Last night over sushi, one of my fellow diners explained how a friend of his had vacationed in Scotland and discovered one of the most remarkable dishes he had ever tried: chips on a bun. That’s fries and mayo served in a bun. Seriously. I thought the only thing that could have probably made it even more exceptional was cheese, butter and, maybe, gravy – which would of course be injected directly into the heart of the bun once it had been battered and deep-fried so as to create a golden shell both delicious and impenetrable. Then, once the ball of carbs had been infused with its liquid ingredients, the whole would be set aside for a few hours to allow said ingredients to congeal. Once the creation has cooled, simply slice it in half and marvel at the coagulated rainbow of colors hidden within – the golden crust, orange cheese, yellow butter, brown gravy, and white of the fries and mayo. Quick, somebody name my magnificent creation before somebody steals my idea. This is my greatest invention since the Spife, which combines the practicality of a spoon with the lethal sharpness of a knife. Reserve yours now!
A beautiful, sunny day today – spent running around making final preparations for the party. The pooches went to the spa and had their baths but, alas, will miss the evening’s planned festivities as they’ll be sequestered in the master bedroom lest they fall victims to any chocolate-related mishaps.
I didn’t snap any pics today so I thought I would check out my backlog of unpublished shots and post a few.
Let’s squeeeeeze in some Q&A –
Andrew Timson writes: “From the sounds of things here, you and Paul generally write your scripts separately, yet are still credited as if they were cowritten. Is there any particular reasoning behind this that you can share?”
Answer: Paul and I used to write scripts together, usually in the same room throwing dialogue back and forth, or working individually but passing the script back and forth so that we could write one another as we advanced scene by scene. As we grew busier with production (particularly the fact that we were suddenly producing 40 episodes of television) we found it easier to write scripts individually. We still maintain the co-written credit out of fairness as Paul does most of the uncredited rewrites on scripts.
JJ writes: “Is it a big deal for presentation of food? Does it make you less likely to eat it?”
Answer: A nice presentation will earn extra marks, but it always comes down taste.
Anonymous #1 writes: “Will we also see something like the EMH from star trek voyager but the a asgard?”
Answer: I haven’t a clue what an EMH is.
Anonymous #2 writes: “Do any of the writers have such different styles or use the same dialog that would make them easily recognizable as writing an episode?”
Answer: I’m sure we do, although I’ve never stopped to really think about it.
Arctic Goddess writes: “Anyway,how did you decide on an agent to represent you as a writer? How much of a percentage does he or she receive, and what exactly do agents do for writers? In short, what services can you expect from an agent?”
Answer: I chose my first agent on the basis of personal experience – I was working as a Manager of Animation Development and dealing with a number of agents. This individual proved persistent in pushing his clients, yet friendly and professional. When the time came, I asked him to rep me and he was more than happy to take me on as a client. Agents receive a 10% commission for getting your name out there and finding you work.
CM writes: “Which language do you prefer : English or French ?”
Answer: Since it’s the language I use on a daily basis, I’d have to say English.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Also because of the wraith’s technology being based on mainly of an organic nature, does it have to be grown? and if so would you be willing expand this with an episode?”
Answer: That’s something we just so happen to have discussed Thursday and Friday. We’ll see if some of what we talked about makes it into an upcoming episode.
JohnManzione writes: “1. Do you use a Mac? Are there many Apple computers at Bridge Studios? Would you happen to know if the FX people use Macs to produce those awesome special effects? 2. Has anyone suggested that MGM put out a 10-Season deluxe DVD package for all SG1 seasons? ?
Answers: 1. I don’t. Some do. Off the top of my head, I’m not sure. 2. Sorry, I don’t know whether this has been discussed.
Shelley Templar writes: “if you could create a charcter or race tat could appear in *Atlantis*, what/who would they be and what would they be like?”
Answer: Check out seasons four’s Travelers for the answer to this question.
Giu ecrit: “C’est super, je ne savais pas que vous compreniez le français!”
Answer: Je comprends mais ca fait bien longtemps que je l’air parle. Mon Francais est terrible; mon ecriture encore plus pire.
Bugguy writes: “Fondy’s ill feeling came on too fast to be food poisoning. The fastest of food poisoning is Staphylococcal and that usually takes 6 hours and lasts about the same time. Really nasty though short in time.”
Answer: Geez, Bugguy. If I’d known about you sooner, I’d have put you in the running as the Atlantis CMO.
Sheppard’s Delight writes: “Oh I am also sorry to hear that JF’s idea has been put back to s5. For some reason I had assumed(probably incorrectly) that this may have included some of the back story for Shep that we so crave.”
Answer: Although we never got around to actually spinning it in great detail, there were no plans to include backstory elements in this particular story.
Obsessed1 writes: “ Who will have the most character growth over season four?”
Answer: I think all of our characters will see some growth. But if I had to pick one, I’d choose Teyla as she has been underdeveloped in previous seasons and will be playing some catch-up in season four.
Rebeccasaurus writes: “You are cooking a lovely meal and require a taste. Finger or utensil?”
Answer: A secondary tasting spoon.
Rebecca writes: “Don’t you ever get tired of all the negativity in SG fandom?”
Answer: Not really. Fans are entitled to their opinions and its always nice to see they are passionate about the show. The fact that they take the time to comment and critique is what makes them fans. For the most part. There are, of course, a very small minority that I would hesitate to call fans at all, simply because they little more than unhappy, bitter complainers who never have anything positive to say about Stargate and yet, from what I can tell, spend the better part of their days posting ad nauseum about all of the things they hate about the show. It’s a little sad and I wonder if perhaps it isn’t a symptom of some deeper-seeded issue (I don’t know, maybe their mommies didn’t love them enough when they were kids). Inevitably, fans who must put up with their terminal grousing pose the obvious question: “If you hate the show so much, then why bother watching and complaining?” Naturally, this elicits indignant outrage from the gripers who assert they have every write to complain if they want to, citing the first amendment as if they were some political prisoner being denied their basic human right. Seriously, any three year old can vomit up a crayola pastiche and call it free speech, and said output wouldn’t be all that different from the pointless, occasionally amusing, usually just plain sad “opinions” of this minority of oxygen-wasters. By the way, if you swing by the Gateworld forums, say hi to Shadowmaat and Prion for me. J
Miles writes: “You mentioned that Ark of Truth was going to start filming this past week… did they get started on time? Is filming on Contiuum wrapped?”
Answer: Check previous blog entries for pics of Art of Truth. Continuum doesn’t start shooting for a while.
Brazil_nut writes: “Mr. Mallozzi, why do you believe that the early online availability of Atlantis episodes has a significant effect on ratings now? The percentage of viewers who download episodes is very small. The percentage of viewers who are part of the ratings system is also very small. Multiply that together and the percentage shrinks.”
Answer: You just made my point for me. There’s no way to tell how online availability will effect the ratings. However, since ratings are gathered via a random sampling of the viewing public, all it would take is a small number of individuals to fall into this category to effect the show’s ratings.
Anonymous #4 writes: “1. I was wondering if you can tell us the exact size of.
2. Will we see Atlantis on the move in later eppys in season 4, kind of like Progeny and First Strike, Adrift. 3. Am I right to assume that Zpms are not going to be consequential to Atlantis in season 4 as they were in the past seasons.
Answer: 1. Again, off the top of my head, I don’t know. 2. Depends what you mean by later eppies. 3. The ZPM’s will always be a much sought after piece of technology.
Leave a Reply