Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 292

December 16, 2017: Dogs, monkeys, and condos!

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Stage 2 of The Suji Experiment was a rousing success.  While our frenchie, Lulu, settled in nicely at the dogsitter’s (ignoring my goodbyes and disappearing down the hall seconds after dropping her off), Suji was a little more uncertain (attempting to follow Akemi out the door when we turned to leave).  But, by all accounts, her overnight stay was a success.  She stuck close to Lulu and was fairly quiet – until later that night when she became quite vocal about her displeasure in not being allowed to sleep on the bed.  When we picked them up, she was so thrilled to see Akemi that she peed all over her coat.  Lulu, meanwhile, left grudgingly. All in all, this bodes well for Stage 3, a multi-night stay, should we decide to head to L.A. in January or (Dare I say it?) Japan.

We took the opportunity to fly in to Montreal for the day and resume our condo hunt.  Ideally, we’d like to find a place in condo but finding something we really like has been challenging.  Montreal, surprisingly, offers a lot more options at a lot more value.  We checked out about a half dozen places, and there was one we really liked.  We’ll revisit when we’re back in town next week and, if we’re still feeling it, maybe put in an offer.  Who knows?  If the price is right…

Some of the highlights from our recent visit…

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Sis and mom.

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Kona thinks she’s a lapdog.

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Pensive.

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I’m on the edge of my seat.  It’s do or die time for my Snow Monkeys as they take on The GOATS in fantasy football league semifinal action.  I have the better team, but injuries and luck, both good and bad, have a way of swinging fate.  I’m still agonizing over my lineup.  Hopefully, it’ll all fall into place tomorrow and, next weekend, we’ll be securing our first championship since 2011.  Great memories, right?

Snow Monkeys Win! Snow Monkeys Win!

December 15, 2017: A sneak peek of my interview for Stargate Command!

Last month, former Stargate Special Features Producer Ivon Bartok got together with Gateworld’s David Read and MGM’s Kieran Dickson to talk about the old days…

More to come at: https://www.stargatecommand.co/home

December 14, 2017: Shows I will absolutely, positively, FINALLY, check out in 2018! A Top 10 List!

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TWIN PEAKS

I loved the first season of this delightfully weird series; the second season less so.  Never saw the prequel movie, but I’m all sorts of curious to check out the new, 20 years later, series that has been both revered and reviled…just like the original.

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VIKINGS

This one looks epic.

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BLACK SAILS

Pirates!  Need I say more?

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THE CROWN

To be honest, it didn’t look all that interesting but everyone I know who has seen it raves about it.

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NARCOS

This one comes recommended from none other than my buddy – and Dark Matter Co-Exeuctive Producer – Ivon Bartok.

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OZARK

A successor to Breaking Bad?  Let’s find out!

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THE NIGHT OF

As a big fan of the limited series format, I have high hopes here.

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THE NIGHT MANAGER

Speaking of which, here’s another one that’s received its fair share of critical praise.  And, bonus – it stars Hugh Laurie.

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UNREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT

Looking for a show that will fill the 30 Rock-size hole in my heart.  And I think this might be it!

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TERRIERS

Only one season and it was produced way back in 2010.  It’s about time!

December 13, 2017: Best Comic Book Covers of the Week!

My favorites –

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Lady Killer vol. 2 (cover art by Joelle Jones)

Black and white and read all over.  With a shock of green in those gorgeous eyes.  Joelle Jones is fast becoming my favorite artist working in comics.  Bloody sexy.

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Mr. Miracle #5 (cover art by Nick Derington)

I’m a sucker for these atypical moments that nevertheless convey so much about the characters, in this case Mr. Miracle and Big Barda enjoying a quiet interlude.  The beach, the pier, the setting sun – beautiful.

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Mr. Miracle #5 variant (cover art by Mitch Gerads)

A completely different cover, more overt in its conveyance, but still delivering a wonderful moment.  Amidst a backdrop of hearts, our two lovers smiling, gazing into each other’s eyes.  Get a room already!

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Astro City: Ordinary Heroes (cover art by Alex Ross)

Kind of creepy.  Kind of funny.  Somehow appropriate given the title.  Alex Ross having fun.

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Bug: The Adventures of Forager #6 (cover art by Mike Allred)

I’ve always enjoyed artist Mike Allred’s unique style and, while I have no idea what’s going on here, I appreciate the roll call of Fourth World players including, my favorite, Granny Goodness bottom right.

