[  Mood: Happy ]
seaQuest Actors: Where Are They Now – Season 1 – the Purged

At the end of season 1, Patrick Hasburgh, famous for 21 Jump Street and Aspen Extreme, was brought in to make it into the ratings juggernaut that NBC wanted. To do that, most of the characters over the age of 30 were purged from the show in order to make room for a younger, sexier crew. These are the actors that lost their jobs due to the decisions.

John D’Aquino
D’Aquino played the beloved comedy relief of Lt. Benjamin Krieg. The ship’s supply officer, he was also the ship’s black marketeer. Frequently, Krieg would act as a big brother to Lucas. Best caracter episode was "The Treasure of Tonga Trench" where Krieg corned the market on a new glowing jewel that turned out to be fish poop.

Since seaQuest, D’Aquino as continued to work on television, with roles in a variety of failed shows, plus many, many guest spots. He can currently be seen in Dysney’s "Corey in the House" where he plays President Richard Martinez. (Who also made an appearance in Hannah Montana. OMG!)

Stacey Haiduk
Haiduk played the ships engineer Lt. Cmdr. Katherine Hitchcock. Hitchcock was the ex-wife or Krieg, and got to manipulate the probes via some gloves. And have sexual tension with Krieg and Ford.

Haiduk has continued to work in TV with key roles in Kindred and All My Children. She also had reoccuring roles in Heroes, Prison Break and Melrose Place, plus oodles of guest stars.

Stephanie Beacham
Beacham came to seaQuest with star power close to that of Scheider. She had been acting for many years, most notibly in Dynasty and its spin-off The Colbys. Many Trek fans will remember her as Coumtess Bartholomew in the Next Gen episode "Ship in a Bottle". In seaQuest, she was Dr. Kristin Westphalen, the ship’s medical officer and chief scientist. She was also Bridger’s love interest.

Since seaQuest, Beacham has kept busy with acting jobs on both sides of the pond, most notibly a three year stint on the UK show Bad Girls. And at an age when most women have litterally disappeared from the acting scene, she will be playing the other woman, interfering in the Ken and Deidre relationship no less, in an upcoming Coronation Street plot. The ITV soap is the longest running TV show in the world.

Next time: Season 1 – the Survivors

P.S. – Unreality published a similar article today about Firefly. Are they riding my coattails? Or is it that thing that happens when two unrelated people, in two different places come up with the same idea at the same time because of what is happening in the culture? (There’s a long word to describe that but I can remember it right now and nither can Google.)

[  Mood: Distorted ]
A recent email on a mailing list asked what Ed Kerr, one of the seaQuest was upto now. After I went off to find that answer, I got to thinking about the rest of the actors from that series.

So I present to you:

seaQuest Actors: Where Are They Now – Season 1 – the RIPs

Season one was the best season of seaQuest. Based on science, the series explored what would happen in the near future, as the oceans were increasingly explored and colonized to access their rich resources. Yes, some of the plots were stilted and dull, but remember Next Gen or B5 in the first season? Snoring!

Roy Schieder
Giant of the screen, Roy Schieder played Captain Nathan Bridger, the main character of the season. He was the designer of the sub and would be tricked into becoming its captain. Roy asked to be released from the show at the end of the campier season 2. He would make a couple of guest appearances in season 3, but his loss was mourned by the fans.

Already nominated for two Oscars, Roy would go on to act in many movies and take on many guest spots in the years following the end of the show. He would also return to the theatre. Roy died of cancer February 10, 2008. He is survived by his wife Brenda and and their two children, plus a child from a previous marriage.

Royce D. Applegate
Royce played Chief Manilow Crocker, one of the most beloved characters of the series. The senior NCO of the boat, Crocker was the old salt of the boat and was respected by all. His character was lost as part of the end of season one purge as incoming producer Patrick Hasburgh wanted to "young up" the cast.

Royce would go on to get rolls in movies like Oh Brother! Where Art Though? and Gods and Generals, in addition to making the guest star rounds. (Interestingly enough, he was a guest star in the CSI pilot). Tragically, Royce died in a New Year’s Day housefire in 2003.

