Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 457

June 10, 2013: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews Captain America: The First Avenger!

No offense to Captain America but, technically, wasn’t Thor de “First Avenger”?  Dis de first qwestion dat cross monster’s mind, followed by “Dis entire movie a period piece?” and “Did me forget to buy cake mix for Grover’s potluck supper next Toosday?”.

Monster sit down to watch Captain America wit an open mind and, while me pleasantly surprised by rip-roaring first half, overall movie make it abundantly clear dat Captain America be a flawed hero.  He not as cool as Iron Man or as mighty as Thor or even as interesting as Spiderman. At de end of de day, he about as awesome as Linoleum Girl or Unsweetened Oatmeal Man.  Still, Cap’s alter-ego, Steve Rogers be a very interesting charakter – for about half de movie anyway and, at de point when it become less about Steve and more about action and speshul effekts, dis film flounder for me like, well, a flounder.

Hey, Scarecrow, you’re in the wrong movie!

Movie open on diskovery of crashed ship in Antarctika.  Inside, men find frozen star spangled shield.  What it be?  What it mean?  Well, for answer to dat, we flashback to…

1942 where evil nazi (As opposed to what?  Good-hearted, lovable nazi?) kill old village priest and steal glowy cube.  What it be?  What it mean?  Well, for answer to dat, we go to…

Steve Rogers, a skinny, sickly guy who want to enlist in de army but refused because he TOO skinny and sickly.  He get bullied, beaten up, and generally feel bad about staying behind with all de girls while lucky guys go off to war.  He get taken in by kindly German scientist who offer him opportunity to serve.  Steve agree to undergo experimental serum treatment and, before you can say “Hulk smash!” he be transformed into dreamy hunk!

MUCH better!

Monster here must make speshul mention of spektacular visual effekts dat transform aktor as handsome and ripped as Cookie Monster into gawky geeky Grover-looking guy.  It truly a fascinating achievement.

Anyhoo, spy kill German scientist and we treated to transformed Steve chasing down bad guy and saving de day.  Suddenly, skinny/sickly Steve (moderately) super fast, (moderately) super strong, and (moderately) super agile.  He obviously destined for great tings!  He destined for…

BROADWAY!

Gotta dance!!!

Seriously, dude.

Okay.  Serious.

BUT when Steve find out his old buddy Bucky be captured by nazi’s, he decide he want to go reskue him.  And because he display such great onstage dancing ability (????), he happily dropped behind enemy lines in his Broadway attire and shield.

As Captain America, he infiltrate nazi facility and face off against super-nazi called The Red Skull.  Why he be called Red Skull?  What dat mean?  For de answer to dat…

“Skullsy McScarlet” already taken.

You have to watch de movie instead of reading dis review but let’s just say he be called Red Skull for a very good reason.  Dat has someting to do wit him having a red skull.

Captain America so awesome, he reskue Bucky and bunch of prisoners, den walk dem all de way back from Germany.

Government suddenly realize full potenshul of Captain America and cast him in off-off-Broadway produktions of “Kick Nazi Ass!”.  He go on various missions where he…Kick Nazi Ass!  He lead team against Red Skull lab and nazis armed wit energy weapons dat demolecularize people but, for some mysterious reason, bounce off Cap’s shield.

Cap showdown wit Red Skull on super jet carrying atomic bombs, each one carefully labeled so grievous error not made like dropping New York atomic bomb on Chicago.  How embarrassing would DAT be?

Captain America steer jet safely into ocean where it crash and he lost until…flashforward to…

Steve wake up and freak out.  He find himself in modern day Times Square where he shocked to hear it be 70 years later!  And de Chicago Cubs still haven’t won a World Series!

Verdikt: A movie dat start surprisingly strong and interesting but become less so as focus shift from charakter to action and speshul effekts.  Ultimately, it straightforward and kind of bland – like its hero.

Rating: 7 chocolate chippee cookies.

Tagged: Captain America, Captain America: The First Avenger, comic book movies, Comic Books, Comics, Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster film reviews, Cookie Monster movie reviews, Cookie Monster reviews Captain America: The First Avenger, Cookie Monster superhero movie reviews, superhero movies, superheroes, SuperMovie of the Week Club

June 9, 2013: The Montreal Stop-over!

