john_joseph_adams

Hey, zombie-lovers.  Check out today’s Q&A with none other than J.J. Adams, editor of the goulishly great The Living Dead zombie anthology.  Enjoy.  And, once you’re done, stick around for the mailbag…

KellyK writes: “1. How did this collection come about? What made you decide on a zombie anthology?”

JJ: Night Shade Books actually pitched zombies to me. That’s not the way it usually works, but they were so happy with how my first anthology, Wastelands, turned out, that they wanted to do another book with me. And they also wanted to do a zombie anthology, so they called me up and said, “Hey, what do you think of zombies?”

I actually probably would have never thought to pitch a zombie anthology on my own—my background is in SF/fantasy, not horror per se—so it’s not something that I was likely to have pursued on my own. I’m glad it worked out this way—editing the book was a lot of fun, and I think it turned out pretty well.

“2. Since these stories were previously published, how did your duties as editor differ from any previous anthology?”

JJ: A reprint anthology is actually a lot more work, if you cast as wide a net as I’ve been doing with my reprint projects, because you’re searching for and reading hundreds and hundreds of stories, whereas with an original anthology you’re working with a much smaller number of stories. Of course, with an original anthology there’s some revising back and forth with the writers, as needed, because not every story comes in perfect.

Also, with a reprint anthology, a lot of the work is sort of administrative—you’ve got to hunt down the rights owners (usually the author) and sell them on the idea of being included in the book. In many cases, that’s easy. For others, it’s more of a challenge. It helps to have a lot of contacts in the industry, and after working in the field for about eight years now, I’ve made quite a few, so if I need to get in touch with someone, or someone’s agent, chances are I know them, or know someone who does, or someone who can find out.

“3. What criteria did you use to pick the stories for this anthology?”

JJ:With a reprint anthology, I think it’s important to balance well-known stories with harder-to-find gems. In The Living Dead, I’d say about half of the book is stuff most hardcore zombie lovers probably have already read, while the other half is stuff that may have escaped their notice until now.

And then, of course, there’s trying to find variety within the context of a restrictive theme—how do you fill a book with zombie stories and keep each one feeling fresh (so to speak)? That’s one of the challenges, to find the necessary diversity while staying true to the theme. I know some readers have felt I included too much diversity, but for others that’s what they loved about the book.

Other than that, I basically picked the stories I liked the best of all the stories I read, keeping the variety and well-known parameters in mind. Also, my focus was on the zombie story as seen through the lens of speculative fiction—my preference was for stories that examined some aspect of what the world would actually be like after a zombie uprising, as opposed to the splatterpunk-type of zombie story which is rather more prevalent, though there are a few in the book that would qualify as splatterpunk.

Galactick writes: “Great selection for the zombie literati. A few questions, if you please –
1) How did you end up in the editor’s chair? Admit it! Are you a closet writer biding your time?”

JJ: If you want the long version, I wrote about this as one of the first posts I made on my blog a couple years ago. You can find that here.  But here’s the short version:

I grew up as a SF/fantasy reader/viewer. Played D&D and some other roleplaying games. Tried DMing, but it didn’t suit me, so because I still felt some desire to create, I turned to writing. First thing I wrote turned out to be a novel. Finished it and everything. Thankfully I never sent it out anywhere. It was pretty bad, though I later turned it into a screenplay, which was later optioned by a studio (nothing came of that, though). I was about 18 or 19 at the time, I guess. Never thought I’d go to college, was just working retail at a bookstore at the time. Once I got fed up with working retail, I decided to try out the community college; initially, I was going to get a 2-year degree in business, so that I could get a loan to open up my own SF/fantasy specialty shop with a friend of mine. So we both enrolled, but at some point he decided to switch to computer science (without telling me!), so I said screw it, and decided to focus on English and creative writing.

In college, I discovered workshopping, and it was there that I discovered that I was pretty good at editing other people’s writing. Writing was still my primary focus, though. I actually ended up in editing because I thought it would be an interesting career to have while I wrote on the side, and that I would learn a lot along the way. Turns out both of those things are true, but my writing has just kind of been put on hold. At first, I found it paralyzing to try to write while working as an editor—perhaps because my first drafts are rough, and I couldn’t help but see them as terrible, terrible slush pile stories, on par (or below) with the stuff I spent all day rejecting at work. (Besides being an anthology editor, I work at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction as an assistant editor.)

