Today, I completed all of my last-minute preparations for Akemi’s arrival. I shined my shoes, steam-vacced the theater room carpet, did laundry, organized the dvd room, and, most importantly, bathed the dogs so that they could be smelling their best. Earlier today, on the prospective comic book front, I completed a breakdown of the first four issue story arc which will serve as the springboard to the comic book series and, if all goes as planned, the two hour pilot for the television series (or possibly the first feature in an ongoing film series). Yes, it’s SF. Yes, it’s colorful character-driven action-adventure. And, yes, it’s fun. More details to come…
Yesterday was actually quite nice and, as is customary on sunny days, the dogs congregate on that lone patch of sunlight by the front door and stare at me until I feel guilty and take them out.
Bubba goes nuts for walks. On this occasion, he’s relatively low-key. Maybe the camera made him self-conscious.
Lulu is given to doing this weird landed-paratrooper-behind-enemy-lines-advance.
Umm, yeah. As it turns out, Canada didn’t actually earn that gold medal. It was given to us by the judges (http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/vancouver/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Aussies-won-t-accept-Canadian-beating-Begg-Smith;_ylt=AjcVUWejt3GkMtMhLLXl4jJAtLV_?urn=oly,219819). Let’s face it – judged events are a load of crap as evidenced by past scandals and suspect scorings. Yes, people generally dismiss the criticisms because they’re too fixated on being happy for the winner who, inevitably, sacrificed so much to get the gold – as opposed to all of the other athletes who sacrificed just as much, came up short, and thus don’t deserve our sympathy.
Speaking of which – hey, look what I found! http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/957381/the_five_greatest_olympic_scoring_scandals.html?cat=14 Of course the IOC is always quick to act in such scandalous instances. For instance, when Roy Jones Jr. was robbed of a gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics “the later 1997 IOC investigation swept the scandal under the rug”. Uh, okay. That wasn’t a good example. However, the IOC proved itself much more proactive when, in response to the 2002 skating scandal, “the scandal was partly defused by upgrading the Canadians to Gold, resulting in two Gold Medal-winning teams that year.” Isn’t that wonderful? We’re all winners! What’s particularly vexing is that these judges face little in the way of any real consequences. In the case of the 1988 boxing scandal, there was no official finding of wrongdoing. In the case of the case of the 2002 skating scandal, two of the judges were barred from participating in the 2006 Olympics. A lousy suspension?! How about replacing them with actual competent and/or ethical judges?
And then there’s this sobering article from The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/james-lawton-vancouverrsquos-quick-descent-from-high-ground-1899592.html) that calls Canada on its poor sportsmanship – among other things.
You seem to have mislaid a couple of hounds – or do you walk them in two groups?
They were really happy to be going for a walk with ‘daddy’.
Susan
Thanks for the doggie videos! You didn’t fail me this time! Only…I’m pretty sure your pups wouldn’t win Best in Show…unless, of course, they were being judged on personality alone. 😀
Also, thanks for the comic book update! Any moody long-locked albino types in it per chance?? *makes puppy eyes…because I know you love puppy eyes*
So…you’re going through a lot of trouble for Akemi. Hmmmm…wasn’t she the one with the green shoes in Tokyo?? Hmmmm…
Question – if I was coming to stay for a while, would you go through just as much fuss, or would you hand me a mop and pail the second I walked in the door and order me to get to work? Wait. I think your entry from the other day pretty much answers that for me… 😛
How’s mom and sis, btw? All doing well? Hope so! Give them my best!
Nites!
das
I’ll be having nightmares about Lulu tonight!
Yer brood is hard core. All I have is a cat that if someone broke in, he’d try and nuzzle the poor trespasser to death. Not a pretty way to go.
And hey, Joe. Alaina Huffman just posted up some twitterpics of her newest addition wearing … an Icarus Base onsie!! Any chance that the little one might get an interview? Or a walk-on appearance on show, what with having an Icarus Base onsie and all?
