I would seem my laptop is not long for this world. Twice, yesterday, I fell victim to the blue screen of death. One second, I’m copy and pasting the day’s blog entry into the wordpress window and, the next, my computer is rebooting. I ended up spending most of last night watching Mad Men while I backed up two year’s worth of blog entries, scripts, pics, videos, and contacts. It was while I was going through my photo archive that I discovered a whack o’ Whispers snaps I was holding back on, some of which I’ve posted today, plenty more of which I’ll be posting in the days ahead.
In addition to getting myself a new laptop, it looks like I’ll have to pick up a new pair of dress shoes as well. I arrived home the other day to discover my Franco Visconti’s the victims of a brutal and undoubtedly unprovoked attack. It was too late. There was nothing I could do for them. I had four suspects, all of whom were discovered at the scene of the crime yet none of whom proved particularly cooperative under questioning. I have my suspicions as to the identity of the guilty party but without either hard evidence or eyewitness testimony to back me up, it looks like the perpetrator will amble free. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Our contemporary justice system is soft on crime, allowing serial chewers to thumb their noses at authority while the footwear-sporting public is left to fend for itself.
And another reminder that if you read The Church of Dead Girls and have a question for author Stephen Dobyns, let’s seem ’em. Allie, this means you!
Today’s blog entry is dedicated to soon-to-be birthday girl Theresa.
Today’s video: The return of The Weird Food Purchase of the Day. In this installment, guest eater Carl Binder samples ox-tail.
Mailbag catch-up:
GrapesofWraith writes: “A quick question – do the stairs at the end of the video lead up to the production offices, or are they in a different building?”
Answer: Yes, they do. The stairs let out onto a corridor. Take a left, and it will take you down past accounting to the art department. Take a right and you’ll hit a door (see the production offices walk-thru vid).
Anais33 a ecrit: “Pourquoi ne jamais répondre a mes questions? Vous n m’aimez pas?”
Reponse: Si vous avez envoyer votre question, j’ai pu l’avoir manqué. Si vous avez une question, Il est plus facile pour moi à repondre a vos questions ici.
Translation: If you’re looking to get a question answered, post them here instead of sending me an email.
Ben writes: “And also where do we sit in terms of getting another SG1 movie?”
Answer: If all goes as planned, we should be filming both the SGA movie and the third SG-1 around the same time next year.
Muddypiddypop writes: “Joe, Was the “your a good friend Arthur” line in the Shrine an adlib?”
Answer: Actually, I’ve already answered this question. The line, the reaction, even the spit take by Sheppard, was scripted by Brad Wright.
MrsB108 writes: “Will we get a deeper look into Michael’s thoughts/emotions?”
Answer: Yep. Plenty of Michael angst to come.
CDB writes: “Do you know if they are going to use the SG-1 or Atlantis cast to kick off Stargate: Universe like they did with Atlantis????”
Answer: Haven’t a clue.
DasNdanger writes: “Have I mentioned my irrational and ungodly fear of spiders??”
Answer: You and my writing partner would get along swimmingly.
Wonderingbrit writes: “The future of TV is going to be completely web based and it’s really about time viewing stats reflected the download capabilities of this medium.”
Answer: That neatly sums up my sentiments on the topic. So long as the onus on gathering ratings rests on the existing quaintly antiquated system, it will be shows like ours (those possessed of a more technologically-inclined viewer base) that will continue suffer.
ShippyChick writes: “It seems that Jason has been quite the ham in front of your camera lately. Is he typically the most welcoming of all the cast members when the flash starts going off?”
Answer: I’ve always gotten along well with Jason but I’d say it was during the prep, production, and post on Broken Ties that he grew comfortable enough to start dropping by the office on a semi-regular basis. This episode was very important to him and I’m guessing he appreciated the fact that I welcomed his input and tried to address any concerns he may have had rather than siccing the production office hounds on him. Since then, he’s been more than happy to strike a pose or two. Whenever I’m on set, Jewel, David, David, Bob, and Kavan have always been good sports about the photos. Rachel is a little camera shy at times but I have snapped some good pics of her.
Alexandria writes: “Can I ask a huge favor? Can you speak to someone about getting SGU to air at the same time here in Australia as it does in the USA when it premieres?”
Answer: Sorry. I have absolutely no say on what gets aired where and when.
PG15 writes: “Good to know we’ll get to see the SGC one last time before the Atlantis series…*sniff*…finishes. Does that mean we’ll see Walter too?”
Answer: Yes, Walter will put in an appearance before the series ends.
Chevron7 writes: “1. Are you really afraid of heights? And flying? Anything else?
2. Did TPTB ever seriously consider having someone take over military command of Atlantis and having Sheppard just be the leader of the no 1. team (whatever it’s called)?
3. What’s happened to the Weird Food vids? Haven’t got the stomach for it lately or just maintaining some variety?”
Answers: 1. I hate heights. I don’t even like it when someone I know stands on a balcony. As for flying – I’m okay when we’re in the air, but I am a tad nervous during take-off and landing. 2. Never. 3. They’ll be back.
NIMBUS writes: “I’m wondering why the Destiny crew won’t be able to land on the new planet and use its Stargate to send a rescue team to a previously visited planet?”
Answer: I can’t wait to find out the answer myself.
2cats writes: “Joe do you happen to know where SG Universe is planning to be shot? Will it be at the Bridge?”
Answer: I believe that’s the plan.
So, what about those *sniff* season 6 scripts you suggested you might divulge? : – D
MrsB108 writes: “Will we get a deeper look into Michael’s thoughts/emotions?”
Answer: Yep. Plenty of Michael angst to come.
Mmm… angst.
I really am a hopeless Michael fangirl.
Yes, I learned much about the future of media while working on the development of 4G 3yrs ago. The internet is also the only chance full blown HD will be able to be transmitted too.
As for flying – 99% boredom, 1% shear bloody terror!
And those Airbus things crash all the time.
It looks like Tracker is the only other episode this year with any significant Ronon time. Please tell me I’m wrong and that we’ll get some good Ronon scenes in a few other episodes. Please?
Also, is there any chance we’ll ever get to see his face again? Pre-wig, he always had his hair tied back. Now he’s practically Cousin It with a deep voice. I miss the pretty.
Oh poor Carl, the look on his face. He’s a good sport for trying the WFotD for us. Will there be other “guest tasters?” Did you try the ox tail or was it just Carl?
Love the mug shots of the suspected culprits. I suspect #4. He’s TOO cool for my liking. = )
huray! wierd food perchase is back!
Ben writes: “And also where do we sit in terms of getting another SG1 movie?”
Answer: If all goes as planned, we should be filming both the SGA movie and the third SG-1 around the same time next year.
yes!!! 😀
i’m especially excited by the 3rd sg1 movie. 😉
sally =)
So… the LA Times said “In fact, the midseason two-part finale (airing at the end of September), features a very smart (very big) surprise.”
Could this surprise be linking in to the Universe?
Just curious because what good would a ‘very smart/big surprise’ be if we’ll never get to explore it, now that the series is cancelled.
As for questions re CHURCH OF DEAD GIRLS ~
Are many people surprised to find that the narrator is gay? I picked up on that quite early in the book and wasn’t surprised at all with his “coming out”.
and a comment to Mr. Dobyns:
This was a wicked good read. Actually took me a couple of days because I didn’t want to miss anything. Now that I’ve had a taste, I’m now hungry for more & will be hitting the local library for all they have. Thank you!
Poor Carl looked like he was going to his doom. That was hilarious!
I think it’s a pup conspiracy, all of them took a nip.
On a sad note, for the next few days, my thoughts are with all of the people having to face Gustav.
I think you’re right about who dun the shoes. Loved the pic of the cool cucumber of your crew!
Yeah! WFPOD is back!
Ok…back to cleaning up my dogs…
S
That’s great that we’ll be seeing Walter one more time!
lol about the pugs and your shoe. My money’s on Lulu.
“2. Did TPTB ever seriously consider having someone take over military command of Atlantis and having Sheppard just be the leader of the no 1. team (whatever it’s called)?”
Answers: 2. Never.
Isn’t that what Colonel Carter did in season 4?
Hey Joe!
Dogs been acting naughty lately…or maybe a rat is abound! :O Better lock up your new shoes or put them at a high height instead…though yes, I know, you’re afraid of heights. 😀
Glad to see the Weird Food Purchase of the Day is back. Would you be willing to take in blog readers’ ideas or food deliveries to try out?
Thanks as always!
– Enzo Aquarius
You could set up a sting operation. Put the suspects in a room one at a time, with the remaining Franco Visconti, and a camera rolling. See which one repeats the crime. Or put them all in together and see if you have a gang of delinquents on your hands. And thanks for the pictures from Whispers. Thanks to your coverage of it over the weeks of production, it’s my second most anticipated episode of the season, beaten out only by last week’s Shrine. And that’s in the face of competition from a lot of interesting looking episodes.
How about Marty G. as the next guest eater of weird foods? I’m glad to see this feature return, as well as seeing the four legged folk return, even if it’s as criminal suspects. Thanks for a smile or two and enjoy tomorrow’s holiday.
I love the sprawl that Bubba and Jelly seemed to have perfected so well.
Sorry, to hear about your laptop troubles… should’ve got a Mac. 😉
Now that I’m thinking about it… who’s idea was McKay’s “You should have used a Mac” comment in the Ark? Thanks and good luck with your next computer!!
Joe, I also share your fear of heights…to put it in the words of my favorite TV detective (upon turning down a job with the FAA because it would involve flying), Columbo said, “As a matter of fact, I don’t even like being this tall.”
Yeah, heights freak me right out – my knees even lock up if I get on a stepstool that’s just inches high. I get vertigo really bad when my feet are not firmly planted on the ground. And yet, I have been known to torture myself on ferris wheels and rollercoasters. 😛 Go figger.
