The Miniseries: The Recap (Gaius/Six focused)

Cross-posted at BSG: The Journey Home - a Gaius/Six rewatch community.

I was told to write a brief and concise recap, and I have a feeling this isn't quite it. I cannot write brief. I tried not to try to be funny or insightful and just write down my observations, because I hate overdone recaps. I just briefly skimmed thru the scenes with others, and wrote down the gist of it, but I haven't deep-analyzed them. And really, I tried to not deep-analyze the Six/Gaius scenes either, so there'd be something left to discuss. I might not have time to post anything else until the weekend, but you know, discuss. I'll be back.

A Six - not Caprica - walks in wearing a red jacket and skirt. The man clearly doesn't know what to think. A human being with the cylons? "Are you alive?" the Six asks the man as she leans over to him. "Y-yes," the man stammers. "Prove it," Six whispers and they kiss. Suddenly a cylon baseship attacks the ship the guy's on. "It's begun," Six says. Any shippers for these lovebirds?

-Elsewhere: credits. JAMES CALLIS and TRICIA HELFER, most notably. Old rusty Battlestar Galactica is retiring, and so is old rusty Bill Adama. Tyrol and his men have found Adama's old plane and a picture of him with his sons. He is touched. Starbuck and Tigh get into a fight, and Starbuck gets sent into the brig. Bill and Saul talk about Starbuck; Bill likes her, Saul does not. In CAPRICA CITY, CAPRICA, Laura Roslin gets the diagnosis for advanced (breast) cancer. Next we see her on a plane with PA Billy. She hides her feelings and only allows herself to fall apart a little in the bathroom.-

Caprica Six walks through the market place in Caprica City. She stops to look at a little baby boy. The proud mother lets her hold him, and she says, "So light.. so fragile..." all creepily. The baby cries a little, and Six tells him, "You won't have to cry much longer", which seems pretty ominous. The mother picks up on this and tells her they should be going. Six observes how surprising it is that the fragile neck can carry such a heavy head, and the mom looks creeped out, but as she looks away for a moment, Six snaps said fragile neck. Six walks away very fast, and as we hear the mother scream, Six's eyes fill with tears. Our first tip that she's not all machine.

The first time we see Gaius Baltar, he's sitting in front of his TV, which is apparently an interactive one, giving an interview. His house looks very stylish and very, very expensive. Notably, he's wearing the same outfit HeadBaltar wears - the pin-striped black suit that makes him look very dapper. The embodiment of arrogance, he smarmily compliments the host. Asked about his views on technology, he explains that the cylon threat is long gone and fear shouldn't hamper the development of new technology. This is all very ironic, but he doesn't know it yet.

Six comes in, notably NOT wearing a red dress. She lays her handbag - or suitcase? It's metal but looks light - on a desk. She looks at Baltar across the room with adoration.

And they're at it. This first sex scene was the first thing they filmed, and while they're doing a good job, I do seem to sense some awkwardness (particularly from James, who had less experience with being naked on camera). It's not something that particularly bugs me, though; it's easy to imagine that, after all their time together, Baltar still finds Six's immense physical power both a turn-on and a bit scary. How many women can throw their man onto the bed like that?

Before they get that far, though, Six stops to ask if Gaius missed him - maybe his body did, but did his heart and soul? "Do you love me, Gaius?" The answer is obvious as Gaius stops in his tracks, horrified. Six saves face by claiming she was only kidding, and Gaius is visibly relieved. He probably thinks they'll be laughing at this five years from now when they're no longer exclusively seeing each other. As they make love, Six's spine starts to glow. "I'm so hot, Gaius," she moans. I'll say.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama arrives on Galactica and is arrogant and rude. Tyrol and Boomer get into an argument, which leads to sex. Lee Adama has no respect for his Daddy.-

Back in the market place, Gaius and Six are walking together. Gaius arrogantly smokes a cigarette and then arrogantly tells her his program has been a success. (Actually, just assume he does everything arrogantly until Six tells him the truth.) Six points out that she deserves a little credit too. "I rewrote half your algorithms," she reminds him. He admits to this, but says she benefited too: "all that poking in the defense mainframe" will further her career. Dun dun dun!

Six says she has a meeting, and Gaius jokes he's very jealous. "I doubt it," says Six in a voice that suggests she's not completely joking. Gaius says he must go anyway. "I have a meeting too - business," he quickly adds. I'm sure. He walks away, and Six turns to meet SOMEONE or SOMETHING. "About time," she says. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

-Elsewhere: Laura Roslin and Billy get on board. Billy gets lost and meets Dualla. Roslin and Adama get into a little spat over technology (Roslin for, Adama against). Lee and Kara have a heart to heart. You can tell they're going to fall for each other. -

Gaius' house, night time. Six is sitting in a chair in the darkness of his bedroom. "Gaius," she says softly. Then louder: "Gaius!" Gaius sits up in the bed, as does a brunette. Oops. She asks who Six is. "Get out," Six tells her in a chilly voice. Gaius, unable to look either woman in the eye, babbles that Six is just a friend - then adds, "Well, more than a friend.. when I say friend..." Hee. It's all very feeble.

Six has no time for this: "Get out. Now." Her tone is creepy. Gaius sheepishly looks at the woman and she storms out. When she's gone, he starts to get dressed while giving Six his very weak "it's not you, it's me" speech: "It's a flaw in my character, one which I'm trying to overcome..." He still can't look at her. Six tells him to spare her from his excuses; she has come to tell him something. She's calm, despising and kinda scary, but as the camera zooms in on her eyes, we see she's fighting back tears.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama still doesn't like his Daddy. Bill Adama blames himself for the death of his other son. Lee also blames him for it.-

Dawn is breaking as Six and Gaius are having their heart-to-heart. Gaius is mocking and disbelieving, but it seems like deep down he believes her. Six says she's a woman. Gaius, despisingly: "You're a synthetic woman. A robot." Six points out she's repeated it a few times, and Gaius says he doesn't believe her, because cylons are supposed to look like "walking chrome toasters". This is the first time cylons are referred to as toasters. Six says calmly that those models are still in use.

"Prove it!" Gaius says. Six says he believes her, because he's always known there was something different about her. "And you believe me because it flatters your ego, to believe that alone among all the billions of people of the twelve Colonies, you were chosen for my mission..." She says this in a mocking tone, like she enjoys her grip over him. Gaius is all "Mission?!", and she has to remind him about the defense main frame.

For a moment, Gaius looks like a scared child again, staring off into space. But it doesn't take too long for him to start washing his hands: "This had nothing to do with me!" Six, calm and composed, finds time to marvel at his skill for self-deception. "How do you do it?" she asks teasingly. Gaius points out that he might be facing death penalty for treason. Six doesn't seem too concerned for him. He takes the phone to call his attorney, but she tells him it won't be necessary: "There won't be anyone left to charge you with anything." Gaius just stares at her. "The children of humanity are returning home. Tonight." Gaius lays down the phone as he realizes what this means. A light flashes in the horizon.

-Elsewhere: There's a ceremony on Galactica. Bill Adama ad libs some of his speech, and it's clearly about him and Lee. Lee is touched.-

Gaius is watching three channels at once, all reporting the same thing: the cylon attack is underway. As each channel goes blank, he looks completely devastated. "What have I done? What will I do now? There's no way out." He hangs his head and cries. Six looks on with what seems like genuine compassion. Gaius realizes she hasn't made any plans to get away. "How are you leaving?" he demands. The bright light of a nuke meets his eye and he screams like a child. There's something amusing about that, even if I might do the same in that situation. Six sadly tells him she can't die; she'll be downloaded. "I'll just wake up somewhere else in an identical body." Gaius asks if there are more like her out there. "There are twelve models. I'm number six," Six tells him and the viewers. "I don't want to die," Gaius cries in panic. "Get down!" Six shouts and covers him as the nuke hits the house.

-Adama receives word about the cylon attack. Boomer and Helo are attacked and their plane is damaged. Lots and lots of SPACE BATTLES take place. Laura Roslin takes over Colonial One.-

Helo and Boomer have landed their broken plane on Caprica. Helo's watching mushroom clouds in the horizon and counts that he's seen six now. Just as Boomer gets it fixed, a bunch of people come running, among them one Gaius Baltar. He trips over and falls, and someone seems to walk all over him, but he gets up all determined.

-Elsewhere: Lee Adama and Aaron Doral meet on Colonial One. Lee is still arrogant.-

Helo and Boomer try to keep the people out, saying it's not a rescue ship. The crowd demands that children at least get on board, and they oblige. They have room for three more people after that. Gaius, among others, quickly raises his arm. He's all about survival still, so I don't think the guilt has fully hit him. Boomer says they will make lottery tickets and draw three numbers. Completely unbiased decision. People agree to this.

-Elsewhere: Space fighting takes place.-

Later on, the third number is called, and it's 47. Gaius does not have the winning ticket. An old woman next to him asks what her paper reads. Of course, it reads 47, and Gaius gives her a shifty look that suggests he might consider cheating. Suddenly Helo calls out, "Aren't you Gaius Baltar?" Gaius quickly responds with, "I haven't done anything!", which would make me very suspicious, but doesn't seem to affect Helo. Gaius tells everyone the woman has the winning number and gallantly walks her across the crowd. Helo decides to give up his seat for Gaius, because the fleet can use his brilliant mind. Boomer resist, almost in tears. "Look at those clouds and tell me this isn't the end of everything," Helo says. Boomer agrees, but kind of angrily. Gaius is very quick to get into the ship before anyone changes their mind. As he gets on, he sees HeadSix in the crowd for the first time, glowing in her red dress. But when he looks back, there's only a ratty old man there.

