Today, the world celebrates End of the Middle Ages Day. Yup, it’s finally official. They’re done with. Get over it.
Tonight, dinner took us to a little place I like to call “Le Crocodile” because in many ways it reminds me of a French alligator, with its predatory charm swimming amidst a rich, vibrant marsh of Strasbourg scents and Provencal flavors. Also, it’s the name of the restaurant.
Since I’m still recovering from my bout with food poisoning (I was felled by a TKO in the 5th), I thought it best to go easy on my glass stomach by wading my way back into the deep end of fine dining. And so, Fondy and I started things off by sharing three appetizers: oven roasted bone marrow, seared foie gras, and a duck liver terrine. The bone marrow was impressive – a hefty veal shank split lengthwise, the exposed marrow sprinkled with herbs and a little breading, then oven roasted to a nice, crispy topping. A tiny serving spoon was provided to scoop out the glistening cholesterol-quickening treasure within. The fresh, pan-seared foie gras, was rich and unctuous, served with a blueberry reduction and accompanied by a somewhat neutral gelee. The duck terrine, a nice fat and fatty portion, was smooth and sweet, although its cognac lacing did lend it a somewhat bitter undercurrent. For our mains – Fondy went with a beautifully-cooked halibut while I opted for the pan-fried sweetbreads laced with a gorgeous apple brandy cream sauce and topped with tarragon. We skipped dessert (like I said, I’m still recovering and didn’t want to overdo it).
Although I’m not a fan of beauty pageants, I did watch the last half hour of yesterday’s Miss Universe Pageant (Fondy wielded the remote, it was late, and I was feeling too weak to put up much of a fight). Like figure skating, these prize pony parades only interest me insofar as I may luck into catching some mortifying instant of unscripted hilarity (ie. awkward tumbles, Faith Hill-esque sour grapes meltdowns, and the much-beloved wardrobe malfunction). Unfortunately, I missed seeing one of the contestants go down like – as my buddy Carl put it – “a sack o’ bricks”. Nevertheless, it was nice to see Miss Japan surprise everyone by walking away with the title. Oh, and special mention should be made of all the classy members of the audience in Mexico who demonstrated their displeasure with their northern neighbors by lustily booing Miss U.S.A., no doubt assuming the young lady had a hand in drafting her country’s foreign and immigration policy. Yeah, I suppose it’s an honest mistake to make.
And many thanks to Jaffacakes who sent me a terrific Michel Cluizel Vila Gracinda 67% dark chocolate bar with an accompanying (and edifying) 8-page newspaper insert titled “The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate”. One page offers a taste test of 14 different chocolate bars ranging from supermarket milks to high-end darks, with three judges weighing in: a head patissier, a food critic, and a 12 year old girl. They weigh in on my favorite bar, the Amedei Chuao 70% – The patissier: “This is fantastic and has a great length with a nice fruitiness.” The food critic: “A Fred Astaire among chocolates. Dances over the tongue, elegant and assured.” The 12 year old girl: “Ugh! What is it? I don’t even believe it’s chocolate.”
Mailbag –
Anonymous #1 writes: “What does Rob Cooper make on the grill that’s tasty?”
Answer: Last Summer, he barbecued a pig and some venison. Rumor has it he also smokes a pretty mean duck.
Scififan writes: “Are you a marshmallow or non-marshmallow man? Spiked or not spiked?”
Answer: Non on both count.
PUG15 writes: “Oh, and any chance of one of these read-throughs ending up as a DVD extra? Pretty please?”
Answer: Sadly, no. The producers do such a brilliant job that, out of the respect for the actors, we won’t allow our performances to be aired.
Edward4th writes: “Who decides what goes onto the DVDs as special features?”
Answer: Ivon Bartok is the guy to talk to when it comes to the special features.
Vikitty writes: “Hve you ever taken part in the Halloween Film Haunt @ Bridge?”
Answer: No. I scare easily.
Silver writes: “Assuming a book has had good reviews or been highly recommended by a trusted source, how much effort do you put into it before discarding it?”