I lol’ed at your shoe! My money’s on Lulu, she’s got guilty written all over her face. But…with four suspects, maybe you should bring Columbo in on this one…
Yeah, Columbo…I just love that guy. It’s like, he is to TV detectives what Todd is to Wraith – unique, clever, and totally adorable, even with messy hair. 😀
And thanks to those who gave me big hugs earlier. My butt is still sore, and my neck is still stiff…and there’s still a big black spider somewhere in the bathroom…but for now I’m okay. I’ve got a bar of Green & Black’s chocolate, a bottle of wine, a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream…and I’m watching Common Ground. Self-indulgence is a wonderful thing. 🙂
das
In Rrgards to your laptop; have you considered replacing the faulty drive instead of buying a new one? Always easier to migrate the settings over in my experience than to spend all that time re-installing software and drivers, and generally breaking in a new machine
Hi Joe,
What a sad state of affairs that you can’t trust your “family” to leave your personal property alone. Did you try dusting for paw/nose prints? Maybe DNA testing is in order? Never a CSI around when you need one.
Will you have an active role in the 3rd SG-1 movie and/or the first SGA movie??
Thank you again for arranging to have all of the great folks from SGA visit your blog and answer our questions. Most kind of you and them!
Ox tail?? Hmmmm. Carl’s not looking too happy.
What will the new SG1 movie be about?
Thanks,
Abbas
Pardon the interruption but it’s physically impossible to replace television as we know it with the Internet. You might as well be talking about using a swimming pool to replace the ocean.
No, I’m not being sarcastic.
What people don’t understand is how much data broadcast-quality video eats up and how little bandwidth is available on the Internet; the difference between the Internet and broadcast cable/satellite; and the “market” aspect. The market aspect is already here with Hulu.com, iTunes, and file sharing. But the physical ability to send all that video over the Internet is a whole other deal.
Forgive me for digressing, but this needs to be explained.
Cable, satellite, and broadcast are one-to-many broadcast mediums regardless of how many people receive it. It’s like a school PA system — one microphone and a single signal being electrically split and sent out to dozens of speakers — but they are all receiving the exact same broadcast. That’s over-the-air, satellite, and cable in a nutshell.
The Internet is more like the phone system. If I want to talk to you, I have to call *you*. If I want to also talk to five other people to give all six of you the same information at the same time (ignore conference calling for now) then I’d need six cell phones, each one connected to just one other phone. That’s the Internet in a nutshell.
With video streaming from sites like Hulu.com, you’re talking about 1.5 megabits per second worth of data (hereafter: 1.5 mbit/s). For each person watching a video, that’s another 1.5 mbit/s stream on top of another, on top of another, on top of another. Rather than having 8 million people watching a single show on NBC, you’ve got 8 million individuals using 8 million times the bandwidth to stream that same show.
While one channel can support an unlimited number of people (because that channel is only showing one thing, on a schedule, and that channel is physically available to everyone) the Internet only gives you one channel — your Internet connection. If your cable company tells you that your cable Internet connection is a speedy 6 mbit/s or even 8 mbit/s, then consider that said cable company is already sending you close to *400 mbit/s* worth of TV video. That’s how much data it takes to send that much video in parallel. That ought to give you an idea of how much data we’re talking about.
35 million people watching American Idol will need 35 million video streams (instead of one cable or satellite channel), which would mean 1.5 mbit/s x 35,000,000 (I say 1.5 here because Internet video is highly compressed — for cable/sat it’s probably close to 5-7.) You can see how quickly the required bandwidth multiplies, where the Internet would need 35 million times the bandwidth to stream American Idol than satellite or cable needs.
And we’re just talking about one “show” here. You need to have 1 stream for every person watching “TV” at any given moment in time. And all of that in addition to what the Internet is already carrying, mind you, which for all we know it’s already at capacity.
To put that in perspective, you’d be talking about enough data traveling across the Internet (from video replacing TV) to fill a 60GB iPid 109,375 times per second, and that’s just for *American Idol*. If you assume a total of 80 million people watching TV at any given moment during primetime (across all cable and broadcast) then you’re talking about 15 terabytes per second worth of data at least. To put *that* into perspective, the fastest part of the Internet backbone that I’m aware of (owned by AT&T) is only capable of about 39,000 mbit/s. In the above example (80 million streams at 1.5mbit/s) you’re talking about 120,000,000 mbit/s for the whole shebang.
Put simply:
Required capacity: 120,000,000 mbit/s
Existing capacity: 39,000 mbit/s (and this is already being used)
The capacity of the backbone would have to increase 3,076 times and even then it’d have to be completely empty, just to replace TV with 80,000,000 concurrent viewers. And folks, that’s just talking about standard definition video. High-def video is literally four times bigger. If everything is HD which is probably less than 10 years off:
Required capacity: 1,120,000,000 mbit/s
Existing capacity: 39,000 mbit/s
And that’s at a “crappy” video quality level that’s at least 1/3rd less than what you get with over-the-air broadcast. If you want the same experience you get watching NBC-HD over-the-air, you can increase required capacity by 33%.
I don’t mean any offense, but people who say that streaming video over the Internet/web is the future and will replace TV don’t have the slightest clue what they are talking about.
Awwwww, shucks.
They are so hard to tell off.
You start off with your serious face, pointing your finger at them, waving the shoe around looking for a guilty face in the crowd. They just look at you as they do. Next thing you know you are on the floor giving them hugs and telling them they’ve done nothing wrong. Or something like that…
i know you dont have much to do with SGU, but would you prefer to have a show more battlestar galctica – esqe with violence and sex and nudity and drugs or more of a planet of the week type show?
Your culprits are adorable. And they look so innocent! Kind of like my dog when she snatches Kleenex out of the trash can..She runs through the house with it until we clap our hands at her, then she drops it mid-stride and keeps running. Quite cute. The problem is, she’s a greyhound, so she takes up most of the house when she’s running around. Hm..
I’m now excited about the Michael angst. He’s just so complicated, you can’t help but like him!
I keep wanting to ask you a question, but everyone else keeps getting to them before I do…:(
Carl was a pretty good sport about tasting the ox tail, even if he wasn’t all that impressed by them.
The suspects. Hm. Good question. It did inspire an idea. Joe, you should use your computer (sorry to hear you had to do all that back-up work, nasty) to take each mug shot, put them in a two by two square, put the shoe in the middle and along the bottom write something like “The Usual Suspects” Then go to Cafe Press and make shirts, mousepads, ect of the design. I bet you could sell a ton of that design. People here would buy it, I’m sure. And Fondy could always offer it as something for sell in her shop. Any profits you couldeither keep or give to charity. Just a thought.
For the moment assuming that “Twilight” is going to be the title of the new SGA movie, are we going to be looking at “Stargate: Twilight” or “Stargate Atlantis: Twilight”?
As Continuum and Ark of Truth don’t have the SG-1 prefix I would have assumed it would be similar for SGA’s movies, emphasising their nature as continuations of the film franchise as opposed to a specific continuation of the series, but then I’m probably wrong.
Thanks
Hi Joe! Was wondering if you knew the dates that filming would be taking place in Vegas, and to take it a step further, do you know which locations will be used? I owe you big if you can answer! Thanks! Dani
Answer: If all goes as planned, we should be filming both the SGA movie and the third SG-1 around the same time next year.
And what time will that be?
Also, oxtail! I love oxtail, especially when it’s extra fatty. It’s not to everyone’s liking, tho, as your Video Victim’s reaction attests.
Hey Joe,
I’ve finally built up the courage to watch The Shrine. I’m 15 minutes in and have had to turn it off for a bit.
I’m sure it’s been said that a lot of people who have cared for someone in a similar position will find it quite difficult to watch.
I realised towards the end of their days that it wasn’t the bad days that caused the pain, it was the good days. You got used to managing the bad days.
Sometimes you would take comfort in the thought that they didn’t really know what was happening. As the cancer, golden staf, skin ulcers, broken vertebrae, Parkinson’s diagnosis came in, you would silently hope they didn’t know what was going on.
Then they would have a day of perfect clarity and you realised with horror they knew exactly what was happening. You could see it in their eyes… you would feel that pain in your chest.
Going to saddle up for the rest of it tonight.
It has been my experience that the culprit is the one who looks the most scared and won’t come within five feet of you. Thanks for the pics:)
You really should warn people before posting such graphic crime scene photos!
😉
Anne Teldy
my local library* is renovating and updating and reconstructing. thanks to citizen$ who think reading, and all the other stuff you can do now at libraries, is one of the best things we can spend our money on. part of the work is a new walkway and they are selling bricks for $100. 3 lines, 14 letters or spaces. i’ve never been interested in this sort of thing before and i’m not the type to want my name out there (and regularly stepped on either, i might add!). But i really like my library system and i think i would get a little tickle out of stepping on -my- brick on the way in and out. so i thought i might go for a quote instead. have any ideas?
i have thus far (and only one is original to me):
a good book
has no ending
~kinda boring?
A dirty book
is rarely
dusty
~not sure if they will let that one thru 🙂
Books have
instant replay
~ but not much of a sports fan
Reading
means
borrowing.
~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Aphorisms
(deep and blah, all at the same time)
you can never
have enough
bookshelves
~ this one is all me….
And all the
sweet serenity
of books.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Oh for a book
and a shady
nook.
~
i like these, but they won’t fit:
My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter. ~Thomas Helm
The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television.
~Andrew Ross (thought you might get a kick out of this one)
The oldest books are still only just out to those who have not read them. ~Samuel Butler
Never judge a book by its movie. ~J.W. Eagan
He who lends a book is an idiot. He who returns the book is more of an idiot. ~Arabic Proverb
(if only, if only, lol lol lol)
Americans like fat books and thin women. ~Russell Baker
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I’ll have a long beard by the time I read them.
Arnold Lobel
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.
Dorothy Parker
Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?
Henry Ward Beecher
(did u know that Borders Books now texts me their coupons? like i need more incentive…)
When I step into this library, I cannot understand why I ever step out of it.
Marie de Sevigne
Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
P. J. O’Rourke
A book is a mirror; if an ass peers into it, you can not expect an apostle to peer out.
