I need to hit a gym. It’s been about two weeks since I last worked out and I’m beginning to feel myself getting fatter. I spend the greater part of my days sitting down spinning stories, updating this blog, and sampling menu selections from a plethora of new restaurants. It’s a situation eerily similar to the one I was in twelve years ago when I first joined Stargate. Back then, I ended up putting on fifteen pounds within my first year on the show – fifteen pounds that took me some eight years to lose, and this only because I happened to stumble across the perfect quick-weight-loss program that allowed me to drop those fifteen pounds in a week! Unfortunately, the chances of my ordering snake soup from the Hong Kong airport anytime soon are slim, so I’m going to have to find an alternate means of keeping trim.
Yep, I need to hit a gym. But first, I have to find one.
While I’m looking, however, a guy’s gotta eat right?
Today, for lunch, we checked out a terrific Jamaican restaurant (I’ll have to get back to you with the name) that everyone enjoyed. Even Alex who had his heart set on Swiss Chalet.
- The jerk ribs and oxtail combo. A generous portion of tasty meats!
- Fried plantain. Sweet and meaty rather than dry and crispy. The best I’ve had since Rainbo-ites in Montreal.
- Ting. Tang’s tarter grapefruity cousin.
We finished up going over the network notes on my script (episode 2), then shifted gears. We discussed our first year arc, cars, stunts, our big bad, and some of the wild cards Frank will have to contend over the course of season one. We also found time to spin two new stories that we should start breaking tomorrow.
- Alex comes up with a brilliant idea.
- Carl likes what he hears.
- Rob puts his game face on.
I checked out three potential doggy daycares today and found one I think would be perfect for the dogs. It’s a little out of the way, but it’s nice, clean, professional and, most important of all – the dogs in their care look like they’re having fun. I’ve got a bunch of paperwork to fill out after which I’m going to have to make an appointment to bring them in for an “assessment”, presumably to ensure they’re not your average dumb beasts – which they’re not, of course. I mean, just check out this pic that Christine, the dog-sitter, sent me today.
Bubba is studying for his police tech exam.
BTW – Jelly went to the vet today for some tests. Could be nothing more than a bladder infection. Fondy reports she’s resting comfortably.
Tonight, Rob Cooper brought us to a pretty damn impressive Chinese restaurant: Wah Sing Seafood Restaurant. We had what, in retrospect, seemed like one of everything on the menu: hot and sour soup, Cantonese chow mein, garlic-sauteed snow pea leaves, sweet and sour pork chops, chicken balls (that Rob likened to chicken-stuffed mini doughnuts), and –
- Lobster with ginger and green onions. Served with the delicious lobster liver, something I never saw in Vancouver!
- Alaskan King Crab. Akemi’s favorite!
Tomorrow, I begin my quest for my new Toronto headquarters as I check out a house in the Rosedale area.
Also, I really need to hit a gym.
Fatso…erm…I mean, Joe, you didn’t say – how’s Jelly??das
Hello Joe.
2 weeks? Darn. If I skip a day, I go crazy. I have to lift every other day. On days when I don’t do that, I jog. There is a school right next to my building, and I use the track if the weather is nice.
For lifting, it’s amazing what you can do with dumbbells in your own home. Bench 2 45s. Curl-to-press 2 30s. Combine that with a rowing machine and you’re set. I was watching a workout video last night and skipped the part where they show you how to get that rowing motion w/ dumbbells.
And doing curls-to-press also works your core of you do it right.
Best wishes,
Bryan
Ps:
@Tammy if you haven’t checked out already, I posted a reply to you on Joe’s last post. Richard Kind… Gary Myers, Lucius. French is the fourth actor to come over from the movie.
Frank!
Okay – I TOTALLY missed the little bit there about Jelly. Thanks for the update. Hope she’s feeling better real soon!
das
SO glad things are looking up! And I can’t wait to see what you have in store for Frank! Yippee!
Fangurling from even further away,
LJ
You know recipe to make that lobster dish at home, right? It’s not that hard, but is very tasty 😀
It’s a relief to see that you’re not going to starve to death in Toronto!
You might want to find a house before you find a gym. Or pick one close to the studio so it’s convenient to stop for a workout. Just sayin’
I’m glad Jelly is stable but please keep us posted on her progress.