Answer: I will make an effort to read the first 100 pages of a book. If it hasn’t grabbed me by then, I’m moving on.
Silver also writes: “Excluding non-fiction or classic literature , do you ever finish a book you dislike for the sake of ‘cultural literacy’; to discuss or debate it?”
Answer: No. If I’m not deriving any enjoyment from reading a book, I will set it aside regardless of its weighty significance.
Silver also writes: “What compels you to buy a book from an author you’re totally unfamiliar with & no one has recommended?”
Answer: Most of the books I have picked up were recommendations. I may pick up a book if I enjoyed some part work by the same author and, may on occasion, impulse by if a book happens to grab my interest while I’m browsing.
Shawna writes: “I am a huge Michael fan, I wonder if you could tell us how many eps he’s in next season, and how long we’ll have to wait to see him?”
Answer: Chances are we may see him in the back half of season four.
Anonymous #2 writes: “Does David Hewlett always do read throughs in costume?”
Answer: The read-throughs are held during lunch so if the actors are working that day, they are usually in costume.
Anonymous #3 writes: “By the way your blog receives about 3000 hits a day and quite a few comments.. Is this a sort of phenonomon?”
Answer: Yeah, about 3000 visit’s a day, but I have no other blogs to compare traffic to so I have no idea if these numbers are all that huge. Above average I suppose but I couldn’t say for certain.
Stargate Groupie writes: “What is the strangest situation or strangest location you have been at when an idea for a story or an idea for a script that you have been working on has popped in to your head?”
Answer: While sitting in the dentist’s chair, partway through a history exam, in the middle of a wedding ceremony.
Kiwigater writes: “Have you changed camera’s lately Joe? Your piccies are looking quite spiffy 😀 The prefix “DSC” suggests a Sony?”
Answer: Still the same old Sony HD camera.
Namiko writes: “Do the wait staff look at you weird when you start taking pictures, or are they used to you by now?”
Answer: They’re on to me.
Anonymous #4 writes: “Which Pohl collection did you get, The Platinum Pohl (recent) or The Best of Frederick Pohl (out-of-print, but worthwhile).”
Answer: I have both but the collection I picked up yesterday was The Best of Frederick Pohl (I managed to track down a perfect copy at a local second-hand bookstore).
Shannon writes: “When you had your chocolate party a while back you had some chocolates sent in from Denver if I remember correctly. Where did you order them from?”
Answer: Wen Chocolates – http://www.wenchocolates.com
Sopadiggle writes: “What type of computer/laptop do you use when writing the episodes?”
Answer: I work on a Sony Vaio.
Atlantisfannew1 a ecrit: “Ou avez vous apris a parler francais?”
Reponse: J’ai appris a parler francais dans les ecoles primaires et secondaires en Montreal.
Kali Weir a ecrit: “Quel épisode tournez-vous en ce moment?”
Reponse: Mai on se rappelle tous mes péchés.
Anonymous #5 writes: “I’m in Louisiana, heart of all great Cajun food!”
Answer: Next time I travel to your neck of the woods, I’ll be sure to drop by. How’s your jambalaya?
Anonymous #6 writes: “ Are you involved in the development of “Stargate Universe”? IS there any development??? Anything you could tell, please?”
Answer: That’s Rob and Brad’s baby, so I’ll leave it to them to fill you in on their progress.
Speckles writes: “Would you try Kangaroo if offered?”
Answer: I had a kangaroo burger once. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.
Lorr54 writes: “I’ve made truffles and sent you a few dozen. […] Licking the ganache bowl was a dirty job, but I did it.”
Answer: Uh, did you do it before or after you made the truffles?
Panikin writes: “I really like to write, not too sure if I want to do it proffessionally yet, but I always have problems tying up the ends, as well as coming up with clever titles that really grab interest. Do you have any pointers?”
Answer: Get Carl to do it. He’s great at that stuff.
Sarah writes: “Frederick Pohl is a lovely man. I was fortunate to have dinner with him along with my friends the Haldemans.”
