I’m on a roll! I followed up yesterday’s Tease by writing the first scene of Act I. At this torrid pace, I should have at least half a script completed when I return to the office in August. There’ll be a lot of raised eyebrows when episode #20 goes wide.
Hey, is it just me or are the CNN anchors growing progressively more animated of late? They seem to have taken a page out of Glenn Beck’s handbook, injecting the news with a healthy dose of personality and opinion. With varied results. Tony Harris’s good-humored banter with fellow co-workers marks him as an affable sort, the type of guy I’d gladly buy a beer if I spotted him at my local pub. The same can be said for Erica Hill. But, please, spare me Mike Galanos laboring to channel Nancy Grace. Seriously. Is this a response to audience erosion? Has anyone else noticed?
If you were asked to build a comprehensive SF & Fantasy library, what books would make the list? Editor Lou Ander wants to know. Go help Lou build his library by heading over to his blog and weighing in with your suggestions of those overlooked gems he has GOT to include: http://louanders.blogspot.com/2009/07/building-comprehensive-sf-collection.html
The gang at Cracked.com present their list of “10 Things That Will Not End Well”, listing the thing (ie. a book that tells you how to build your own catapult) and then why it will end badly (in the case of the catapult buide, they offer up the following excerpt from the book’s introduction: “The catapults and related projects described in this book have been designed with your safety foremost in mind. However, as you try them out, there is still a possibility that something unexpected may occur …”): http://www.cracked.com/article_17477_10-things-that-will-not-end-well.html I don’t know. I think I just might send away for that Ninja Home Study Course.
Human Rights Group Campaigns To End Use of Child Politicians In Africa: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/human_rights_group_campaigns_to?utm_source=nav
Hooligan squid rough up divers. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D99FNF0O0&show_article=1 I blame violent videogames for their aggressive behavior.
Taco Bell does its part for the environment by rolling out its new Green menu: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/taco_bells_new_green_menu_takes
Today, I leave you with some pics charting the design and contsruction of the Destiny corridors.
- Early corridor design #1
- Early corridor design #2
- Early corridor design #3
- Early corridor design #4
- Destiny corridor in early construction
- Destiny corridor in early construction
CNN: I watch it all the time, and I’ve been long convinced they’re all on crack. Not the same crack Fox anchors are on, but crack nonetheless.
The BEST was when Kyra Phillips went to the bathroom, and left her microphone on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o
😀
Lou Anders: Someone already mentioned Elric, so I’m out of ideas.
And that’s about it. You’re in luck, Joe…I’m kinda out of stuff to say. 😛
das
Awesome pictures, Joe! Thank you!
I can no longer bring myself to watch any of the news networks for more than 15 minutes at a stretch, given the repetitious nature of their reports. And when newcasters try to turn commentators, ugh. I flip between the news channels when following a particular story, or trying to catch up on what’s going on in the world. Other than that, I would just as soon do without 200 hours of coverage on Michael Jackson in a 24 hour day, especially since it neglects other parts of the world.
Nice pictures, and great to hear the script is going well. I’ll still feel more eager about Universe if and when TPTM greenlight the two movies. I just want some sort of semi firm date, even it’s it well over a year off. Otherwise, I am reluctant to support another series that will be cancelled for reasons I as a viewer have no control over.
The news media frustrates the bejesus out of me. Probably why I love Jon Stewart so much.
I’m a regular to cnn.com’s main page, but I can’t stand CNN’s “news” anymore. I’ve seen an entire evening of news go by with a continuous caption that says something like “Is such and such gossip important?” while a bunch of scowlers interview each other. (must save millions on the fact-checking budget) Just hire Perez Hilton as an anchor already.
Audience erosion? Are people too lazy to gossip for themselves or buy those magazines at the supermarket check-out? They watch people do it on the TV instead. That would make a little sense if it weren’t displacing formerly reputable, prime-time programming on a huge NEWS channel.
On another note, I love squids and octopi. Check out Octopus vs shark on youtube – if you dare.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9A-oxUMAy8
I’m trying to figure out if octopi are sentient. Why else mimic cuttlefish and sea snakes? The need for pointless amusement is a side effect of sentience, right?
