I’ve been doing quite a few online interviews in support of my comic book, Dark Matter, that launches January 11, 2011. The latest here with Ryan Thomason at WatchPlayRead (http://watchplayread.com/wpr-interview-with-dark-matter-writer-joseph-mallozzi/) in which I discuss both Dark Matter and Stargate.
Now onto matters of equal importance…
I am very disappointed with the lack of ugly Christmas ornaments out there. I was expecting a veritable cavalcade of creepiness to grace this blog. What I received, instead, was a simple smattering of suspect taste. My sister, already in the running with one of her entries, one-bettered herself by gifting Akemi the following delicate little monstrosity:
It’s all in the side view. I, meanwhile, received a far more tasteful branch-hanger:
Made Christmas truffles last night. And what, exactly, makes them “Christmas truffles” besides the obvious fact that I’m making them during the holiday season? Absolutely nothing. The cocoa powder-dusted milk chocolate-nutella and gianduja liqueur were the big winners.
So, how are you all recovering from the holiday cheer? Relaxing? Watching anything? I should really get around to watching (actually rewatching for the hundredth time) A Christmas Story – the greatest holiday movie of all time (Trains, Planes, and Automobiles comes in a close second)! I’m presently working my way through the third season of my new fave series, Breaking Bad, and looking forward to season 4 that I downloaded to my Mac from iTunes prior to leaving Vancouver. I hear the fifth season, premiering this summer, will be its last. 🙁
Thanks to everyone who has inquired about my pug, Maximus. His appetite is back and he seems to have returned to a lower-key version of his old self. He’s been especially needy of late, following Akemi and my mother around the house, but, sadly, has been keeping a wary distance from me since I am the dispenser of medicines (in bitter liquid form squirted into his mouth twice daily). My immediate concern is his weight. He was a downright svelte 18 pounds on the way here, just perfect for carry-on status. I’ve got to make sure he stays nice and trim – at least until we’re back home in Vancouver.
Some news of note…
Forget that new car. Start saving up for a bomb shelter condo. Need I remind you that 2012 is almost upon us? Doomsday, anyone ?
And sticking with the doomsday theme: 10 Real Survival Guides for One Very Fake Apocalypse
And was we wrap up 2011, let’s get to those best and worst lists:
Worst films of 2011 Agree? Disagree?
Worst celebrity baby names of 2011: Moroccan, Bear Blu, Zuzu Mostly agree, I’m sure.
The Most Epically Awful Videos of 2011: Even Worse Than Rebecca … Really? Even worse than Friday?
The 10 Stupidest Crimes of 2011 Consider yourselves forewarned. Do not make these same mistakes.
11 Of The Stupidest Employees Of 2011 – Careers Articles Also take note – calling in a bomb threat at work is not the best way to secure a day off.
An early blog entry today as I’m off to run some (more) errands and attend a party. Don’t want to keep you up too late waiting for my post as I know a few of you (Das) turn in before nightfall.
I don’t turn in before nightfall. I just ignore you AFTER nightfall. 😈
das
Can’t wait to get Dark Matter. I want to have something visual in my hands to represent all of the things I’ve been hearing about it over the last few months. (I’ve seen the pictures you’ve posted, but having it in my hands will be different, KWIM) Glad to hear Maximus is feeling better. The picture is cute.
We are still unpacking boxes, and I’m hearing a lot of Disney music. My kids love Disney and Nickolodeon programs. (Good Luck Charlie, ANT Farm, Jessie, Big Time Rush, ICarly, etc., etc.) I did get SGU season 2 for my birthday. (finally) Hope I can do a marathon this weekend.
Have a great day!!!!
News of note: Our sick feral kitty (Sweet Pea, a.k.a. Peanut) seems to have bounced back. Not poisoned. Not antifreeze. Maybe infection. Maybe bad tooth, or something stuck in her mouth/throat. We had a couple ladies out here yesterday trying to net her, and she ran, then was (accidentally) trapped under our neighbor’s house overnight. When he let her out, she came right over to the food and started eating like a pig. First time I’ve seen her eat in a week. (Just two days ago she couldn’t even lap up cream, and was drooling profusely.) Hopefully she’ll be okay. I was really expecting her to be dead by now so this is a great relief, at least for the time being.
Joey, my big girl is also doing better. She’s stopped coughing since going on the thyroid meds, so hopefully that means her heart is working better. Either way, her appetite is great, and she’s put on a little weight. I changed her food, too, and so maybe that’s helping as well. When I take her back to the vet in a few weeks I’ll ask about that treatment Andria mentioned, but I think it will really all depend on how strong her heart is (or isn’t), and the cost. Right now she’s holding her own, so I’m just cherishing each day she’s still with us.
