“We leave tomorrow morning at 9:30,”my wife informed me last night. “9:30!”
Right. 9:30. I woke up at 8:00, fed the dogs, showered, dressed, checked my blog comments, took the pugs out for a short walk (so they wouldn’t feel left out), and was ready for 9:30 sharp! Unfortunately, my wife wasn’t and we ended up leaving a tad later. In this case, a tad = approximately one hour. We buckled Brie and Lulu into the back and motored off to our very first French Bulldog meet-up.
Well, that was the plan but, after driving aimlessly around sprawling Stanley Park for another hour, we’d found no trace of the gathering. “Stanley Park Shuffleboard Court Off-Lease Area,”Fondy read the location off her blackberry. “Shuffleboard Court? You see a shuffleboard court?
No. No shuffleboard court, but it was the third time we’d passed the same lawn bowling club. Close, but no cigar. Eventually, we got fed up and stopped for ice cream at Prospect Point. Pistachio and almond for me, plain old soft serve vanilla for everyone else.
Hopefully we’ll have better luck in two weeks for the pug meet-up.
On the way home, I picked up some toys for the dogs who missed out on ice cream. For some reason, I am incapable of walking out of a pet shop without purchasing at least one of those stuffed ducks that quacks a tune when you squeeze them (I got two on this occasion – one to play with and one to keep on my shelf in mint condition).
Well, damn. Normally, when I’m given the green light on a story idea, I can head off on my own, spin it and beat out an outline inside of a week, but I seem to have hit the wall with episodes 19 and 20. Part of the problem rests with the fact that, when I break a story, I start at the beginning and work my way through. Unfortunately, the idea pitched out for episode 19 is fairly complex and full of TBD’s (“To Be Decided’s” for those not in the know). Paul suggested we work backward from episode 20, but that is easier said than done given that 20 is fraught with TBD’s as well. Working backward is the right idea, but our starting point should actually be season two. Sometime in the next two weeks, we’re going to have to sit everyone down and establish a game plan for the back half and beyond. That way, we can all head off on hiatus with a script assignment – and, more importantly, come back from hiatus with SGU’s first season stories locked down.
Finally – Paul phoned me up Friday night to find out whether I had spoken to our agent. Apparently Paul had missed his call several hours earlier. Assuming this was about that comic book project, I sent off an email: “Paul tells me you and Jim called him earlier tonight but he missed your call. Is this about the comic book series?” About fifteen minutes later, I received a response: “Ues” and, moments later, “Yes”. Hmmm. I fired back another email: “Good news? Bad news?” Moments later, my agent called to inform me that it was good news. The individuals we spoke with loved pitch and are excited about the concept. Now, it’s simply a matter of letting the agents and lawyers do their thing.
Mailbag:
Nadine writes: “And speaking of other bulldogs, do you know the Frenchie Tubby, and his “sister” (English bulldog) Angel? I’m pretty sure Tubby and Lulu are both from Amberbull, so I was just wondering…”
Answer: Ha. We dropped by to visit Tubby today but he wasn’t in. Tubby, by the way, is Lulu’s brother.
GenericWhiteGuy writes: “So, Joe. Last night my apartment was broken into while I was asleep.”
Answer: I wish I had an extra operational zat gun to give you in the unlikely event the guy makes a return visit. Remember, you have to zat him three times to get rid of the evidence.
Quade1 writes: “I am assuming this movie you are referring to as hit or miss is Terminator Salvation??”
Answer: No. To be honest, I don’t even remember what the movie was – but it’s available on dvd.
Anais33 a ecrit: “Ofaite je voudrais savoir, vous n’avez toujour pas prévu un petit voyage en France?”
Answer: Non. Desolais.
Translation: I have no plans to travel to France in the near future.
Martyn Drake writes “As for the Twitter adventures of the dogs, they make more sense than most of the celebrities out there. I mean, “faljklyeeeeeccccchhjkljkfdsljkfljklkj” is more profund than “Oh, I’ve lost my purse at the Ivy and now I’ll have to slum it by walking. I’ve not had to do that since I wrote off my ferarri in Monte Carlo. Oh, I AM a tease!”
Answer: Please tell me you just made that up.
Maggiemayday writes: “Moulin Rouge, that was great.”
