Yes, it’s in the FAQ
http://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/faq.php?faq=gwcfaq#faq_general_questions
Gryper beat me to it…
and Reydaman, never be afraid to go off topic 
I think it’s in the FAQ. Short version: Sean is fond of alpacas. When the forum was set up, that became the default ‘rank.’
LOL. I never knew that that was the original of “alpaca” in the GWC context.
I used to live not far from the farm is that has the alpacas they referenced way back. Maybe I’ll take people on a tour to it during the meetup in March
I thought it had to do, in part, with TheAlpacaHerder, who at the time had called in from Las Vegas and, given his at the time current occupation, it brought up the story of Sean’s past in an alpaca farm as well.
There must be pictures!
Re: Adama’s extreme toothbrushing:
We can’t tell exactly how into toothbrushing he is, but in extreme pressure-cooker situations like jail and concentration camps, hygiene like toothbrushing and shaving often becomes an obsession. Like it’s one of the few ways you can exercise some control and cling to humanity.
“Alpaca’s: The other other red meat.”
Well, maybe but I remember them referencing the farm. Not a big deal really.
ETA: Went back to listen to podcast 50. Sean did mention that he worked on a farm with alpacas. So, there ya go. Not giving tours now 
Have digital camera ready to go. There will be loads of pictures (and prolly some movies too) from the weekend!
Love GWC, it is pretty much the only podcasts that I listen to now. You guys are awesome. I think that the longer the cast is the better it is.
I know I’m new here, but I would like to throw out a few thoughts.
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I do beleive that Ellen is a Cylon but not the Fifth. I beleive that she is actually an older version of Six. That is why Tigh see’s Ellen when he looked at Six in 4.0 and has such a unique connection with her.
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I agree with bkitty that Starbuck may end up being the daughter of Ellen and Tigh, possibly making her the actual Fifth.
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I think that Starbuck found the original resurection technology when she “found Earth”. And when she crashed she was resurected. Her brand new ship, I have no clue what think about that.
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I do not beleive that they found Earth I think that they found a planet that was just a Cylon settlement from a long time ago. And when the Final Five were resurected the were on the real Earth. That is why Starbuck says that she has been to Earth and that she new the way. She is the Harbinger of Death because for them to go to Earth they have to die on Earf, as Sean likes to call it.
Like to hear some thoughts on this.
Welcome aboard, Paul!
I’m with you there. They’ve been a little too cagey about showing the continents, etc.
I FINALLY finished the podcast today (school was closed due to weather on Wednesday and I don’t teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, hence, no commute), so I want to say, in response to Emily’s question: PLEASE, for the love of all that’s holy, DON’T do a Transformers arc. Especially not the Michael Bay version. I know, way back when it came out I ranted about it on here and got in a bit of a tiffy with Chuck. So, in the name of fairness and camraderie, I checked out the movie to see if maybe, just maybe, giant robots kicking the craaaaap out of each other didn’t just rock my world. What I got instead was Shia LeBeouf’s acting chip malfunctioning, a plastic-looking fembot which barely function, John Turturo and Jon Voigt embarassing themselves (I’ve come to expect this from Voigt, but Turturo? Come on, man! You don’t mess with the Jesus! Although, to his credit, he is the only person in the cast who looks like he’s having fun just chewing the scenery and not taking ANY of the proceedings seriously) and, instead of huge robots kicking each other around, I get to see them sneak around Shia’s house trying to hide in a bit of “comic relief.” UGH!
Sean, you and my brother would love each other. He absolutely loves that movie (for which I tease him mercilessly. It’s nice to have something to get back at him for all the teasing I got from him for liking the Star Wars prequels).
Anyway, I tried. Really. I did. For you guys. Cause I love you. I do. And you know what? It’s your podcast. You can do Transformers and I’ll have to sit there and take it like the little whiny (sorrybarb) that I am, or, you know, exercise my first ammendment rights and skip that podcast. Cause it’s a free country the last time I looked around. Right, Sean? 
[DeepBreath]Rant over. Going to take a nap now.[/DeepBreath]
Love that you brought this angle back to the discussion, however, I have to point out two things. First, Adams never saw the Boston Massacre himself (assuming that’s the second incident you refer to in the post); this was a fictional bit of artistic license that was in the HBO miniseries but didn’t happen in real life. Second, although I would agree that Jackson is a closer comparison than most, but I would actually go back to Thomas Paine. He’s the true radical and champion of the common man in the American Revolution. Jackson was also more open to the use of force by a powerful, insulated executive (see what he did in New Orleans under martial law) than I believe Zarek would be.