A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you.
Daniel J. Boorstein
I have every sympathy with the American who was so horrified by what he had read about the effects of smoking that he gave up reading.
Henry G. Strauss
A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog’s ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins. ~Charles Lamb, Last Essays of Elia, 1833
The covers of this book are too far apart. Ambrose Bierce
* http://library.loudoun.gov/
Thanks for answering my question. 🙂 It’s okay, God willing, we will be back in the US next year to stay after our wedding or hopefully sooner if I score the visual comm job in Colorado Springs. 😀
I’m sorry to hear about your laptop. Thanks for posting the great pictures though. They are very spooky…and would make for an awesome Halloween Haunted House setup.
I knew you would eventually pull others into the weird food purchase. Although I would never eat anything like that, I think you were easy on Carl by choosing that purchase.
I think suspect #3 did it. The innocent looking always have something to hide. He is looking at you as if to say “It wasn’t me daddy”.
Well my summer “officially” ends on Tuesday. This week we have had meetings for most of the days, but the kids come back on Tuesday…I had to move my classroom for the first time in 10 years, wow I have alot of stuff, kind arivals that storage room you showed us. Wanna see a bird’s nest. let me pull it out, how about that butterfly in the chunk of plexiglass that shows it’s life cycles. Need to know the 7 continents and what all the flags for the US states look like? I’m your woman!
Love the “mug” shots…Had to run over to my brother’s house today to let the dog out. He had an emergency at work and wife and kids are away for the weekend. Poor dog was ahowling when I got there, he had to go so badly..
BTW, love the little dude, next to my comments..it’s so me…
I have LOVED the studio tours. I love the behind the scenes stuff!!!
Hey Joe, Can you answer 1 or 2 questions? Which epi. are Joe F.s kids in and which scene ? DH’s blog is back up, so he is also amusing us again! Sean, Good luck tomorrow- let us know how you do , and where did you evac. to? Thanks, Sheryl
Is there anything Carl Binder won’t let you do to him?
Also, I’m guessing Lulu is the miscreant chewer. The younger ones are always the chewers, and they always get away with the wide, baby eyes.
Well here I sit watching all my Tivo’d episodes of Atlantis while awaiting the entry of Gustav. Yes my wife and I are sleeping in our home wondering if that large oak tree is going to pay us a visit! Please Joe and Atlantis fans think about us tonight as this storm takes us in its gun sights!!
Where is Hewlett when we need him to raise the shield over New Orleans and Baton Rouge????
Peace Out!
Sean!!
va fan wrote:
There’s the old stand-by:
So many books
So little time
What about the first line of a favorite book?
It is a truth
universally
acknowledged
Anne Teldy
Gracey wrote:
¿You’re a blue tomato with bunny ears and a scarf?
Anne Teldy
Paul William Tenny… fortunately for us, what you have explained is not how it works, and things will be fine.
Anne Teldy said:
I’m waiting for Joe to announce “Dress as your Avatar Day” where we have to send in photo’s of us dressed up as our little creature.
Signed 100th Episode/Final episode script of SGA to the winner.
Good idea Joe? 😉
I caught the Atlantis where Rodney loads up on Wraith enzyme on Space this afternoon and there was a line that stuck out to me…
Carson mentions that he has an inkling of what Rodney is going through. I was curious… Did Carson mean that he’s witnessed that sort of thing before as a doctor? Or was it a bit more of a personal revelation?
Thanks!
Sean– We are thinking of you here.
Also to KJ Bishop in Thailand.
sheryl wrote:
In “The Kindred (2)”, two of Mr. Flanigan’s sons are seen when Sheppard and team free the Athosians. A woman with dark hair is herding them out the door. The older one goes out easily but the younger one — who looks to have his Daddy’s hair — keeps looking around at his father.
Anne Teldy
Anne Teldy, I understand that you are about to become immortalised in sci fi and all that, but really, as a cheerleading heffalump desperate for a pee?
;-D
I think the suspect that remains overly cool is the culprit. Why, you ask? Because the one with the rap sheet is too obvious, the one that lawyered up is too smart, the one that maintains his innocence just has to be, leaving the cool as a cucumber culprit.
Also, what happened to your still? It looks like a Wraith spat on it or some such equally icky thing. Did it at least produce some good moonshine during its lifetime?
Lulu, guilty. But to prove it you’d need to call in the CSI team to swab the shoes for DNA in the dried saliva and find a match amongst your pups. Hey, you could produce an entire show on Canine CSI.
Or, and this is a disturbing thought, did you make Marty G. angry lately–angry enough to slip into your house and rumble with your footwear?
Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. That’s really a rather disturbing mental picture. I wish I hadn’t thought of it.
Carry on.
For Sean:
Best of luck weathering the evil Gustav. Stay safe and keep us posted.
Frankly, all your dogs look guilty as hell. But to be fair, that shoe looks like it was asking for it.
So Jason, Jewel, David, David, Bob, and Kavan don’t mind having their picture taken, and Rachel is camera shy. Huh. I feel like a major cast member is missing from the list.
Are you trying to tell us it’s not your fault that there aren’t many pictures of Joe Flanigan? Or something else? Seriously, if you’re being subtle, I will never get the hint.
Only now that you have twice said that Arthur/spit take from The Shrine was scripted am I starting to believe you. Sheppard’s giggle was just so different from his usual restrained smile, I guess. But it was sweet that he’d laugh that way with McKay. I really liked the scene a lot.
@ das –
Well, you raised some interesting points, and I would tend to agree were we discussing ordinary human predators or even aggressive, war mongering types of people.
Your position presupposes that it is acceptable for the Wraith to cultivate and herd humans as cattle, pure and simple. Your criticism of the Lanteans – while valid criticism to a point ’cause they made some stupid mistakes – still doesn’t legitimize what the Wraith do. This species has preyed on the people of Pegasus and its civilizations for tens of thousands of years. That the Lanteans “woke them up” is not relevant; the Wraith slept to allow the populations to grow again to the point where there were enough to prey on, then they harvested them. The entire Pegasus galaxy is their feeding ground, and they want to make the Milky Way another.
This is a bad thing.
Now, if we had a society of humans whose only source of food was other humans, I’d say wipe them out too, although one could arguably say that their behavior was a choice because other food sources are available to them.
Perhaps the Wraith have a small bit of moral ground simply because humans appear to be their only satisfying food source, but that won’t cut it for me: to allow even one Wraith to harvest and kill even one human person is unacceptable to me.
Re Michael, to me, every time he whines about what was done to him, I think, bring on the violins. How many people has he killed? How many people did he kill before the experiment? He’s a predator, a vicious predator, and the only way to stop him from preying on humans, even BEFORE the experiment, would have been to kill him. So they tried a way to turn him without killing him. I admit that the experiment was risky and had some moral issues, but on balance, if they’d been able to turn every Wraith into a human being, that would have been a desirable outcome for the entire Pegasus galaxy. The moral balance in a case like that, for me, is with the people who are not preying upon other sentient species for food.
Re the attraction, to each her own, I suppose. I am currently obsessed with Teal’c. But he doesn’t prey on for people for sustenance! 🙂
Mary
I know, I know. Sheesh. I’m a SQUATTING, saddle-sore, grumpy apple thingy with noodly appendages/wannabe Ronon dreads and Carson eyes. Laugh it up.
Couldn’t I at least have had Shep ears?
TPTB should have pitted US against the Wraith and not those Replicators. Poxy-looking, redshirt blog icons of the Pegasus galaxy, unite!
Save Atlantis!
From the Wraith! The Genii! The Replicators! From MGM!
I was watching DVR material today, particularly “Women’s Murder Club”, and was wondering [since it’s been canceled and JF never go back to it] if you might ask him if his character the “kiss-me-not” killer? Just wondering if my best guess is correct.
I think all are guilty…best to assume that and hand out the punishment equally so that all learn the lesson about shoes (and if it works kindly let me know so that I can know if my continued efforts aren in vain).
Hoping that there will be a tour of the special effects stage in our viewing future. And maybe the puddle jumper?
Thanks for listening tonight.
Are you sure that Carl didn’t chew your shoe as revenge for making him eat the oxtail?
Joe, can’t watch the vid right now because I’m at work (newspaper jobs are fun! Too bad they’re probably not long for this world…) but poor Carl looks miserable.
Just want to say that I love atlantis.
I have cable i could add (hbo, showtime etc) but it just so rare to get that show that’s noble, deep but yet still funny i will miss this show. I hope here out all final rating for each episode is around 1.7 thru 2.3 if possible and force the studios to rethink their decision
Awaiting this week’s episode.
Quote
MrsB108 writes: “Will we get a deeper look into Michael’s thoughts/emotions?”
Answer: Yep. Plenty of Michael angst to come.