Answer: Moulin Rouge?! Egads! That one makes my Top 10 Most Hated List.
DasNdanger writes: “Hey, Joe…remember I said I had a friend who looked like your mum? I just showed her daughter a picture of your mother from last July’s blog, and she agreed – said your mom could easily be one of her aunts.”
Answer: Is she Italian?
Craig MD writes: “I thought Alaina Huffman’s character (name escapes me) was the only one with a medical background. Does this mean that “Doctor” Lisa Park is trained in something else?”
Answer: Park is not a medical doctor.
Rebecca H. writes: “I think, considering your subsequent paragraphs, that you have a distinct fear of aging, possibly because you don’t understand what’s coming next. [..] You call yourself a writer (okay, amend that, you actually ARE a writer), but could you write a compelling story about this kind of human agony?”
Answer: I pitched out a story that deals with this very theme. Unfortunately, it didn’t go anywhere. Still, I like the idea and may eventually use it elsewhere.
StellaByStargate writes: “Could you comment on whether the same factors are having an impact on the SG1 movie as well? “
Answer: Both movies face many similar challenges – in addition to a few different ones.
Nadine writes: “ Just a question: in the episode “Arthur’s Mantle” (season 9) who came up with Bill Lee’s “miniaturization” line?”
Answer: What was the line?
My Name Is Scott: “Your next blog entry will be my last for the summer. On Sunday morning, I ship out to Army basic training. I decided to join the MO National Guard so as to take advantage of the free tuition. Wish me luck?”
Answer: Best of luck, buddy. See you soon.
Jinx writes: “You haven’t mentioned having macaroons in some time. Is that a winter treat?”
Answer: Nope, it’s a non-Vancouver treat.
Megan writes: “I was just rewatching Wormhole X-treme today, and in looking at Gateworld’s notes on the episode I saw a quote from you saying that someday you might write an addendum to the episode explaining all the in-jokes. Any chance of that actually happening?”
Answer: I never did one?
Answer: Is she Italian?
Yes…very – 100%. Around your mom’s age, I suspect. Her people come from Naples. We had this discussion last July 8th – sheesh, don’t you remember these things??! You must be getting old. 😉
das
Sorry to hear that you are stuck on the episodes but i’m sure whatever you come up with will be amazing!! As for movies that have been good I would suggest Star Trek, I saw it five times.
-ZPB
Thanks for answering my question, Joe. I thought as much. Still trying to stay positive on both movie fronts, but it seems that, realistically, we should put our expectations on hold.
*sigh*
SBS
Hey Joe,
When I found out Lulu and Tubby are both from Amberbull I figured they were probably related, ’cause from the pictures of Lulu, and knowing Tubby, they seemed to look alike, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with dogs. Anyway, that’s kind of cool. We often swing by Bark & Fitz to visit ’cause it’s just over the bridge so it’s about 10 mins tops (in good traffic) and we like walking Bella in the Coal Harbour area… I keep meaning to swing by and check in to see how Tubby’s surgery went..
Oh, the bit in “Arthur’s Mantle” is when Sam and Cameron have been shifted out of phase by Merlin’s device and no-one in the SGC knows where they’ve gone yet and Bill Lee says that they’ve figured it out: they were miniaturized. And he’d cordoned off the lab around where they could “travel on their tiny legs”… I was just curious. I forget it’s probably been several years (?) since you guys wrote that one, since the SG universe is still fairly new to me..
Bella is still exhausted today from playing with that pup yesterday :D. Your dogs must tire each other out most of time..
Nadine
Ooops, forgot to say: love the pictures for today… The dogs look like they’re really enjoying that frozen treat.
I’ll share my ice-cream with Bella too. She loves frozen yogurt. There’s a new place on Denman called Qoola (which I love), and I’ll take her with me. However she’s not nearly as discriminating as I am 😀
I know you like to experiment in the kitchen. Have you ever by chance made homemade macaroons? Have you made any great dishes lately? For my Brother inlaw’s Birthday I made him homemade sausage with sauteed onions and peppers, and then an icecream cake. It was beyond great.
Mon frère est fou de joie! Les Penguins de Pittsburgh a gagné la Coupe Stanley.
