kiran’s pensieve

The Fourth and Final season of the best show on TV, Battlestar Galactica begins on 04/04/08. If you haven’t seen seasons one, two (and 2.5), three and the Razor movie yet, I have just one thing to say: What the frak are you waiting for??!

I stumbled across this little brain candy in Wired.com’s archives.

One of my favourites:

TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there …
- Harry Harrison

Confused? Did you follow along the “brawl” storyline? Here’s your chance to catch up:

“Since we began negotiations in July, we’ve been saying, ‘If they get paid, we get paid.’ This contract makes that a reality. It’s the best deal this Guild has bargained for in 30 years after the most successful strike this Guild has waged in 35 years. It was arguably the most successful strike in the American labor movement in a decade, clearly the most important of this young century. It is not all that we hoped for, and not all that we deserved. But as I told our members, this strike was about the future, and this deal assures for us and for future generations of writers a share in the future…”

This is from Nikki Finke’s blog that has been a constant source of strike news and updates.

The show-runners (writers/producers) return to work on Monday, the show writers are to return on Wednesday after a membership vote on the terms of the deal. This is great! This means The Office, and Dexter and Battlestar Galactica and everyone else will be back in action soon! Yay!

Came across this story about the Beatles’ song “Across the Universe” being blasted into outer space in commemoration of its and NASA’s anniversaries. Like many others my age, I “discovered” John Lennon and The Beatles sometime around my 17th birthday. I remember hanging out in Strawberry Fields in Central Park and feeling a deep, personal connection to their music, especially their later stuff, and its message of peace, awareness and whimsy. Like other surreal artists, the Beatles’ music makes sense on an intuitive level, even when its hard to decipher its literal meaning (if there even exists one). Across the Universe is undoubtedly one of my favourite songs of all time. And probably the only decent cover of a Beatles song, specifically by Fiona Apple, featured in the film Pleasantville.

The Beatles
“Across The Universe”

Words are flying out like endless rain into a paper cup
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow waves of joy are drifting thorough my open mind
Possessing and caressing me

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
That call me on and on across the universe
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world

Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears
Exciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns
It calls me on and on across the universe

Jai guru deva om
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Jai guru deva

Here’s an awesome parody of the “Leave Britney Alone!” video. hehehe….

From today’s LA Times:

By eliminating the (writers’ contracts) deals now, the studios will no longer be obligated to pay the writers even if the strike ends in the next month or two. The action saves the media companies tens of millions of dollars in payments…

This makes it even more apparent that the network studio executives are trying to starve out the writers, and potentially the entire entertainment industry. At this point, they’re basically saying, “Screw y’all, We will not take pay cuts, We will not adjust your contracts to share some of the billions of ad revenue and DVD sales revenue that We are collecting left and right. We will hide behind our American Idol and our Dancing with the Stars and We will cater to the dumbest parts of our audience’s psyche, at the expense of all the writers for all the TV shows and all the movies. Neeener Neener Neener! Pffft!”

Meanwhile, Chrysler’s marketing chief is quoted in Bloomberg as saying, “…the biggest thing we’ve noticed about the strike is that nobody is talking about it...” Well, the fact that you and I will not see whole lot of coverage, especially from the writers’ POV, on your mainstream news channel or newspaper couldn’t be in any way related to the fact that the news media is owned by the same conglomerates who have tentacles inside the AMPTP, could it?

Interestingly, even though SAG and AFTRA and virtually all their member actors and artists have been active and vocal in their solidarity for the WGA writers, both of the aforementioned unions are bound by “no strike” clauses in their contracts with the AMPTP (cushy, huh?). Makes you wonder, what is the point of having a union if you can’t strike against your wage-masters when they are being unfair to you and your colleagues?

In the meantime, more interim deals are being signed, this time between the WGA and Spyglass Entertainment &Media Rights Capital. This is just further proof, after David Letterman successfully negotiated a deal with the WGA, that the writers’ demands are not as extreme, outrageous or unreasonable as the AMPTP is whining about.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back on air without their writers as well. This has its pros and cons: the good thing is that they are among the very very few voices on traditional media who are (in their own whacky ways) cheering for the writers. The question that arises though, is whether them running their popular shows on a Viacom station is actually hurting the WGA’s cause by allowing network execs to rake in the cash these two shows are generating, despite the ongoing negotiations. It’s a fine line and frankly, even though I personally adore both shows, I don’t know which way the Stewart/Colbert duplex pendulum will ultimately swing. From that New University article:

Stewart and Colbert may be unsure, but their conservative critics are anything but ambivalent. “They serve as a branch of the Democratic Party,” said a user with the screen name “iveseenitall” on the conservative media criticism Web site NewsBusters.com. “They are immature jerks … constantly and overwhelmingly making one party the butt of jokes divides the nation.” Thomas Jefferson described constant critique of prevailing policy as “eternal vigilance.” Iveseenitall calls it “immature jerk[iness].” Attention all archconservatives: The truth hurts, but the “truthiness” will set you free.

As for the precious internet ad revenue that the AMPTP keeps saying is not significant enough to share with the writers of the very shows that are placed online, one must ask why it is that from the other side of their mouth, media giants do things like sue YouTube for $1 Billion dollars, or cut deals with the Microsoft ad network. If there’s no money in online media, why is the internet ad industry booming, and why are industry experts saying that online ad spending is expected to double in the next 3 years? Specifically:

“I think we’re going to see some of the largest growth in video ads on televisions stations’ Web sites,” (eMarketer’s David Hallerman) said.

The only thing for sure is that writers are the lifeblood of any entertainment. Reality TV shows get old really fast, they don’t survive in reruns and they can’t be sold too well on DVD or syndication. Without shows like The Office, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, Heroes, and of course, Battlestar Galactica, as well as others, the networks are looking at taking huge losses resulting from an increasingly disenfranchised audience that is turning off their TV sets and doing other things, like reading, or going outside, or having sex, or even (gasp!) blogging about these unscripted theatrics. Talk about stupid Reality Shows….