Frank, eh? I guess the guessers guessed correctly.
I’m going to guess the Jamaican restaurant was The Real Jerk? Tasty stuff…
Rosedale eh? That’s impressive!
Welcome to my old stomping ground Joe. As I tell my RAs: Make good choices and don’t talk to strangers!
Heya Joe,
Perhaps a work perk is a gym at work?…or maybe not as that may interfere with the lunches and pre-dinners and pre-foodie adventures. Never mind.
Glad to hear about Ms. Jelly.
Super to hear Fondy is looking out for you and the babies.
and as someone mentioned…glad to hear you will not be suffering from lack of food in Toronto.
By the way, how you doing on your March Madness selections? Were you able to play?
Hi Joe, glad to hear Jelly’s ok. Keep us posted, please. 🙂
Mr. Mallozzi,
I have a couple a questions for you and a statement that I think you will like. My first questions when and if are they going to make a Stargate:Universe soundtrack available for sale? There are a couple of “unofficial” ones out there but they are mostly someone doing their best to filter out the voices from the a recording of the show and as an audio engineer it is painful to listen too. My second question is how far were scripts written for SGU? The reason I ask this is because I have this sinking feeling that the Stargate franchise is pretty much a done deal for a very long time and the only way the Stargate universe is going to be kept going is through books and graphic novels.
Now my statement and I think you’ll agree with me. I know that a lot of hardcore SGU fans have boycotted the SyFy channel(I tried too but I want to see what happens) which explains the extremely low ratings, but I just read that the wrestling, cooking & ghost channel, crap I mean the SyFy channel just renewed “Being Human” for a second season and I almost threw up on my keyboard because the ratings show that “Being Human has the exact same ratings level (1.112 Million viewers as of the last aired episode) and was renewed for a second season when SGU was canceled before the first half of the second season had aired. WTF is their rationing behind this move. “Being human” is a cheap copy of the BBC “Being Human” and doesn’t even hold a candle to the original BBC show. I guess the only hope we have now for SciFi on TV is the Science Channel as they just started airing “FireFly” a few weeks back and it makes sense that they start airing more hard science fiction because lets face it science fiction usually leads to science fact. Look at how many things that were science fiction on Star Trek and are now science fact. Maybe the science channel will pick up the franchise as it will bring even more viewers.
Thanks for your time.
Respectively:
Phillip Capestany
Joe –
RE: Hitting the gym, get a personal trainer. It’s worth it! 🙂
On another note, you like the show House MD, right? And, from time to time, do you find yourself particularly “aware” of various health concerns? Check this out:
http://symptomchecker.about.com/
What’s up with the face Bubba’s making? 😛
Okay, have a nice day. Gym:Trainer:Good_Idea.
Sean D.
So how long till you can officially say you’re working on The Transporter Joe? We have been posting that for months now and the wait is suspenseful lol.. jk
No really, I’m more looking forward to hearing about who gets cast for what parts. I know I said before but I really love hearing about shows coming together.
Good luck with the story spinning tommorow.
I’m bummed Joe.
Several people from work got laid off last week. What’s so sad about it is I knew 90% of them and they made going to work something to look forward to.
One of them volunteered to leave so as to save more people from getting laid off (he got paid a lot more than others because of his position with the company). My work field is feeling some hard times and things are not that great for the coming months (maybe the rest of the year too). I keep my head up and keep putting one foot ahead of the other but sometimes I feel like my steps are somehow going backwards. I especially feel this when the paycheck is shrinking and the bills aren’t giving any ground and of course losing good coworkers and friends.
I still look forward to your blog pretty daily now because you throw out info I like about Stargate Universe, your cool culinary adventures and about your up and coming new show. It gives me some moments of distraction from the seriousness around me.
Waiting to hear if Stargate Universe is closed permanently or it will survive somehow.
I have to join the club with many others in the disappointment with Syfy. They are censoring a lot of people’s concerns of SGU being cancelled on their social media pages. I get the feeling that they are not concerned with how people feel about this show is being pushed aside so other lower quality shows can be aired instead.
I guess they are moving on and want to put this behind them as soon as possible.
