Today, the writers’ room was abuzz with talk of the impending return of Golden Boy Martin Gero to the Stargate fold – for all of a week anyway. He heads back into town this weekend (We will, of course, be hitting Fuel big time in celebration) and will be back in the production offices all next week so that we can tear apart his latest script outline and, hopefully, pick his brain for the final few scripts. But that isn’t really cause for excitement. No, what we’re really looking forward to is the return of Marty G.’s expansive comedy character library – so much so that Carl jotted down some of the most memorable routines up on the white board under the heading “Martin Needs To Do”. including, my personal favorite, the eternally cheerful Topango.
Also today, work was completed that effectively transformed my house into our neighborhood Fort Knox. Window bars, gate barriers, rolling grilles, sliding shutters, and a roof mounted sniper’s nest offer security, peace of mind, and a way to ensure that nobody leaves movie night without chipping in for the pizza.
So over the past few months, I’ve been varying my enormous reading list with assorted comic books and trade paperbacks. Plenty of hits and misses among the titles (actually, many more misses than hits) but I wanted to make mention of two staggeringly fantastic ongoing series available in trade paperback.
SCALPED (volumes 1-4), written by Jason Aaron, Illustrated by R. M. Guera
Yes, you’ve heard the name Jason Aaron before because I’ve mentioned it a few times. He’s a writer who blog regular Das recommended a while back. I checked out some of his work for DC and Marvel and came away mightily impressed. But it’s his original series, Scalped, that totally blew me away. It a Noir Western focusing on hard-ass protagonist Dashiell Bad Horse and his return to Prairie Rose, a South Dakota Indian Reservation he abandoned as a teenager. Burdened by memories of the life and loved ones he left behind, he quickly becomes ensnared in the politics of the rez, typified by murder, mayhem, and mystery. Complicating matters is the fact that Bad Horse has a few secrets of his own…
The writing is sharp, raw, and unflinching. The artwork appropriately bleak and weathered, mirrors our hardened hero. It’s like a one of HBO’s better shows – in trade paperback form.
THE WALKING DEAD (Compendium 1 collecting issues #1-48), written by Robert Kirkman, Illustrated by Tony Moore, Charlie Aldrad, and Cliff Rathburn.
Hyperbole aside, The Walking Dead is the greatest work of zombie fiction ever produced. Yes, apologies to George Romero and Max Brooks who have done wonderful work in the field, but Kirkman’s series trounces all undead comers with its nightmarish dystopian setting, scope of its storytelling, and incredible depth and richness of its characters. The zombie apocalypse has come and a group of survivors battle the undead and each other in their struggle for survival. Almost impossible to put down once you’ve started.
Check ’em out!
Does a Sniper come with the sniper nest? If not, there could be a problem.
And how do you know the danger isn’t already in your house, waiting to strike when you’ve fortified it, so that you would have no way out? How do you know that, when you’ve closed all your windows and doors tonight, he/she/it wouldn’t emerge from the shadows and DO YOU IN?!?!
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!
See?? I knew you’d love Scalped! 😀 I’ve never read it – paged through it once or twice, heard wonderful things about it – but I’m eyeball deep in all the reading I can handle right now. Hmmmm…maybe if it was a BotM selection… 😉
BUT ONLY AFTER I’M TOTALLY DONE WITH ELRIC! Still tracking down those stray stories here and there…And then I have The Metatemporal Detective to tackle, which looks like great pulp fiction fun with ‘Elric’ included as the villainous Zenith the Albino.
It’s been a long evening – we’ve got a sick cat, perhaps a dying cat. He’s struggling to breath – doc says it looks something like asthma, but it may also be kidney failure, heart failure, and a bunch of other stuff. I’m not too bad with this – just worried about Mr. Das because it is ‘his’ cat. We’ll know better tomorrow – if he’s better, then the meds worked, if he’s worse, then…well…we’ll see.
das
No claymores? no shark and/or alligator infested moat? no pots of boiling oil teetering precariously on the rooftop? Ok, maybe you went more modern. That’s the secret with Brie, right? Brie’s been genetically enhanced to turn into a dire wolf sized canine with saberteeth and a fondness for (non-owner) human flesh. Kudos however for not overlooking the flaws of most such systems. Keeping people in is as important as keeping them out. No doubt Marty G. will provide an excellent test subject for the new security measures.
Just another mention of Sarah Zettel as an author to check out. I’ve finished off three of her books so far, and each one stands out as excellent sci fi. The latest one I read was Kingdom of Cages, and I rate it as the best so far. I’d go so far as to suggest one of her novels as a BotM club selection. While I will be patient, I will continue to pester you over the months, and if need be years, until I convince you to sample some of her work…
Hi Joe!
