October 31, 2009: That Long Overdue Rant – And A Behind-The-Scenes Vid From Water

So I walked into the office the other day to discover a glowering Carl seated at his desk.  Now, usually, it takes him the better part of the morning to work his way up to a full glower but, on this particular day, Carl was already there the second I walked in.  When I asked…

October 30, 2009: No, not yet! Spinning along! The perils of being an extra! And yet another mailbag!

Nah, I don’t want to get into it today either.  Soon though. Despite another sleepless night, I was able to contribute to a fairly productive afternoon spin session in which we cemented the first half of season 2 and worked out further details on those initial five stories.  Looks like I won’t be doing episode…

October 29, 2009: Rescheduling My Rant! Final Day of Production! More Mailbag!

I can’t remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep.  Even though I’m exhausted by the time I turn off the lights, I’m so wound up that it takes me forever to actually doze off.  And, when I finally, I’m only out for an hour or two before I’m awake again. I’ll eventually…

October 28, 2009: Another see-ya-later, this one to Jamil Walker Smith. More spinning! More Mailbag!

Today we bid a fond see-ya-later to the wonderful Jamil Walker-Smith, SGU’s resident warrior - Sergeant Ronald Greer.  It seems like just yesterday we were watching his F bomb-studded audition stream (THAT got our attention!), marveling at his incredible onscreen presence.  His unique charm completely won us over (and him the part), then continued to…

October 27, 2009: Production on season one winds down as preparations for a possible season two start up.

Boy, that was fast!  It seems like just yesterday we were touring the half-constructed Destiny set over on Stage 4, watching it all come together and working on scripts for Stargate: Universe’s first season.  Suddenly, it’s nine months later, we’re finishing up production on year one and already thinking ahead to next season. This week,…

October 26, 2009: The December Book of the Month Club Selection! Catching Up With The Mailbag!

Over the course of the past three years I’ve been doing this blog, fans have sent me all sorts of goodies: cards, cookies, chocolate, chestnuts, pictures, lint rollers, shirts, videos, CD’s and the occasional highly recommended read.  About a year ago, someone (Please, refresh my memory whoever you are) sent me a pack of books. …

October 25, 2009: The SGU Season 1 Wrap Party!

So, last night was the Stargate: Universe wrap party.  The writing department kicked things off with dinner at Blue Water. We lost my writing partner Paul and his wife somewhere between main course and dessert (he was feeling under the weather) , then headed up the street to Goldfish, the site of the bash. Around…

October 24, 2009: A Guest Rant and Some News of Note!

Today's guest rant comes compliments of my writing partner, Paul, who phoned me up last night to slam the Canadian news for its insistence on playing fast and loose with the rules of time travel.  Multiple times over the past few days, CTV has referred to Ancient Greece as though it were a potential vacation…

October 23, 2009: The Destiny Shuttle! A Super-Splendiferous Mailbag!

Le Mailbag du Jour: Kiwiclare writes: “Oh Joe, that video was brilliant. How did you keep a straight face? Poor Carl!!” Answer: Keeping a straight face was ease.  The tricky part was keeping my face from blossoming to a rosy red.  That stuff is killer. RebeccaH. Writes: “You do realize Carl Binder is never going…

October 22, 2009: Julia Benson! Jennifer Spence! Birthday Swag! The Weird Food Purchase of the Day!

Well, hey!  Look whose IMDB starmeter has skyrocketed 360% this week!  None other than SGU's Second Lieutenant Vanessa James, Julia Benson (formerly Anderson).  Yes, she's gorgeous - in addition to being a total sweetheart.   AND a wonderful actress, which you'll find out for yourself in the coming weeks. Anyway, in addition to joining the…

October 21, 2009: Wasn’t it just the other week that somebody asked me for my opinion on the state of healthcare in Canada?

Hey, remember that scene in Sicko, the Michael Moore documentary, where the director visit a Canadian emergency room and discovers short waiting times, thorough care, and happy patients pleased as punch with our tax-based universal health care system?  Well, it bore little resemblance to my own experiences but, given that it’s been years since I…

October 20, 2009: Last Night’s Episode of House = Very Confusing!

As most of you know, I love House and rarely miss an episode.  That being said, I had no idea what was going on in last night’s installment.  I’ll attribute part of my confusion to the fact that, for some inexplicable reason, my DVR started recording well into the show.   As a result, I had…

October 19, 2009: Author Paul Jessup Answers Your Questions!

Talk about a quick turnaround!  I sent off the fan/reader questions to Paul Jessup on Saturday and, this morning, I found his responses sitting in my inbox.  What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  Still, the effort is much appreciated.  Those of you who've been following this blog's online Book of the Month Club…

October 18, 2009: Another Mucho Mailbag!

My fellow writer-producer Carl Binder is taking me out for a birthday dinner (Mine, I'm assuming; not his.), so I'm posting reasonably early today and turning things over to another much mailbag. Mailbag: AnneTeldy writes: “I really dislike the use of the Stones for “family time”. It makes no sense. Mrs. Young, for example, wasn’t…

October 17, 2009: A Big-Time Jump! A Doggy Dilemma! Some Atlantis Stills! And An Extra Chunky Mailbag!

Well, hoowee!  I just checked my blog stats and discovered that my traffic has jumped by a whopping 40%.  What gives?  Strangely, nothing out of the ordinary in the referrers or incoming links.  And then I noticed the 2800+ visitors who came to this blog via a search engine.  And the search term used? Stargate:…