(My brother is over the moon! The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the Stanley Cup.)
Sorry, our Joe. I know hockey is not your favorite sport right now. 🙂 My bro’ is so elated that the Penguins won that he had to announce it on Facebook. And I like the rendering in French much better. He is fou de joie, all right. He’s loved the Penguins since grade school. Am really happy for him.
Know what he did for me this week? When I was stranded downtown, after rush hour, with a flat tire, he came and scooped me up in the middle of a thunderstorm. I’ve got a great bro;’ he’s such a sweetheart. Here’s to brothers!
P.S. Loved the pix of the dogz eating ice cream and posing with their stuffies (toys).
Hey Joe,
If you’re worried about ageing, just hang around older people. Easy.
Or you can embrace your inner old coot and develop an attitude like my Dad and decide to open your own company, in his case Old Dudes Rock, and sell t-shirts and merchandise to other people who also think they’re getting old and are saying, “Yeah, so what of it?” And then forget what you were talking about.
When he was pitching t-shirt slogans to me, such as “Old Dudes Still Golfin'”, “Old Dudes Still Fishin'”, I said make one that says, “Old Dudes still, um, what was I doing again?”. He didn’t appreciate my input.
Good luck for further good news on the comic book.
By the way, why don’t you like The Beatles?
Maximus is one of the happiest dogs I’ve seen. There’s an old soul behind those eyes.
I had just written out a further explanation on behalf of Nadine just to see she’d gotten it covered. It was a pretty funny line, and I remember that on the commentary Martin Wood(pretty sure it was him, could be wrong) had said the subsequent “Ronald, start with section 1-A” had been an ad lib of Bill Dow’s on the day.
I get the impression you rarely venture into the West Side, and I haven’t heard you rave about a favourite cheese vendor. If you haven’t discovered Les Amis du Fromage, it’s worth a visit. The main place is near Granville Island, but they’re also opening up a new spot on E. Hastings soon. (http://www.buycheese.com/)
At My Name is Scott: Best of luck. I’m former Red Cross military services, can give you some hints.
Joe, to may give Scott my email if he asks.
@JoeMallozzi wrote, “Remember, you have to zat him three times to get rid of the evidence.”
You know what? I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that because that is possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say.
LMAO@ Narelle, love your T-shirt slogan which SO applies to me!
Been absent of late in case you missed me. Been celebrating my eldest, Christopher’s (aka Piddy) engagement to Katie after 3 years of dating. They’re also buying their first house in a quaint cornish village named Tregadillet. This is one wedding I get to enjoy as I only have to organise myself!
If i’ve already told you then my apologies and reference Narelle’s T-shirt slogan again!!
Great pics Maximus is one handsome chap.
Fantastic news on the comic book front too. time for further celebrations methinks 🙂
Hey Joe,
Sorry the frenchie meet-up was a bust. We can’t seem to get it together for any of the Pyr meet-ups ourselves. Stanley Park is MASSIVE though. So I understand why you had trouble finding the right place.
My sister did take her Great Dane to a gathering at an off-leash park a couple weeks ago. She said it scared most everyone else not owning a horse-type dog away.
Congrats on the comic book news! I’m sure you’ll keep us all informed so that we can run out to our respective neighborhood comic book shops when the time comes?
Trish
Hey Joe,
I think you’re missing the point of this awesome opportunity you & Paul have here. You don’t have meet with anyone. You guys determine what’s going to happen in Season 2, everyone else has to follow along with what you guys set up.
Think of the possibilities…… you could introduce a new evil threat – giant poisonous mice or have Rush kidnapped by an advanced race of aliens to run their waste recycling plant. Yeah I know, stick to my day job.
I’m surprised that Brad and Rob haven’t sent you an email to say come up with anything you want for 19 & 20 but it has to fit in with xyz that is happening in Season 2.
Cheers, Chev
With regard to the ageing thing, does anyone ever really believe the age you tell people? They don’t with me. I don’t look or act my supposed age and I like that just fine. Kavan Smith called me a “crazy kid” and I’m definitely not a kid (oh yeah and I’m not crazy either, just sometimes can be mischievous). So I’ve kinda got this ageless thing going. Come join me!
Cheers, Chev
Hi again Mr M!
