The World Cup is off to a brilliant start. Well, our World Cup office pool is anyway. Having seen such bold predictions as the South Africa/Mexico tie and England/USA tie come to fruition, I now lead the standings with 6 points. I’m looking to extend my lead tomorrow, banking on wins from Italy and Cameroon, and a hard-fought tie from Denmark and The Netherlands.
I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far although I have a hard time accepting soccer’s characterization as “the beautiful game”. I guess it’s beautiful in much the same way that women declare austere-looking actresses beautiful, or a film student would find French existential cinema beautiful. Beautiful to a select few, but mostly dull for the rest of us. That France/Uruguay nil-nil draw? Gorgeous!
I hear that English fans thrilled to the sight of their team scoring the first goal of their young 2010 World Cup journey. Well, they did – unless they happen to be watching the game on ITV HD. If they were doing the latter then, instead of seeing Steven Gerrard’s goal, they saw a funny Hundai commercial followed by the ITV logo followed by the post-goal on-field celebration. I’m sure the station was suitably mortified given that this sort of thing never happens…Oh, what’s that? It’s happened before? http://g.ca.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/ITV-shows-English-fans-an-ad-instead-of-Gerrard-?urn=sow,247852
In other World Cup news, they’re considering a ban on those horns that drone throughout the matches. Sad. I find their incessant bee swarm-like droning strangely comforting. Apparently, the French team does not. They blame the vuvuzelas for their poor performance versus Uruguay. The vuvuzelas and that guy in the blue and white shirt who kept yelling at them whenever they got close to the opposing team’s net. http://g.ca.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Vuvuzelas-might-yet-be-banned-from-World-Cup?urn=sow,247947
Reluctant to sit down and watch the games with your friends for fear of looking like a uninformed doofus? Well, relax. The gang at cracked.com have you covered: http://www.cracked.com/blog/a-world-cup-preview-for-people-who-dont-care/
As does the gang at The Onion with this handy interactive introduction: http://www.theonion.com/interactive/the-onion-sports-introduction-to-world-cup-soccer,17558/
Mailbag:
xxxevilgrinxxx writes: “During Subversion, I had the feeling that Young, and possibly Greer, were on the planet that was attacked while Telford was undercover but couldn’t be certain based on the dialogue whether it was a discussion of the events on the Icarus base solely. Were Young and Greer stationed there when it was attacked and is that where a good deal of the anger toward Telford is coming from?”
Answer: We’ve yet to detail the circumstances surrounding the attack although it has been hinted that Young was familiar with the personnel killed while Greer’s pre-Air incarceration suggests recent dealings with Telford. Looking to flesh out these circumstances in future episodes.
RFV_Devil writes: “On another note, why the page difference between SG1/SGU (51) and Atlantis scripts (56-57)? Does it have to do with how fast Rodney talks?”
Answer: Bingo!
Michael writes: “What was the name of the male marine that tried to fight back in the med bay but was shot dead by Varro?”
Answer: Armando Elsinor Von Spelker the Third. He shall be missed. 🙁
BrianC writes: “Would i need an agent to get a job as a gofer or grip or something similar, i just want to get my foot in the door and learn how the biz works, much as i love australia. Our TV kinda sucks.”
Answer: You wouldn’t need an agent, but you would need to join the union.
steph writes: “Seeing as we now have to wait far too many months for the show to continue, do you have any suggestions of good science fiction past or present to fill the time with?”
Answer: Check out one of my favorite SF books, an underappreciated gem called The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank M. Robinson
brian mcgee writes: “A fairly fundamental question, did you ever establish what would happen if a person tried to go through an open gate the wrong way?”
Answer: You’re right. We’ve never established what would happen, but my guess would be going through the gate on an incoming wormhole wold result in your being spat out at the velocity in which you entered.
MrsB writes: “Was there a spark of interest in TJ from Varro?”
Answer: You noticed it too? So it wasn’t just me!
mishmee writes: “Wow, that was such an exciting episode. But why did you kill off all the characters? And why are all the actors pretending to be working on season 2.”
Answer: The great thing about science fiction is that even if a character is dead, he/she can still put in appearances in a variety of clever ways – meaning that just because someone is filming season 2 doesn’t necessarily mean their character is still kicking around. Ahem.