-Elsewhere: Colonial One receives word that President Adar and the cabinet are all dead, and Laura Roslin has to step in as president. Laura says to Lee she never wanted to be in politics. She takes her vows, first with a trembling voice, then more stern. Lots of press record the moment.
A random kid named Boxey talks to Boomer, who says she also lost her parents when she was little.-

On the ship, Gaius sees HeadSix again. She's glowing and tells him this is why she loves him: "You're a survivor." She disappears as Gaius shakes his head. This won't work for much longer. Gaius looks overcome by guilt and shame again, and he hangs his head.


Gaius gets on board Colonial One. Boomer's talking to Lee as we see him stepping out of the plane. Boomer says Helo gave up his seat for Gaius, "I hope he's worth it!" she snaps loud enough for him to hear. Gaius looks at her with a cute "what did I do NOW?" expression. Lee tells Gaius that the president has asked to see him. "President Adar is alive?" Gaius says, freaked out. You can tell he thinks he's survived only to get sentenced to death. Lee tells him there's a new president, and Gaius is relieved.

President Laura Roslin is happy to see Gaius. How many times was Laura actually happy to see him? Maybe we should count them. She tells him they met last year. Gaius stammers that he's not good at remembering faces, but Laura doesn't get offended: "I wouldn't remember me either." She gets back to business and tells Gaius she wants him to be her scientific advisor in all matters cylon.

-Leoben Conoy is found hiding somewhere in the storage rooms. He's all kinds of creepy. -

Six appears again as Gaius is working on some papers. He tries to ignore her, but she tells him it won't help. He says he's decided she's just a part of his subconscious trying to deal with all this. Sounds like a nice scientific explanation, and typical of him. "So I'm... only in your head?" Six asks flirtily. She torments him by asking, "Have you considered the possibility that I might very well be only in your head without being a hallucination?" She suggests the cylons implanted a chip in his head - a theory we now know to be false, but it's a nice little mindfrak. Gaius looks like he's horrified, but tries to play it cool.

Six asks what he's working on. gaius snaps, "If you're in my head, you know." "Indulge me," Six says sexily, but at the same time, kinda scarily. Gaius says he's trying to figure out how the cylons got to the colonial defense programs. He says it was Six's work, and Six admits to this. She says she had other motives than being programmed: "What I want most of all is for you to love me. Don't you know - God is love?" She leans in to kiss him... and then he yells "NO!" and she's gone. I had forgotten how she kept disappearing in these first scenes. I'm kind of glad she didn't later on. I think their interactions are more interesting when he's tormented by her presence, but also likes her being there, as his only ally.

-Elsewhere: Leoben and Adama somehow manage to get stuck in the gutter together. Leoben is still being all kinds of weird and Adama gets suspicious. Laura Roslin has to make her first decision as president and let some people die, including a cute little girl. She feels burdened by her responsibility.-

Billy Keikeya shows Gaius to the CIC. He stops to ask Dualla for directions. Dualla leans over and kisses him passionately, which is a surprise to both guys. Gaius gives Billy a very comical look. "Really? This guy?" he seems to be thinking. I bet he has a newfound respect for Billy.

-Tyrol kisses Boomer with much passion and relief. Boomer has apparently adopted Boxey. Whatever. There's some more Kara/Lee, but we're ignoring that, right? Adama figures out Leoben is a cylon, and he tries to deny it, but he's looking like the living dead so it's pretty obvious. -

This is an important scene, because it's the first one between Gaius and Felix Gaeta. It's also the first time Gaius has to talk to a "real" person and ignore HeadSix. So we're setting up two series-long themes here.

Technobabble: the cylons implanted a virus into the colonial defense system, thus disabling them. Gaeta tells Gaius that Galactica is not in any networks, and Gaius thinks this will protect the ship from any harm. Still, he wants to test the systems. He's putting on his arrogant face again and acting very important.

Gaeta wants to linger a bit longer and stops to say, compassionately, that this must be so hard for Gaius. Unfortunately, Gaius has no idea what he's talking about. "The guilt?" Gaeta tries. Six appears and leans in to say, "I remember you telling me once that guilt is something small people feel when they run out of excuses for their behavior." I love that quote. Very Baltar. Gaius tries very hard to not look freaked out by Six, but you can see him jolt in horror. He tells Gaeta, in the same tone he used with Six earlier when he talked about this flaw in his character: "It is...hard... I feel... responsible... in a way...for what happened..."

Six tells Gaius she loves him precisely because he doesn't feel guilty: "You have a clarity of spirit. You're not burdened by conscience, or guilt, or regret..." I'm intrigued by this quote, but we can discuss it more later. Gaeta warmly tells him not to beat himself up: "It's not like you knew what they were doing." Gaius rolls his eyes to signal he couldn't know, one of those hilarious looks he has. Six torments him, her tone going from amused, to angry, to seductive:

"It's not like you knew you were lying... It's not like you were breaking the law... It's not like you cheat on women...It's not like the world's coming apart and all you could think of was Gaius Baltar."
She sits on the console, almost into his lap.

As Six strokes his hair, Gaius is clearly trying to keep his thoughts clear while his libido is winning: "No, I know... exactly what you're saying... I know." Gaeta looks at him nonplussed and then leaves. Is he a little disappointed in his hero already? Or did this meeting make him all the more fascinated with this brilliant yet weird man? Discuss.

Six is enjoying this and tells Gaius, "I really hope you make it out of this alive. I think we could have a real future together." He says bitterly, "That would be special," and Six takes offense at his tone. She says he's all sarcastic when she's helping him. Gaius asks how she's helping, so she demonstrates by turning his head into the right direction. Turns out there's a cylon device between two consoles. That's what she had in her suitcase in the earlier scenes, as a flashback shows us. Gaius says she told him it was an electronic organizer. "That would be a lie," whispers Six. I'm not sure how their electronic organizers look, but come on. It looks like a set of speakers to me. Gaius realizes what this means - there's another cylon on Galactica.

Gaius goes in for a closer look, trying hard to appear casual as he goes around and round the computers. Gaeta walks by and taps his shoulder - shippers, take note - and asks if everything's going ok. Gaius says he's just going to check one more time that the computers are fine. As he gets back into his chair, Six shows up again and Gaius tells him she's not helping. He asks what the device is for, and she pretends (?) she doesn't know. He says he needs to warn the others. She ad libs a whole conversation between him and the Galactica crew, ending with "I forgot to mention I'm familiar with their technology because I've slept with a cylon for the last two years." She's really enjoying this. Gaius says he'll think of something.

Six - or Gaius, depending on how you interpret HeadSix - has a one-track mind and puts her hand down his pants, causing much pleasure. Just as Gaius cocks his head back and moans, Aaron Doral shows up with a list of ships who use his program. It takes Gaius quite a while to recover. Doral asks, "Are you OK? You look a little flushed." Gaius snaps that he's OK and Doral wanders off to do whatever he's supposedly doing on that ship. He seems very suspicious now that I know he's a cylon.

Gaius has thought of something, i.e. lying that Doral is a cylon. He's an easy suspect since he's been walking around the ship unwatched, yet he's an outsider. "I don't remember seeing him in any cylon parties", Six says. That's the same line Cavil used on Chief Tyrol when he was suspecting he's a cylon. I guess it's safe to assume that this joke means the person IS a cylon. Gaius notes there is a problem. "Morally?" Six mocks. "Practically," Gaius says and looks at her sternly. How will they reveal that "cylons look like us now", without getting him caught?

-Elsewhere: Leoben Conoy's body is carried away. Tigh is horrified that "the cylons look like us now". Well, that takes care of that problem. Tigh says anyone could be a cylon, which is very ironic for obvious reasons. Tigh tells Adama Lee is alive. Lee and Adama meet and hug, realizing they only have each other now. They tear up. -

Tigh, Adama and Gaius are in Adama's quarters having a very confidential meeting. Tigh says Leoben had everything a human body has. Gaius tries hard to look horrified and shocked, and adds that there were synthetic compounds found during the cremation. "So he was a cylon?" he says, feigning disbelief (very poorly). Adama and Tigh tell him they need him. "Word has it you're a genius," Tigh says. Gaius has to restrain a big smile and is obviously trying to come up with some modest way of agreeing. He settles for "I'll do my best, Commander." Adama and Tigh are very calm and matter-of-fact and a stark contrast to Gaius' eye-bulging. How do they not suspect something? They tell him to keep it under his hat. "I'll be very discreet," Gaius promises.

-Elsewhere: Starbuck is sent on a mission. She tells Lee that his dead brother should have failed his pilot's test, but Starbuck let him thru because they were a couple.-

Doral is very discreetly arrested in the hallway by a bunch of armed guards.

