People Got A Lotta Nerve by Neko Case[audio:http://wormholeriders.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/19-track-19.mp3]
Andee Frizzell is a wonderful person in her own right, but in the world of the Wraith, she’s a true Queen! In fact, she’s more than one! Andee was behind every Wraith Queen the Atlantis expedition encountered over the course of 5 years except the very last, in the episode entitled “The Queen”. I’ll let Andee explain why!
Andee was wonderful about taking questions, and she got a good variety. So, here we go!
Please Note: Though I have used quotations, this is not word for word exactly what was said, only as close as I could get by taking notes so messy and shorthanded that no one else could ever decipher them, not even Daniel Jackson! No video or audio recording is allowed at Creation conventions.
Which Wraith queen is your favorite? Andee was particularly fond of the queen from “Allies”. Why? Because she loved that beautiful traveling robe she got to wear! The shoes were to die for also, though she was forced to take them off after that prolonged walking shot in which they were featured. She also enjoyed playing up on the primal instincts of the queen from Submersion as she menaced Teyla and discovered Teyla’s pregnancy.
How did you differentiate each Queen from the others? Was there anything you did as an actress to make each one distinctas a member of their race? “I should try telling people that. ‘I played a race’. The context of how the Wraith in that specific story line was going to create or forward the story, that’s how we would create that Queen. So the Queen from “Submersion” has been trapped under water for 10,000 years, so she’s not going to chat. ‘Oh, so the food now thinks!’ No, she’s gonna, (stabs the air with the palm of her hand like a Wraith feeding and makes a kinda scary face) eat you! It’d be like if I just started talking to an apple. I made her much more primal because that was the story. And then the one with the chenille traveling dress, she’s going in and trying to say, ‘I want to be friends’, . . . ” (more…)
TMZ.com is reporting this morning that actor and director Dom DeLuise passed away last night at the age of 75. He was in a Los Angeles hospital when “he passed away peacefully in his sleep at around 6 PM” (TMZ.com). Gateworld.net is reporting that Dom was suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems. ABC News reported this evening that Dom was surrounded by his family when the end came.
Dom was known among Stagate Fans as the hilarious and lovable Urgo. His sons are prolific Stargate director Peter DeLuise, as well as actors Michael and David, both of whom have appeared on SG-1.
Dom was also well known for his roles in “The Cannonball Run” and “Blazing Saddles” and was the voice of Pizza the Hutt in “Spaceballs”.
Dom will be sadly missed. He was a very talented actor, and he brought laughter to so many. Our condolences go out to Dom’s three sons and his wife, Carol Arthur DeLuise.
WormholeRiders video tribute to Dom was made by Kenn for WormholeRiders
Update October 2009: New greetings video at http://www.WormholeRiders.com and http://www.WormholeRiders.net featuring Morena Baccarin, Amanda Tapping, Claudia Black reports from Chicago Stargate 2009, greetings from Stargate Stars @ DragonCon Atlanta 2009, the Alternative Press Expo, Los Angeles and beyond! Dot Net archives scheduled for new upgrade in late 2009
It’s time for everyone’s favorite Gate Technician!
I’ve wanted to see Gary Jones for years. He owes Chicago an appearance from a couple years back where he was set to come and then had to cancel. Everything I knew about Gary said he’s a wonderful comedian, and I knew he would have some really great stories to tell. Boy was I ever right.
Please Note: Even though I have used quotations, this is not word for word what was said. Only as close as I could get writing down nearly everything, and then some. No audio or video recording is allowed at Creation conventions. So much of Gary’s storytelling uses acting with both voice and gestures. I’ve done the best I can to recreate if for you. The good note-taking is a skill I learned in school. Who’d of thought it would be so handy? As I read what I’m typing, I’m laughing just as hard as I did while Gary was on stage!