Answer: Well, if you happen to see either Frederick Pohl or Joe Haldeman in the near future – and provided they know what the hell you’re talking about – tell them they have more than a few fans at Stargate.
Dsbeerf writes: “I hate to be negative, but you’ve RUINED my image of Jason (Ronon) ! Sitting there eating with David, and wearing GLASSES !”
Answer: Hello! Those are “shielding” lenses. The only reason he wears them is to keep the blood and viscera from getting into his eyes when he wails on people. P.S. I’m telling him what you said.
Hey Joe: What is the one must read website that you seem to visit most frequently?
Hi JM, how’s it going?
Oh, and special mention should be made of all the classy members of the audience in Mexico who demonstrated their displeasure with their northern neighbors by lustily booing Miss U.S.A., no doubt assuming the young lady had a hand in drafting her country’s foreign and immigration policy.
Just for clarification, unless you were making a joke. The reason that some of the people in the audience were booing Miss U.S.A was because she tripped and fell on her arse, not like bricks, more like a ‘sac’o’potatoes’. ^_^ If she can’t walk in the dress, obviously it wasn’t good dress. This was why Miss India scored so low she couldn’t walk in her dress. But even with the fall Miss USA managed to beat out 5 other girls, which really wasn’t fair. Not to defend the audience, because it was declasse, I do see their side of the situation. Since it was an unfair judgement, because USA always needs to be in the top 5—You know DT bought it and all.
Any chance of Teyla and Ronon roaming the city when they go to Earth? Possible Earth attire too?!
Answer: Uh, did you do it before or after you made the truffles?
I just knew you’d jump on that, but was hoping you wouldn’t. Silly of me. I licked the mixing bowl AFTER the ganache was poured out into the container I use to let it set up.
BTW, I’m very happy to see you’re letting your tummy get all better before indulging in the haute cuisine.
Hey Joe, do you offer summer jobs at Bridge? And I mean any job…or better yet, how’s about volunteering? Do you need any volunteers at Bridges this time of year?
Joe,
Do you konw if any of the SG-1 actors will be going to Comic Con this year to promote the two movies?
Yes, very wise of you to stick to light, simple dishes for dinner. Poor boy. Your colleagues will think you were faking it last week!
How have the read-throughs worked out in terms of reducing on-set script change requests? Aside from being shown up by the producers acting-wise :), are the actors finding the reads useful? How about the writers?
Morning Joe, looking at all that you have eaten it looks like a large variety, but I’m wondering: Have you ever tried reindeer meat?
Hello! Those are “shielding” lenses. The only reason he wears them is to keep the blood and viscera from getting into his eyes when he wails on people. P.S. I’m telling him what you said.
oh … and I thought you were filming an episode about an alternate universe where Ronon is the scientist and McKay the kick-@ss warrior type … as a reaction to Ronon thinking about learning science stuff in First Strike … there go my hopes
Shielding lenses..LOL..I have to admit, I laughed when I first saw a pic of him wearing those things. Gotta tell us his reaction…
Speaking of cajun food…have you ever ate at Lucille’s? I’m not sure if they are in Canada or not. But if you haven’t it’s a definite must some day. There is not one thing that I’ve had that wasn’t excellent. And I’m usually amazingly picky.
Ok, so no on the Kangaroo. (Can’t say I would be brave enough to try) Have you ever had a buffalo burger or venison nachos?
Hi Joe,
This is off topic, but with all the top executive shuffling at Uni lately, as a producer, are you concerned how that may affect programming decisions at SciFi Channel?
Have you ever had a buffalo burger or venison nachos?
Howdy Joe,
I’ve looked around but so far failed to find an answer. I guess this is probably quite an obvious question, but is it safe to assume that the events of Ark of Truth and Continuum occur before Atlantis Season 4? How will Sam crossing over affect the casting of movies beyond continuum?
Thanks!
Another DVD question.
what are the chances of seeing Bloopers on DVDs either on their own or as special features? and how easy is Mr Bartok to contact and bribe?