End Quote
Does this mean that Micheal will confess his undying love for Teyla right before she kills him?? I would seriously love that.
sorry to hear about the computer problems. i know how you feel. my computer early on in the year kept giving me a blue screen of death and finally crashed, and then after reinstalling everything, the hard drive went bad
since it sounds like you might be getting a new computer, i was wondering what you were thinking of getting??? Does the show pay for any of it or is it out of your pocket???
well hope it goes well
BN
Joe;
My bad luck just keeps multiplying. My husband and i have our 2nd anniversary on the 2nd and have planned to leave for the weekend for months now. Ontop of my mom and her boyfriend living with us not paying a dime, her trips to the ER, my dad showing up and also living with us, and our lack of funds I told my husband I needed to get away from all the turmoil for a few days and have some time to ourselves. Good right? yeah well we needed to get a payday loan inorder to go even though we have a gift certificate that i won on the radio for a nights stay in Portland and dinner. Which we were going to use for our anniversary. I told my husband I wanted to head over to the coast first as it always seems to relax me. Well the payday loan people took an extra day and now we won’t get the money until tuesday. We decided to go anyway and went around town trying other loan places. One said no because our check didn’t have a number for which check it was on it, another couldn’t do it because their printers were down. and said they could do it on tuesday. Well we get paid on tuesday and have that laon going through. Long story short we decided to go anyway. 188 miles into our drive I was trying to accelerate, putting my foot on the gas pedal and it won’t accelerate. Then I lost my steering and had to pull over to the shoulder of the busy hwy barley off to the side. The car wouldn’t turn over, start, nothing. Still have power but that’s it. I had to call AAA and they wanted landmarks, Problem? We were in the middle of nowhere and had no land marks. We were 25 miles from our destination. We had to be towed to the hotel we booked for the night w/ gift cards we have. I had to cancel our night at the hotel we won a nights stay at, we don’t get our Anniversary dinner, we don’t know if a repair place will be open tomarow and we are out of money. i’m pretty upset and I think I should check myself into the nut hut soon before I end up on top of a tall building with a gun. If anybody body our there beleaves in prayer i could sure use it. We are 200 miles from home, no money, and a car that won’t start. needless to say this is reminding me of our honey moon in Vegas were two days into it I got an abcess tooth and almost went to the er, instead only having half of my face swell to twice it’s size and comming home to my grandmother in heart failure. I’m done, i’ve reached the last straw and could burn it at any moment. Sorry just full of angst tonight and very long winded. 🙁 Nicole
Paul William Tenny you’re right, for now…
Even technologies like DWDM and MPLS can only go so far, and as for Data Center’s, well there is a long way to go. But the basis of future connectivity will be 4G allowing for far greater bandwidth (20mg – 50mg)
But you must also remember what has been achieved in just the 10years down an ordinary phone line. If your cable is supplied via coax, then your possible bandwidth capability is in excess of 1gig! (assuming there is fibre to the nearest street cabinate).
The problems will be the replacement of cell equipment with high powered AP’s and the redesign of data centers. The technology already exists and has done so for a few years. now, the problems with delivering it are somewhat bigger, but within the next few years we should see a massive improvement.
Shai (aka Pissoffsnotface) wrote:
You’re right about the way she looks. When I first chose the avatar, I didn’t know how prophetic it was!
I chose an elephant to represent me because I am a very, very supersized person. ‘Elephant’ is often used as a derogatory term for people who are fat like me.
There are so many wonderful things about elephants, I decided to have one as my avatar to remind me (1) to be gentle though I’m large and fairly strong (2) to be wise when dealing with the idiots of this world who think supersized people are gross and deserve no respect or rights and (3) to always look out for the weaker around me.
I fell in love with this particular picture of an elephant because (1) she’s definitely female — or a really pretty drag queen — (2) true purples are my favorite colors and (3) she seems so shy and my anxiety disorder made it almost impossible for me to be around new people (I’m much better but nowhere near ‘cured’.). I was also aware of how it could be interpreted that Pansy Pachyderm (my name for her) looks like she needs a bathroom, but I didn’t let it bother me.
The prophetic part: As I type this, I’ve been waiting over 35 minutes for an aide to help me to the potty! This long waiting is not unseldom.
Anne Teldy
Raindrop wrote:
I think it is very clear that Mr. Flanigan has told Mr. Mallozzi that he would prefer not to be the subject of Mr. Mallozzi’s pictures.
Raindrop also wrote:
Sheppard was drunk. That’s why he laughed like that.
Bailey wrote:
He probably would have enjoyed the shoe more!
Anne Teldy
Oohh, poor Carl. Why do you torture him with those weird purchases. He doesn’t look happy. lol 🙂
Hi Joe!
Yeah for the weird food video! Say thanks to Carl for that and the tours (are you guys really going over to the FX stage?)
What is it about dogs that they LOVE shoes? When I was a kid we had a cockapooh (1/2 cocker spaniel 1/2 poodle) named Daisy and she destroyed about 15 pair of shoes, my mom was NOT a happy camper as in those days my parents REALLY didn’t have money to be replacing shoes on a weekly basis…. The dog finally learned but it was an expensive journey for my parents.
Carl fared that one well I think considering it was his first Guest WFPotD. I’ve seen my friend drink ox tail soup, and she liked it, so, it can’t be that bad, right?
May your laptop and your Franco Visconti’s rest in peace. The blue screen of doom is never a good sign.
I share your fear of heights (but no nervousness during take off and landing, my inner speed-freak overrides the feeling of nervousness). My parents once took me up the Eiffel tower and I remained pretty much glued to the wall, as far away for the edge as possible.
Aha!
And so the cunning wily of the canine criminal is one again unleashed unto an ususpecting public. Forget the forensics. Forget the interrogations. Dusting for guilty paws or swabbing of DNA doggy-slobber, will do *nothing* to prevent the eventual demise of a once adulated puppy into the slippery climbs of the canine underworld. For they are masterminds in a world taken in with doleful eyes and excitedly wagging tails. Skillful in disguise and with enough cunning intent to pull the wool over any human suspicions.
Take for example, my Samoyed, Max. A white ball of harmless fluff and with a set of teeth to rival Jaws. There was no indication of remorse, guilt, or even a drop of apology when I discovered the fist-sized hole he’d chewed through the kitchen wall one cold, November night. If anything, this wily canine criminal showed only surprise at my distaste for the reworkings on interior design. He blinked not at my initial scream of indignant fury. Quietly drooled at my unleashing of profanities. A wag of the tail, a well-thought lick to the cheek and his vandalous exhibit was swiftly swallowed up in an age-old rouse of playing to doggy devotion.
‘I thought you might appreciate my take on putting another door in there. Don’t you? Don’t you? Woof! Woof!’
How is any victim to put up viable defences in the face of such unabound love and masterful insight into human behaviour?
Then, of course, there was Parker. My first and much loved Guide Dog. A black Labrador with such huge, woe-filled eyes, a person could be forgiven for drowning in them. Yet there was a darker criminal mind at work even behind that adorable puppy-dog face. A cunning mind, who would sneak through the house in the dead of day to steal an entire tray of roast potatoes from the Kitchen. A wily animal who would unremittently stalk and terrorise a Teddybear into a corner, before ripping out it’s throat with ne’ery a second thought. Cold. Calculating. And unforgivably bouncy when trundling back into the lounge to deposit a jaw full of disembowled Teddy guts at my feet.
We call them ‘Man’s Best Friend’.
Yet, beware.. they are also clever. So very, very clever.
@ Mary – The thing is – we tend to attach human morality to the Wraith. But based on what the show has presented about the Wraith, they are an evolved insect. Does a tick or a flea or a mosquito question the morality of feeding on our blood? No. IF the Wraith were fully aware of ‘right and wrong’ in this case, then they would be more accountable. But they are reacting to their nature – what they are doing IS right for them…natural…expected among their own. And while they are aware that humans don’t like what they do, they cannot reason on it as being ‘wrong’, anymore than a tick or mosquito can reason that sucking on us in order to survive is ‘wrong’.
I’ve explained my reasoning before – since they are not real, and I have no fear of Wraith feeding on me, I can think outside the box on this one – see things from their standpoint, and the stanpoint of science fiction. What I often see among sci fi fans is that they want the fiction forced into the mold of reality. However, I like science fiction when it breaks free of the bonds of reality…I want it to go to places we CAN’T in the real world because – well, because we have restrictions.
(when referring to fiction here, I’m specifically talking about sci fi/fantasy…the sort of fiction that introduces new worlds and species and, in doing so, new ‘rules’. I’m not referring to fiction based on reality, such as detective stories and the like that must follow certain real life rules to be believable)
Now, I wasn’t around for the original airing of Miller’s Crossing, but I understand there was a bit of controversy over Sheppard arranging a meal for Todd. UGH. THAT was the best moment in the episode – it pushed the boundaries of reality and did something unexpected, something not dictated by our real laws and rules. In doing so, it really made me think…it was mentally stimulating.
Now, I don’t mean that I want things totally dark, or totally immoral…not that at all…but I do like a show that doesn’t follow the same guidelines we must in real life.
In some ways, SGA HAS done this – experimentation on Steve and Michael, the murder of Bob – these are all things that would be condemned in real life. BUT, because they happened to the ‘bad guys’, most people overlooked it (except Kavanaugh, and me 😆 ). When the boundaries were pushed the other way, however – such as with the feeding of Todd – then people squirmed.
Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. 😉
I remember an author here – not sure who it was – talking about vampires, and he (she?) said that he felt that any story where the vampire was somehow ‘good’ was ridiculous (not his exact words – it was a while ago…so bear with me). He basically said it was unbelievable, unrealistic. Well, see this is where I disagree. In writing fiction – if you write it well – you should be able to take the unbelievable and MAKE it believable in the ‘reality’ in which it exists. Must vampires, though perhaps sympathetic characters, always be bad? If that’s the case, then what is the point to ‘fiction’ if it can’t explore other possibilities?
Not sure if I’m making any sense here – thoughts are just flowing. But basically, I see people writing fiction (this is true of movies, tv, books, etc) and trying to make that fiction as REAL as possible – the cry for more ‘realism’ in art and entertainment just nullifies the entire point of fiction for me. I want fiction to explore that which is NOT real, perhaps not even possible, while making me believe it’s all possible, all existing somewhere – on a different plane or in a different universe.
And I’m not talking just about strange creatures and the like. If it was as simple as that, then I’d read/watch pure, non-earth based fantasy. What I mean is breaking the rules of basic storytelling a bit. Why must everything be black and white? I realize it’s not always the case, but it often IS the case. For instance, even a redeemed villain is still the villain in the end, simply one who is forgiven. But what if the villain really isn’t the villain? This is how I felt about the antagonist in Hellboy II – I was refreshed to see a villain who (in my eyes) was NOT a villain – who was, perhaps, the one in the right, a warrior fighting for a greater good that the ‘heroes’ were unable to see. It really made me think for a change, mainly because it didn’t follow the traditional formula of that genre of movie.
And that’s the way it should be. Good science fiction, to me, blurs the lines a bit…turns things upside down and creates new and exciting lines of reason and thought. I’m not talking about doing away with all morality, either – there should be a difference between a being that eats another with evil intent, and one that does so out of an instinctual or cultural necessity. This is where the moral struggles begin…where people (in the story) start to wrestle with their concepts of right and wrong and – hopefully, just as Sheppard did – do something totally unexpected and new.
