In addition to spending time with the family, I’ve also spent much of this Montreal trip reuniting with old friends, dining at some fine local restaurants and, whenever possible reuniting with old friends at fine local restaurants. Such was the case the other day when I had dinner with an old high school friend, Lori, who tracked me down via my blog. On sis’s recommendation, we ended up going to Decca 77, a chic restaurant located on downtown Montreal’s Drummond street, on what was the coldest night of my stay so far. We caught up on some 20 years of history over a fine meal and delightfully sassy waitress named Jessica who kept correcting my French. We kicked things off with salmon tartare and a foie gras, then moved onto the mains…
- Seared scallops with dill spaetzle, leeks, glazed salsify, and vanilla-curry sauce. Every component of this dish was wonderful, especially the salsify which is one of those vegetables I rarely come across in non-pickled form.
- Spelt penne rigate, veal cheeks, preserved lemon, arugula and pecorino. I was undecided between the scallops and the penne so, in the end, decided to both, ordering the pasta “for the table”. And I’m glad I did. One of those dishes you keep on eating well past the point of satiety.
Then, onto dessert…
- Chocolate Tasting: macaron, ice cream & mousse. Looks and sounds a lot better than it actually was. The macaron portion was incredibly chewy and detracted from the whole.
Since I’ve been remiss, let’s play some catch-up with the mailbag:
Thornyrose writes: “On a more serious note, your mental health is of increasing concern. A CBS movie of the week?”
Answer: And Judge Judy. But I drew the line at Cirque de Soleil. I sooner punch a clown that watch him.
Winst writes: “Does this relationship news somehow help to explain the whole somewhat secretive…Brie is just “visiting” situation?”
Answer: Ah, you see – the pieces of the puzzle all come together with the final reveal. Now THAT’S good writing!
Ian writes: “Don’t know if it has been asked. But Eli found the gun very quickly. Almost as if he knew it was there. Was it intended for us to believe that Eli knew the gun was there and he was in on Rush’s plan?”
Answer: Eli was definitely not in on Rush’s plan. I believe we come in on Scott and Eli mid-search, thus suggesting we don’t know how long they’ve been at it.
Tom writes: “1; Destiny’s travelling. We’ve always known and we see from the map in Air (1) that this ship is a galaxy traveller. But how much? I guess the simplest way to ask this is has the 1st half of Season 1 all been in the same galaxy, or is every time it jumps down from FTL is it because it has reached a new galaxy?”
Answer: All of season one – to date – has seen Destiny traveling through one galaxy.
Tom also writes: “2; Desitnation gates. I’m fine with one way or the other Destiny knows what planet to dial. But what makes me scratch my head is a line from Air about there were only 4 local address available. I could easly accept due to these “wheel gates” being the earliest version they have limited range and can’t dial the full Galatic network. However, if that is the case and Destiny does jump a galaxy every episode, that seems like a lot of gates not explored. Or if the “wheel gates” have standard full galatic range, then the seed ships only drop 4 gates a galaxy? That seems like a lot of space in each galaxy as unexplored.”
Answer: Or you’re looking at limited range AND one mighty big galaxy.
Tom also writes: “3: Finally, IF the first half of Season One has all been in a single galaxy, then there logically has to be journey from one galaxy to the next. I would be curious to see if there are plans for an episode or two to be featured while Destiny is in the ‘void’ between two galaxys, where presumably there is no place to gate to.”
Answer: Check out Sabotage, coming up in the second half of season one.
poundpuppy29 writes: “Is there going to be more action in the second half of SGU and I don’t mean sex by the way I like the personal stuff but I would like my scifi to have some action too?”
Answer: Yep. Aliens and space battles in the first episode back, #11: Space, followed by intrigue, mystery, loss, exploration, chaos, revelations, and a big two part finale reminiscent of golden age SG-1.
poundpuppy29 also writes: “Who out of the current characters do you like to write for and who is hard for you?”
