Oh, dear. How depressing. My three-week hiatus is almost over and what have I got to show for it? One script completed, less than 20 books read, and a peeling sunburn.
Speaking of reading, I’m just about to finish up on Terry Pratchett’s The Light Fantastic, a delightfully wicked read, and one sorely needed after the garbage book I got through yesterday. Another excellent novel I finished the other day was Thomas M. Disch’s Camp Concentration, a scifi classic (I’m embarrassed to admit it took me so long to get around to) focusing on a conscientious objector, Louis, imprisoned for protesting an ongoing war. He is sent to Camp Archimedes, a prison whose inmates are part of a state-run experiment. Through Louis’s journal entries, we discover that his fellow inmates, once ordinary individuals, have been transformed into geniuses by a compound called Palladine. Ultimately, it turns out that Palladine’s source is a horrifying as its side effects. A wholly engaging and brilliant, brilliant read.
On the Stargate front, I’ve been in touch with some of the guys and Nora O’Brien over at Sci Fi who is working with her people on putting together that Atlantis season four sneak peek. Marty G. has taken his birthday festivities on the road – Vegas to be precise, where he reports he is 15 pages into his next script which still has no title, but does have Rodney driving Carter and Keller absolutely crazy. After taking time off to do a little fishing, Carl is heavy into Midway. It’ll be great to finally see the big men spar. It’ll also be nice to have Kavanagh back. Unfortunately, he won’t find his return quite as enjoyable. Alan is plugging away on Kindred II which is an episode fans will no doubt be looking forward to. No pressure, Alan. Paul, meanwhile, phoned me up to discuss some of the changes he wants to make to Kindred I. The fact that wraith ships don’t possess shields certainly complicates matters, but I’ve always loved Paul’s idea of giving them limited regenerative capabilities. And, if it survives the polish, we get to find out where Lorne grew up. Any guesses?
We’ll be back in the offices on Monday at it looks like a week of meetings for yours truly as we head directly into prep on Kindred I, to be directed by SG-1 alumni Peter Woeste. Damn. I’ll miss spending quality time with the dogs.
Last night, Fondy and I went to one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Don Francesco Ristorante, the site of many a Stargate cast dinner. Although I was still suffering the effects of that killer sundae, I did manage to polish off my squash-stuffed agnolotti with black truffle butter appetizer (if I was to put together a list of the top 10 dishes in Vancouver, this would definitely be one of them) as well as an incredibly tender and delicate sea bass. Special mention should be made of Fondy’s rigatoni, served with plump, spicy Italian sausage, eggplant, and a marinara sauce bursting with basil. The pasta was perfectly cooked, nice and al dente, and I had to demonstrate significant restraint to keep from “sampling” her entire plate. This place never disappoints.
What’s on your respective minds…?
Alipeeps writes: “Lulu? What happened to Kobe? Change of planned name or change of planned pug?”
Answer: Fondy has her heart set on the female Frenchie, who is more of a Lulu. That said, I still haven’t moved on from the black male pug, our prospective Kobe.
PG15 writes: “Have you ever seen the TV show Invader Zim?”
Answer: I haven’t, although the look of the show interested me enough to pick up the first season on DVD – which I have to get around to. Right now, I’ve just started on season one of Extras. I still think Ricky Gervais would make a great foil for Rodney. Anybody got his number?
Jason writes: “So now that you and Paul are in charge of the “How Come Room” do you find that you are more conscientious of the different choices the directors make and have more questions or do you guys let the directors have free reign?”
Answer: We’ve always had the utmost of confidence in the jobs our directors are doing, many of whom have been with the Stargate franchise since its first season. They know both shows inside and out and any “free reign” they’ve been granted has been more than earned.
Anonymous #1 writes: “If given the opportunity, I was curious if you would ever have the desire to go up with the Canadian Snowbirds?”
Answer: No way. But I know Brad would jump at the chance.
Rac76 writes: “What motivates you to write? When did you start writing and why? What was your writing like when you were in elementary school? How would you motivate a 9 year old to write?”
Answer: “Write about what you know” is very good advice as is “Write about what you want to know”. As a kid, way back in elementary school, I wrote short stories, mainly horror and science fiction because those were the types of shows and movies I enjoyed. Find out what your nine year old enjoys reading and watching and steer them in that direction, have them explore the genre in creative ways. He may not necessarily become a professional writer, but it will certainly prove a worthwhile exercise.
Yasmin writes: “ 1) If I wanted to ship you some Bengali sweets (…) would you be interested? 2) I was talking about your blog to p-diddy again(yes my friends have nicknamed my hubby that); and he wondered if you liked maple syrup. He also felt the need to start something by the following statement and asking me to post it “Vermont maple syrup is the only REAL syrup”.
Answers: 1) I’m always interested when it comes to sweets. 2) Tell p-diddy them’s fighting words.
Squall78 writes: “Also, isn’t production cost down by more than half, since SG-1 is no longer airing?”
Answer: I wish but, alas, MGM won’t give us the SG-1 production budget in addition to our Atlantis production budget to work with.
Lorr54 writes: “Have y’all been able to create some interesting Sheppard backstory, and is there any possibility of us seeing it in season 4?”
Answer: It’s possible. We’ll see how things develop on this front after the hiatus.
Johnny E! writes: “Oh, and my wife says thanks for the Read suggestions. They are helpful in her time of sickness. Could you dedicate your next blog to her, she has a sinus infection, bronchitis, and a 19 month old (child that is).”
Answer: Yes. Consider this very special bog dedicated to Mrs. Johnny E!
Kdvb1 writes: “I’m a teacher and a lot of children have problems with writing. If it doesn’t come naturally it is really about practice…”
Answer: Great suggestions.
Vikitty writes: “What happened to Uni?”
Answer: Uni was just a name. But, apparently, the Frenchie is more of a Lulu. I don’t know.
Anonymous #2 writes: “One of my favorite SG1 races is the Gadmeer and as it turns out, they are the brain children of you. I read @gateworld, in the original script, Lotan blewup the ship and killed the gadmeer. Was the script changed to keep the race around or to have a more up-lifting ending or something different? Did you consider writing them into another episode?”
Answer: The script was changed because it was felt the original ending was too downbeat. It didn’t have anything to do with a desire to revisit the Gadmeer who, while cool-looking, would be a challenge to bring back as actual alien characters.
42 writes: “Which publisher printed those Terry Pratchett books you bought?”
Answer: Corgi Books. They are quite nice.
Linzi writes: “Have you filled all the episode slots for season 4 yet, or is there still a gap?”
Answer: We’ve all been on hiatus and so the gap remains.
Anonymous #3 writes: “I think your name is getting out there to the scammers as a possible mark.”
Answer: Sadly, quite the opposite. The yahoo account I’ve been using to respond to them is now annoyingly devoid of any spam.
Dorothea writes: “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but what is the price range of the dishes at Feenie’s?”
Answer: Depends what you order. Expect to pay between $20-30 for dinner.
Toni writes: “I don’t know if you read the New York Times or not, but in case you don’t, they had an interesting article on the superiority of British chocolate in today’s edition.”
Answer: I’ll concede the Kit Kat and Mars Bars division to the Brits. But when it comes to the higher end chocolate bars, I give the nod to the Italians.
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