I’ve been doing a little updating of late, clearing out some old emails and bookmarks, checking in with distant friends online, and discovered a bunch of interesting developments I missed out on for whatever reason. And so, I’d like to take a moment to draw your attention to said developments in this “How did I miss that?” entry.
1. Marty G. has a website!
Martin Gero, as most of you know, is a good friend, fellow foodie, former Stargate writer/producer, and all-around charming talent who now calls L.A./New York/Toronto home as he jets between his various projects on the go. I try to keep up with Mary G. via his twitter account, the one stop spot for all the exciting developments in the Golden Boy’s life (ie. Oct. 26th = “I’m 33, it’s midnight, and I’m standing in line with my best friends to buy a videogame.”). Anyway, I happened by the other day and, while it’s entirely possible I just never noticed before, I noted a link to a Martin Gero website: http://martingero.com. Look at that handsome mug gracing the front page. Coincidentally, Martin called me this morning and, while we were talking, informed me that, in fact, the website has been up for two years now. Furthermore, my drawing attention to it on this blog would shame him into updating it given that it’s been about that long since he last visited.
2. Jamie Elman co-wrote and starred in a web series!
Another funny and extremely talented guy I worked with way back when is Jamie Elman who, some time this summer, forwarded me a link to a great five-episode series he co-wrote and stars in called crazy/sexy/awkward. It’s all three of those things and hilarious. What’s it about? Well – “Neurotic romantic Ben Hoffman hasn’t had sex in a year. Ever since the love of his life walked out on him, Ben has been stuck in a rut of despair and an endless streak of dates gone horribly awry. But now, his manchild best friend Sebastien and wingwoman neighbor Ashley have decided enough is enough: it’s time to get Ben out of his cave, and throw him head-first into the wild jungle of the LA singles scene to break his seal.” www.crazysexyawkward.com
I think I can be excused for missing it since the email was sent to my old email account, but I dug it up and bring it to your attention. It’s funny as hell, but stand forewarned – it’s raunchy stuff.
3. Alyssa Ciccarelli is writing for Riese.
Alyssa is someone else I know from way-back-when. She’s a talented writer who is presently pulling scripting duties on Riese: The Series, a steampunk web epic now screening at SyFy.com: http://www.syfy.com/riese/. The cast boasts some impressive talent, among them several Stargate vets including Sharon Taylor, Patrick Gilmore, Ben Cotton, Ryan Robbins, and Amanda Tapping who provides the voice of the show’s narrator.
4. There’s an artisan sakemaker in Vancouver!
Despite my ridiculously replete liquor cabinet, I’m not much of a drinker. I’m not a whiner or whineo (what do you call a wine aficionado) nor am I the type to crack open a nice cold beer on those hot summer days. Having said that, I do enjoy my sake – so I was pleasantly surprised to learn the city boasts its own artisan sakemaker (http://osake.ca/). Head on over to Masa Shiroki’s shop on Granville Island and do a tasting of his handcrafted Osake fresh premium Junmai Sake. Or check out the various inspired products that make use of kasu, the “lees” that remain after the fermented rice mash has been pressed. The flavor is intense and delicious, and can be found in products like kasu hot sauce, kasu cherry drink, and even an out-of-this-world kasu ice cream with raisins. Vancouver’s primo gelato shop, Bella Gelataria, makes their own version of kasu gelato that is so unbelievable that it’s surpassed chocolate as my favorite ice cream flavor. For real! But more on Bella Gelataria in the coming days…
Today’s entry is dedicated to Michelle, Izzy, and AB!
I believe the word you’re looking for is oenophile – a lover of wine 🙂
Mailbag Q:
When the bridge on Destiny raises, do the crew simply have to take the elevator as usual which just has the capability of moving slightly upward to accomadate the increased height. Or is there some other way – collapsable stairs in the hallway, raising floors, some type of internal human-catapult?
ah, now the recipe contest is explained. Ingenius. And brave of you to handle cooking in for the whole time. I wish you the best of luck with the endevour.
Early post appreciated, as it seems the shorter days are playing havoc on my systems, inducing me to ever earlier bedtimes. It couldn’t be anything like old age causing it…
I’ve had many moments like that. More than I care to remember, or not remember, so I’m wondering now what I’m forgetting or have missed. Damn you.
I’ve seen Martin’s website and no he doesn’t update it so I stopped visiting… 😀
Awwww…Jelly…just been catching up…sounds like what happened on #SGU this week….big gentle squishy hugs…hope you get better soon.
I watched Visitation 5 times this weekend and have heaps of questions….if you’re in the mood to answer…pick some if you don’t want to answer them all.
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1. What is a butter bar? I’m not familiar with that term.
2. Did you really chop down a tree or was that VFX?
3. If TJ’s dream was a simulation, did Destiny goof up? In Intervention wasn’t it Peter and Dana that were looking after Carmen? In Visitation Peter is with Val. Or was Peter very busy on that planet?
4. Will we meet the Faith planet Aliens (real or ascended???) before the end of Season 2?
5. Don’t they trust Chloe to work on Destiny problems anymore? She just seems to be on Death Row.
6. How did the shuttle travel between two galaxies instantly? Is that a new form of travel we will be discovering or were the logs wiped?