And that’s why I love the Wraith. They create a new moral conundrum. Do you annihilate a sentient race simply based on the fact that you disapprove of what it eats? (Nevermind the ‘but it eats us’ argument – it doesn’t eat us – it eats fictional people in a fictional universe) See, because they are just the wild fancy of someone’s imagination, I can see things from their standpoint – it’s Wraith against Lanteans, not Wraith against ME and MINE. And in their fictional realm, I believe they ARE right…they are fighting for their survival against an invading force, a force that hasn’t quite grasped the fact that their morality is not based on human morality, but on Wraith morality – something alien to the characters – and by extension, to us – as it should be. The job is then to help the viewer understand this morality (done nicely in Common Ground, Michael and Instinct), while – hopefully – allowing some of the characters to grasp it as well (Miller’s Crossing).
Sorry, I was on a roll. I think it was sesame.
@ Nicole – (((((hugs))))) Wow – that’s all just terrible. Though things WILL work themselves out, I know that right now you’re at your wit’s end. Try not to panic, perhaps think of it as an ‘adventure’ (I’ve done this before in order to get through rough spells)…sometimes just looking at the situation from a new angle makes all the difference in your attitude towards it, which will give you the strength and determination to get through it. In the meantime, you’re in my thoughts and prayers…just hang in there.
das
Coucou Joseph!!!
Merci de m’avoir répondu..maintenant j’assayé de posé mes question ici.
Lol la vidéo, pauvre Carl, vous allez le rendre malade^^! Il n’a pas l’habitude de toute vds expériences gustative^^!
hum…Je vote pour le suspect 4 !! …trop fatiguer pour regarder l’appareil après savoir acharné sur votre pauvre chaussure^^!!
Snif pour votre ordinateur, je pense que vous n’aurez pas trop de mal a la remplacer^^!!
Sinon moi sa va, je vais passer mon avant dernier journée a ne rien faire avant la rentré, donc je suis zen…enfin presque car des moustique mon manger durant la nuit et j’ai des boutons partout et sa gratte!!!! lol
Question:
1)Pensez vous que dans le film sur sga, il sera possible de voir des personne disparu dans la série comme Weir ou Ford?
2)Pour quand est prévu votre voyage en Chine?
aller bisou^^!! je vous adore!
@MysteryMadchen:
So sorry you’ve had such a rotten time on your anniversary!!!
Honey, one thing you need to do when you get back home – turf the ‘rents & freeloaders OUTA your house. They need an ultimatum – pay up or ship out. I have NO time for people who can just sponge off others without having the decency to contribute financially, especially if they bloody well know you’re not a gorram charity!!! There’s a lovely word you need to learn, sweetie…it’s “NO”, as in “NO you cant stay here anymore – bugger off.”
Hey Joe…sorry bout that…freeloading relatives piss me off, as I have a friend in a similar situation (she gave & gave but when SHE was in need, they all suddenly ‘disappeared’)… when they say ‘you can’t choose your relatives’, they should add ‘but you have every right to refuse them’…blood is roughly the same consistency as water as far as I’m concerned.
I was just wondering – you rarely seem to mention anything to do with Mr Flanigan – is this some personal issue, or just that so many Flan fans keep bugging you about him all the time? We hear mostly about the ‘noobs’ on the show…is this deliberate or do you just like to torture the Shep contingent with ‘no news’ ? *LOL*
Hey joe,
I’ve got my QCS exam tomorrow and the day after. A big exam for end of year 12 :S
Wish me luck!
Oh and i’ve got block exams the week after that 🙁
Busy busy
@va fan: If you want your brick to stand out amongst the crowd don’t go for the cheesy quote, try a riddle like a “what am i?”, but don’t give the answer, make them walk in and research it or ask a Librarian (of course drop off the answer with the library staff if you don’t want to trouble them).
A few riddle sites for you:
Riddle me this
Brain food
Glad to see you supporting your library. I must say I haven’t heard anything about them since they lost the massive filtering lawsuit in the late 90s.
Cheers, Chev
Squeakiep said:
Ooh, I thought that too! Not that I regularly watch the show, I just watched it for Joe. It was really badly written. They wasted Joe’s talents (however maybe they were working up to some big episodes when the writer’s strike hit).
Cheers, Chev
Muddypiddypop writes: “Joe, Was the “your a good friend Arthur” line in the Shrine an adlib?”
Answer: Actually, I’ve already answered this question. The line, the reaction, even the spit take by Sheppard, was scripted by Brad Wright.
Now that’s brilliant acting, for everyone to be convinced that it wasn’t scripted. I can’t wait to see it. Well done Joe F.
Cheers, Chev
Hi joe !
did you know that here in France, ox-tail is not really a weird food ?
I’m not saying that everybody like it but it’s quite commun.
About french food, do you like frogs and ” escargots” ( sorry I don’t know the english word for it ).
And what about wine ? I am asking because my mom is a wine producer in the family vineyard in Burgundy ( almost the harvest !)
Have a nice day !
OMG Joe, 3 of my questions answered! Are you feeling OK? Gotta fever? 😀 …Sorry, thanks for answering them.
Chevron7 writes: “1. Are you really afraid of heights? And flying? Anything else?
1. I hate heights. I don’t even like it when someone I know stands on a balcony. As for flying – I’m okay when we’re in the air, but I am a tad nervous during take-off and landing.
Well that’s natural considering “approximately 80 percent of all plane crashes occur shortly before or after takeoff or landing due to human error or mechanical failures.”
Plane Crash Lawyer. I think it would probably be higher for commercial aircraft. As I said I watch a lot of Air Crash. Things I’ve learnt, the crash position works (so long as it’s not a catastrophic crash – I think I learnt that on Mythbusters) and never open your life jacket before you exit the plane if you go down in the water. If you do the buoyancy prevents you from exiting the plane. Oh yeah, and count the number of seats between you and the exit if you need to feel your way out. I’m very cheery today.
Chevron7 writes: 2. Did TPTB ever seriously consider having someone take over military command of Atlantis and having Sheppard just be the leader of the no 1. team (whatever it’s called)?
2. Never.
Good to hear/see.
Chevron7 writes: 3. What’s happened to the Weird Food vids? Haven’t got the stomach for it lately or just maintaining some variety?”
3. They’ll be back.
Also good to hear/see. Although I see you’ve got a stunt eater.
Cheers, Chev
Sachi:
Chev: “2. Did TPTB ever seriously consider having someone take over military command of Atlantis and having Sheppard just be the leader of the no 1. team (whatever it’s called)?”
Joe Answers: 2. Never.
Isn’t that what Colonel Carter did in season 4?
While Carter was in the military she didn’t take over as head of the military on Atlantis. She deferred to Sheppard in military matters.
Cheers, Chev
Huh, funny, that’s exactly the same thing that happened to my laptop before I had to send it in where they replaced my hard drive and the ventilation… and three or four days later it starts doing the same thing it did BEFORE the replacements… so, yes, I can sympathize. But maybe you really shouldn’t buy a new one but rather try to find out what’s wrong with the old one. Might be more sustainable and better for the environment than simply chucking the old one away and buying a new one.
BSOD! Me too! I learned all about it when it happened to me at work. It took me days to get my stuff back to normal. I still don’t have my email archive re-installed and my defaults on Word still doesn’t work. Very frustrating!!!! I got nervous about my laptop at home so now I’m already backing up everything just in case!!!
Yay Walter will be back! I love Walter ^^
While I was on the train home from Sydney there were two girls sitting near me, they had flown in from Vancouver. I was surprised actually because their accents were very heavy I didnt pick them for canadian at all, though I have very little experience listening to it XD But in your video’s you dont have the same accent, hmmmm. Anywho they were really nice and as I bugged them with Stargate related questions (haha) they told me that the towns in Australia actually look very similar to vancouver, so thats interesting.
Hi, Joe.
Thank you for the photos, the q & a, and thanks to Carl for his fearlessness…
Just ran across this — The SGA Atlantis set, built in Legos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/canker_canison/tags/stargate/
🙂
Best wishes, Morjana
Hello Joe – I have to say that I found your blog during the news of Stargate Atlantis’s cancellation. I sure wish I had found it sooner because I’ve come to love your blog and that you find time to update everyday is amazing. I am very happy to say that you have three Stargate Atlantis adicts in the house. My son 13 & daughter 10 and ME! Well even my hubby will watch with us. I can’t wait until season 5 is out on DVD so we can watch it. We did get to see a few episodes while we were camping. I was NOT thrilled to Woolsely in charge.
Q. Will we see more of Larrin? I love the interaction between her and Sheppard.
Thanks for the blog, mini
hmm so why aren’t the pugs using your shoe as the weird food purchase of the day?? haha..
I’d love to see a vid of you presenting the shoe to each of your pugkids to see their facial reactions. That’d be hilarious! The guilty face will be a dead give away.
Or.. the Pugler did it! In the bedroom… with a set of teeth and copious amounts of drool!
Oh and… how about getting Mr Binder to try ox tongue?(keep it intact too, not sliced up for disguise)
Joe!!
At least it was just a shoe. My puppy who’s paws are bigger than Lulu’s head, (at 7 months he just weighs in at 37kg) totally destroyed a car seat in my husbands truck…during lunch break!! If its not the car upholstery, it’s my jeans or slippers…or the bonsai my husband used to cherish! I look forward to the day he stops teething! 🙂
The only advantage to being forced to come to work early on a holiday Monday is that the phone is not ringing and there is nothing to do but catch up on the blog entries I missed while mooching off my parents at Lake of the Ozarks. The only problem is that the videos are blocked here at the PD, so I won’t be able to check out the guest eater until I get home.
I don’t think I ever got the chance to say that we finally watched Continuum last week, and of course loved it! Pissy!Daniel was sooo much fun! Baal and Qetesh were so perfect for each other!
