I woke up at a little before 2:30 a.m., nauseous, sweating, a Miley Cyrus song on endless replay in my head. Finally, on my last night in Montreal, my hard-eating ways had caught up with me. Rabbit parpadelle, roasted suckling pig risotto with foie gras shavings, deep dish chocolate chip with vanilla ice cream – to think that those I’d loved so dearly had conspired against me. The very thought of a truffle-scented kobe beef burger was enough to rouse me out of bed, stomach lurching, and send me down the hall to the bathroom where I spent the next twenty minutes considering the pros and cons of purging my system. Eventually, I decided against re-experiencing my wonderful buttered lobster and grilled veal surf ’n turf in reverse, and left the bathroom to find mom waiting for me, shot glass in hand. “Drink thees,”she advised. I accepted “the medicine”, a thick, amber-colored liquid that smelled of flowers and cloves and the back of your elderly family doctor’s medicine cabinet. I eyed it suspiciously. “It’s Padre Pepe,”she informed me. “It will help settle your stomach.”
I was dubious a shot of hard liquor would actually work to my benefit but figured that, at worst, it would obviate any need for further deliberation over the merits of inducing vomiting. I thanked mom and headed back to my room where I did a shot “to help settle my stomach”. And promptly passed out.
I woke up seven hours later. No nausea. No sweats. The Miley Cyrus song was gone, replaced by that equally annoying tune sung by the Ting Tings, but I was feeling immeasurably better. I showered, dressed, packed, and then headed downstairs where my mother was about to make her famous Friendship Cake. “It’s a very seemple recipe,”she said in her thick Italian accent, throwing a look to my camera. I took the hint and picked it up, prepared to document the process. “Very seeemple. It takes only ten meenutes.” Ten meenutes! Hey, this sounded like something even I could pull off! “First, you wheep two cups of wheeping cream.” She demonstrating, whipping the cream into a fluffy thickness. “Then, you add one tablespoon of sugar…” Okay. Two cups whipping cream. One tablespoons sugar. So far, so good.. “And two cups of the custard.”
I watched her retrieve the custard from refrigerator and proceed to spoon it into the cream. “Custard?”I asked. “Where’d that come from?”
“The fridge,”she replied, missing the point. “You meex them together.” She mixed. “Then, you make the base.” She held up a bag of what looked like bread crumbs. “Not bread crumbs,”she corrected me. “The crumbs from my almond biscotti.”
I watched her sprinkle a handful of the almond biscotti crumbs, then pour some of the cream-custard mix atop them. “This is the first layer. I make smooth and then I put slices of apple cake…” Apple cake?
Top that with a sprinkling of Tia Maria, lay down another layer of cream, a final sprinkling of almond biscotti, and there you had it. And as promised, it only took all of ten minutes. So those of you looking for a quick-fix dessert, look no further than mom’s Friendship Cake. All you need are six simple ingredients found in most any household:
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups of custard
1 cup of almond biscotti crumbs
2 tablespoons of Tia Maria
1 apple cake
Let me know how your attempts to turn out.
Following up on some of your comments on In the Garden of Iden –
Terry writes: “Still, Baker never says all of history is immutable, just recorded history. Isn’t the butterfly effect an issue? Even if you alter something not part of recorded history, don’t you run the risk that some ripple effect could alter history?”
Answer: I have yet to read anything beyond this first book in the series so I may be way off base, but my interpretation of the rules of time travel in this book suggest that history has the appearance of mutable but is, in fact, immutable. It’s not so much a re-imagining of time travel as it is re-conceptualizing time itself. Rather than view it as a ever-flowing river, envision it as a still picture. Unrecorded historical events would seem to be more compliant to time traveler influence but that is only because we have no idea how things would have turned out. Someone travels back in time and wipes out a certain species – say, the dodo. One would think that history has been changed but not really because this individual from the future has always been fated to travel back in time and wipe out the dodo species. Historically, we know the dodos were wiped out, but there is some disagreement as to how and why. Some say they were an incredibly stupid species that allowed themselves to be hunted to extinction. Others argue that they were wiped out by disease. But perhaps the real reason hasn’t even been considered because it seems wholly implausible: that time travelers are, in fact, responsible. Okay, before people start posting angry comments, I don’t actually believe the dodos were wiped out by time travelers (they were culled as part of an alien experiment but more on that theory some other day), I simply wanted to offer an example of how I believe the rules of time travel apply in this series. And, like I said, I could entirely off the mark here.
