Forgotten?
I hope not.
I know it’s been a long time. I also know some people are going to think my reasons for not writing are total crap. I think I should let you know what they are though.
I quit smoking, and I did it in what is probably the worst possible way, cold turkey. That phrase makes no sense. I like turkey, even if it’s cold. I didn’t like quitting cigarettes. I went through some horrible withdrawal, then I got sick.
I’ve had a craptacular month, but I’m getting back into things. Now I’m doing it all without nicotine. That is extremely weird.
Priorities
When my schedule started to return I had to prioritize, since I’m trying to do several blogs at once. Thanks to certain posting requirements on another blog, that meant I had to focus solely on it until I could get back into the swing of things. Either that or drop that blog completely, which I didn’t want to do.
Now that I’m learning to write without smoking I’ll be posting here again.
I wish I had a cigarette.
A Fannish First Look
Stargate, the Ark of Truth, a Stargate SG1 feature-length adventure, was released March 11, 2008. It should not disappoint die-hard Stargate fans. While it’s definitely not a stand-alone movie…most viewers will not care. Writer-Producer-Director Robert Cooper and the cast made this one for the fans. The Ark completes the Ori story arc, leaving few threads unraveled. There are several Bonus Features.
Before watching the movie, I started with The Road Taken: Prelude to The Ark of Truth. Its nine-minute capsule of brain jogging scenes begins with Cam Mitchell joining the team, and continues with a few germane Vala snippets, such as her spawning of the Orici, Adria. Moving into the Merlin story line, and Adria’s ascension; it concludes with the shared Asgard upgrades, and Cam Mitchell stating that they need a new plan, “a damn good one.” If, as you’re reading this, you say, “what is she talking about,” then don’t bother to watch The Ark of Truth until you’ve seen at least some of the Season 9 & 10 SG1 episodes. This Prelude reminds us how we (SG1 & fans) got here, but certainly won’t do much to enlighten non-series fans. Pardon me if this doesn’t bother me too much. I’ve been waiting for this DVD, and pre-ordered my copy from Amazon. Short and sweet, the Prelude sets the tone for The Ark feature.
Slight Spoilers
Spoilers may be contained from here on: Proceed at your own peril. However, if you want extensive spoilers, go here.
The Ark of Truth opens in an Alteran (aka Ancients) underground meeting long ago, with scientists arguing about, and ultimately deciding not to use, the Ark of Truth. This Ancient device can apparently cause people to believe whatever is programmed into it. The Alterans are considering utilizing it to disabuse the regular folk into believing that the Ori are gods. In the latter part of the movie, Vala seems to reveal that the device can only brainwash people into believing that which is true.
We skip on into present day Dakara, with Michael Shanks returning as Daniel Jackson, Christopher Judge as the inimitable Teal’c, and Claudia Black as Vala Mal Doran, searching for the Ark of Truth. Daniel has been experiencing visions of Merlin, whose non-corporeal appearance is believed to be caused by Daniel-Merlin’s residual memories. Those grail-ish visions provide clues to the Ark’s location. Daniel and Vala are bickering about how to open a chest believed to contain it. Sam
and Cam are guarding the perimeter with an SG contingent. Teal’c says, “Quiet! As Daniel and Vala turn to him in surprise, Tomin and an army of soldiers for the Ori overtake them. With the aid of the Ori dampening device, SG1 prevails, and gains a convert in Tomin. This sets the proverbial stage for the quest for The Ark of Truth.
Beau Bridges smoothly reprises his gruff but lovable SG1 series character, Major General Landry.
Tom Guinee, who portrays Ori commander Tomin as well as Vala’s nearly ex-husband in the series, is key in two intense scenes. The first is an interrogation scene between Tomin and Marrick, Woolsey’s IOA replacement. Marrick is played with fanatic intensity by first-timer Currie Graham. Marrick starts out with an ultra-soft query about Tomin’s position…and ratchets it up to hysterical emotions when he asks Tomin how many innocent people he has been responsible for slaughtering. It’s a little over the top, but without this hysteria, we might not find Marrick’s continued prominent and nefarious role as believable. This scene, in turn, sets up the second emotional scene with Tomin and Teal’c, who, for the first time, tersely addresses living with his own blood-soaked history as Apophis’ First Prime.
The physical quest for The Ark involves taking the Odyssey, souped up with Asgard technology, through the SuperGate to Ortus Mallum, with Marrick in tow. When Cam reluctantly takes the Captain’s chair after a verbal altercation with Marrick, a momentary nod is given to their own SG1 200th episode and to Star Trek Next Gen when Cam says, “Weapons to maximum” and “Make it go.”
Sam (the irreplaceable Amanda Tapping) and Cam (the irrepressible Ben Browder) must leave Daniel, Teal’c, Vala, and Tomin on Ortus Mallum (Place of Origin), while they return to the Odyssey. Marrick has activated the Asgard core, creating a signature the Ori can use to locate them.