So, I wouldn’t say I’m a closet writer biding my time, but it’s not inconceivable that I’ll write fiction again someday.

“2) In putting together this anthology, were there any stories that you wished you could have included but didn’t?”

JJ: I don’t remember anything like that for this one. There were a few stories that I feared I wouldn’t be able to use because of contractual issues, but I think everything worked out in the end. It’s possible I’m forgetting something.

For Wastelands, there was one story I couldn’t get rights to. Which is odd, because you probably haven’t heard of the author. I couldn’t use it because his publisher owned rights to the story and they were rather unreasonable.

“3) What’s the fascination with zombies?”

JJ: I’m not sure, but they are fascinating, right? I think at least part of it must be that, more than pretty much any other monster, we see ourselves in them…because they are us, but dead, rotting, mindless versions of us that are trying to eat us. So that simultaneously instills us with the revulsion of seeing our friends and family and neighbors not only dying, but then rising and trying to kill us, and forces us to confront our own mortality, because there’s our inevitable fate, staring back at us right in the face.

Narelle from Aus writes: “When creating a collection such as this do you find yourself with too many options and have to make some tough choices as to which to take out or have a few in mind and go hunting for the rest?”

JJ: There are definitely too many options. I had a long, long list of stuff that I seriously considered when I was making my final selections. Actually, the choices were so tough that I convinced Night Shade to let me make the book bigger to include more stories. Originally it was going to be around 180,000 words; it ended up 230,000, so we expanded it significantly from our original plans.

I’m actually going to be editing a sequel—The Living Dead 2—so you’ll get to see some of those other stories that didn’t make it into the first one. But The Living Dead 2 will also have some all-new, original fiction. It’s still very early in the process, so I can’t say which authors just yet. We’re looking at a 2010 publication date for that, probably Fall.

TimC writes: “If you’re still taking questions for JJ, I’d like to ask him about his background (educational and recreational reading interest) and how he ended up as an editor at Nightshade.

JJ: I answered some of this above, but I’ll expand a bit.

My first job out of college was at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I started off reading slush, then slowly took on other editorial responsibilities as well. I’ve been there eight years now. (If you don’t know what “slush” is, check out my FAQ page; short answer: slush is what you call unsolicited story submissions.)

So, I’ve been at F&SF for eight years, and for most of that time I’ve also been doing some related freelance work in SF/fantasy. For instance, doing interviews with authors, or book reviews. I’ve reviewed for both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, and currently my interviews with authors appear daily on SCI FI Wire.

All that kind of sets up my background. As for actually working with Night Shade, I should clarify that my relationship as an anthologist to Night Shade is like the relationship of any author to his publishing house—it’s freelance, so I’m not technically an editor “at” Night Shade. Typically, referring to someone that way would imply that she edits novels for the house, or otherwise acquires books for the house. I don’t do any of that; I edit anthologies for Night Shade on a case-by-case basis. We sign contracts, as you would for a novel, get an advance (which I use to pay the authors), get royalties, etc.

However, my relationship with Night Shade does go a bit further—once we started working together on these anthologies, they hired me to be their publicist. So I’m doing that now, in addition to everything else I do. But that’s kind of what a freelancer is all about—multiple revenue streams.

“I’d also like to know what he’s got in the works.”

JJ: I mentioned above that I’m working on The Living Dead 2. But the next thing to come out will be an SF anthology called Federations, from Prime Books, in May, which focuses on stories set in interstellar societies. It’s a mix of reprints and originals. Just finished putting that one together. It’s got stories by Orson Scott Card, George R. R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, and about 20 others. You can see the full table of contents over on my blog.

After that, the next thing on the docket is By Blood We Live, a reprint anthology of vampire stories I’m working on. That’s due out in August. I’m also working on a reprint anthology of Sherlock Holmes stories—stories by contemporary writers, not the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories—which will mix straight mystery stories with the SF/fantasy ones. We don’t have a final title for that one yet, but it’s scheduled for September. Both of these are from Night Shade. By Blood We Live will be a big giant book like The Living Dead; the Sherlock Holmes volume might be too, but I’m not sure yet.