Dyginc writes: “. The thought of time travel and not messing with the past can seem like you are able to tell only a bit of a story and are not able to jump out of that set arc. I will have to admit some sci-fi time travel stories have confused the heck out of me.”
Answer: Me too, and I occasionally write them for a living.
Narelle from Aus writes “ Wasn’t it mentioned extremely early on that only immortals could cope with the physical demands of time travel? I’m reading a few books at the moment so maybe I’m having a blonde moment.”
Answer: That well could be. Maybe I was having a brunette moment.
Fsmn36 writes: “While I don’t usually like the real technical sci-fi, I was disappointed at how little the sci-fi figured in and how much was romance.”
Answer: I too was surprised by the emphasis on romance over scifi, and even more surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I loved the characters and, at the end of the day, I didn’t really mind the minimal SF elements.
Fsmn36 writes: “I wished I could have seen more of The Company. I’ll admit I prefer organizations and political intrigues to romantic ones.”
Answer: So do I. Here’s hoping the ensuing books in the series offer us the best of both worlds.
Narelle from Aus also writes: “From the reading list on the side bar I have access to:
– Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang, Kate Wilherlm
– Inherit the Stars, James P. Hogan
– Chocky, John Wyndham
– Vellum, Hal Duncan
– Ten Thousand Light Years from Home, James Triptree Jr.
– Crossing the Line, Karen Traviss
– Feersum Endjinn, Iain M. Banks
– The Embedding, Ian Watson
Any that you would say, just don’t bother?”
Answer: It really depends where your interests lie. Inherit the Stars if hard SF. Vellum is an almost hallucinatory experience. Crossing the Line is a sequel to City of Pearl, so I would recommend you start with the latter. Of those listed, my favorite was Wyndham’s Chocky followed closely by Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang and Feersum Endjinn.
Well, after seven glorious days in my hometown of Montreal, I’m finally back in Vancouver. The flight was delayed by half an hour because there was some sort of problem getting the baggage aboard. I didn’t have any checked baggage so my inner voice was screaming: “Screw the cargo! Let’s go! Let’s go!” While we waited for the problem to get sorted out, I sat back and listened to the in-cabin music. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it a little disconcerting to hear the theme from Six Feet Under playing on a flight just before take-off. Equally disconcerting is having the pilot make a special announcement halfway through the flight asking whether there was a doctor on board and, if so, to please head to the back of the plane. Holy crap, I thought. I’d had the fish! Fortunately, it seemed to be an isolated incident quickly addressed. I’m assuming: a) it was a false alarm, b) the person in need of the medical assistance recovered or, c) the person passed away and the air hostess simply draped a blanket over his corpse and proceeded with the in-flight service. Someone I know actually experienced the latter firsthand, flying first-class with a covered dead body lying beside him in the full-recline.
Well, among the things I have to look forward to: home and plasma repairs, meetings with my accountant and financial advisers, two script reviews, and Project Twilight await. Also, you’ll be pleased to hear that the mailbag will be making a long overdue return in the day(s) to come.
Speaking of the days to come, here’s what’s in store…
Sunday: Janina Gavankar drops by to answer your questions.
Monday: Discussion begins on this month’s phantasmagoric fantasy BOMTC selection: The Etched City. Finish up and ready your questions (I’ll even have a few this time out) because K.J. Bishop will be joining us all the way from Bangkok.
Two days to finished Bishop’s book–ahhh! Good thing I have tomorrow off. I suspect it will be a day of sun and reading.
Thanks to you and Kage Baker for the great guest appearance. Sorry I’m a few days late in saying that.
Glad you made it home ok. I would have been a little nervous at that overhead announcement as well.
I always am amused by cooks who say things are easily made…but then it takes them five hours or 20 different ingredients. My own mother is one of those. But then, she can also toss in odds, ends, and leftovers from the fridge and make some surprisingly tasty casseroles. Never understood it. Maybe it’s a mom thing? Your mother’s cake sounds great, though!
Hey, I finally get to see some captions under the pictures. Have all your previous pictures have had captions under them before? Perhaps it is a good thing that I finally came over my fear of blowing up my computer by downloading the latest version of Mac OS X.
Whoever that kitty is, s/he is not ugly! In my opinion there is no such thing as an ugly kitty!
lol, lol, your mom likes the liquer. My kind of lady.
I am glad you made it home safely. I hate flying and would of been just a bit frantic with the six feet under music. I would of needed your mother’s shot remedy.
