What a difference a week makes. Well, actually a weekend in which my Snow Monkeys were upset in fantasy football league play. In the days leading up to the week one kick-off, I was incredibly excited, scouring the internet in preparation for the season to come – researching, analyzing, deciding. Today, I could barely muster the enthusiasm to look into the waiver wire prospects. My shocking loss all came down to two plays: the injury to my top-ranked running back, Fred Jackson, and a fumble by my top-ranked wide receiver Marques Colston. In the first case, Jackson’s injury took him out of the game (and will keep him out of action for 3-4 weeks) and allowed backup C.J. Spiller to rack up 20+ fantasy points. In the second, Colston fumbled the ball on his way into the endzone, costing me about 14 points (6 for his TD, 4 for Brees who I also have, and the 2 point penalty for the fumble). So there you have it. 34 points. 34 points that would have handily given me the week one victory. Instead, my Snow Monkeys are 0-1 and I’m heading toward a tough week #2 match-up without my #1 running back.
Oh, well. On the bright side, all that time I would have spent on fantasy football can be put to more productive use studying Japanese or continuing my seemingly endless spring (through summer and heading into fall) cleaning.
And, of course, updating this blog with my reflections on SGA’s fourth season…
MISSING (406)
Girl power! A great episode that showed off two of our strong female leads. On the one hand, we have Teyla, the fearless warrior, who kicks ass and demonstrates the courage and poise of an experienced leader. On the other hand, we have Jennifer Keller, the young doctor who, overwhelmed and out of her element, still manages to step up and come through. What really struck me about this episode was how reversed the roles were behind the scenes. There was no way in hell Rachel was getting anywhere near that bridge, much less stepping on it (hell, I don’t blame her). Jewel, meanwhile, not only stepped onto the bridge, she dispensed with a stunt double and gamely walked across it herself.
And, oh, that bridge. I recall Carl coming into my office one day, shaking his head, rueing the day he wrote it into the script. To quote from a past blog post on the infamous footbridge: “Carl envisioned a scene involving a rope bridge and, simple enough, the Art Department came up with a design, it was approved, the bridge was built – and then when we found out the cost, our eyes almost popped out of our skulls. As it turns out, it wasn’t the bridge that was so pricey but the added expense of paying security guards to stand watch, 24/7, to ensure no adventurous teens attempted to cross the damn thing while it was up. It was just one of many surprises that transformed this originally inexpensive episode into a $$$ spectacular.”
Mailbag:
DP writes: “In the intro: “he eats six times a day. He has a thing for cats.”… did they want me to think he eats the cats? Because I did at first and I didn’t mind.”
Answer: Ha. So did I. I thought the saving the box of kittens at the subway station was a nice, silly touch.
gforce writes: “What exactly did the ex-Nazi’s hope to gain by all this, bring about the end of the world? How does that benefit them at all? Are they just being jerks?”
Answer: You’d think they’d have learned their lesson by watching the countless books, movies, and t.v. shows that have used this plot. Opening portals to Hell/other dimensions always ends badly for the guys doing the opening. It’s not as if some gibbering, multi-tentacled hellspawn is going to waltz through and thank them for making it all possible.
anneteldy writes: “I liked Abe a lot and Hellboy himself was great but Liz? How does living in an asylum help you control your firestarting? I could see living in seclusion so no one accidentally pisses you off, but an asylum?
Answer: Good point. Unless of course they happen to have someone who specializes in treating firestarters.
Wendy writes: “Huh? Any reason that my RSS reader decided to load feeds from your HK trip with Fondy back in the day? Strange, but kinda disconcerting how long I’ve been reading your blog! Lol”
and
JasonM writes: “Why is it that when viewing your blog via RSS I keep getting posts from November 2006 popping up as new and un-read?”
Answer: Apologies. I’ve been going over my old posts, fixing some of the weird fonts and correcting spelling errors. Please disregard. Or, better yet, read ’em again!