As far as that worst movie list goes, I’ve only seen two – Pirates, and Sherlock Holmes. While the former wasn’t all that great (none of the sequels come even close to the first), I wouldn’t count it as one of the worst. And as for the latter, the critic is an ass (have I ever told you how much I loathe critics and their high-minded opinions of self?). Sherlock Holmes is one of the most entertaining films I’ve seen this year, behind – or perhaps tied with – Captain America, and well in front of Thor, Pirates, Cowboys and Aliens, Rango and whatever else I’ve seen this year.
Ya know, sometimes a movie doesn’t have to be brilliant, it just has to make you happy. Sherlock Holmes made me happy, and that’s all that really matters.
Enjoy your party, Joe! Eat something chocolate-y for me! 🙂
das
hmmm.. That top 10 worst songs, thing..
.. It’s wrong that I’m singing along to Friday, isn’t it?
It’s almost as if I’ve heard it so much, that I actually somehow like it now.
Modern music can’t be THAT bad, can it!?
we should create a mayian calendar that says that doomsday is in 3012 and hide it in mexico just to screw with our descendents
I like Breaking Bad too. I only watched the first season because they didn’t air the others. Or maybe I missed it, it was very late, during the night, like almost all the good shows ! I have to buy the DVDs.
Yesterday, I watched Immortal (Ad vitam) by Enki Bilal. It’s a science-fiction movie very strange and interesting. Did you watch it? I thought about stargate and so you, because there’s a pyramid flying above New York.
I can’t tell you what I ate for Christmas’s eve and Christmas because I would be typing for hours, but let just say that there were some oysters, snails ( I can see some disgusted looks!) , salmon, scallops, capon with morels, yule logs with a ice-cream filling, a lot of various cookies and of course foie gras!
Now I’m getting ready for the second round : New Year’s eve and New Year!
Have a nice day.
“has been keeping a wary distance from me since I am the dispenser of medicines (in bitter liquid form squirted into his mouth twice daily)”
Did the Vet say if you can mix the medicine in something? I mean, you cook tons of stuff… must be something you can cook up and mix the medicine in that Maximus will really like? Or bring home a bit of restaurant leftovers… 🙂 Unless the medicine must be given on an empty stomach?
Hey Joe! Do you know if Dark Matter will be available in a legal (as in I can buy it and it counts toward sales) electronic format? I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and it handles comics beautifully.
Hey Joe, was the elevator music you guys used in SGU Epilogue an actual song or something you just randomly put together just for that scene?
Sneezing, coughing, generally feeling crappy here. Just hoping it’s too many cats and not the flu. Ugh.
2012???
i hear a plannet ‘mite’ be on its way towards us?? or something along those lines….
You could always have your buddies to hyperjump it straight through earth…
Have a good new years matey
Dave
That’s a nice problem to have…not letting Maximus gain too much weight for the flight back home. Maybe you could lose a couple pounds and offset anything he gains. The airline will take it in trade, right? Glad he is having fun at grandma’s house.
Hi Joe,
I didn’t post any ornament pictures because I frankly don’t have anything that could compete with what you and your sister have already posted.
However, today’s “Big Butt Fairy” ornament has got to be a winner.
Have a happy new year!
Actually, I just figured out it’s eggplant (Aubergine)…guess that explains the big butt. The face just makes it creepy though…
There are lots of ornaments around here that have been decorated by a 4 and 6 year old, one by a 16 month old. Someone colored a cardboard sled with sidewalk chalk. I just couldn’t enter the contest.
Glad Maximus is eating. Sorry he isn’t liking the meds. 🙁
Wow, Conan’s on the worst films list? Admittedly, I haven’t seen it, but considering its star, I’ll likely see it at some point. Then again, it also has that chick from Charmed, who I don’t care for, but I think I like Jason more than I dislike Rose. As far as the others, I think PotC is the only one I saw, and I didn’t think it was terrible. I liked all of the first three, but I don’t think this last one was as good. Jack just doesn’t work as the primary protagonist, for reasons that article mentioned. I think it was a bit of a mistake for them to try to make him one. And I enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes at the $3 theater, and I was told that the sequel was more of the same, so I’ll probably see it there as well. I don’t know much about any of the other movies they mentioned. I don’t know which films I’d say are the worst (I usually try to forget about them), but Rango comes to mind as having been pretty bad.
“Friday” was pretty awful, but I have to say, those three they ranked before it really do seem worse.
