New Blog at...

For blogging and photos go to
www.myspace.com/candicemg

Rachel Singing

Friday night at the Vancouver con there was a celebrity cabaret show. Rachel sung a very long, haunting song. She has a beautiful voice and is bouncy and sweet. She is a dancer, singer, actress, and warrior!

On the final day of the Vancouver con, Rachel and Torri were on stage together chatting about everything from girly things, kissing boys, and to serious issues. Both were adamant about just doing the things you want to accomplish in life. Thank you Torri for saying "Just do it" during that discussion. I will have your voice in my head, pushing me to achieve my dreams!

Help!

Well, I can't seem to run a single computer program. There are errors everywhere. Still impossible to post pictures using blogger and the Hello program can't find blogger either. I now can't play any videos on this computer, not from Creation, GateWorld, You Tube, etc. Can anyone help with this.

I know people want to see pictures so I'll keep at it...

Dexter came to an end last night and I didn't think for a second he would have a brother so that was interesting. Does anyone know if there is a second season or if there will be a DVD release?

Websites galore

Well, everywhere I go, the websites are not working! I can't add any page elements to this blog! Anyway...

It is a David Hewlett love fest this week.

It is David's birthday today - happy birthday David!

I've also been searching David's sites and can't keep up so I hope he excuses me for any stupid comments because I'm still navigating through things. I've also been trying to find videos or images from the convention I attended.

Here are some sites to check out:

Creation Entertainment is launching a TV portal so you can watch videos from the cons for example. Except I can't get the videos to play at all!
http://www.creationent.com/video.htm

Videos are available at www.youtube.com

And at www.myspace.com/stargatetour

I wish fans could email each other these videos. Anyone willing to do that?

Speaking of You Tube and My Space, I just joined although I'll be lucky if I have the time to do anything with them. See me at www.myspace.com/candicemg and see David at www.myspace.com/dhewlett and he has a blog at www.blog.myspace.com/dhewlett

Then of course there is the site I go to: www.adogsbreakfastmovie.com that I like the most and covers a lot of topics. www.dgeek.com goes to the same site and so does www.davidhewlett.com (although this site appears to be an outdated version).

Does anyone know what has happened to the New Atlantis The Evolution website that was found at:
http://sg-atlantis.emedian.net/images.html

Back from Adventure

Whenever I go overseas I am always initially irritated by the people who moan about things. Things are so easy overseas compared to South Africa and these people take it for granted. They don’t know what it is like to really have reason to moan about something. Then I start thinking to myself that South Africans are so tough because our country is so rough. We’re so used to the way we live our lives in this crime ridden, distrustful, corrupt place, that we see it as normal and think our behaviour is just fine. My overseas trip, half way across the world to Vancouver, and back again via Paris and London, was an absolute pleasure. I loved it. The sense of freedom in overseas cities is amazing. It frees my soul. Not once during the month I was away, did I feel any sort of anxiety over anything. Nor was I harassed by anyone. Everything was so easy. I get back to my own country and I am harassed and victimised in the airport! I feel like swearing. It is unacceptable. It makes me so angry and yet so sad. I wonder how many tourists will be harassed when they visit this country. The shacks everywhere, beggars on the side of the road, taxi wars, etc. are not charming. It is a problem that this country as a collective should fix. Spending the last few days constantly harassed when I stop my car at robots (traffic lights) and being searched in a disrespectful manner every time you take your bag with you into a shop, just makes me think that the greater problem in this country is the mentality that is bread. It’s revolting. It’s disgusting and people should be ashamed.

I’m sad to start my blog entry this way but I didn’t plan to come home from a wonderful trip and be victimized in my own country, and so I needed to say what I feel.

Now, back to the trip. I will get to everything I want to say about my trip (sometime this year still!) and I am especially keen to talk about the wonderful Stargate convention.

