For some strange reason, people have an incredibly easy time opening up to Fondy. There’s something inviting about her, something comforting, something that will compel, say, our neighbor from apartment 305 to unload a tearful, soul-wringing account of her heartbreaking divorce on the very first night we go out to dinner with her. Fairytale romance. Infidelity. Crushing disappointment. Utter devastation. For my part, I just wanted to finish my agedashi tofu in peace. It’s not that I didn’t sympathize (I saw Kramer vs. Kramer. I know what it’s like.), but more that any compassion I felt at that moment was overshadowed by the fact that I didn’t really know this woman. Mandy? Monica? Marta? Besides, she wasn’t really talking to me. She was having an intimate conversation with my wife and my presence was about as significant as that of the decorative bonzai sitting beside us. Two hours later, having ditched the crazy lady, I was sitting in bed reading, when Fondy turns to me and says: “We never talk.” I couldn’t believe it. First of all, I distinctly remember asking her where she kept the extra toothbrushes not ten minutes earlier. Secondly, you would think that given all of the people who happily confide in her on a daily basis, she’d find my comparatively reserved disposition delightfully refreshing.
Apparently not.
Well, we had dinner at Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant in Richmond last night on our way to picking up Fondy’s sister, Grace, at the airport. We went with the standards: sharkfin soup, hand-ripped chicken, sweet and sour pork belly, and a mixed vegetable dish that included lotus root, cloud ear mushrooms, black fungus, bamboo shoots, and gingko nuts. And, oh yeah, celery (yech!). We didn’t order dessert but were served complimentary sweet red bean soup that I left untouched. Then, with time to kill, we meandered over to the Yaohan Center where we did a little shopping at T&T. Still feeling peckish, I picked up a couple of sweet buns and treated myself to a little snack once we got back to the car. The first bun was a “Coconut cream bun” that was very soft and fresh and tasted nothing like coconut. It tasted more like sweetened whipped butter. The second bun was actually a “Coconut tart” and this one did actually taste like coconut – and extremely rich and buttery. How rich and buttery? Well, I checked out the Nutrition Facts on the back of the packaging and discovered that this delectable treat contained 108% of my daily recommended dosage of saturated and trans fats. 108%! Holy Mackerel! It’s like a superfood! Rather than going through all the trouble of getting 11% here with this snack and another 15% at lunch then another 25% at dinner, I can get my entire day’s allotment in one convenient package.
We picked Grace up at the airport a little after 8:30 p.m., then had to wait for her sole piece of luggage to put in a conveyer belt appearance. “It’s a black bag,”she advised. “That one?”I asked. “It’s a small black bag,”she clarified. “That one?”. “It’s got something blue on the handle.” “Like that one?”I suggested. “No,”she answered. “Something blue on the handle,”I repeated. “Could you be more specific?” “A blue ribbon,”she informed me. “This one?”I wondered, hopefully holding up a small black bag with a blue ribbon on the handle. “Dark blue,”she advised.
We got home a little after 9:30 p.m. and, after posting my latest blog entry and giving the pugs their eye treatment (a topical gel that must be applied directly to their adorable eyeballs), I headed up to bed where I finished The Risen Empire which, it turns out, is only the first part of a two-part book series. I’ll be getting around to book two just as soon as I finish the hundred or so other books in my library. Tonight, I’ll be switching gears to one of scifi’s heavy hitters – Kim Stanley Robinson – and starting on Red Mars. Oooh, this is a fat one, 572 pages, with really tiny type. Should take me well into the weekend.
Questions…
Anonymous #1 writes: “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.”
Answer: Yup.
Smiley_Face06 writes: “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?”
Answer: 1) Using a phony band was much more cost-effective than paying for the rights to an established band. 2) I’m not sure the name of the band but the studio has a library of tunes that do a pretty good job of approximating many of musical sub-genres. Check out those cheesy hits of the 80’s in Bounty.
Little Raven-Hawk writes: “Have you ever came across a show tune that Martin Gero doesn’t know?”
Answer: I actually sat in his office and quizzed him once and, believe it or not, I ran out of shows before he ran out of tunes.
Anonymous #2 writes: “Is the new series called “stargate universe” because it takes place in a new or parallel universe?”
Answer: From what I know, it will take place in this universe.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Do you read the mail fans send to you?”
Answer: I try to.
Anonymous #4 writes: “Do you guys intend to make a joint episode together, in the sense that everyone of the writing staff will write the episode together?”
Answer: No plans to do so.
Kirsten writes: “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?”
Answer: It was coincidental.
Mel writes: “What is Dr. Keller’s first name?”
Answer: Jennifer.
Anonymous #5 writes: “Can you tell us how far into “War and Peace” Shep has gotten?”
Answer: He’s about one third of the way through.
Anonymous #6 writes: “I read in SGA magazine that Jason Mamoa wanted his character to go to the darkside. Can you confirm this?”
Answer: I don’t know as I haven’t read the article in question – but, sure, it sounds like something Jason would say.
Sweet pea writes: “ Do you have any tattoo’s or piercings? If not what’s your take on them?”
Answer: No tattoos or piercings. As for my take – meh.
Anonymous #7 writes: “ Out of curiousity, do you have a system for chosing which questions to answer?”
Answer: I just scroll through them and pick out a) the ones I haven’t already answered, b) the ones I can usually answer off the top of my head.
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