Randomness writes: “Speaking of your Japan trip Joe, you may want to visit Namja Town. It’s an indoor theme park that not only focuses on the fun aspect of things, but also is home to a million flavors of ice cream including stuff like Squid Ice Cream things like that.”
and
Maggiemayday writes: “Squid ice cream.. I have nothing left to add.”
Answer: I’ve got something to add. Please go to this post and scroll down for a video of some of the unique ice cream flavors I picked up at Ice Cream City including crab, salt and the oh-so-memorable squid: November 26, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #4, Kaiseki Feast, Porking Out, Sweets and Such, and The Weird Food Purchase of the Day – Japanese Ice Cream Edition
for the love of Beckett writes: “Joe, so sorry that things fell through for Dark Matter. Was it a deal for TV, feature film, or both?”
Answer: TV. Ah, well. If it can’t be done right, best not to do it at all – a lesson I’ve learned the hard way.
JeffW writes: “Sorry, I do have sympathy for Indy Colts fans, just no sympathy for the Irsays. This is why:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/baltimore-colts-move-to-indianapolis
I went to bed that night hearing Bob Irsay say the Colts were staying in Baltimore and woke up to news they were gone…left in the middle of the night.”
Answer: At least Modell was clear about his intentions and, after leaving, left Browns their identity. Irsay simply hijacked the team in his infamous midnight move. Classless.
Ponytail writes: “When are we going to Tokyo? November?”
Answer: That’s the plan. 🙂
Michelle writes: “Even better reason not to go back to Japan is their fishermen are again killing whales and dolphins for their (mercury-ridden) meat at The Cove. I wonder what the average Japanese citizen thinks of this, if they even know. Real-time reports: https://www.facebook.com/SeaShepherdCoveGuardiansOfficialPage”
Answer: According to Akemi, whale meat was eaten by the older generation back in the day because it was cheaper. Very few people eat it today. It’s neither popular nor one of those “fashionable” dishes that might explain why it continues to be eaten. Most consider its greasy, gummy texture unappetizing. As for dolphins – the fact that they are being eaten in certain areas of Japan was shocking news to her and her friends. Like the seal hunt, it’s a suspect activity isolated to a few places that excuse their behavior on the grounds that it puts money in the pockets of impoverished communities.
Poops. I missed the mailbag. I actually had real questions this time, too. 🙁
das
Thanks for the response. I did in fact read them again 🙂
I liked Teyla a lot in this episode. Keller not so much. First of many damsel in distress running in the woods scenes for her. She was better as a competent brain surgeon. But good on Jewel for being a brave soul.
Gosh, maybe the ice cream shop would have some durian, or jack fruit available?
“It’s not as if some gibbering, multi-tentacled hellspawn is going to waltz through and thank them for making it all possible.”
Exactly!
“Unless of course they happen to have someone who specializes in treating firestarters.”
I sure hope they’d be getting hazard pay.
I was wondering where “Missing” was shot. I remember when I was there visiting Lynn Canyon in N. Vanc and thinking how much the area looked like a lot of Stargate episodes!
“It’s not as if some gibbering, multi-tentacled hellspawn is going to waltz through and thank them for making it all possible.”
Yeah, they’ve clearly not read any Lovecraft.
“DP writes: “In the intro: “he eats six times a day. He has a thing for cats.”… did they want me to think he eats the cats? Because I did at first and I didn’t mind.”
Answer: Ha. So did I.”
You know, that thought never even crossed my mind.
@das: Joe likes to throw in surprise mailbags to keep us on our toes. How’s the tummy doing?
Ah I see, so you’ve been to Namja Town Joe, well you could always go there again to see if there’s anything new that you haven’t tried as new flavors for things are out pretty much all the time.
That said, Japan is the only place on Earth where you’l find weird flavors for pretty much anything, and lol I really can’t imagine how Squid Ice Cream is actually made, makes me ugh a little.
I love pretty much Strawberry, Lemon, and random other Ice Cream flavors.