Oh, and special mention should be made of all the classy members of the audience in Mexico who demonstrated their displeasure with their northern neighbors by lustily booing Miss U.S.A., no doubt assuming the young lady had a hand in drafting her country’s foreign and immigration policy.
Oh, wow. I thought you, from all people, will know what a cliche is.
The same way you people think every Latin American is Mexican and every Spanish speaking actor deserves to play just domestic service or gangster/drug dealers/comic relief (because, you know. That is what they all are down there), they tend to assume that every English speaking person is “gringa” and every gringo feels superior and thinks have rights over the rest of the world.
You know, a cliche, a common mistake that shows lack of education and a tendency to judge with out knowing better.
Hi !!
mmhh this “crocodile en chocolat” seems very attractive !!
Some fans think that you decided to put Weir recurring because you don’t know what to do with a civilian leader anymore!
I want to believe that is not the reason of this change, but if it was I wouldn’t understand why making her recurring because she totally could do in the team what Daniel Jackson is doing in SG1 !
And you will never tell us the real reason, right ?
Answer: I work on a Sony Vaio.
Woohoo! So do I!
Although I’m not exactly as productive as you are. Mainly I spend my hours on it reading the blog of a certain supervillain executive producer…
Glad to see you’ve finally got your appetite back. Although, the bone marrow idea makes me want to retch. :S
Hi Joe:According to IMDB Sarah Strange (Morgan Le Fey) will appear in Ark of Truth. Can you confirm that?
Yes, I found it quite amusing when I saw the that on the news. That they boo’d Ms. USA for not speaking Spanish, but did not boo any other contestants for not speaking Spanish during her interview portion! During intermission, the audience was chastised for making Mexico look bad. LOL!
Joe,
Does Ivan Bartok have a Blog site??
Hi Joe
You skipped dessert .. but you had sweetbreads with an apple brandy cream sauce.. mmmh . We know where your heart is.. and that main course sounds sooo good.. I can almost taste it.
You always seem to come up with a turn of phrase that can make me smile (broadly).. Today’s blog….
The much beloved wardrobe malfunction… Love it…
Take care
Dori
This is how you eat when you are taking it easy? ugh! Seriously, some of the stuff you choose to eat makes me shudder just from the ingredients. I’m a mid-west meat-n-potatoes type, and there are some foods that just shouldn’t be mixed!
It’s generous to give a new book 100 pages to grab your interest. If the author doesn’t grab my interest in the first chapter, it isn’t going to happen. And frankly, a good author *should* be able to hook you in the first few pages. After all, you don’t wait until after the opening credits to snag the viewer, you know you have to get them in that first couple minutes beforehand. Same thing really. And if the author can’t make the first chapter interesting, chances are the rest of it is going to be boring too.
Anonymous #5 writes: “I’m in Louisiana, heart of all great Cajun food!”
Answer: Next time I travel to your neck of the woods, I’ll be sure to drop by. How’s your jambalaya?
Well you’ll have to drop by my place too. I’ll show ya where all the good restaurants are. Actually, most people probably don’t think of Louisiana as having a lot of fine dining establishments, but there are quite a few, at least around Baton Rouge and New Orleans (the area I’m from).
If you’re looking for a vacation filled with fabulous food, you can’t beat New Orleans (even after Katrina. All the great dining places have come back, and tourism is starting back, it’s great time to see the city, and the people). Knowing you’re passion for food, I guarantee you wouldn’t have a dull evening.
P.S.
You’ve never had jambalaya until you’ve had some that’s been slow cooked in huge iron pot, truely old cajun style!
Yo! Joe is your job always as exciting as you put it?
Joe –
“Dsbeerf writes: “I hate to be negative, but you’ve RUINED my image of Jason (Ronon) ! Sitting there eating with David, and wearing GLASSES !”
Answer: Hello! Those are “shielding” lenses. The only reason he wears them is to keep the blood and viscera from getting into his eyes when he wails on people. P.S. I’m telling him what you said.”
I almost spit my orange juice all over my keyboard this morning on this one.