Gary started off by poking a little fun at the expense of the Atlantis music video that was shown right before he came out: that well known song “Holding out for a Hero” edited – or vided if you prefer – by Shelby. Picking on the repetitive nature of the song, Gary comes out grating, “I need a hero!” We learned right off that Gary can’t sing – or maybe he wasn’t trying to? “I wasn’t in anything. There’s no shots of Walter. I need a hero! (Pretends to sit in a chair, typing at the controls, looking around dumbly).”
Ever humble, Gary thanked everyone for coming and for having him. “I’m very excited, but not as excited as you are to be here with me.”Oh, and he’s only just getting started. I’m just going to type up everything I have in the order that it came. Please don’t blame the leapfrogging topics and the very long paragraphs on me, it’s all Gary! I broke it up as reasonably as I could! (more…)
This was the first time I have ever seen Creation have an almost ComicCon style panel, and it was very interesting!
The guests were:
Fulvio Cecere
As Stargate SG-1’s Colonel Davidson, cammander of the Oddesy, Fluvio is very proud that he is the only person to have commanded one of earth’s ships while fully manned and not been killed in the process! Sadly, he’s incorrect! Colonel Ronsen was not killed, and Cam Mitchell was in command in Ark Of Truth and lived to tell the tale . . . just.
Heather Doerkson
Heather’s character on Stargate Atlantis has not been given a name in more than one episode, and it’s possible she has never played exactly the same role twice! According to IMDB, she was a bridge pilot in “The Intruder”, Meyers in “No Man’s Land”, an Apollo tech in “First Strike”, a crew man in “The Kindred Part 1”, and a lieutenant in “The Last Man”.
Kirby Morrow
Kirby may be most easily recognized for his role as a Jaffa warrior in the Stargate SG-1 episode, “The Warrior”. He has also appeared on Atlantis as Captain Dave Kleinman.
Michael Kopsa
Michael may be best recognized by Stargate fans as General Kerrigan in the episodes “Prodegy” and “Proving Ground”. Fans who are esspecailly astute may remember him in one other role in the series. Can anyone name it without looking at his IMDB profile? That would be cheating! : P
Jody Racicot
Even with the beard, it’s impossible not to recognize him as Vernon Sharp from “Sight Unseen”. I spotted him in the lobby as he arrived for the panel and did a very good double take!
and Patrick Currie
The only role that you can recognize Patrick for by sight is Fifth, the bad guy you just can’t help but sympathize with . . . that is until he starts torturing Sam! If you listen to his voice, Eamon from “Space Race” may come to mind, and you’d be right! Finally, he played Chaka in “Enemy Mine”. The role had previously been played by Dion Johnstone, with great success I may add, but when Dion was unavaliable to reprise the role, Patrick was called in to save the day!
Each pratically admitted to looking themselves up online in preperation for the panel so they could give a full account of their work, so I have linked each of their names to their IMDB profiles! (more…)
Valerie Halverson was the assistant costume designer for season 9 of Stargate SG-1, and costume designer for season 10 of SG-1, and season’s 4 and 5 of Stargate Atlantis. Valerie was a new comer to the convention setting, but she did very well! She took questions, and also gave us a photo show-and-tell break down of the costumes that were being sent over from Bridge Studios for the Prop Museum. She also had some fascinating stories to share with us, giving fans better insight into how costumes are designed, and how the actors fit in!
Tyre's Cape
Please Note: Even though I have used quotation marks, this is not necessarily word for word exactly what was said, only the most that I could manage to scribble down at the time, and make any sense of now. No audio or video recording is allowed.
When asked if there was any particular cast member whom she found to be difficult to costume, Valerie said that Jason Momoa was a bit if a handful! “He liked to go and buy things himself and he would bring them to me and go, “can we do something with that?” and it would be like a bear pelt. So I would say that he wasn’t a diva but he was definitely challenging.”
After three years, Jason came to Valerie and said that the previous costume designer said that if they bought anything to wear, they had to buy two. This is a smart thing to do because if something happens and an article of costuming is ruined, the episode’s continuity will be off because of the costume change that has to be made. So one time Jason bought 2 shark tooth necklaces to wear. “He was so proud of himself, he said ‘thank you so much’. Yes you can wear it on the show. So he walked on camera, he put them both on the same necklace, and we had to recreate that, and that was the end of us working so amicably together on that.”