“And, lastly, I want to ask him “What scares YOU?”

JJ: I once saw Stephen King doing a live reading in New York (with J. K. Rowling and John Updike—it was a charity fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders, I think), and someone from the audience, during the Q&A period, asked him this same question. At the time, I groaned to myself, and thought: Wow, I bet no one’s ever asked him that before. And I believe his answer indicated that I was right.
I, however, have not been asked that before. But still, I find the question amusing.

To answer: I don’t know…death? When it comes down to it, I don’t find a lot of things scary. In fiction or film in particular, I very rarely find things frightening. Which is not to say I’m not startled by horror movies when crazy shit happens, but that’s not the same thing as being afraid. Really, it seems to me, it all comes down to death. That’s what almost everyone is really, truly afraid of, when they say they’re afraid of things. Like spiders—you’re afraid of them, because you have this irrational thought that they might kill you (or rational, depending on the kind of spider). I think that’s part of what’s cool about zombies, that death is made even more horrible.

To me, though, what I find scariest in fiction is the sort of thing that’s all-too-plausible. When you introduce SF/fantasy elements into a work, that makes it inherently less scary to me. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, unless being scared is your number one goal from entertainment.

Pilota writes: “Great compilation! So fun to read. I must admit that I see you as a Zombie expert now. I’d love to hear your thoughts on slow moving vs fast moving zombies. Which is scarier to you? Which is most likely to be true in the event that the dead did become reanimated? Lastly, were you a fan of Shaun of the Dead?”

JJ: Loved Shaun of the Dead. Definitely one of my favorite zombie films.

I think fast-moving zombies are scarier, but that’s just because they’re much more dangerous, as least on the surface. There’s something about the slow, relentlessness of the slow-moving zombie that’s almost equally horrifying, even if they’re pretty easy to outrun. I guess I prefer the traditional slow-moving zombie, both in entertainment and in the case of zombie apocalypse. Simon Pegg and I agree on that, I think.

If corpses were suddenly to reanimate and start walking around in a brain-dead shamble around town, I’d say that the slow-moving kind seems much more plausible to me, though ultimately, I think it would depend on just how dead the person was when he or she was reanimated. A fresh corpse would probably be able to move around a little better, I would think, than one that’s been rotting for a while. I’m not sure about the preservation techniques funeral homes use, though; that could throw off my calculations. Of course, in Night of the Living Dead, it’s specifically mentioned that it’s the unburied dead that are returning to life, so Romero danced around that topic. I guess it also depends on what force is reanimating the corpses. Vampires always seem to be able to move pretty fast, so it stands to reason that zombie could too (again, depending on the condition of the bodies).

Mailbag:

duneknight writes: “i gotta disagree with you on that one, Bale had a right to express his anger and i think he expressed it professionally…how? well after he was done he didnt take a 2 hour break or anything, but he said lets go again right after, that tells me that hes in control of the situation even at a moment of outburst.”

Answer: Yes, and he didn’t punch, kick, or set the DP on fire, so I suppose we should give him credit for that too. I can’t imagine how much worse it could have gone if he had been unprofessional.

duneknight also writes: “Bale told the guy repeatadly what he shouldnt do, but clearly the DP total disregarded the actor’s feelings.”

Answer: Uh, no. The guy walked by his line of sight and distracted him. That was it.

Angel writes: “So the 4th of February is now officialy over, Have you guys started principal photography on Universe yet, Or will you be starting next week?”

Answer: Next week.

Angel also writes: “Is there anything cool we can expect to see on your blog once Universe starts shooting or are we going to have to wait till Summer 2009 for some behind the scenes pictures or anything like that?”

Answer: We’ll see as things progress. For the moment, they want to keep the set under wraps.

Sheryl writes: “I found the crew and most of the cast were very nice, wonderful people who would answer ALL of my THOUSANDS of questions as this was new to me! And let me tell you – they worked HARD !!!! Sometimes 12,14, and even 16 hr. days! The most important thing that I learned- HURRY UP AND WAIT!!!! But I did enjoy it and learned alot, I think I appricate (spelling?) T.V. and movies much more. Your thoughts, Joe? Sheryl”

Answer: Well, I think many of you already know my thoughts. The people who make up the crew are hardworking, talented, and incredibly committed – always the first ones in, and the last ones out. Check out this entry for a peek at the unsung heroes of Stargate: Atlantis (http://josephmallozzi.com/2008/05/03/may-3-2008/)

Jade writes: “which producers the type to kick a craft service guy in the nuts for serving them a lukewarm latte.”

