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 ballerina is part of the wall mural.  My contribution is a live element!

Anyway, our field trip in pictures…

This spot would've been perfect if not for the incessant hum of the hotel's massive air conditioning unit. It would provided we could shut the AC down for three hours or so in July. I'm sure the hotel guests won't mind.

Production Designer Tim Bider snaps some pics, presumably for HIS blog!

Suite - famous for being trashed by some Hollywood douchebag.

Alexander relaxes in what, a month from now, will be an upscale shop.

Potential getaway sequence location? Alex says yes!

Stairs leading down to the basement of doom.

The legends were true! We discover the ancient bee burial ground.

Tim, a standing member of the Loyal Order of Crocodiles, sports his club hat. A terrific conversation-starter at most bars.

Some of the, uh, interesting stained glass work on display…

That kid in the front is one evil-looking bastard.

Because science and learning is to be feared.

Nordic Hansel and Gretel. Check out Gretel's celebratory fist pump. Ka-ching!

A young Ludwig Von Beethoven goes skiing with his dad.

Clearly, this stained glass work dates as far back as the turn of the century. The 21st century.

We stop for lunch at a little Italian place off Queen Street West called Pizzeria Libretto where we enjoy four different pizzas. Alex, Anna, and I vote the sausage with caramelized onions our Pizza Pick of the Day!

Paul and Alexander - their vivacity is almost infectious!

Tim Owen informs me that, as much as I loved the pizzeria, there are no plans to use it for a future location shoot.

This parkade has a lot of character (a.k.a. I can really see someone being murdered here).

1st AD Tim Singh seconds before being snatched by one of the neighborhood's giant snow owls.

Mailbag:

Bryan M. White writes: "Love the Galaxy Quest reference!!!"

Answer: That was Ben's inspired suggestion.  He ran it by me after reading the script and I loved it!

Randomness writes: "For me, seeing Mitchell prior to Season 9, if only randomly, or in passing would of been better, however budget I would imagine, and a reason for him to be there would of been I guess hard."

Answer: It wasn't so much a budgetary constraint as it was the simple fact that we didn't know who we would be bringing in to replace O'Neill until after season 9 had been shot.

crayonbaby writes: "You'll have to tell us the reasoning behind the 30 bite salad. Do you have to eat them in a certain order to get the full effect? "

Answer: Nope.  Half the fun is in the choosing.

archersangel writes: "i was wondering; did beau bridges went through the usual audition process or what? the same with louis gossett jr. i think of them as "movie actors" & was surprised to see them on tv."

Answer: No.  In the case of both Beau and Lou, they were offered the roles.

Michelle writes: "Do you think it would have been easier for fans to accept Mitchell and Landry if it were clear where Jack was going?"

Answer: Don't know if it would have made much of a difference although, yes, it should have been clear where Jack disappeared to.

Randomness writes: "Did you have a chance to watch Red Faction Origins yet Joe?"

Answer: Nope.

Anaria writes: "Okay, that answers the toilet question about the cargo ships, but what about jumpers? They don't have rings, and sometimes people spend a lot of time in them, for example in 'Midway' after the midway station blows up."

Answer: Oh, that one's easy.  In the case of the jumper, everyone but whoever has to go moves up to the front.  When the person has finished their business, everyone hangs on for dear life and the jumper drops its ramp, exposing the jumper's interior to the vacuum of space, effectively clearing out any refuse (and weak-fingered occupants).

jmanzione writes: "Whoever came up with the Ori did an awesome job."

Answer: Thank you, Robert C. Cooper.

Sov writes: "So I've been wondering, since the stargate was presumably moved to Washington and the focus of the program likely changed more from exploration to research, and since all the bad guys have been done away with, what became of SG1? Carter has a ship, Teal'C is some kind of politician or something, and Daniel hopefully got himself assigned to Atlantis (that seems logical, at least). It seems that there would be no need for a dozen-plus SG teams at this point, so maybe they were whittled down to four or five? Is Cameron Mitchell retired and laying on a beach somewhere? Or maybe he's pushing pencils behind a desk? What fate Cam Mitchell?"

Answer: In my mind, Jack is retired and has settled down with Carter who is head of all off-world-related R&D.  Now that Atlantis has found a home in the Milky Way, Daniel is there, studying its database and exploring hitherto unexplored sections of the Ancient city.  Cam is still leading a team on off-world adventures, a team made up of both Teal'c and Vala who occasionally take time off to oversee the free Jaffa nation and run some off-world scams.

dasNdanger writes: "Speaking of Akemi, Joe, have you ever read David Mack's Kabuki? "

Answer: Have a statue, but haven't read the comic book.

dasNdanger also writes: "Oh! I see in that link that Akemi sounds similar to Alchemy.  Maybe I've answered my own question, but any help you can offer would also be appreciated."

Answer: Yes.  Exactly like "alchemy" without the "l".

maggiemayday writes: "Betcha Akemi has a cute "-chan" nickname. Kemi-chan? Mi-chan?"

Answer: Ake-chan.

dankriss1967 writes: "I think it works out really well as they work as a team and I loved the fact that Carter liked Vala from the start so glad they did not do the 2 women lets have them hate each other routine…phew!"

Answer: I liked the idea of the two being good friends despite their differences, which is why I included a couple of personal little scenes in a couple of episodes (them coming back from an outing in the tease of one episode, them enjoying a glass of wine at the end of another adventure -Family Ties).

Debra writes: "Ever notice when you DO strong women, they are either OUT THERE (like Vala) or lesbians (the all women team… like that is realistic!, and Camile Wray. "

Answer: Why do you assume the all woman team was lesbian?  What about T.J.?  Or Teyla?  Or Carter?  And (re: Vala) what's wrong with a strong woman character being "out there"?

Shiny writes: "How did Akemi make the asparagus? Asparagus is my waterloo; I get beautiful stalks and then end up tossing it in the gravy or just forgetting them in the bottom of the fridge. I've had it made so tasty and zesty, but I don't know how; you steam and then what?"

Answer: I recommend steaming them, then finishing them in a pan with some balsamic vinegar.