I’ll check out Scalped. Being from SoDak, it’ll be interesting.
Thanks to Bubba for posting all of those Twitter pics!
eddy
That all sounds … very secure. Just make sure you can get yourself, your wife & the dogs out of the fortress in case of a fire …
Oh Joe, Please say you will video a few segments of “Martin Needs To Do” including, the eternally cheerful Topango! And maybe that long awaited WFPOTD… tasting weird alcohols?
Thanks for the great pup pic’s of late! They are so adorable!
Cheers
Patricia Lee
when will we see a return of “weird food purchase of the day”?
I second the request for videos of Martin Gero attacking the things on the list!!!
A team of NCIS agents and Mossad officers stationed at crucial points couldn’t hurt. Better still, get Buffy to come out of retirement. — This all has me wondering just what’s going to be in that pizza. So maybe no-go on the feds, and have Buffy team up with Kim Possible. Unbeatable coverage inside and outside the house, plus over, under, sideways, and down below the foundations. The only thing Buffy and Kim can’t control is bermuda grass. All that, and no leaks to authorities about what went down on Mallozzi Movie Night.
PS: Marty comedy vids — yes, please! Do you think he’d be willing? Or open to being bribed?
oh, by the way…with Martin in town. I just disocvered that Showtime E is showing YPF for those who wish to view and have Showtime.
I was wondering if you’ve read Robert Kirkman’s superhero book, Invincible. I followed it near-religiously until a few months ago, when I just couldn’t anymore. (Nothing to do with the quality of the book, of course.)
Oh, and hi.
Sad to hear you’ve had to turn your house into a prison. Means the baddies have won and you’ve just lost a bit of your freedom.
Awesome sounding fortifications, who is your security specialist? I personally prefer the use of attack rabbits, highly trained ninjas and a skilful tactic known as the “someone’s already ransacked this one” decor stylie. Lets put it this way its worked thus far!
Das, am thinking of you and Mr Das and really hope for a positive outcome *hugs*.
Now I need to form a cunning plan to eradicate the barbarian bamboo that has totally vanquished my back garden and is threatening an incursion into the neighbouring stronghold.
All this to protect yourself from Ashleigh?
Sorry to hear about you cat Das. Mine had asthma and lived pretty well with it once medicated. We just had to do some minor adjustements (no smoking, dust free litter sand, no stress, etc). I hope all goes well!
Joe, do you really have bars on your windows? What if there was a fire and the only way out of the room you were in was a window??
Hi Joe (again)!
I’m glad you went with the sniper’s nest. There’s nothing that says Classy Uber-Rich Couple like a well-made sniper’s nest.
I’m assuming it has all of the amenities?
eddy
Can you hire Vin Diesel to be in the sniper’s nest? That would be awesome.
😀
Hope you and the guys have a blast this weekend & next week while Martin’s in town. I’d love some video evidence of the hijinks if it’s not too incriminating…scrub that even if it is incriminating. LOL!
Cheers, Chev
So Joe, how many months are you looking after Brie? Are you prepared if she doesn’t want to go home. My brother left his cat with us while he went on holidays and she never wanted to go home, so we kept her.
Cheers, Chev
Jinx said:
Oh brilliant! I didn’t think of that but it all fits into place.
Cheers, Chev
Hello Joseph =) Comment ça va aujourd’hui? Moi encore une bonne journée! Dommage que le soleil brille mais que je ne puisse en profiter.
Bisou bisou =) abientot!
Hi Joe,
Good to hear about Martin. Glad to Hear he’s coming back. He’s so talented. Sorry I haven’t commented on your blog lately. I started to miss you guys so I decided to make a return. Miss me anyone?
Also a couple questions if you don’t mind
1. I started to respond to spam like you said and my mom got kinda ticked when she found out(I forgot she told me not to when I did it the first time). So what did you say was so good at responding to spam. Like doesn’t it just make you get spam in the long run?
2. Are the two stargate movie on MGM’s list of the 12 movies they want to produce?
http://stargate-sg1-solutions.com/blog/2009/06/further-delay-for-stargate-movies/
3. If SGU gets a second Season, will it air in the fall, summer, or winter of 2010?
4. How did the filming of your baby (Space) go. Anything non-spoilery that is notable?
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
Thanks for the well-wishes for my kitty, Cowboy, but he took a turn for the worse overnight, and we decided (rather difficultly) to put him to rest this morning…he was just struggling too hard to breathe, was too weak to walk, and…well, it was time. The doctor felt it was his heart (compounded by the sudden onset of asthma, along with urinary tract & weight problems).
