You’d think I had one of the cleanest dogs in the world. Bubba not just loves bath time, he craves it. Lately, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by when I haven’t walked into the bathroom and found him sitting on the edge of the tub, patiently awaiting my attention. If he doesn’t get it immediately, he’ll start to whimper, then whine, then, eventually, bark his outrage until, finally, like one of those less-than-ideal dog owners profiled on The Dog Whisperer, I’ll eventually give in – filling the tub with lukewarm water and dropping him in (what would Cesar Millan say?). Toss his pong in with him (that rubber ball with the tiny feet that are now minus those tiny feet because he always chews them off) and he can amuse himself for hours, bobbing and batting after the floating ball. Literally, hours. And it’s not just baths. Some mornings, he’ll actually hop into the running shower, position himself under the hot stream, and simply sit there until he is forcibly removed. All well and good and I don’t mind drying him off twice a day because he enjoys being clean, yet why do his paws always smell like nachos?
Went to the Sha Lin Noodle House the other night. As is usually the case after 6:00 p.m., the place was packed but we didn’t have to wait long before getting a table. I had the number 28 – nutritious soup with lamb and stewed pancake. I’m not exactly sure what makes it nutritious, but it may have been the bok choy or the seaweed or the plethora of mysterious dried berries that balanced the savory broth with a subtle sweetness. Bargain-hunters take note – $10 will get buy you a huge bowl. Fondy and I also shared a plate of sweet and sour batter-fried pork – more sweet than pour, more batter than pork -, and one of the house specialties: a terrific spicy cumin fried lamb. The glass-walled kitchen allows for a front row view of the noodle chefs in action – twisting, kneading, pounding, cutting, and tossing. Kids get a big kick out of the show and, occasionally, so do adults – like the time one of the chefs slammed his noodle rope down onto the table with such unexpected ferocity that one blasé father almost jumped out of his skin, much to the delight of his young son.
Let’s field a few questions…
Minigeek writes: “I did. Thought you might be interested in Dolby’s response.”
Answer: Gah! I showed Carl and he LOVED that pic.
UberAmandaFan writes: “When did you want us to remind you about re-posting your poem?”
Answer: Soon, soon.
Copernicus writes: “What do you think of Aaron Sorkin’s writing, be it for The West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, or any of his earlier projects?”
Answer: I enjoyed Sports Night.
Anonymous #1 writes: “can you please give us hints on Carter’s position in the Atlantis? Will there be a 5 person team like on SG-1, or will she stay on base?”
Answer: We will not be going with a 5 person team.
Grace writes: “Joe, I hope you have your resume ready. You’re going to need it.”
Answer: Why? Do you have any hot tips on some upcoming job openings? Dish.
Lauren writes: “You also referenced that the revelation in season 4 is going to be of ‘Gift’ preportions.”
Answer: I did?
Anonymous #2 writes: “Do you have a favourite scene from an SGA episode? “
Answer: Whenever I watch Duet, I always crack up when McKay lays the expected yet no-less shocking smack on Beckett.
Prior_of_the_Ori writes: “1) Will we see any more Wraith like Michael who got infected by the retrovirus? 2) Will we see any more people who used the Wraith enzyme like Ford did? 3) Will we see anymore people with the Wraith gene like Teyla? 4) Will we see anymore Runners like Ronan?”
Answer: 1) Possibly. 2) Perhaps. 3) Maybe. 4) It’s possible.
Allison writes: “If you could only pick one book that I just had to read, what would you suggest?”
Answer: I’d have to know a little more about your taste in books. Just going by the very positive responses from other I’ve recommended the book to, I’d suggest John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War. If you like fantasy, check out Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora. If you’d like to check out a very funny, period time-travel adventure, check out Connie Willis’s To Say Nothing of the Dog.
Lizzyshoe writes: “Mr. Mallozzi, sir, how do you feel about the coffee/chocolate combination? Heavenly union, yes?”