Mmm, Joe, your mom’s ribs and Friendship Cake look delicious! I’ll definitely be trying the latter once I get one of the jobs I’m looking at and have some money…and can find my ID to buy the liquor. And you seriously know someone who was on a flight next to a dead body? -shudders-
I might have to give you mum’s Cake a try…been feeling the need to make/bake something lately…I will tell you my results.
Can I ask, why did you have a Miley Cyrus Song in your head!? Apart from a girl I knew at school, she is the most annoying person in the world!
I wonder if people die enough on Planes that the attendants are trained to deal with it…that would be one of life’s questions I think…
Welcome back and I hope you have fun at your accountants…
NZJ
I always seemed surprised when I see my name and then your answer…you are a very classy fellow not to mention hilarious!
Okay – ick! I SO should not have read this after getting back from a wonderful Italian dinner at Bela Mangiata – a little joint in Villas, NJ that Robert Davi has even graced with his presence. I’m still waiting for him to show up again, just so I can yell, “Kolya! I didn’t kill you last time, remember?! Promised me points for that.” 😀
No worries, I’d NEVER do anything as geekish as that…I…I don’t think…
Joe – I’ve often had a sip of Jager to settle my stomach. The main herb in Jager is known for its ‘digestive’ benefits. It works – but take ONLY a LITTLE. People drink way too much of the stuff all at once and it makes them sick – but a little actually does the opposite. Your mum’s remedy must be something similar.
Anyway, the restaurant. Bela Mangiata is nothing extravagant, but it has relatively decent food. I won’t go into Mallozziesque details about my meal…it was just a simple – but refreshingly lemony – chicken francese. Suffice to say that I am quite satisfied. After a family BBQ yesterday, and looooong walk to the boardwalk to watch the fireworks, it was nice to sit down to a leisurely meal tonight.
Your mum’s cake sounds interesting. Next time I have some apple cake lying around, I might try it. Or, I’ll just eat the apple cake. 🙂
Oh, and imagine my surprise when the fellas at Jinxworld – the very guys who are soooo freaked out by my Wraith sig and avatar – thought it was my b’day today (it’s not, it’s on Monday), and started a ‘Happy Wraith Day’ thread for moi, with Wraithy pictures they so bravely snerched from the internet. Hee…slowly, but surely, I am breaking them… 😈
Joe, I thought you might find this interesting. I asked artist Patrick Zircher (Iron Man, Terror, Inc., Thor) why so many guys freak out over the Wraith images I post (he’s one of them). I’ve talked with Patrick about art before over on Marvel.com, and respect his artist’s perception, so this wasn’t a weirdo fangirl question or anything. He enlightened me with this response:
“Maybe there’s this androgeny that’s unnerving. They’re kind of sinister in that they seem like lean and bony men but blended (the long white hair, the paleness) with a witch or hag.”
I appreciated that. The very things I like about the Wraith – their ‘androgeny’, their bony features, their long hair and paleness – are the same things that creep out most guys. Just interesting to see the different reactions…
das
Wow nice cake. Wonder if instead of the apple cake, one can substitute with Panetone..
Might make that for Christmas! Instead of that ghastly Christmas cake and pudding!
Thanks meester!
your story about traveling with a death person in the next seat, reminds me a similar experience that happen to my father back in the 60’s. He had to travel to Mexico city and he had to take the bus, after a couple of hours one of the passagers had a heart attack and died, the bus driver said that they must stop in the next town and find a coroner (i hope it’s the right word in english) but when they arrived
at the town’s City Hall and the driver asked for the coroner, one man said: “He is also musician and he’s playing with his band” and the driver :”playing where?” the man: “i don’t know, you have to search him” so the bus with all the passegers, my dad, the death man and his widow included, had to go from dance halls to bars until they found the coroner/musician playing at a wedding. I can only imagine the look at the face of the bride when in the middle of her party arrives a bus full of strangers with a death man on it.
So – Baby is your mother’s cat, her ugly cat, her very ugly cat. I had actually come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as an ugly cat – but there is.
Hopefully he/she has a nice temperament. Felix looks like a happy chappy.
And I bet you are glad to get home to your little ones.
Hi Joe!
Sorry to hear you had a bout of baaaaad stomach, but glad you got over it quickly – or at least without too many trips to the bathroom.
Your mom is cool. 🙂 I’m sure you know that, but just had to agree.
Picked up Cordelia’s Honor for the Aug BOTM discussion. 🙂
I looooove kitties. All kitties are cute. But that is a very unusual looking cat.
Take care!
eddy
Hey Joe.