Brig. Doral's already in handcuffs, shouting protests at them. Tigh asks why he isn't sick from radiation, like Leoben was. Gaius says that it must take effect slowly. Tigh asks if he's sure, and Gaius looks so obviously guilty you'd think Tigh can see right thru him. To his credit, Tigh does look pretty suspicious, but that could just be his usual "I hate people" look. Gaius babbles some nonsense about how he analyzed Doral's hair and it had synthetic fibres. He's clearly made it all up, but he does have it on paper in case Tigh should want evidence. "I'll take your word for it," grumps Tigh who couldn't care less about science. This is probably what Gaius was counting on. Six appears, clapping her hands: "And just like that, Dr Baltar invents the AMAZING cylon detector!" It's hard to tell if she's mocking or admiring, or both at the same time.

Tigh says everyone on board has to be tested. As he's already leaving, Gaius turns back as if he just now remembered that Doral seemed.. very interested.. in this strange device in the CIC. He's actually lying uncharacteristically well here, acting like he's not sure if he should even be saying this. Six ties her arms around him like a snake and says admiringly that his brain should be tested. Doral acts like he has no idea what this is about, so he's either a good liar or a sleeper agent. Gaius casts nervous glances at him. I maintain he's feeling guilty, but my girlfriend thought it's just fear of being found out.

-Elsewhere: the device is taken down. Tigh blames himself for not noticing it, and tells Gaeta to take the device to Baltar for testing.
Adama shows up at Roslin's quarters. He wants to stay to fight the war. Roslin tells him that there are only 50 000 people left alive, and they need to escape the cylons and make babies to survive. When Adama hears how many cylon fleets there are waiting for them, he decides they will all jump away and escape like Roslin suggested. The only "person" left behind: Aaron Doral.

SPACE BATTLES are fought.

Adama lies to people that they're going to find Earth, even if he doesn't even believe Earth exists. People say "So say we all" a lot.

Tigh and Starbuck talk. Tigh admits she was brave in combat, and apologizes to her, even if it seems to require a lot of him. Starbuck tells him he's weak, and a drunk. Harsh.

Adama tells Roslin that sometimes you need to lie so people can have hope and survive.-

Gaius is walking down the corridor, HeadSix at his heels. She tells him cylons will get them, and informs him about sleeper agents. Gaius says they will find the cylons among them. "We? You are not on their side, Gaius," Six tells him, but he's not fazed. For the first time, Gaius turns to face her with a stern look, controlling the situation. "I am NOT on anybody's side," he says and just walks away, leaving HeadSix to stand and think, as if she's a separate character outside of him. Which I guess she was. Awesome.

-Adama finds a note saying "There are only twelve cylon models." Doral really IS a cylon. So is Boomer. I'm sure you're all very surprised at this point.-

Less Than Two Weeks til "An Evening With James Callis"...

And I'm not nervous at all as you can see in the picture...

So just to reiterate: I will NOT be going, but I'm getting James' autograph via Pedda at Carpica City. This is the printout I want autographed:


It's in terrible shape, but that's only because it's the same printout I've been staring at all spring when I was depressed. I had it on the bedside table. On the days when I was almost too tired to get out of bed, I used to look at it and feel a bit better.

It's suffered some damage, esp this panel where James looks a bit Mexican:


That's Cola that spilled on the other side :D Fitting! Um, it's not TOO ratty to send out, right? As long as I explain why this particular printout is significant?



And that's an old Finnish envelope, I had one more left... Just a little note for him to read. I hope it's not too long and way too much because I'm also sending him Naughty Gaius is a Nymphomaniac Narcissist (500+ pages!)

Just to make the autograph a bit more personal, I will ask him to sign it to my real name. And draw a dog for me. I hope he will. You can see my own doggie-style (heh heh) drawings in the envelope there. (The elf is not drawn by me, sadly.)

So I'll be reporting more next week (!!!). I'll be calm and mature about this. It's just a name on paper. It will go fine.

On Blogging About James Callis.

What do you post when you've been blogging for a year? I don't want to make a huge big celebration post, because those are never quite as big and celebratory as you had hoped. But I've been wanting to post something meta, so I'm going to ramble about blogging about James Callis. As opposed to rambling about James Callis (although I'm sure I will do that too before the post ends).

I can honestly say I still enjoy writing this blog, and I'm still as into James - or even more so - as I was when I started. These are things I couldn't really count on when I started the blog. You never know with fan feelings. I can also say, to my astonishment, that I've had... *checks* 8,789 views to date. That's amazing. I thought my blog would kind of disappear into the mass of possible other fan blogs and sites. I'm still surprised there aren't more pages about James Callis out there. It feels odd to think that this blog might be a resource for people looking for information on him. I feel proud and humble at the same time.

When I started, I didn't know anything about James Callis fans (nor did I know much about James Callis, coming to think of it). I didn't know what I was getting into. I'm not sure why this is, but I seem to have an easier time starting a blog than going into a forum and saying hi to people. Maybe this has changed a bit, since I am more confident now than I was a year ago. However, the blog itself has proven a good way of meeting new people. I feel a bit guilty for my lacklustre behavior at forums lately. I'm just not that good at writing at forums, and since there aren't many people talking there, the conversations run dry so quickly. We have great conversations on twitter though, so maybe we've just changed the place of discussion.

Blogging about fandom is a very personal thing for me. I try to be honest and open about my own reactions. What you see here is all from the heart: my love, my joy, my humor and - hopefully not too often - my disappointments. Sometimes I wonder if I write for myself, for the fans, or James. If I found out James doesn't care to read the blog, would my own interest wane? I like to think I'd still blog here; writing is my way of dealing with emotions. I transcribe to get to know James and hear his views on things. I read con reports to see how he interacts with other fans. I'm trying to get to know him, and even if my image of him is probably always an illusion, at least it's something very dear to me. It's my personal HeadJames.

Does the fandom also have a collective HeadJames who belongs to all of us? Sometimes in discussions, I feel like we all see the same person: smart, funny, modest and talented, and very, very kind. His love and warmth is for all of us, and it makes us better people. I'm making it sound like a religion. :D Is fandom a religion of sorts? Is fangirl high a spiritual experience? It does elevate me and give me something to believe in. Elina and I met recently and joked about Jamus religion where we'd worship James, but is there a bit of truth to that? Are we the Callis Cult?

OK, I joke about being obsessive, but seriously, I hope that the blog comes off more "warm and admiring" than "obsessive and stalkerish". I do worry about this sometimes. I think about James a lot, but so far, it's only brought positive things (above all, a positive diversion from my depression thoughts). Fandom has to be a little intense, or it doesn't feel as good. That said, if I start to sound like a stalker, please let me know.

I've had some rules with this blog, all pretty much based on the idea that James is a real person somewhere. He's my HeadJames, yet not. He's not a figment of my imagination - or even Ron Moore's - and I can say what I want about Gaius Baltar, but not about James Callis. I've tried to think of what would offend me or freak me out. I hope the blog is respectful and hasn't hurt anyone's feelings. At the same time, I don't want to gush too much. If I don't like something, I'm going to say that. I wouldn't respect a fan who can't criticize anything about me, and I don't want to be that kind of fan.

Sometimes it's hard to draw the line. If someone says something rude about James, what is my role? To defend him? To ignore it? He can speak for himself if something truly bad happens. On the other hand, people shouldn't assume they can say just anything about a celebrity. I didn't have a great experience with defending him, so maybe I'll keep out of that in the future. James probably wouldn't want his fans to start online feuds, so I won't. Unless someone says something that really pisses me off. (I suspect this isn't the last we'll see of Deniselle the defender.)

In only two weeks (!!), Pedda will get me James' autograph. That might change something or nothing in the way I feel about him. An autograph is a name on paper, so I try not to expect too much. It might mean a lot though, especially if it's also MY name written by HIM. Plus I think I'll ask him to draw a dog. I hope he obliges. I'm very curious to see his drawing style. I'll probably be at least a little sad that I'm not personally at An Evening With James Callis, but I'll try to be impartial as usual and keep my calm, matter-of-fact composure. Stiff upper lip!

I've often been complimented on my ability to find James goodies on Google and other sites. To celebrate the anniversary, I thought I'd share a few of my secrets:
-Looking for "James Callis" will give you page upon page of junk sites ("Find all the latest info!!! News item 0 of 0".) You need to type in the full name because "James" is hardly unique (I envy Tahmoh fans), but for valid results, always use other search terms along with the name. Vary the terms and try advanced searches. Be imaginative. It won't always help, but you never know.

-Google blogsearch, on the other hand, is less cluttered than the regular search. "James Callis" will give you many interesting results. However, it won't find everything, so don't rely on it exclusively. "Last week", "last 24 hours", etc. always gives more reliable results, because old posts tend to linger on the blogsearch. LiveJournal entries don't always turn up this way.

-Finding pictures on Google image search is a mess. Try Flickr.com and their search ("Most recent" is usually a good qualifier). Search not only for "James Callis", but also "Gaius Baltar", because there are way too many people who don't know his name. Ditto Photobucket.

-Fan sites are almost always more interesting and detailed than big entertainment sites. Forums are a good place to find personal meeting stories or fan observations. Sometimes you have to search thru a forum topic to find the relevant items, though.

