I’ve lived in Vancouver 11+ years, yet when it comes time to recommending fun activities for first-time visitors, I draw a blank. I don’t ski, skate, hike, or bike, nor have I visited any of the city’s major landmarks. I have attended the occasional festivals (so long as they were food-related) but I’ve rarely ventured out of my comfort zone (ie. my house, car, a restaurant or department store). But this month will be different! I’ve got a list of ongoing local events and YOU’RE going to help me choose which one I’ll be attending.
So far, I’ve narrowed it down to –
Interlacement at 75 – The Greater Vancouver Weavers and Spinners Guild: “To celebrate all they have achieved in the past 75 years and to look forward to the future, the guild is holding a symposium focusing on their core activities of weaving and spinning. The symposium week will end with the celebration party opening their exhibition of “scarves” at the Seymour Art Gallery.”
Espalier (course): “Espalier is a pruning technique for training fruit trees into interesting shapes.”
Vancouver Mandolin Workshop: “Improve your technique and learn more about the history of this beautiful instrument.”
Lez Hookup Is Hooking Up Coquitlam: “Lez Hookup will be holding a Speed Dating event in the Tri-Cities.”
Irises (lecture): “Enjoy an illustrated overview of the iris in art, history, horticulture, and the Botanical and Nitobe Gardens at UBC.”
Gong Meditation: “The beauty of the gong is its tremendous potential for healing and rejuvenation. Because the gong covers the full spectrum of sound, it vibrates all the cells, bones and organs.”
The other events listed are a little out there and don’t warrant a mention.
Hey, look who dropped by the office this afternoon….
- Ella Gov’na! The chimney sweeps take a break to film their special feature.
- It’s like YOUR on t.v. and they’re watching YOU!
So, what’re you all doing tonight?
Trick question!!! You’re all watching Incursion II, the big Stargate: Universe season finale!
But not before phoning your friends to tell to do the same!
Mailbag:
Jeremy writes: “1. Will there ever be an extended opening credit sequence like Sg1?(sorry if question was already asked)
2 Whats the key to writting dialogue for the characters? (i suck at writting dialogue for my own hobby projects)”
Answers: 1. Alas, no plans to produce one.
2. “Be” the character. Decide what needs to be said, find their voice, and say it. Also – and this is something many first time writers have a problem with – be conversational. More often than not, people don’t say exactly what’s on their mind all the time. Don’t make your scene an info dump. Create a believable conversation by having it build, finding a natural rhythm in the back and forth between your characters.
ytimynona writes: “You all (actors, writers, producers, Craig who tweets as SyFy, etc) say that to help out our show and keep it on the air we should watch live. Well, that counts for NOTHING if we don’t have Nielson boxes.”
Answer: Untrue. While things like DVD and iTune sales may not impact the network’s decision in SGU’s case, they are very important elements to the studio (who are the key contributor to the show’s production). Also, by watching and, hopefully, enjoying, you’ll be inclined to tell friends who will check out the show and, hopefully, enjoy as well and get the word out to their friends. The more the word spreads, the more people will tune in (Nielsen viewers and non Nielsen viewers alike), and allow us to grow our audience. A very good thing.
SpectreFire writes: “1) Are secondary characters like Becker, Boone or even Dunning going to get more screen time and more things to do in the 2nd season? (provided they survive the season finale).
2) Are any plans to promote some of the more prolific secondary characters like Brody, Volker, James, etc to a regular slot?”
Answers: 1) We’ve got a pretty big cast, so we’ll be concentrating on our main players.
2) No – but this doesn’t mean they won’t see some significant action/screen time in season two.
Cat writes: “Joe, you’ve lived in Vancouver how long and you still don’t know what a Class 5 license entails? Look on the back of yours, it’s probably a class 5 as well.”
Answer: I’m licensed to drive one of this tiny clown cars?
Becky writes: “If for any reason SG were to go away, what would you envision yourself doing (professionally) going forward. Would you develop a different sci fi show – or do you see yourself writing for a different genre – say comedy or even police procedural type stuff?”
Answer: Paul and I have just closed a deal to write a comic book series for a major comic book publisher. The project originally envisioned as a SF television series, one I’ve been working on for several years now. We’ve been sitting on the pilot script for a while and eventually elected to go the comic book route as we felt it would allow us to a) do something different, b) produce something that didn’t impose on our Stargate commitment, c) have the creative freedom to tell the story we want to tell. Ideally, once established as a comic book series (we’d kick off with a four-issue arc), we would like to develop it as television series as well (maybe even a movie). We also have a few other pilot scripts kicking around that we’ll go out with eventually. Working on Stargate has been a lot of fun and rewarding in many ways, but it’s also been very taxing and I wouldn’t mind a change of pace, even if it’s only for a little while.
Kymm writes: “I loved how you came up with the name for the new character Henri Thibodeau.”
Answer: Bad news on the Thibodeau front. Because he’s never mentioned by name in my script – and IS mentioned by name twice in the second part of the mid-season two-parter, Paul has decided to with Baras. Baras?
Kymm also writes: “How many episodes in total for Season 2?”
Answer: 20.