A final dinner with our producing partner, Jay, and then we bid Toronto a fond farewell.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s entry, it was a highly productive couple of days that have given us plenty to work on – in the five or six days I’m back in Vancouver before heading to L.A. for a week.

But, for now, I’m in Montreal, visiting with mom.  And sis.  And the dogs.  I got in this morning and leave tomorrow night – far too short a visit so far as mom is concerned (but, really, so far as she is concerned, they’re all too short) however I need time to pre for that L.A. trip: pitches, properties, and prospective restaurants!

Anyway, my day went something like this:

1. Fly in.

2.

Mom

3.

Felix

Fernando

Roxy

Old Yeller Caramel

4.

Fried peppers

Crab mousse

Rabbit

Baked mussels and potatoes

My favorite mussel preparation.

5. Then, it was off to meet up with my auntie Antoinette and cousins Evelina and Leonora who are heading home to Toronto, Saskatoon, and Toronto respectively tomorrow morning.  It’s been a stressful time for all three of them as they had been busy taking care of my auntie Jeanette (September 18, 2011: Dogs on vacation! My Auntie Jeanette! Sampling Montreal’s finest! Au Pied de Cochon!) who passed away late last week.  I will forever fondly recall her big heart, sense of humor and endlessly meandering, though no less entertaining, stories.

Auntie Jeanette and Felix.

6.

Sis

My sis is is happy to report she met and then surpassed her team’s target goal for The Missing Children’s Network.  Although her Dragon Boat team finished third to last in the actual race, they were the top fund-raising team bringing in over $15 900.  She asked me to pass along her thanks to everyone who helped out, most recently Sylvia, JeffW, PBMom, and Shana H.  More official thanks to come as organizers complete the final tally.

Finally, very sad to hear of the passing of one of my favorite SF writers, the briliant Iain Banks.

June 8, 2013: Alex! John and Nancy! Jelly! And pizza!

Last night, Paul and I got together with our former Stargate script coordinator Alex Levine who, since moving to Toronto, has been busy forging a successful writing career.  He has worked on a various productions, most notably Flashpoint and the critically-acclaimed Orphan Black (Check it out!).  He’s come a long way from his very first script, a little Atlantis episode called Inquisition and, in hindsight, I now regret being so critical of his spellchecking abilities.

I also regret all those lunch trays I broke over his head for not distributing my scripts in a timely manner.

But before meeting with Alex, it was another heartfelt reunion of sorts. Yes, I’ve missed a number of Toronto residents since moving back to Vancouver but, perhaps, none more than Buca, without a doubt one of my Top  Restaurants worldwide.  Last night, we dined on crispy sweetbread, various house cured meats including elk tongue, goat cheese and foie gras ravioi, an unbelievable tiramisu, and these two standout “standout” items:

Warm bread knots with rosemary, olive oil, garlic, and sea salt.

Burrata, tomato, basil, and truffle. The best pizza I’ve had outside of Tokyo. 

This morning, after breakfast with our former Toronto neighbors John and Nancy, Paul and I got together with Jay and hammered out a structure for the feature.  Sometime, in the next couple of weeks, we’ll send him the outline for both it and the JM series/pilot.  Also, sometime in the next little while, I’m going to start looking into all of your (no doubt) terrific suggestions for potential shows/movies. Thanks for submitting!

All in all a very productive afternoon, however the highlight of the day was the five minutes I spent on FaceTime with Jelly.

Jelly (File picture – Copyright, Library of Congress)

Another dinner tonight and then, tomorrow morning, it’s off to Montreal!

Tagged: Buca, Buca Restaurant

June 7, 2013: I brushed my teeth with Johnny Walker Red Label last night! Win a set visit for a series that doesn’t exist yet! My sis says thanks!

So far, this trip has been marked by seating issues, a late cancellation, general misfortune, and the mid-brush realization that what I’d packed was not, in fact, toothpaste but a topical ointment for rashes.  All in all, an inauspicious start to this east coast swing.

Back on the west coast, meanwhile, my pug Jelly is apparently missing me something terrible.  This according to Akemi who claims she seems downcast and considerably less vocal – although her appetite remains as healthy as ever.  My french bulldog Lulu, on the other hand, is coping just fine.  Last night, she seized the opportunity of my absence to lay claim over my spot on the bed.

Given her general stubbornness, I have a feeling it’s going to be very tough to take it back.