-Cons are a pain to search. For instance, James has been at the 07 New York City Comic Con, the 08 San Diego Comic Con, the 09 San Diego Comic Con, and I'm sure I'm already omitting some. As a result, you get way too many old and useless results with name+comic con. Always use advanced search with specific terms. James Callis+con name+city the con is at, then pick "last 24 hours" or "last week" on advanced search. Be patient and search every day for a week or two if you want to see it all. You can bookmark the search for convenience. (Or, if no one else has the obsession to do this, you can check my blog. :D)

-Try locating sentences inside the text that mention something James said or did. "James Callis"+"James said" or "James Callis"+"he said" might turn up something interesting. (Although the latter can also be misleading because "he" might refer to someone else; this type of search is for patient moments only.)

-Don't expect to find any wild details on his personal life. What you see on the Unofficial website is all you get. There are no photos of his wife or children online.

-Sites promising "james callis porn" are all random spam. Sadly.

I want to send a friendly hello to all the people who read my blog regularly. It makes me so happy that you enjoy the blog and continue to read. If you want to post sometime, feel free to do so; anonymous commenting is enabled here. I read every comment before I publish it, but unless you're blatantly hateful or selling a product, I will probably publish whatever you have to say. Don't feel pressured to comment, however; I can still see you visited and appreciate it. (And don't be freaked out that I can see you; I'm not nerdy enough to do anything with your sitemeter info.) My email is deniselleDOTswanATgmailDOTcom, and all emails are welcome.

Fandom has a life span, and it's not necessarily something I can control. I can't make any promises about sticking around. (Although I was an Ace Of Base fan for almost 15 years, so if that's any indication...) I can only promise that I'll always be honest and open about how I feel, and post in this blog as long as it's fun. I do hope the blog will be around still next year and keep entertaining me and, if possible, others as well.

Let's keep the torches burning and the chanting going, and worship the one and only James Callis, artiste and warm person extraordinaire!

Jamen.

A Gaius/Six Rewatch Community!

Kixxa, Artemis_Neith and myself got the idea of starting a Gaius/Six rewatch community on LiveJournal. We talked about it yesterday and today, it's already set up!

BSG: The Journey Home.

Anyone interested in Gaius and/or Six is welcome to join or lurk, whichever you choose. You need to be a member to post, but anyone can add comments. We're starting on Wednesday, September 2nd with the miniseries. The idea is to watch one episode per week and discuss it throughout the week, whenever everyone has time. Very informal and no pressure on anyone to post.

I'll probably be cross-posting somewhat between this blog and the community. A fun chance to relive the Gaius moments with other fans. I'm looking forward to this!

James Callis iPhone App!

So - there's a new iPhone app for James Callis fans! It sounds exciting in theory:

"There has never been a better way to get accurate, in depth news about James Callis. From the beach, to the stage, to the big screen and back to the night club. It's all here with SupaFan. Download the latest video news about your star."

Wow. Um... sorry for being skeptic, but what news could there possibly be that you can't google?

I'll give you all the exciting news scoops of James Callis for this YEAR so far:
-James Callis was at MegaCon!
-James Callis appeared in Merlin and the Book of Beasts!
-James Callis appeared in Numb3rs!
-James Callis was at FedCon!
-James Callis filmed Re-Uniting the Rubins!
-James Callis had a baby girl!*
-James Callis was at Comic Con!
-James Callis will be at An Evening With James Callis!

I've been excited over a couple of these news items, but not enough to pay iPhone for them, because seriously, you can just google all of this. And also I don't have an iPhone. I wonder if James does. Maybe he could get this app for himself and find out the latest news. :D

* = Awwwww, Anika! (L)

I should make my own app. Find out the latest news on James Callis, as brought to you by the biggest stalker evah!
-Photos of James and his family! Updated twice a day, if they don't catch me! Blueprints of his apartment(s) and daily routines of his children. Don't miss an opportunity to "accidentally" bump into him in the streets of London - LocationTracker (tm) app will help you find him at any time!

-Is he microscopically bigger or microscopically smaller? Tired of squinting at his belly in pictures? PhotoScale (tm) will show you his weight changes down to the gram/ounce! No more guessing!

-How many cigarettes has our favorite chimney smoked today? Find out through the SmokeScreen (tm) app! It will show you not only the number of cigarettes, but also when his nicotine levels start to sink and he needs to have another ciggy! Smoke in the same pace if you're so inclined - cosmic!

-Wanna eat the exact same meals James does? Now it's possible! FeedMe (tm) app will show you exactly what James has been eating and when! Maybe there will be donuts today?

Download SuperStalker (tm) - be the biggest James Callis fan evah!

Random Googlebits, Part Six

(It's French. It's pronounced "sis". I checked.)

A couple more photos from Comic Con.
Blueshirt signing. James looks thoughtful and kind of nostalgic.
Did I already link to this one? Again with the shaking hands! (Maybe he was drunk?)
James talking to Mark Hammill. Not the handshake pic, and Mark's from the back, but still pretty cool.

And a few more con photos:
2008 Dragon*Con BSG party: James and Eddie. There are, uh, quite a few buttons undone on that shirt. Slurp. Hairy.
James Callis is way too skinny. Well, to each his and her own. I think he looks cute there. Since there's some beard scruff, I'd say this is Dragon*Con 2008, not Comic Con 2009. And I guess it's there in the url too. Is it bad that I recognized it just by looking at him? :D
Little man and big man at Farpoint.
FedCon photosessions.

An online chat with James and Jamie Bamber from 2006. I'm not sure if there's much here that is relevant for 2009...

EventManager Hi guys, welcome to chat!
JamesCallis Nannu-Nannu!!
JamieBamber Hello………

I'm not sure what nannu-nannu means :D I remember he used "nanoo nanoo" in some old message, so maybe it's an Indian greeting? Edit: M thinks it might be a Mork&Mindy reference. I'm too young to remember the show. Mork apparently greeted people with a similar noise. All the things I've learned from James!

scott1975 do you think us as humans are pushing the boundaries of science to far when it comes to machines(robotics)

JamesCallis No…
JamesCallis … we are destined to constantly update what we know

...

JamesCallis Watching a show back, I thought Pegasus was pretty outstanding…
JamesCallis … in a sense of being IN the show and also watching from the sofa

Pegasus is one of the best arcs, I think. It also brought out a lot of new stuff in Baltar (more empathy and a deeper connection wtih the model Six) so it's nice to see that James likes it too. As for robotics or science, he did express some concern about going too far in the Jules Verne interviews, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who's scared of new technology just because it's new.

Nightsky What was it that initially attracted you to the characters?
JamesCallis Somebody who had so many sides and was seemingly so complex and duplicitous…
JamesCallis … someone who may be on the wrong side but is trying to do the right thing.

It's interesting to hear James describe Baltar like this, because many viewers have seen him as such a villain and doing the wrong thing the whole time. The aspect of him that he tries to do the right thing is interesting and kind of reminiscent of shows like The Sopranos. If Tony Soprano kills his cousin, is he doing the wrong thing? He's doing right by the family because the cousin was working against him; they're soldiers so it's ok if you have to kill someone; but from another point of view it's completely inhumane and wrong to kill someone, especially someone close to you. In the character's inner reality, something may be right even if the viewers consider it to be wrong. There are similar situations with Baltar (was it right to let Gina go, because she ends up killing Cain? Was it right to give her the nuclear war head, because she ends up blowing up Cloud Nine? and so forth.)

geordie11 What aspects of yourselves did you bring to the characters?
JamesCallis My definite sexiness, otherwise there might not be a 3rd series!!

Hee! You're a lot sexier than you think, James!

JamesCallis Perhaps a product of intelligent television is that the audience is supposed to decide what’s going on…
JamesCallis This is simply presented to you — so you’ve got to work it out — so it engenders debate.

Hmm. I guess there has been some debate on whether BSG is "preachy" or whether it just presents things without moral judgement. Some of the aspects of the finale could be said to comment on modern life (robotics etc.) But I think the show as a whole is still pretty open to interpretation. Is Baltar evil or good? Is Laura Roslin better than Baltar? You decide. I like that about the show. You can have endless discussions (that easily turn into endless fights tho, if you don't watch it :P)

Traveller Are you both surprised by the very positive critical acclaim the series has got?
JamesCallis I am surprised, only in the sense that people appreciate the show as much as we who are making the show appreciate it.
JamesCallis Sometimes that just doesn’t happen …!

From the viewer's perspective, it's also nice to know the people involved with the show believe in what they're doing.

In case you missed it, James held a baby at Comic Con. You can tell he's experienced at holding babies, because he looks totally comfortable and happy, and the baby looks safe and happy in his arms. Awwww. These photos really warm my heart, especially knowing he has a little baby himself at the moment, so I just have to re-link.

An old interview about Bridget Jones' diary:

"I suppose I shouldn't admit that I haven't read the book", says the dashing 29-year-old Londoner, "but I've seen the film and it delivers a lot of laughs. It's also touching and Renée is brilliant in it."

Hmmm. Well, i did like the first movie. I like the word "dashing" here, especially considering how many dashes he uses, hee hee. (No, I will never let that go.)

"Renée's got a degree in social anthropology or something and she's a very bright cookie," he says. "I remember one day her telling me that the reason I feel tired after a turkey dinner is because of an enzyme in the meat called tryptophan. I was like, "Oh, right, I thought it was because I got sloshed at Christmas".

I knew about that, but only because Seinfeld had an episode about it. Jerry wanted to play with this girl's toys, so he fed her too much turkey and then she fell asleep and.. actually that sounds really perverted, but it's based on the same facts. It seems more medicine than social anthropology though.