Are you describing yourself?

Answer: Absolutely not! I’m more of an earlobe twister.

Michelle writes: “Joe, I noticed several of the actors cast for SGU have theater training (Brian Smith, David Blue). Was that a conscious choice and if so why is it something you’d look for?”

Answer: Nope. The final casting decisions came down to the same thing (as always): we cast the best actor for the role.

Ava writes: “Will we see Chuck the technician in the SGA film?”

Answer: Don’t see why not.

JK Carter writes: “What sparks an idea? And do you start in the middle, beginning, or end?”

Answer: My ideas come to me during those quiet moments when it’s just me and my thoughts – in bed, in the shower, while I’m driving. As for what sparks and idea – hard to say. Be it an idea, a plot twist, or a dialogue gem, it’ll pop into my head usually out of the blue. Which, quite frankly, is kind of scary since it’s very possible that’ll be the last idea, plot twist, or dialogue gem to magically appear.

Barbara durbin writes: “ im in kentucky and the ice storm has left us with out power and they are saying another 2 to 3 weeks with over 2,000 down poles. looks like a war zone… im at my collage using their computors…”

Answer: Take care of yourself. Wishing you and the entire state of Kentucky warm days ahead.

AV eddy writes: “ So…Joe, all-knowing and cool blogging guy, while I’m waiting for my ice cream, please enlighten us as to why nothing is private anymore?”

Answer: It’s the downside of the internet age. On the upside, information as at your fingertips 24/7. I was thinking about this tonight as I was driving home from work. I caught the tail-end of a news report about a company that was fined for some ethics violation. Thanks to the internet, getting the whole story is as simple as a google search.

Wm writes: “ I head from a friend that at the convention in the UK they were told the SG1 movie filming was pushed back to summer as well. Can you confirm that?”

Answer: Pushed back from when? There was never an official date for the start of production on either movie. That said, we were always aiming for a Summer shoot. The possibility of shooting earlier was never considered.

EH-T writes: “Did you ever try the haggis?”

Answer: Alas, I did not.

Major Davis writes: “ 1. Could you at least give Major davis a small role or at least a cameo in project twilight?

2. What is your favorite episode you wrote?

3. Do you eat out fancy every day?

4. Did the Military have a positive or negative response to the scripts you sent them?”

Answers: 1. Too early to tell but, at this point, we have no plans to include the character in the Atlantis movie.

2. The one I enjoy re-watching most? I’d say it’s a toss up between The Ties That Bind and Family Ties.

3. Nope. Tonight, I had a salad for dinner. And ice cream.

4. I don’t know if we’ve heard back from them yet but the military’s response has always been positive in the past.

Angel writes: “Just want to know if any new high-tech todays world gadgets will be used on the show.”

Answer: Oh, yeah. The kino for one.

DasNdanger writes: “In your mind (or if it was ever discussed amongst the writers), do Wraith need to drink water, or do they get all the fluids they require through the feeding process?”

Answer: In my mind, a human being would more than meet a wraith’s fluid requirements.

 

37 thoughts on “February 5, 2009: Editor J.J. Adams Answers Your Questions

  1. Hi Joe!

    Thanks for answering my question. I suppose it’s like most things in life – we gotta take the good with the bad. 🙂

    Belated congrats to Sparrowhawk and thanks to Arctic Goddess! You ladies ROCK! 🙂

    eddy

  2. You mean Window of Opportunity isn’t your favourite episode? I could watch that episode a hundred times and never get tired from it.

  3. Haha I was gonna say I was surprised that Window of Opportunity and Ripple Effect aren’t your favorites, but I see I’ve already been beaten to the punch! To each his own, I suppose…

    Filming SGU next week!?! Can we get some girls on board, please?
    I was the one who asked Brad Wright why the male:female ratio was always 2:1… a question he chose to ignore. Anyways, it will be nice to finally see who y’all chose to be the select few women who get to sail on Destiny.

    Interesting and thought-provoking guest blog today… closet writing and zombies and freelancing, oh my!