Our old friends, the Replicators are back, courtesy of the IOA.
Meanwhile, back on the planet, Teal’c is shot, and the others captured by the Ori and taken to Celestis, creating a two-front crisis for the split team of SG-1. Teal’c has some incredible scenes crossing snowy mountains and arriving at Celestis. Robert Cooper credits Teal’c as being the hero of the story. He does INDEED have a very significant role to play. He also has some interesting assistance from an Ancient.
Julian Sands cameo as the Ori chief Prior Doci in Celestis is small, but Sands is a past master at portraying wickedness in all its varied forms.
“Merlin’s ghost” (ably reprised by Matthew Walker ), Morgan Le Fay (Sarah Strange), and Adria (Morena Baccarin, a favorite Firefly alum) all return in the direct Ark story arc [sic].
IOA idiocy nearly scuttles the quest/mission in a spectacular manner. There are a few surprises here and there in this epic, but IOA’s misjudgement is just business as usual!
A Terminator homage is included, and it’s all really good fun.
More BonusFeatures
The “Uncovering the Ark of Truth” making-of-the-movie video segment is worth the watch. I didn’t get through the additional entire blow-by-blow audio commentary with Robert Cooper, but I will at some point. I know audio commentary has become a staple, but I wish they had compressed it a bit, as there are long moments as each scene comes along and sometimes; there just isn’t a lot to say. The information, when it does come, is fascinating.
We learn that Christopher Judge did his helicopter-shot mountain vista scenes in person, with no stunt double. We hear Cooper talking about the danger they unwittingly created for Judge in their ignorance of the helicopter’s maneuvering to accomplish long camera shots. Ben Browder apparently takes a punch so much better than most, that they structured scenes to cameo it in conjunction with their Terminator moment.
The Ark of Truth, Stargate at Comic-Con is highly amusing, especially for someone like me, who has yet to be able to get into an actual convention panel at DragonCon to see them. (okay, so I don’t like to get up before dawn to stand in line for a panel, my bad). They take questions, and answer them with humor and aplomb.
The soundtrack was impressive. Composer, Joel Goldsmith uses the original Stargate movie theme, by David Arnold, as a familiar springboard into a new epic movie score.
Overall, I thought The Ark of Truth was well done. It was shot in 35 mm, instead of HD, to give a more cinematic feel and texture to the story. It works for me. I can’t be entirely objective, because I have always been a fan of Stargate SG1.
I followed the transition from “old school” with Richard Dean Anderson to “New School” with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, and Beau Bridges. One of the highlights of The Ark of Truth for me: The “new” characters that struggled a bit during SG1 season 9, and who were just getting comfortable in Season 10, were fully realized in this feature. There wasn’t a single moment of “Cam-Crichton” in the entire epic, cross my heart. I say that as a certifiable Farscape fan.
The characters have always been the magic in SG1 for me. I’m glad I stuck it out. In the next feature, “Continuum,” Jack O’Neill returns to rescue his former team. I look forward to his return even more than I would have, now that the “New School” characters are comfy in their universe.
Shiny1 is often known as Patricia deVarennes.
Sorry this is late, but I do hope your holidays are going well. Christmas threw me off schedule a little bit and for once I have so much to post about that I’m behind. Looks like I’ll be busy posting through the first part of January.
Stocking Full of Posts
I have a lot of stuff to post about. A few of the gifts I received for Christmas are definitely getting a review. Not as gifts, as products. Some of ‘em are pretty darn cool, but one didn’t live up to my hopes. I still think it was a cool gift, I just don’t think it’ll work as I’d hoped. If I can get it to work at all. If I can I’ll post some info on the workarounds. If not, then I’ll post some alternatives.
Things to come
I also have some cool stuff planned for January. On Christmas Eve I received 2 review copies of books that I’m looking forward to discussing with you here on FanaticSpace. I’ve also got an interview with the author planned. Look for the interview on the 10th. The reviews may come before or after, I haven’t decided yet.
I’m looking forward to another year of FanaticSpace. I hope you are too.
I’ve had some things I wanted to write that didn’t fit in here or on AnimeFansOnline. So I decided to start a personal blog for all that miscellaneous stuff. I’m lucky that I have a fairly unusual name, it wasn’t registered. Well, the “.eu” was, but I don’t live in the Eu. I’ve registered www.JasonWigley.com and I’m putting a WordPress blog up.
I’m hoping that it will give me a chance to write different kinds of posts and also make FanaticSpace better. At the very least it will move the non-fandom stuff out of here. That should help to keep this site on topic.
So say goodbye to meta-blogging on FanaticSpace. No more blogging about blogging here. Unless I’m writing about a fandom blog, because that still fits in here.
If any of my friends here want to link to it or review it, I’d appreciate it. Give it a little time first if you want to review it. I’m busier than ever now.