Answer: Possibly. To be honest, I’m not a coffee drinker.
Ruffles writes: “Are you any closer to casting someone for Larrin in Travellers?”
Answer: The lovely and talented Jill Wagner, formerly of Blade.
Joseph writes: “So Joe, my fairly odd but delightful local butcher offered me squirrel last time I wandered in. Yea or nay?”
Answer: Personally, I would lean towards nay. It’s not like it’s a delicious raccoon.
Maja writes: “So those who disagree don’t matter and their opinion is less important? Why do we have to be put down constantly by some other fans and the executive producer of the show. It still surprises me every time… and I don’t think it’s fair. One would think TPTB would be glad the character they created caught on with the audience so much.”
Answer: Everyone involved with the show appreciates the fact that fans are passionate about Stargate. The fact that so many fans came out to support Carson Beckett was great to see. Similarly, I can’t fault fans for expressing their likes or dislikes concerning creative decisions – unless they do so in an obnoxious manner in which case they can expect to be slammed. Similarly, if they insist on continuing to voice asinine opinions regarding actor intentions and motivations based on little more than conjecture, they can expect to be slammed hard. Such was the case yesterday.
Shawna writes: “I actually went to Chocoatl yesterday. I tried several of the chocolates, and while they were certainly very good, I have to admit to being slightly disappointed after the rave reviews I’ve read.”
Answer: You have to try to Mokachino chocolate and the Denso hot chocolate.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Over at the Scifi channel forums Jim Butcher, the guy behind The Dresden Files, made the following post:
“It’s a common misconception that the production crew of SG1 WANTED to keep on making the show. They didn’t. The show’s been going for ten freaking years. It doesn’t matter how great a crew you have to work with, after that much time you start to develop problems and issues, and people start to want to try new things and get other projects on their resumes. SG1 had one of the better runs of any show on TV, much less within the genre. They’re ready to do new things. It’s pretty much as simple as that. What, you think SciFi /wanted/ to cancel the longest-running genre program on TV? A proven success, whose personnel and audience were reliable and firmly in place? Not even. TV execs love the shows they can rely upon. It was SG1’s time. Life is like that.”
Is what he says true? Did you guys want to stop making SG-1? Were you just sick of it? Or is this guy full of shit?”
Answer: Full of shit is a bit harsh. Let’s just say “he couldn’t be more wrong”. We were ready and willing to do another season. We were cancelled.
Love good, cheap Chinese places that do a good a sweet and sour pork, so I’m taking notes. Joe, do you read much non-fiction? If so, I recommend ‘Salt: A World History’ by M. Kurlansky. (Very creative title, yes). It’s a fun, quick read for a foodie.
Hey Joe,
Heard from a friend who went to the convention that David Hewlett’s pilot for Scifi channel was well received and that things are looking good. Please tell David congratulations for us, and that we’re all eager to see what he has in store for us after Rodney Mckay!
ADB
Answer: Full of shit is a bit harsh. Let’s just say “he couldn’t be more wrong”. We were ready and willing to do another season. We were cancelled.
This comment from you kind of brings to mind something I said a while ago, which you didn’t unscreen.
People in TV are like politicians. You will say whatever you want to to justify a decision being made, even if it was the wrong one. And I believe that offing Carson and Elizabeth is the wrong decision. In the end the ratings will tell you that, but to be honest, I don’t think that sacrificing fans for the sake of gaining fans will work. You will end up exactly where you started, but you’ll have a few new people replacing the old.
Right now, I’m wishing I had been part of the Save SG1 campaign. I didn’t believe the people who said saving SG1 was the only way to save Atlantis.
Please, please can you give us some reasonable idea of what the plan is for Elizabeth? You don’t need to give away plot details. You just need to reassure us that she’s going to be there.
I’m not one to grovel, but a lot of us need to know whether there’s any hope of this wonderful character being a decent part of season four. Saying she’s ‘recurring’ isn’t enough. Ford was recurring. Surely you can see why we’re concerned, given what happened with him.
