- Table for one.
- Lulu prefers soft serve.
- Oooooooh!
- Ice cream!
- Hangin’ at Prospect Point.
- Don’t mess with my duck!
- Jelly loves pork.
- Maximus is all smiles.
“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?
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