Since I'm having a head cold again, I'd best start off the decade with a very redundant "last year roundup" post. It should be fluffy enough that I can write it in the middle of a major snot invasion. This will be mostly a link dump, nothing new, but it's nice to have it all in one place.
So, what happened with James in 2009?
Career:
In April, James received a Jules Verne Award in Paris, along with co-stars Mary McDonnell and Jamie Bamber. A proud moment for him and the fans, and quite a bit of media buzz around the event.
He appeared on American crime show Numb3rs as a terrifying cult leader, Mason Duryea. First time we hear him with a Southern accent! It was pretty awesome and gave him a lot of visibility. Duryea is definitely more of a villain than Gaius ever was, even if some people grumbled about him being typecast as a cult leader (note that Gaius only became that at the very end, it's not really his essence or anything).
He also appeared as Merlin on Syfy's Merlin and the Book of Beasts. First time we hear him with a Welsh accent. Um, it wasn't great. But not as bad as some say, either. Um... I have trouble saying much...I'll write more about it later.
During the spring/summer, he also shot a British film called Re-Uniting the Rubins, a Jewish family comedy that sounds pretty promising. Some info and pictures posted by the location manager in this blog. He was quite impressed with James' performance, and I'm looking forward to this. Co-stars include Rhona Mitra and Timothy Spall.
James also voiced a documentary on BBC called The Podfather, about Robert Noyce who invented the silicon chip. I was able to find it online, and it was quite interesting. James keeps his voice pretty neutral for the most part, but there were a couple of cute moments where you can hear him sound extra solemn or soft.
Not much more info on his career at the moment. He visited the US several times over the year, so maybe there was some job thing going on he has yet to tell us about? He's being very secretive about future plans, so let's hope no news is good news.
Cons:
(These are just links to my ultimate con posts, which contain links to the con reports by others)
FedCon in Bonn, Germany - still coming up: a full transcript of the panel from DVD!
An Evening With James Callis in Bonn, Germany - an all James con!
2009 Interviews:
Discussing 4.5 episodes with Spacecast (audio)
Discussing the end with USA Weekend Who's News Blog (article)
More about the end with SFX (article)
And even more about the end at IGN (article)
An in-depth look at his Numb3rs character at IGN (article)
A brief chat at/about Comic-Con with Dewdcast (video)
Was HeadBaltar really an angel? James tells io9: "How should I know?" (video)
Two video interviews during the Jules Verne thing in France:
And the actual Jules Verne Q&A:
Other events:
On his 38th birthday, James announced the birth of his third child, a daughter named Anika, born in May. The message is here at the Unofficial website. Awww, Anika! I.. (L) Sorry, I'm still all gushy.
All in all, James left four messages to the fans at the Unofficial website, all viewable here. The website celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and James has been reading and writing to the fans since the very beginning. Much gratitude to him and, of course, Janine and Rikkie who run the site!
Looks-wise: He started the year with short hair, then grew it long, and then cut it again. But before the year ended, it had already grown out a little. Our hirsute man! (Babbles about his possible, but barely visible weight changes cut for length.)
Some of the cutest pictures taken in 2009:
and of course:
James holding a baby!! Squee!
James holding a baby!! Squee!
In fandom:
Kixxa started her blog All Things James Callis, with lots of lovely photos of James' projects over the years. Check it out if you haven't already!
The end of BSG brought all kinds of feelings to the surface, even if James guaranteed that we can't be disappointed. James, you hopeless optimist! I was quite fulfilled and happy with the ending myself, with some rather minor complaints. Here's my rundown of the Baltar-related bits of the finale. I never wrote a long post about all of mine nitpicks, because there were so many others saying the same things, and because really, I wanted to feel happy and grateful with so much good going on.
For those unhappy with the finale, Ron D. Moore answered fan concerns at Syfy, here.
After the end of BSG, the Syfy Forums kind of died. I haven't really been around and it seems like no one else has been either... Um, if you're interested in talking about James, there's a lot of fun stuff going on on Twitter. And LiveJournal. Add me, I'm BaltarStar/Deniselleb. And not to forget the first James Callis forum where James himself sometimes posts, here!
My fan year:
So, let's sum it up.
-James wrote me the Best. Autograph. Ever. (L) (L) (L)!!! Let the record show that James Callis loves me a lot, always. He only loves the rest of you sometimes.
-I wrote him something silly and something personal and dared send it. So now he knows I exist. Eeeee!
-He answered my question about HeadBaltar. And seemed all gleeful about the question. (L)!
Also: he loves donuts, to my apparently unending glee and satisfaction. Need I link to that?
It's been a surprisingly awesome year. Only one disappointment that I retconned anyway, and all kinds of happy discoveries - he loves names? He loves junk food? He loves books? He loves Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? I'm not saying James and I are exactly alike or anything, but I mean, come on. He's done so much more this year than I expected, what with the con appearances and Jules Verne and everything. I feel like I can hardly keep up with the reports and cute pictures. Good times! :)
My heart pounded in March when kixxa told me James is on Twitter, and then it turned out he wasn't. I felt a bit sad that he had added so many followers without adding any of the known fans. Yet I was also sad to hear it wasn't him, because I think I would have enjoyed his tweets. Something to consider for the future, James?
And the autograph... I still can't get over the fact that it sounds genuinely warm and just.. genuine. It's more than I expected. It's a slippery slope between appreciating this stuff and going, "I'm his favorite nr 1 fan and we'll have 100 hairy babies soon XD XD XD", so I'll try to not make too much out of it. But... it just means a lot to me. Oh James. *sniffle*
I'm still a bit disappointed I wasn't able to actually go to the con, but I doubt James would have appreciated me going broke over him. Sacrifices like this are unnecessary; I will get to meet him one day. I hope.
I had a pretty rough year emotionally, but so far, so good. I'm still here and doing much better than this time last year. James has been a real blessing for me with the depression - something to fantasize about, someone to look up to, a reason to keep living even. My blog is needed. Who else would bring you the latest news, found with my ultimate googling skills? Who would detect the faintest beginning of a donut gut where others only see a billowy shirt?
Despite the depression, I did manage to write (checks) 94 posts. That's pretty good. With many other things in my life on hold, it makes me happy that I've been able to work on this blog still. It gives me strength and joy, and I'm so glad you readers have been hanging in there with me. (10,882 visits and counting!)
So here's to another great year of James. May the spirit of Jamus shine upon us! Jamen.
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