I watched a couple of (web)isodes of Amanda Tapping’s Sanctuary last night…really good! In your opinion, would it be easier or harder to film on an all green-screen set like Sanctuary?
Thanks Joe and glad you had a good trip.
Hi Joe
I had to laugh at your Mom’s “10-minute” dessert. It sounds like my Mom’s 10-minute chicken and dressing. The only problem is that you start with a pan of homemade cornbread and a boiled and deboned chicken. 🙂
Thanks to Kage Baker for her time in responding to our questions. I’ve read the entire series and heartily recommend going on to finish.
I also want to offer belated thanks to Ms Baker for coming by. I only finished the book earlier today but was very intrigued by the premise of The Company. Once I catch up on some other reading — including the next two discussion books so graciously given to me by skgraff — I may try the next in the series.
maggiemayday: I got your dam card. Thanks! 😀
paloosa: You should get a letter very soon.
Anne Teldy
“Neatly End”
I remembered that I have a recipe for a cold and flu relief that I have yet to try, but I’m sure it would work for an upset stomach. I think the reason why I have yet to make it is because it takes two weeks for it to be ready. Here’s the recipe if you’re interested:
2 pints (4 cups) brandy
1 cup honey
1 tbsp orange zest
2 whole cloves
1 tsp cardamon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tbsp crushed peppermint leaf
1 tsp sage
2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 eucalyptus leaves
In a medium-size saucepan, stir the brandy and honey over low heat until the honey dissolves. Mix in the orange zest, cloves, cardamon, lemon juice, peppermint leaf, sage, cinnamon and eucalyptus leaves in a medium-sized container. Add the brandy mixture. Cover and let sit for two weeks. Strain and store in sterilized glass bottles. Take 1 – 2 teaspoons as needed.
I’m glad to hear that you’re feeling better. I can’t wait for Atlantis to start back up on Friday and I’m sure it will be great because I’m giving up a girls’ night out with my friends. They know me when it comes to Atlantis.
I’ll have to figure out a way to make your mom’s Friendship Cake without gluten and dairy so that I can try it. It’s looks so good. I hate food allergies.
Glad you’re home safe, the cake looks intriguing but I have no idea how to find, much less make apple cake, and I’m enjoying the additional comments on Garden of Iden. Seriously bummed out because the cable has gone out at home, meaning I’m sans internet. At least work has had some mercy after 17 straight hours, and I have a chance to post. By means fair or foul I’ll make sure to be back online in time for the discussion on The Etched City. Someone out there log in an extra hour of sleep for me tomorrow, please.
Wow, your mom is cool. I always got a teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia when I was nauseated. I like your mom’s remedy much better.
That cake looks delicious… and simple if you’ve got the stuff on hand. I love custard, so I might try it.
As for a shot of Padre Pepe… well, let me share with you what I call the Aztec Treatment, a true and tried method to sooth the savage stomach. It was first tried–or rather administered to me by my own mom–in Mexico City, following my own culinary misdemeanors. A shot of tequilla, straight (or vodka martini, if you happen to be in north of Mexico) followed by a chili pepper. Not that cements your insides for a few days. In case you’re wondering, my Mom is not Mexican; she’s Hungarian. She swears by schnaps and hot paprika. My Hungarian grandmother’s diagnostic tool was the plum brandy. If you drink some brandy and become very happy and sleep like a baby, you’ve got a head cold; if after ingesting the said brandy you die, you’ve got the flu.
By the way, I am finishing the Ophiuchi Hotline. I won’t say much, except that I am absolutely captivated by it. I do have a question, that I’ll ask later; however, as you liked this type of sci fi so much, I wonder if you’ve read Alistair Reynold’s Revelation Space series (Redemption Ark, Chasm City, Revelation Space). They are my all time favorites; which explains, of course, why I like the Ophiuchi. 🙂 I just picked up Reynold’s latest in the Revelation universe–Galactic North. It’s short stories (not my favorite genre), but I’m sure it will be… different.
Nice to hear you’re a fan of not checking luggage – my philosophy has been if it doesn’t fit in the carryon, it’s not worth taking (this generally works and I’ve managed up to two weeks with just a carryon) – unfortunately carrying luggage has gotten trickier here in the US as of late.
I like your mom’s cure for feeling sick – my mom used to give us whiskey sours for a sore throat.
I’m glad to hear that you made it home safe after your visit back home with friends and family, Joe.
Your Mom’s recipe sounds really good. I may give that a shot the next time I have company or go to a potluck, but with the addition of some sauteed spiced apples with a bit of calvados.