Greetings from (yet once more) Sunny Ireland!
Was re-watching the commentary of Season 4 Atlantis (in anticipation of the Season 5 release), and watched the Maestro Andy Mikita and fellow-Continuum-Cinema-goer/ Chief Scribe/Alround Nice Guy, Alan McCullough talk about OutCast.
One of my fav eps of the Season. In the commentary, Alan mentions that perhaps Sheppard’s brother might make an appearance in Season 5, in an ep called Hex. I’m pretty sure this did not materialise…if possible (and if it doesn’t invovle SG:Extinction) can you maybe tell what the ep entailed? Just curious.
Finished The Big Over Easy (finally). While it is an interesting and (at times) witty take on Nursery Crimes, it didn’t light my fire. Great one-liners and certainly a giggle every couple of pages, but I felt it fell bewtween two stools in trying to be a detective novel and quirky clever comedy. I will def give the next book a go by Mr Fforde, as I think I would enjoy it, but sad to say, It’s the first BOTM I wasn’t raving about.
Best to all…By the by when is your Summer Hiatus?
Shirt’n’Tie
Hmmm. Chewtoys or ice cream? I suppose it’s just as well that dogs don’t talk, or you’d have a couple of dogs upset one way or another. It’s fun to see pictures of you taking the dogs out. Have you had an occasion where you’ve attempted to take all of them at once?
Great news on the comic series. Ready to send in my subscription as soon as you indicate the comic is in print. As for the last episodes, are the TBDs more prevelant than in prior series? I suppose the unusual difficulties of these scripts are a good thing, in a way. It reminds the rest of us that what you do is in fact a job, instead of one of the coolest “while away the time” hobbies around. Thanks as always for the pics.
Saw a photography book about Pugs yesterday. You could consider editing the “helmet cam” shots & come up with a much better one!
Just another idea for your already burgeoning list of projects!
And, ah, makes the macaroons that much more of a treat then 🙂
Wait. Have you and Fondy dognapped Brie?? You seem to have her all the time now. Probably a good thing you missed that French Bulldog meet-up, otherwise I think you probably would’ve come home with two or three more. Maybe four.
Perhaps, Joe, in your old age you’re turning into one of those crazy animal hoarders…I even think one of the first signs is collecting squeezy doggy toys for your own amusement.
Sheesh. And GenericWhiteGuy thinks I’M scary… 🙄
das
If you want macaroons, I think we have them in our area all year round. (Of course, there’s always a major influx of them around Passover…)
Question for the mailbag:
Nomi and I were considering what to get ourselves as a present for our anniversary, which is this week. As you know, we got ourselves the Stargate SG-1 full series set as our anniversary gift shortly after it was released. So we’re now wondering if and when Stargate Atlantis will be released in a full series set. (And as I said to Nomi when we were having this conversation, I can ask Joe if he knows anything.)
Hi Joe. I did a little searching and found this for you. http://vancouver.ca/parks/info/dogparks/Stanley.htm
Looks like the place you were looking for was near the Fish House Restraurant. Hope that helps your next outting.
Hi Joe,
I just read a comment on a fan site by someone who thought that the inhabitants of Pegasus, i.e. the Athosians and Satedans, etc. were not actually human, but “humanoid aliens” who just look like us.
And that is why Teyla could have super fighting abilities, for example.
Is this true? I always thought that the Pegasus folk were every bit as human as we are.
Thanks!
Hi Joe!!
My daughter and I are enjoying watching Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis in chronological order. Getting ready for Stargate Universe. We were wondering, in the episode “Hide and Seek”, how did Halling hurt his leg? Hope you have a great day! Nice and sunny and low 70’s here! 🙂
Jen
from Indiana
So, um, when the lawyers and contracts are done, are we going to get further hints on the Great Comic Project? Like, is it a superhero comic? Gangsters? Horror? Murder, mystery and/or mayhem?
Image, DC, Wildstorm, Vertigo, Marvel, Oni Press, or SLG? Tokyopop?
Hey Joe, it’s been a long while since we heard anything about Fondy’s pet store. How is it doing?
Hi Joe,
Haven’t posted a comment in a while. You know…life.