Valerie also said that Rachel Luttrell’s real life pregnancy proved to be tricky. “[Rachel] took care of looking beautiful but I just really wanted her to still stay Athosian, and regal, and be that queen that she was while still having to have functional clothing.” Her pants had to be worn higher when she started showing.
When asked how the design for the loose, airy clothing of the Ancients – Morgan Le Fay’s dress in “Pegasus Project”, for instance – came about, Valerie said that much of that work had been done by her predecessors, “but I suspect that because the Ancients had ascended and they were sort of heavenly really, the idea to me was that it just lent itself. And because we use so much leather and structure, it really separated them from the rest of the costumes in a lot of ways. And they really were beautiful.”
When asked about Sheppard’s sudden habit of wearing the black BDU’s a lot more about the time that Valerie took over as head of the costuming department, Valerie admitted that there was a little bit of a story behind that change. “Joe [Flanigan] is a really really interesting guy that thinks about his character. When I came on board, maybe he saw that as an opportunity to have some changes because other people in the Atlantis crew were getting their uniforms changed, and he just really felt that he wanted to come across as more military, and he was basically the military leader. There was Weir and Carter and Woolsey, but he really wanted to be the most military guy there, and we felt that by putting him in the black BDU’s that that would sort of personify that. And he looks damn good in black, doesn’t he?”
When asked about the most expensive outfit she has ever made, Valerie answered, “This is one of my favorite costumes. It was Adria, and I believe it was “Dominion”. She had on a black leather ‘vampire coat’ and then Ba’al put her in jail. She had this sexy little ‘40’s halter on and some leather pants. The reason was that I wanted to challenge myself because she’s such an incredible canvas to work with. Adria was such a great character that I actually started with leather and then I built a texture of leather on there with ribbons and used fabrics, and we built the whole thing. It took us a couple of weeks to figure it out, and she of course did it justice.”
Here are a few more of the interesting questions Valerie took:
Do the actors have any say about their costumes? Valerie said that she tries to let the actors be comfortable since they have to be in them for so many hours per day. Most of the actors are game for anything because the costumes are so neat in science fiction! No kidding, Valerie!
Were you responsible for the uniform change in Stargate Atlantis at the start of season 4? Valerie answered that as a costume designer she wanted to put her own touch on the show when she took over. She talked the producers into the new “sexy” outfits and leather uniforms instead of the producers talking her into it, which is apparently how it usually works! She’s interested in styles from the 1940’s and 50’s, along with the dominatrix look.
Which cast member is the hardest to fit? The answer was prompt: Jason Mamoa! He’s so tall!
Where do you find your materials? Jo-anne Fabrics? Valerie had never heard of Jo-annes, but is now determined to find one! She said it takes years to learn where to look, and sometimes you just find things by chance, even in unlikely places. “We try anything.”
Do you ever buy whole pieces? Sometimes, because of time constraints, they do, even though it would be ideal to be able to create each costume from scratch. Often they will buy something and then re-work it. For example, this costume at the right, worn by the invaders in Atlantis’s “Daedalus Variations” is partially a hockey uniform with a serious paint treatment!
Now for a few interesting facts that Valerie shared!
Rachel Luttrell’s Wraith Queen costume had to be able to handle the very physical moves that Teyla does in “Queen”. In order to allow for this, Valeria used a woman’s riding skirt as the bottom of the dress.
She also commented that one of Ronan’s outfits is called “The Cow” because it used to much leather.
Valerie is “working on a secret project” in wardrobe that prevented Saturday’s tour to Bridge Studios from being able to visit the costume department! We’ll have to keep an eye out for it in Stargate Universe!
Thank you so much, Valerie, for your wonderful stories, and sharing your insight with us. After seeing your amazing work, it’s wonderful to be able to meet the genius behind the design! I also want to thank you for graciously offering to sign autographs for free for anyone who wanted them. I took her up on it and her signature is now in my 10 Years of Stargate SG-1 book!