"Well not so much mine as my sister's", he explains. "A year beforehand my sister rang me up and said "I've had a dream and you are going to be starring in Bridget Jones's Diary and a year later I was!"

Kinda creepy/awesome. You could call that a premonition, because it's a specific movie. I'm not sure about "starring" though, as Tom's role was made so small.

"I write music and play the piano and when I was younger I really did want to be a popstar", says James. I still write music but I've no desire to perform it. I'd rather act. Some people do both but then you get that thing, "Fucking hell, what does he do? Does he act? Does he sing? Does he work for Cable & Wireless?"

I'm really curious to hear more of his music. I hope he plays it somewhere sometime again.

I've got to quote this old gem - a 2007 message from James, where he's apparently gone a little nuts from the heat of Delhi sun:

That doesn't stop me running my morning "chukka" for half an hour to an hour -in the mid day sun (C'mon! I've got a rep to keep up here!) {Mad wolfs and englishmen..da da da etc.}

What is a morning "chukka"? I've tried looking it up, but the definitions are so diverse.

A short, ankle-length boot having two or three pairs of eyelets.

Polo a period of continuous play, usually 7¹⁄₂ minutes [Hindi cakkar]

one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole; "the written part of the exam"; "the finance section of the company"; "the BBC's engineering division"

So he runs his 7½ minute/half hour to an hour ankle-length boot, in which something is regarded as divided and it constitutes a whole..?

Apparently he was working on some documentary stuff too:

I have been helping on a documentary here in Delhi about performers who all live in one "Ghetto" called Shadipur (literally meaning - Marriage -place) Like many things aqui - it's a bit of an eye opener! Some of the most beautiful children in the whole wide world! so many crazy things happening - being perpetrated on this planet of ours! I myself am praying - and checking the internet every time I can in the hope of reading that Madeline has been found alive and well. And then you realize that this is happening all the time - like so many other things... bewildering and feelings of being unable to help are palpably boiling under the skins surface.

It's very touching to me how much James cares about children, and you can tell he really feels their pain in some way.

Amusingly enough:

Tried my hand at some medititation here. After one session - I was singled out in the class and asked if I wanted to enter a retreat! - Neha looked dumbstruck! I couldn't work out whether this was because I was displaying a silent (certainly to me) aura of potentiality - or because I was clearly the one person in the class - who needed most help.....? I've sated myself for now with the belief that the offer was a recognition of both the above maxims.

Hee! :D

He seems disturbed by the violence the UK has inflicted upon India:

I was trying to explain to my Delhi friends - that my family - from Poland and Russia arrived around 20 years after this massacre - thereby divorcing me from this diabloic act of violence - as until my Parents - my family were not strictly speaking English (in fact most of them not speaking English at all!) - and luckily left Amritsar just in time to escape the sectarian violence that has erupted there in the last few days.

I wonder about his family. Apparently he has a grandmother in France. Are both of his parents of Russian/Polish origin? Maybe they immigrated during the war? I guess this is all stuff he likes to keep personal. I must admit it's sort of exotic to me, all of this Jewish heritage stuff. I don't know very much about it.

Still from the same message. This is just hilarious:

so as one school report of mine once read - and I paraphrase - Life can be infuriating - troublesome - crazy - dementing - unruly - (with callis in the class) - but it is never dull! (he was my favourite teacher -)

LOL! :D Sounds like he was a bit of a hellion as a school boy.

A couple more bits and pieces from James messages over the years.

Weather in Vancouver vs. London:

When the sun shines this place is pretty fantastic. When it rains (75 to 80 per cent of the time) It's not. They say the weather is like London, but I think it's different, in London we Know it's going to rain, we just sort of expect the weather to be bad, when it's sunny it's so unexpected we call it glorious... Here there is always the hope that the sun is going to shine at some point during the day so when it doesn't, to quote our Yankee Cousins"It Sucks! Big Time"

We're in for another fall and it looks like rain for the next few days. This just randomly came to mind on the bus yesterday, so I just had to quote it.

Notes about Joshua in 2005 (so he would have been two):

This is the most time I've had with Joshua since he was born and it is a mighty treat. Every moment is a new opportunity for the experimentation of (his)play/(our)patinece. He's particularly fond of animals, Dogs "woo woo" - R No.1 and he has a penchant for dancing to hiphop - And just as he's getting settled here it looks like we'll be off to Vancouver maybe in April maybe sooner for I don't know how long!

Hee! There's something utterly cute about this note. Somehow I love that he called dogs "woo woo".

Living in two continents can be harrowing:

Then there's all that home/busines stuff (bills, mainly!) to settle if your going to be spending most of your time outside the U.K... etc. And how do those mugs at the whatever ever it is depot of ineptitude/phone comp./council tax dep./electricity/gas board of the consumer incompetence division manage to get hold of u if there's a problem and u r thousands of miles away? I have a hunch I'm gonna find out...probably when I'm back in London after Nine Months!

Hee! "ineptitude/phone comp/council tax dep/electricity/gas board of the consumer incompetence division" :D :D I love that.

Still from the same note:

When I was In Canada Last I wanted to get this T shirt made which was to have on the front. "Not Responsible" and on the back "ever" It didn't get made, why? "Responsible " wouldn't fit across the chest. OMG

Hee! The random "OMG" in the end amuses me to no end - maybe he meant LOL? Or maybe he was just so shocked at the smallness of his chest. Actually, I had this mischievious idea of having that shirt made and showing up at a con in it. Because you could easily fit the word "responsible" across MY chest. I wonder how James would have reacted.

That's about it for now, I think - I never know how to end these random posts. Maybe I should say something completely random.

Green umbrella lost in the harrowed umberland. That's who sits on my balcony beating old poetry with a hammer.

James Callis on Angels, Part 2

An adorable interview here.

James is asked if HeadBaltar was really an angel, and he doesn't really know what to say. he thinks for a moment about a simile:

"Where can I get a drink?" and someone says, "Hey, don't ask me, I just work here." That's kind of how I feel about your questions. I just read the lines, I'm not necessarily sure."

He sounds like he might have a thought but doesn't want to say anything definite, since Ron chose to keep it open. I remember back in 2006, he said he thinks HeadSix and HeadBaltar are real, but they're in a different dimension, sort of like a physics thing. I wonder if he still thinks that or if the finale changed it.

Asked if people ask him this a lot:

"They really do. And I'm like, ring Ron! (laughs) He'll sort it out for you. I can't possibly comment."

I doubt you can get a straight answer out of Ron, but if James refuses to comment, let's let a veil of mystery surround HeadBaltar forever, I guess. I am curious if he actually has a theory though, one that could possibly be squeezed out of him if he were drunk enough. Hmmm.

The interviewer, off camera, asks James what "angelic ability" he would have if he were an angel. That's kind of a weird thing to ask, because if I may nitpick, angels are messengers of God, not superheroes with powers. But I'm glad he asked, because James' answer is just the softest and cuddliest thing ever:

"Make people feel warm and happy and love each other. Something like that. Isn't that pathetic?"

He giggles nervously, like he thinks he gave a really stupid answer, when the opposite is true. The interviewer utters a delighted "Awesome", and I totally agree.

James? You already have that ability. You do make people feel warm and happy. Thank you for that. *hug*

Random Googlebits, Part Cinq

So, the con reports are dying out and I'm left here with quick fingers and search terms up to my neck, but nothing left to find. It's always a slightly sad feeling. So methinks it's time to have another random googlebits post. I know I've posted a lot of brief and random stuff lately, so I guess I'm just not ready yet for a huge transcript post. I'm also working on those, though, so I think they'll be making a comeback soon.

You may have noticed I've changed my subtitle. I make no apologies for being a fangirl, so it seems suitable. I might even add a banner. When I started out, it was all very basic and I was worried about copyrights, but I'm more eager to try new stuff now. Almost a year of blogging! :)

On to the googlebits then!

If you wish to see some of my screencaps of the beautiful Last Days of BSG video, head here to kixxa's blog. Basically, I was too lazy to remove the player and borders from the picture, but I might use some of these later as illustrations. I just thought they'd look lovely at kixxa's place, and they do. Dennys Ilic sure can take a James photo.

Speaking of Dennys Ilic and James photos - a must see here. I don't even know what to say about that one, so I'll just quote kixxa: Oh, my giddy aunt!

I'm not really sure what event this post is about, but it's pretty cute. It's about James at some... thing in Manchester in 2006. Apparently Aaron and Sam had an impersonation of him that he hadn't yet seen, and:

I told him to talk to Aaron about attending G2 in August, because he just has to be there to show us all his impersonation of Aaron. To which he replied, "I can show you that now." - he then proceeded to collapse in a drunken stupor.

Hee! :D For a moment, I thought James was actually so drunk he collapsed trying to imitate Aaron. I bet those guys had fun times together. It would be fun to see them interacting more at cons, but it doesn't look like they're going to the same ones lately. I miss seeing the BSG cast together. I wonder if I'll feel the same about the cast of another show, if James gets a permanent role somewhere else.

A brief clip from The Last Frakkin Special. Sniff! BSG is over!

This is one of my favorite James autographs: James Callis loves toasters. If I had that shirt, I would wear it every day. And I love how James plays with the rhyminess of his names.