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Detective Comics #970 (cover art by Rafael Albuquerque)

A dynamic instant captures our two heroes in motion, motorcycles streaking, capes trailing in the wind, the sun gold vibrancies of the street and background lending the whole an oil on canvas quality.

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Flash #36 (cover art by Neil Googe)

Here it’s all about the composition – Flash foreground about to pull the sheet away to reveal the corpse’s identity; rogue’s gallery background conveying a range of emotions from shock to sadness.  I need to know who’s under there!!!

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Suicide Squad #31 (Tony S. Daniel and Danny Miki)

Well here’s an eerie little PSA about the dangers of space travel.  What were they doing in planetary orbit and where do those oxygen hoses lead?  The framing that suggests the answers may lie just out of our eye line.

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I.T.: The Secret World of Banking #3 (cover art by Hubert Khan Michael?)

Slick!  The textures, details, and color palette sing.  This is one badass cover.

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Falcon #3 (cover art by David Acuna)

Love the use of shadows and light, the framing of our hero laid low, cuffed and captive, the rainfall illuminated by the patrol cars’ flashers.

 

December 12, 2017: Is it spring yet?

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Bundle up, kids!  It’s cold outside.  It’s I’m-not-going-out-unless-I-absolutely-have-to cold.  And it’s going to get even colder.  I mean, come on!  What happened to the promise of global warming?  Spring in winter?  Summer in autumn?  A world safe from runaway icebergs and douchey ski pros.  More of this –

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And less of this –

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Despite the deep freeze, I did venture out tonight to join my buddy Ivon and actor Jeff Teravainen for dinner.  Some drinks, some burgers, some nice conversation, and we wrapped things up with an apple pie sundae and Jeff going to town on everyone’s fries.  I’m a big fan of the guy, and not just because he picked up the tab.

Tomorrow, it’s an early morning for Lulu and Suji who will be heading over to our new dogsitter’s place where they will be spending the night.  This will mark the first night Suji will be separated from Akemi since we adopted her last year.  She’s in great hands, but I’m very curious how she’s going to react.  She can be a little…testy.

While the dogs are away at the their B&B (Bed and Barkfest), Akemi and I are going to take the opportunity to take a quick trip to Montreal where we will spend tomorrow afternoon and Thursday morning checking out condos.  With my recent move cross-country, I thought it might be nice to have a pied-a-terre in the city of smoked meat and strippers.  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll end up neighbors of actor Anthony Lemke who now calls Montreal home.  Or, at least, Home A.

Only 19 reading days until the year draws to a close and really, when you think about it, it’s actually less than that as I’ll need to post my Best Books of 2017 blog entry before or by the 31st.  This was a pretty good reading year and, given the sheer volume, I suppose it makes sense.  I’m at 232 books on the year and want to hit 250 when all is said and done (A new record by the way).

There’s still time!  Recommend me a great book that was published in 2017.

December 11, 2017: Dark Matter Secrets Revealed!

The highlights from #DarkGate Round 2, another Dark Matter/Stargate-related Q&A.

On the mysterious Cyrus King…

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What of Solara Shockley?

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What episode idea did Episode 309, “Isn’t That A Paradox?” replace?

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As for what else we had in store for ONE/Derrick Moss…

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On Ryo, Misaki, and Teku…

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And how would FOUR have adjusted to life as a returning crew member?

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On The Mikkei Combine’s role in the alien invasion storyline…

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What were the plans for Lt. Anders?

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What about Dr. Shaw?

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And Wexler?

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What else did we have planned for SIX?

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We would have even explored an increasingly complex Alt. Portia…

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And, finally, what of Alexander Rook?

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Thanks for everyone who took part.  Let’s try to do another one in the New Year!

Tagged: #DarkMatter, Dark Matter

December 10, 2017: A DarkGate reminder! Akemi’s Science Fact of the Day! And celebrating a Snow Monkeys win!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be hitting twitter tomorrow for a second round fan Q&A.  If you have any Dark Matter and/or Stargate-related questions, feel free to post them.  Don’t forget to include the #DarkGate hashtag so I can find you and keep track.

So, when is this happening?  Well, @TeamRazaEurope was kind enough to assemble the following graphic:

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Brush up on the #DarkGate Round 1 revelations here:

https://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/2017/12/07/december-7-2017-last-nights-darkgate-highlights/

“People who put their hands in their pockets are liars.”