Perhaps little Charley-Jane can be hanging out in the communication stones room and accidentally get inhabited by, oh I dunno, Eli? Comedic gold there, I’m telling ya.
Joe,
After reading your links about the Olympics judging scandals, I have concluded that the writers and producers of SGU could get together and judge some of the Winter Olympic events in 2014. I don’t see how you all could do worse than the professional judges normally employed.
Joe:
I am injured…I am hurt. After all our hard work, you go around and clean up again after us? My mom used to do that to me when I was 8.
Do you have any information on what Vancouver and Whistler plan to do with the venues once the games are over?
P
Although, I ask: how else can they be judged? Not everything should be based on speed alone (unless you’re running). If the sport involves more than merely making it past the finish line first, it requires judges. Alas, yes, there can be judging issues, then. But frankly, I’m surprised there isn’t more often. Growing up in the world of figure skating, I have suffered at the hands of judges, rules and various other issues (and probably, excelled, too because of them). Likewise, though, skating isn’t just about completing 3 turns in the air (or it shouldn’t be, in my opinion) and the only way to judge artistry is subjective.
Until we build an entirely impartial robot judge, that is.
Yay, puppies!
Sorry Joe, but I’m going to have to call bull on the whole “not earning” the medal bit. I watched those games, and Bilodeau won it fair and square. The Aussies are just being a bunch of sore losers.
Besides, no one’s at all unhappy about seeing Begg-Smith being knocked down from his top spot. Perhaps the public might sympathize more with him if he didn’t run a business of selling malicious software.
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the puppy videos and pic’s! They are so darn cute! But Lulu looks a little evil with her eyes all lit up like that….Ohhhh!
I second Brandon’s comment on Alaina Huffman newest addition wearing an Icarus Base onsie! David Blue trying to act like a baby is in habiting his body would be just hilarious! BTW… where can mere mortals buy such items??? Are they for sale anywhere?
I was saddened to hear of the cancellation of the studio tour for the April Creation Convention! I was looking forward to showing my visiting Sister the place where I had such a great time last October when I was privileged to watch the filming of Incursion! I am flying her to Seattle from New Hampshire to attend the Convention with me! The tour was and still is the only reason to attend this convention. So Sad!!!
Well…I’m off to cry in my spilled milk! Toddles!
hey joe, i heard about a producer, or someone in a similar capacity, who did a stage at fuel a couple of years back…was that you by any chance?
Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing the fun dog
videos and pictures.
Hey Joe…YES I watched the Survivor premiere and am very excited for this season…and I still think Russell is gonna kick ass again.
Speaking of being a very proud Canadian…you know what makes me a VERY PROUD American…seeing the US Hockey Women kicking ass against China on Chinese New Year with a score of 12-1.
….and…seeing Seth Westcott inch out Canada at the end of the race in Snowboarding Cross to win BACK TO BACK gold medals!! WOOTWOOT
I hope Canada and US meet in Women’s hockey…would be amazing if it was for gold!!
Who’d have thought Bubba could move so fast? Hilarious. And Lulu’s low crawl evokes memories of Gomer Pyle(hey, I was a kid then and HAD to watch it). Both videos and still shots really made my day, um night, uh, early morning?
Far as the Olympics go, I can’t recall a single one where there has not been some sort of controversy over judges’ scoring. I do remember the basketball scandal, and I believe that to this day the American team has refused to accept their silver. And the inbred corruption of the Olympic committee puts political kleptocracies around the world to shame.
As far as the home team advantage issue goes, I’d again assume that’s a pretty par-for-course situation. And while the death was tragic, there are inherent risks on laying back on a piece of wood with sharp blades and screaming down a hill at over 80mph. If the Canadians have managed hundreds of trial runs without injury, I can’t fault the course. Sometimes saftey margins seem bigger than they are until something like this happens.
Glad to hear you finished your preparations, and hope you have a great time showing off your dogs and your city to Akemi. Thanks for sharing, and hope she is ready for the pictures we’ll be begging for.