Did you replace your cell phone yet, Joe? The power adapter for my laptop crapped out and I’ve been using my phone’s wi-fi capability (a VX 6700) to maintain connectivity through my secured wireless network and it’s worked like a charm. The slide out full QWERTY keyboard has been a godsend so that I don’t have to tap with the stylus on the screen for emails and posts. Best of all, I don’t have to deal with internet withdrawal until the wonderfulness of Dell gets the new adapter out to me to replace the defective one. I can’t recommend this puppy high enough! 🙂
Questions for Ms Gavankar:
1) What did you think of playing a female soldier in what amounts to a combat role?
2) Would you come back as Dusty if a recurring or regular role was offered to you?
3) Did you enjoy basically playing make believe there on the set? I envy you that like you would not believe! I’ve never had the acting bug, but I would dearly love to work on a high quality science fiction production.
Lastly, I just want to thank you and Joe for finally bringing us a female enlisted soldier who gets in there and mixes it up!!! I have a good feeling the Sarge is really gonna rock our socks! ***HUGE grin***
Hi Joe.
I’m a huge fan of your blog and have been for a while. I really appreciate the effort you put into it, and I have found that it has given me a wonderful insight into both SG-1 and Atlantis, both shows that I really enjoy watching. I also find you quite an entertaining writer, and really enjoy reading your posts whether they’re in regards to Stargate or not.
I’ve never posted a question before because I’ve always considered that to be a somewhat awkward situation (and I’m not quite sure if this is the right place to do it), but something has been bothering me.
As I’m sure you’re well aware, the leaked Atlantis premier was posted on YouTube, and I came across it. I’m not sure if I should apologise for watching it, but I am from Australia and there is pretty much no way that I can help your show in regards to ratings, particularly given that season 3 has yet to air here.
At the end of the episode, Teyla names her child “Torren” supposedly after her father. But in the series premier, Teyla is introduced as the “daughter of Tagan”. Not really important, I know, but something that’s irritated me to the point that it made me take the awkward leap to write you a comment :P. Was it just a mistake, or can the name change be justified in any way?
Thank you once again for the time and effort you put into your wonderful blog.
Sounds like Montreal was a nice little interlude from all your work (well, nice apart from the 2:30am Miley Cyrus experience).
I’ve just been away on a family reunion of sorts, hence my absence from here. Still visiting family, so I could be erratic in my posts for the next few days, but I’m looking forward to hearing from Janina Gavankar and Kage Baker, as well as writing all aboutr The Etched City, which I finished up last week.
Hope all goes well with the plasma repairs and, hey, did you ever solve your cell phone problem?
Amz
In my “sensitive” state after some much well required celebrating last night, I was reading your entry thinking “keep it down, keep it down, keep it down … please”.
I’m sympathising with the song situation. As an ex-chronic migraine sufferer I used to get parts of a song stuck on high rotation in my head while I was experiencing the migraine. One song in particular that I really despised from Les Miserables. Can you think of a more torturous punishment? Here’s a migraine and don’t forget to include some crappy song on repeat for the next 8 hours just to really make it painful.
When you read Sky Coyote I will be interested in yours and others thoughts in relation to a passage towards the end about the fate of the Chumash and whether it changes your thoughts on the Company’s theory on the rules of time travel. Much like your dodo comment. And I mean about the bird, not that it was a bad comment…
A blonde moment always trumps a brunette moment. It’s just the laws of physics that’s all.
I guess it was me seeing the sheer timeframe in which these immortals do the work for the Company and applying the assumption that a mortal would maybe see one assignment through before being too old. I try to make a rule in life never to assume, but guilty as charged on this one I think. Not that thinking is happening on any level today.
Virgin Blue used to play “Am I Not Pretty Enough?” as their take off song for about a year and a half. Nice way to lift the spirits while sitting on your early morning flight.
To Kage Baker, thank you for popping by and reading your responses was great. Being able to get an insight into the author adds so much to reading a book.
Your Mum sounds like she would give great hugs. Hope you had a great time despite the bad news you received while you wee away.
Your mom’s cake looks wonderful.. Do you think you could persuade her to part with the recipe for the custard part?
As far as your mom’s cat goes, I personally do love cats, and I take it you aren’t much of a cat fan. Well, as they say, dogs have owners, cats have slaves. =)
Oh, and how did the hardwood flooring turn out upstairs? Nice I hope.
Gina
Yeah, that would be “while you were away”. One missing letter makes such a difference to the meaning of a sentence.
Coucou Joseph! sa va ?