Answer: I think I’ll need to get a few more scripts under my belt before I can really answer this one. So far, I’ve enjoyed writing for all of the characters.
Jenny Robin writes: “In other news, it’s been too long since I’ve posted anything here, so this is my ‘warm-up’ entry.”
Answer: Welcome back. Please make sure your dues are up to date.
Jonathanquirk writes: “So, what did you think of “A Matter of Honor” (yes, I recognised the cover)? Or does the fact that you’re giving it away say everything?”
Answer: I have the utmost respect for any author who can sit down and write a novel. Alas, I haven’t read any of the Stargate tie-in novels – my to-read pile is huge enough as it is – but I’ve heard very good things. The book in question was one of two that my friend purchased and brought back with him from London.
Arctic Goddess writes: “My problem… coming up with a plausible reason for the security system to fail and several of the prisoners to escape.”
Answer: Solar flare? Good?
MWStover writes: “The other option (what I call the Captain James T. Skywalker Solution) is have your protag escape through sheer power of Awesome.”
Answer: Better.
Shadow Step writes: “What if he does something nobody would expect in a million years?”
Answer: Like break out into song or spontaneously combust?
dasNdanger writes: “Joey, speaking of Amazing Stories – do you (or does anyone) remember that episode? It was called Thanksgiving, starring David Carradine, and was based on a short story called, Hey You Down There.”
Answer: Don’t recall that one. I do recall the episode in which an actor, playing a mummy in some shlock horror movie, gets the call that his wife is in labor, hops into a car, and makes for the hospital – only to have the car break down. He starts wandering the countryside in full mummy look, scaring the crap out of the locals – and eventually running into an actual mummy. Great stuff.
Luis writes: “Happy New Year Any news on the comic book series????”
Answer: We’ve stalled and I’d like to take the project elsewhere but my agent still thinks this deal can get done.
Chevron7 writes: ”
1. What kind of attack? Traditional ship battle or biological warfare or attack on the systems?
2. Does Destiny have any weapons systems? Are they operational? Were they even tested by the Ancients?
3. Does Destiny’s sensors detect the attack and power up a previously closed off and non-operational section of the ship?
4. Does Destiny pre-date drones and ZPMs (particularly because its powered by solar energy)? What kind of weapons would they use before drones? Would it be less elegant than the drone?
5. Would they be locked out of the weapons systems and passwords only known to the ancients?
6. Would they attempt to use the stones to get scientific or military assistance?
7. Are they relying too much on Eli? Can he handle the pressure?
8. Do we meet the commander of the ship attacking the Destiny?
9. Does the shuttle have cloaking technology? Can the Destiny crew attack from within?
10. How the did enemy find them? Did the enemy come out of the blue or have they been stalking the Destiny?
11. Do we lose?”
Answers: 1. I was referring to MY attack on the scene.
2. Yep. And they’ll come into play first episode back from the break: Space.
3. N.A.
4. I’m not sure about less elegant, but certainly different.
5. Nope, we have full access to weapons systems.
6. In special cases, sure.
7. There will be times when Eli will certainly feel they’re relying on Eli too much. And, yes, he does feel the pressure.
8. Stay tuned.
9. The shuttle does not possess cloaking technology.
10. Stay tuned.
11. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Just like real life.
avabird writes: “This is my first post, but I have been lurking for about 8 months, after becoming acquainted with a few regular blog readers. This is one of my goals for 2010, to be brave and stop lurking here.”
Answer: Welcome aboard. Please keep your arms and legs inside during take-off and landing.
Eric.Stewart writes: “After he asked a series of questions, confirming my identity (I supposed that was the goal), a nice conversation followed. I was surprised how confortable I was !! It was as if I was talking to a long time friend. It felt different then conversing on the blog…. one major difference was that I could see his reaction to what I was saying….”
Answer: Like when you reminisced about the firs time you watched Terms of Endearment and then I burst into tears? Yes, I’m sensitive like that. See, now the next time you run into me, we WILL be old friends.
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