Hey Joe,
Are you insinuating that “my assigned job” wasn’t done to specifications. ha Look again, perfect…what needs to be done NOW. hehehe
I LOVE your pups. I love pup stories, pics, VIDEOS…OMG they are so cute. More please…
Loving the Olympics too. Can’t wait for the hockey games to begin. I am rooting for Canada. Tomorrow night..where will you be? Go CANADA…GOLD!
Best to you Joe,
Thanks for the updates,
Always,
Cheryl 🙂
Thanks for the pupdates and the vid, made my morning:)
Being totally cynical I can’t help but feel that the spirit of the Games is now completely subverted in the name of the almighty dollar…..like everything else.
Spectre said:
That’s a sweeping statement isn’t it? Very misguided too. Australians are not sore losers and I take offence at your comment.
I was thoroughly embarrassed by Eddie McGuire’s segment on Australian TV where he had experts on to analyse both runs to see if Begg-Smith was screwed by the judges.
You know what they found? The Canadian won fair and square. He wasn’t as clean but he was faster and that ultimately was the difference.
Don’t judge everyone by what a couple of officials and journalists say.
Cheers, Chev
It’s not as if the original Olympics didn’t have their scandals either. Unfortunately it seems to be part of the human condition.
IMHO the biggest scandal was the breaking of the rules barring professional athletes from participating in their sport. I have no problems even withpros participating in a totally different sport, like a NBA player taking up fencing.
not all aussies are sore losers – I just wished Begg-Smith deemed to smile when he was announced as the silver medalist.
He was even booed by some in the crowd – maybe for his defection? I would rather Australia not won a medal at all if the athlete who was competing under our flag couldn’t even show that he was pleased to be representing us for crying out loud!
This one take on it down under;
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/winter-olympics/why-mr-miserable-leaves-us-icy-cold-20100215-o2zy.html?autostart=1
One of our poodles did the same walk Lulu did but inside the house…called it “The War Crawl”
Hello Joe,
Thanks for sharing videos and pictures of your pups. They are so cute! I wish I could reach through the screen and give them a hug.
hihi^^
Lulu’s training for the casting of SGU’s villain 😉
They do that every Olympics! Everyone loves a conspiracy.
Loved the dog pictures. It looks like they are getting used to Brie’s absence.
How is your mom?
Congrats on your comic book progress!
I think I’m catching my hubby’s cold. Gonna go to the pool and steam it out!
Don’t get me started on judges. Let’s just say athletes train years, for hours a day and then they’re just supposed to not get all whiney in the name of sportsmanship if a judge can’t watch what actually happens in the relatively short amount of time in which the matches take place – ugh.
Hi Joe, the dogs are adorable! Around here, nobody can say “PetSmart”, “PetCo”, “walk” or “ride” without getting pretty much the same response 🙂 Elway’s really loud and does this weird growling/gurgling sound and poor Molly “barks” until she gets whatever it is you’ve offered. She was debarked when she lived in a puppy mill (bastards), so it’s a funky little sound that’ll drive you nuts. Lulu’s gorgeous, but what IS that weird walk thing she does?
Not fair… your pugkids make me want one for myself!
Yes, but @ArticGoddess notice he didn’t redo the tubs. That was my job. I must have done a really good job.
Thank you Joe for making me howl with laughter, especially with Lulu. Paratrooper behind enemy lines. That is what I feel like right now. The air down here has been heavy with the looming Friday deadline coming and another school meeting tomorrow. It was good to come up for a laugh. I will try to keep that video in my mind when things get too dense.
Hey Joe,
Was channel surfing this weekend, and found myself watching Iron Chef America (“Ace of Cakes” Duff vs. Chef Michael Simmons).
Was wondering with working previously with Mark Dacascos (The Chairman), ever have an opportunity to be a guest judge on Iron Chef?
If so, any dream match-up you would like to judge?
Don’t worry I finished up in your library before watching TV.
