diet coke and a pizza please

straight from paris: "The French love MIKA and now so do I!"

T-I-T-S Tits, Tits, Tits?

Not sure if everyone has seen this story, but the Times pretty much lambasted Jets fans for their halftime tradition of gathering on exit ramps - like 400 people at a time - and adapting the J-E-T-S chant to try and get girls to flash.

Sometimes they record the ritual and put it on YouTube.



The Times said that the Giants fans don't do it, and speculated that Jets fans are so bored with losing that they need something else to entertain themselves on game days. Chris, T, what's the deal? Is it as barbaric as the Times says?

Funny Shorts

http://web.mac.com/toddss/ulterior/SHORT_FILMS.html

We just met with this director. You gotta check out "Mano-A-Mano", it's hilarious.

To suppliment Clyde's post....

I found this video on eonline and it nicely lays out the reasoning behind the strike

Inside the Eye of the Storm

Today, between 2,000-4,000 writers, directors, and actors gathered outside of the Fox plaza to protest the producers (aka the studio presidents) and lend their support to the heads of the writers guild as they try to broker a nearly impossible deal that is unlikely to satisfy both sides. Two of my co-workers and I wandered off the Fox Lot this morning and meandered through the throngs of scribes and stars. Judd Apatow was the first famous person I spotted, but I quickly noticed three cast members from "How I Met Your Mother"' (Jason Segal, Colbie Smulders, and Alyson Hannigan). As we worked our way through the crowd, I passed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Elliot Gould, Rainn Wilson, and many others. Although I didn't see this for myself, I'm told that Rage Against The Machine performed.

Several lay-offs have already been executed and numerous tv productions have shut down their sets. It's only the first week, but the atmosphere is already getting frantic. Everyday there's hundreds and even thousands of picketers patrolling the studio walls. Tons of people (from PAs to agent's assistants to head writers to costume designers) will be going without pay checks. The studios have yet to feel the heat (many of them still have several new episodes stored up and waiting to be aired), and it's uncertain as to when they might actually feel pressured to make a deal and start things back up. It definitely helps the writers cause that big name celebs like Larry David, James L. Brooks, Judd Apatow, and Julia Louis Dreyfus have showed up in their defense. The writers desperately don't want to get screwed again on after-market sales (profit from DVDs and Internet content), but who knows how long they can hold out?

As I hinted at a few sentences earlier, this will have a resounding impact throughout the entire entertainment industry. Studios and agencies are looking to use this Strike as an opportunity to "trim the fat" and fire those employees and their assistants have either "underperformed" or gained a reputation as being "small-time earners". But beyond studios, tv/movie sets, and agencies... the service industry will also suffer. Writers and execs will no longer meet over drinks or meals. Actors, directors, and execs will meet less frequently because expense accounts will be tightened and fewer and fewer projects will get green-lit. With the service industry loosing money, actors (who make up a large percentage of the waiting staff in Hollywood) will see their day jobs disappear. Not to mention the lower working class that will be hired for a fewer and fewer jobs with the rich upper class guarding their money tightly during this time of uncertainty. I may sound like Chicken Little (announcing that the sky is falling), but several people in high places have voiced their opinions and predicted that this Strike could stretch on for months or even a year...

For the most "insider" coverage on the Writers Strike, check out:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/


In regards to the notion that hack writers are demanding a "raise" for sub-par work, that's not actually the case at all. It's a matter of who makes money off of the material that every tv/film writer creates. Writers got screwed back in the 80s on the VHS revenues and they're being very cautious to make sure that they get at least a sliver of money earned on DVD sales and Internet viewings/downloads. Studios are sneaky and greedy and unwilling to budge an inch. They offered writers 0.3% of the revenues from internet sales... giving a clear indication that these two sides are VERY far apart.

Just read this on eonline...

This was in a columnist's weekly chat that I read frequently:

"Not sure if people noticed this, but I was just rewatching the "We're Not From Here" ep of HIMYM and noticed in the "flash-forward" of Marshall and Lily in 2029, there's a newspaper article framed behind Marshall reading "NYC Lawyer Captures Nessie"—looks like Marshall finally found the Loch Ness Monster!"