Danny Boy

Anyone going to be in Ireland this weekend? Yeah?... I'll see you there! Come on down to Cork and Warpcon ... The first trip of '09 has me jetting across the Atlantic to the emerald isle where my prose writing will get even more purple as I attempt to catch up with the linguistic acrobatics of a nation that has a lot to say. The Celtic Tiger, The Luck of the Irish, and all that Blarney. I'm really looking forward to it.
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Thanks for all your kind words - I wasn't expecting my last post to be so sympathy evoking. And another shout out to the "unwillingly ice bound" Kimmel family. That sounded harrowing.
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Sunny day - blue skies - snow's almost all gone. Hope you guys are keeping warm out there. Talk again soon...

"Hey did you notice how I saved the world last Friday night?

I should put that on my resume. "Saved the World. Jan 09/09" Did you notice that? The idea for the thingy? You know... "Enemy at the Gate" ..?
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That was, as I understand (and sometimes I don't understand much) the last and final episode of Stargate Atlantis last Friday night.
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Bummer. Totally. I don't know how else to put it. --Too bad it's over. It was a great ride. I loved that job.
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My last day on the Atlantis set was Sept 09 2008 - the last scene with the good Dr Woolsey in "Enemy at The Gate" - the idea for the thingy scene - what was it again?...Wormhole Hyperdrive . I think...
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At any rate - I want to thank the Producers for a great gig, the Writers for some terrific and memorable scenes, my other Cast mates for their integrity and talent - it really was great working with you, and to a production team that isn't just the best in the world as the old cliche goes, but instead is, without a doubt, the best in two galaxies. At' se zas někdy potkáme...
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That's a picture of me and a goat. Because pictures are necessary in a blog.

Merry Arctic Inflow

Snow. And again. I've not seen this much in this city for over a dozen years at least. And it's not about to go anywhere. It's going to stay piled up right on top of my car, and then freeze, and then compress with the salt and turn into a sedentary layer of white limestone betraying to future civic paeleontologists the location of that 1/2 inch copper hose coupling I dropped today and could not find anywhere. Burst outdoor piping. Don't ask.

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I've heard the meteorologists down south repeat the phrase "arctic air coming down from Canada" when this kind of weather blows in. We don't have no 'Canada' to blame up here. Instead the weatherpeople use the ominous "arctic inflow" to describe weather that's meant for Edmonton but somehow ends up getting lost and howls down the coast. And let me tell you "arctic inflow" ain't no appliance manufacturer. It's nasty cold. Above is a picture of the inflow inflowing - on a recent crossing of Hotham sound. That's cold you can see. 

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But it will soon be Christmas. And that's good. So let me take this chance to wish you all a wonderful Christmas, and a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Boom de yada boom de yada

I love the mountains too. Isn't that a great commercial?...

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Well here we are. December. If you're tucked into this corner of the world December looks and feels much like that first picture: wet and gloomy. Great weather to make a movie..

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I've been filming an MOW - movie of the week - in Maple Ridge for the past few weeks. I play the main baddie, a CEO with the heart of a crouton. Now how did they ever come up with a charcter like that?! I get to make life difficult for our herione, Shannen Doherty by kidnapping her boyfriend. Muhahahaha... ohp - have I given away too much already? Anyway, watch for it, coming soon to a cable channel (I'm guessing) near you. It's called "Resistance". 

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The dressing rooms (above) have got much nicer wallpaper than we had on Atlantis. See. Change IS good.

Cherry Hill/NYC

Whoosh. That's how fast it goes. Four days. WHOOSH. Like the November wind. Four days on the eastcoast. Everything's much closer together and there's lots of trains everywhere. You can get around pretty fast. Relatively. -Exept maybe Brooklyn on a Saturday night. 

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Cherry Hill was terrific, it was great to meet those of you I had a chance to talk to. I did't really see much of Philly, it was all about New York this time aroud. Went to the MOMA, saw Chekhov's "The Seagull" on Broadway with Kristin Scott Thomas, Stellan Skarsgaard, and Mackenzie Crook the guy from the English version of the Office. It was good - just good, unfortunately - it needed a lot more of that slavic despair and humour - a tough thing to get for most Chekhov productions I've seen in the west. Hey - everybody's a critic, right? 

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Thanks for all your comments and wishes. Be back soon...

Here comes Philly!

Almost election day down there isn't it?... go VOTE!!!
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It's also almost Philadelphia time! Finally I'm coming out to the east coast! See you all in just a few days! ...And speaking of Jason Momoa and Gary Jones: here's two pics from the last few days of shooting. Poor Jason and that horrible wolverine incident. I hope his ass gets better...

Boo!