  4. That last question about the Wraith reminds me of an odd conversation I had with a friend last night. She asked us “do fish drink?” My sister said that they probably got enough water during the respiration process.

    I leaned over and whispered, “they do drink really.” Now, my sister has been trying to teach her to be less gulible by making the odd outragious statement and calling her on it when she happily accepts it. Sam immediately concluded that fish not drinking was just another outragous statement and was delighted to catch Marian out, so she tried to get her attention to let her know that fish do drink really.

    “Marian…”

    I decided to demonstrate with a few fish mouth popping actions, showing her how they drink.

    “Marian… Marian!”

    I added a few little fish tongue laps to get some more water.

    “Marian…”

    Just as I wiped my little fish mouth with my little fish fin, my sister finally looked up.

    “Uh… nevermind.”

    So what do you think Joe? Do fish drink?

  5. “You mean Window of Opportunity isn’t your favourite episode? I could watch that episode a hundred times and never get tired from it.”

    I hear you Laura. I watched WoO in the car on the way to my grandma’s funeral and it kept me in a stable state of mind until after I had finished all my jobs and my reading at the service. It has a way of just drawing you in doesn’t it?

  6. To Artic Goddess: You go Girl! And many thanks for your actions of appreciation. You’ve gone far above and beyond the call of duty. And while Americans and Canadians may disagree on certain issues, we are in a way siblings, with ties that should be stronger than any of those divisive issues.
    Thanks to Mr. Adams for his guest appearance, and Mr. M. for making it possible.

  7. Ties that bind was a great episode!

    Speaking of the military, I’m wondering how involved the Air Force is going to be with Universe — do you still send scripts to them for approval/factchecking?

    Also, I’m wondering if we will ever see a Lt. Colonel Davis?

  8. Hey Joe….great Q&A!

    @sheryl: I’ll be in Orlando for 9 days (DisneyWorld 🙂 ), then Miami for a day or so…then back to Orlando…..then back up here to northern Alberta, Canada……where it is -23c right now!!!

  9. Hi, Joe
    Will they release Stargate Atlantis Complete Series DVD, like they did for SG1?

  10. Answer: Pushed back from when? There was never an official date for the start of production on either movie. That said, we were always aiming for a Summer shoot. The possibility of shooting earlier was never considered.

    Thanks Joe! I was under the assumptions you (the production you, not you you) were planning to start filming in spring. Not sure where I got that idea from though. As long as we get those movies some day, I’m happy. 🙂

  11. >>Kups writes: “I have a bit of a favor to ask. Could you post >>your Vancouver Resto Recommendation List now?”

    >Answer: I’ll post it tomorrow. Remind me!

    Reminding! Or did I miss it somewhere.

    Don’t make us throw a 4-minute tantrum. Speaking of which, I actually haven’t seen C Bale’s tirade. Was it at least verbally creative (which wouldn’t justify it, but might make it at least… artistic), or did he just shriek obscenities?

    – KB

  12. @DashNdanger: It’s the intergalactic wraith conspiracy–to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids…loss of essence.

    Joe, did you and Paul ever come up with lyrics for the Atlantis credits? (Prodigy is still one of my favorite SG1 commentaries for that reason.)

    Hey, anybody else have a craving to watch “The Land of Far Away?”

  13. Actors, if they have a problem should calmly express the problem or call a producer/director to the side even if its a time out break and say what’s on their mind. Outbursts are really pointless in my opinion.

  14. Hi Joe

    We have got the story of the Bale tirade all over the news today…although the Beeb just totally messed up and played the unbleeped version…oooops!…LOL

    Personal opinion – we all loose it occasionally…maybe he should of been stopped…but I bet that DP will not be doing that again…LOL

    Kriss 🙂

  15. There is a smattering of snow outside and the bloody schools are closed again so I’m walling myself up with books and coffee and not coming out again till spring. We are such pansies in this country to let a spot of snow close us down and apparently most of the local councils have run out of grit for the roads.
    Did anyone watch Terry Pratchett- Living with Alzheimers on Wednesday? It was heart wrenching to see the great man struggling to put his tie on. I really hope and pray they find a cure for this horrific disease. Part two is on next wednesday.