Googling the topic of octopus sentience gives the answer of “yes”, but I’ve found that, no matter what notion you have, there’s someone (or a whole community of folks) on the internet who’ll confirm it for you so I’m still wondering.
Joe,
With news that MGM isn’t doing so good financially, has there been any news recently about the third SG-1 movie?
Also has there been any discussion of when the third movie would be filmed?
DP
Ever seen the laboratory footage of the octopus at night?
I don’t watch too much CNN any more. It use to be hard-hitting between your eyes non-stop news. Now it is more like one of those entertainment styled morning shows, only more annoying because it goes on all day long.
Those pictures you have been posting are pretty spectacular. I can understand their hesitation and delay in letting you show them.
I was just wondering… I wonder, if the economy had gone to crap before they decided to cancel SGA, if they would have still cancelled it in favor of a brand new series? It seems to me that keeping Atlantis going another year or 2 would have been cheaper than going to the expense of starting completely over. Just wondering what their hindsight might be now. The economical crash seems to have caught everyone off guard and is affecting everyone in some way. Just wondering….
I miss the old CNN and HLN, where it was all news, not opinion and tabloid stories.
At least the Weather Channel has not changed its mission.
@Narelle I don’t think I’ve seen it. Do tell.
Does it have anything to do with octopi squeezing themselves through insanely small spaces?
@Narelle: Love Jon Stewart
Geez, I just posted the link to the EW picture and short synopsis on SGU. Here is the link:
http://bit.ly/XL1w5
Everyone is required to leave a comment. Pretty easy to do. Just type in a name (real or fake) and then leave a comment. When I did it, there were only 5 comments. Let’s show EW why SGU is going to be fabulous. More comments=perhaps more coverage. Spread the word.
Thanks, Joe, again for the pictures. Glad you are finally able to post some.
DP
Involves tanks of crabs going missing during the nights.
So the scientists setup a camera and captured the octopus crawling out its tank, “walking” across the floor, climbing up the side of the crab tank (and the tank is on stilts), eating the crabs and then having enough sense to go back to its own tank and make an innocent “Whaaaaat?” expression to the scientists when they come in in the morning.
Ok, so maybe it didn’t actually make a face, but it was definitely thinking it 🙂
I can’t stand watching CNN or most of the other news networks, each seems so biased in their own way that I never feel I am getting the real story, just their spin.
I get better news off the internet. (and TMZ…..)
@DP: Please tell me you’ve heard about the straight-to-dvd summer scifi thriller, “Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus”? If not, behold the wonder: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa7ck5mcd1o
So how long did you have to spend in the shower to get the scene figured out? ‘Fess up, now: Did yesterday’s 45-minute marathon have anything to do with reenactments of your favorite performances on American Idol? The people have a right to know, y’know.
– Yeah, right. *rolls eyes* If you cared to divulge, no doubt you could go on Conan O’Brien or Letterman. (Or you could send emails to Keith Olbermann and Bill O’Reilly, and see whose response was the most pompously derogatory while retaining a certain veneer of higher-primate cleverness. – Just trying to be fair in snarking both sides of the fence, here.) Or you could blog about it, if tomorrow finds you feeling lugubrious and languid. Guaranteed to overcome gnarly updates on golf tourneys.
I rarely watch TV news, finding it much more convenient to get comfortably numb over everyone’s bias while online, unless something important is happening now — say, a crucial development in the fights over who gets what part of Jacko’s estate. The best part of such coverage is sitting on the couch with a pile of rubberbands, and getting to do a shot of T&T every time you hit the screen right over the newsperson’s mouth. But I don’t do that anymore.
The issue of octupine (octupal? octiporous? It’s not among my 1,001 pages of style notes; and after a few days of various excesses while off work for the annual party, I can’t be bothered to open a dictionary or check out a website) — anyway, mentions of sentience among octopi seem to be cropping up more and more frequently. I suspect it’s not a coincidence that “The Drowned Life” includes one in a mini-creature-feature. Maybe Jeffrey Ford knows more than he’s letting on.
Say, thanks a bunch for the links. Anytime I read a URL with cracked.com or longtime fave theonion.com, I just know it’s going to be good. I’m saving them for tomorrow, when I can chortle all I want without disrupting necessary repairs currently in progress in my head and stomach.
