More Frak Than You Could Ever Want

Graeme McMillan — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:30:00 PDT

It's the censorship-evading word that stands as proof at how involved Battlestar Galactica has become in modern popular culture. Frak has even shown up in non-Cylon-friendly shows like Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls. But did you know that many households the world over are more familiar with frakking than you'd expect? More on that, and four other Frak Facts, after the jump.

Frak used to be much more polite: According to the Battlestar Wiki, "Frack" - the official spelling of the word for the original 1970s version of the show, according to the Writer's Guide - didn't always mean "fuck":

"Frack" is a Colonial expletive, roughly analagous to "shit" or even the milder "rats" or "darn" of the Original Series.

Apparently, the word was popularized in the original show by Dirk Benedict's Starbuck, giving him one karmic point back in return for playing Faceman.

The first use of the "Frak" spelling? A videogame: Frak! was a game released for the BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and Acorn Electron released in 1984, all about a caveman called Trogg jumping around platforms trying to find keys. When he died, he yelled out "Frak!" in anger. Does this mean that the final Cylon in Battlestar Galactica was actually a caveman, and we are all ancestors of toasters? Think about it.

"Frak" didn't make it through to Galactica 1980: In deference to the more kid-friendly time slot of the third season of the original show, even "frack" was deemed to be too risque for the audience. Its replacement in the faux-curse stakes? "Felgercarb".

Japan's latest two-wheeled craze is fracking mamas: According to the Digital World Tokyo blog, a new bike brand may seem slightly familiar to Galactica fans:

Battlestar Galactica fans on a budget might get a kick out of this Japanese Mama Chari (or 'Mom's bike') named for their favorite pseudo swearword.

The ¥49,000 ($450) bicycle comes with a sturdy child seat in front of the handlebars, three gears and that all-important oedipal epithet right there on the frame for the world to see.

Adama's shaving mirror is awesomely fracky: Does that shaving mirror in Admiral Adama's quarters look somewhat familiar to you? That's because it's from Ikea, and used as a prop thanks to a particularly oblique in-joke... The actual name of the mirror if you head to your closest Swedish lifestyle emporium just happens to be... Fräck. Someone, somewhere in the BSG scene-dressing department must be cracking up every time they see Edward James Olmos frowning at himself while he shaves.

Image from FilmFodder.

Frak [Urban Dictionary]

An Ice-Bound Research Station on Another Planet

Kevin Kelly — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 09:30:29 PST

The multi-spiked item in the artwork above may be some sort of high-tech craft touching down for directions, or it could be a very advanced research station set up over a crevasse in Antarctica. Probably outfitted with scads of sensors, heated seats, and a fancy beverage dispenser as well.

That is, unless it's a crashed spaceship, and the hapless pilot is desperately trying to figure out how to get the thing upright again before he freezes his ass off. Or maybe it's something he bought 50 years in the future at IKEA, and those are the instructions which haven't become any more readable with the passage of time. At least it looks like the power is still on inside.

What we like about this image is that it could be any, or even all of the above. Who's to say it isn't a futuristic flying ice research station from IKEA that's been turned sideways? Conceptual artist James Clyne manages to marry future tech with the desolate feeling of a distant icy landscape in the middle of nowhere, and keep us guessing at the same time.

You can check out more of his concept artwork at his website, but be sure to bundle up and drink warm beverages as you browse.

io9: ikea

More Frak Than You Could Ever Want

An Ice-Bound Research Station on Another Planet