About great movies…Definitely Star Trek. Loved it – and I AM a trekkie. I was worried about Quinto as Spock. Spock is my absolute favorite character in the Star Trek franchise and I was actually kind of mad that Zachary Quinto was playing Spock because I don’t like Quinto as Sylar on Heroes. But I thought he did a great job with the character….I guess that’s called acting?
Other great movies? Having trouble remembering them off the top of my head (still getting used to the “joys” of aging)…. Oh yeah – Road to Perdition, Crash, House of Sand and Fog to name a few.
Hi Joe,
Graduated yesterday. It was a tiring process- about 8,000 graduates altogether. They said all the names of the PhD students which took quite a long time. Then they started ringing the bell for the handing out of diplomas and my business school was much larger than any of the other schools– and my last name starts with a “U” so lets just say everybody was practically gone by the time I received my diploma!
The weather was way too hot and the black gowns coupled with the blazing sun didn’t improve anything much. I figure it was their way to do one last torture session before they released us.
Bonjour Joseph^^!
Vous allez bien? =) Moi super j’ai passer une bien bonne journée!
Lol vos chiens aussi aiment les glaçes…et les sucettes O_O?
Nannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn…snif snif snif…..bon bah il n’ya pas moyen je pense que c’est moi qui va devoir me déplacer à Vancouver^^! …..mais bon si vous avez prévu un voyage en France je veux être la 1er prévenu =D!!
Aller bisou, a bientôt
Ps: sa s’écrit désolé et non désolais^^
LOL, you’d loooove Bad Movie night at my house … So what else is on the top ten hated movie list? I’ve never categorized mine, but I know it begins with Titanic.
Hey, Pop-pop Joe – since you’re getting up there in years, would you consider sharing photos with us from your youth? Baby pics, perhaps? Toddler? Grade school days? Trouble-boy teenage years? Come now, don’t be shy. 😉
das
Could you please specify what is the speciality of Dr. Nicholas Rush ? Is he a physicist, a mathematician, a archeologist or a medical doctor ?
Thank you very much for all, it’s a pleasure to read daily your blog ! And I must admit that I’m very impatient about SGU, so continue to keep us inform about the production ! 😉
Joe, I spotted this little gem in our morning paper and immediately thought of you!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5511619/14-year-old-hit-by-30000-mph-space-meteorite.html
Certainly beats “the dog ate my homework”! And proves that “THEY” can *get* you, anytime, anywhere….
Oh, and don’t get a crik in your neck from looking up too much!
Joe,
I totally get your low opinion of growing older. I was in the midst of a pretty spectacular mid-life crisis when I turned 40 so that milestone slipped past me. But 50 is coming up very shortly and uh-uh, I flatly refuse to turn 50. That’s old and there’s no two ways about it. I won’t be a 50 year old.
So. I guess this is good-bye.
Rose
Hey Joe just thought I’d pop by for a quick visit and get caught up on the blog. Things are hopping as always around here. I’m now killing time waiting for my summer job to start in a few weeks(yeah, I went back to heck in a glass box again).
@Maggiemayday- while I can agree that the Jack & Rose version of Titanic is horrid(cannot stand it) I do rather enjoy the mini-series version w/ Peter Gallagher, George C. Scott and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Much less love story more ship story.
Just got a postcard from Sparrow_hawk…she’s in Germany…eating CHOCOLATE!! 😀 Lucky bint*.
das
(*said in the most endearing way possible 😉 )
And the dogs can’t seem to eat the ice cream as fast as it wants to melt. thanks for the pictures, what cuties. I was thinking about SGU starting up in Oct, I don’t really want to hurry my summer up, so I think I will be able to wait for it to start….(i will have to). We will have Warehouise 13 and Eureka to occupy some of the days, as long as its not wrestling,yuck,poo. Summer flies by so quickly anyway. and life is too short and what we were talking about aging and getting older, yep, every day, thank goodness. Congrats on more comic book news. 🙂
Hi ya
Ever thought of doing a convention over here in the UK?…I am going to Chevron 7.3 in November would love you to come…
I have a University exam tomorrow trying to get a degree in Social Sciences…nails already gone…LOL…think of me and you might be able to pass to me how to write…LOL…
Kriss 🙂
Maggieday: The best part of Titantic is watching the ship breaking up.
