Sunday, April 15, 2007

The Grand Slam: The Frakkin' Charity Breakfast

Battlestar Galactica Day at the Grand Slam

The woman next to me asked me if I’d ever been to one of “these breakfasts.” Oh, sure, I replied, maybe 10 or 20. I didn’t tell her this, but the breakfasts are either very bad or very good. The one time Hudson Leick came to visit us at our table and sat in the middle of it, right on top of the table – well, that was a very good one. At other breakfasts, however, the food buffet runs out or is cold, or, worse, the stars spend too much time at other tables and you don’t get to see them, talk to them or get photos. And, another bad thing, most of the time you just sit there for an hour or more with nothing to do but wait.

This was a very good one. The food wasn’t anything to scream about, but it was adequate in warmth, quality and quantity. The ten people at our table were very friendly, very engaging, and that enthusiasm always lifts the participants. The idea that they might get to talk to Jamie Bamber (Apollo) or Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) was almost unbearable to some.

Jamie was the first to come to our table. When he first sat down at our table, he quickly looked at me and said, "Nice t-shirt," pointing to my Battlestar shirt. He immediately said, "Why aren't you wearing shirts like that?" to the other people at my table. He was dressed in a pink shirt unbuttoned down to almost his waist, and his hair was neatly coiffed. His beard was new, though, and when one of us asked about it, he said he was growing it “purely out of laziness,” which, said in his sophisticated British accent, sounded quite elegant. He’s been writing a story for Battlestar, he said, and has a meeting with Executive Producer Ron Moore next week. He and his wife just bought a house in L.A., and it closed on Friday. They’d been very busy moving and getting the kids in school.

After Jamie departed, the woman to the right of me stage-whispered to the woman across from her: “What did he smell like?” The woman who was asked look nonplussed, stuttered and said, “I don’t know. I think I forgot to breathe.”

Michael Trucco came by right after that, and told us this was his first convention. He asked where we were from, and told us he grew up in San Mateo. Katee came up from behind and moved Mike on to the next table, but not before they enjoyed a nice, long hug and a kiss. Katee sat down, looked at us, rolled her eyes, and said, “Can you believe I get to have love scenes with all these hunks?”

I am a little behind in watching BSG on DVR, so I was a little lost in plot points. Something about Starbuck dies, she isn’t dead, hey, I’m lost. So I’ll skip that, but she did say she plays an evil person on the new Bionic Woman. And she smokes, which really bothers her. Apparently, she just quit smoking, and vowed never to smoke as it might induce some kid to smoke. She kept that promise as Starbuck, but had to break it for Bionic Woman, but justifies it by saying she’s not Jamie Sommers. She’s the evil woman, and thinks kids won’t copy her.

Katee was very gracious, very engaging, and I noticed at the table next to us, she couldn’t get away from them when her time was up. They kept holding onto her, literally, until she ended up hugging every last one of them. It must be tough to be a symbol like that, where people are pushing their hopes onto you, maybe even projecting their troubles. I wonder how she handles it.

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