One of my favorite short story collections of all time is the SFWA European Hall of Fame: Sixteen Contemporary Masterpieces of Science Fiction from the Continent. Editors James Morrow and Kathryn Morrow have assembled a marvelous mix of stories “never before published in English”, a selection of the weird, the wacky, and the out and out wonderful, all authored by writers you’ve likely never heard of. A mind-bending introduction to some of the best SF being produced outside of North America and the U.K. I was hugely disappointed to learn there would be no follow-up – so you can imagine my delight when I came across a link (compliments of Ellen Datlow: http://ellen-datlow.livejournal.com/) to Lavie Tidhar’s World SF News Blog, a site “dedicated to posting news and links about international science fiction, fantasy, horror and comics.” For those looking to expand their horizons beyond the traditional, head on over and check out recent articles on African and South African speculative fiction, Danish SF, and Malaysian horror (http://worldsf.livejournal.com/). Also, the site provides a link to a free PDF file of Shimmer Magazine’s 10th issue containing a host of international SF stories. But, best of all, is the news that our friends over at Apex Books are taking pre-orders for The Apex Book of World SF (http://www.apexbookcompany.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=86).
Speaking of reading – Let it be known that you have a full week to read the first of April’s book of the month club selections, Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?, written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Michael Oeming. Yes “illustrated” because the book is a graphic novel, a first for our little book club. So make the time to track it down, read it, and come armed with questions for author Brian Michael Bendis, one of the most popular writers working in comics today, as he takes time off from scripting the pilot for the Powers t.v. series to visit. Yep, that’s right. The Powers t.v. series. Read the graphic novel and get in on the ground floor BEFORE the series is developed, that way you’ll be able to rail against prospective casting rumors from an informed position. Discussion on Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? begins the week of April 6th.
Well, March Madness is down to its Final Four and, since my brackets have been busted, I’m free to root with my heart instead of my week and a half old score sheet. Having said that, my pick to win it all this year is “Not the Tar Heels”. Here’s hoping they come through. They’ll have, if need be, up to two chances to get it done!
Finally, we had a little visitor drop by the house today. Alas, she didn’t stick around but it’s very likely she’ll be back. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Brie.
Finally, tune in tomorrow for that Amanda Tapping Q&A you’ve been anxiously awaiting.
P.S. I ate too much today. Well, specifically, too much nutella and ice cream. I have got to show some self-discipline.
Today’s mailbag:
EricaHP writes: “Any recommendations for places to try foie gras in Toronto?”
Answer: Sorry, that’s the other side of the country. I’m not at all familiar with the Toronto restaurant scene.
Ziva Z writes: “When you go to a restaurant, do you take a little notebook with you so you can write down exactly what it is we are seeing in the pictures you show us?”
Answer: Nope. I simply snap a pic of the menu.
Suziesbluefeather writes: “May I suggest that you take some me time for yourself. You seem to have been pushing your self hard lately.”
Answer: Quite the opposite. I haven’t been pushing myself hard enough. It’s hard to believe that, back in SG-1’s tenth season, I actually wrote three scripts (Morpheus, Counterstrike, and Memento Mori) in two weeks.
Ytimyona writes: “What is a “kino” scene?”
Answer: A kino is
Ben writes: “Since the Destiny wasn’t really meant to be inhabited (I recall hearing that at some point, so I’ll be disappointed if the crew finds a spa & sauna deck), will be technologically savvy of the bunch be often mcgyvering useful items and tools out of materials found on board?”
Answer: Actually, the Destiny WAS meant to be inhabited.
Ponytail writes: “Tonight I was watching “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” on the Food Network. That is the kind of places I love to eat at. Joe would you ever consider trying some of those restaurants?”
Answer: Hell, yeah. Incidentally, this is one of Exec. Producer Rob Cooper’s favorite food shows.
Ponytail also writes: “Joe have you ever thought about one night doing a video blog?”
Answer: I have. And will. Eventually.
Riley writes: “and what was that particular argument all about!? Misdirection much?”
Answer: It made an excellent point about what I was referring to yesterday – the hypocrisy of meat-eaters (especially those who enjoy fast food chicken and burgers) who jump on the anti-foie gras bandwagon.
Jedi43 writes: “Quick question, who played John’s dead father in the wake picture in “Outcast”?”
Answer: Someone we hired to play the role (in the picture).
Alex writes: “Where’s the food from?”
Answer: Au Pied de Cochon.
Nodakgirl writes: “Thank you so much, Joe, for remembering us in the Red River Valley fighting the Red and fighting water all over the state.”
Answer: Do keep us posted on how you’re all doing.
Rose writes: “In comparing the “Big Love” response from Mormons and the response of the Disney company to South Park, you were comparing apples and oranges.”
Answer: But my point was that drawing attention to the subject is often counter-productive since it only serves to shine a spotlight on the controversy. As you put it, the response of “some Mormons […] provided the free publicity that Big Love was undoubtedly hoping they would receive”
TBA writes: “- Are all SGU episode slots filled now?
– Are there any more cliff-hanger episodes in the season, other than premiere/midseason/finale?
– In SGA’s ‘The Return’, dr. Lee mentions he has a lvl 75 mage on World of Warcraft, which wasn’t possible at the time. Was this intentional, or have none of you ever played WoW?
– Any plans to bring in The Trust again, in either SGU or one of the movies?”
Answers: 1. As a I mentioned in a blog entry just the other day, there are two slots still open. 2. Yes. 3. That’s a question for Marty G. who wrote the episode. 4. Nope.
Thornyrose writes: “Is your concern about burglars affecting your own outings?”
Answer: It kind of has. That and the fact that I’ve lost my culinary wingman (Marty G.), my wife is very busy, and I’ve been cooking at home more.
Lance writes: “The Right can’t claim it wants to throw more people in prison and have tax breaks be their mantra.”
Answer: When did a desire to see violent criminals off the streets automatically make you right-wing? Seriously, is it that much to ask that repeat offenders face some actual jail time? The guy who was casing my house last weekend had some thirty prior convictions – which didn’t seem to have inconvenienced him in the least. Should I have invited him in and politely asked him to mend his ways and refrain from robbing people in the future? Should I have given him a hug and told him I sympathized with his inability make it in this tough world and then helped him load my stuff into the back of his van? Do tell. Also, throwing more of these people in prison doesn’t have to equal higher taxes – simply a more judicious use of taxes already gathered. As has already been pointed out, our prison system is filled with individuals serving time for relatively minor infractions.
Major D. Davis writes: “1. You film an average Stargate episode in 7 days, correct? If not how many days does it take?
2. Will you begin filming Water next week? If not, when?”
Answers: 1. Yes. Seven days to prep and episode and seven days to shoot it.
2. Off the top of my head, I’d say “very soon”.
Quade1 writes: “Joe is Stargate Universe going to explore Greek Mythology??”
Answer: Nope.
Dovil writes: “@riley, I found this article here that nicely touches on at least one of the gaping holes of logic.”
Answer: Yes and no. The writer does a nice job of neatly oversimplifying the hypocrisy charge leveled against most meat-eaters who have a problem with foie gras. It’s not “Either you eat animals or you don’t eat animals.”. Rather, it’s “It’s incredibly hypocritical to criticize foie gras for its treatment of animals if you’re eating most fast food because the chicken and beef that supply these restaurants are treated with shocking cruelty on their way to slaughter.”
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