Jonathan Brandis
The breakout star of the series, Jonathan Brandis had a long career before seaQuest, including Ladybugs and Sidekicks. Playing the role of teen genius Lucas Wolenczak, Brandis became a teen heart-throb. Originally envisioned as Bridger’s surrogate son, the Wolenczak role grew in importance as NBC sought to translate his popularity into ratings. This meant that Brandis would appear in every episode of the series.

Like many a child actor before him, Brandis found it difficult to build a career post seaQuest. His career seemed to stall. He did get some roles in independent films and made for TV movies, he even auditioned for Anikan Skywalker. His struggles caught up with him as he became depressed and alegedly began to abuse alcohol and drugs. He hung himself in his apartment on November 12, 2003.

Next time! Season 1 continued!

[  Mood: Very Sad ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding My Son ]
I did not make the short list.

Sad, but not surprised.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
This did not get up Friday due to a variety of factors. So in time for Monday, here is Fun Stuff and Oddities

Return to Sender
Funny.

But How Do I Get It Out?
The irony in this is hillarious.

Too Much Fun
There are no words.

Swiss Pot Farmers Busted Via Google Earth
The eye in the sky is everywhere.

Hershey Bar Pan
I want this.

Obama Etch-A-Sketch
Very cool.

What Will Replace The Internet?
Very interesting article.

Clint Eastwood: The Musical
Yup. The musical.

[  Mood: Amused ]
[ Currently: Enjoying Naptime! ]
While on my mat leave, I have been taking the time to go through my favourite books from childhood. This means that I am rereading the Anne of Green Gables and Trixie Belden series.

As part of this, I have turned to the French bande dessiners that my immersion teachers used to help teach me. Tintin was one of these. So it was with joy that I picked up the first of his adventures, in the original French, to read.

This black and white reproduction of the original strip is facisnating in its focus. Clearly grounded in the time it was written, this is nothing more than a piece of anti-soviet propoganda aimed at children. Full of violence and ethnic stereotypes, this is a cartoon in the every sense of the word. The ethnic stereotypes move beyond the soviets, with Germans and Chinese also finding themselves targets. As I read it, I found myself thinking, if the censors have trouble with Tintin au Congo, then they will have problems with this too. This book is for the Tintin completist only.

Still, I enjoyed teh trip back in time and will continue my reading, although I may bring my Larousse along to look up the more obscure vocabulary.

[  Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding My Son ]
This book is a fun tale of two Scottish fairies who find themselves in New York after committing a heinous crime against the clans. And wanting to start a celtic punk fiddle bank. After fighting with each other, the fairies, Morag and Heather, separate and each end up with one of a pair of neighbours.

Innitially Heather tries to teach her new human friend, Dinnie, to play the fiddle. This proves to be difficult as he is completely inept. Morag befrieds Kerry, who is suffering from Crohn’s disease. Morag tries to help Kerry gather flowers for a celtic alphabet so she can win the local arts fair and thereby humiliate an ex-boyfirend.

During these adventures, the fairies run afoul of the Italian and Chinese fairies of New York, who are now raring for a fight.

Meanwhile, the rest of their party, including three Irish fairies and two English fairies, are hanging out in Central Park. The English fairies are royalty fleeing from their oppressive father, the king, who has brought the industrial revolutions to teh Cornish fairies. Unfortunately this group runs afoul of the African fairies in New York. Guess who else is also out for blood?

So can the various groups of fairies sort out the misunderstandings in time to stop an invasion of the English fairies who have arrived to retrieve the missing prince and princess? Can they then bring two star-crossed lovers together? Can they help a ghost find his long lost guitar? Can a group on revolutionaries bring down the British fairy empire and free the endentured workers? And can Morag and Heather become friends again?

Hillarity insues as you find out. Not deep, not going to change your life, but you will have a fun time following the adventure to the end. Nice light reading.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching My son play ]
This week brought us a Friday 13th and Valentine’s Day, so we are definately in need of a little humour. Don’t know about you, but I am sick of what was your worst date/Valentine’s Day stuff that all of the media seems to think is necessary and very witty. So I give you, Fun Stuff and Oddities!

