June 17, 2011: I’ve become that crazy dog guy my writing partner warned me about. And barbecue! Oh, and the weekend alarm sounds early!

With Fondy heading out of town for the week, Akemi and I assumed temporary possession of her house.  And dogs, Brie and Stewie.  As a result, we'll be hosting a veritable pooch party for the next little while... Slow progress on the script rewrite front.  It seems that whenever I sit down to tackle Act…

June 16, 2011: That was one night I’m glad I wasn’t in Vancouver for! Dinner with Alexander and Sarah! Another class field trip! Lunch so bad I want to punch the chef in the face!

Yesterday, Akemi and I joined Alexander and Sarah for lunch at Terroni Restaurant on Adelaide Street. The pizza was fine, the pasta was cold, but the clear high point of the night was the surrounding decor.  Specifically THIS ill-advised piece of art (?): After dinner, I went home, worked out, watched part of the hockey…

June 15, 2011: Bento Breakfast! Transporter: The Series production update! Stargate fans still fighting!

Today's bento breakfast, compliments of Akemi.  It gave me the much-needed energy I needed to watch the dailies from the European shoot while listening to tracks upon tracks of potential music for our new show, Transporter: The Series.  Some truly amazing footage coming in from Berlin and Nice.  Fantastic work on the part of our…

June 14, 2011: Ripple Effect! The deleted scenes!

Of all the scripts I've written/co-written over the course of my 11+ years on the Stargate franchise (some 70+ scripts in all), season 9's Ripple Effect remains my favorite.  It had all of the elements I love most in a story: humor, twists on classic SF tropes, character insight, What If's, twists, turns, and a…

June 13, 2011: Akemi’s latest culinary creations! Food! Checking out one of the new cars! And, the new, improved, more cerebral me!

  The other day, Akemi shifted her creative focus to eggs.  I almost didn't have the heart to eat my breakfast... Dinner is my job on weekends and so, on Saturday, I took requests and made Akemi's favorite: Braised Short Ribs. Sear them on all sides, make a mirepoix (onions, celery, carrots and herbs), then…

June 11, 2011: Screenwriter James Moran Drops By To Discuss Cockneys, Zombies, Stabby-Arm Aliens, and Girl Number 9!

James Moran's list of credits include Torchwood, Spooks, Dr. Who, Girl Number 9 (premiering on FEARnet this week), Cockneys vs Zombies (presently in post-production), and now, no doubt the crowning achievement of his writing career: his reader Q&A for this blog! Check out what he has to say, then check out his blog (the pen…

June 9, 2011: Oatmeal Snowman! Trevor screws up my page count! Stargate: SG-1 season 9! News of note!

Akemi's latest breakfast bento creation: oatmeal snowman! This morning, we checked out a new place, a cozy little apartment in the ritzy Yorkville district.  Pros: Upscale neighborhood, better oven, located close to gourmet shop Pusateri, and the woman who showed us the suite was gorgeous - but, in all fairness, I failed to inquire if…

June 8, 2011: Marty G. rejoins this blog as a series regular! Your herbal top 5! Stargate: SG-1’s ninth season!

Hey!  Look who it is!  No, not Joaquin Phoenix.  It's Martin Gero (Stargate: Atlantis, Bored To Death) who is in Toronto to Executive Produce his new show (which I'm calling Untitled Martin Gero Project or UMGP).  We met up Sunday night for chat, laughs, and this odd cocktail containing pimms, gin, lemonade, ginger beer, and cucumber.…

June 6, 2011: Our first Transporter: The Series field trip! Mailbag!

We spent much of today driving around the city, checking potential locations for the pilot episode of Transporter: The Series.  Pictured above is my brilliant solution to the scene in which our hero, Frank, evades the bad guys by blending into the background.  Yes, a closer look at the photo will reveal that only the…

June 5, 2011: Akemi’s latest masterpiece! Looking back of Stargate: SG-1’s ninth season!

As I said in a previous post, when it comes to preparing a meal, Akemi places as much emphasis on appearance as she does flavor.  Pictured above is one of her latest creations, inspired by the 30 bite salad at Tokyo's Chez Tomo.  Her version is closer to 20 bites but, I'm sure, equally laborious.…

June 4, 2011: A sneak peek at the standing sets for Transporter: The Series! They eyes (don’t) have it! The Stargate: SG-1 season 8 wrap-up!

Yesterday, we took walk through the preliminary standing sets for Transporter: The Series. Granted, they still need a little work (and Paul, Alexander and I did have a few suggestions) but here's a sneak peek at what we've got so far... Widen the pool, lengthen the back patio, a few tweaks here and there, and…

June 3, 2011: On crabs and masks! Chiado restaurant! Friendly comedians! And Transporter: The Series rolls toward production!

The other day, Akemi went to the St. Lawrence Market.  There, she engaged one of the seafood purveyors in conversation.  The conversation went something like this: "Do you have social crab?"asked Akemi. "What?"asked the woman at the counter. "Do you have social crab?" "Social crab?" "Yes." "No." "Oh." "Do you mean soft-shelled crab?" "Yes!" "No."…

June 2, 2011: Ultron and mutants merely misunderstood? Foodly update! Stargate: SG-1 season 8!

So I've finally started to personalize my office.  Rather than hire an interior decorator, I decided to stick with the supervillain motif that made my Stargate workspace so inspirational and the high point of any high school tour.  Today, Ultron went up on the shelf.  Surprisingly, no one knew who the hell he was.  As…

June 1, 2011: Off to the (pugs) races! Beware broadcasters bearing gifts! The summit is a wrap! Mailbag!

Although she suffers from hip dysplasia and arthritic elbows and shoulders that make getting around tough, my pug Jelly does haver her good days.  Yesterday was one.  Look at her go! Our big two-day broadcaster summit for Transporter: The Series has come to an end.  Yesterday, the producers gathered with HBO/Cinemax, HBO Canada, RTL, and…

May 31, 2011: News of Note! Stargate: SG-1 Season 8 Memories!

Horrifying accident at Sony Pictures results in the release of 34 Katherine Heigl films.  Be careful out there - Compliments of the gang at Cracked.com, here's The Science Behind Stupidly Hot Peppers Chart (The Science Behind Stupidly Hot Peppers [CHART]): Fark.com puts it best: Photo collection of modern North Korea, or 1960s anywhere else Meetings today…