The Stargate franchise is worrying me and Rob Cooper’s lack of wanting to address the issues doesn’t put me at ease. Obviously he has the right to do so, but it makes me believe that things are not going down well behind the scenes. I am a huge Atlantis fan so I’d like to stick to Atlantis things for the most part. I know that the “discharge” of Corin Nemec on SG-1 turned out to not be a pleasant experience. The same has turned out to be true for Rainbow Sun Francks’ exit from Atlantis. Now we have Paul McGillion’s character Dr Carson Beckett “dead” with no apparent good reason, and Torri Higginson reduced to recurring status. We also have Amanda Tapping joining the Atlantis cast full time. Nothing against Amanda, but I don’t think the character belongs there. How about Jewel Staite replacing Paul McGillion’s character? To use a quote from a Canadian show: “People are not interchangeable like snow mobile parts.” The show runners wouldn’t dare change the cast in SG-1’s youth but they think it is OK to do so for Atlantis? I missed the screening of the Atlantis episode Sunday that sees the demise of Carson Beckett but from what I have heard and read it was not well received. Killing off the most loved characters normally isn’t a good thing. Then to have Elizabeth violently thrown across the gate room in the last episode of the season was actually just bordering on cruel and shocking. It’s not “dark” or necessary, it is just cruel. Seeing that and also Paul’s thank you and good-bye video for the Save Carson Beckett rally, made me cry. Having met Torri, I can tell you she is wonderful. I am going to be exceptionally pissed off if David Hewlett’s screen time is reduced. I have seen the last episode of SG-1 and it is interesting that the story is what it was but I wonder if the movies are going to do it justice and if continuity will be maintained. Also, the details of the third series of the Stargate franchise are worrying. I hope they know what they are doing. I hope this isn’t one of those things that carry on when they should have just ended on a high. So far I’m getting annoyed and unimpressed. Things sound a mess behind the scenes and they’re starting to look a mess on screen. Martin Gero seems to have penned most of these horrid episodes. Who is wondering if this is his fault?

I do want to thank the people at Creation for the wonderful convention. All the guests were wonderful and the fans were great too. This is the first convention I have ever been too, and aside from being very exhausting, everything went well and I would gladly go to another convention. So, I will be saving up for 2009, and hopefully the franchise will prove it is a legend. I am grateful to the Stargate people at Bridge Studios for the set tours. The sets were amazing and I loved the experience and it shows me how much magic goes into the shows and what a great job everyone does. Watching some videos at the con covering 10 years of SG-1 makes you realize what a phenomenon this franchise is and what a privilege it is to be involved with it.

I would also like to thank David Hewlett and Co for coming to the con and especially for organising the Vancouver screenings of A Dog’s Breakfast. The movie was very good. Make more David! I hope Jane and David’s wedding plans go well. They’re lovely. And happy birthday to David for Wednesday 18 April! Have some cake! And bring on Starcrossed the TV series!

I need to ask the fans for some details:
• Does anyone know the official way to contact Torri Higginson and Paul McGillion?
• Anyone have their own sites with photos from the Vancouver Stargate Convention?
• How can I get more information on the episode Sunday (I will only be able to see it when I buy the DVD)?

I need to put up some photos and change the links, so I’ll get to all of that in time. I’ll put on some new links and take off those that have expired or are no longer useful. The photo of me is from the SGC and the expression on my face says it all!
Check out www.savecarsonbeckett.com

Of all the shows I watched overseas that this country doesn’t have yet, I was most impressed with Jeff Goldblum in Raines. Get it SA television!

There are adverts on the TV in Canada that promote tourism in their own country. There is a song that is sung for the Ontario adverts but it says what I feel about Vancouver: “There’s no other place like this / There is no other place like this for me”. I’ve left my heart in Vancouver.

Later…

Leaving for my adventure soon!

Let me first start with Charley Boorman and the Dakar. I'm obsessed with the Dakar. Anybody know how a South African can enter the Dakar? Charley and Ewan will be coming to Cape Town, South Africa, as the finishing point for their Long Way Down adventure. I hope I can run into them!

I am leaving soon for the Stargate Convention in Vancouver, Canada. There will be loads of celebs and this is also a 10th anniversary celebration.
For the Stargate Con, check out the details at:
http://www.creationent.com/cal/sgvan.htm
(They are still updating things as the event draws nearer.)
And, reports may go up on:
www.gateworld.net

The hottest news of all is that David Hewlett will be at the Con and he will talk about screenings of his movie, A Dog's Breakfast, in Vancouver. I am so excited that I will meet one of my favourite people!