My advice to folks trying to get the last summer fling in this weekend: don’t forget the sunscreen on your earlobes. Seriously. It looks pretty silly to have a red nose and red earlobes, but no other sunburn. Especially in uniform.
Dear Joe
I was wondering where i could get the pattern or buy a Season 4 Atlantis jacket (with the red strips as in the one Carter wears)….i have tried to make one…but i failed miserably.
Please please help..i can’t afford to get someone to make me one.
Fuchsia xxxx
Joe, I think you should start with the Zatark device on each of the aforementioned suspects. #1 does indeed have that look in her eyes. Then if the machine doesn’t make that cool swirly screen, look at the pic closely. Assuming you haven’t moved the shoe for the picture, there seems to be some single dark hairs towards the top of the shoe on the floor. My money is on #1 again. The other dogs are confident in their status and ranking. They know who the kibble is coming from. Why eat the shoe that pounds the pavement?
Rae
Hey Joe.
1). Anything you can divulge about “Hexed” now that it isn’t being shown?
2). Any possible future for John/Teyla? Either in movies or later this series?
3).Why no pics of ‘The Flan’? Noticed some others mentioned it too.
Thanks for taking your time to look at these.
““I’m wondering why the Destiny crew won’t be able to land on the new planet and use its Stargate to send a rescue team to a previously visited planet?””
Who says they can’t land? But gate travel is inside a galaxy and they didn’t bring a zpm to this new galaxy.
“I would seem my laptop is not long for this world. ”
I wonder if a computer virus is going around, seems the motherboard on my main computer just died *snif*
Suspect #3 could NOT possibly be the criminal – I mean, LOOK at that face.
My house know how your shoes feels. Trust me. I come home a plant is mutilated and all three of the cats set and look at me like who me…. I was not even the room ect….
Sorry to here your computer is ready for retirement. I vote you get a mac . I love mine. Its simpler in some ways but will drive you nuts in others. Thats only because one is used to windows. Apple stores do hold classes if you need them. I know i do but i have only owed a computer for a year now. So baby steps…
We now know how Carl liked the oxtail how did you like it???
personally i would not like to eat anything that close to where a animal voids. Please dont tell me where that kind of stuff can be found in any other food i may eat!
MrsB108 writes: “Will we get a deeper look into Michael’s thoughts/emotions?”
Answer: Yep. Plenty of Michael angst to come.
*Hopes that Michael feels what’s going to happen to Teyla in 5×08 and he’s not going to be too happy about it, since she, in my M/T shipping eyes, turned the same offer from him down*
😀
Sorry, fangirl.
Will we find out if Michael somewhere deep inside him digs Teyla? 😛 With all the swallowing that went on in 4×18…
Just another quick thing, cos I feel it has to be said again. Thanks for letting us vent somewhat on your blog. You’ve been great with things. 😉
Love, Spikey
“dasNdanger
Joe, I also share your fear of heights…”
Das, as long as he doesn’t share your *love* for Todd, it’s fine… 😛
There’s enough girls among whom to split him up, so far, without having to count in the boys…
Now, where did *that* come from? *scratches head*
Maybe I should er, find something else to do… *g*
*Goes to GW*
Spikey
Hey Joe,
Frequent reader, infrequent commenter.
I found this online today and it reminded me of your quest to eat weird food.
http://www.cracked.com/article_14979_6-most-terrifying-foods-in-world.html
Enjoy!
Mid Gulf coast, thinking of youse! Not so bad I hope. Did best.
Nicole it will get better. Best wishes to all.
Wonderingbrit writes: “The future of TV is going to be completely web based and it’s really about time viewing stats reflected the download capabilities of this medium.”
Answer: That neatly sums up my sentiments on the topic. So long as the onus on gathering ratings rests on the existing quaintly antiquated system, it will be shows like ours (those possessed of a more technologically-inclined viewer base) that will continue suffer.
The “Internet” has yet to be retooled to deliver mass data in real time- or if we could use McKay’s compression logarithm on existing networks- but I absolutely agree about antiquated data collection. I think the future of entertainment is going to be much more “on demand” than set time.
I still think of Max Headroom when I think of the future of TV.
DD
*ROFL* at your dogs. My money is on suspect #1. My husband and I have sooo seen that look before. As far as suspects #2, #3, and #4…..guilt by association.
Enjoyed the pictures from “Whispers”. Kudos to whomever put together the ‘sculptures’ in pictures seven and eight. Reminds me of a few ‘sculptures’ that I have hanging up. *g*
dff
Joe,
Sorry for all your hardware problems. As for the shoes,
are parts of the shoes missing? If so all you have to do is examine all their little piles of business in your back/front yard!
By the way I thought The Shrine was fantastic. I’ve watched it twice so far and boo hooed both times. I thought everyone, especially David did a fantastic job. I definately felt their sorrow.
*Comes back in for a sec*
Hey Joe,
I’ve got another Michael question for you.
In “The Last Man,” the scene where the crowd was cheering for Michael, and in general too, were we supposed to notice that there were no females there? Does he have female Hybrids?
Or did I just not see them, but they were there?
Thanks for reading, again!
Spikey
anneteldy wrote:
“I think it is very clear that Mr. Flanigan has told Mr. Mallozzi that he would prefer not to be the subject of Mr. Mallozzi’s pictures.”
Er, okay, so maybe my problem is that I was looking for a message where there wasn’t one.
Since Joe M. listed every cast member and their views on photo taking except Joe F., I thought he was trying to say something. I mean, not wanting your picture taking is the same as being camera shy, so if Joe F. just didn’t want his picture taken, why explicitly say that about Rachel Luttrell but not lump Joe F. in the same category?
Great video of Carl trying the oxtails. But I’m not sure he was getting a real taste of down-home oxtails. Looked like nouveau cuisine-style oxtails to me (oxtails served in a box???). The oxtails I grew up with as a child were part of oxtail stew. The oxtails were drenched in this thick, flavorful make-you-cry-it- taste-so-good brown sauce, with carrots and potatoes.You didn’t need a knife to get at the oxtail meat – the meat was so tender it fell off the bone with just a fork. And my mother and grandmother would never think of serving the oxtail stew without hot cornbread to sop up the sauce. …
Okay, I’m getting very hungry and very nostalgic here. Because oxtails have moved from being a down-home meal to a gourmet delicacy – and the price of oxtails have gone through the roof. As a result, I don’t know many folks who make oxtails at home anymore. Maybe I’ll look up my mother’s recipe and whip up a batch. I just hate that I’ll have to dip into my daughter’s college fund to buy enough oxtails….
That Lulu looks as guilty as hell to me. ain’t she a cutie though? Meanwhile, my tough, brave Staffy is hiding behind me cuz the cat just wandered in.
cheers for the pics.
Audrey writes:
Hi joe !
did you know that here in France, ox-tail is not really a weird food ?
I’m not saying that everybody like it but it’s quite commun.
About french food, do you like frogs and ” escargots” ( sorry I don’t know the english word for it ).
Ox-tail isn’t weird here in the UK either, love Ox-tail Stew, nice, cheap and wholesome. yummy.
Escargots are Snails and personally I love ’em.
Sean I think you are in baton rouge, is that true? We here in s. fl. are watching closely.Stay safe and UPDATE us. it’s 1:20 est.WE have a directv station here broadcasting LIVE from there, i believe channel#6 WDSU. We are thinking of you! Thanks anne teldy for the info.
Sean,
Best of luck to you and yours. I live on the east coast of Florida so I feel your pain. Stay safe, we’ll keep a good thought for you.
Nicole,
Hang in there. They say sometimes things happen for you and not to you. Although that’s a lot to happen to you, maybe the for you is yet to come. We’ll keep a good thought for you to.
…..Thanks Joe!!!
**Theresa***
Squeakiep (& chevron7)
I was watching DVR material today, particularly “Women’s Murder Club”, and was wondering [since it’s been canceled and JF never go back to it] if you might ask him if his character the “kiss-me-not” killer? Just wondering if my best guess is correct.
They did reveal who the killer was. I don’t remember exactly who it was, but it wasn’t Joe F’s character.
And having to back up two years! worth of data?! Where did you get your licence to operate a computer? The back of a cereal box? Gad! Backing up data on a regular basis is the backbone of the computing world. I learned my lesson several years ago when I had a computer fry itself, and it took me six months to rebuild some of the data files. Absolute PITA! When my last one fried on me this spring, I only lost, hmm, let’s see, oh, yeah, nothing. At least you’re getting it backed up before the Blue Screen of Death becomes terminal.
Carl’s back to letting you use him as a guinea pig, I see. At least the WFPotD wasn’t as bad as it could have been. I agree with the others who have said this, though, he doesn’t look too thrilled about it.
One more thing, since the show is going to film in Vegas, why not take the evidence with you and have those CSI guys down there test it for you? You can get some swabs from the suspects to take as well.
Hahahaha..your poor shoe! Those suspects do indeed look a shifty lot – adorable granted but shifty! 😛 😆
I can’t believe Carl tried that it looks revolting! 😕
Hi,
I just also can not believe this bad decision. Stargate Atlantis the only show what all my family waits week by week, (although we have no opportunity to have the show on-line or air not living in UK or US, just in Hungary, what outcasting is also very unfortunate, luckily, there are options to watch what happens NOW (not years ago on local TVs, and original dubbing, what is the most important), and now, they commit the second mistake. First was stopping SG1, and now, this UNIQUE and really REMARKABLE ATLANTIS will disappear.
Have they ever checked, how many people became true fan of this series over the internet, making communities, INVITING THE CAST TO THEIR LIFE?
Any DVD could have been done WITH the series.
And just another point: Stargate Atlantis contains VALUES and FUN and ADVENTURE.
Honestly, I really hope, the decision-makers will change their mind. Where to sign a petition?
Have a Nice and Blessed Night for All of You!
As one of the lawyers hired by Suspect #2, I have heard their side of the story and decided to represent all 4 of the accused. In addition, we are filing a countersuit for public defamation of character, being falsely accused of a crime they did not commit, and pain and suffering from distress created by these alllegations from their owner . (How could you even think that!!).