Ohh, mince, bah ce qui compte c’est que vous allez mieux, c’est vrai qu’aprés un bonne nuit de sommeil les sympthome on souvent disparu!
Waou! Sa a l’aire super bon! miame!! Snif je voudrais téllement avoir une grande mére =(
Je vous fait pleins de graos bisou, je vous adore! Bonne journée!
Ah yes, the eternal debate of vomiting vs. waiting it out. I’m deathly afraid of the former so I’m used to having to wait hours on end for my stomach to settle. I’d accept your solution…except I’ve made a life-long vow to never touch alcohol. I guess I lived myself into a corner. Damn.
Haha, thanks for the info! It was very cute.
And while I’m here, let me just add to that Grace review. Throughout all my analysis of everything I forgot to mention the blatant fact that Amanda was amazing in this episode. Not only had she no one to react with (which I believe is a big part of being an actor, that you play off others), but she had to go through an entire range of emotions, and all the while she had to seem like she’s disoriented and had a head injury. We saw Sam shedding tears, we saw her being annoyed, we saw her being professional, we even saw her being happy while she interacted with Grace. And of course, we saw her accepting the truth with regards to Jack. As I said before, it was a powerful character moment excellently portrayed, as were all of them, by Amanda. So, you know, well done to her!
And now…today’s stuff:
Fallout: Eh…yeah, this didn’t quite work for me. Now that I think about it, I think Homecoming wrapped up Jonas’s arc pretty well, so having this extra one here, and with it being an one-off…it just didn’t work for me. I think the problem is that we never really got much reference to the time Jonas was on SG1. Ok, so there were a few lines here and there about technology from the SGC, but the only true character moment, IMHO, was at the end when Danny asks Jonas whether he missed being on SG1. Because of this, I think it could’ve been any random alien species. If Jonas were going to be in an episode, then capitalize on Jonas’s time with SG1. Maybe…I don’t know, have him get all sick and stuff again because of Nirrti’s past experiment. Or find out more about his advancedness, maybe bringing in the Asgard like in Fragile Balance, whatever. Plus, the Kelownans once again gain my ire because of their incessant squabling, though at least that resulted in one of my favorite Jack-Daniel scenes: “Your planet’s going to explode!” “Jack…” “The whole damn planet, Daniel!” The “good Goa’uld” stuff was interesting, though that only went so far (though Emily Holmes was mighty fiiiiiiine, if you know what I mean. Oh yes). Still, I gotta give props for some of the scoring; the music set to the revealing of the drill was magnificent.
Chimera: While I most likely pleased the Sam/Jack fans with my review of Grace yesterday, I will surely bring about my destruction with my review of this episode today…because I liked this episode too! It wasn’t as interesting as Grace, but it offered some hilarious and delightful character moments. Pete suffered from ills that which affect all males once in a while. When you have a blond beauty like Sam who kind of drops you off because of the super-important Radar Stuff[tm], you’ll get suspicious too. And, of course, Pete had the connections, and the skills for stalking, basically. Heh. What can I say; I’m not condoning stalking, but Sam was acting rather strange if you don’t know the truth. But anyway, enough of that awkwardness, because the more I talk about this, the more creepy I seem.
The scenes between Pete and Sam were rather cute. There, I said it. Pete’s such a dork, and that’s typically a good thing (as a dorky male myself, I wish nothing but good things to my fellow dorky bachelors). I liked the little jokes and jabs between them, and their date was rather sweet (and hawt).
Still, the stuff between Sam and the rest of the SG1 was pretty funny as well. Her really really uncomfortable elevator ride with Jack was hilarious, featuring some excellent comedy timing (and great dialogue) for all those involved. It’s also good to know that the character arc in these episodes are being kept up. Even standalones have some allusion to it.
Oh, and quarks? With Lost City only a few episodes away also referencing quarks? That’s AWESOME continuity.
And then you have Danny. His various sleep-deprived antics near the beginning of the episode had me howling with laughter. “Coffee…”, “This makes no sense”, and his various evil eyes given to Sam and Teal’c…yeah, hilarious. I also loved seeing him with Sarah together. I know I said some bad things about The Curse, but now I realize that it was only because we were thrown into Danny’s history with no gentle foreshadowing beforehand. Here, we know how Danny used to go out with Sarah, and so the relationship between them felt natural and sweet. I liked it a lot. The last scene between them, with Sarah being freed, was very touching, though much too short, and much too not-followed-up-on. I would very much like to see more of her but…well, it’s not to be, I guess.