Sorry to hear Maximus isn’t doing well. Our old German Shepherd (he’ll be 13 if he makes it to May) has been going downhill for some time. We keep expecting him to not make it through the night. His body’s failing in various ways, but his spirit’s still strong, and his eyes are still alert and eager when he looks at us, so maybe that explains why he’s held out for so long. It’s as if he doesn’t realize a lot of other dogs would have died by now.
Duck wind? What in the heck is Duck wind? and how does the chef collect/gather/extract Duck wind? I REALLY hope it’s not what I am thinking it is….
Just doing a quick read before work, so I’ll have to come back and look over the 10 most/best/worst lists, and do some thinking on them.
And while you may be disappointed in Max’s reaction, at least you have the comfort that you’re doing the best for him. A shame he doesn’t appreciate it but you’re doing the right thing. And at least he has people he is willing to interact with and follow around, so he’s not lonely.
Thanks for the list, looking forward to the 11th, and Happy New Year.
Happy Last Day.
Max is avoiding you? I’ve had that happen with my sick critters. It’s always a sad time. Keep him eating/drinking!
What are we doing with our holiday? Laying down ceramic tile in the bathroom. Using our breaks from tile to play Xbox and taking my 16 year old son to the mall to practice parking. While at the mall, I may check out the book store today (Yay).
I’ve got almost all my Christmas things packed up, inside and out.
Sorry about not entering your contest but… I don’t have a lot of non-kid-homemade ornaments. I would be an awful mom if I entered one of his ornaments in your “ugly Christmas ornament contest”! Also, your sister had it in the bag with her entry.
Das: Yay on the kitty feeling better!
Maggiemayday: You are SO right! A scratch & sniff option for the blog would be grand!!!
Oh I just loved Planes Trains and Auto-mobiles! The scene with John Candy and Steve Martin in the bed still cracks me up.
As for what to watch. The BBC has a second series of the excellent ‘Sherlock’ starting tomorrow night. If you haven’t seen it, its an up to date version of the tale. The acting, scripts and the whole production is fabulous. It also has a wonderfully dark feel to it – I’m certain you would enjoy it.
Anyway I wish you and yours all the very best for the New Year.
I’m glad Maximus is doing better! Sorry he’s giving you the cold shoulder. My dog avoids me when she has an ear infections because I’m the one who has to clean the poor, sore ear. Is “duck wind” actually duck windpipe (trachea)?
On the subject of movies, I think the reviewer suffers from a serious case of pompous-assity. I enjoyed Sherlock Holmes, but I went expecting a fun movie, not a cinematic masterpiece. I checked out the reviewer’s Top 10 Movies, most of which are artsy (which I also enjoy), but the list pretty clearly demonstrates that he doesn’t think “fun” should be considered in movie ratings.
We survived another family Christmas Eve dinner. Italian families can be prone to drama on the holidays, but everyone was happy, relatively sober and enjoyed the meal and each others’ company. I figure it was to balance out all of the last 5 years of truly bizarre holiday happenings.
My favorite was when my younger brother showed up 3 days before Christmas with a Brittany spaniel puppy. He had bought it to make up to his wife for having to put down one of their Doberman’s who was very ill. She responded by locking him out, calling the police and getting a restraining order to keep him out and telling him she was going to get a divorce. So after living out of his truck for a couple of days, he showed up at our door, drunk and despondent, left the puppy, said goodbye and disappeared. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Fortunately, the story had a happy ending. The puppy stayed with us for a couple of weeks, then went to a friend who has a farm and lots of space. My brother and his wife got back together.
@das: I’m so glad your feral kitty is better!
@JoanieC: I loved the BBC Sherlock Holmes series. Can’t wait until it comes to BBC America!
I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year’s Eve and a wonderful New Year!
@Deni Sorry you are ill. Hope the cold leaves you soon.
I think this is the ultimate in underground doomsday bunkers. And, if you can’t afford that price, you can still get in because some of them are on sale: http://www.terravivos.com/home.htm
Sweet Max. He needs to associate you with good things, like treats, or something that he likes and will still eat.
It will be a quiet New Year’s here as it always is, and how I prefer it.
Happy New-Year from The Netherlands to Joe, Akemi, The Mallozzi Family and everyone else reading this. Make it a good one. Greetings, Angelus
Happy New Year, everybody!
@das, I am still looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes, those critics only know what they like to see, not the rest of humanity. So pish-tosh to them.
I can’t compete in the ornament ugly contest. Mine are so-so. and some pretty, but good luck to sis, do you have her prize picked out?
Have a safe and Happy New Years eve, Eat a lot and take a nap or two.