Met up with my Toronto buddies Tara and Trevor last night.  Catching up with them over mini turkey burgers, flatbread, and scotch almost makes me want to come back and shoot a series here in Toronto.

Today, it was meetings, meetings, and meetings (in that order).  We hammered out a pretty solid structure for the JM series (note: it doesn’t stand for either Joseph Mallozzi or Jason Momoa) and will be starting work on the overview and pilot when we get back to Vancouver.  We have a dinner meeting tonight and then, tomorrow, we start breaking the film script!  In addition, a couple of other opportunities have cropped up in the last 48 hours including a partnership to pursue some established properties.

Which is where you all come in.  Again, I need your input.  What book, graphic novel, or anime series do you think would make a great television series (or movie)?  List away. If your idea is a good one and we do end up securing the rights and making the series (or movie), you automatically win yourself a set visit!

With some time to kill this afternoon, I visited one of my favorite Toronto haunts:

SOMA Chocolatemaker (Welcome to SOMA chocolatemaker).  Akemi, no doubt, misses it even more than I do so I picked her up a little something(s) for dog-sitting while I’m away:

I’m hoping they’ll actually make it back to Vancouver.

Note from my sis: Andria asked me to thank Sparrow_hawk, gforce, and astrumporta for their support of The Missing Children’s Network!

Hey, Stella – hope the doggy surgery went well today!

June 6, 2013: Travel Day! Cobbler!

My pug, Jelly, hates it when I travel.  A couple of weeks ago, as my buddy Cas was wrapping up his stay with us, Jelly spotted me wheeling his carry-on bag out the door.  She scrambled up (as best she could given her hip dysplasia) and hurried over, barking as if to say: “Whoa! Where the hell do you think YOU’RE going?!”.  A false alarm and she was greatly relieved and downright excited to see me walk back through in.

This morning, as I was packing up for this Toronto business trip and last minute Montreal detour, she was looking worried.  Akemi claims I’m simply seeing what I want to see – but I ask you: Is this not the look of an anxious pug?

Bubba, meanwhile, bewildered -

And Lulu accusatory -

Am I right?

So, an early blog entry today as I’ll be spending much of the day in flight.  We touch down in T.O. at around 7:30 p.m. after which we’ll check in and then meet two of our former Toronto cohorts, Tara and Trevor, for drinks – and whatever gifts they’ll surprise us with.

Before flying out of Vancouver, Akemi and I did manage to test DP Cobbler’s recipe.  The results -

I should have used a wider, shallower bowl.  This one was too deep and resulted in the strawberries (our fruit of choice) sinking.  Regardless of how it looked, it was pretty damn delicious – with vanilla ice cream of course.  I gave it my own twist, adding white chocolate chips that mingled and melted in the batter, and sliced almonds for a nice little textural pop.

Next up = Mark’s great grandmother’s kifli recipe!  What’s a kifli? Well, according to Mark, it’s a delicious pastry filled with jam (or walnut) – a traditional East European dessert.  He offers the recipe with handy diagrams here: http://192.197.62.35/staff/mcsele/recipe.htm#Kifli

The recipe…

Mix together the following three ingredients and set aside. Ensure it does not clump.

1/4 CUP MILK (Warmed)
1 TBSP YEAST
1 tsp SUGAR

Using a pastry knife, Mix the following three ingredients in a bowl:

3 CUPS FLOUR
1/2 lb. BUTTER (1 CUP)
Pinch of Salt

Add the following two dry ingredients to the above:

3-1/2 TBSP SUGAR
1/2 tsp BAKING POWDER

In a separate bowl, mix the following:

3 EGG YOLKS (SEPARATE FROM WHITES), Beaten

The add the yeast mixture from above (by now it has frothed) and add:

1/2 CUP SOUR CREAM
1/2 tsp VANILLA

Mix these ‘wet’ ingredients together with the dry ingredients. Should have the consistency of peanut butter cookie dough. Add flour if sticky. Knead well and let stand 2 hours in a warm place. To allow the dough to rise, we place the bowl with the dough (covered with a tea towel) onto the top rack of our oven and place a bowl of hot water on the lower rack. Leave the oven off and it will gently warm and allow the dough to rise.