Well, I really didn’t want to watch Missing again because it is not a favorite of mine, but I did anyway. Actually, it’s not that bad. Keller accompanies Teyla to visit her people and take medical supplies. Keller packed a big jar of lollipops for the kids she will be treating. How sweet. When they crossed that rope bridge, was there any net under it or was it trick photography making it look real high and over a rocky river? Teyla’s people are gone and some really ugly bad guys are there instead. I had to smile when one of them was stalking the girls with a lollipop in his mouth. Was Teyla’s stunt double also Keller’s? Keller is difinitely a fish out of water while Teyla is the beautiful warrior. Not a bad episode but a little slow in some places. Then the boys come and save them. The end. In the very end, Keller says to a hospitalized Teyla, “There’s something we need to talk about.” (Shhhhhhh…Teyla is pregnant, don’t tell anybody!)
I have tried not to comment on the Baltimore/Indy Colts issue – it broke my father’s heart, dammit! – but, Joe, I have to thank you for hitting the crux of the matter with the identity comment. The fact that Irsay didn’t leave us the uniform, the helmet design, the traditions, the NAME – that was what made it so hard to let go.
Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way about this ep was that Keller’s portrayal got some kind of nomination for an award and Teyla’s didn’t. It wasTeyla’s episode to shine. Still kind of burned over that one.
PS – was that land squid patterened after something you’ve actually eaten?
Speaking of missing — you might want to alert Louis Ferriera that his IMDB record seems to have been wiped.
Thanks for asking Akemi about the dolphin and whale hunting — I really appreciate it! In the past two days a bunch of dolphins were taken to be sold into captivity in marine parks. Very sad, but the rest were let go instead of being slaughtered, which was unexpected. It seems very clear this hunt continues because of pride and as welfare, not to actually feed anyone. Just one of many horrible things mankind is doing to the planet right now…don’t even read about the elephants being slaughtered at the highest rates ever!
But I hope you have a great time in Tokyo.
There seems to be news ‘out there’ about a web series to be produced by you and Paul — is that true?
First I’ve heard of it. Does it sound good?
Just in case you are thinking of a nice cruise near Greece instead of Tokyo, great news. Now they are saying Santorini is building up for an eruption. Yea, the volcano some believe responsible for the destruction of the mythical Atlantis. Seems like you just can’t go anywhere nowadays without Mom Nature blowing her top…
Missing was an ok episode. Nice amount of action, and it was nice to see “the girls” out kicking butt. My main gripe about the episode was the cardboard quality of the villains. Usually, Stargate villains have some three dimensional qualities. Not here. Just generic mindless raiders and destroyers who pop up just in time to support the story line. And who fold up and disappear forevermore after providing sufficient target practice to our heroes. Ah well, sometimes you just have to settle for doubles instead of home runs.
Well, off to the gym. 9/11, and the news out of the Mid-East have me seriously bummed out. Time to stir up some endorphins to snap out of it. Hope your week goes well, and that some of your projects heat up in time to keep you busy next year. (yes, we will let you enjoy the rest of this year “off”)
Missing was one of my favorite episodes. I loved how it gave a lot of screen time to Teyla and Keller. I was wondering about that web series too as you hadn’t said anything about it.
We found something for my older son to learn Japanese with, and he’s enjoying it so far. In addition to homeschool itself, both boys have started with a homeschool bowling league, and the younger one is playing fall baseball so I’m busy, busy, busy! Fun times though!
Hope you have a great day!!!!
I’m sure folks eat gummy whale for the same reason my mom always made codd fish soup; we’d run away screaming from her chewey tough codd speciality, but it reminded her of a dish her grandma made. I found myself eating baked beans on toast for that same reason this weekend.
I loved the ep of Teyla and Keller fighting for their lives, Teyla dispatching bandits with her stoic Teyla style was awesome. I miss that on TV, was watching Revolution and the girl with the Hunger Games crossbow had to be rescued by a boy every 5 minutes, yeesh. SG had awesome kickass empowered women on it.