(Good luck with the rest of the episode, and with keeping your bathroom from succumbing to Habitual Shower Singer’s Ineradicable Drywall-Eating Mildew.)
Maggiemayday: My friends are all ages, from teens to older than myself. In fact, my friends are often mistaken for my kids. Burning Man does that, erases artificial cultural barriers. I think you might enjoy the community.
Yeah, that does sound a lot like something I’d like. But I’d probably need a babysitter on occasion, someone who would be able to talk me down off of small, rickety metal tables which might appear to me as an ideal place to dance. – A lot of the events you’ve described have sounded like six months of fun packed into 1-2 weeks. People couldn’t help but form some long-lasting bonds, which is (of course) pretty cool.
I hope your friend who got broadsided is doing okay, and that the replacement-car deal turned out well. I hate those times when the glitter ponies don’t show up when you need them.
Coucou Joseph!
Waou encore des photos de sgu, on en a de la chance!
Vous avez écrit tout les épisodes rapidement, comment ne pas être inspirez avec un tel sujet?
Questions:
1) Le 1er épisode de sgu commence dans la base d’sg1?
2) Joel Goldsmith va t’il composer des musiques pour SGU?
voila =) Merci à bientot
I read almost all my news; I only watch Colbert or Stewart now.
Cool pics, thanks.
Really good pictures, each one feels like a ship should. After all corridors etc aren’t really meant to be majorly grand, they’re what guides you from point A to B..
Thanks for posting more pictures. 🙂
With regard to the CNN problems, this is why I have switched to getting my news almost entirely from news websites. The anchors are pretty obnoxious and they tend to distract from the actual NEWS! I don’t particularly care what they think of the military situation or the economy or the stock market. I just want to know the facts in a situation, not their “humble opinion”.
P.S. Thanks for the fantastic pictures!!! It was totally worth the wait!
Hmm nice Pictures i like the Sleeping Quarters best though
Good job and thanks for bringing them up Joe
I got to go my Fish and Chips is calling 😀
Hmmm…seems I did find something to say to Mr. Anders afterall… 😛
Me and my one-track mind. 🙄
das
Like many other bloggers here, I get my TV news from The Colbert Report and The Daily Show. The rest is from newspapers and the internet.
Nice corridors – they look perfect for all sorts of awful, scary encounters.
I wondered if CNN was changing. Why else would they dare do battle on Twitter with the likes of Ashton Kutcher? I mean, a news network versus an actor…
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you see it), I alway associate CNN with the Australian satire CNNNN. Check out: http://www.cnnnn.com/ for a bit of a laugh (although it might be a bit of a dated laugh).
Hey Joe, I have a dog-related question for you. Our lovely little puppy Lily has taken to, ahem, venting more than atmosphere inside (if you get my meaning). Any chance you could go all Dog Whisperer and give me some advice on how to deal with that? Have any of your dogs ever had that urge? Is there hope for our floors yet?
Cheers,
Amz/Amy
Hey there everyone. Sorry I’ve been a bit MIA lately, miss me? No excuses, just working on a side project. Will say more later. I’m slowly getting around to finding people on Twitter. If some stranger called imwebgurl follows you, well that’s me (my professional screen name, well the webgurl bit anyway).
Getting a 23 quadrillion credit card bill – priceless
To add to the amusing stories……..Tax on cigarettes has gone up. A guy was charged 23 quadrillion dollars (more than the world’s combined GDP) for a pack of smokes. Apparently VISA stuffed up.
I’ve been looking at the Destiny pics. Very grungy, dark, “industrial age” look about it. I guess this was a calculated move to have it look the absolute opposite to Atlantis’ clean look. Yes? Glad you’re finally allowed to show some photos – thanks Joe.
So, have you recovered from your trip? Did the dogs behave while you were away?
Lastly. I noticed the Dog’s Twitter widget on the sidebar has it’s background extending across the whole page. Might be a ul or /ul missing (add ankle brackets around each).
Cheers, Chev
The inside of Destiny really reminds me of the inside of Moya on Farscape….really cool looking!!!!
Hi Joe, Thanks for all the wonderful Destiny pictures!
