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November 29, 2007
It's Not Always About Money
When you get a call out of the blue from someone at an organization you have a connection with, you can bet they want something. Usually it’s money.
A few weeks back, a rep from Harpur College, the liberal arts component of SUNY-Binghamton (or to those of you born after 1980, Binghamton University) got in touch to say she was going to be in Connecticut and could she meet with me and Deb. She was particularly interested since we met on campus and wanted to hear about our experiences back in the day. We agreed, figuring we’d have a nice chat, get hit up for some donation and move on.
Jaclyn suggested taking us to dinner so we agreed and suggested a local Mexican restaurant we like. At least we’d get a free meal as part of the pitch.
We couldn’t have been more wrong. She didn’t want money. She wasn’t looking for a gift or grant or a brass farthing. She really did want to talk about our time on campus. As we noshed on tortilla chips all the way through dessert, we relived the highlight of our college careers.
Now, Deb was a terrific student and worked hard on her course work in Math and computers. She worked in the computer center and had a job off campus at the Link division of Singer. Me, I may have double majored in English and History, to me, my campus life revolved around the campus newspaper, Pipe Dream. As a result, our stories, experiences and perspectives were very different.
Jaclyn loved it. She scribbled notes, especially when we mentioned faculty, some of whom were still around. Her questions prompted us to recall other incidents and we retold some of our favorite incidents such as the time we had the head of the campus food service join us for dinner so he could see what we were complaining about. We had pork chops and Deb, seated next to him, had trouble cutting her’s. So did Barry, the head of ACE. Point made.
Since we graduated, our involvement in the local Metro Club has waned but we do participate with recruitment and helped at career events. We like giving back and intend to continue to do so, something we made clear.
It was not at all the night we expected. Far better, in fact, and we all left the restaurant rather pleased.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 12:36 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 27, 2007
In Moderation
The Representative Town Meeting gathered for the new term last night and it was an unexpected evening. Normally, the first meeting of the term is strictly organizational beginning with the party caucuses where leadership is firmed up, standing committee assignments reviewed and then into the main meeting. We nominate our Moderator and Deputy Moderator then get some required reading on ethics and Freedom of Information laws. Committees are confirmed, we’re all welcomed and that’s usually that.
I had let it be known that if no one else was interested, I would like consideration as Moderator, largely because I think I have good relations with both sides of aisle in addition to extensive experience running meetings – both in my professional career and as Finance chair last term. The job of Moderator requires time prior to the meeting, setting up the Agenda with the Town Clerk, determining which committees hear which items and then conducting the meeting, keeping things running smoothly according to Robert’s Rules. The two previous Moderators were RTM veterans who commanded a lot of respect so there were some awfully large shoes to fill.
No one else expressed interest so last night at caucus, I was selected as the party’s nominee. At the meeting, my nomination went up against that of Republican veteran Jim Walsh, a smooth, experienced guy who I like. Still, with a 26-22 majority in attendance, I beat out Jim and took the podium to conduct the meeting.
Talk about nerves. I’m standing there, reading from a script I had hammered out with my predecessor (it pays to come prepared!) and blanking on the names of people I know quite well. As the minutes passed, I gained a little more confidence especially once names returned to the forefront of my memory.
We selected our Committee on Committees to confirm the standing committee assignments, took our recess, heard back from them and then broke into our new committees to select chair, vice chair and secretary. This term I’ll be on Public Works which will give me a little more perspective on the town’s infrastructure. Afterwards, the new committee chairs announced the assignments and we were off and running. We zipped through approving the 2008 calendar and minutes from the previous meeting.
Then came items 6 and 7 – which were to establish a building committee and approve its membership. I had suggested in advance they be taken up together and that went fine. Then came an onslaught of comment and opinion as to whether or not we should hear the item as a Committee of the Whole, or maybe delay this to the January meeting which was quickly amended to delaying this to the December meeting. Along the way, I took notes, called on people and tried to keep things running. I tackled various Points of Order and motions and goofed here and there, using a wrong term. I did, though, remember everyone’s name.
When the question was called, requiring a vote without debate, I acknowledged our Majority Leader, who called a caucus which I granted, following the rules. I was then privately advised I committed a rookie error – once the question was called, the vote should have been taken. When we reconvened, I apologized to the Body and we proceeded.
In the end, the item was heard as a Committee of the Whole but when we began comment, the first speaker introduced a new motion to postpone consideration until the December meeting. This was unanimously approved and we concluded the night.
To say I was overwhelmed by this baptism of fire is a mild description. While people from both sides said I did well, and woke up to find some e-mails of support, I still think I could have been smoother with the meeting’s conduct. If anything, a common criticism was I spoke too fast or too close to the microphone.
It took some time at our bipartisan socialable soda for me to regain any sense of perspective.
No doubt, come December, I’ll be ready and better.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:22 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 25, 2007
A Joyous Holiday Weekend
A busier than expected Holiday weekend, to be sure, but a fine family time it was.