A hilarious story from the 2006 Dragon*Con, found here at the TWOP thread:

So I try to politely ask for them to leave their drinks behind. Tamoh's sweet and polite and just decides to chug what's left in his cup and he hands it to me. I had to wave down Aaron and pantomime the 'give me the cup' request. Meanwhile James goes to a plant (fake) and begins to pour the drink. I try to politely stop him without being rude, "Um..I can take that and throw it away for you... hey, let me get that..." and finally to stop him I sorta snap "JAMES! The CUP! HAND IT TO ME. I WILL THROW IT AWAY!" He blinks and smiles at me and hands me the cup completely good natured and I'm mortified because I just snapped at James Callis. The crew bops away and I'm thinking 'oh my god, I'm totally my mother.'

Heee! :D It's like drunk, drunker, and drunkest. I'm so surprised James would be that drunk. Surprised and, I dare say, horrified. Here I thought he was an absolutist! *shakes head*

A couple of random photos:

Taken at least year's Dragon*Con panel. Sexy professor James sitting down. Gush!

Lego Six and Baltar. Heee! I love the huge boobs and the lack of cheeks on Baltar. Pretty good!

The BSG hunks. It's kind of something for everyone, isn't it? Different drools for different folks; I'm drooling over James and Aaron.

All intense. And kind of donutty. Taken at a 2007 con. Slurp!

Phonebooth Galactica. I remember James writing that this campaign ran in London just as he was away in Canada or India, and he never got to see it live. It looks pretty awesome though. I've noticed lately that whenever there's a blonde woman and a man kissing on a show, I expect it to be Six and Baltar, and have to mentally correct myself. This also happens with ads and music videos. Should I be worried?

The 4.5 DVD's are out for lucky Americans, and there are lots of extended scenes added in. Nicole_Anell has written about them at her journal. A few comments below, obviously SPOILERS for those who haven't seen season 4.

Islanded in a Stream of Stars extended:

Paulla talks to Baltar about how they'll be moving their cult headquarters off Galactica soon and a bunch of different ships are willing to take them. Which leads to a HeadSix conversation about how he has more power now than he did when he was president; when Galactica's gone he'll have more than Adama. He is completely uninterested and mopey about it.

And then HeadSix says, "She's not the one." And Gaius says, "She's the only one." EEEEE SHIP!!! Why did they cut this? I just can't believe... Well, see below where I rant about the cut scenes.

Daybreak extended:
Apparently there's a random teenage boy whom Baltar teaches about life (saying basically that you can never have enough fame, women or money. Hee!).

(2) So the scene about Caprica-Six putting his dad in a home is altered a bit, because HELLO RANDOM TEENAGER is actually there with Six -- he let her into the house. (I prefer the edited-down version, 'cause you just assume she broke in. Hee.) So there's a bit of time wasted getting Calvin out of the way before they get into the important part of the scene, and I'm not crazy about it even though Baltar admonishing the kid is kind of funny. ("Don't think I'm not going to tell your mum about this. Total abuse of my respect!")

Hee! It sounds funny, but I grudgingly admit... not altogether essential for the finale. I'm eager to see it because it's more JAMES, but it's about the first time a cut Baltar scene sounds a little... well... unnecessary. I mean, the deleted scenes on all DVD's are full of extra-long scenes of Adama and Lee talking, Adama and Laura talking, Adama and Tigh talking, Kara and Lee talking. I can usually see why they've been cut for length. But the Baltar/Six scenes have almost always been gold and I've been gritting my teeth at whoever's in charge for cutting them. This also applies to that above bit from Islanded, which really would have added something to the Baltar/Six saga.

So what happened here? I suppose the reason I'm not as excited about this scene is that it's not more of Baltar/Six, just more Baltar, with some random new character we've never seen before. I tend to think it's a bad idea to introduce someone new in the finale. That said, I'll probably love the scenes because it's Gaius Frakkin' Baltar. And he's the motherfrakking shit.

James Callis at San Diego Comic Con 2009

Updated on Friday, 7th August, at 3:10 AM Finnish time.

Friday updates:

Spoke too soon. I think this update is the cutest I've seen so far, from any can. Two photos with James holding a baby. My heart just melted looking at these. Awwwww! He looks so kind and natural with the child. DaddyMan! (L) (L) (L)

And three other pictures here, here and here, all very cute, but I'm still staring at James with the baby.

Wednesday updates:

OK, looks like that's about it for the con updates. I'm not going to be actively searching anymore.

But I did find one more picture, with a very amusing if awkward grin. Is he just beginning to smile? Or joking around? Or is he like "ehh" because the fan's being odd and scary? You do the math. Cute either way. :D

Final words in case I won't update this anymore... Eeee I love his hair!!! (L) Well, I think I already said that a couple of a times. :D I think he's a bit bigger than FedCon, which is also much appreciated. One of these days I'm going to get a microscope so I can better estimate his weight situation at all times.

Next up: An Evening with James Callis on September 12. Eeee! Pedda from Caprica City has kindly offered to get me James' autograph, and I'm pretty excited over that, so there may be even more gushing than usual. So look forward to that next month.

Monday updates, part 2:

Thanks to Artemis_Neith: The beautiful James images from the SyFy party are posted here, at the Caprica City forum! I linked to the thumbnails earlier, but here are the full-sized photos. He's so charming! (L) Seven pictures all in all, scroll down to see all of them. Gush! I can't decide which is my favorite one - shyboy grin, or "Yeah, I'm alright". He looks amused at himself, and like he's having fun posing a little. Gorgeous.

Coke! Yay! I always look forward to the Coke shots, and almost thought I wouldn't have one this time around. The coffee's been there for "caffeinated beverages fetish" purposes, but Coke is better, maybe because I drink it myself.

Again with the hand-shaking! What is he gesturing? The table? Himself? "Come here"? I love the golden little spiral that his wedding ring makes. And unlike some fans, I'm not at all bugged by the presence of said ring.

And his table, albeit without him. You can see his sign, with the altered photo price of 20 bucks. I guess I should critize that or something, but all I can think of is "aww, he's written it so neatly". The fangirl is fangirling. Also, those are some nice-looking photos that you can get signed.

Monday updates, part 1:

Bear McCreary has written a long post about his Comic Con experience, including three cute James photos! Bear is the composer for BSG, and his blog is insightful and well written. (Plus I have a soft spot for him since the mockumentary he did with James.)

What's going on here? It looks like Hogan is crying, Eddie's soothing him and James is looking on, ready to burst into tears himself. Are they just hearing about Harvey Frand? Or maybe they're joking around and Hogan's pretending to be crying? Weird.

James is shaking his hand again. And his hair is looking endearingly scruffy, like he just got out of bed or something. :D I wonder what that sticker in his chest said? Does anybody remember?


Sunday updates:

Dianora's Comic Con report part one, with two photos of James. Dia's met James many times before - much fan envy, grrr! - and mentions being "strangely reticent" this time, so maybe James was really just tired on Friday evening. He does look tired, but cute. Mmm. Dia, like someone else earlier, mentions going wild over the leather jacket (who didn't?). And she calls the EVIL hat a trucker hat. It always amuses me when people make the trucker reference, for some reason.

Puppy eyes. Awww.
Posing with Eddie and Hogan here, here and here. Since James never had many scenes together with them, it feels a little more special to have these shots of them together.

There are a bunch of photos from the BSG concert, but I'm only linking to a couple that show James from upclose. He's put on his regular glasses and the EVIL text of the trucker hat is no longer hidden under the sunglasses. It makes it somehow more amusing, yet I also wish to see his hair. Here's two in color:

Mischievious-looking grin.
In thought.

I like it when he wears glasses. It makes me feel closer to him, because I wear glasses. This means we're totally soul twins and understand each other about everything and all that. And maybe it's because it's so hot right now, but I cannot imagine going to California and wearing a leather jacket PLUS a flannel shirt PLUS a boy next door shirt. Why wasn't he boiling?

For some reason, these are all black and white:

Talking with his hands. (Michelle looks damn hot and very different from Admiral Cain!)
Hand on his heart.
Looking amused.
Applauding. Hee! He has his mouth open and looks very happy here. So cute.
Looking at Michelle while smiling all cutely. Does he have a ponytail? Ahh, the hair!

Saturday updates:

A very cute picture with a very cute young fan. Awww.

Talking to a fan. His head is cutely tilted and he looks interested in what the fan has to say. Awww again. Also: I love his ear and the locks of hair over and under it. His hair looks SO GOOD right now. Guh.

There's a gigantic post here, but if you have a slow connection, you might want to skip straight to the James pictures, here and here. Somehow these are very amusing photos. He has this cartoonish look on his face in both of them. Maybe the fan he's talking to is saying something funny.

Baltar. Nuff said. Slightly blurry, but I love these frozen moments - again, it looks like he's making "signature" movements in the air. Maybe he air-signed for some people who didn't want to pay? ;)

That seems to be all for now. I'll keep an eye on the reports at least for a few more days. I'm working again, so there may not be as frequent updates, but I'm still searching.

