so ethical nor sane Dr. Silverman in episode 7 of TSCC.

SyFy Portal relays the scoop on Mark Sheppard reuniting with Joss in at least (*hopes*) 3 episodes of Dollhouse. Thanks Dollverse, just for existing.

David Eick Talks Battlestar Galactica Past, Present, Future (and Caprica!) to Newsarama. No spoilers of course.

Anyone who knows what a Cylon is can confirm that this Peugeot concept car is one. :O

Shout out to Geek Sugar for using Battlestar Galactica as an example of how to use Scribd services.

I had no idea about the A-Team thing. If anyone knows the details, I would really appreciate being saved the trauma of researching the A-Team. I'm guessing it was a gag with Dirk Benedict (whom I actually don't mind researching so much).

Speaking of Starbuck (above... kind of), Den of Geek compares Shawn McCormick in Knight Rider 2K, to RDM's Starbuck gender change. Doesn't look like it helped the new Knight Rider, and I for one really hope to kidnap Paul Campbell and put him on a different show.

Edit - Thanks 'iguanamom' for pointing out the A-Team intro, and the Cylon appearance. Now, if anyone knows exactly which episode that was clipped from, that would be the rulingest!

w00t??

Watch: Robots that are more human? (BBC)

My criticism is that I agree with the reporter that this is more unnerving than the comfort that MIT guy was talking about. Hasn't he seen Battlestar Galactica? I just want a working R2 astromech and I'll be happy.