Torri is a wonderful, amazingly talented person. Same goes for Amanda. Can’t you see that by, for example, having both of them in 14 episodes, having the two strongest female characters in scifi interacting you will draw in more people? It would be interesting to see the military/scientific Carter clashing with the civilian/idealistic Elizabeth.
I love both character, but if forced to choose between the two, I choose Elizabeth. And in choosing Elizabeth I will choose not to watch season four apart from the episodes she’s in, so that I can support Torri.
What sort of viewing ratings are you expecting Sunday to do?
Joe,
Are we going to have the opportunity to see episodes like the Siege or the hive in season four? You know episodes involving the fight or destruction of Wraith ships.
Thank you very much
Albatros
Love the pics! My son used to be the same way about baths when he was little. We would often find him standing in the bathtub, fully dressed, waiting for us to turn on the water for him. Strangely enough, my husband has always called him Bubba, too.
Bubba sounds adorable, minus the paws that smell like nachos. 🙂
I’ve got two questions about the Fourth Horseman Pt. 1.
Dr. Lee is using “Dark Pariah” to run his tests. 1) Why was a made up band used? 2) Since it was made up, who/what band actually made that song Dr. Lee was listening too?
What, no jacuzzi jets for Bubba? I’m so glad you explained what the brown thing is. I feared he had been in the tub too long and gotten a bit too relaxed. 🙂
I’m with you on Sorkin’s dramas. If I wanted to be preached at, I’d go to church. Heh.
Did you see House tonight? Disgusting and hilarious.
You have to try to Mokachino chocolate and the Denso hot chocolate.
Ah, I’m writing that down. I should be up there again next month, so I’ll have to get those then. Thanks for the rec.
So, in the realm of wild conjecture…if Ellia had lived, and she happened to meet Michael (in his current state, shall we say), how would they have reacted to each other? I find it quite interesting that they each had such different reactions to the retrovirus. Michael hated it, but Ellia actually wanted it to work. Actually, I love how they, plus the wraith in Common Ground, have really shown a broader view of wraith than we get in most eps. A more fleshed out enemy is a more believable one, and I enjoy that showing those kinds of characters puts a more “human” face on the enemy. I find I’m developing a strange soft spot for them. Ah, yes, good stuff. Looking forward to more wraithiness.
I just watched the commentary for Ripple Effect…(which is probably my fav epi off the Ori storyline)…just had a couple questions. You mentioned alot of ad libs that Ben does, and the Frell and Frak jokes. This may be a big question, but do you remember your fav that he does? And the “cut the green wire” thing at the end…will we see that in one of the movies???
Have you ever came across a show tune that Martin Gero doesn’t know?
Hey Joe,
I heard or read that the ninth chevron take to parallel universe or dimension.
Is the new series called “stargate universe” because it takes place in a new or parallel universe?
Answer: Possibly. To be honest, I’m not a coffee drinker.”
How about tea? What’s your favorite kind? Mine’s Prince of Wales, but it’s really hard to come by here *pout*
Do you read the mail fans send to you?
Joe, pay no attention to Jim Butcher. “The Dreadful Files” is one of the worst shows on television and poor Jim just isn’t handling the negativity on the SciFi boards very well. Of course, since he has been openly posting there, his book fans have rushed to his side. It doesn’t make the show any better though.
WHAT, what happens to Elizabeth? I’m so confused, school needs to die for taking away my fandom time. Should I be scared?
“yet why do his paws always smell like nachos?”
lol…I had a cat whose sloth like nature would immediately become animated around water, though more in avoidance than excitment..his paws too had a nacho whiff…ah, the mysteries of the animal world.
Please continue to slam obnoxious fans. I find it highly entertaining 😛
do you guys intend to make a joint episode together, in the sense that everyone of the writing staff will write the episode together? Also, are you going to have an episode like 2010 from SG1 in season 4 of Atlantis. thanxs
Three comments:
I’m with you. Coffee is a vile, evil substance (so is beer, but that’s another story.
