- Spooky jungle pic.
My pug Jelly went in for her ultrasound this morning. According to the helpful, page-long summary of results I received when I picked her up, her “left and right medial iliac lymph nodes are sonographically normal measuring 5.1 mm and 3/6 mm in thickness respectively” which is great to know as it saves me the trouble of measuring them myself. “The small intestines maintained normal discrete wall architecture”, as opposed to the no doubt indiscrete if not altogether flamboyant intestinal architecture of the poodle who lives three houses down. “There is a mild hyper echoic outer medullary rim of both kidneys” that apparently confirms she is of extraterrestrial origin. I’d appreciate it if you guys kept it on the down low as the FBI tends to get all proprietary over Earth-based aliens. “However the corticomedullary definition is well maintained”. Well, clearly she’s been working out! Also there “is no evidence of peritoneal effusion” which is a big relief. Not quite as big a relief as I would no doubt experience if I knew what a peritoneal effusion was, but a big relief nevertheless. Hey, the spleen was “of echogenicity throughout”. Not one unechogenicitc part to be found. Beat that, Regis Philbin!
What does it all translate to? Roughly eight hundred dollars. Also, they obtained “fine needle aspirates of the liver parenchyma” (they stuck a needle in her stomach and took a sample of her liver) and we should have the results back in a couple of days. Thanks to all who asked and expressed concern. I’ll keep you posted.
- Peter Kelamis (aka Adam Brody)
When I’ve been interviewed, I’ve often described the people I work with as my extended family. And it’s so true, especially given that I spend more time with them than I do with my actual family. Yep, just like on the home front, we have the squabbling siblings, the creepy uncle, that eccentric aunt, and – amazingly enough – that guy who was a passing acquaintance until the day I found it he was actually my cousin. The SGU version of the latter is Vancouver actor Peter Kelamis who made appearances on SG-1 before landing the role of Adam Brody on Stargate: Universe.
- Peter Kelamis – Battle Ready!
I’ve said it before – our acting bench is deep. And it’s thanks to actors like Peter who never fail to impress. I can’t count the number of times we’ve been sitting in the writers’ room, watching dailies, and had one of Peter’s performances trigger a “Damn! This guy is good!” or the occasional variant “Damn! This guy is funny!”. Good and funny. What more could you ask for? Why, yes, not enough can be said about being a nice guy off the set, and I’m pleased to report that Peter doesn’t disappoint on that count either. One thing I didn’t know about Peter that I learned from fellow actor Patrick Gilmore (and, frankly, doesn’t surprise me at all) is that he is a premiere stand-up comic. The guy is quick-witted – and, like pricey events, prop zats, and an unwieldy fan-made super soldier suit, would make a great addition to any scifi convention.
- Destiny thinkers foreground; Destiny fighters background.
Mailbag:
DasNdanger writes: “Waitaminute! I just noticed you read Wolverine: Blood Debt. How’d you like it (or not)?”
Answer: I liked it fine.
Deni writes: “Elway settled down after only 2 seizures yesterday, but still holding my breath a little today.”
Answer: How’s he doing today?
Anais33 a ecrit: “Allons nous voir ou parler des Furling dans SGU?”
Answer: Non.
Sort of translation: Don’t hold your breath waiting for the furlings to make an appearance in SGU.
Elf a ecrit: “Combient de temps cela met-il aux décorateurs de fabriquer une porte des étoiles ? Et combien en avez-vou fabriqué pour Universe ?”
Answer: Nous avons construit deux pour Univers.
Sort of translation: We constructed two gates for Universe (shipboard and off-world).
AthenasHavoc writes: “ I guess more specifically, do you always know the exact motivation for all the characters? Is it more ambiguous? Or is it just enough to move the story forward?”
Answer: We have a general sense of the character motivations. However, we can’t possibly work out every detail far in advance. Some developments are planned while many evolve from the various storylines.
AthenasHavoc also writes: “Also, I know you’ve mentioned it a few times here, but how often do you guys have those “something’s not quite right” kind of moments?”
Answer: I’m not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean creative disagreements in the room or actual mistakes made re: canon?
Apollo_031 writes: “I read somewhere (probably here) that Amanda Tapping is in the premiere of SGU, so it would seem logical to me that, since she is the commanding officer of the USS George Hammond, you guys would put the George Hammond in the premiere, and not the Odyseey for instance, am I correct?”
Answer: That would be a logical assumption.
Answer: It’s a Daedalus Class ship.