@ Sparrowhawk – Ya know, mebbe he’d answer my questions if they actually pertained to the discussion at hand. I’ve been soooo busy that I can’t seem to get my head into the conversations. It’s a bit of self-focus on my part, and I am shamefully aware of it and really don’t mind when Joe decides the world doesn’t revolve around me. 😛
Besides, my big question was why are all the blog titles full of !!!!!!!!!!!!! the last year or so. Not sure if it’s to get our attention, or because Joey’s discovered caffeine. 😉
Also, tummy is doing better, but the antibiotics are catching up on me. 😛
das
I wonder what would happen if Japan all of a sudden decided that our mass slaughter of chickens and cows for food was against their moral code, or is “old and outdated”, as Paul Watson loves to claim about the Japanese and the Faroese. He has no respect for a country’s culture, history, or traditions. I agree that the mammals and animals that are on the endangered species list should be protected, but the problem lies with the Whaling Commission, made up by the countries that still hunt whales, allowing said countries to set their own quotas at whatever number they want! If Watson had any brains whatsoever, he’d go after them in a court of law, using a third-party arbitrator, and reduce their quota legally to a well-sustainable number. But, oh, that’s right, Paul Watson is on the run for fear of extradition and incarceration.
I’ve seen every single episode of Whale Wars. The huge, blaring double standards they have about engaging another vessel are downright laughable and greatly frustrating. “They can dish it out, but they certainly can’t take it” has never been more true than with them. They harass the Japanese ships over and over and over, trying to disable their ships with contraptions and prop-foulers(which, I’m sorry, IS a hostile act), and the instant one of the Japanese ships gets in front of them and makes them change course, they threaten arrest by some “international maritime law”. Give me a friggin’ break!
Their cause may be just, but their tactics, practices, and extremism does WAY more harm than good for their goal. Their beliefs are overshadowed by their eco-terrorism. There are so many ways better than what that organization is currently doing to fight whaling, it’s sad that they resort to those things with all that money they are given. But, let’s face it, those better ways don’t get Paul Watson on TV. And that’s what he really wants now, isn’t it.
…and yes, I’ve seen that episode of South Park. Hilarious! Matt and Trey do such fabulous work.
@Joe:
Obviously I agree 😉 I think Cleveland Browns fans got much better treatment from Modell than Baltimore received from Irsay. It wasn’t just the move, but it was also the years-long decline into last place (from the Unitas-era after Bob Irsay bought the team), Irsay’s constant arguing with the coaches, fans, press (and well just about everybody), and the broken promises (he famously promised the mayor of Baltimore days before the move that he would not move the team). In simple truth, I don’t think Irsay was ever happy on the east coast and after buying the team was very quickly looking for an excuse to move them (some say he was exploring this option as early as ’72).
Losing the Colts’ name, which was chosen by the citizens of Baltimore to reflect Maryland’s horse racing heritage, just added insult to injury.
I am glad for the sake of Indy fans that the Colts did better there, but with the loss of Manning, it kind of feels like ’72 all over again for the Colts.
@for the love of Beckett:
Sorry for the late reply to your comment…I’ve been busy this weekend with my son’s football games (go Junior Eagles!), finishing up a bathroom remodel (almost done…yeah!), and taking my daughter to a Brewers-Braves game in Milwaukee (she’s a Chipper Jones fan and wanted to see him play before he retires this year). So I’m just getting back to a routine now.
On the legislative eminent domain; I know this is often cited for Irsay’s midnight departure, but as I hinted above, he was already planning the move (otherwise how do you have access to all the moving vans, personnel re-locations, and equipment asset to make such a move in the first place?) You don’t move an entire franchise from start to finish overnight, it takes a lot of planning and preparation.
What happened on the legislative front was that the Maryland senate passed a bill allowing Baltimore to use eminent domain, but it had not been scheduled in the Maryland house (and certainly not signed into law as yet by the governor). There was a fair amount of discussion on whether it was even constitutional, so there was a lot of local doubt as to whether this route was even viable (which is why I think the legislation was worded as only “giving authority to use eminent domain” to Baltimore). Two years prior to the Colts move, eminent domain was struck down as an option by a federal court in preventing the Raiders from leaving LA, so almost nobody in Maryland really thought this was a serious option…it was more about whether Baltimore could keep the Colts’ name.