Hello,
You know, I just started watching SGU on blu-ray, and I am enjoying it much more. The second time around! I like the handheld feel of the camera work, and even like how that same look was carried over to the vis-effect shots of Destiny.
Once again, you guys have done it, and put out a great reference disc! The picture is amazing! And the DTS audio: wow!!! I love the subtlety of Joel’s score, and the ambient audio…
Thank you!
I do have a question though, why put both versions of Air on the blu-ray? I think it plays much better as a 2 and a half hour movie.
Best wishes,
Bryan M. White.
So in the video I noticed a crucial thing that Vancouver seems to be missing. Seeing as the WINTER Olympics are there, shouldn’t there be, I don’t know, some snow?
Das: That is the way romance usually starts out; they cook/clean for you 😉 .
Coucou Joseph! ça va ?
yah! Merci pour ces videos ♥…..j’adore entendre votre voix XD ^^, vous avez l’air d’avoir une très belle maison.
Mon chien aussi devient fou quand il sait qu’on va le promener, mais une fois parti, il tire tellement la laisse que c’est plus nous mais lui qui nous proménes.
Merci pour les liens concernant les Jo, ils sont très interessant 🙂
Gros bisou!
Anais.
You mentioned before that you were previously a cat slave.
Do you have any funny cat stories?
My two are brother and sister but one is long-haired and the other short-haired. They are indoor cats as I live in the centre of the town. They are my furrbabies.
8)
I know this is a bit late, but last night as I passed in front of the television 2 news reports grabbed my attention:
1. Earl Jones, 11 years of prison. HUM! not bad!!!
2. first Canadian gold medal, in mongul skiing. After a quick google search on the discipline, I recall thinking, “not bad for a first category!!!”
Now the nice thing about this first medal , first GOLD medal , is that it was obtained by Alex Bilodeau a MONTREALER from Québec!!! How exciting and very 8)
woke up this morning and realised there was nothing in my fridge 😕 Could have gone to the supermarket but opted for a cheaper option… my mother’s fridge 😀
Once at her place, luckily she was at work, looked for the fish she said she had bought, but couln’t find it.
I don’t think she meant canned tuna fish, or sardines!!! I examined the other options available. Pork, beef, chicken, turkey. Did I mention all these meats are uncooked and frozen !!!!
Just when I was about to leave to buy take out, I took a quick glence at myself in the mirror and decided to go for TURKEY, the frozen one. ….Been working on it for the past hour, now just put it in the oven to give it a nice roasted look. It smells pretty good 8)
I leave 10 minutes away from my mother’s place… So does my brother. My sister went from 1h to 30 minutes away. My mother is very pleased. So are we!!!
Hi Joe!
Love the pup vids! Bubba acts like my Sarah going for a walk.
There are crappy crap judges and crappy crap athletes and although I don’t necessarily believe in “everyone’s a winner,” sometimes things just come down that way to try and balance the piles of poo lying about.
Not sure any of that makes sense, but I do hope you’re having a joyeux Mardi Gras!
eddy
Today I was officially labelled a cat abuser. I’m not too worried about it since the cat was the one accusing me. I believe the charges filed were starvation and involuntary imprisonment. No food in his bowl, and wouldn’t let him outside, too cold.
Always good to have an update on the doggies. I was impressed by your ability to keep the camera at a decent angle while locking the door.
I don’t know if it’s broadcast in Canada, but yesterday and today is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Do the puppies like to watch other dogs on TV?
That figure skating scandal also caused a complete change in how skating is scored. Now, they have a system where they are awarded points for what they do/don’t acheive. Judges don’t give placements anymore.
My older daughter does Color Guard. (Just google it if you don’t know what it is.) The judging for it can be very subjective and political.
The luge track has gotten very controversial since the Georgian athlete was killed.
And from what I can see of the place from the vids, looks like we all did a smashing job of cleaning up the place. 😉
Bubba has a great sense of comedic timing. You can tell Lulu’s jealous with the way she hams it up, but you either got it you don’t.
