January 24, 2008

Given the fact that I got home late today and had yet to post a blog entry, I elected to forego my planned dinner at Fuel in favor of a more homespun meal. And so, I pulled out the ol’ frying pan and cooked up the steaks that had been sitting in the fridge for the past couple of days. These I fed to the dogs. I, meanwhile, had a salmon salad sandwich on toasted flax multigrain loaf and a cream of cheddar cheese soup that, in hindsight, was probably not soup at all but an accompaniment to macaroni. Either that, or I should have followed the directions and added that cup of water during the cooking process. The bread was so stale I feared my penicillin allergy was going to kick in. It was a most unmemorable meal that gave me a greater appreciation for the culinary artistry of Fuel’s Chef Belcham. Hell, to be honest, even that pimply-faced kid who assembles the McDonald’s Quarter Pounder with Cheeses earns props in comparison. Still, a crappy meal was a small price to pay for completing this blog entry in a timely manner. I know how cranky some of you get staying up late waiting for my update.

I dropped Fondy off at the airport this morning, then headed in to work where we continued preparations for Atlantis’s fast-approaching fifth season. Production Designer James Robbins swung by the offices to show us some of the concept art for the first three episodes. Marty G. weighed in on Search and Destroy (He thought the roof should be lower, the construction a little more “reined in”), Paul commented on The Seed (The wraith walls are a light brown but we light them purple. All the same, he thought the shading was too light.) And I offered my thoughts on Broken Ties (At first I thought Rodney might have had a bathtub shipped over from Earth but, ultimately, decided to go with one of Lantian design). I also took the time to organize my office (somewhat), going through the stack of artwork and design packages sitting atop my desk, snapping pics along the way. I’m not sure what I’ve already shown you but, just in case - Feast your eyes while I see what I can do about playing catch-up with the mailbag. And, while you’re at it, why not check out yet another behind-the-scenes vid from Harmony. Oh, and speaking of vids, since the video links from my previous entries don’t work on wordpress, I’ve decided to make Baron Destructo’s photo bucket page public. So head on over to http://s230.photobucket.com/albums/ee164/BaronDestructo/

- and view at your leisure.

Le mailbag -

Mick writes: “ Wow, I cannot believe you disagree with the comparison to Trek.”

Answer: I’m not in a position to disagree because I haven’t seen the episode in question (I watched all of the classic Trek plus most of Voyager). My point is - if you scrutinize an episode hard enough, I’m sure you’ll find similarities with something that has come before. Star Trek has produced some thirty years of television while SG-1 ran for a decade so, yeah, chances are good you’ll notice some familiar elements somewhere along the way. All the same, I’ve often said that the most interesting thing about any story is how it influences our characters. Quarantine was less about the circumstances in which our characters found themselves and more about how they responded to the crisis and each other.

Patricia writes: “ I forgot to ask; how is Jelly’s degenerative hip condition?”

Answer: Better, thanks for asking. I’ve switched her over to a supplement for arthritic dogs that contains glucosamine and chrondroitin sulfate, and shark cartilage, and it seems to have made a world of difference. She was actually bounding around the backyard the other day.

Dougindy writes: “ You guys film at a location with a lot of sand and sand dunes/hills several times during sg1, for instance- a matter of time, moebius. Where is that site?”

Answer: I believe you’re referring to the Richmond sand dunes, located in Richmond. Or, at least they were located in Richmond. I don’t know if they still exist.

Iamza writes: “When do we vote for March’s BOTM books?”

Answer: I’ll have the nominees up this weekend.

Riley writes: “Which part of Italy is your family from?”

Answer: My father’s side was from Naples, my mother’s side from Altamura.

Osiris flight writes: “Joe, i am wondering if you are intentionally ignoring my questions. the first was about bloopers, the next few were about the video on MGM’s website.”

Answer: As much as I’d like to, I can’t possibly answer all of the questions asked on this blog. I’ll usually pick the questions that interest me at that particular sitting, generally skipping questions that I’ve already answered (Which was your favorite SG-1 episode?), questions that I have no answer for (When will season 4 be released on dvd?), questions that I won’t answer because it would require I spoil the show for fans (How is Beckett coming back?), questions that have already been answered by knowledgeable fans (Why did the wraith use the term “darts”), and questions I just plain old don’t have any interest in answering (If you could cast a talking tree, what kind of tree would it be?), or questions I just plain miss. And, other times, for reasons beyond my control, I am unable to answer a question directly. However, quite often a lot is said by what remains unsaid.

Mrs.B108 writes: “Have you considered severing Atlantis from Earth permanently, therefore changing the entire basis of storyline from exploration to survival?”

Answer: Unfortunately, the existence of ships like the Apollo and the Daedalus make this highly unlikely.

Shiningwit writes: “So how do you rate Farmer’s “To Your Scattered Bodies Go”?”

Answer: To be perfectly honest - I loved the first couple of chapters and then it went off the rails for me.

Horse N. Buggy writes: “Dreaming of Tokyo? Let me help you with the visuals. I was there a year ago - have a gander at my photos on Flickr.”

Answer: And I suspect I’ll be dreaming of Tokyo again tonight. Mmm. Mos Burger.

Astrumporta writes: “Oh, by the way, some friends and I want to come to Vancouver this summer. Can we sleep in your wok kitchen?”

Answer: That’s where I keep my valuables (a.k.a. my chocolates).

Brains103 writes: “I looked through your blog for books, but there were a lot. Too many. Could you narrow it down to (in your opinion) the best?”

Answer: Why not check out February’s book of the month club selections: Future Fiction, edited by Loud Anders, Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman, and Children of the Night, by Dan Simmons.