A red letter day of sorts. I'm going to
stop procrastinating and update my website
at last. It's been a very busy year. I believe
the last time I wrote was after my trip
to Birmingham England. That trip was so
spectacular. Another example of the Battlestar
Galactica gift that keeps on giving!
Here's a teaser for you. Imagine 13 people
squeezed into a fabulous stretch limousine
for 3 hours driving the countryside of the
United Kingdom. Also imagine this if you
will..seated at the back was Richard Hatch
who is possibly the gentlest soul I know.
Then there's the gorgeous and all grown
up Noah Hathaway.. I used to babysit him
during our Galactica days..GASP!!!
I had an age crisis right there in that
limo. So there were Apollo and Boxey taking
turns pouring glassfuls of our rather large
bottle of champagne...I was seated next
to the adorable Aaron Douglas of (dare I
say it?) the new, gritty Battlestar
Galactica. We became great friends
on this trip and he's a really an amazing
guy. Annie Lockhart (who was not on this
particular limo ride) and I had a grand
time reciting limericks in the hotel bar
with Aaron and our friends Rachel and Mark
Turner who were helping out with the convention
in Birmingham. I have lots to tell you about
Mark and Rachel later.
I seem to be doing a stream of consciousness
thing here so hang on. This particular trip
to England definitely stirred some fires
between the old and the new Galacticas.
(A bit of suspense for you!) I really think
there was a great deal learned on both sides
from this trip and we all came away better
for it.
Back to the limo...to my right was Star
Trek's Walter Koenig who was a most
charming addition as he regaled us with
tales of his adventures with George Takei
at their first conventions. We were all
in stitches. Also to my right was jovial
Jack Stauffer. He had a pretty horrendous
migraine though so wasn't his usual bouncy
self. Further back was my pal and Galactica
music master Stu Phillips..I just love Stu.
John and I are lucky enough to live near
Stu and his beautiful wife Dori so we try
to keep up with an occassional dinner. John
Dykstra and his wife Cass also live a few
blocks from us as do director Alan J. Levi
and his wife Sondra.
And last but certainly not least on that
long limo ride was the now sleeping Herb
Jefferson. It was an exhausting weekend
for all. Yes, there were a few others which
I'm horrified to say at this moment I cannot
recall. Richard and I got them to stop briefly
so we could attempt to find restrooms somewhere.
We wandered into a mall that seemed to be
in the middle of nowhere. Richard and I
tried our luck at one of those crazy machines
that you put money in then manuever the
mechanical arm to win a prize. In this case
a rather natty looking stuffed animal. Nevertheless,
Richard was my knight errant and tried to
grab the one I wanted. No such luck despite
his valiant efforts. I swear that machine
was rigged.
We spent a few hours in the charming little
town of Swindon where we all signed autographs
in the memorabilia store of our host Steve
Goss. Local press were there for interviews
and we all had a grand time. We were all
exhausted by this time and anxious to get
to our hotel for sleep but cozied up in
the back room to talk a bit with the press.
In the middle of our session in strides
Dirk Benedict. We all laughed at his ability
to 'make an entrance' and seemingly inhale
all of the focus in the room. In truth he'd
been accidentally left behind at the hotel
as his flight had come in at a different
time than the rest of us. Oops. A humbling
experience for our Starbuck. I must say
that no matter how much time goes by, our
little Battlestar family just picks
up where it left off. Most of us communicate
through emails and the occassional phone
call. Terry Carter who came in later that
night from Norway is always in touch. He's
a brilliant businessman as well as a wonderful
actor. I feel we've sort of put him in a
patriarchal role after Lorne Greene passed
away.
It was really something to have all of us
seated in a long row..actually an "L"
so that we had a corner in the convention
hall, each of us with a huge poster behind
us. It was exciting to meet so many fans
from other countries..each having stories
of their own about their experiences watching
Battlestar Galactica. Many with
questions about the new show as well.
I'll write in a week or two about that controversy
and some of the friction it created. Also
can't wait to tell you about the 'day off'
when Annie Lockhart and I went to visit
the famous Stonehenge and then off to Stratford
Upon Avon with our new friends Rachel and
Mark Turner. Have a safe and happy week.
PLEASE CHECK OUT MY SON JAKE'S MOVIES AT:
video.google.com and type in "Jake
McCook". He will be adding more movies
soon and he's getting quite a following.
Did You Know?
Quotes-
"...Battlestar Galactica will never happen again the way it was." - Talking about a revival.
Trivia- Laurette played a skier on Three's Company.
