I left the following message on Robert Cooper’s voice mail: “Hey, Rob. I’ve got good news and bad news. The good new is that most of the fans really enjoyed Doppelganger. The bad news is that most of the fans really enjoyed Doppelganger.” Yep. I woke up this morning, signed in to my blog, and was greeted by a slew of messages informing me that iTunes was delivering Doppelganger (episode 4) to subscribers who had purchased Adrift (episode 1). That makes 3 of our first 4 episodes leaked before air. How could something like this have happened? Well, as some have already surmised, the mix-up no doubt came about as a result of the fact that Doppelganger was the first episode up in the production order (#401). Someone somewhere (and to all those of you pointing the finger at SciFi, this had nothing to do with them), screwed up and all I can do is sigh and shrug. Clearly, the gods have conspired against us (I’m not going to point the finger, but Loki has never been a fan of the show).

Well, last night was the Atlantis season four wrap party. And even though we were told there would be food served, we knew better than to trust in the suspect bounty these events usually offer (lukewarm gyozas and crispy-fried batter sticks). So we kicked things off at the Imperial where Carl tried Peking Duck for the first time. For those of you not in the know, Peking Duck is served in two courses. In the first, the crispy duck skin is served on a steamed pancake with green onions and hoisin sauce. In the second, the actual meat is stir-fried with onions and crispy wontons and served in a lettuce wrap, again with hoisin sauce. Needless to say, Carl was most impressed. “Who knew the skin and fat of an animal could be so delicious!”remarked Marty G.

It was pouring rain but, thankfully, a short walk to Aqua Riva where the party was being held. A nice venue but, quite frankly, way too small for the number of people in attendance. Things were a bit…squishy. Still, it was a lot of fun and it was great to see my co-workers out of their civvies and in their party best, although time and again I did find myself wondering “Who the hell is that? Does he work on Stargate? How does she know my name?” My usually subdued writing partner was the life of the party and even hung around well past 11:00 p.m. (a rarity), displaying a high-spirited liveliness that had Marty G. declaring: “I love Scotchy Paul!”. I cut out a little after midnight, some ten minutes after Chris Judge made his customarily late arrival. “Where’re you going?”he asked, using that accusatory tone he often used on house guests who couldn’t polish off the glass-of-apple-juice-sized highball he’d served them. “I’m going home to nap for a couple of hours, “I lied. “And then I’m coming back so that I can be all refreshed for the dancing.”

Today: recovery, football, A Feast for Crows, and quality time with the dogs.

On the last day of voting for Joe’s Book of the Month Club selection, it’s looking like this:

Niven and Pournelle’s The Legacy of Heorot leads Dietz’s Legion of the Damned 6-3.

And Donaldson’s Lord Foul’s Bane and Mieville’s Perdido Street Station are tied at 7-7.

Today’s pics: The wrap party!

Today’s video: Click on the date and try to make out Gary’s amusing anecdote over the crowd noise.

Today’s mailbag: I’m taking the weekend off. Back at it tomorrow.