So Joe if all hope for SGU is lost please let us know so we can build a bridge and get over it after the last SGU episode airs. I keep waiting for Brad Wright or MGM to part the clouds and finally speak to the viewers again and say- hey down there we got the go for a SGU show or we tried really hard, sorry no dice.
Anyways when this door closes I am hoping your new show might help throw my entertainment “blues” out the door. Seeing Carl, Rob and you there gives me a good feeling that this show will be worth something. And as for Alex… well lets just say the way you’re photogenic with him gives me a feeling that he will make a really good addition to the group too.
Till then- I’ll keep reading.
Could the netflix model be a path to new shows of SG1, SGA and SGU ?
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/18/killing-cable/
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/19/netflix-cult-hits/
Let’s say that Netflix could convert just 500,000 of those to paying customers (who weren’t previously) in order to continue watching the show. That would be a half million people paying at least $8 a month. That’s $4 million a month in revenue. And $48 million a year. And you can assume most would end up as multi-year subscribers.
There would then also be the secondary revenue sources (DVDs, foreign markets, etc…)
Perhaps the plane trip may have something to do with Jelly’s possible UTI. Hopefully it is just that and can be cleared up with some antibiotics in no time. That’s a long time for an older dog to have to hold their bladder.
It sounds like your spirits are up and I’m glad you are seeing the small good things that are happening.
But FRANK — how more FRANK can you be about FRANK? That definitely seals the deal. I know a bald bad ass who might be available (Jamil!) although might be a little young.
Hey joe:
I have been reading your post daily, but have not commented in a while.
I was wonderingi you saw the latest Nielson numbers for this weeks SGU episode ” Alliances” well it was a franchise low this is what they posted today on tvbythenumbers.com :
Stargate Universe (SYFY)
– 0.814 million viewers
– 0.5/1 HH
– 0.4/1 A18-49
I can’t believe what has happened to the number of viewers. Season 2.5 started just where you guys left off at around 1.1 million, but the past 2 weeks it has been under 1 million. These are shockingly low numbers for such a wonderful show.
Do you have an opionion on what has happened to the viewers ? I know even though I am so mad at SYFY I am still watching SGU live every week.
I really hope that the low ratings is not going to put a stop to a possible movie or mini series.
Any news on that ?
Well good luck with your new show. It is great to see you, Cal, and Rob working together. I bet the show will be amazing. I can’t wait to find out what network it will be on in the USA ? Do you have an approximate start date yet ?
thanks for everything!
Hal
SEE SEE SEE? YOU ARE FINDING EDIBLE FOOD. Crossing fingers for Jelly. Dang was House good this week.
@Bryan – thanks I forgot about him….
Coucou 🙂 Vous allez bien?*
Moi super!
LOl c’est vrai que le sport est important, surtout quand on aime la nourriture :)..j’en fais au moins une demi heure chaque jour, ça fait vraiment du bien!
Cela ne doit pas être facile de trouver ses repéres dans une nouvelle ville mais je suis sure que vous allez vite vous y faire:).
Gros bisou!
Anais
Joe, great to hear things are moving along, and I hope you’re settling in ok, quick thing I wanted to ask for your advice on:
I’ve just started working as an editor for a production company editing corporate videos and the like. They showed me some scripts to which I read and made suggestions, and now they want me to write/co-write several feature films and a west-end musical they have planned, any tips?
This is my first job in the industry and I’m only 19 so it’s all very exciting stuff.
Hey Joe,
It is great to read that your life is in the beginning stages of “Home Sweet Home”. I so love the pictures of everyone…especially Carl. The pups are always a welcome topic. I so love their little faces.
Best to you Joe,
Always,
Cheryl 🙂
Liked the pictures of the food. It looks like you won’t be starving to death in Toronto.
@Phillip: My husband and I are watching Firefly on the Science Channel, and I like the part where the person talks about some of the sci-fi elements that might be feasible for the future. I agree, that would be a good place for SGU to air.
@scottland7: I feel for you. That’s why I’m glad my hubby was able to at least find a contract job this week after being unemployed for over three months and having surgery before that. I’m also with you in wanting to hear a definitive statement about SGU and being able to close that door if all hope is gone.