Divide the dough into 5 equal sized balls. Sprinkle sugar on a board, put a dough ball on the board, and roll out into a circle about 12 inches across. Flip the dough over and put more sugar on the board. Cut like a pizza into wedges about 1-1/2 inches at widest. Put Lecvar plum jam on each wedge (about 1 tsp each) and roll in sugar. Bake on a cookie sheet at 325 F for 15 min until golden brown.

*

Hmmmmm.  Seems a little more involved than previous entires.  Who’s up for the challenge?!

Tagged: cobbler, fruit cobbler, kifli

June 5, 2013: It’s Very Summerful!

“It’s very summerful!”says Akemi.  And she’s right.  Not grammatically, but certainly in the more general “Summer is finally upon us!” sense. Thus, today found me sitting in my backyard, on a lawn chair, sipping sasparilla liquor and ginger beer, reading the latest volume of The Walking Dead, whiling away the afternoon with my buddies -

Earlier this morning, I was watching the third episode of Bates Motel. At one point in the episode, two characters are being chased through a forest when they stop to catch their breath by a fallen tree.  ”Wait a minute,”I thought.  ”I KNOW that fallen tree!”  And then, as the chase continued… “And I know those woods!”.  I checked and, sure enough, the show is shot here.  How’s that for a sign I’ve perhaps spent far, far too long scouting and shooting forest locations here in B.C.?

Yep, the more I consider it, the more I think it is time for a change. Paul and I have been very lucky.  We went from animation straight to young adult live-action to action-adventure to eleven years on Stargate to a year in Toronto to a year with barely a break in between.  Last year was “technically” our year off – but not really.  While we didn’t do any actual producing, we did launch a comic book, wrote an SF mini-series, developed two pilots, wrote two more, and wrote a horror feature.     While other projects await on deck (that feature we’ve been hired to write, that now not-so-secret series we’ll be developing based on that SF literary property) I can’t help but feel that if we really want to take that next step up in our career, Canada aint the place to be.  We’re going to have to move.  Sure, it’ll be a giant pain in the ass – but Akemi has suddenly changed her “Let’s get a condo!” tune after seeing some of the potential homes away from home I’ve been checking out online.  And, of course, there’s the fact that we could enjoy summer weather like this all-year-round instead of two and a half months of the year!

Let’s celebrate the changing seasons (and homes) with drinks!  Post your favorite overly elaborate summerful cocktail recipe!

June 4, 2013: Now what?! The Sweet Smell of Success? Support my sis!

Crap.  No sooner is my “red eye” condition on the mend than I suffer a shoulder injury while working out.  ”Your muscle is sore,”said Akemi. “That’s good!”  No, it’s not the good kind of sore.  It’s the “I have to sleep on my back because it hurts when I roll over” and “I’m so stiff I have to turn my entire body instead of just my turning head so I look like a damn robot” sore. On the bright side, I’m a firm believer in the “things balance out in the end” philosophy.  Given the way the past few months have gone, I fully expect all three of my shows to get picked up this month!

The sweet smell of success (aka maple syrup!).

For months now, Akemi has been going on about the fact that the new Canadian 100 dollar bills smell like maple syrup.  According to “sources” at her language school, it’s only the 100′s and they emit the faint scent of Canadian national symbol when the bill is rubbed. Sort of like a scratch and sniff.  Despite my attempts to set her straight, she remained adamant, even going so far as to dismiss one of the disappointingly unscented bills I had in my wallet as potentially counterfeit.  I put the topic out of my mind until last week when I came across this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331770/New-Canadian-100-dollar-bills-reek-like-maple-syrup-national-bank-says-notes-fragrance-free.html

Apparently, Akemi isn’t the only one who has jumped on the “100 dollar bill smells like maple syrup” bandwagon.  As per the aforementioned article, Bank of Canada officials “have repeatedly denied that there is any particular scent to the money”.  Interestingly enough, other bills have long been associated with specific scents of Canadiana.  The $50 dollar bill, for instance, supposedly smells like salmon.  The $20, like bacon.  The $10, like poutine.  And the $5, like former Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s socks.

Anyway, we were out for dinner the other night and, when my buddy pulled out a $100 to pay for the meal, Akemi snatched it and started sniffing.  I explained to situation to my bewildered friend.  ”She thinks it smells like maple syrup,”I informed him.  ”It DOES smell like maple syrup!”she insisted, handing me the bill.  I sniffed, smelled nothing, and told her as much.  ”You have to rub the maple leaf,”she said.  I wasn’t buying it but decided to humor her, rubbing the leaf before giving it a sniff and – Holy Shit!  It smelled like – well, not quite maple syrup – more like chocolate – but pretty damn close!  My friend was equally amazed.