Poor Teal’c. He seemed so down when he realized that no one wanted the donuts he skillfully selected. He seemed so innocent when he offered them, all blinking and such, but when the rest rejected them, he was all head-down and sad and stuff. Poor, poor Teal’c. Anyway, great episode.
Death Knell: Very interesting episode indeed, and another that I enjoyed a lot. The development of the alliance arc has been quite natural and this was no different. It felt that this was inevitable, and a long-time coming. It was time that Jacob’s attachment to Earth be delt with (Carmen Argenziano did a great job here); it was time that the differing ways of Jaffa and Tok’Ra be brought to the forefront after a year of apparent-alliance; etc. etc. To see the alliance that Bra’tac once fought so hard to keep together fall apart due to mutual differences was difficult, but made for great drama. On the flip side, I had hoped to see more of Sam’s ordeal in this episode. I didn’t realize that she’d be missing for most of the first…third, I think, of the episode. However, what I saw was damn good, and I really did feel her pain and fatigue as she trudged through the forest, bleeding and struggling to keep ahead of the supersoldier. Amanda’s been pretty awesome these last few episodes (not that she’s wasn’t awesome before; we just see a lot more of her now since RDA’s reducing his time; more time given to her to strut her stuff). I also enjoyed seeing her Macgyver that rocket, and seeing her swallow right before Teal’c came to the rescue…it was touch-and-go there, as I’ve never really watched this episode the whole-way-through before. And, of course, we have the now-obligatory Sam/Jack scene with him comforting her by the rocks after her bad day. But, the bad day got worse, as Jacob must leave. That last scene was pretty depressing, which I guess is the whole point. The whole episode had that aura of inevitability hanging over it, which I enjoyed a lot, so to speak. Great episode.
Heroes tomorrow, Lost City the day after, and on Tuesday…Atlantis begins.
Glad you got home safely.
Looking forward to seeing Janina Gavankar’s answers =]
Dang. That was quite the wild ride on your journal! You start us out with those glorious pictures then down to the depths of nausea and back up again. (Into the sky.)
Wow.
My mom’s cure for everything is chammomile (sp?). But it does help!
Sadly, I’m not sure if you can give that to dogs because one of my mine had a really rough start to the morning. Naturally, all over my carpet. Literally.
Why do they always go for the carpet?!
Hey Joe. I’m off to Tokyo for 2 weeks in a couple of days and wondered if you’d ever been there? If you have been, do you have any suggestions of places to eat/places to visit? I’ve very cleverly not researched much, so really don’t have much of an idea what to expect.
Hey Joe!
I thought at first your mum was making a trifle when I saw the pictures. I love the sound of the Friendship cake. I will definitely try my hand at making one of those this weekend. I will let you know how it turns out…or more importantly how the family enjoys it.
I love my mother in laws trifle. The best in the world. But it has to have the banana on the top and a good soaking of sherry!!
You could start a recipe blog…I’m sure lots of folks would contribute!
Enjoy your week Joe.
~chelle 😀
If you can not change the past you can not change the present, because everybodies present is somebodies past.
Boy, that is an ugly cat. I hope it has a nice personality.
Just rummaged through the icebox. Custard, check. Apple cake, check. Biscotti crumbs, check. I’m out of sugar, though. Damn!
Also, I need your mom’s ribs recipe. Would she mind sharing it?
Glad to hear you got home ok Joe. You’re mum’s “Friendship Cake” looks and sounds delicious. 🙂
Damn, now I’m hungry for cake! 😛
Whew! Gimme a shot of Padre Pepe!
I had a call first thing this morning – mom had a fall and was rushed to the hospital. She’s 73, so any fall could mean a broken bone. Rushed to get dressed, picked up dad, grabbed a highly nutritional, almost calorie-free breakfast from McDonald’s, and gobbled it down as I sped up to the hospital. Fortunately, she only dislocated her shoulder (which is bad enough) and is now home, resting more comfortably. But it was a scare, and I was on the phone most of the morning with my husband (at work), and my sister in Florida, and my niece (my brother’s out of town), keeping them updated. Dad was upset and restless which = grumpy, so had to keep him calm, then drive them both home and get mom settled in. I’m just getting back home myself and I’m drained, and in need of a diversion. So it was nice seeing newly approved comments, a ‘luxury’ I missed over the past week. Yeah, it’s nice havin’ ya back home, Joe.
Thankies.
Now I’m gonna take a nap…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
das
Hey Joe!
I just watched Wormhole X-Treme! on dvd!