Thank you for making me laugh before I head off to work. A nice way to start the day. Sigh – in my world, work is definitely a four letter word right now. Got any room on the team for a Midwestern Mom? Only problem being I can’t move to Canada, so I’d have to do that “work from home” thing. But hey – in today’s world of technology, that wouldn’t be so far-fetched, would it?
Cheers!
SMB_BOOKS
1.)If Atlantis gets cancelled, do you think it will go on with movies like SG-1 is getting?
2.)How about a trilogy of movies in the theater that combine Atlantis and SG-1 into three huge movies?
3.)In the episode Prototype, was Khalek ever planned to be a major villain?
Dear Joe,
Have you been able to take the time to see “Sanctuary’s webisode”?
I love seeing the different cast members from various Stargate eps. If you see Amanda please tell her that I LOVE her accent. They all did a great job.
You eat bone marrow? Geez, no wonder you’re so cranky.
Just out of curiosity, have you ever tasted Vegemite? If so, what did you think of it?
Good Morning Joe!
I hope this hasn’t been asked before, but I was curious what your thoughts are on organic foods. I try to stay with organic eggs, milk and butter. I had read that the cholesterol in organic eggs is better for you, however, it’s impossible to buy everything organic… at least for me. Do you ever go out to eat at an organic restaurant or purchase organic foods?
Hi Joe, I’m glad you your stomach was well enaugh to enjoy the chocolate I sent ( by the way it’s jafacakes with only 1 f, I could never spell, even in my own language). Now the questions- when you review your meals, do you take notes during the meals as well as photos or you do it all from memory?
In a few blogs ago you mention Blindness, as it is not a widely know author how did you come across his book – recomendation or impulse buying? Would you be interested in it’s sequell(of sorts) Seeing?
Kali Weir a ecrit: “Quel épisode tournez-vous en ce moment?”
Reponse: Mai on se rappelle tous mes péchés.
The accurate translation for “Be all my sins remembered” would be :”Qu’on se souviennent de tous mes péchés.” Je pensais que cela pourrait vous interessez, d’autre part votre francais est excellent et c’est très sympathique de votre part de nous répondre toujours avec bonne humeur.
Je ne sais pas si cette question a déjà été posée, mais y aura t-il un épisode de la saison 4 comprenant une mission dans un univers alternatif ou un personnage venant d’un de ces univers?
Merci, Pink A.Witch.
I tried the grits. Blecccchhhh.
Did you intend to have Daniel and Vala interact so much when Claudia Black first came on, or did it just develop from seeing their chemistry? Combination?
“I hate to be negative, but you’ve RUINED my image of Jason (Ronon) ! Sitting there eating with David, and wearing GLASSES !”
Please don’t let this comment keep you from posting pictures of Jason, the rest of his fanclub loves all photographs of him, including the “shielding” lenses!
salut salut!!
superbe les photo!!
vive les restaurants francais^^
Merci de m avoire répondu!sa fait plaisir!En tout cas vous écrivez trés bien en francais!
allé salut !! a plus tard
We could see on IMDB that Steve Basic (Camulus) will be in Continuum too. Is there any chance that we can see other Goa’uld too next to him and Baal (Apophis, Nirrti, Heru-ur etc.)?
Joe,
Feel better.
Drive by pug-ging.
Dolby sends you licks on the nose. I told him he would have to deliver them himself. And you might want to ask him where that lick has been before you accept. Ew. 😉
I didn’t think it was possible for Jason Momoa to be more attractive. The read-through pic proves me wrong. *ogles*
Speaking of chocolate on everything: I once had chocolate pork with couscous at a tapas bar. I wanted to like it, but uh. It mostly tasted like pork that’s been rolled in gas station dirt.
Joe, Have you ever eaten at Rao’s in New York? If so what did you eat and what did you think of the food?
Hi Joe,
I’d like to second Zabadoo’s question about the future of Atlantis. If there is no fifth season (and the ratings have been as low as ever), do you think that Atlantis could get a movie or miniseries? And has there been any furthur indication if Scifi will order a fifth season? What’s the consensus in the writer’s room?
“Some fans think that you decided to put Weir recurring because you don’t know what to do with a civilian leader anymore!”