Actually, one comment and two questions.
Here come the questions:
1) Will the scary Canadian union let poor Joe Flanigan direct an episode? You know he wants to… He said as much at the NJ convention.
2) Torri. Any update on episodes? (I’m execting you to ignore this question like you have all the other ones about her! I’m sure I won’t be disappointed, you’re somewhat predictable in regard to her)
Joe, you have a crazy dog! I had one too. She was a German Shep who loved to bat grapes around the kitchen. She’d also pick them up and throw them in the air to chase. Hours of entertainment, free of charge. 🙂 I think she thought she was part cat. She’d also catch mice and get hairballs.
I hope the moving of Atlantis to the fall (against new network shows!) doesn’t do to it what it did to BSG. I wish I could say it all depends on the writing, but no. This move is insane.
suse
P.S This google identity stuff it crap. It won’t take! Gah!
It’s never explained on the show how the wormhole vortex is stopped by an iris (SG1) or shield (SGA), but yet an Ori ship is no match. Any explaination? That’s always bugged me.
“Also, are you going to have an episode like 2010 from SG1 in season 4 of Atlantis. thanxs”
Alright, that’s enough of that. I think we’ve already got enough “SG-1” in Atlantis already. And I think we’ve already ripped off enough SG-1 episodes to last us for the entire show.
Off the top of my head there’s Intruder (Entity redux), Grace Under Pressure (Grace redux), Runner (Deadman Switch, redux), Sudnay (Heroes redux), Progeny (Unnatural Selection and outright plagerism), and the Return (Within the Serepent’s Grasp redux). No doubt Atlantis will gate to a blackhole planet and fight a replicator version of Dr. Weir next season as well.
Okay, random question that returned to mind after watching “Echoes” again. Was there any intention for the whales’ impact on humans to parallel the story right now about what the US Navy’s sonar is doing to whales, or did that happen by accident? ‘Cause that’s a pretty big coincidence. It’s like revenge of the whales. 😉 (check out the last line of the first page of that article – sounds familiar!)
Dear Joe,
Is Tabula Rasa a revisit to the second season trinity and third season McKay and Mrs.Miller? If not, are we going to be graced with a follow up to the acturus project. Thank you sir
Your moroccan fan
Also it’s wrong to assume that all Weir fans are the way you paint them, we may get a little carried away when it comes this whole thing, especially when an actress from another show who has already been given a chance comes and replaces our favorite for no apparent reason other than to bring in a few of the SG-1 viewers or because the show creators and producers can’t let go of their favorite first show and with this alienate a bunch of already existing SGA fans thus not gaining much with this. I don’t think any of my comments were ever disrespectful. And by the way, Mr. Mallozzi has made a rule of what he’ll post in his blog and what he wouldn’t. He specifically said that no disrespectful comments will be posted, therefore, none of them obviously were, he doesn’t see them as such or else he wouldn’t have posted them in the first place. Some of Elizabeth/Torri fans have already given up on the show and they’re not posting anywhere, not showing their dissatifaction, trying to forget SGA ever existed. Most of them are Sheppard/Weir shippers too. Just something I wanted to add.
Fans wouldn’t be making assumptions about actors and the casting if TPTB would give us some more info about it. I wouldn’t even say one word against the decision about Carter or Tapping coming if it wasn’t connected with my favorite character being made recurrent. It’s not about Carter really, it about the decision about Elizabeth. That’s what we don’t like, think it’s wrong and don’t understand why it had to be done. It would be great if someone would explain it to us. And please don’t give us opinion polls or something like that. It’s foolish for such decisions to be based on those, come on, polls being handed out to some random people who may not even watch the show and asking them to choose the character they dislike most or something. That’s not reliable for accurate results. Those systems are out of date. If that’s what it’s supposed to be reliable then I dare say a poll on GateWorld is more relevant here because real fans vote there. Look at this:
http://forum.gateworld.net/showthread.php?t=39589
Yeah, 71,6 % of people think Elizabeth should stay the leader of Atlantis. That’s a pretty strong lead before Carter with 18,4 %. The other 10 % voted for “somebody else”.
