Thursday, March 22, 2012

Galacticruise 2008

I know it's been a while since I blogged, but life has been chaotic!!

Good news is, I got to go on Galacticruise celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the original Battlestar Galactica!! AND, I got to go with one of my favorite Star Wars friends, Darth Jazzie!!!

Once I was finally able to get to Los Angeles having weathered Hurricane Ike, I had an absolutely fantastic time! Galacticruise 08 was a reality for me!! Woo hoo!

The first day and night, Jazzie and I spent on the Queen Mary, the haunted cruise ship hotel at Long Beach. It was beautiful!During the day Jazzie and I toured the hotel and a friend of mine that I've known for several years from Houston visited me there as he lives in LA now as an aspiring actor. It was wonderful to see him again!!

That night, we had our pre-cruise dinner where I met several wonderful people and dined with Terry Carter (of Battlestar Galactica fame - Col Tigh) and Austin Stoker (Beneath the Planet of the Apes).

After dinner, Tom DeSanto (Transformers, X-Men) showed us his concepts for Battlestar as he was planning to do before the reimaging was conceived. Afterward, some of us continued out on deck of the Queen Mary to take in the night view.

Next day, it was up and ready to begin boarding the Carnival Paradise! I had to take pics along the way, of course, including of a new friend I had made.

That night, after we were all aboard, we had our opening ceremonies and Q&A session with the entire panel of stars who had accompanied us on the cruise. Our guests included, Robert Feero (two episodes of Battlestar), Stu Phillips (composer of Battlestar music as well as other shows), Richard Hatch (of course, Capt Apollo/Tom Zarek), Austin Stoker, Terry Carter, Terrence McDonnell (writer), George Murdock (Dr on Battlestar), Sarah Rush (Rigel on Battlestar) and Denny Miller (one episode of Battlestar). They were all such nice, wonderful people!! We also had a cocktail party with the opportunity to mingle and have photo ops with the attending stars. Then it was our first dinner on the cruise! Great food, great company!

The next day, after staying up partying, of course, we were at Catalina Island! We took a shore excursion with Sarah Rush to see Catalina. It was just beautiful! I got a great shot of the ship while going over to the island. The things to do on the island itself were limited given the amount of time we had, but we still managed to have a great time!

That night, along with the first night, I went to see the ship's show with a friend I had made there. She knew some of the entertainment cast, so we had some fun with them both nights! We decided we were Justin's Angels (Dance Capt) just for fun!! LATE nights!!! LOL

Next day was Ensenada Day!! As it was also the actual 30th Anniversary Day of the original Battlestar Galactica, we had panels with the various stars all day and an excursion to Ensenada to Papas & Beer with the group. Afterward, we walked the streets of Ensenada to shop. Eventually, we made our way back to the Paradise for the remainder of the panels.

That night after dinner, one of my new friends and I did some partying with Michael Wehrhahn (actor) and Derek Conley (aspiring actor) and friends of Richard's. We had a blast!!! Stayed up AGAIN, way too late, but it was worth it!! LOL

Thursday of the cruise already and it was Richard Hatch seminar day. He gave a couple of great seminars which were really interesting!

That evening was our autograph opportunity with all the stars and, again, photo ops! I spent way too much money, but that was fine.

Before dinner, we took a group picture of all of us. We also had a chance for some pics of each other since it was all drawing to a close.

Dinner that night, being the last of the cruise, was a time for celebration, some good byes and plenty of pictures. Richard Hatch sat at our table that night which was nice. He happened to sit by me so I had the chance to talk with him at length which was very enjoyable. He also discovered while a pic was being taken that I am very ticklish and he kept tickling me!! Squeee!!

Afterward, it was time to have our last party! Several of us got together, danced, had fun and rocked the night away! Of course, general goofiness was a major ingredient! The last hoorah!

Next day was departure day. Final good byes and parting of the ways. I am so glad Darth Jazzie and I got to go together! The ship was beautiful, the steward provided Towel Pals everyday and it was just plain fun!It was really hard to get back to reality, but here I am!! And I finally have internet again after it was down for two weeks from Hurricane Ike! Yippeee!!!

Whutt is in a name...

Everyone knows Jabba, the Hutt, but very few know that outside of the Hutts, the word "hutt" has become a [whispers]bad word[/whispers]. Due to the very nature of the Hutts, hutt as a [whispers]bad word[/whispers] makes sense.

When you are walking in the streets of Tatooine, don't be surprised if you are speaking to someone and they say, "Did you see that huttin' idiot over there haggling with the huttin' Jawas?" It's a huttin' widespread epidemic!

It has even crept into the everyday language of the rebel soldiers as they are laughing and joking with each other in their downtime and having a huttin' great time!

Interestingly, it has even gone as far into the galaxy as the core, where you may overhear someone beating the hutt out of someone else in the lower levels of Coruscant. It's huttin' amazing what has become of that little huttin' word.

Be careful of your use of hutt. If your mother catches you using it in ways other than describing Jabba, the Hutt, you might get a mouth full of huttin' soap!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Twelve Days of BFD

Tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas"

On the twelfth day of BFD
my true love gave to me

Twelve Rebels blasting
Eleven troopers marching
Ten Jedi leaping
Nine starships flying
Eight handmaids posing
Seven aiwha swimming
Six Bith's a-playing
Five golden droids....
Four roaring blurrgs
Three Naboo shaaks
Two lightsabers
And a duckling in a shuura tree!

I Saw Leia Kissing Han Solo

Tune of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (sung by C-3pO)

I saw Leia kissing Han Solo
In that room aboard the ship last night
They didn't see me peep
'Round the corner I did creep
I thought the Princess might
Need me to save her from her plight

Then, I saw Leia holding Han Solo
'Round his neck and he held her so tight
Oh, what a laugh it would have been
If Chewie had only seen
Leia kissing Han Solo last night

White BFD

To the tune of White Christmas

I'm dreaming of a white BFD
Just like the ones we had on Hoth
Where the Tauntaun's frozen
Cuz he'd not chosen
To drink hot chocolate with froth

I'm dreaming of a white BFD
With each BFD card I write
May your days be warmer than mine
And may Balanced Force Day be white

Wednesday, November 28, 2007