Happy Fourth of July to our neighbors down south! Also, Happy National Country Music Day! AND Happy Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day! I celebrated all three by working on my script. It reads pretty solid to me. But then again, I’m the guy who wrote it. Wait until the other writers get their critical little fingers on my masterpiece. It’s always the same thing. Paul will feel there’s too much philosophical introspection while Marty G. will feels there’s not enough. Alan will inevitably demand a better understanding of the deeper cultural subtext that underlies the off-world scenes. And Carl will criticize the font. Well, after tomorrow, it will no longer be my problem as I’ll be emailing it to Paul who will do his pass, after which hiatus will be over, we’ll be back at work, and it will be my problem again as we begin prep on The Kindred Part I.
I spoke to Paul McGillion just before the hiatus kicked off and pitched out what we had in store for him. He was very excited about the story and very much looking forward to coming back. And we look forward to having him back and, of course once again being audience to his beautiful singing voice. Oh, and forgot to mention that Joe and Jason did look quite dashing in their dark suits and white shirts for the final days on Miller’s Crossing. As Joe was leaving the production offices one day, I snapped a few pics as he posed and quipped “I’m doing my Joe Mallozzi imitation”.
Well, I’m halfway through my to-read pile and have ground to a snail’s pace as I work my way through Gene Wolfe’s Strange Travelers. I hope to be done by tomorrow at which point I’ll be switching it up and starting on Reaper Man for what should be a nice change of pace. One of the books I’ve already read, SFWA European Hall of Fame: Sixteen Contemporary Masterpieces of Science Fiction from the Continent, a selection of works from various countries Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Finland, and Russia to name a few, was great. Lots to like in this collection. Sergei Lukyanenko’s Destiny Inc. and Lucian Merisca’s An Earthling’s Adventures on Outrerria were particularly memorable.
On the t.v. front – it’s Flight of the Conchords, some Big Love, and not much else. I did catch a couple of movies including X-Men 3 (which I’d heard a lot of terrible things about and expected to hate but ended up liking – with the exception of the sequence in which Madrox pulls off his multiple bait and switch – for no good reason other than it was a cool scene), and Blade Trinity (starring Wesley Snipes’ biggest fan = Wesley Snipes. He works so hard at being cool you can‘t help but worry he may hurt himself.)
Today’s pics: Jelly clowns for the camera, part of my scifi library A-M, the fantastic restaurant we passed the other day, Joe Flanigan – male model.
Kind of an anemic mailbag today but, hey, who am I to complain…
Carolina writes: “I watched the video of the digital press tour and I have to say, you look great and in my opinion, if I may, much better than this pic, what’s your secret?”
Answer: Working out, eating right, having a positive attitude, and bathing in the blood of 30 virgins every second Friday does the trick.
My Name Is Scott writes: “ Oh man, I asked you to confirm me a a friend on Facebook, but I didn’t even give you my name.”
Answer: I fear the whole Facebook experiment didn’t pan out. I really only signed up so that people I knew way-back-when could get in touch with me. I don’t use it to correspond with anyone and so find it pretty useless.
Vikitty writes: “Do you ever go out for dim sum, Joe? What’s your favourite dish?”
Answer: I like the cia siu bao, pai gwat, fung jau, and the lin yung bau.
Lisa Gabi Marie writes: “Do you think that a SGA character will ever ascend in a episode?”
Answer: Anything is possible. But many things are also highly unlikely. Like an SGA character ascending for one.
Seahen writes: “Do you know if Ali has a friend who also needs an heir?”
Answer: You know, he probably does. But just in case that doesn’t pan out, I’m going to need people to help dig the moat surrounding my castle. You good with a shovel?
Anonymous #1 writes: “ A certain Sheyla shipper’s at it again, hinting at inside information, and a Ronon Keller ship. True? False?”
Answer: True, someone is hinting at inside information.
Anonymous #2 writes: “On another topic: someone wrote a letter to Sci Fi Weekly and named you.”
Answer: That was really sweet. Thank them for me.
Jennifer writes: “My brother that has started watching anime is 30. Any recommendations?”
Answer: Start him on Berserk, Cowboy Bebop, and Samurai Champloo for starters, then get back to me.
Anonymous #3 writes: “Can one have an orphanless orphanage?”
Answer: I think an orphanless orphanage would be the best of both worlds. It has all the feel-goodness of a warm, loving, and accepting environment minus those depressing little kids.
Benjamin writes: “Have you ever touched, or seen, any of the mecha anime?”
Answer: Yup, I liked both War in the Pocket and Blue Gender a lot.
Anonymous #4 writes: “I was wondering why you guys don’t participate in the Leo awards anymore?”
Answer: I can’t speak for the production and it’s decision regarding the Leo’s. But just my personal opinion – when a huge sequence like the one at the end of Lost City loses out to a simple eye glow in the visual effects category, the awards lose a certain amount of credibility.
My Name Is Scott also writes: “Now that we’ve got films coming, do have have sweeping landscape shots, cinematic camerawork, etc.?”
Answer: Check out the amazing helicopter-shot sequence that opens Ark of Truth.
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