  16. Well, I just returned from a meeting with my surgeon and had some fairly bad news. He says that best case scenario, it’ll take over 3 years to heal and worst case would be that it never will. We’re talking about not just my lifestyle but the very and only thing I believe gives my life meaning so I’m quite devastated actually. So I think today I’ll just wallow in self-pity and eat lots of cake and watch some favourite episodes of my favourite shows. I don’t believe anybody could blame me for it (well they could, but they’d get plenty of poison spit at them in reply).

  17. “Joe: Oh, yeah. The kino for one.”

    What’s a Kino?, Some sort of new super Hi-Def camera or something? (Considering “Kino” is German for “Cinema” I think)

  18. oh comon i cant be the only one here defending Bale…the audio makes it more dramatic than it actually is so the reality of it is probably more subtle. The mic that captured this was meant for the movie. maybe the DP is one of those flamboyantly walking people that easily distracts you. now im not an actor, but i imagine it must be very stressful especially when someone doesnt appreciate what your trying to do.

    and i also want to know about the military thing, why do you take their approval? is stargate run by the Air Force??

  19. Agreed on Bale. He was being a spoiled douche. Although it may not entirely be his fault. He’s been acting since he was a child, and has probably been coddled his entire life.

    He is a fantastic actor. Apparently he’s not such a fantastic person.

  20. Interesting Q & A. Thanks!

    Now back to you, you earlobe twister, you. Do you rely solely on your inner editor or do you have some…uh…ready ears with reliable opinions?

  21. @ PoorOldEdgarDerby – Well, if Wraith want to drain my bodily fluids, I’d gladly welcome one coming around and sucking all the crap out of my lungs. 😛

    As far as Atlantis lyrics go, you know the part where there’s a sort of choral bit? I’ve always thought the lyrics there should be: The Wraith are hot…I kid you not…

    😉

    Speaking of zombies (vampires and other ghouls)…Joe, you might find this craziness a bit interesting…

    http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?t=161799

    😆

    Looks like you guys produced Atlantis during the wrong administration – should have waited for a Dem to get into office. 😉

    das

  22. I think Christian Bale was exceptional rude. No excuse for behavior like that. Was he raised by wolves? Joe if something like this happened on an SGA set, how do you think the different directors would have reacted? Would it have been an immediate smack down, or would everyone just stand quietly waiting for all the hot air to expell? I’m very curious as to what you think.

  23. Some might be interested in this: Bale apologizes:

    http://www.tmz.com/2009/02/06/bale-apologizes-i-acted-like-a-punk/

    Here’s the transcript (in part):

    Christian Bale said:

    “It’s been a miserable week for me. I know I have a pottymouth, everybody knows that now. I have no confusion whatsoever. I was out of order beyond belief, I was way out of order. I acted like a punk, I regret that and there is nobody that has heard that tape that has been hit harder by it than me. I make no excuses for it, it is inexcusable and I hope that is absolutely clear. I’m embarrassed by it.

    “We have resolved this completely…I have no intention of getting anyone fired. There is no problem whatsoever. One thing that has really disturbed me throughout this is I’m not familiar or comfortable with this notion of being a movie star. I’m an actor and I’m don’t quite know how to handle [the movie star thing]. The thing that disturbs me so much is that I’ve heard a lot of people saying that I seem to think I’m better than anybody else. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I’m a lucky SOB. I never forget that and that is why I put so much into what I do and I care so much about it . Sometimes that enthusiasm just goes awry…I ask everybody to sit down and ask themselves, have they ever had a bad day and have they ever lost their temper and really regretted it immensely…Feel free to make fun of me at my expense; I deserve it completely.”

    The entire statement is pretty good, and may help us see things in a better light. Either that, or he’s just trying to cover his arse, but he does sound sincere. Then again…he is an actor… 😉

    das

  24. Thanks J.J. for the q&a, really interesting. Last year I was in a zombie film in Australia and I have to say it was one of the most fun sets I’ve been on (probably because I actually got to be a zombie). Great to hear your thoughts on them and the genre.

    Joe, interesting mail bag today (well, extra interesting). In response to your response to Michelle about why you pick actors, I have to ask: by picking “the best actor” do you mean their abilities, presence etc? And do looks have a lot, or not-so-much to do with the decision?

