November 1, 2017: L.A. Day #3!

“So what do you guys do?”asked our uber driver.

“Joe here is a writer-producer,”said Marc.

“And my friend Mark here is an actor,”I added.  “Do you watch t.v.?

“Yeah,”said the driver.  “I love The Walking Dead.”

“Who’s your favorite character?”I asked.

“Rick.”  And then, after careful consideration: “And Daryl.”

“Yeah, Daryl,”I agreed.  “What about Game of Thrones?”

“Yeah,”he said, drawing it out, yeaaaaaaaaah, in a way that seemed to indicate it was an begrudging affirmative.  And then he added: “But there’s another show I watch.  It’s called Dark Matter…”

At which point Marc totally lost it, wondering aloud whether I’d set the whole thing up.  Our bewildered driver glanced back, wondering what the hell was up.

“Joe created Dark Matter,”Marc explained.

“And Marc here played the character of ONE.”

“Seriously?!”  He could hardly believe it.  “I’m about to start season 3.”

“Well I don’t know if you’d heard, but syfy  cancelled us,”I informed him.

“What?  Why?”

“Why else?  They’re evil.”

Upon pulling up to our destination, we hopped out, took some group selfies, and then headed off to dinner.

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Marc and Miguel

It was a surreal start to a wonderful evening (as evenings in the company of the princely Marc Bendavid tend to be).  I was treated to an incredible Italian meal – appetizers, pastas, and double dessert.

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Hansamu, as the Japanese say.

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A greatly appreciated cap to a very busy day that saw me do for meetings AND run into actor Ronny Cox (Stargate: SG-1, Robocop, Deliverance, and many many more) at a local diner.  Ronny is keeping as busy as ever – acting, performing his music, even writing.  He mentioned RoboDoc, a fan-funded documentary celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Verhoeven classic.  Watch for it!

Tomorrow – more meetings.  And dinner with the awesome Robert Picardo.