Thanks for the correction on Adams (it is funny how a well produced mini-series can alter our perceptions of what happened in the past). I completely forgot about Paine and you are absolutely right that he is a much better comparison to Zarek than any of the others.
Cool. I love the spirit of the board here (it’s my first post) and felt encouraged even though I couldn’t get on board with the Jackson-Zarek thing. Seems only fair that I throw out some reactions myself for others to wrestle with now too.
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Couldn’t agree more with Armando and others that Gaeta-Zarek is just not something I can get on board with. While I’m an avid listener to the cast, I really struggled to keep pace with Sean and his chaffing at the Adamlin authority. It’s great to get that kind of challenge though. At the base of things here, democracy and dissent is not something that the fleet can afford now. We can quote laws, rights and liberty all we want here, but those things were luxuries that were, in the best of times, marginally affordable in a political sense. Perhaps I didn’t drink my full dose of the Hatch-Aid, but his career as a politician lasts as long as it takes for the 145’s to return. Hang in there Audra and keep doubting Gaeta-Zarek as a good thing!
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Love the idea of Kara being Saul-Ellen’s daughter.
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I’m struck by what we haven’t seen yet and why. For example, why haven’t we any sense of Tory’s past as a Tylon? Chief gets to be a wall stain, Anders is playin’ the tunes, Saul is there with Ellen (not convinced she’s the FF either), but nothing from Tory. Have the writers just left her or is there more here to be unwrapped in later episodes? Similarly, where has Head Six gone? I can’t even remember the last time we’ve seen her.
Hi I’m a long time fan of the pod cast and I’m new to the forums, sorry for taking so long to register.
I just wanted to thank Sean profusely for his rant about authority on this podcast. I was mad as frak at the hypocrisy of Admamlin’s regime and while the Cylon alliance may be the best thing they way they are going about it is terrible and they definitely felt the results on the Oath. Thanks again Sean for being the voice of the rebel!
The quoting of laws for this show is interesting considering how little we know about the laws of the Colonies and their Constitution. I have yet to find a copy of it online anywhere to see what laws pertain to this situation in that universe.
Exactly! Yes, presumably this is a society where laws have a certain power and there may even be a Constitution (although there are plenty of advanced democracies that don’t have this), but we should also consider a number of other elements that should clearly give those of us here in the U.S. some pause before casting judgement.
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The colonialists clearly have a political system more highly influenced by religious belief than ours. Although some of our most revered leaders have been very comfortable using Judeo-Christian metaphors and references to guide and influence the larger political community (see Lincoln), there’s a limit to the efficacy of this. For example, even Bush had to renounce the use of the word “crusade” in the patriotic aftermath of 9/11. Rosalin has never had such a similar moment with regard to colonial religious belief, even one seemingly as obscure as Pythia.
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Colonialist society seems much more militaristic than our own. Granted we’re seeing an extreme slice in BSG, but any society that would invest the kind of coin necessary to support fleets of battlestars over forty years of peace following the armistice is a society with a very comfortable relationship with the idea that force is power. The U.S. experience with military power has its high points for sure; however, there are repeated examples of demilitarization that suggest a more tenuous relationship.
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Colonial society seems less individualistic and rights-obsessed than our own. Again, the lens through which we see this is skewed by the near extinction of the race. However, whether dealing with the tillium ship rebellion, abortion or freedom of press, Rosalin appears to get away with dealing with individual rights in a much more negotiated manner than we would today. In other words, whereas rights are frequently used in our society as trumps ("I have a right to X, so therefore you cannot do Y), rights in the fleet appear more as high cards, if that: things to invoke, perhaps, but never to demand absolutely.
I’d also like to say that some biases by RDM and others suggest that they don’t have a high opinion of democracy as a political process. When do we see the quorum ever not arguing and shouting among itself? Have we had a press conference that hasn’t ended in shouting? There seems to be no end to the replay value that the show gets out of contrasting the “cool hand” of a single leader (Adama, Rosalin, etc.) with the blood-lust of the mob.
Thanks GWC for providing the space and impetus for such great conversations!
Paul, you just blew my mind.