Apollo_031 also writes: “Can I assume that the U.S. are not the only country currently capable of building hyperspace ships? Could i.e. China, France or Germany build them as well?”
Answer: It’s safe to make that assumption. The Korolev was a Russian ship; the Sun Tzu a Chinese ship.
Major D. Davis writes: “1. Is it true Telford will appear in the back half of the first SGU season(there have been hints on LDP’s twitter)?
2. Which episode are you currently shooting? I remember Pain was in prep almost directly after Human finished shooting, so is Lost or Sabotage waiting to film after Pain is shot, or is my math and logic all off and you are shooting both Lost and Sabotage before Pain?”
Answers: 1. Maybe, maybe not. There are suggestions the character will be in the back half. Then again, those suggestions could be misdirects on the part of the production. Of course, this applies to all characters.
2. We wrapped Sabotage yesterday and have moved on to Pain.
Juralas writes: “I just watched the SGU panel at Comic-Con 2009 on youtube and I noticed something…both Brad Wright and Alaina Huffman refer to her character, Tamara Johansen, as “TJ”. Is this something we can expect other characters to call Tamara, or is she just referred to as “TJ” around the set?”
Answer: She’s T.J. to her friends, Lieutenant to everyone else.
Kabra writes: “SO I have a question, does the actor/actress define the character or does the delivery define the character?”
Answer: The character is defined by various contributors – actor, director, writer, producer.
DC writes: “While on your various culinary escapades, have you ever come across a food that you wouldn’t eat not because it sounds like it’d be gross, but on -for lack of better phrasing- moral grounds?”
Answer: Off the top of my head no. That said, there are certain animals I wouldn’t eat if offered. Yes, dolphin comes to mind.
Nadine writes: “Oh, I was wondering: are you planning on attending the Olympics?”
Answer: Nope. Ideally, I’ll be vacationing somewhere without access to Olympic coverage.
JYS writes: “which script got you and Paul the staff position?”
Answer: Scorched Earth. SG-1, season 4.
Seh writes: “What recurring character is gay in Stargate Atlantis? And do you know why the amount of different writers writing episodes has decreased in Stargate since season one of Stargate SG-1?”
Answer: Do you have a guess? When a show is about to start production, many freelancers are auditioned with the purpose of staffing the show. Some writers impress enough to be invited to join the production. Other writers aren’t “the right fit” and may write a script, maybe two, and focus on other productions. Once the show is staffed, those writers who made the cut are the ones who will write the bulk of a season. Occasionally, freelancers will be brought in and given a shot. If they impress and circumstances are favorable, they may be asked to join the writing staff as well. Freelancing is not as easy as it sounds, however – especially not on established shows where staff writers have a huge advantage getting in on the ground floor and being privy to information and production nuances that those on the outside often miss.
Jackie writes: “Would you even consider taking a vacation in NZ?”
Answer: Sure, I’d consider it.
Arctic Goddess writes: “1) Rum or Whiskey?
2) Coke or pepsi?
3) Blue pen or black pen?
4)Gift for Fondy – flowers or chocolate?
5) Vehicle – domestic or imported?
6) Weight training or aerobics?
7) Boutique hotels or chains?
8.Cruise or Flying vacation?”
Answers: 1) Rum
2) Coke
3) Black
4) Flowers
5) Imported
6) Weight training
7) Chains
8) Flying vacation
DasNdanger writes: “Joe – when do you leave for Japan…’cause, ya know…I have to plan my trip to Vancouver accordingly.”
Answer: Sorry. Bad news. The house will be occupied while I’m away. Fondy is flying her family over.
AnneTeldy writes: “ People can only travel one way through a stargate’s wormhole: planet of origin to destination. What happens if a person crosses the event horizon going the wrong way: destination to planet of origin?”
Answer: The gate will spit them back out.
Gilder writes: “Grocery run this evening…and my San Antonio supermarket has Coquitlam blueberries again! IMHO, best blueberries on the planet. They look a tad smaller than past years; do you know if it was a poor season?”
Answer: No, actually, just the opposite. They produced way too many blueberries this season and prices are at an all-time low.
NOT A SGU fan, SGA all the way though also writes: “Only come here now again for ANY or at least hopfully some SGA movie news, nothing more, as I dont like SGU an am not watching it so never bother posting, no reason to.”
Answer: Realistically, you don’t have to bother coming here at all. Any news I post of note eventually makes its way onto the other fan forums, so you can just hang around there instead.
- Rob Cooper at the helm.
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