Luckily for me, Queer Eye is on hold while American Idol plays out, so I won't miss any Queer Eye. Oddly it seems like the fan sites are all down now that the show is coming to an end.

I will be posting when I come back from my adventure. So stay tuned Stargate fans...

Also, happy birthday to Connor Trinneer for 19 March. Connor played Trip Tucker on Enterprise and to my delight has landed the role of Michael on Stargate Atlantis and also starred on another of my fav shows, Numb3rs. Happy Birthday Connor!

Queer Eye No More

Bravo has officially announced the end of Queer Eye. The final 10 episodes to be part of the final season have already been filmed. I can't imagine a world without all new episodes of Queer Eye but I'm not surprised it is over. The 5 guys are so famous and have so much going on, it began to look impossible to get all 5 together to actually do an episode. The Fab 5 will be missed but I will continue to track their careers. They did so much for me at a time when my life sucked. Thanks guys.

What is up with Stargate?

What is going on in the Stargate universe?
I was sad that SG-1 was cancelled as a series. At least they are in the Guinness Book of Records! We all knew that eventually it would be cancelled so it wasn't a big shock. I also send a postcard in the effort to save SG-1, although it looks like we need to start a Save Stargate Atlantis! It's great that SG-1 is doing two movies. I'm confused about this third TV series, based on the concept of what was their 3rd movie idea. It will be set in the future? I think the coolest thing about Stargate is that it is set in present day and I love all the pop culture references. I like the feeling that you could think that this really might be happening in reality. But something set in the future? Please, not a rendition of Enterprise seasons 3 and 4. Okay, back to the save Atlantis bit. I was totally horrified when I read that Paul McGillion would be leaving the show. Why? Nobody knows. Now I read that Torri will be a regular and that Amanda Tapping will be joining the cast for 14 episodes. How can you have two resident geniuses? I'll actually be annoyed if David Hewlett gets less screen time. How can Weir not be in every episode? As a fan, my thoughts are that this is going to be a disaster. I'm still not thrilled about the loss of Ford. It seems that characters are expendable and I'm sure not every replacement will be a good fit. The actors are not interchangeable either. I want to know what is going on. With Joe Flanigan's comment that Atlantis will undergo a "soft reset" at the end of season 3, my concern for the show is increasing exponentially! At least I will be at the Vancouver convention asking questions!


I'm really disappointed that there is no season 3 of NCIS or Numb3rs being broadcast in this country. I've seen some great movies, for a change: The Guardian, Casino Royale, The Prestige, Stranger than Fiction, Unhitched. Please someone, share your idea of what The Fountain was actually about. It's still haunting me. New TV series pilot that I've seen is for Dexter. Really interesting.

Then Charley Boorman's Race to Dakar will be on DSTV. I will be overseas for a month so I will miss episodes of that as well as Queer Eye. Anyone willing to tape those shows for me?

My home made Stargate world...

Blog has a Makeover!

I've truly updated my blog. It has a whole new look and I'll eventually get around to taking advantage of all the cool blog stuff available.
I've gone from PhD in Forensics to PhD in Microbiology to PhD in Chemical Engineering. I'm excited about the engineering because I have to do Engineering for Scientists, which I hope will include some math, since I'm so smitten with Numb3rs. I love that show. Love all the elements of that show. Some magazine writers say that they can't stand the title. I think it is perfect. Math is about numbers. You guys got a better title?
As with NCIS, which I love, it looks like we'll never see past the second season of each show, here in SA. Thank god for Amazon.
I still love Queer Eye and the Stargates. Queer Eye changed my life. I have a feeling Queer Eye might not be coming back for new seasons. I can't imagine the world without the Fab 5 together to make Queer Eye. When will we get box sets!?
As for the Stargates. I'm going to the Stargate Con in Vancouver in March this year! I'm so excited. Anyone here in SA interested in having me report back on it?
Also, is there anyone who would tape Queer Eye for me while I'm gone?
Later...

P.S.

I think there should be justice for Surface and Invasion. A mini-series to wrap things up perhaps?