Two wheels are better than one

You guys are the best. Really. Your posts, emails and support are very encouraging as we wrap up production on our fifth and final season of SG:A. I mean how many people during these tough economic times have a group with placards and guitars show up to protest the end of your job? You don't know how much I appreciate your support, because I don't say it enough: so thanks. Thanks for your posts and emails, your pictures, poems and ahem, imaginations. You're wonderful.
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Now with a bit of free time on my hands, I pulled out the map and revisited something I've wanted to do since I was nine. I've always wanted to explore the thousands of kilometres of logging roads in the mountains up the coast from Vancouver. There's so many compelling places on the map that are simply empty of anything except a dotted line indicating a hiking trail or deactivated logging road. "I wonder what's there..."
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I spent three days a few weeks ago on my motorbike in the hills above Jervis Inlet. The weather was glorious and the bears were cooperative - opting to leave the trail when they heard me approaching. A good thing too, because they've been loading up on calories for the winter and 20 pounds of blackberries makes for an ursine sugar rush I don't want to witness.
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A week later, I was back on the mean streets, this time in L.A. and without the benefit of an internal combustion engine. I opted to do most of my biking at Venice beach - but you don't actually go anywhere except up and down the boardwalk. And I had people to meet, things to do, places to go. Besides, the wildlife was scaring me.
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Los Angeles, auditions, and peddle as fast as you can. That's the best way to evade the bear.

CERN, VIFF, and Presidential Debates

Okay, so now they've had to take the Large Hadron Collider offline because it was overheating. Well duh. I could see that one coming. I kept telling them 'just pull over and top up that radiator fluid' but did they listen?.. They NEVER listen to me...
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Went to some pretty cool forums today at the Vancouver Film Festival. It was TV Day and the topic was "Series That Have Legs". Ironic, no? And you know what was the most common factor cited as "hooking" and audience? -- Character. Good strong, identifiable characters. They draw an audience.
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Whew. There's hope for me yet... (so if you know any exec. producers out there looking to cast a series - bump my name up, will ya?)
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Speaking of hope in troubled times: watched the US presidential debate on TV tonight (the Canadian election was on another channel, but it wasn't as good a show) and I must say I was impressed with the level of debating going on. It was sure a relief to hear intelligent discussion after what we've been seeing and hearing for the past eight years. I wish you guys well. I wish us ALL well. Pick the right guy.
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Can you guess the song Robert Picardo is playing?

Goodbye Reuben Tuesday

The Large Hadron Collider went online today. Big news for Switzerland. Not such a big deal for us on Atlantis. We use ours at work to make Reuben sandwiches.

Tired Monsters

Doesn't it get hot under all that rubber? Especially in Atlanta in the summer?!... You guys are epic. Most of the 30,000 of you at DragonCon last weekend were dressed up in some way, and often it was pretty amazing. I saw several Shaun's of the Dead, many many Stormtroopers, and at least two dozen "new" smeared make-up Jokers. Impressive. There were fairies and furries, clones and clowns, and all manner of living dead. The hotel was pretty epic too. Love that 50 storey atrium.
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Met many of you from a part of the world I rarely travel to and wish I did more: the U.S. South. I even had the Cream of Wheat porridge FOR SUPPER instead of breakfast, like y'all do down there. And it taste nothing like grit. It taste like porridge for dinner is all...
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Hard to believe but this will be my last week on Atlantis the series. Three days this week, two on "Enemy at the Gate", the finale; and a day on "Vegas" the penultimate Atlantis adventure. Whew. Those five years went fast! It seems like only yesterday a hapless doctor with a weird accent told his commanding officer to "stop talking please". That was way back. Atlantis old school.
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I'll bring my camera. Take some piccies.

Mirror Beans, Big Pizzas, and the Next Thing

Hard to believe - cancelled - after five years. Atlantis the series has been wrapped. It's all so sudden. Even when you know it can happen anytime, when it does you go: where did that come from? I barely have digested the news before the "what's next?" questions started up. What's next?
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Well, frankly, I don't know. More work. More good roles. More ways to connect. I hope.
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We move on.. and next up Atlanta! Never been, leaving in a few hours. Understand it can get hot there. Pshaw.
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Chicago last weekend was terrific - met some great people, went up a tall building, saw a magical mirror-bean which predicted that in the future, we will all take pictures of ourselves with our telephones and speak to people that are not really there. Weird. Ducked into the Art Institute of Chicago and stared at a Maigritte for a long time. I like how he tells a story in his paintings.
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The blog will continue its current haphazard reportage. If I find out anything about the fate of the good doctor, I will let you know; however - they never tell me anything.
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It was great to see you guys. Thanks for the support. See you again soon.