Were all these comic jokes, Batman/Fatman, F4 your ideas during notes reviewing?
Yes! I so knew Sasquatch had a writing job. Speaking of Sasquatch, what’s your take on the guy? Any chance of seeing some Bigfoot-like aliens on a planet? The Vancouver setting would be perfect for them…
I also have a question related to the show. I don’t know if you watched the fan film links I sent a couple months ago (my sis and I play 2 characters each and McKay is a stuffed duck that looks like a platypus) but for our next one, Weir is going to get angry with Ronon and try to fire him only to realize that she never hired him in the first place. I find it endlessly amusing — do Teyla and Ronon get paid? We know that everyone else on the expedition is on the government payroll, but what about the resident aliens? I know Teal’C was paid because he eventually got his own place (unless that was a government handout). But in the Pegasus Galaxy? Teyla and Ronon get free room and board and choose to stay in Atlantis, but providing one food and shelter in return for one’s labor is technically a form of slavery since said person would have no means of supporting his/herself once he/she left the situation (as in the case of Native Californians under Mexican rule). Knowing that makes it even funnier. Or maybe I’m just evil.
Thanks for always taking the time to communicate with fans who’ve never even met you in real life!
~ Kellie
I like some Chinese food. I’m not a big fan of sweet and sour, though…
OK, question: I suffer from terminal curiosity and I have a fetish for names, so I have to know–what is Dr. Keller’s first name? She’s gotta have a first name, everyone’s gotta first name… unless you named her ‘Keller Keller’–that could be interesting.
Can you tell us how far into “War and Peace” Shep has gotten?
hi, joe,
now that we know jack’s going to be in the second sg1 movie ‘continuum’, will there be sam/jack ship? RESOLUTION perhaps? 😀
(i almost spelled resolution as ‘resoulution’. it works. :p)
sally 🙂
Joe,
I read in SGA magazine that Jason Mamoa wanted his character to go to the darkside. Can you confirm this? Also, the name Ronon is very familiar, very similar to the Robert de Niro movie Ronin. The name Ronin spurts from the etymology of a wandering knight. I read somewhere that the word means “A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master’s favour or privilege.” Does our character share the same fate.
Sincerely,
Your montreal fan
Joseph, everytime someone starts to bitch about Weir’s status change or Carson’S for that matter post the following comment. We at SGA production know what we are doing and trust us that the last we want to do is to bring the show down by losing fans or hampering the story lines. Patience is a virtue….
Iron Fist
Ryan Robbins talked with some of us about his piercings and his tattoos, which begs asking the question of – Do you have any tattoo’s or piercings? If not what’s your take on them?
Have you heard how the cameraman is doing that was filming Continuum? Is he a regular cameraman for Stargate?
Can you pass along best wishes for him.
Dear Mr. Mallozzi,
From one Italien to another I wanted to thank you for a job well done on Stargate Atlantis, I also was wondering on an opportunity for you to write an episode where you can have guest star Patrick Stewart in. I think he can make a great addition to an already fabulous show. Keep up the good work sir.
Anthony pappa
It’s me again, another question (which you might have answered somewhere before *grimaces*). Anyhow, Zelenka’s such a sweet guy–is there potential love in his future? (It would seem I also have a thing for ‘ships… *Sigh*)
Out of curiousity, do you have a system for chosing which questions to answer?
I have a question about the Stargate novels. How much of what is written in them concerning the main characters can actually be considered “canon” in relation to the show? I wonder about this because in the books there is often rather interesting information stating things like “Sheppard is Special Ops” or even just details about minor characters we don’t see much on the show. Do the writers of the books talk with the writers of the show or are they given a free license since the books aren’t exactly part of the timeline for the show?
Melissa