The great ocean migration… thousands of majestic stingrays swim to new seas
Just cool. Especially the pictures.

Tofurkey Lunchbox
I am thinking only cool kids get these.

Ottawa boy’s invisible invention warns birds about deadly windows
Good for him

Bake In Pie Spatula
Cool idea.

Creepy for Both Sides
The middle one is just creepy.

1,474 Megpixel Picture of the Inauguration
This is just awesome. You can zoom in and out. I am still trying to find Oprah.

Scientologists, J-Witnesses & Our Neighbor Jerry Not Welcome
Blunt and to the point.

Goat Arrested for Mazda Robbery
Dang goats!

14,000 suffer vegetable-related injuries
Now lettuce is out to get us!

389 Years Ago
I am so ripping this off for a history assignment.

Goodbye Bush
Scroll down. It’s clever.

How do we hire when we can’t tell who’s right for the job?
This is a great article about hiring teachers. Worth reading.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
Abdullah is a humble carpet merchant who dreams of having more. His daydreams were a disappointment to his late father. They continue to be a disappointment to his family, who believe he could be more.

Then one day, a stranger appears in his shop to sell him a flying carpet. Abdullah is skeptical, but once the carpet’s magic has been provenm he takes to sleeping on the carpet to protect it. He wakes up in the Sultan’s night garden, where he falls in love with Flower-in-the-Night, who also happpens to be the Sultan’s daughter. When Flower-in-the-Night is kidnapped by a djinn, Abdullah finds himself thrust into a series of harrowing adventures as he tries to win her back.

Often billed as a sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, this is far more of a companion book to the classic. Howl and Sophie play nothing more than supporting roles. In fact, you really don’t recognize them until the third act. Other charaters from Howl’s Moving Castle also appear, but again as spear carriers rather than main characters.

Still author Diana Wynne-Jones has created a good, quick read that relies heavily on the Arabian Nights as its muse. This is worth picking up.

[  Mood: Hypnotized ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son ]
It is many thousand years in the future, humans have spread out among the stars. And as humans are won’t to do, they have formed themselves into federation and kingdoms. Honor Harrington is a citizen of the Star Kingdom of Manticore and a member of the Navy.

Harrington has just assumed command of the Manticore navy ship Fearless, and although young, she has every confidence that she will succeed. That is until she finds out that naval command has gutted her ship’s armaments to install a new weapon that is all but useless.

This is proven after the ship takes a beating during war games, and the Fearless is exiled to the remote Basilik Station. A very important transit point, it should be an important posting. Instead it has become a dumping ground for the imcompetant and the lazy.

One such person is Pavel Young, who is captain of the Warlock and has an old hatred of Harrington. He uses his position to take his ship off for repairs, leaving Fearless alone to police this outpots and the space around it. Given that Pavel is lazy and a screw-up, the Basilisk system has become full of smugglers, spies and insurrectionists.

Unbeknowst to the Manticorians, the People’s Republic of Haven is planning to invade and take over the Basilisk system as part of its expansionist plans.

So with a demoralized crew and a bitter XO, Honor must now deal with policing a system that has become a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" while dealing with an invasion and the politics of the kingdom.

David Weber’s Honor Harringtion series is an SF classic and after reading this book I can see why. There are parts where the technobabble is heavy and requires the reader to slog through, but if you can persevere the story is fabulous, the characters are vibrant and the battles are gripping.

Worth picking up. And you can download it for free.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio – The Age of Persuation ]
So I have entered today using the following entries:

International Year of Mixed Fibres
Best Thing I Saw Today
Poozooka
Wiarton Willy is a Big, Fat Fraud!

I have not yet entered:
What Makes One Great
Due to the fact that I have to edit it down to 200 words, and I don’t have time right now. If I have time tonight, I will do it.

Thanks for all your feedback. I will let you know how I do.