Akemi’s Science Fact(?) of the Day

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You can all breathe a sigh of relief.  My Snow Monkeys are well on their way to securing a win in the first round of fantasy football league play.  It looked iffy early on but thanks to big-time performances from Todd Gurley, DeAndre Hopkins, and Davante Adams, we’re looking ahead to a semi-final match-up against The Goats (who we beat by 35 points back in week 12).

Alright!  Cream soda and Chicago Mix for everybody!!!

December 9, 2017: DarkGate International Fan Q&A! Your choice of underwear could be prematurely aging you! Toronto Fan Days!

Monday, December 11th at 21:30 Greenwich time (That’s 4:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m PST for those of you on this side of the pond) I’ll be hitting twitter for #DarkGate, round 2.  Over the course of the hour, I’ll be hitting twitter to field Dark Matter and Stargate-related questions from international fans.  Circle the date!

Here’s what we covered in the first round Q&A.

“Wearing black underwear makes  you old.”

Akemi’s Science Fact(?) of the day.

Every so often, Akemi will impart a nugget of wisdom gleamed from the internet or a Japanese variety show.  She’s rarely able to  supply actual links to the studies, but corroborating evidence is beside the point.  I mean, who has time to read research-based abstracts while the article clothing you are wearing could actually be adding years to your life?  According to Akemi (who heard it discussed on Honmadekka TV), your skin cells are affected by the color of your underwear and, apparently, black is a terrible, terrible influence.  Whether these effects extend to the whole body or are simply limited to the, uh, below the belt region, Akemi couldn’t say.  But in the interest of keeping you all abreast of the very latest in alt. science facts, I thought it best to relay the aforementioned.  Do with the information what you will.  I, for one, am going underwear shopping tomorrow.

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One of the first sights that greeted me as I entered Hall D at the Toronto Fan Days Con was this fellow doing an amazing cosplay of Paul Sun-Hyung Lee’s Kim’s Convenience character as ghostbuster.  But then, when he took a second from chatting with some con attendees to glance over at me and smile, “Hey, Joe!”, I realized it WAS Paul Sun-Hyung Lee cosplaying his Kim’s Convenience character as ghostbuster.  Love this guy.  A great actor and an utter delight to work with. Also, an incredibly accessible, down to earth fellow as evidenced by his interactions with the various fans.  He signed programmed, posed for photos, and happily chatted away.  Class act.

Akemi and I worked the room and, while we encountered a few Dark Matter fans, we were unsuccessful in tracking down any super villain t-shirts.  Looks like I’ll have to wait until Toronto Comic Con in March.

December 8, 2017: Thank you’s, t-shirts, and trailers!

And that’s a wrap on Project A 2017 writers’ room.  Over the course of the past five days, we broke the pilot, broad stroked the second episode, bulleted the first episode character arcs, fleshed out the backstory of our aliens, overviewed our five season plan, ate a hell of a lot of breakfast pastries and cookies, and polished off a bottle of delicious Cuban dark rum my buddy Tio sent my way.  Thanks to David Ray, Alex Levine, and Samantha Mastai for their veritable whirlwind of ideas.  I could barely keep up!

May we have the opportunity to do it all over again (x9!) in the not too distant future.

Now, I’m off to write the outline and, soon after, that pilot script.  Some really great character dynamics in this one.  Can’t wait for you all to read see it!

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Oh, damn.  Who’s going?  Well, I – for one – will be dropping by to stock up on super villain t-shirts and assorted comic book-related sundries.  I will be cosplaying as the protagonist of the anime series Harried Showrunner Kuromi.  Keep an eye out!

Well, here’s the trailer for the long-awaited Alita: Battle Angel live-action movie.   Hmmm.  Gorgeous visuals but I am unconvinced by the decision to animate the Alita character.

Well, this looks weird and interesting.  Have A Nice Day

A nailbiter!  You Were Never Really Here

December 7, 2017: Last night’s #DarkGate highlights!

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Here are the highlights from last night’s Dark Matter/Stargate (#DarkGate) Q&A!  Thanks to Tom Gardiner for the banner!

On my plans for ONE/Derrick Moss…

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On my big arc plan for Dark Matter season 4:

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My plans for exploring the THREE/Android dynamic:

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On the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Derrick Moss’s wife:

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On that dark timeline glimpsed at the end of “All the Time in the World”:

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On my plans for FIVE’s sister:

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On the mysterious Kryden:

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On my plans for SIX:

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On my plans for Sarah:

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On my immediate plans for an alien-possessed TWO:

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More answers to come in next week’s #DarkGate Q&A for international fans (to be announced)!