As will happen from time to time when attending conventions, I came home sick. I have the Con Flu. Mine is really more of a cold, but Con Flu sounds better. I suppose it’s bound to happen when you get that many people together.
The last I heard, Dragon Con was estimated at 40,000 people this year. Sounds about right to me. There were about 12,000 people trying to squeeze into the anime track panels. Well, maybe not that many. Though it does seem like Dragon Con severely underestimated the anime track’s popularity.
Even though I spent a lot of my time in the anime panels, I don’t think I caught this bug in there. I blame the elevators. Small boxes that a high percentage of convention goers are packed into at one point or another. Yep, the elevators seem the most likely candidate to me.
I believe I’ll pack a few cans of lysol next year. Maybe even a few surgical masks. Think if I dress like Adrian Monk I’ll seem less crazy?
With Dragon Con coming this weekend there are things I need to get done. I’m afraid that posting on FanaticSpace will be more sporadic than usual. What does that mean? Basically that unless something happens and I just have to write about it, there aren’t likely to be any posts.
I might be able to do a few of short ones from Dragon Con. Maybe give you a peek at what’s going on, and what’s coming up on the blog. I’m hoping that my time at the con will give me plenty of material for the blog. It is a site about fandom after all.
I’ll be trying to take lots of pictures. I’m also looking into getting a tape recorder for the panels. If I can get one that will let me transfer to the computer I’ll see if I can post a few clips from the panels I attend. Even if I can’t find one with computer connections built in, I’ll see what I can do.
If by some bizarre twist of fate you see me at the con, come by and let me know you’ve read the blog. I might buy you a drink take your photo for the blog.
Man, time is flying by. I still have tons of stuff to get done, like my Space Ghost stuff. I still need to write up a couple of blog posts to go up automatically. Just in case I can’t write up anything while I’m there. Yep, lot of stuff to get done. I’m excited that it’s almost here though.
Things are being switched around in the hotels. Since the Marriott is undergoing construction the dealers room has been moved to the Hilton. That sucks for me because I’m staying in the Hyatt. That’s a long walk. It’s made even longer since they’re closing the street between the Hyatt and Marriott to foot traffic at “peak hours”. So I won’t be hitting the dealers room nearly as much this year. That could be a good thing, maybe I won’t spend as much money.
Fewer trips to the dealer’s room should free up some time for me to get more pictures. I need to get a few shots of cosplayers for Anime Fans Online. I also need to see if there are any good anime events scheduled. I know there’s an AMV contest, but I’m not sure how I’d write up a post about that. I just hope they set up a site with the winners I can link to.
Looks like there are some great guest this year too. Here a few people that are supposed to be there.
A few of the scheduled guests.
Just a few of the guests I’m looking forward to seeing.
- Jamie Bamber & Richard Hatch Wooo! Both Apollos!
- James Marsters
- James & Oliver Phelps Can’t wait to hear what the twins think of Deathly Hallows.
- Matthew Lewis Ditto for Neville.
- Claudia Black
- Gil Gerard & Erin Gray
- Jason Hawes & Grant Wilson
You can never tell when someone will have to cancel, like these folks did.
Cancellations.
- Sean Astin
- Mary Jo Putney
- Jeff Austin
- Lance Henriksen
- Stolen Babies
- Virginia Hey
- Teresa Patterson
- Richard Epcar
- Jan Osburg
- Crab Scrambly
- Katee Sackhoff
Too bad Starbuck won’t be there. That means both Apollos will be there, and both Starbucks won’t.
Thanks to a comment on the JohnCow.com blog I’ve decided to offer free graphics. Here’s a rundown of what happened.
In a post at JohnCow the term “stupid cow” was used. That progressed to talk of an award. That led to mention of a button, and that’s where I came in. I whipped up something and posted a link in the comments. Not quite what they were thinking of, so I did another one. Now there’s a full fledged contest going on to make some graphics for the “Stupid Cow Award”.
During this discussion cooliojones said…
Good work 2x. You’ll get other sites wanting your creative genius pretty soon too!
That got me thinking. I like doing graphics, it’s fun. I don’t mind doin’ them for other people. I’ve done quite a few for boards and forums. (I mod the graphics forum for Knockturn Alley. plugplugplug) So why not offer ‘em to people that might see this blog?
So, if you need/want some graphics for forums, web sites, or whatever just let me know. I’ll see what I can do. Since it’s free it’s not like you’ll lose anything. Right? Free is good. If it’s a big project I might ask for attribution. A simple link and a mention that I did ‘em, that’s all. Unless it’s something horrid, then I might ask you not to link to me. 
How to request graphics.
If you want something specific, let me know. You can use the contact form to make any requests. I’ll work with you and make any changes you want. If you have pictures you want included, I can do that as long as…
- You own the copyrights
or
- Whoever does own the copyright gives the ok, either by specifically giving you permission or a creative commons license allowing dirivitive works.
