If you've missed something along the way – no, if you've missed anything along the way – you have but to slide your fingers into the following pages, part them a full one-hundred-and-eighty degrees and begin your dizzying journey through Kate Ritter's Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide.

By now most regular viewers of Stargate (the television show) know its origin (the movie) and, as regular viewers, can fairly well trace the path of the show's vast and variant history. The not-so-regular viewers to the series have the benefit of the internet, a multitude of reruns, and burgeoning DVD packages that ostensibly harbor the whole story and thus the ability to catch up or familiarize. And then we have the huddled masses of regular folk who have never seen Stargate SG-1 and for whom I personally drone a quiet mantra: "Oh, whoa, oh no, what have we here..." (R.D.A., 2006).

To all categories of humanoid (alien and non-alien alike) I say: have a sweet gander at Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide, (U.V.G.). Newbie or pro, it will blow your socks away.

When I was but a wee lad, contemplating a life of laziness and inactivity, I lit upon an old friend in the name of John Symes, who, by life's design, was running the castle at MGM – he in turn introduced me to a couple of fellas, one of whom became a good friend in Brad Wright. I was presented with the pilot script for Stargate SG-1 and was asked to sign on for a two-year stint as Kurt Russell's stand-in. With the promise of potentially rapid advancement in the company and, times being what they were, I said no. Then I was told by all my new friends to actually read the script. This was a new concept for me, one normally reserved for kids these days who seem to be perpetually fondling the tendrils of modernity. But heck, I wasn't really in the mood to cash it all in (it takes real energy to quit) and, times being what they were, I read. And thus the seed was sown.

From the beginning there was always more to the concept than met the third eye. Once the series found its legs, and subsequently its creative rhythm, it became painfully obvious that we were to be pleasantly mired in the oddly flavored webs of longevity. Out of the gate I recall suspecting enormous potential for the show. Story lines examined foreign life forms, life styles, and forms of life; with particular attention paid to the philosophical, political and spiritual underpinnings of any number of cultures, foreign and domestic. Our heroes made friends, our heroes made enemies. They traveled a lot, garnering enough frequent flyer miles to skin a cat and back again. The ultimate goal then is to assist our viewers in recognizing the great and grand possibilities of a sweeping acceptance of ALL races... throughout the universe and the whole, wide world.

What Kate Ritter has provided here in the U.V.G. is invaluable – astoundingly so. Her chronicling of the entity that is Stargate SG-1 will set you on a path of insight and understanding. This book is an amazing accomplishment. The detail is scary. I personally have no realistic perspective from which to judge, but I've been around this Stargate thing a bit to know that Ms. Ritter has absolutely nailed it!

Read, enjoy... talk amongst yourselves.
And Kate, very nicely done, my friend. Congratulations!!