Tam
@Michael Burstein- I HATE passover maccaroons, now if we are talking chocolate covered matza, i’m all in!! These are not the SAME maccaroons as Joe is talking about, are they? Sheryl
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Except dogs, who obviously bark. Of course.
What’s the entertainment industry without agents and lawyers, eh?
I bet if you trace back the origins of storytelling, you’d probably would have had cavemen having to negotiate a rate with their agents before they could grunt their tales of Mammoth hunting and wheel manufacturing. And God help Grog if he were to have had a similar idea, since their lawyers (back in those days were represented by saber tooth tigers – a much more effective solution than today’s form of lawyers) would have literally torn the competition to shreds over copyright infringement.
Final Draft? It was First Chisel back then..
good news about the comic book. hopefully the agents and lawyers will get their thing done ASAP.
BTW random question; would you go to a comic book or anime convention, not as a guest, but just like a member of the general public to look at the stuff & listen to guests?
i ask because my brother & i are going to anime-expo in los angeles in july http://archersangel.blogspot.com/search/label/anime-expo%20%2709
Answer: I never did one?
I tried searching the blog and didn’t find one.
Aww, that’s so cute. Is that Brie’s first time tasting this odd concoction we call Iced-Cream? She’s so wide-eyed at it. It’s adorable.
Combined with that Twitter pic of Maximus going “XD”, it seems he’s one happy dog.
But yeah, remember all those years ago when you posted an entry about you becoming “that crazy dog guy down the street”? I think you’re getting there.
Hey, I’ve got an idea for Episodes 19 and 20. Three heads are better than two. I’m sure if we all thought about it together, we’d come up with something grand. Is that cool? Yeah, you know it is. I’ll be expecting the pitch in my email inbox very soon. I can’t wait!
Congratulations on the Comic book series.
Question for Joe about writing for SGU:
Do you have carte blanche to kill off characters in the episodes you write?
I understand that Universe will be a bit more “lethal” to its’ characters than previous shows, so am wondering if the deaths are something that is planned out well ahead of time or just evolve naturally from the story you are telling?
Do they need to get approval from the higher ups at the studio? Or from the other writers and producers?
Congrats MORTICAE!!!
Hey Joe,
Yesterday’s blog was too funny. 😀 I read it out loud to my husband who thinks I am way to into these things and had him laughing too. The pics of the dogs and their toys are really cute. Sorry they missed their “play date”. That park is enormous and beautiful, but I remember getting lost in it a couple of years ago on vacation.
Anyway – found something of interest regarding Megan’s comment on the RDA web site.
“Megan writes: “I was just rewatching Wormhole X-treme today, and in looking at Gateworld’s notes on the episode I saw a quote from you saying that someday you might write an addendum to the episode explaining all the in-jokes. Any chance of that actually happening?”
Answer: I never did one?”
Well somebody did one. Was it you for the RDA web site?
The episode guide is very helpful and very funny. Enjoy!
http://www.rdanderson.com/stargate/lexicon/lexicon.htm
On the far left hand side of the site is a episode guide. Scroll down to Season 5; Wormhole X-treme! There is quite a list of Inside Jokes and below that is all the cameo performances including Mr. Joseph Mallozzi (as usual looking for food).
Thanks for the more-than-usual funny fare today!
BlondieCG
If I promise to let Chris Judge pick a sea creature for a quest in a computer game, would that be a good bribe to get him to do the Q&A?
DP, aka GateFanSamJack
First chapter is up! http://catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/
Such a way with language. This is the kind of tale I’d like to hear read aloud.
Oh yes…love the dog pics. Maximus’ smile is my favorite. 🙂
That is *such* a happy smile on Maximus! Give him a scratch from me.
suse
@sheryl – I’m not sure if what I’m calling a macaroon is what Joe is calling a macaroon. As far as I know, a macaroon is simply a coconut cookie.
I think chocolate covered matzah is also available year-round in some locales, but I haven’t looked for it around here.
Congratulations on the comic book venture!
I’m behind in reading your blog. Have you adopted Brie or babysitting?
Congrats on the comic book.
I think Stanley Park has to be one of my favourite places on the planet. Absolutely loved it.
Joseph (or should I say Mr. Malozzi) you spoil your dogs way too much.