Hmm. I find it interesting that the TWO major civilian characters are both being dumped. Sure, Rodney’s a civilian, but he fires a gun, he’s on Shep’s team. That makes him different.
It looks like TPTB just want to use their ‘soft reset’ to turn SGA into SG1 in a different galaxy, when the appeal of SGA has been (to many of us) that it IS different and had a civilian leadership and a strong civilian presence.
“I almost spit my orange juice all over my keyboard this morning on this one. “
Okay, no offence to the person who posted this comment, but do Americans not realise that the past tense of spit is spat????
Are you going to ship Shep and Larrin? Say it isn’t so.
You’ll just find even more fans tuning out if you do that. You’ve lost the Beckett and Weir fans, the anti-Kirkers and no-romance people will be next to go if you have Shep picking up yet another space chick.
What was Jason’s response to the person who said their image of him was ruined because of the glasses and sitting next to Hewlett?
Joe,
If Jill Wagner is willing, another photo of her would be great, especially if she is in costume. Is Larrin and her people in both BAMSR and SOW? Please throw us Jill-a-maniacs a bone!!!
I agree with a previous poster, no romance between Sheppard and Larrin please. An uneasy respect of each other would be great though!!
A JW fan.
Hey there Joe.. I’m a big fan of yours and the SG writing team. As a scifi/fantasy writer myself, I’m having trouble with the backstory and evolving story for the Ancients. Is there a master bible that you guys maintain for them that answers all your questions, or are you creating it as you go along?
Hi joe,
Regular Jason Momoa fan here! I just had to pop over here and Thank you for all the great photo’s you post of Jason. I also wanted to invite you to pay a visit to Jason’s Official website and say Hello sometime, you are a much loved man over there. I have a little project of my own going for Jason’s birthday as well, but it’s a secret, so DO NOT TELL JASON! you can check it out at http://www.TexanBeauty.com Take care Joe!
Hey Joe!~
A couple of days ago, you mentioned yet ANOTHER possible first name for Major Lorne. Hadn’t it been decided it was Evan, or was that changed? Or, was it just you trying to be humorous, because all the Lorne Lovers harass you all the time?? Just trying to clear it up, because Kavan is such a great actor, and his character deserves a) as much screen time as possible, and b) a first name! Thanks!!!!
Hey Joe, How ya doing… I was curious which would you rather see Sunsets or Sunrises. Me and my girlfriend got into a discussion about it and because she is like… anti romantic cause it makes her nervous she ended up getting out of the idea by talking about Aliens landing on the beach and saying “All your base are belong to us.” It was quite funny actually…
Evening Joe –
One quick hijack of your blog and I’ll give it right back, I promise.
“Anonymous said…
“I almost spit my orange juice all over my keyboard this morning on this one. “
Okay, no offence to the person who posted this comment, but do Americans not realise that the past tense of spit is spat????”
Dear Anonymous,
My sincerest and most humble apologies for using incorrect verb tense in my brief post from this morning. Actually, I am a well-educated American, thank you very much. I just also happen to be someone who fell victim to an error in haste. I’ll blame it on bleary eyes and lack of caffeine.
And, thank you, for lumping all Americans in with me. I’m sure the rest of the country appreciates the inclusion.
Sorry Joe, for the hijack. I felt “Anonymous” deserved a response. Thank you.
Cheers!
SMB_BOOKS
Is he dead or alive (Ford)After he was removed from the show and came back for a few episodes, he was just as good if not better. Any chance you could bring him back in season 5 and kill him or bring him back or get him onto stargate universe? RSF is amazing
And why haven’t we seen sora ever ever again?
“Are you going to ship Shep and Larrin? Say it isn’t so.”
I agree, there are too many Shep-Ho jokes already. We want our hero to return to being a real hero, not some horny womanizer!
Mr. Mallozzi,
Odd way the French measure. There are approximately 28.35 grams per ounce, not 35.
Interesting. I see, however, that the TASTE made up for any miscalculations on the box !!
Thanks, for everything !!