Until Akemi pulled out the tube of chocolate lip balm she had secretly applied to the bill while we weren’t looking.

Only a couple of days to go before my sis takes part in the annual Dragon Boat Race in support of The Missing Children’s Network!

Help her out by donating on-line towards One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish at https://secure9.securewebexchange.com/enfant-retourquebec.ca/index.php?lang=en.

Please put her name (Andria Mallozzi) in the message section.

June 3, 2013: The Supermovie of the Week Club reconvenes! Cookie Monster reviews Vs: All Superheroes Must Die!

Dis less a movie den it be a student film project gone terribly wrong. Poor akting, lame dialogue, weak direktion, and cheap produktion values be de least of it’s problems.  No, biggest issue monster have wit Superheroes Must Die be it’s unforgivable stoopidity and fakt dat it make about as much sense as Lost in czechoslovakian.

Not-so-fantastic Four.

Group of superheroes wake up in remote town minus deir superpowers. Foursome made up of bad aktress, bad aktor, worse bad aktor, and bad aktor who spend entire movie walking around wit half a mask because it got torn and he can’t be bothered to just take it off.   It turn out dis situation compliments of arch-villain, Rickshaw.  Yes, he be named after a two wheeled passenger cart for trotting tourists around. “But how dis  possible?”dey ask.  Rickshaw supposed to be dead.  How he capture dem?  What he do to dem?

Don’t hold your breath waiting for any answers.

Rickshaw (aka Cackles McCackleson).

Thru a series of video recordings, Rickshaw inform “heroes” dey must perform series of tasks in order to save hostages.  If dey refuse to participate, whole town rigged to blow!

So, basically, dis entire movie based on classic “stoopid villain” premise. You know what me talking about.  Instead of just killing de hero, villain has to create super elaborate set-up for entertainment purposes. In dis case, his NOT ours.

Uncle Sham

Heroes have to split up into two teams.  One team end up having to fight egregious over-aktor dressed up like Uncle Sam.  Dey rush him and he push dem down.  Really hard me guess because dey mysteriously incapacitated.  Uncle Sham pull out knife and stabby-stabby worse bad aktor.

Meanwhile, other team have to split up.  While one guy fight skinny circus strongman on trampoline, other have to save hostages strapped to explosives.  He attempt to save dem by putting out fuse wit his fingers.  It not work (obviously) so he use axe to cut end off fuse. Whew!  Dat was close!  Only, for some reason, fuse light up again. What can dey do?  Use axe again?  Maybe yank fuse out of explosives (monster’s first choice)?  No.  How about run away and let hostages explode?

Second group meet up wit first group and Half-Mask plow into Uncle Sham, demonstrating dat he de only one who got to keep his super powers.  Super strength!  But it later revealed he didn’t lose his super powers because he never had super powers to begin wit.  Even tho…er…he supposedly super strong.

Anyhoo, it too late for stabbed guy.  At dis point, remaining heroes finally get around to checking in on second group of hostages.  Who also get blown up.  Heroes realize it not matter what dey do because Rickshaw going to blow up hostages anyway!

We mistreated to maudlin flashbacks in failed retroactive effort to make us care about dese charakters.

Back in his hideout, villain do de old “cross out dead character’s picture wit red marker” gag – and cackle.  Oh, how he love to cackle.

Remaining tree heroes show up at second spot where another tree hostages rigged up to blow.  Also in room are a gun and tree coffins wit deir names on it.  Only tree coffins because, according to one hero, Rickshaw guessed other hero would already be dead after not completing last task.  Uh, right.  Dat and produktion not able to afford turd wooden box.  Rickshaw tell dem dey must kill demselves to save hostages.  Half-Mask grab gun, step up to his labeled coffin, and put gun up to his chin.  It look like he about to kill himself.  But, instead, he shoot hostages!  Dis be a very surprising moment because…it make absolutely no sense!  Why he pretend to shoot himself first?  Not for benefit of hostages because dey hooded (so dat produktion can save on extras and re-use same tree aktors).  What de Fudgee-o?