Friday updates:

Video linky! DEWDcast had a nice little chat with James about Comic Con and how fans approach his character. Apparently they got a little more positive about Gaius by the end. "After the first season they were like, 'Oi, you', and after the second season they weren't too keen either." :D He looks and sounds lovely and I can't get over how second season Baltar he looks! *loves*
(Also, it seems like they caught him while smoking, since there are others smoking in the background. That just adds to the cuteness in my book! ;) )

A lovely meeting story from verymiao:

I happened to be walking by and did a double-take when I saw him and EJO posing for a picture. I gawked for a bit, then he sat down and I realised he was signing autographs. I thought there must be a long line, but no, he was just... there! So my man & I went up and started chatting to him. We talked about Sex, Chips and Rock & Roll. I was like "You were brilliant... with your, like, 2 lines" and he looked a bit miffed and said "Did I have 2 lines? I think I had a few more than that" and then I said something about how he was mostly looking pretty with his long hair. Hopefully I didn't offend him! He asked me if I was drooling over Dallas and I just kind of gave him a weird look and said "Uh... no". Duh, James, I was drooling over you?

The worst part was that we realised as he was signing a pic that we'd just spent most of our cash, and he didn't take credit card. We paid him with our last $17 and a £5 that we randomly had.

Anyway, there you go. I was kind of randomly insulting, stiffed him on his fee, and he was still nice to me.

SORRY JAMES!

Awww! Maybe he thought you were drooling over Dallas and didn't even notice he had more than two lines? I actually thought his role was pretty central, but I can imagine choking up like this in front of The James. And I don't think that was very insulting at all. I love the haggling bit - when I saw that on twitter, I thought the guy was just a haggler in general. :D

A lovely photo and meeting story here:

He was extremely friendly / funny. The guy who was before me asked what he was up to now and his first response was, “Well, sleep mostly.” After taking the picture he told me to make sure I liked it, then looked at it and said, “I think it’s pretty cool actually.” He too kinda seemed like his character, again, without the sociopathic tendencies.

Hee! I thought he was having sleepless nights in the suburbs? Maybe Anika is sleeping all night already.

And a very friendly smile here. Awww!


Thursday updates, part 2:

Baltar's babes. *drool* *stares* OK, I have a new favorite. It keeps changing, but this is just... *drool*

With Nicki Clyne. Baring his teeth, which looks adorable.

And uh... that seems to be all for today! We'll see if there's a bit more stuff coming in tomorrow, or if it dwindles down for now. Stay tuned!

Thursday updates:

Some new photos!

Gorgeous thumbnails on this page, with James showing up at some gala or other. However, when you click on them to enlarge, it tells you to log in. Blah. Still, the thumbnails are big enough to see his beauty. Thumbs up!

My new favorite, looking up at a fan so happy and animated. (L)! And the hair! So pretty.
Closeup. I love how his chest hair just creeps up and won't be hidden. It has a mind of its own.
Talking about something, which always looks cute when frozen in a picture. That's one gigantic cup of coffee he's got there.
Looking down. Chest hair, again, creeping up. Between that and the hair parting... guh! Had to turn on the fan.
A funny face. He looks grief-stricken, but maybe it's just the way his face happened to be at the moment the camera snapped. Hee.
Talking to EJO and Nicki Clyne. There's a bit of a blur here, but the hair can be seen.
This one only shows his arm, but Nicki looks lovely, so I'm going to include it.
And a couple of more photos with him talking to EJO and Hogan, here and here. And talking to... someone else here.

Again, a bit blurry. I'm not sure if I endorse snapping a photo of someone else's photo with stars. But James looks gorgeous, so linkage.

I wonder if the blue shirt is the same one he wore at last year's Dragon*Con. It looks the same. The white one could be the shirt he had on for The Music of BSG, but he's ditched the suspenders.

Edit: There was a bunch of back and forth between me and Dan Radke, but since he published it all in his own blog, I've decided to delete it from here. I consider the matter closed.

Wednesday updates, part 3:

James with a couple of cosplayers. The hair of it all! (Hmm, maybe bigger than FedCon after all..? *drools* *slaps self*)

A picture with a fan. I think I already linked to this blog earlier, but it's a bigger photo. You can see James' eyes well here, and he looks great! I wonder why he was wearing two shirts though. Isn't it hot in California?

James Callisto. Looking very cute as he's signing an autograph. He looks downright tender. (L)!


Wednesday updates, part 2:

More photos! James can be seen in the background in a few, but my absolute favorite is the one with him in the blue shirt posing with a fan. I.e. this one. I'd say something witty or intelligent, but... I dunno. My brain seems to have melted.

From another blog post:

Just as K and I were looking at James Callis, he gave us a "oh yeah, the chicks dig Gaius" look. He instantly switched into the character and sent us into giggles. So much so that we bolted, not believing we'd been reduced to such behavior. I still giggle when thinking about it.

LOL!! :D That's so... I'm glad he's used to the fangirling and can play it cool like that. It must amuse him after a while that girls stare at him and giggle. I just hope this blog doesn't come off that way (especially this post and some donut-related ramblings). I want to at least appear intelligent, but sometimes it's hard.

Observations... hmm... Observations... umm.. he's hot! So hot! Oh god!

Some photos of James talking at a BSG concert. I wish I knew what he's saying.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
He's probably talking about Harvey Frand, and he has that warm look on his face that tells me he's saying something beautiful.

And here he's looking cute listening to someone else.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5. Awww, so adorable!

Clapping, although the motion blur messes it up a bit. He just looks so happy that link I must.
And part 2.

This outfit isn't so much "trucker" as it is "boy next door". It's cute how he dresses down. I'm not sure which I prefer, this one or the stylish white shirt the following day.


Wednesday updates, part 1:
(I apologize for just gushing and not having much to say, but I just woke up and James is just really gorgeous in these.)

A blog post about Comic-Con, including two lovely photos:

This is my favorite moment of the whole con, I got my picture with James Callis who is Gaius Baltar from Battlestar Galactica. He is my favorite character on the show and the picture with him was only 10$ so wahoo! He was really cool and nice.

Awww! (L)

SyFy party arrivals: James Callis. How beautiful is he? He's SO beautiful. The hair! The face! The glasses! I... I'm running out of comments. *gush!*

Gush, part 2: The son of gush.

How is he so beautiful in every picture? It's just... wow. Hmm, it doesn't really look like he has a donut belly here. Maybe it was just the shirts. *sigh* Well, if he's gonna be this gorgeous, it doesn't really matter. Mmmm.

And then there's the leather coat. That's... It really... Oh my god. These seem like another set of sneak photos: getting set up, eating something (awww), talking?...

Did I link to this one before? He's talking to the guy next to him, and I love how he puts his hands in his armpits. So cute.

In the series of "I'll take a picture from afar so no one can charge me": OMG Baltar. Does he have a backpack on?

Tuesday updates, part 3:

Hey, I forgot to check flickr for Baltar! SO HOT.

ZOMG indeed! When I saw this, I had to get some ice cream with chocolate chips. (interesting reaction, actually.)

Intense, if a bit tired. Hmm, I wonder if James took this one himself? It seems to be that close up.

OMG, the hair. So beautiful. On Friday he had a scruffy chin, on Saturday he was clean shaven.

Is it just me or is he looking more like Baltar than he has in years? I mean early seasons Baltar. Is he getting younger-looking lately? Guh!

The ladies love Baltar.

The cap AND the boy next door shirt from FedCon! (They actually go together!) He looks very thin in some of these pictures, but not so thin in others, so... OK, have I become one of those annoying people who comment on how thin he looks all the time? I think I'd rather be the annoying person who thinks he looks fatter in every picture, just because I hope so. So I give you this picture and my assessment that while the shirts seem to be bunching up, the shape of his body does look different from FedCon.

A new picture on Flickr.. hmm, damn, that is a lot of shirt. Maybe I'll just focus on his hair again. Mmm, hair.

Baltar face. Hmm, not exactly what I looked for but very cute nonetheless. I knew people were naming their dogs Gaius Baltar left and right, but this is the cutest one I've seen yet. This one's pretty good too though. It looks soo guilty!

Tuesday updates, part 2:

An article on BSG at Comic Con. James is quoted talking about Harvey Frand, a BSG producer who died recently. RIP, Harvey!

"He always made us feel like he was looking after us, which is rare in this cutthroat business we're in," James Callis said.

I can't remember offhand where I got this idea, but I had the impression James is quite fond of Harvey. I should look into this more later. Edit: Just to avoid confusion, I'll add that the quote does sound like he likes Harvey a lot; I just can't remember why I thought so in the first place.

A picture from the concert, with James wearing the leather coat and the trucker cap!

From this Livejournal, some cute pictures. James sipping coffee! (No Coke pictures this time, but there was coffee and water next to him.) And - wrestling with Hogan? Hee! :D I don't know what they're doing exactly, but it looks hilarious!

An interesting meeting story:

James Callis was sitting there all alone so I thought, oh what the heck, dug out my $30 and approached. "A fellow Brit!" he exclaimed "where are you from?". Bless my sausages, he'd heard of Woking, and even done some filming there (unless he says that to everyone about their home town!). He actually took time writing a message, and spelling my name right "what a lovely name!" - very smooth, very polished, very - to be honest - fake.

Hmm. That's one I haven't heard before. Maybe it's impossible to be genuinely excited over every fan who comes over to talk to you, but still. It could be a cultural difference, since James has spent a lot of time with Americans, and mentioned he prefers their courtesy over the British behaviour. I guess it's one of those "can't believe this of MY James" things. I won't believe he's fake, sorry. He'll have to be fake at ME before I believe it.