Three out of four of the original SG-1 team cast members have now been confirmed as guest stars on Stargate Universe!
According to GateWorld.net, SciFi Channel has confirmed the list of guest stars for SGU that now includes Amanda Tapping, Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks, and Gary Jones.
Christopher Judge is now the only original SG-1 team cast member not confirmed as a guest star on SGU. Hopefully this will change. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the whole team back again?
It is not yet known in what episode Amanda will return to her role as Samantha Carter, but since SGU should be in it’s sixth or seventh week of production now, and assuming that they are filming at a rate of one episode per week as they did with both SG-1 and Atlantis, it seems safe to guess that Sam will not put in her appearance until after the sixth or seventh episode.
As reported by AOL – – An asteroid the size of a 25-story building will come within 18,000 miles of Earth on April 13, 2029 — closer than the communication satellites that orbit the planet, Discovery.com reported.
This particular asteroid has become a bit of a joke among Stargate fans. When it was discovered in June of 2004, it was given the name “Apophis”. At the time, it was predicted that there was 2.7 percent chance that the asteroid would do what it’s namesake failed to accomplish, and hit Earth in 2029. Later it was said the chance is even less. Now that he’s back in the news, it is said that Apophis has only a 1 on in 45,000 chance of colliding with Earth, but it will then be back for another shot seven years after that.
Interestingly, astronomers aren’t able to determine what kind of threat Apophis will pose when it passes by us in 2036 because its orbit will be bent by gravity during its 2029 flyby, Discovery reported.
Surely Stargate fan’s aren’t worried though, right? Well, we’ll know for sure in 20 years! ; )
Find AOL’s full article on our old buddy Apophis here.
Both GateWorld.net and RDAnderson.com have reported this week that the long awaited third Stargate SG-1 movie has been given the green light by MGM.
In a note sent to RDAnderson.com by none other than Richard Dean Anderson himself, he writes:
There are so few details beyond the ‘go ahead’, but I sat next to Charlie Cohen and across from Brad Wright at dinner two weeks ago (the cast dinner for the launch of Stargate Universe), and just an hour prior to sitting down to mediocre cuisine, Charlie had announced MGM’s intention to make the next Stargate movie. As I am led to believe, shooting may start this summer, most likely.
According to reports that have been circulating for months now, Brad Wright and Carl Binder have put pen to paper for the third movie, and the story centers on Jack O’Neill.
In the same note, RDA also mentions that he is in “a snippet of a scene with Robert Carlyle” for Stargate Universe, and will be seen several times over the course of SGU’s first several episodes!
I want to apologize for not posting the last couple days. Along with all the loot I picked up at the convention, I seem to have gotten a small cold free of charge. I’ve been forced to go to bed early, especially for me. That, and I had very little of interest to report. I’m much better now though, and I look forward to working on breaking down the convention for you!
At last, I’m home again. It took six days to get back instead of five. Mom wanted to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder historical sites in De Smet, South Dakota. She read all of The Little House on the Prairie books to me when I was growing up, and I learned to appreciate them. It was really interesting to stand in one of Laura’s childhood homes, and then to visit “the house that Pa built” after Laura married. However, stopping for so long in De Smet forced us to split the miles of the final leg (from Albert Lea Iowa to home) over two days, and stay in Mitchell, South Dakota, and then last night in De Moines Iowa. I was overjoyed to see the first sign that said “Chicago” on Friday night.
Despite the time it took, having to live off of fast food, and being stuck in the car with my parents for hours on end, I wouldn’t have changed this trip for anything. We’ve never traveled quite like this, and while it was not always fun, I will always remember it with a big smile. I saw more of my own country than ever before, and now I finally feel like I have a full understanding of why we say, “America the Beautiful”.
The Convention, the whole reason we went on this crazy journey, fulfilled so many hopes and dreams for me. Without it I would never have been able to see Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, and N. John Smith in person, and I would never have been able to find filming locations from the show, visit the sets at Bridge Studios, walk the ramp to the Stargate and have my picture taken within its circumference. That alone made the whole trip worth it. (I’d post the picture, but the waver I signed made it clear that all pictures taken on the tour are for personal use only, and I want to show my respect for MGM.)