Dey rush off to next stop where one of heroes’ sisters rigged to blow up.  Rickshaw tell dem dey must kill each other and he will let sister go.  Of course, at dis point, we already know Rickshaw not letting anyone go.  He already killed all de hostages.  Heroes already stated he already going to kill all de hostages anyway.  So time to try and save hostage instead of playing useless game, right?  Right?!!

Nope.  Brother suddenly and mysteriously very bitter about fakt he be a sidekick.  He get himself killed.  Presumably to save his sister.  And – surprise surprise – she get blown up anyway.

In final round, Half-Mask and girl superhero must fight to death.  Half-Mask seemingly kill himself but it really only a ploy to help him triangulate Rickshaw’s position.  Uh, how he do dat?  By pulling out a map, connecting a bunch of x’s, and deducing point of intersektion be Rickshaw’s hideout.  Me repeat: WHAT DE FUDGEE-O?!

Hey, buddy – viewers suffering A LOT more.

Half-Mask beat up a bunch of henchmen in bear suits.  Why dey wearing bear suits?  Because it make dem look more fearsome?  He get drop on Rickshaw and shoot him.  But, wit his last dying breath, Rickshaw pull out remote and trigger timer dat will blow up entire town in tree minutes.

A badly wounded Half-Mask check out security monitors and notice girl superhero.  Instead of eskaping town, she race to other place and locate Half-Mask’s ridiculous “triangulation” map.  She end up finding him.

As timer tick down, dey limp out of HQ.  Sadly too late to save demselves, but happily right on time to save US from crappy sekwel.

A cheese omelet stuffed wit stoopidity.  Dis movie aktually make Monster nostalgic for Supergirl.

Verdikt: Worst Superhero Movie Ever!

Rating: 0 chocolate chippee cookies.

Tagged: All Superheroes Must Die, Cookie Monster, Cookie Monster film reviews, Cookie Monster movie reviews, superhero movies, superheroes, SuperMovie of the Week Club, Vs, Vs: All Supeheroes Must Die

June 2, 2013: From Electric Crimson to Hobo Blood Red!

Great.  Just great.   [Note sarcastic font].  I went to bed last night figuring a good night’s sleep would cure my eye issue but, as it turned out, ignoring the problem did not make it go away.  If anything, it actually made it worse!  I woke up this morning to discover my bloodshot eye had graduated from Electric Crimson to Hobo Blood Red. Worse, it felt as though that imagined tiny grain of sand trapped under my eyelid had doubled in size.  And so, today, instead of going to the Farmer’s Market for fresh produce and chicken & waffles, I headed to a local walk-in clinic where, after having my eyelid flipped and checked (Yeah, it’s even more uncomfortable than it sounds), I was told it wasn’t pinkeye but conjunctivitis.  I was given a prescription for eye drops and told to apply a cold compress throughout the day.  If I don’t see improvement in a couple of days or if I begin to experience vision loss, headaches, or tears of blood, I should consider it a worsening of my condition and visit the emergency ward of my local hospital.  That or an exorcist.

The whole cold compress thing is a bit of pain in the ass but I’ve managed to incorporate it into my routine.  Here’s me working on today’s blog entry…

After a while, you barely notice it’s there.

Thanks for all the suggested home remedies.  I will definitely try the chamomile tea bag but may hold off on the breast milk.  As for the discomfort I’m experiencing, the doctor suggested Tylenol but I’ve decided to go holistic instead, relying on a tried and true Asian remedy -

Hey!  My sis is raising money for a good cause.  Next weekend (Sunday, June 9th) she’ll be taking part in the annual Dragon Boat Race in support of the Missing Children’s Network.  If you’d like to help out and donate to team One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, follow this link to securely donate on-line: https://secure9.securewebexchange.com/enfant-retourquebec.ca/index.php?lang=en

 

June 1, 2013: Pilots, pitches, and properties! Is there a doctor in the house? Mailbag!

Looks like June is shaping up to be a busy travel month.  Yesterday, we were on the phone with our agents discussing the game plan for our L.A. trip.  We head down at the end of the month for a week of meetings and – much to our dismay – pitching.  Yes, we realize it’s a part of the business, but it’s not one we particularly enjoy.  Truth be told, we’re better on paper – which is why we much prefer to go in and discuss a script instead of some ethereal notion.  Anyone can come up with a hell of an engaging premise but, if you can’t deliver the goods in the form of a solid script, you’re not going to get anywhere.  And, at the end of the day, who are these people to know how capable we are as writers unless they’ve actually read us?  So, we reached a compromise.  We’ll be going out with two of our pilots in addition to some original pitches AND a few literary/anime properties worth pursuing.  Now it’s just a matter of narrowing that list down to a good, strong half-dozen.  Any suggestions?