The question I have is not why SyFy cancelled SGU… {SyFy seems to have their own agenda; they follow an out-dated number system which they are able to use to rationalize the cancellation; were just so ready to change viewer habits moving the show from Friday (to be replaced by what??!??; there seems to be someone at the top who doesn’t like SGU or space shows who has driven the cancellation…} but how MGM could allow a such a high quality show, which is part of a fan-revered franchise like SGU, to disappear so abruptly.
I would like to see the show continue on another network. However, the dawdling (farting around… no, I didn’t really mean that…) has lasted so long, and bills have to be paid, that the actors, writers and others behind the scenes who all had an equal hand in making SGU such a quality show, have been compelled to find other work… and I can’t blame them.
I would like to see the show continue but I think that it might not be possible unless it had some sort of hiatus that allowed time for the team to get together again. Failing a show, I would like to see a couple of movies made or a trilogy, at least to wrap up the story. MGM might not get immediate and spectacular returns, but DVDs with the show and movies and lots of behind-the-scenes clips, outtakes, scientific info, etc. would be a constant seller…. and, the Stargate franchise would become a classic.
SGA – Still waiting for a couple of movies to wrap up that series too.
Plenty of “B” movies are being made for TV – why not make something worthwhile, for once?
Hello joe!
A question about your old job!
Do you think MGM could commit to a 4th Stargate? With or without the current production team.
On a scale of 1 to 10?
Thanks you very much.
There’s a tv show on hulu whose main character is a comic book artist. It’s called I Love You.
But it’s in Korean.
But it has subtitles.
But it sucks.
But I only gave it a few minutes not to suck.
But it really sucked in those three minutes.
But you may have already guessed that from the show’s title.
It might be more interesting to learn about the comic book industry your usual way. Eating luxurious food while talking to industry insiders. Sorry.
I squeed at the mention of a certain character name; I instantly flashed on awesome fight scenes. Ahhhh….fight choreography. Having grown up with a blackbelt dad I thought I’d keep training after I moved stateside but surprisingly judo is not as popular as football in the US, go figure. I have a great respect for martial arts; check out the awesome fight scene in Alias. I dragged my sisters to see the first Transporter, we were the only women in an audience of teen boys and we were woohooing and cheering with the rest of a very noisy New Jersey audience over all the cool stunts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weCzyBcEQv0
Hey shouldn’t you guys install a training facility at the studio? With such a stunt heavy show I’m sure the network will agree that you guys all have to stay in shape. Then you could work out at work.
Re: casting, I want to put in a good word for Zoe Bell, her stunts were awesome in Kill Bill and she was kick ass in Angel of Death and Death Proof. I also love boxer Neil Jackson who did Blade the Series and Quantum of Solace, and I love Tamoe Penikett natch.
It’s so good to see you 3 amigos working together again :D. Can’t wait to see the new show. Any chance we might see Peter DeLuise directing an episode or two?
SYFY is owned NBCU as of Feb 2010 NBCU was purchased by COMCAST with the amount of debt that both companies are dealing with one as to wonder if during those meeting when this deal was being worked on if at some point the decision was made to scale back the budget for certain network affiliates and probably sell others over the next few years. If that was done I can see SYFY becoming more of a hybride network that shows alot of light-flavor programs (like USA Network) and move away from what we might think of as science fiction.
I am thankful that I had 17 years (10 years SG-1; 5 years SGA and 2 years SGU) of STARGATE. Thanks to all members of the production crews both past and here in the present!!
So, quite possibly, SGU never had a chance – what a waste of a good show and the talent behind it.
I always get the deep fried breaded chicken balls from Chinese restaurants.
It’s the only edible thing on the menu other than dry wantons.
Bubba is going to become a police tech? Way cool! What does a police tech do? If barking, eating and napping are involved, then Bubba would be a great police tech!
It would make sense after a long trip for Jelly to have a bladder infection. Fingers crossed that it’s just a simple infection.
Great news on finding a doggie day care! Good luck finding a work out place. I always dread working out but I feel so much better after.
Did you see House this week? Interesting turn of events…..
will you physically enter the gym after you hit the exterior of the building?
@Lloyd67
@Do you think MGM could commit to a 4th Stargate?
Personally I think if a 4th show is made, it would have a sub $2 million budget, and will go back to the way the previous 2 shows were. Reason being MGM aren’t in the best of situations financially, and named actors didn’t work for Stargate Universe, it didn’t attract huge audiences.