Vancouver is also an international mecca for Stargate fans, I’ve learned. On the locations tour, I sat with a woman from France! Sadly, the fact that English was not her first language and she could not speak it very well made conversation very difficult. I met several fans from Great Britain, Australia, and Germany too. I heard languages being spoken that I could not recognize, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they knew enough English to be able to follow the guest stars’ Q&A sessions. This is something I’d never encountered at the Chicago convention. I’d met people who came all the way from Great Britain, but I’d never been able to recognize people of other nationalities. It was a wonderful feeling. I knew there are fans across the world, but it was another thing to meet them. It makes me wonder why there is so much tension in the world when people can gather together so easily to celebrate what they have in common, even if it is just the best television show ever.
However, I have to comment that Vancouver was not all that I had thought. I was disappointed by the venue. Compared to the Chicago Stargate Creation Convention, I found the auditorium to be smaller and the vendor’s tables to be much more limited. There was not enough room outside of the auditorium (the hotel’s ballroom) to have more than 2 vendor’s tables, one full of the Stargate necklaces, pictures of the convention guests and a few more besides, and one table full of all the shirts, sweatshirts, and coats. They put more vending in a separate room downstairs, but their fare was limited to Atlantis action figures, mugs, hats, and a selection of autographed photos from Stargate SG-1, Atlantis, ands a few other shows like StarTrek and Battlestar Galactica. They had a table offering board games as well, but either they sold out before I saw it or they never even had any of the Stargate SG-1 board game.
The last two years at Chicago we’ve had vendors with all the memorabilia – that previously mentioned plus the key chains, the trading cards, original artwork, beautiful posters, the Fandemonium novels, the BigFinish audio books, all the jewelry available, and the whole line action figures, including the rare unpainted prototypes! Last year they even had a dealer selling plastic replicas of the military weapons that SG-1 carries in the show! Before that I didn’t know such a thing existed!
I think that the Chicago Creation Convention can be everything at Vancouver is, minus the tours. It has the potential to have the same international pull on fans, and be able to seat more of those fans. The guest list could make all the difference. So far for Chicago this year, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, Joe Flanigan, Connor Trinneer, and Paul McGillian are listed to come. This list always grows in the last few months before the event, and Chicago isn’t until August 21-23. To my memory, we havenever had more than seven guest stars attend Chicago in a year, but there were no less than eleven at Vancouver, NOT counting Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, and N. John Smith! I think that if Creation could offer the same variation and number of big names from both shows at Chicago as they do in Vancouver, I think Chicago could ultimately become BIGGER and sell out just as fast as Vancouver has. While I realize this isn’t easy and no doubt Creation has done their best, I am positive that Chicago has this potential.
In the weeks to come I will be working to translate my scribbled notes from each guest’s Q&A session. It will take a while, but I promise you it will be worth it. In between, we will be covering any breaking news regarding the Stargate franchise, so sit tight! The ride has only just begun!
TMZ.com 
es from the 1940’s and 50’s, along with the dominatrix look.
Now for a few interesting facts that Valerie shared!
I want to apologize for not posting the last couple days. Along with all the loot I picked up at the convention, I seem to have gotten a small cold free of charge. I’ve been forced to go to bed early, especially for me. That, and I had very little of interest to report. I’m much better now though, and I look forward to working on breaking down the convention for you!
The Convention, the whole reason we went on this crazy journey, fulfilled so many hopes and dreams for me. Without it I would never have been able to see Brad Wright, Robert Cooper, and N. John Smith in person, and I would never have been able to find filming locations from the show, visit the sets at Bridge Studios, walk the ramp to the Stargate and have my picture taken within its circumference. That alone made the whole trip worth it. (I’d post the picture, but the waver I signed made it clear that all pictures taken on the tour are for personal use only, and I want to show my respect for MGM.)
