Monthly Archives: September 2009

The Station Fire, as they're calling it, erupted off Angeles Crest Highway at 3:20 Wednesday afternoon, August 26. As of now, it has burned 157,220 acres and destroyed 76 homes with damage to at least thirteen more. Another 7000 structures are still threatened. Two firefighters have died and nine more people have been injured.

Currently fighting the are twelve helitankers, seven helicopters, eight air tankers, 243 fire engines, 149 hand crews, 60 bulldozers and several thousand able bodies. Estimated cost of this fire is around $44,000,000 and at the moment, it's the tenth-largest fire in the state of California since 1932. It could place higher.

Right now, it's 51% contained and officials are hoping for full containment by September 15, more than a week from now. Keep in mind that "containment" does not necessarily mean "out."

It has been determined that the fire was man-made and an arson investigation has commenced. I thought this was dreadful before I heard that. The idea that someone would deliberately cause something like this makes it all the more horrifying. I can't imagine what kind of punishment would be appropriate for that person. I'd say, "Give him a conscience and a true realization of what he did," but that's just too barbaric.

Hollywood Superblogger Nikki Finke has finally mentioned that the two warring factions in the Writers Guild have made peace. She hasn't however mentioned that from all reports, last Wednesday's "Meet the Candidates" night was a lovefest that patched up even more differences than did the joint statement she quotes. Given how many important folks in the industry follow Finke's column (and they should — she's good at digging up vital news), it might be nice if she mentioned that but it may not matter.

I'm a big believer in the Writers Guild. I don't necessarily believe in every union and even once helped sue one labor organization that I thought was corrupt and/or inept. (It was hard to tell which.) But I believe in the need for a strong Writers Guild to provide for the common defense of those who seek to ply that trade. In forty years as a professional writer in a dozen different arenas, I've come to appreciate how badly my profession can be treated when it's "every man for himself."

I am not, however, a big believer in the ability of the WGA to hang together and work together. When I was active in its operations — mostly in the early attempts to bring animation writing under WGA jurisdiction — I was appalled at the member-vs.-member invective…the personal attacks on folks who were unsalaried volunteers. Since I never stood for guild office, relatively little was directed my way but I watched it wound a lot of folks who, to put it simply, didn't deserve that kind of abuse. Even if I disagreed with their vision for the Guild, I thought the lack of civility towards them was more injurious to the WGA than anything the attackees were trying to accomplish. For one thing, it caused a lot of good people to decide they didn't want to have anything to do with the running of the union. Eventually, that group included me.

Every so often, I'm asked to participate again and I'm tempted. Then something comes along to remind me that I really don't want to do that. The latest is a video which Nikki Finke also features — an attack on our outgoing president, Patric Verrone. Some obviously think it's funny. Some don't and I'm with the "don't" crowd. I've had my differences with Patric but I think he did a helluva job steering our Guild through its recent strike…and I like the fact that even those currently running against his "slate" seem to think that, as well. I think that deserves better than an anonymous cheapshot at him and at the writing career that he put on semi-hold to serve the WGA.

I have no idea how Patric feels about it. He's demonstrated pretty thick skin so he may even find it amusing. I'm less bothered by that than I am by how this kind of thing discourages participation in Guild affairs. I'm sure going to remember it the next time I get one of those calls asking me to serve on a WGA committee or project.

If you don't get enough Jerry Lewis this weekend watching the telethon, you can enjoy this two-and-a-half hour video interview with him. I haven't made it all the way through myself. Let me know if he says anything about meeting me when I was seven.

If you're like me, you get a lot of nutcase, lying political-type e-mails. I'm not talking about the kind that try to build a rational, fact-based case for some viewpoint. I get those too and often find them of interest. But I'm talking here about the kind wherein someone just plain lies about what's in a bill and/or offers demonstrably-phony quotes. That kind.

I'm sure there are left-wing ones but I only seem to receive the right-wing variety. Usually, they're quickly deleted but if you want to respond to them, Media Matters has a service for you. They are, as you probably know, a Liberal watchdog group. They've set up a section of their website that gathers such e-mails and offers up polite responses you can send. They include links to news sources that aid with the debunking, just in case the person who sent you the e-mail is one of the rare ones who can be convinced their facts are in error.

If someone out there can point me to a similar site that debunks lying left-wing e-mails (and does so without citing Michelle Malkin as an unbiased source), let me know.

Just to review: A week or so ago, the two men vying for the presidency of the Writers Guild were engaged in a slap-fight, calling each other liars and making it look like our union was rupturing from within. Over at her much-read blog, Nikki Finke posted every accusation…which is fine. She covers industry news and this is industry news.

Wednesday night at a Candidates Forum at the Guild, all the quarrellers hugged and kissed and said it was all a misunderstanding. I haven't seen Nikki Finke post a word about that yet.

In fairness, her site has recently undergone a software makeover and posting was limited for a few days there. But it's back and she's reporting the box office grosses for Labor Day Weekend. When is she going to get around to mentioning that the candidates are no longer standing behind some of those accusations she previously disseminated? Since members are filling out their ballots at the moment, it's kind of newsworthy.

I wonder what percentage of the people who are saying that Barack Obama is a lying, Socialist, illegal alien are folks who, not that long ago, thought the Dixie Chicks should be deported for saying they were ashamed of George W. Bush.

In-flight wi-fi service seems to be the coming thing…and at least one airline (Jet Blue) is experimenting with making it free. For the ones that charge, the rates look like they'll be around $5.95 for short flights and $12.95 for flights of three hours or longer. Obviously, this is fine for those who need it, and perhaps there'll come a time when I will. But there are also times when it's kinda nice that for the length of your flight, your phone is off and nobody can reach you…

The acclaimed play August: Osage County by Tracy Letts is coming to Los Angeles. It'll be at the Ahmanson Theater starting next month and spilling over into the following month.

Why am I telling you this? Because I have two tickets for it I can't use, on account of I'm going outta state for the Mid-Ohio-Con. They're pretty good seats — center of the second row of the mezzanine — and they're for October 6, a 7:30 performance. Anyone wanna buy 'em off me for the face value price of $120?

You see the guy on the left in the above photo? Never mind the clown on the right. That's me. But the guy on the left is Chuck McCann, one of the funniest and most creative humans in this hemisphere. For those of you who remember Chuck's legendary kids' show on local New York television in the sixties, no more need be said. The rest of you came to know him from his movie roles, his hundreds of TV appearance, his commercials, his cartoons, his…oh, heck. If you told me that Chuck had donned a tu-tu and danced the Swan with the Joffrey, I'd hesitate to dismiss it as unlikely. The guy's done everything…and judging from the fan worship I witnessed this year at Comic-Con, most people know that.

But what they might not know is that today's his birthday. So…much affection and a big, candle-studded cake to one of my favorite people.

It's also the birthday of another one of my favorite people, cartoonist supreme Scott Shaw! But we have a one-birthday-post-a-day rule here. So sorry, Scott. Maybe next year.