7. What do you think is the pecking order between the scientists on the Bridge? I think it goes Rush, Eli, Brody, Volker, Park….do you have something different….will it change, especially if Chloe has a better grasp of controls on Destiny?
8. What was going on between Young and Wray? It almost seemed like flirting.
I’m sure I’ll think of more when I hit post…but that’s enough for now
Cheers, Chev
p.s. Joe, keep up to date w/ Alyssa on Twitter at @dragonflyaly
Cody!! Wow, that’s a blast from the past. I loved Student Bodies.
Haven’t checked in in a few days – been busy with school and actually having a bit of a life. I know, it’s weird.
So, let’s see what I’ve missed. First of all, I hope Jelly’s condition will improve and that the results from her visit to the vet neuro people will help in some way. The doggie family needs their matriarch well and dominating!
Secondly, a really-belated Happy Thanksgiving to the Americans reading this! Hope it all went well and no family craziness spoiled anything. On my end, I spent the day doing some much-needed laundry and cooking up some fried rice for dinner. I was very proud of that – it was my first time making rice! I may not have anything to show for the “I make the best whatever” contest this time, but who knows what I’ll have in store next time?
Last but definitely not least: Visitation. Joe, this episode kept me up on Tuesday night; I couldn’t get to sleep because of the frightening ideas put forward in this brilliant episode.
It wasn’t the gruesome deaths and the overall unsettling nature of the Faith-Planeteers, but rather the sense of horrible inevitabilty and cruel reality they faced back on that planet. Seeing the once-happy people huddled in a freezing mass in a run-down shuttle, then dying one-by-one until only Caine was left behind – that feeling of doom, of mortality, and of isolation and loneliness – it was scary. As I lay there in bed, trying to get to sleep, I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that, after everyone had died except Caine, he was the only human left on that entire planet, and there was no one to help him; not only was Destiny hundreds of thousands of light years away, but all of his friends on the planet had died – because he had convinced them to stay, no less – think of the guilt he must’ve felt because of that.
And then my mind started to go through the series of events this group of people must’ve faced from Faith to Visitation. They were first left alone by the Destinites; they had to fend for themselves; the days grew colder and the warnings Young and co. had given them of a cruel winter was becoming truer every day. They must’ve held on to the faint hope that, at any moment, the days will start getting warmer – that it can’t possibly get much worse. Then Val died, and they had their first taste of tragedy; the weaker-willed ones must’ve had their world crumble around them as their faith in any supernatural intervention started breaking down. Then that other women got sick, and winter came rolling in.
I’m reminded of those horrifying survival stories, like Alive or something, as they all huddled in that shuttle, knowing that hope is dwindling like their source of heat and food, until finally they all died. Seeing Caine’s memories of his last moments and that Kino recording put the cap on this whole thing for me – the brief flash of the frozen corpses slumped against each other and covered in flakes of ice; everything had a bluish tint giving a feeling of cold, loneliness, and death; and Caine all by himself huddled and hopeless, at last speaking his id-inspired thoughts of survival and desperation…and then a light!
This episode was science fiction at its best; humans dealing with concepts of alien-origin that they have no hope of understanding, and at the same time allowing them to question their own existence. That feeling of the unknown was visceral and gave this episode a unique feel compared to most other Stargate episodes.
Of course, at the same time, you had the B-plot of Chloe moving on. It provided the majority of the “heart” of this episode. Elyse gave her best performance here – especially in the Kino recording where she said goodbye to Scott. All those subtle facial movements and breaks and pauses in her dialogue – most impressive and moving. Of course, there was her scene with Greer which everyone’s raving about – and why not? It was one of those sincerest of sincere moments that just hits you – those preciously few times when the characters come out of their shell and share with others their deepest feelings regarding their motivations towards them. As of this episode, it’s pretty obvious that Jamil Walker Smith is one of those special discoveries of talent that happen very seldomly, and in a logical world I see him going VERY far when he is done with SGU.
There were also many smaller bits of this episode that I loved – TJ’s disappointment and Alaina’s incredible portrayal of that; Caine’s tragic fall from grace; Eli’s efforts in documenting Chloe’s goodbye (and having her say that saying goodbye to Eli was the hardest of all – that broke hearts, man); the dome room all fixed up by that adorable repair bot; the super SHINY new shuttle, etc. etc.
I do have one complaint though, and that’s the lack of any references to the tragedies in Malice Eli and Rush experienced. One can say that they both got over it inbetween the episodes or even within just that episode (Rush got over it by ending Simeon, and Young’s talk with Eli in the armoury got him to see things rationally, etc. etc.) but with SGU I had expected a little more continuity. It didn’t even have to be anything big – instead of the funny scene at Brody’s Bar, why not show Eli and/or Rush in their rooms reflecting on the loss of Ginn and/or Mandy? Just a thought.
Still, regardless of that little misstep, I gotta say, I am incredibly impressed with Remi Aubuchon’s first episode; a great scifi story coupled to some seriously heartbreaking character drama; very well done! Please tell me he will be coming back if/when season 3 gets under way!