We can’t even remember when we took him in – he was full-grown – his previous owners had declawed him, then kicked him out because he bit their kid. I know we had him in the spring of 2001, but not sure if that’s the year we took him in, or before – maybe 1999 or 2000. So, we figure he was at least 10, but could have been as old as 12 or 14, who knows.
He was a beast at times – very aggressive – the vet even refused to handle him when he was riled, and it usually took 2 or 3 girls – with shoulder-length leather gloves – to hold him, just to get blood samples. The first year or so that we had him my forearms looked like raw meat – he didn’t ‘play’ bite, he went for blood! He humped his catnip toys, had a huge shoe fetish, and always splashed all the water out of his bowl. But all in all he was a great (and vastly entertaining) cat, and loved my husband, and David (Mr. Das) loved him…they were inseparable…
until now. 🙁
I’m okay, really…I’ve grown a bit numb to death over the years…well, except when it comes to fictional characters. 🙄 I suppose that’s my emotional relief valve since I tend to keep real life emotion in check. Never let ’em see you cry, and all that. It hurt so much to see Cowboy in such distress, but it’s much worse seeing my husband struggling with this, and he really is. He just has the biggest heart in the world, and this sort of thing is almost too much for him to handle. So, please, keep my David in mind, don’t worry about me.
Thanks.
Our last picture of Cowboy, taken just a few days ago before he suddenly took ill:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/dasNdanger/cowboy.jpg
And yes, he did have a big heart on his butt. *sniffle*
Deirdre
I love Walking Dead – started reading it a couple of years ago on the recommendation of the associate at Borders, couldn’t put it down. The complexity of the characters and the unbridled horror of their situation absolutely grabbed me. It’s one of the few series (Y: The Last Man being another) that makes me relate to the terrible and inhuman decisions that people make in the face of unspeakable situations. Even the worst bad guy has something in her or him that one can understand – the characterization is incredibly compelling, as much or more so than the story.
@Das – Sooo sorry about your cat. That is very sad. I hope your husband especially is okay. I know the pain.
Joe if the Comic thing works out will I be able to purchase the comics in the U.S. …Or will you and Paul be selling them mail order out of your Garage????
Das: So sorry about your cat. I try to look at it as, I gave him a good home and a better life than they might have gotten otherwise. There are so many animals out there not as lucky. Thanks for giving Cowboy a great home!
Tam
@ Das I’m sorry to hear about Cowboy. Please extend David my best wishes — it sucks to lose a pet.
@ Joe I loved Kirkman’s Invincible, so I will definitely try The Walking Dead.
The Scalped sounds interesting, albeit very grim and gritty. Is it all doom and gloom, and dark secrets, or is there some humour as well?
I was watching a Brad Wright written Outer Limits episode recently, one of them being *The Light Brigade*, very well written with a pretty shocking ending.
Basically humanity is at war with these aliens, and the action takes place entirely on this ship, long story short these 3 guys survive and are believed to be on course for the aliens homeworld to end the war with their *Ultimate weapon*.
They make it on their long journey to arm the weapon, but get a communication, one of the characters says they are too far away to help and unplugs, handing it to the other guy to use to fix the computer system.
Long story short it turns out that one of the guys who are suffering from Radiation sickness is an alien in disguise and kills the weapons officer before he arms the weapon, and the young recruit makes a run for it.
He eventually arms the weapon and deploys.
[edited – Just in case anyone wants to watch the episode. It’s pretty damn good.]
It’s all about learning the value of honour and stuff.
Woman = Weapon.
Anyway it was before he was involved in SG1(1995 Episode)
@Das, so sorry about your cat. He sounds like he was very much loved, despite his prickly personality.
I have a terror cat too, but I love her very much.
@Das: So sorry to hear about Cowboy. It’s so hard to say good-bye to a friend. 🙁 I’ve been there and it really, really sucks. (((((Hugs)))) from my animal-loving family to yours. I love that picture of Cowboy in the basket. The heart on his backside was priceless! Too bad it wasn’t a hidden Mickey. Disney actually turns animals with hidden Mickeys on them into mini-celebrities. They have a resident Mickey Moo at Disney World. Yup, a cow with a hidden Mickey on it. For reals. And yes, this is my way-too pathetic attempt to try and cheer you up. Is it working?
Das, my condolences to David. It really, really sucks to lose them. Good on him for taking Cowboy in, though, and looking after him.
And may his previous owners find themselves suddenly and mysteriously missing half the lengths of their fingers. Declawing is disgusting. If people care that much about a couch they shouldn’t have a cat.
@ Das: I’m so sorry about Cowboy, and I hope that both you and David get through this period of difficulties. He sounded like a great cat.
May he rest in peace.
Das – Sorry to hear about your cat.
Shiningwit – I think we can all get a little forgetful when in stressful times no matter what our age. Congratulations again on the recent engagement.