A blurry photo of James here, talking to a woman at a bar. (Second picture in the second row... I think that's James, judging by the hair. :D)


Tuesday updates, part 1:

Wow, it feels like it's been a while. I did quite a bit of searching on flickr and twitter with my mobile phone, but not all pictures load up on my mobile. And of course I couldn't update the blog bc linking didn't work. So good to be back. I think I'll divide today's updates into text and photos.

Text updates (mostly from Twitter):

Blog updates haven't really started coming yet, but I want to thank FanGrrl Magnet for their lovely linkage to my blog. (They also have lots of links to Comic Con items, but I have yet to go thru them). Welcome to any new readers - I love James Callis, is pretty much all you need to know. Hope you enjoy the blog!

frogs_breath: I met James Callis at Comic Con today after my friends had him call my voicemail to embarrass me. It was amazing!!

*bristles with fan envy* James never called my voicemail. I don't have a voicemail, though, so maybe that's why.

RejectRobert: Mark Hamill and James Callis just shook hands. Nerd moment! Col Saul Tigh is here too

That sounds awesome! I hope someone got a photo.

s5: just haggled James Callis for a signed photo from $30 to my last $17 and a £5 note. #comic-con #bsg

Hee! Haggling at a con! :D

adorkablegrrl: James Callis (BSG - Dr. Gaius Balter) just lit my cigarette. Who knew smoking would pay off? He's hotter in person & very sweet! #BitchBuzz

Every con has a random cigarette mention, and this is it for Comic Con. I always feel warm and fuzzy when people are surprised at how sweet he is.

adorkablegrrl: James Callis, "Comic Con has been great, but I'm kind of ready for it to be over." (We all are, James! Well mebbe just me & you.) #BitchBuzz

Awww, maybe he was looking forward to meeting his baby girl again *gush gush* But yeah, it must be stressful for the stars to be at the con. I'm kind of impressed he's even doing it this year with all the family stuff going on.

cynicgrrl: Of course TODAY James Callis looks super hot in a leather jacket. I got him in a trucker hat. Sigh.

LOL! Glad I'm not the only one who got a trucker vibe!

GeekParenting: Just saw the Mighty Boosh live. James Callis (Baltar from Battlestar Galactica) was standing next to me in the balcony! I didn't bug him.

Good for you. He probably wouldn't have minded, but it's still nice to know he got to do something without fans clinging onto him.

seiken1: only james callis, aka "gaius baltar" can sport a trucker hat saying "evil" and get away with it and still be cool.

Hee! I know!

candacetwilson: I got to hug James Callis!!!! I got my Baltar sandwich today!!!

I'm not envious. *grumbles and turns green*

geekgirldiva: I have a feeling James Callis may be the most patient man in history. Took 3 tries to get this shot. http://twitpic.com/bi53p

Awww! He is a sweet guy. I've heard that he wants to make sure the photos turn out right, and is willing to have a new one taken if it doesn't work. Also, he doesn't look annoyed or bored at all in that pic. Gush!

geekgirldiva: Squeeeeeee! Just got pics, vid and cheek kisses from Michael Hogan, James Callis and Adam Baldwin.

Cheek kisses?! *turns green all over again*

Mindbomb2000: #sdcc Standing about 10 feet from James callis, They won't let me take a picture. Charging 10 bucks. But I'm absorbing the vibe for free.

Like I've said before: if you're not willing to pay the price, you might not be all that into the star. (With the exception of Mark Hamill who charged a HUNDRED bucks for an autograph. Poor fans!)

emperorjb: @EvanCudworth I'm expecting James Callis to play a drum solo with his penis tomorrow to compensate for Katie playing your show.

Bwah! Sadly, he didn't. Or if he did, I haven't found the mention yet. (I think I would have found it by now.)

janewiedlin: OMG. Gaius Baltar sitting in seat behind me on train!!!!!!!!!!!!! Swoon.

*imagines being in that situation* Eeeeeee!!!

dustchick: Giggled like a member of his harem in the presence of Gaius Frakking Baltar.

*imagines being in that situation* Giggle!!

I wonder if I'd be less giggly - or more giggly than the average fangirl at these cons?

Photo updates:

Lots of new photos on Flickr!

Firstly, let's drool over this - a tiny donut belly! (L)! It's not big, but it does look bigger than at FedCon, so I'm a happy puppy. He looks vital and beautiful. Drool!
Edit: M noted that he's wearing two shirts in this picture, so that might explain it. I need to look more closely at the pictures with just a T-shirt on, but at least I was happy while looking at that picture.

Not sure what's going on here, but it seems to require a lot of concentration. Besides a trucker vibe, the cap gives me a little boyish vibe, and I'm going, "Awww" while watching these.

The pose. Calm look straight at the camera. And we're looking lovely. It's surprising how many photos are of James alone, since it was only ten bucks for a photo WITH him. I know which I'd rather take.

This is off topic, but as soon as my girlfriend saw this outfit, she said, "LOL, he looks like Travis!" Apparently in Silent Hill: Origins, Travis wears something very similar. It's the same shirt, the only difference is that James didn't tuck it in his pants. Hee!

Then for some more hair drooling! On Saturday, James had ditched the EVIL cap and was showing the top of his lustrous hair. Very second season Gaius Baltar, very sexy. I think this has to be my favorite hair length and curliness. A stylish white shirt plus the rare treat: glasses! I do wonder about those glasses. Does he wear them on a regular basis or can he pick and choose? Does he wear contacts when he doesn't have them on?

Signing. Again very focused. OK, maybe it's not the cap, maybe it's just James. When he's really focused on something, there's this little boyish vibe to him. Awww.

Speaking of awww. Gorgeous! This picture had me wondering if I actually prefer him without glasses. I'm not sure. Some of my favorite Baltar pictures are with glasses, but Baltar is not the same as James. They do add a certain je ne sais quoi, but on the other hand... drool... I must ponder on this further.

This photo looked really awkward on my mobile, and looking at it on my screen, it... still looks pretty awkward. It doesn't really even look like James. Judging by the text, someone just snapped it instead of getting an autograph, so that explains it.

The only one I've found so far of Sunday: James with Eddie, Hogan, Bear and... some other people I don't recognize. Sunglasses again, but no cap! Love his smile there. (And with his arm around a beautiful lady, of course!)

Saturday updates:

Just a quick update before I go (I'm not feeling well so I might postpone it, but no promises.)

Two new photos: here and here.

And a meeting story!

He was friendly as ever but seemed pretty tired. I showed him the picture of the girls and I from LA and asked if he'd mind signing it, and he laughed and said of course - he held it up to the guy sitting next to him dealing with the money and said "Baltar's babes!" I told him we joked we were Baltar's "nymph squad", as Laura put it, and he laughed again. I asked if he was going to the concert, and he said yeah, but not tonight, and asked if I was - I said no, I'm not 21 yet, but I'd really like to. He said not to do anything illegal, haaaah! Oh, I'd do illegal things with you, James Callis ;)

Hee! I'm thinking of this picture, and I wonder if it's the same one. And he signed it:

"Dear Avery - Baltar's Babes Live 4 Ever! Love James Callis."

Hee! :D I love "Baltar's Babes". And somehow I love it when he uses 4, 2, u r and all those netspeak things. I'm not saying it makes him hip and cool but... well, I guess I do think it makes him hip and cool. :P

And he apparently went to see Diablo Cody's new offering, Jennifer's Body, which sounds incredibly weird, even more so than Juno. A picture here and - seriously, what's with the cap? He looks about to fall asleep in this picture. I wonder if Anika is keeping him awake at night. (L) (Curly chest hair!!)

Friday updates:

The first closeup! He looks beautiful. His eyes so brown and soft and the hair... Ah, the hair...

Also on twitter: some people saw him eating a sandwich. No details on the type of sandwich. I will report later on any food/drink items if details should come in. ;)

Another picture from the second autograph session. Different shirt, same cap - same sunglasses over the cap. Hee! I'm in love with that lock of hair over his ears. It's gorgeous.

First picture! Guh! So hot! Long hair! Chest hair! He's pinching his own arm! Awww! (Also in this picture: his sign with the fees - 30 bucks for an autograph, only 10 for a picture, very modest in my opinion. The noteworthy thing in the sign is that it lists Relic Hunter and Soldier, Soldier as some of his previous work. WTF?! Soldier, Soldier is like worst show ever and only Brits would know it. Relic Hunter - he was in it for one episode. Why not list Sex and Chips, Ruth Rendell Mysteries, or even Numb3rs? Who writes these signs?)

OK, I see there's a whole bunch of photos already. See the flickr search. He looks adorable and very sexy. He's wearing his "evil" cap, and sunglasses over it. And a flannel shirt with the sleeves bunched up at the elbow. Does anyone else get a trucker vibe of this outfit? :D

He seems to be shaking his hand in many of the pictures. As if he's making "autograph" motions even when he's not signing. Maybe it's an involuntary movement that hits him when he's signing? :D So cute.

Mini edit: No new links, but it took me a while to get that in the "James Callis and Alice" picture, it's not a woman named Alice who likes to dress weird, but a cosplayer pretending to be Alice in Wonderland. Duh! :D This is quickly becoming my favorite new picture. James looks happy and amused at the costume. And his HAIR! Long curly hair! *gush*