Mark writes: ”
1.Can we expect a score like in Air Part 3 (running to the Gate) and Incursion Part 2 (the last minutes)?
2.Are we going to see the Destiny making a maneuver like in Darkness?
3.Are we going to see Mrs.Armstrong and Amanda Perry again? because they are both nice characters and it would be interesting to see them again
4.Does the Destiny have only one repairbot?
a)How does this robot works? can it produce material? (to build a ftl-modul or a shuttle perhaps)
b)Can this little robot repair big sections like the dome? or does they need bigger things like a repairship?
5.Are we going to see a Seedership? Or only a view on a hologramm perhaps?
a).If the Crew of the Destiny finds one of the Seederships could they use it to build a Supergate?”
Answers: 1. When appropriate, yes. Joel Goldsmith continues to impress.
2. Possibly.
3. Again – possibly.
4. For now there is only one.
a) It can’t produce raw materials but it can repair damaged sections (as we’ve already seen).
b) Repair the dome, you say? Hmmmmmm.
5. Wouldn’t that be cool?
a) Not sure I understand the question.
sam millar writes: “so what do you thing of the Chicago Blackhawks wining the “Sir” Stanley cup…”
Answer: Very happy for those long-suffering Blackhawks fans.
Major D. Davis writes: ”
1. I remember in Justice Young made Eli copy the footage of Rush framing Young on Youngs Thumb Drive. Will we see anything involving this thumb drive in season 2.
2. Will there be any Stone/Earth episodes in season 2?
3. About how many people from the Lucian Alliance made it to destiny?
4. Any guess on when we’ll see an MGM trailer for season 2. Is there a chance we’ll see it before comic con?
5. I know I’ve asked this a lot but now that you might have spun more stories I thought I might as well ask it again. Will there be any SG-1 or SGA characters in season 2 of SGU?”
Answers: 1. Possibly. It’s leverage Young can use against Rush if the opportunity presents itself.
2. Yes, the stones will figure into a couple of stories – in some very interesting ways.
3. Looked like about thirty.
4. Sorry, no idea.
5. Very possibly, yes.
Greg writes: “Sounds like someone talking about their last job. Are you done with Stargate then ? Why comic books of all things ?”
Answer: I love comic books (have for most of my life) and have always wanted to write my own – so when the opportunity to do my own series presented itself, I took it. As for my future with Stargate – it’s been an awesome twelve years, but I’m taking things season by season.
Dweeb writes: “Do I understand correctly that sites like [edit] don’t make you grumpy then?
Answer: Not quite. Their efforts generate more of a “meh” response. Now don’t get me wrong. It’s ridiculous to assume you’ll bat a thousand with everything you produce. There are certain elements of a show fans will like and other elements they won’t like and I think it’s imperative to know what is and isn’t working for them with an eye to tweaking and fine tuning as a show develops. Of course, I’m referring to fans as opposed to individuals who clearly don’t like the show and simply criticize as some form of cathartic release. In the case of the latter, it’s like asking a vegetarian to judge a Memphis barbecue. Sure, they may have an opinion but – really – who cares?
Becky writes: “Hey, don’t know if you have checked this out lately, but IMDB has a whole big schpiel on Stargate: Extinction – including a case, writers and a potential release date. Is this all wishful thinking on their part?”
Answer: Afraid so.
PG15 writes: “Did you guys discuss the scenerio where, instead of having Chloe getting shot and Eli helping her, you have the opposite?”
Answer: We’ll be doing something…similar in season two.
E writes: “Where did you get the techno-babble for the finale?”
Answer: If by technobabble you mean the pulsar scenario, that was a group effort involving the entire writing staff, science tech advisor Mika McKinnon, and Creative Consultant John Scalzi.
Shannon writes: “I did ask Brian during the autograph section if there was any chance we could get a second Q&A on your blog Joe! He said he’d definitely be interested… any chance you could ask him again? It’d be so much fun to hear his thoughts now that the first season is closed and you all are into the second season. Please?”
Answer: Yes, I’ve already advised both Brian Smith and David Blue that I wanted them back for another Q&A session.
Dodoalda writes: “Could you please, Joe, confirm or deny that Riley has been shot with other injured soldiers and TJ in that room?”
Answer: Confirmed.
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