Kymm also writes: “So at this point, in time, are you in the I Hate This Blog phase, or I Like This Blog phase? Or is it more on a day-to-day basis…… I don’t wanna post todayyyyyyyyyy *whine*”
Answer: Oh, it’s definitely day-to-day.
Kymm also writes: “I don’t recall you ever having a good rant.”
Answer: Really? You MUST be new here.
Michael Jones writes: “How much as a writer does having a standing set that you can walk around does writing the action that takes place in that set? Do you think that standing sets give you a better feel for the way a story should flow?”
Answer: Depends on the set. If I’m writing a scene that takes place in one of our standing sets, I don’t need to make the trip over to Stage 4 for a refresher. If, on the other hand, I’m writing a complicated scene that takes place in our new set – as was the case with Resurgence – then I will head down and walk through the action (or, at the very least, consult the plans helpfully provided to us by Playback).
E writes: “Just for kicks, what kind of notes do other writers usually add? Like, ‘she wouldn’t say that’ or ‘the gun can’t shoot that far’ or ‘Why didn’t Eli turn the night vision on’… ?”
Answer: Everything from pointing out simple spelling errors to requests that necessitate a significant rewrite on certain sections of the script. And, yes, logic rules.
JulieAloha writes: “Okay, what’s your deal with mangoes?”
Answer: https://josephmallozzi.com/2007/01/21/january-20-2007/
Sean D. writes: “How do your dogs behave around cats?”
Answer: If they’re in a pack, like most dogs. If they’re alone – depends on the dog. Maximus was buddies with the cat owned by a previous dog nanny. They would sit side by side on the back porch, sunning themselves.
Sean D. also writes: “Will the significance of the number 46, as discovered in episode “Human”, be revisited in season 2 of SGU?”
Answer: Perhaps in time.
Daniel Fleming writes: “When will Stargate Universe season two be aired?”
Answer: This fall.
dasNdanger writes: “However, don’t you think that the blog followers give you something in return, perhaps spark your own imagination?”
Answer: Sure. My dialogue with you regulars has been very rewarding.
Sean writes: “1. If another Icarus tpye planet was able to be found by the alliance then why did stargate command not have a ship out all this time looking for one in order to send troops and supplies.
2. Jack asked the Col. if he needed to be replaced as commander. How would that be possible. Would some poor soul have to give up their life and be connected to the stones all that time?”
Answers: 1. Oh, they’re out looking for one. How’s the search going? We’ll find out in season two.
2. Or, more likely, someone aboard Destiny would replace him.
mitcheron writes: “is there any chance in season 2 of sgu you can go back to the story line types of sg1 and atlantis i love both of em and sgu doesnt grip me any more i love the ship the main idea of it too but i miss the style of sg1 and atlantis most of sgu sofar is rush and young trying to beat each other and the small comedic lines have disapeared its turning into a soap you remember when you go to watch tv middle of the day turns out there is a soap on and all it is is over dramatic acting i dont wana see sgu turn into that please can you atleast find away to bring a few laughs into sgu?”
Answer: sgu is a different type of show from the previous incarnations and its unfortunate it didnt grab you but have you checked out the back half because id say there is a definite progression in the series as we move along with the first part of the season dedicated to establish our characters and the shows basic premise while the next two thirds offer much more in the way of action aliens and even humor which is something we are continuing into season two.
Sam V writes: “Will we find out in season 2 why there’s a countdown timer and why the time is variable?”
Answer: Nope. The assumption is the Destiny sets the time based on its assumption of how long it would take the crew to explore or retrieve resources from a given planet.
jinx writes: “Just curious, are there any plans to make the story lines more palatable for families with teens?”
Answer: Yes. Less displays of affection and much more violent mayhem in the last few episodes.
Kevman writes: “I just watched a rerun of the Atlantis episode “Harmony.” I was wondering, who came up with the idea for the image that’d be on the painting? I was also wondering if there were any other ideas for what would be on the canvas? What ever happened to the painting, is it in someone’s office?
Answer: Don’t recall who came up with the idea for the image but I do remember we discussed what we would want to see: McKay heroice, Sheppard cowering, and Harmony front and center. The painting was huge – and adorned the production offices for Atlantis’s fifth season. I’m not sure where it is now. Quite possibly, it’ll end up as an item for auction. I loved that painting!
Seahen writes: “Joe, how’s Carl holding up after the news regarding u$c today”
Answer: None too well. He was depressed all day yesterday – and is still bummed today. Looks like he’ll be rooting for Washington this year.
jinx writes: “After your response to my question about “deadly force” I went back to see if Young indeed use deadly force. Threatening deadly force doesn’t count. The correct response was to pick them off as they came through.”
Answer: Venting the atmosphere to a section and wiping out the enemy is deadly force. Whether that deadly force is used or not is another matter. And why waste the limited amount of ammo you have shooting the enemy when you can wipe them out with the simple push of a button?
DJ writes: “My personal road rage setoff… people who *know* that there is a construction merge and ride all the way up to the merge and expect the people who merged 1/2 a mile back to let them in. Yeah, I’m the bitch who gives them the finger and rides the bumper of the guy in front of me and won’t let them in.”
Answer: And I’m the bitch right behind you, riding your bumper, so that jerk can keep on waiting.
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