As for the news on CNN – I’m not sure how it is in Canada, but here, I get the regular CNN channel, and the CNN Headline News Channel. The regular one is okay, though I try to stay away from the commentary shows, and watch the daytime newsroom programming. Headline News – contrary to its name – is a load of crap, with Nancy Grace, and entertainment news just about 24/7. And once in a while some actual news. (Though I can’t complain too much – one of their entertainment shows showed a youtube video I made about the West Wing and Obama…but I digress). Though I believe they’re brining in more personalities to compete with Fox and MSNBC (or msnbc as they’ve rebranded themselves too in lower case letters) which both have lots of opinionated shows. Fox’s are a load of crap saying they’re always balanced. I don’t mind msnbc’s as much, because once in a while they’ll actually admit that they’ve got a slanted view. But anyways, alot of times I wish that there could actually be a 24 hour news channel that gives you just the news, straight, from the newsroom, without all the nightly commentating shows.
Thanks for bringing up the topic – and you forgot to mention Larry King in there! Not that he’s that animated…but still!.
Hi Joe
What I can’t stand about the news networks is all the time spent soliciting and “reporting” on public opinion. They spend too much time on emails and “interviews” from viewers that don’t know any more about the facts than I do.
Chuck Roberts is about the only anchor left on CNN I can tolerate, and I can’t abide FOX at all.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for posting all these destiny pics… makes me so happy… so a few questions
1. Hey joe did you at all miss me?
2. You said downloads don’t count for the drop off.. Huh!!! What drop off.. I thought season 5 was selling very well.. Was I wrong?
3. A pole was taken and 88% of people said they wouldn’t watch universe.. doesn’t all the negative buzz scare you… Just a tiny bit?
4. When I visited the Bridge I got to talk to security guard Bill, I wanted to send him a letter but I don’t know where, could I write an email in the form of a comment, and then have you forward the email to him.
Just wanted to send a thank you cause he was REALLY kind to me.
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
@Mika
Holy Crap! At first I thought some screenwriter was filling the shower stall with bong smoke, but 1:06 of Mega Shark versus Giant Octopus’s trailer definitely required something stronger.
I’m totally watching that.
@DP: It’s a bit hard to find, but exactly what you’re expecting it to be.
It features my new favourite example of “wtf?!” science: using pretty coloured liquids in tubes to measure length. I know, of all the things I could possibly quibble about in a movie featuring a mega shark and a giant octopus… but it’s hilarious! It’s a long chemistry montage complete with lab coats that ends in, “OMG, the tooth is big!!”
@DP, @Narelle:
Just to counterbalance the B-movie goodness, I give you an octopus with its arms wrapped around itself pretending to be a coconut as it runs along the ocean floor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wgla5smg64
And the thieving octopus video Narelle mentioned earlier:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/octo-thief/1814434464
…one of my cousins is a bit in love with cephalopods.
I hate it that most channels only want their side or opinion told and shown and when someone else calls in or is a guest and has a totally different stance, they cut them off, or rush to a break etc. It really ticks me off when they do that!! I want to decide for myself, ya know? I don’t want an “AGENDA” pushed on me like a faith in the darkages!!
and Joe, please, please, …..set in stone, the SGA Movie and the SG-1 Movie!?!? PLEASE?!! lol I’m a Stargate NUT!! I must say SGA is really what pulled me in and turned me into this Stargate World Freak lol who think of nothing but Stargate anymore!! lol I’ll watch Universe for sure but,…..I must have Atlantis and SG-1, espiecally Atlantis move on with movies<—movieS that is. I'm sure you seen the S there lol The Actors and Characters on that show is almost like a herion to me hehe Well, lets not take it that far,….mmmmmm…..well, lets! I Gotta Have It!!! lol I think my biggest wish was to get to come on the set and meet the cast and crew and maybe be in the show lol 'Like that would've happened' But, it crushes me to think they will never be back and see the light of day anymore. Thanks for your time
Hi, Joe —
Thanks for all the great pictures of the Destiny set. Makes me anxious for next April’s Creation Con set visit. I’ll need to buy a digital card just for the tour.
I’ve been assuming that the delays in the movies is due to a drop in DVD buying across the board, not buying of Stargate DVDs. I know I’ve become much more selective in what I buy as opposed to what I netflix since the downturn. (Not SG DVDs, of course. Those I buy on the day of release.) Did the disappointing showing of the complete SG1 set have any influence on this? Because that was due to the variable quality of the discs, not the show itself. Just look at the comments on Amazon.com.
