A Good Frakkin’ Time
Calling all Battlestar Galactica fans
by Molly Templeton
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Jo Dee Moine knows her Battlestar Galactica. Ask the Starlight Lounge owner for her for a favorite quote from the series, and she immediately offers several. When the Starlight opened, “every other drink” on the menu had a name inspired by the series (the recent reimagining, not the original ’70s show). Most people didn’t notice. “Well, a few got it,” Moine says.
At this Saturday night’s Frak Party, a few more people will probably be giggling knowingly over drinks like Nothing But the Rain and It’s Like a Dream — when they’re not distracted by BSG episodes shown on the bar’s projection TV and Moine’s impressive collection of Battlestar Galactica memorabilia.
Since the beginning of the year, hundreds of prop items from the show (which ended its run in March) have been auctioned off both online and in two live auctions. The online auctions start to wind down this week, Moine says, but she’s bid on more than 75 of them since January. After her first win (Jammer’s New Caprica police uniform), Moine was delighted — and she started to notice other things coming up for auction. Things that belonged to Kara “Starbuck” Thrace, one of Moine’s favorite characters. “They were all really expensive,” Moine says, “and I just lost my mind.” She was outbid on plenty of items, but got several she really wanted, including Starbuck’s leather jacket and one of her uniforms (the most expensive piece in Moine’s collection).
Moine says she doesn’t want her collection, which includes 16 original props and a handful of replicas, “just sitting around.” At the party, everything from Racetrack’s battle dress uniform to a law book passed from Admiral Adama to his son to a set of pilot’s wings will be on display — not to mention a set of blueprints labeled Starlight Bar. When the bar, the stage for a hostage situation, appeared on the show, it wasn’t called by name. The blueprints, however, are clearly marked. “Weird, right?” Moine says.
When the night is over, Moine’s collect-ibles will go home with her, but she’s not necessarily done with frakking events. The upcoming BSG TV movie The Plan and next year’s prequel series Caprica offer more possibilities for theme nights at the bar. Thanks to Moine’s postings on various online fan forums, fans may be coming from Portland and Seattle for this party, and she says if more people are interested, maybe she’ll make the event an annual one. “I want to share this stuff with fans and meet new people,” she says. “That’s the point … to make it fun and make it social.”
Battlestar Galactica Frak Party 4 pm-8 pm Saturday, Aug. 15 • Starlight Lounge • 21+ • Free
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