First time I come to comment and it’s a post about dogs. I love dogs! Maximus reminds me a little of my youngest pup, Chai (he’s a Shih Tzu, although he looks like an Ewok). I’m such a sucker for dogs. I wish my dogs behaved so well without a leash.
I have a Stargate question.
I’ve been watching the Propworx Stargate auctions on ebay and they have me a bit concerned about the SGA and SG-1 movies.
I knew there was going to be a lot of SG-1 stuff. But since a movie would bring in a whole new storyline, selling off a bunch of Jaffa items, costumes, the Ark of Truth etc, doesn’t seem like a big deal. Selling parts of the Stargate is more of a ‘huh’ thing.
(On a slightly funny note, they’re selling so much of Dr. Jackson’s office items that it looks like our favorite archeologist is having a rummage sale.)
What has surprised me the most is how much Atlantis stuff has been/ is being sold. [Thus far] 2 Wraith stunner pistols, Wraith stunner rifles and staff, Ronon’s stunt blaster and many highly recognizable pieces of the Atlantis set and Gateroom. And the Prop Store of London has already sold the Ancient control chair.
I know props are replaceable, but, unless I’m wrong, replacing these props would go against the budget of any movie and such costs would play a part in deciding whether or not to go ahead with a movie.
My question is [finally], what do you think about the prop sales?
“chevron7
Spectre said:
Sorry Joe, but I’m going to have to call bull on the whole “not earning” the medal bit. I watched those games, and Bilodeau won it fair and square. The Aussies are just being a bunch of sore losers.
That’s a sweeping statement isn’t it? Very misguided too. Australians are not sore losers and I take offence at your comment.
I was thoroughly embarrassed by Eddie McGuire’s segment on Australian TV where he had experts on to analyse both runs to see if Begg-Smith was screwed by the judges.
You know what they found? The Canadian won fair and square. He wasn’t as clean but he was faster and that ultimately was the difference.
Don’t judge everyone by what a couple of officials and journalists say.
Cheers, Chev”
Could not have put it better myself, Chev!!
Oh Joe, I LOVE your furkids…. so cute, and the para-crawl just cracks me up! 😀
Ooo, how long before the comics breakdown becomes a paper-in-hand copy, do you know? (Sorry, I just read ’em, and don’t know how long the whole ‘concept to finished book’ cycle takes).
Joe, who walks who? I think the dogs take you for a walk.
Sorry Joe, but your Olympic humdrumming ain’t gonna ruin it for me. 😛
Especially now, when Vancouver’s very own MAELLE RICKER JUST WON GOLD FOR WOMEN’S SNOWBOARD CROSS!!! WOOOHOOO!!!
McGill finals are crazy this week!!! Do you miss doing finals and schoolwork? For all my complaining, I have a feeling I will when I finish…
You can get some dog cams (yes really) you attach to the collar – as they run around they make the weirdest movies *g*
Opps, I meant midterms.
Everybody needs at least one possessed pet photo. That blue glowy-eyed shot sure falls into that category 😉
And now our Men’s Hockey team is TROUNCING Norway.
Life is good.
Still looking forward to that comic project.
Scottish Terrier won the Westminster – she was a beautiful little dog, I must say! Still… I was rooting for the Frenchie.
das
Why do we always ask the dogs if they want to go for a walk? Of course they do!
We now differentiate between locations to see what they like the most. “Want to go for a swim?” gets an insane reaction. They love swimming in the river. http://twitpic.com/10x0ph
“Want to go and see Gran?” (My Mum) gets lots of yelps as they realise the night will be filled with hanging out with the dogs at Mum and Dad’s, eating leftovers and possibly a chance to get cranky at some kangaroos. Plus lots of hugs from their Gran and my Dad (he refuses to be called Gramps, but he’s coming around).
Sorry Joe, The French Bulldog did not win the Westminster Dog Show. It was beat out by the Scottish Terrier.
Meant to say congrats on the comic book project moving forward too.