@Mika
Let your cousin know that Tuesday night’s episode of NOVA is about cuttlefish, the lesser-known of the intelligent cephalopod triumvirate. The preview for the episode “Kings of Camouflage” claims it’s as close to studying an alien as we’re going to get, but I don’t see how it has anything over the octopus other than being smart enough to be less famous.
I think the face on Mars looks more like a relaxed octopus head than a human one. (I’ve worked enough microscopy to have a firm grasp of the brain’s tendency to find faces and critter profiles in random shadows.)
Hey all!
Confession time – long time lurker, first time poster! Been in and about this site for almost two years now, and figured was ’bout time to join in the fun.
Question for you Joe. Not sure if you’ve answered or addressed this before, but do you ever read or buy ebooks? Recently I’ve become a huge fan of the Baen webscriptions list. Their approach to ebooks (a free library and DRM free ebooks for 4-6 dollars) blows any of the other options that I’ve come across out there for ebooks by far! What do you think of their approach to DRM (basically it sucks, no one needs it, and free or cheap books are infinitely better than expensive or restricted books) and in fact ebook DRM in general?
Here’s hoping for a shout out to the newbie!
@DP:
While the octopi are stealing crabs, the cuttlefish will conquer the world! (http://xkcd.com/520/)
Getting back to your first post on the topic, re: octopus disguising themselves as cuttlefish, did you know smaller cuttlefish males will disguise themselves as females to hide in the harem and mate without the bigger males noticing? I can just imagine the frustration of a cuttlefish male disguising himself as a female to go hang out with an octopus also disguised as a female!
Mika wrote:
Reminds me of the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean when they’re on the ocean floor under the boat (which Mythbusters busted).
Damn! Can’t play the footage of the OctoThief.
I do remember wanting to put music to the footage and sound effects. You know, the creep, creep type of music and shifty eyes sound. I watched too many cartoons as a kid.
Thanks for the cephalopod facts Mika!
@ Mika:
Do you happen to have a link for suspected sightings of cuttlefish and octopi hanging out at transvestite bars?
Joe, those links are great. The onion’s Taco Bell Green segment had me in tears, and the others were way too funny as well — the one about the Squid Invasion, because of the comments following the article; but I also enjoyed this excerpt from the Breitbart article:
“On a recent night, Magill watched in awe as a dozen squid with doleful, expressive eyes circled her group, tapping and patting the divers and gently bumping them before dashing away.”
One of the commenters gave what I guess is the authoritative opinion of marine biologists on this behavior, but to me it sounds almost identical to early-round action at a singles bar. I think an entirely new lode of sea-creature speculation is just begging to be explored by sci-fi & fantasy writers. . . .
@otros ojos wrote “I think an entirely new lode of sea-creature speculation is just begging to be explored by sci-fi & fantasy writers. . . .”
My obsession with sea creatures in the past 2 1/2 months is not by accident. 😉
Alright, y’all have tapped me on cephalopods swinger scene fun facts (@otros ojos, I had an identical reaction to that article! I think it’s the “expressive eyes” bit), but with the large number of Aussies playing in Joe’s blog, I give you an alternative:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8118257.stm
…stoned wallabies.
Hey Joe!
Didja ever imagine when you started this blog there’d be so many comments about octopi?
eddy
Great pix. Looks expensive. Hope it’s worth it.
Which leads to my comment on SGU “destined” to fail opinions. I have a feeling that I’m not going to like SGU as much as SG1 or SGA. But I don’t think I’m going to hate it. I know for certain that opinions vary, and that it isn’t one opinion that matters, its many. So, unless I’m trying to get cute press by playing on words with the ship’s name, I would never go so far to say that something is “destined”, because to me that means certainty. And nothing IMO is ever certain.
DD
I think the CNN cut ups are more of a reaction to the ubiquity of Anderson Cooper. They are each attempting to out-cute the other, as if any of ’em could be as cute as Anderson with his Icy Baby Blues. I hear that CNN is taking a page from SyFy and changing their network name to ACC: The Anderson Cooper Channel. All Cooper, all the time.