Ironically DVD sales for SGA/SG1 were so much higher than SGUs, meaning MGM will want that formula because it makes them money.
I think what made Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis so good was the lack of major stars in the show, pretty much everyone except RDA and a few others were relatively unknown to a lot of tv watchers before the show.
And of course, this proved successful as both those 2 shows have some amazingly good performances from everyone involved, which made them so popular.
Serendipity. I went to the doc today for a minor lady thing and found myself berated for my BP. I have to go in for the three day in a row BP checks, and possibly medication. Yucko. Hopped on google when I got home and found a Gold’s Gym downtown, on a convenient busline, with water classes which sound perfect for my arthritic feet. To get the best discount I joined … sigh, AARP. Cry. My own fat fault, but still…. aging sucks if you’re fat.
Mmmm, ginger lobster…. oh wait, I’m supposed to watch what I eat. And no, not watch it go into my mouth …. F^&%$#K.
Joe, it’s been a long time and you’ve read maybe a gazillion comments since then, but I remember asking you if you ever got tired of people telling you how funny you are. You replied, “I haven’t yet, but I’ll let you know if I do.” (Only your phrasing was funnier.) Heh. When you’re on a roll, you just don’t miss a beat. “Call him butter. . . .” – Uh-oh, maybe that’s a sensitive area right now. *w*
– Has anyone sort of nudged you about going to a gym? Oh, okay, I see Das has that covered, even if she didn’t really say it. 🙂
Rob Cooper looks like he’s ready to go to a Cowboys game. Or else that he’s as ticked as I am about UT losing by *one freaking point* to Arizona, thus missing their chance to Duke it out in the Elite Eight. Maybe he and Carl could go together for their Canadian SAG cards. I talked to my bro (bona-fide Texas Ex) last night about. . .stuff. . .and I could almost hear him frothing at the mouth, for entertainment purposes *w*. And I could hear my nephews echoing their dad’s every word – and my sis-in-law yelling, “Control yourself, Benjamin!” (That’s in caps. This lady has come a looong way since she and Ben tied the knot.)
I’m with Akemi about Alaskan crab – very delish, and looks especially so in your pic.
A scratch behind the ears for Jelly. She’s gotta be a real trooper.
@maggiemayday
You go, girl. Good luck!
maggiemayday wrote:
Preachin’ to the choir here. I just passed my third anniversary of being in prison the nursing home.
Anne Teldy
Are you going to mix your blood into the ink of your comic book like KISS did?
I hope Miss Jelly is better. I wish my dog could talk, don’t you? But then, being a beagle, she probably would never stop talking and then get on my nerves. I can just hear her:
Can I go outside? I’m hungry! Let’s go for a walk? Where have you been? Can we go for a ride? Can I just play in the car? I need a drink of water. I don’t want to go to bed yet! Tell me if you see a squirrel outside. I’m gonna get me a bird! Let’s play! That scarf looks stupid and I’m not wearing it. Your breath is bad!
My breath is bad??!! Look here beagle! You don’t smell like a bowl of flowers, ya know!
Gotta go! She’s outside cursing at the neighbors as we speak!
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10404876&PidKey=-25967781
http://www.realtor.ca/map.aspx?&vs=VEResidential&beds=0-0&baths=0-0&minp=0&maxp=0&area=toronto%2bRosedale%2barea&trt=2#acr:false;ac:false;baths:0-0;beds:0-0;fp:false;gar:false;pmin:0;pmax:1500000;rmin:0;rmax:0;openh:false;pool:false;stories:0-0;buildingstyle:;buildingtypeid:1;viewtypeid:;waterfront:false;forsale:true;forrent:false;orderBy:A;sortBy:1;LisStartDate:;mapZ:14;page:1;mapC:43.67612848142912, -79.3899965286255;curView:0;curStyle:r;chkSchl:false;chkTran:false;chkPol:false;chkMed:false;chkWrk:false;chkFire:false;chkAll:false
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10465723&PidKey=-174140173
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10304977&PidKey=-780139582
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10400463&PidKey=-1683426461
http://www.appannie.com/search/?q=toronto
Those sweet plantains look dry and nasty, Joe. You need to come down to Miami to have some really good ones… Jamican, Cuban, or my Ethnicity, Puerto Rican Style.