Mr. Mallozzi, where you aware that dogs chew, things like food, bones, and other items? I’m sorry, was that a “yes”?.
Mr. Mallozzi, do they have doors on closets up there in Cananda? Did you just mutter another “yes”?.
Mr. Mallozzi, finally, did you actually OBSERVE one of the suspects chewing your shoe? Was that a “no”?. Is it possible the shoe could have been damaged by a rat? They do have rats in Cananda correct? Did you say “yes”?
I contend that YOU, Mr. Mallozzi, are responsible for the distruction of the shoe because it was YOU who left the shoe out where any creature such as a rat could get a hold of it and chew it up!!!! Since YOU do not keep your shoes in the closet, anything would have access to it, including rats or a disgruntled co-worker like Carl Binder, whom you had also recently publicly embarrassed!!!!
My clients are willing to forgive you for their public humiliation, and will press no further charges, if you will meet certain conditions.
They request 54 pounds of bones, fresh cooked bacon every morning for 1 year, a box of those ox tails, a soft doggy bed in EVERY room of the house – for each dog, no more vet visits, and a public appology as it must have been the rat (or Binder).
We await your agreement to these conditions. Shame on all of you who thought it was one of my clients!
dasNdanger wrote:
I agree that the Wraith’s need to feed off humans in and of itself is no more immoral than a shark’s need to feed BUT a shark doesn’t play with its food. The Wraith do. They taunt, terrorize and torture their food. It makes it very hard for people to have any sympathy for them.
That said, it doesn’t matter if the Wraith only feed on humans because they must. Humans still have a right to defend themselves from being food and if that means extinction of the Wraith, so be it.
Anne Teldy
Joe,
Thought you might appreciate this link. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth the time to read. Both funny and horrific. Steve is the ultimate food taster for things both weird and just plain gross. His post about trying natto is one of my favorites.
http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/cat_steve_dont_eat_it.php
Hey Joe; been reading your blog for ages and I have a few questions about Stargate Universe.
Am I to assume that the Destiny had placed the Stargate’s in Pegasus before the Ancients went there? Also were the Stargate’s design change throughout each galaxy such as the Milkyway and Pegasus are?
After seeing Daedalus Variations (awesome episode btw. The episodes seem to be getting better)and it’s what I expected with the damage on the outer hull and no food etc; are we to assume that the Destiny will be fully protected and untouched after all these years? With a powersource and shields even greater then that of Atlantis?
Also; I read somewhere that Destiny had a recon team not a full expedition. That doesn’t make sense at all; unless they somewhat unwittingly dialed a gate that suddenly had massive amounts of power and wasn’t noticed and an extra chevron lock.
Thanks alot and keep writing 🙂
Dear Joe,
please convey my best regards to our gracious SGA tour guide, Mr. Carl Binder. These tours have been great fun, and, yes, good occasion to let Mr. Binder know how much I like his writing ; ))
Having said that, please allow me to make some notes on the character of Mr. Woolsey:
in The Shrine you are finally making sense of the character, I think you´re getting there with him. (GTIM had me worried) I mean he´s not the most likeable person, and frankly, he doesn´t need to be – he just needs to be himself. You certainly got the right actor to pull it off. I liked the way he and Sheppard were trying to learn the others lingo.
When Woolsey got tough on the Replicators in GITM – it felt a bit out of character for him rather as if he was doing what he thought was expected of him rather than doing he believed or felt was the right measure. This incident as well as Replicator Weir approving of his taking over the helm, “Atlantis is in good hands” (she said good and not right, difference here) on top of all the awkwardly funny Woolsey moments with Atlantis technical side (doors!) gave me the feeling that the writers were trying to sell the character to the viewer, make him more likable, show that he has the gut for Pegasus which was redoubtable before (see The Return).
As viewers we´ve only been presented with Woolsey in his role as the IOA´s unpleasant watchdog (wonder how he´d react to being on the receiving end of a watchdog now??? THAT might be interesting to witness).
The character certainly has more facets to him – for instance his intellectual capacity (if the diplomas he got in his office are any indicator).
Perhaps he´s a person quite apt at detaching himself, to speak out his current function with no reference to his personal feelings? (watchdog function vs. commannder of Atalntis)
The best example that comes to mind is the former Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict (to clarify this is NOT a religious reference). Under John Paul II he was head of the Congregation of Faith (in short, keeper of the purity of the Catholic faith), and as was his function at that time all his public comments were of a rather conservative nature. Thus he was considered a hardliner, a cold-hearted intellectual. When he was elected Pope many were surprised how much humanity and emotion he could display. So this was always in him, he seemingly thought it inappropriate in his former function to show it or to utter personal beliefs, (he said something like to that end in an interview once).
For me Woolsey works that way.
; )) Hope you haven´t been toot ough on the marauding, shoe-wrecking bandits ; ))
cheers
Deborah
P.S. I may not be the greatest fan of your choice of Woolsey as the new commander mainly because he is male, I feel Atlantis is a female entity and as such should have a female commander but if things progress like in The Shrine this could be more enjoyable than I´d feared.
It seems you have a little bad luck with technical things lately.
I vote for suspect number 3 because I tried that innocent look often myself when I was a kid. – No, it’s never worked. 😉
Finally I watched all the tour-set videos. It’s amazing how different the set looks in reality and on the show.
@MysteryMadchen
Oh no, that all sounds just awful. Even it’s not really helping *big HUG*
@Sean
My thoughts are with you and the others there. I really hope it won’t be bad…
@ anneteldy – my cats taunt, terrorize and torture their food (and sometimes my toes, fingers, arms…and let’s not forget what happened to poor JM’s shoe when left alone with one of those innocent faces above 😉 ).
As with my cats, I *think* the Wraith play with their food because (from what I can tell) they have no other forms of entertainment, plus it may aid as an appetite stimulant. Again, to me it’s no different than what some animals – especially our beloved pets – do to their prey, delightfully torturing it before feasting.
When I think of Wraith in that way – when I think of them as more instinctual than purposeful – I find them far more intriguing, complex. Otherwise, they’d just be creepy green people sorely in need of good dental work.
And as regards Worshippers…well, I have a theory there, too. We know that Wraith have the capacity to love because of Ellia, but – in their society, love of any kind is not manifest – not allowed to be manifest (except love of self). That doesn’t mean that they still don’t feel a biological need to love, or to be loved. Among their own, they show no admiration or affection for the individual – only what the individual can do. They admire abilities – power, intelligence, strength etc – but not the one possessing those qualities, as is evident when the Queen wanted to feed on Todd, despite his vast technical knowledge.
So, that leads me to one conclusion about Worshippers… despite their proving useful (finding food for the Wraith), it would seem that they serve a further purpose – they fill an ’emotional’ need for the Wraith – they give them ‘love’. Now, not the sort of love we know – not eros, or sexual love, or agape – unconditional love – or brotherly love or anything respectable like that, but ‘love’ nonetheless. It is the sort of love that is associated with worship – worship is adoration, and adoration is a form of love.
When watching Broken Ties, Tyre almost assumes the role of rejected lover, begging to be taken back by someone who has already replaced him with another. Now, though it wasn’t written that way, it’s still an apt comparison, simply because the one in need – whether that be a need for drugs, or love – is still at the mercy of the one able to satisfy. In this case, the Wraith was the one able to satisfy, and with Tyre begging at his feet, it HAD to make him feel ‘wanted’…to feel adored and worshipped…to feel a warped sense of ‘love’.
The Wraith even looked forward to turning Ronon into a worshipper – an adorer – a lover. What satisfaction that must bring to someone who has never felt ‘special’ among his own kind. It certainly is about power, but it also seems to be about something the Wraith lack in their society – to have someone look up to you, admire you, show loyalty to you, adore you…’love’ you.
A perversion of love? Yes…but it still fills the same need, and thus explains (to me) the Wraith’s need for worshippers. From humans, they can get what they cannot get from each other – a sense of feeling wanted and needed. However, since they are unfamiliar with the purer sort of love Ellia was exposed to, then they interpret ‘love’ the only way they know how – through the only way they’ve been shown – through power and domination and brutality.
Actually, this is not unlike children who are raised in abusive households – as they grow up, they associate brutality with love. The begging to be taken back, the apologies for not pleasing a parent or mate – it all translates to the abuser, and the victim, as a form of ‘love’. So, too…with the Wraith. This need for worshippers – worshippers sometimes turned through brutality – fills a void in their society. The difference between Wraith brutality and human brutality is that – so far – the Wraith do NOT know any different. Rather sad, actually. Humans know there is a kinder, gentler form of love, but from what we’ve been shown, the only Wraith to be exposed to such was Ellia…and, unfortunately, she’s dead.
What a fine – and very different – queen she would have made.
Of course, Todd has been shown something different, as well. Through his contact with Sheppard, Todd has developed an admiration (perhaps there is a mutual admiration there, too) for Sheppard. Now – this is a far cry from ‘love’ – more a form of respect. But, still…it is something most Wraith are not exposed to, and so, hopefully, it will continue to affect Todd in positive ways, instead of the temptation to turn him into SGA‘s next big villain.
Oh, yeah…there I go…rambling again. Sorry…really. I let my thoughts get away from me when the subject is of interest. And I can’t comment on the food vid until tomorrow (but getting high speed – FINALLY – at home next week! WOOT!)
Anne – do you have a way for me to contact you privately? If you go to Gateworld, you could pm me, but not sure you visit that site. Anyway, just wanted to ask you something.
das
to:
dasNdanger
Lt.Col.Errandboy
muddypiddypop
Thanks you guys for caring. I must say I got away for what I thought would only be three days because I needed a break. It was either that or have a complete mental break down either at home or at work. 🙂 I chose to relax for a day at the beach rather then go postal. Worked well… I’m doing my best to stay positive and thank you for your nice words. Some days are just so dang hard to swallow, but My husband and I are trying to make the best of it. Guess we’ll be on the beach for our anniversary instead of driving home on Tues since the car won’t be( kinda fixed so you can drive home) fixed until mid Wednesday. I’m thinking about standing on the street corner to get the 370 for the patch job. LOL At least I’m at the beach. 🙂 Thanks for all your nice thoughts, Nicole.
