Category Archives: Current Affairs

Star Trek alumni support the WGA

“Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few . . . or the one.”

– Spock.

When I was a little kid, I loved this show you may have heard of called Star Trek. When I was a teenager, I worked on a show called Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was like Star Trek, but with jumpsuits and snazzier special effects.

They were both popular programs, inspiring and bringing joy to generations of viewers, while putting loads of cash into the pockets of Paramount and its shareholders.

Today, the WGA is having a Star Trek picket at Paramount to honor the people — like Harlan Ellison, John D. F. Black and Ron Moore — whose stories over the years made Star Trek such an important part of our culture, and inspired writers, actors, engineers, and others to reach out for the stars.

The picket is scheduled from 11-3 at Paramount’s Windsor gate. I’ll be there, and I hope you’ll all join me, at least in spirit, as we thank the people who made Star Trek possible, and fight for the rights of the next generation of writers.

Can media conglomerates afford to pay the writers?

As someone who hopes to be in the WGA one day, and as a current SAG member (and former member of the Board of Directors) I am in complete and total solidarity with the Writer’s Guild. It’s quite heartening to me, also,  to see that so many people refuse to be fooled by the lies that the six companies who control all of the media have been trying to spread.

The AMPTP has been successful (and helped by the news media they own) in spreading FUD about the things the writers are asking for. This post at United Hollywood puts some important numbers into perspective:

"But can the corporations really afford to pay you what you’re asking for?"

Let’s
set aside for the moment the issue of what the congloms say in their
press releases to us (which is basically "There’s no money! Ever! And
if there was, we spent it all on other projects that lost money so it’s
gone! Forever! We’re broke! We’re having to rent our yachts!") and focus on some hard numbers thoughtfully provided by Jonathan Handel on the Huffington Post yesterday.

He
writes an excellent (I think) and even-handed analysis that takes into
account the effect pattern bargaining will have in calculating real
numbers of what we’re asking for, and what it will cost the companies,
individually, to pay us.

It comes, by his calculation, to $125 million per conglomerate per year — if we got every single thing we’re asking for.

That, by the way, is less than the $140 million Disney spent to fire Michael Ovitz for 15 months of work.

Also, Carson Daly is still an epic douche.

Also, also:

And finally, a meager contribution from the actor half of me:

Speechless

Not the Daily Show explains the writer’s strike

If I haven’t made it clear already, I fully support the Writer’s Guild of America. I’m happy to note than a clear majority of Americans does, too.

If you’re unclear on the main reasons the WGA is on strike, allow one of the writers from The Daily Show to explain it.

Uh, you should actually watch it, uh, anyway, even if you already understand the issues behind the strike, because it’s the closest we’re going to get to The Daily Show for quite some time, I fear:

Man, I miss The Daily Show. Those guys are awesome writers, and they deserve better than they’re getting from the AMPT.

these points of data make a beautiful line

I got my dates confused in my head, and thought today was Veteran’s Day. I’m embarrassed and a little ashamed that I completely missed it yesterday. So even though it’s one day late: Thank you, veterans, for your service.

And now, some various things, most of which I came across while Propelling today:

Researchers in Russia found what they believe to be the impact crater of the Tunguska Event.

I keep hearing this ridiculous line of bullshit that writers make massively inflated salaries, so nobody should support them and their greedy strike. It’s the same tired line of crap that’s thrown out at any group of skilled workers who have the audacity to expect a fair wage from our employer, and are forced into a work stoppage to get those employers to negotiate with us in good faith.

I hope to be a WGA member one day, but even if I didn’t, I would completely support the writers. John Rogers has written several great posts that lay out, in simple but passionate terms, why the WGA has to strike against the AMPTP. He also linked a video that is quite effective in helping the WGA make their case to a skeptical and misinformed public.

Sean McDevitt reviews The Happiest Days of Our Lives:

The Happiest Days of Our Lives
is all about surrounding yourself with people you care about, interests
you enjoy and finding the passion in the "every day." It’s why people
come in droves to read Wil’s blog and why he has been as successful in
nearly every endeavor he has pursued. The book is a collection of the
happiest parts of his day. I’m glad he put it all together.

Flickr’r *Out of My Mind* took a very cool picture, with a little Geek in it.

Mental Floss is one of the greatest magazines in the history of life. Their website pointed me to The Nerd Handbook, which I think WWdN readers will enjoy (and Propel, maybe?):

Written as sort of a "Nerds are From Mars…" guide for nerds’
Significant Others, The Nerd Handbook explains nerd habits and
motivation. While the article seems focused on computer nerds
specifically, many of the nerd behaviors described are applicable to
the entire nerd spectrum.

Reader B sent me a link to an awesome polyhedral dice desktop image.

John Scalzi’s brilliant and wonderful The Sagan Diary was just made available online, in its entirety, from Subterranean Press. In announcing this news, John says something I’ve believed for a long time, but was never able to articulate in print:

I think the story just lives better in book form. One of the
things you learn when you get published is that a book isn’t just about
the text; there’s a whole aesthetic that goes with the book, and that
esthetic matters. This is one of the reasons I think that printed books are going to be around for a while, in some form or another.

Okay, now I’m going to try: I like to read things online, and I believe that publishing online is part of the future of any writer’s life, but nothing compares to actually holding a book in my hands. Books just feel right, magazines just feel right, and I hope that readers of my blogs and books will agree, so I don’t have to make the difficult business decision to save all the stories people tell me they love from my blog for my books, so I can make a living and support my family by writing.

What They Play seems like it could be a cool and useful resource for parents, if the editors steer clear of Thompsonesque hype and pandering. [via game politics]

If you enjoyed my Geek in Review from last week, and are interested in Interactive Fiction as a result (or if, like me, you got to the end and really wanted to play Lurking Horror again) you may want to stay away from the Interactive Fiction archive. It’s an easy (and awesome) way to lose an entire day.

The cake is a lie, but I’m still alive.

And now I’m going outside. It’s a spectacularly beautiful day here in Los Angeles.

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