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.

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.