Anne Teldy – OMG, you actually had a CHOICE re your icon? Nooo! You have to be winding me up re said heffalump. Really? I’m such a newbie. I got totally stitched up with the psychotic apple, btw.
I don’t do apples.
They crunch.
Horror movie style: ‘They Crunch’.
No, wait – that would be Skiffy, now, wouldn’t it?
Attack of the Killer Apples.
Anything’s original with Skiffy.
Let’s not bother with pathos or character development. Or – a plot. No, that would never do.
Joe M – I know you’ve answered the question re the John/Rodney pier scene, but – despite the fact that the Arthur reference etc was scripted, was it perhaps Joe F’s and David H’s brilliant comic timing that made that splutter/giggle so convincing? Despite its purported scriptedness? Joe and David sold so many of us on that scene, that – despite what you say – it LOOKS REAL.
😀
And this is what has been tossed aside like so much flotsam…
Good grief.
:-/
Mmm oxtail – I’ve actually had it a few different ways, so maybe not quite as weird as some of your other purchases. Thanks for the set pictures of ‘Whispers.’ How did you manage to reproduce my college organic chemistry lab?
Ah yes! *Maxwell Smart voice*.. the ol’ black leather bits in the poo trick!!
Great forensic thinking there!
Just seen the news about the Gemini nominations, congrats but I am completely and utterly bewildered by Jewel Staite’s nomination?
Firstly, she was not a lead during season 4, how does that even make her eligiable for a ‘lead’ nomination? Its a stretch to put her in a ‘supporting role’ catagory though more appropriate, although ‘guest star’ would be accurate. ‘Missing’ was not very strongly critically received, generally regarded as a poor episode. Like it or not, these are the people who influence the awards.
In my experience, you nominate your strongest best received work for the best chances of winning. So why was ‘Missing’ of all the episodes even considered to be submitted as a nomination by the production?
There were so many wonderful performances, and some really great episodes strongly critically received in season 4, where any others submitted for consideration?
Hi Joe! I just became the owner of a new puppy! I named him Carter and he’s a half schnauzer, half poodle mix.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee317/Seahen/09-01-08_1202.jpg
Any advice for a new dog owner (besides not leaving shoes out, obviously)? 🙂
PS. Not real sure where the name Carter came from. It just popped in my fron one day. 😛
T – so with you on the JS nomination. We psychotic apples, as a rule, are soooo not into Keller. A secondary character pushed to the forefront. QTF? Ask ANY psychotic apple, and they’ll tell you the same thing.
O : – p
Er, leading man, anybody? What a concept! Gathp! Helloo?
Ookaay, for QTF read WTF. Maybe I should claim hispanic decent and and quote ‘que TF’.
Don’t mind me.
It’s beddybyebasket-time.
I stand by my prior post, mind you.
http://www.psychoticapplesuniteagainstMGM/TPTB.com
Check us out.
Scratch that –
dubyadubyadubyadotpsychoticapplesuniteagainstMGM/TPTBdotcom.
There.
That’s the website.
Ignore prior post.
Oh, hi, Joe M!
Your blog!
My bad!
awwww, your lil puppys know how to work a crowd; and you!
Ox tails are delicious braised or in stew or even a soup. Served like steak (somewhat dry), imho – not as good unless there is gravy and rice.
Hoo rah for Carl for taste testing.
Hang in there Nicole!
I’m sympathising with you. We went through something similar (not family though) at the start of the year that had me almost going postal.
Unfortunately it did come down to contribute or out, but it was required for the sake of sanity. Especially when everything else around you seemed to be going wrong.
The general good feelings and laughter here did make a highlight for the day!
Sometimes you just need the odd good thing to happen to help to alleviate the stress of the major issues.
Sending vibes your way. Soak in the calming effect of the ocean and if you can, just be for a few moments.
As Jacob Carter would say “Holy Hannah!” Been keeping an eye (no pun intended) in Gustav and I got my Hannah and the other two out there. OY!
Sean, Glad to see a post from ya, hope things are still o.k. where you are. Been thinking about y’all in N’awlins.
Joe, love the pug mugs. How could you think they had anything to do with chewing your shoe? Not those innocent faces. No way. Besides the shoe is bigger than they are.
@ MysteryMadchen – Well, if it’s anything, you certainly sound better…so a day at the beach must have helped. 🙂 I live at the seashore, and haven’t been to the beach once this year! But escaping to the beach and detaching yourself from responsibility, coupled with the soothing sounds of the water and the warmth of the sun and sand, can be so healing to both mind and soul. It certainly sounds like you needed it, so enjoy it!
After my spider mishap yesterday, I relaxed by preparing a sonae koh-style incense burning and listening to some nice, soothing Japanese music, and then doing a few stretching exercises, and finishing up by giving my bonsai plants a little attention. It’s amazing how refocusing on something that requires a certain amount of detail just puts your nerves, and mind, at ease.
Nice how, even when under stress of some sort, we can find different ways to escape, and relax. And NO standing on street corners!! You might get your $370, but imagine what you’ll have to shell out for that dose of penicillin afterwards. 😉
das
No just clueless. I hope you don’t write science fiction, that would be awful (Life and hobbies of Luis Catorce might be ok) – ever heard of progress?
Ok, people can argue about what progress is, but it certainly means that the technical stuff gets better and cheaper. My first modem was 300 baud! Where I to try and download a 6.7 gigabyte DVD it would take more than 6 years of continuous 24/7 download. In 2004 European CERN (world’s largest particle physics laboratory) transferred data to CalTech at an average speed of 6.25 gigabits per second, at that speed you could download the 6.7 gigabyte DVD in 8.5 seconds – entire DVD with menus, extras and drowsy DVD commentaries. Lets say Stargate has 6 DVD pr 10 seasons, ie, 60*8.5 ie 510 seconds, ie in little over 8 minutes you could download the entire series in DVD quality.
Now don’t say everybody doesn’t have this level of connectivity – obviously not. But it is a progress. The CERN laboratory are revving up their Large Hadron Collider, worlds largest particle accelerator to test a lot of things (just assume they are checking out how the universe was formed), and they realized that the amount of data this would generate would amount to 56 million CD’s a year(!) – so they build their own super fast network to a server park currently at 55.000 servers, but the goal is 200.000 servers. This network doesn’t use the old junk we have to make do with, but new machines and dedicated fiber optic cables (10000 times faster than your ordinary connection) , optic connections have been drawn to centers in European and a cable to the US so that other researchers can examine the data as it comes in and run programs on their servers – is this relevant? Well, the world wide web (ie webpages) were invented at CERN in 1989, and they played a bit role in the general propagation and succes of the internet – which started small with few scientific and educational places and then added more and more and more until the public got hooked up. This could happen again with this new faster internet, which they call The Grid. It won’t be tomorrow, but it might be in 20 years.
It’s progress: My first computer had a memory of 16 kilobyte (yes kilo!) my first harddrive had a capacity of 20 megabyte (yes megabyte) – today my mobile phone has 4 gigabytes and can emulate my first computer in software – and i’m defragging a 500 gigabyte hard drive – I hope it finishes this week…
It will happen, the audience wants it even if a lot of the industry hasn’t yet realized that either they jump on or they get run over.
Of course it may not happen in America who is hardly a leader in this area, an article a few days ago in the New York Times reports that more and more Internet traffic is being routed around the USA, many companies outside the US also feel reluctant to store data in the country because of the Patriot Act they feel the their data may be grabbed by the secret service, a recent study from CWA shows that the median download speed of all of the United States is 2.3 mbps. In Japan its 63 – that’s 30 times faster. They conclude that America has progressed so slowly that at the current pace it will take them 100 years to catch up to the current speeds in Japan. In a rapport from the OECD about worldwide Broadband penetration America dropped down the list, being rapidly overtaken by European countries like Iceland, the Czech Republic (go Zelenka!) and Hungary. In Singapore you can get unlimited 8 megabit Internet access at your house + 2 megabit mobile broadband on your mobile phone + access to more than 800 Wifi hotspots for 35 dollars a month.
But in general speed is coming. You also make another faulty assumptions; that all will want to watch it at the same time – the whole point of getting digital video recorders is so people can watch it at different times! But even if they did – ever hear about BitTorrent? The whole point of the protocol is to spread the load out over all who contribute all users send bits of the downloads on to each other – the games company Blizzard distributes patches to its game World of Warcraft with this technology, exactly because they don’t want all 10 million subscribers hammering on their server at the same time – people send packets around in the system and share them with other users. Several companies are trying to bring TV to the Internet (legally) in this fashion, like Zatto – you download but you upload as well, the users slowly build a peer list and while the user is watching a television program the data is being circulated among the others in the network. Octashape is another company trying this for live broadcasts – the aforementioned Blizzard used them to broadcast from a games convention they held in Europe – thousands “tuned in” and their computers functioned like relays for the data to others wanting to watch.
No, its not TV quality yet – but these are people who are saying “we are going to try” rather than “It’s not possible.”
(I have more to say, but I suspect Joe may have rejected it already *g*)
Hi Joe
Your dogs are so cute. But don’t let their cuteness fool you for one second. They all look guilty of the great Franco Visconti shoe caper. Here are three questions.
Have any of them confessed yet?
Do they just go for your shoes or Fondy’s as well?
Are the dogs all from the same litter?
Hugs
Fran
@va fan, @chevron7
I agree with chevron7. Riddles would be better. There are so many places and resources where you can get easily find them. Here’s a few more places to find riddles and their answers (with different degrees of difficulties):
1. Riddles from TrickyRiddles.com
2. From amazon books: The biggest riddle book in the world
There’s also a few on amazon for Free if you have the kindle.
Good luck!