There was this guy on there, and I thought: “Hey, he looks a bit like that Pete guy that Sam was dating for a while,” so I checked in a transcript (if you don’t know what people over there look like, it’s best to do so) and then it said it was Peter DeLuise, lol! Woopsie.
By skipping ahead in the transcript, I was sure not to miss your appearance (The doughnuts! Stupid drivers! Did that evil Teal’c scare you away?), and identify that somewhat shy person that apparently goes by the nickname of Coop (*g*), and even Misters Greenburg and Wright were there!
And then, after the episode was finished, I noticed that Mr. Mullie wasn’t? 🙁
Even the pineapple made a guest star appearance!
His excuse had better be sick leave… 😛
On to 200, then? (I watched Point of No Return earlier, you see.)
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Spikey
Did you realize you should mark your calendar on July 28th for Sam and Jack? Apparently there is a campaign going (you’ll be receiving postcards, no doubt) at http://www.freewebs.com/blitzsquee/ which…. well, here’s a quote “And then…finally…our moment in the sun…our glorious resolution, when Sam and Jack, freed from their burdens of constantly needing to save the galaxy, found that they didn’t have to let rules stand in their way and they could indeed have everything they wanted! To our unprecedented delight, they went…fishing!”
Sulien ask Ms Gavankar…
…What did you think of playing a female soldier in what amounts to a combat role?
@Sulien
Sorry to let you know there’s no such thing as non-combat roles in the modern battlefield. You will be shoot at anywhere in in the modern battlefield anytime.
One of the recent so called non-combat role is convoy escort in Iraq.
Rear area in the modern battlefield doesn’t exist. If you have females in the military, than you will have combat situations with them.
With mostl military forces worldwide short of manpower. Females soldiers will get opportunity for glory and mentions in the dispatches.
Miley Cyrus music makes me sick to my stomach, too.
Hey Joe,
thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
I was wondering if Mr. Davis passing away is mentioned in SGA? I’d like to see a valediction to honor this great man and to be able to say goodbye.
I like calling him Papa Smurf because he was so caring and bighearted in the role of General Hammond – and in his real life as well.
Better late then never….
I loved Kage’s book. I just finished about a day ago but haven’t had time to stop by and give my 2 cents worth.
I would have to say fav character in this one was Joesph I enjoyed his point of view and looking forward to reading the other books in the series.
I enjoyed the time travelling aspect in that it was one explanation that I could get my head around. It just made sense…. You can’t effect recorded history. My only flaw with it was that although you can’t necessarily change recorded history all those small events that are not recorded would effect such events.
I also liked the intricate relationship between Mandoza and Nicholas how each was trying to “convert” the other.
I agree with you assessment Joe that the ending was abrupt that it left you waiting or wanting something but was really the only way to end it.
Rav wrote:
Tagan could be her mother’s name.
Anne Teldy
It sounds like you had “hair of the dog that bit you”, and it worked!
I meant to ask you earlier, but completely forgot, are you, or were you planning to attend the Polaris Convention in Toronto? Rachel Luttrell will be there as well as Julie E Czerneda a Can. sci fi writer. I recently read her novel In The Company of Others, so I look forward to posing some questions. I’ve never been to a sci fi convention–lots of comic book ones, but no sci fi.
Cheers,
WK
Ooooo and I just noticed the recipe for your mother’s cake. Yummy yum. I will try it out and take pictures.
🙂
WK
I’m not a big cat lover but I love your mum’s cat, that feline has villain written all over that cute face, it looks as if it just crawled off Blofeld’s knee.
Baby may be plotting the down fall of the world from Mrs Mallozzi’s kitchen but some of us know him better by his evil name of Cat-a cylsm.
Glad you returned safe and well Joe, nice to visit nicer to be home.
I bet Fuel’s takings have really gone down since you’ve been away.
Pauline
I’m awake!
Hey, Trish – I don’t even know who Miley Cyrus is! I’m takin’ it that’s a good thing…
das
@ das:
Hannah Montana ring any bells? 🙄
Cake sounds/looks lovely…just wonderin’…does it come with a side of ‘heart attack’ 😉
Hey Joe, does Mother Mallozzi have a recipe for both the apple cake and the custard? That Friendship cake look yummy and I would hate to do it a disservice of making the wrong type of apple cake or custard. Normally when I make apple cake I use a Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker Apple Spice cake. And I’ve never made custard before so that would also be much appreciated! Thanks much! Also sorry on the dinner woes. Maybe the kitchen had an off night, do you think you’ll brave it and try it once more? Or did you have enough that night?