“Did you wrap early today?”asked Tim as I grabbed a seat at the bar. “Nope,”I replied, settling in and flipping open the menu. “I’m off for the next four days.” [Note: This weekend, of course, Canada celebrates one of its most important holidays - Lord Emil Froodock Day - a commemoration of one of Canada‘s most…

“Hey, Gero’s about to blow something up!”I was informed. “Five minutes!” I set aside my work, grabbed my camera, and made my way down to the far end of the lot where Marty G. was directing this year’s trio of Superfan Promos. In the pouring rain. I found him umbrella-less and standing by while the…

  Some truly awesome news to kick off today’s blog entry. Authors Jennifer Pelland and Kage Baker have kindly agreed to come by and field your questions and comments as part of our July Book of the Month Club discussions. Kage will join us the week of June 30th when we’ll be discussing In the…

I spent the day working with Mike Banas. “How exciting!”I imagine you saying. “Were you involved in a car chase? A shoot-out? Did you catch the bad guy?” After all, with a name like Mike Banas, you’d assume he’d be a private detective of some sort. (MIKE BANAS, P.I. Starring: Mike Banas as Mike Banas,…

  We spun Marty G.’s latest story idea this morning, going back and forth on various notions as the room argued containment fields, points of science, and hot vs. cold air masses. The thematic shift of his story has turned out to be a good new/bad news situation for me. Good news: HE is now…

Our home phone has become a curio, an anachronism from a bygone era that continues to take up kitchen space more out of sheer habit and a reluctance to part from tradition than for any practical purpose. Anyone worth talking to contacts us on our cell phones. The house phone, meanwhile, serves as a spam…

Given Iron Man’s projected $175 000 000+ domestic two-week take, it’s safe to assume that the superhero genre is alive and well in Hollywood. In fact, just last week, Marvel announced a development slate that includes the following feature film projects: Ant-Man, Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers. Meanwhile, The Punisher and The Hulk are…

  “Hey, wanna go check out a cannon?”Marty G. asked as me I strolled by his office this morning. Would I?! Faced with the unappealing option of resuming work on my beat sheet, I happily took him up on his offer and joined him in heading over to Stage 1 where we wandered amongst the…

  Martin almost had himself a new story today. I say almost because, after spinning out what he felt was a wonderfully exciting idea, Martin returned to his office and, in the process of writing it up, came to the conclusion that, hey, this concept has the potential to go wrong in so many different…

  Well, yesterday’s entry really struck a chord with a lot of readers. Like global warming and human rights, “strange objects you can find in your pizza” is obviously a topic near and dear to many of your hearts. 160 comments and counting! Thank you for sharing your incredibly disturbing personal experiences of the weird…

I’ve never been a fan of surprises in my food. I remember, as a youngster, being served a birthday cake with coins baked into the mix. Coins IN the mix! I mean, why not marbles, collectible bottlecaps, or some needle and thread to help little Jimmy score his Junior Scout sewing badge? I suppose yesteryear’s…

Among the guests at my third annual chocolate party was Janina “Dusty” Gavankar’s boyfriend Angelo, an incredibly friendly, soft-spoken guy who, it turns out, is a huge fan of scifi. He was in town to meet with some business associates and I suggested that, schedule permitting, they should swing by the set and check out…

We were discussing relationship linchpin WTF moments. You know, those occasions very early on in a relationship when someone (usually the guy) pulls some bonehead move that presents their partner with a choice: stick it out or cut your losses. In the case of Fondy and I, it was our very first date at a…

Being on set during the production of Whispers was a lot of fun. But it could have gone the other way. Given the inherent complexities of shooting this episode, it could have turned into a nightmare (ironic, no?). Yet in spite of the early calls and the late wraps, the fickleness of fog, and a…

I was standing by the monitor alongside the seated Will Waring, watching the rehearsal of the finale Whispers sequence. As Will got up to go give the actors some last minute direction, I stepped in and claimed his seat. And it was just as I settled into the director’s chair that a heavy wooden ladder…