    I don’t actually know much about what casting is like in Vancouver, but I know in Australia you often only get casting calls based on your looks and measurements. Then again, that’s also a culture brought about by the now-redunant casting agents around who try and rip every man, woman and dog off with their special “no acting experience deals” (most actors I know in Australia and even NZ have got a lot more work on their own).

    So I’m just really curious how you guys work it out, because Vancouver is looking more and more attractive to me now.

    Amz

  25. You know, I’m fairly sure that if duneknight had been on the receiving end of Christian Bale’s outburst he/she would think quite differently about it. That wasn’t “having a bad day”, that was being a total bastard (not really the word I wanted to use there …) I’d suggest anyone who thinks that tirade was okay could probably benefit from some anger management training. Or at least a damn good try at putting themselves in another’s shoes.

    Now, I have about a week’s comments to catch up on. Argh. Maybe it’s best that I don’t look. I don’t really need to know.

  26. When there’s various writers creating characters how difficult is it to get a balance between what everyone wants? How much fun is it to come up with each characters quirks and idiosyncrasies? Not asking for specifics but has there been a disagreement over a character in SGA, SG-1 or SGU where two opinions from both ends of the spectrum and no one would budge?

  27. A healthy salad and ice creme, cool. Also im so sad there will be no Major davis in the movie:(. Oh well, i have just one more question

    Do you think that if the atlantis movie is a success and more are made, you will be able to write the movie? If not, who will?

    Thanks again for putting up with all my questions. I really appreciate the fact that you spend time to blog and answer my questions. It makes my day(or year) as a stargate fan.

  28. Regarding Christian Bale: I was lucky enough to hear the entire Bale apology live on KROQ this morning – he called in right at 8am during the regular ‘showbiz roundup’ segment while I was driving to work, and it was quite a surprise.

    This wasn’t your normal publisist-written apology – he was truly, abjectly apologizing, and he was highly critical of himself. He said he was totally in the wrong, that he just lost it, had been having a bad day but that didn’t excuse his behavior. It was the most self-castigating, honest apology I’ve ever heard from anyone, whether a public person or a friend. He offered no excuses, and the explanation of the fact he was too much in character at the moment was only offered as an insight to the circumstances, not as an excuse.

    If you go here http://www.kroq-data.com/kevinandbean/index.asp you might be able to hear the entire call-in.

    His call also puts things into perspective, I think. Yes, he was totally out of line and totally wrong – but it was an isolated incident on a difficult day, and the incident was over and done with 7 months ago. How many of us can say we’ve never blown our tops, gone off the deep end, or just acted totally in the wrong at least once in our lives?

    I also have to wonder who made it public, and I especially have to wonder why at this late date. What was the motivation behind the person who did it? If it had happened this week, and called the completion of the film into question, that’s legitimate news, especially in an industry town. To bring up an ugly incident from that long ago sounds vindictive.

    Just my 2 cents.

  29. Joe do you know when the SciFi Channel is planning to start re-running SGA’s 5th season? Do you know if it will be on Friday nights? I had no way to record the original airing of the episodes, so I am really looking forward to reruns and the release of that 5th Season DVD of course!

  30. On the upside, information as at your fingertips 24/7.

    Unless you’re someplace, like Kentucky (or Ohio last summer) where the power is out for days.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet, but I keep a lot of books on hand (a lot, just in case. Also a lantern and some candles.

  31. I wasn’t bothered by the Bale outburst at first but now I think Joe is right; when you are in a pressure cooker nothing will make things worse than an out of control nutcase. I’ve noticed that the more you are around awful behavior the more you accept it. If all evil needs is for good people to do nothing then you have to have a zero tolerance for prickish behavior. All the yellers I’ve ever known are miserable people who alienate everyone, especially their family. I think it’s bad for the health too; all that ugliness will twist them up inside and age them faster.

  32. Hm. Are you not allowing the comments that I make that only include the word “check,” or did I just forget to leave a comment that says, “check,” here?

    I use the word “check” to have a personal reference point when I miss a load of entries to other things that are happening in my life to make sure I don’t read entries twice and to know where I left off last.

    But if this is not a preferred way to have me check off the entries I’ve read (when I have nothing important to say) I’ll gladly stop doing it and keep track another way.

    🙂

    (check)

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