What the hell did I do to my eye?  I woke up this morning to discover my right eye slightly inflamed.  I didn’t think anything of it until later today when Akemi noticed and asked: “What’s wrong with your eye?”. I checked it in the mirror and realized it had gotten a little more inflamed.  But I wasn’t feeling any pain or discomfort so I ignored it and went on with my day.  Then, later this afternoon, when I was getting my haircut, I was again asked: “What’s wrong with your eye?”. A closer look confirmed it was even more inflamed.  And, suddenly, it feels as if I have something trapped under my eyelid – some tiny grain of sand I can’t seem to dislodge.  Akemi offered me some Japanese eye drops and, as much as I appreciated the thought, I was somewhat reluctant to put something in my eye if I didn’t know exactly what it was.  According to the internet M.D.’s, I apparently shouldn’t worry about it.  Unless it starts to hurt.  Or lasts longer than two days.  I’m hoping I can just sleep it off – but that’s what got me into trouble in the first place!

I’m not quite ready to resort of home remedies, but made an exception for the chocolate chip peanut butter sandwich cookies Akemi made:

Take two of these and call me in the morning.

I know, I know.  Probably can’t help.

But certainly won’t hurt.

Mailbag:

dasndanger writes: “Joey, did you pick up the David Sedaris book because of the Daily Show link I posted back on the 9th? Just curious how much influence I have over you.   Anyhoo, how was the book? Worth the read?”

Answer: David Sedaris has long been one of my favorite writers so, while you didn’t introduce me to his work, your link alerted me to the fact that he had a new book out.  And, yes, it’s definitely worth the read although I much prefer his earlier work like Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

Keith writes: “I’ve got a question I’ve tried to ask a few times and have always missed the mailbag. I’ve been curious just how much thought and input goes into naming characters; ever since SGU had the character of Ron “Psycho” Stasiak turn into Ronald Greer by the time it was ready to shoot.  So how do you name characters?  Does a lot of time go into coming up with just the right name, or is it a quick “whatever pops into your head?”  Do other writers or people higher up often make you change character names, or are the first choices usually the final choices?”

Answer: Depends on the writer.  Paul used to consult the crew list for inspiration.  Brad and Rob would occasionally pay tribute to old friends by naming characters after them.  That’s how Caldwell got his name. Rodney as well.  Rob named him back when he was introduced on SG-1 and, years later, when we were considering McKay for Atlantis, we were dismayed to learn his first name.  We hated it at the time but, eventually, it grew on us.  And now, I can’t imagine McKay with any other name.  As for me – it really depends.  Sometimes a name will just come to me out of the blue while, other times, I’ll reference names from books I’ve read.  If you pay close attention to SG-1′s The Curse, you’ll notice that all of the secondary characters (Jordan, Rayner, Gardner) and the expedition (Stewart) coincidentally also happen to be the names of four Green Lanterns.

Ponytail writes: “Joe is Cas still there? What is he up to?”

Answer: Nope, Cas made his way back to his planet last week.

Airelle writes: “~Joe, how are your mom and sister doing? Loved to see moms cooking on the blog, always looks so delicious, and your sister puppies, how are they faring?”

Answer: Mom had athroscopic surgery on her knee and has been slow to recover.  Sis and puppies are doing well.  Thanks for asking.

Airelle also writes: “Do you still have the exercise regimen going? I know its how you all stay so trim, after eating the stuff you picture on the blog, or maybe you don’t always eat it like I think, and just take wonderful pictures,, more desserts please,.
thanks for sharing. Have a great day!”

Answer:  Yep.  I used to do weights in the morning and a 45 minute run every night.  Starting last week, I switched up my routine to focus more on weight training in an effort to put on some more muscle mass – in preparation for my L.A. trip!

Elminster writes: “How are the prospects of one of your shows getting developed. Or is it still “Smoooooth sailing”?”

Answer: Alas, not quite smooooth sailing.  At least not yet.  According to sources, we’ll have all our answers by end of next week.