@Das,
Sorry to hear about Cowboy. 🙁 It must really stink to lose a pet. I have a cat I absolutely love and I would be heartbroken if he died. Must be really hard, he looked so cute, he must have been a great cat….
Oh and Joe are there any places close to Vancover that have been used as filming locations for SG-1 or SGA that are notable that me and my dad could visit? Such as a park or a building.
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
@Das: So sorry to hear about Cowboy (beautiful kitty, by the way), and please know that our thoughts are with both of you.
Oh and my bet is bit torrent and the recession. I mean, millions are using bit torrent instead of buying it on dvd and watching TV. Then, when shows get canceled or movies get delayed and not made, all the bit torrenters either scratch their heads and say, why did the show get cancelled, TV networks are so stupid. Or they get pissed at you guys and the network and say stupid freakin TPTB, cancelled another amazing show for no reason, yet their are the ones to blame. Makes me SOOOO mad. (No offense to bit torrenters).
Is my theory correct Joe?
Thank you, EVERYone. It means a lot…to both of us. David is doing better – I think just knowing he’s not suffering anymore helps, and knowing that it was our only choice.
We’re both still a bit down about this, needless to say, but coping well enough. Again, thank you to all. {{{hugs}}}
@ Trish – Funny you should mention it – because his ‘heart’ was a hidden Mickey, too. It all depended on the way his fur fell. Here’s his Hidden Mickey:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/dasNdanger/cowboy1.jpg
🙂
das
Heh…just looking at those pictures of Cowboy. Those are really old pictures, it seems. Over the years we’ve fed a LOT of birds in our backyard (we’re on the Atlantic Flyway, so we get lots of birds passing through, and lots of wintering birds, too). Never fertilized or seeded the lawn – but now it’s lush and green! Amazing what a lot of bird poop will do for the grass. 😀
das
@das, sorry to hear about your kitty, We have lost a few in our lifetime also, not easy at the the time, hope mr das makes it thru ok.
Glad to hear Mr, G- olden boy is coming home, It will be fun for you all to get together, I hope his new show is a hit on showtime also.
Maybe for security,(at home)you can write in a force field,like that book we just read,land of…..(it could work) for your fortress of solitude on pizza night. Hope you saved him some chocolate..
@Das: 😯 OMG! I’m showing my mom! You need to send this picture to Disney… Oh wait! Can I send off that picture to a friend of mine? He’s a freelance photographer for Disney. Maybe they could find a use for the picture. Disney has all kinds of museums and archives. That’s just way cool! Cowboy TOTALLY had a hidden Micky on him! Which is ironic… I mean, a cat with a famous mouse on him. Heh, heh.
Trippy.
Joe, if you’re enjoying Kirkmann’s work, may I recommend you check out his series Invincible? Most of it is in trades, and it’s great stuff.
@ das
So sorry about your kitty. 🙁 My condolences.
eddy
@ Trish – You can do whatever you want (those are shrunk down – better res on the full-sized pic). If there’s money in it – send it my way. I need to pay the $300 vet bill from last night…and whatever it cost me today. 2009 has NOT been good to me, at all. 😛
And I miss the big guy…more than I ever expected… 🙁
das
Thanks again, everyone…
I have to go to bed, utterly exhausted…
das
@ Deirdre & David / Mrs. & Mr. Das
Just heard… SO sorry for your loss of beautiful Cowboy kitty! Loved his black-and-white coloring, the hidden Mickey or heart on his heiny, and the black silky tail that looked like it was dipped in ink. Feel free to share more pictures or stories with us when you are able. Our hearts are like that proverbial glass jar full of rocks, gravel, and sand. When it looks like there is no more room (or time) for love, someone comes along and pours a pitcher of water into it. Love is the water, and it holds everything together.
Crying with you,
😥
~Lise
I’m just popping in to pass on my love and thoughts to Das and family. I know some people don’t see pets as anything other than just pets. But to me they are members of the family like any other human/biped. And when we lose a member of our family it hurts. Sometimes in ways we least expect.
Our first dog Major died 9 years ago and I still miss him very much. Now we have Bill…who just cost us $100 to get a new digital set top box as he ate the remote control to the other one and we couldn’t find a universal controller that would work. So Bill has been put in the “naughty” corner til he learns to not eat mummy’s doohickeys!
Joe…like chevron7…I was wondering how long Brie was staying with you. It’s gonna be hard to hand her back. Seems like she’s become an integral part of the family. You could claim abandonment and keep her…yes??
Out of curiosity, are the French Bulldogs “yappy” dogs? I’m seriously thinking of adopting one in the future. (not the near future though as Bill is still just a pup himself!)
Cheers!