At most it would have represented some legal-challenges that Irsay would have had to wade through before moving the team (such as Art Modell faced when moving the ex-Browns to Baltimore), but that would have at least given Baltimore fans some closure (and perhaps some leverage in keeping the Colts name and traditions). With the midnight move, it just felt like all of that was stolen from us.
A lot of the feelings and background are summarized pretty well here, if you want to understand “the Baltimore view” (and with that I’ll stop my cathartic venting on the matter. 😉 ):
http://www.baltimoremagazine.net/features/2007/04/100-years-the-colts-bolt
I hope I haven’t dampened your enthusiasm for the Indy Colts though. If they’re your team, they need your support. I wish them luck…at least if they’re not playing my Ravens 😉
@BMc:
Are you a Baltimorean? Just curious as I grew up just south of BWI (in Jessup) and still have family there (Glen Burnie and Arbutus mostly).
Now hailing from Chicagoland…
Friends,
If you are not following Star Gate SG-1 on Facebook, do it now. They’ve started a string of really funny posts called “Gatebook”. They’re posting what all the episodes would look like as Facebook posts. Really funny stuff.
Enjoy.
Hello All
This is Anne Teldy’s little sister. We received test results on Anne today. The news was not good. Her care will now be overseen by Hospice. Our information is sketchy at this point. We will know more tomorrow. What we were told today was at best we will have a couple of more months with Anne. A test will be done tomorrow morning that will let us know if we will be lucky enough to have that much more time with her. If Anne is up to it, she will pop in herself to visit. If she can’t, I will be her eyes for her and share the latest news from this blog with her. Anne is experiencing difficulty with spasms in her muscles making it hard for her to type. I will be happy to provide updates as time permits for those that are interested.
This blog has always meant a lot to Anne, and I will be sure she is able to enjoy it for as long as possible.
Anne Teldy’s Little Sister
@Anne’s Little Sister: Your whole family and especially Anne are in my thoughts and prayers. Many hugs!!!!!!
@das: Yogurt and probiotics!
@Anne’s sister, so sorry to hear that. Your family and Anne will be in my prayers. Thanks for letting us know.
Anne Teldy’s Little Sister — Thank you so much for telling us! Have already said prayers for her, and will put her on our church’s prayer list. Please tell her how much we Love her, and to hang in there however she can. Sometimes doctors don’t always have the last word, thank heavens. We’ve been blessed to have her this long (3 years?), after the docs didn’t give her any guarantees.
Bless you for all that you have done on her behalf. I know it’s been a rough year, with losing your dad, admitting your mom to a nursing home, and now Anne’s recent, and very close call. {{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}
@ Anne Teldy & Her Little Sister – Hugs and prayers are with you both, and all of your family. This is just such sad news! Anne’s a fighter, though, so hopefully she’ll surprise us all.
@ Sparrowhawk – I’ve been eating yogurt, but need to get new probiotics (the ones I have are old, so I don’t trust them). Not 100% sure it’s all the antibiotics – I still have some slight pain, and am dealing with issues I had just before the attack, including mild heartburn. My fear is that I have a second issue, such as gall bladder, or a pre-ulcer condition. Considering the stress I was under this summer, it would not surprise me. My diet has mostly been eggs, rice (white, for now), steamed or broiled chicken, broccoli, peas, and a couple other veggies, apples (peeled, blech), and yogurt. I was eating Activia, but now I’m getting plain Greek yogurt and mixing it with the rice.
No alcohol (I can’t have it with the antibiotic I’m taking), no heavy sweets (mostly sticking with applesauce, yogurt, and canned fruit – not so much for the sweet aspect, but for the digestion aspect), and hardly any chocolate (I’m allowing myself tiny bits, but taking it really slow). What I do eat I eat in small portions. And guess what? I haven’t lost a pound! Grrrrrrrrr!!!!
das
@Anne’s Little Sister: You, Anne and your family are in my prayers. Give Anne our love!
anneteldy
Hello All
This is Anne Teldy’s little sister. We received test results on Anne today. The news was not good. Her care will now be overseen by Hospice.
I am so sorry to hear that. I am wishing Anne and her family strength to get through this.