Ok, moving on. There’s been some confusion regarding Franklin and the neurolink and stuff that I want to clear up. Joe, you said that Rush turned off the neurolink at the end of Trial and Error – however, the transcript only says that he turned off the battle simulation, not the neurolink. This makes more sense since Franklin was still there talking to him despite the fact that Rush just turned off the simulation, which must mean that either the simulation is only part of the neurolink, or Franklin is something else altogether; neither of these two choices would stop Franklin from coming back, however.
Thus, if we don’t see Franklin or Gloria from now on, the simplest explanation would be that Destiny sees no more need to expose Rush to them (even though it still could at any time), as he isn’t the only one on the Bridge anymore, which is fine.
Another thing. 2 days ago, this happened:
Calling it now: this is a reference to Epilogue, when an Ancient will be found on the ship (a stowaway? A guardian?). The Destiny crew will then tell him/her of what became of the Ancients, or something.
Then again, it can also be a reference to Common Descent, since humans are the descendent of the Ancients.
Question:
Are there plans for more stories that reference the Faith-aliens?
Is the script guide from Darkhorse.com similar to yours? What else do you use besides the comic script guide you were given?
For anyone else interested in writing comic books, the best information source I have found is at http://www.calebmonroe.com/?page_id=38/
Ah Sake, haven’t tried in ages. Wasn’t overly keen on the stuff personally. I do like Shochu to some degree. Shochu is a much more expensive drink than Sake but tastes a little better in my opinion.
Ironically enough Joe you can get pink Shochu with a Cherry Blossom inside the bottle at the bottom lol. It’s produced by Kitaoka Honten.
And today on the BBC news website, we have news that there may be an unexpected order discovered in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11837869
I guess that expensive part is more a matter of taste. I wouldn’t touch the cheaper ones personally.
Anyway one thing I would love to see in Season 3 if it occurs Joe, Is the team taking a break on an Alien world at night time maybe, looking up at the sky to see a frankly amazing array of Stars, maybe if the Gates on a moon. I know it’d be a VFX thing but I just think it’d be kinda fun for the characters to just relax a little and talk some in a low pressure enviroment where you can you know appreciate the beauty of the universe?
Oh dear, Martins page looks bad in Firefox.
A wine afficianado is called ‘a snobby alco’
I LOOOOVE Japanese Plum wine…. can’t find many stores here in Perth that sell it..
Speaking of the shuttle, it’s seems that destiny had originally 3 Shuttles based on the picture bellow! Although the crew only found two of them, So will we ever know what happen to the missing one?
http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/4…2419h40m01.png
Hey joe,
i’m stuck was ever on sgu, i watch in the uk on sky.
will ratings help from the Uk?
Just a quick question;
i was rewatching Aftermath, and the part where rush unlocks the bridge: It seems like there is an airlock infront of the bridge as the big first door….
Can the bridge undock?
How strong do you think the weapons on destiny are? as strong as a Hatak blast? a wraith weapon or even drones?
also if you dont mind me asking how old are your dogs?
How are Maximus’s eyes?
I’am considering that Human/Lost/Sabotage, is just like a three parter, and Subversion the first part of Incursion I&II.
So, there will be a “three parter like” in the second half of season 2?
Joe, that sake shop looks amazing. You’re giving me a lot of reasons to head out west to visit Vancouver. Mostly food related. And it’s nice that your mom and sis are coming to visit for the holidays!
@das: almost done with Cabinet of Curiosities. They’re all in terrible trouble.
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I finally got the time to watch Visitations last night. pg15‘s review pretty well sums up how I felt about it, too. Another thing that struck me was the stark contrast between image of the warm, loving, idyllic settlement that TJ saw when her unborn daughter died and the cold, harsh reality of the “colonists” corpses huddled in the broken-down shuttle. Positively heartbreaking for a starry-eyed idealist like myself who wanted so much to believe that those people might survive. Kudos to Remi. And now that I think about it, that episode seemed to have a touch of John Scalzi as well.
Chloe’s recording of her goodbyes was very touching.
But most moving was the “forgiving the executioner” scene between Greer and Chloe.
It was an excellent, character-centered episode and NO ONE USED THE STONES!
HI Joe,
I just wanted to say we all hope you get a 3rd season renewal soon and that I’m loving the second season of the show. However sometimes you dont get what you want and should the worst happen and SGU not get renewed this, or even next season do you, or anyone else, have any plans for the future of Stargate? A 4th Live action series for example? Cause I’m sure we would all hate to be in a position of having no new stargate to watch!!
Cheers
Tom
Hi Joe, thanks for the kind shout-out on Riese. (It created some buzz.)
SGU continues to impress. Love this show!
Best,
Alyssa
Love the show!
@PG15: Spoiler alerts, PLEASE!!!!!
Or put spoiler questions /comments (your speculation re stasis pods) in a separate post marked CONFIDENTIAL, so Joe won’t make it public.
I’m saving Riese eps up for Xmas, and I’m wondering if it’ll jump from the web to the Syfy lineup like Sanctuary did.