Kate arrived home late Tuesday night so Robbie collected her and we didn’t really see her until Wednesday. She chilled with us most of the day and that night, she waited up for her friend, Menan, to arrive from California. The two met and became friends when they wound up in the cast of Guys & Dolls over in Cairo. Since she had nowhere to be for the holiday, Kate invited Menan to try a traditional New England Thanksgiving.
Thursday was the usual tradition: up and watch the parade, out by noon and listening to Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant en route to Long Island. The girls were somewhat zoned out since Menan didn’t make it to Fairfield until about 2:30 .am.
As usual, Bob & Laurie Rozakis’ home was in full swing, with enough food for the entire Armed Services. Robbie was gifted with a three pound can of olives since he normally whips through your typical can in about five minutes. New to the gathering, besides Menan, were Jim & Debbie Gillespie, parents to Chuck’s wonderful bride Rebecca. All three fit right in and it was a festive day, with way too much food and not enough time for chit chat.
Friday had us home, up and out by 10, this time headed north to visit Deb’s brother and family in New Hampshire. We got there and spent most of Saturday visiting and chatting in a variety of configurations. As the kids wandered off, the adults wound up checking our John’s HD TV by watching Transformer, something I skipped over the summer. It was goofy and entertaining while predictable and in need of some serious story editing.
We crashed by midnight (although Robbie camped out in their family motor home) and miraculously overslept so by the time we all got up, dressed and fed, we didn’t get back to John & Alison’s until 11. We visited for a few hours more until it was time to head back home since Robbie had work and Kate wanted time to see her CT friends.
Deb and I managed a quiet evening at home, putting the finishing touches on transferring everything to the laptop to ensure I can get right to work come Monday.
Sunday was time to say farewell to Menan, who traveled to Manhattan for a day of sightseeing before flying back west on Monday. There was Church for the others, the gym for me, and then a family walk, complete with both dogs – a rare treat.
At Kate’s request, we threw together a lamb stew and then let it cook while we went off to see Enchanted. It’s everything the reviewers said it was and more. We giggled and guffawed all the way through, entranced by Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel and James Marsden. This was a faithful reproduction of a Disney animated film brought to live action, with a wink and a nod to its predecessors. It also avoided getting saccharine thanks to some New York jadedness and Barry Sonenfeld’s deft touch as producer. A thorough delight and highly recommended.
By 7:30, she’ll be on a train for Washington and another holiday will have come and gone. This will become increasingly more and more the template for our visits with Kate in the future. At least we’ve learned how to maximize our time, and enjoy each other’s company.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:31 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 21, 2007
Preparing for the next Chapter
This was the week one job indicated they’d be making their decision. Now, they might have and went with someone else or they might be taking their time. I don’t know. What I do know is that I continue to apply and continue to recognize that the volume of applications received has to be daunting to any company. So, going into the holiday period, I have no other interviews scheduled.
As a result, I’ve continued to pile on freelance work, as writer, editor and project manager. Its beginning to look like this will be the next chapter of my professional life and I face it with mixed feelings. By and large, I dislike the uncertainty of a pure freelance life in addition to missing out on interaction with others. Sure, I can IM and e-mail like a madman, but getting up for coffee and chatting with people about whatever is different. With Deb also working in the house, I have at least one other person to speak with now and then, but one day her company will open a NY office and then it’ll be just me and the dogs.
On the other hand, I begin this chapter with what I think is a good flow of work and income that will largely replace that which was lost when Weekly World News folded and once those checks start arriving with regularity, some of the fear and uncertain will diminish.
To prepare for this phase, Deb decided I really needed a laptop. She scoped one out and it arrived yesterday (after a delay courtesy of the horrid DHL). It’s a Dell Vostro 1500 and she ensured it had the speed and storage to last me a good a long time. This gives me the flexibility to work from the road when I go to conventions or am away from home for extended periods (such as visiting family). It’s a little bigger and heavier than I imagined but is nice and powerful, ready to be loaded with everything from the desktop.
One of these days, the home office will need some attention. Deb keeps talking about gutting and starting over. I’d be happy with a new desk set-up that addresses today’s needs. The desk I now use we bought about 20 years ago and was great for the Macintosh and other devices that have changed in size, shape and frequency of usage.
No doubt, we’ll chat about this new chapter as it takes hold and we’ll see how it’s working.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:49 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 20, 2007
Taking the Oath
Fairfield, like most towns, has its set of observances, parades and celebrations but we don’t really do a lot of pomp and circumstance away from the schools. Inauguration is different and last night, 81 one of us took the oath of office.
The event began with an hour of music, half by Dave Samuels, formerly of Spyro Gyra, and Alain Mallet; the other half was the Highland Rovers, renamed Keltic Kick. People filtered in during that time and there was much chatting, handshaking and back slapping going on in the lobby.
Deb, her mom, and Robbie arrived at eight and joined the milling crowd outside the high school auditorium. At one point Attorney General Richard Blumenthal came by to say hi, never one to miss an event, and that was a nice moment. By 8, we entered and caught the final two Irish songs. Then, Leo Redgate, a prominent citizen, took over as master of ceremonies. He introduced the color guard, consisting of representatives from the fire and police departments. The two chiefs led us in the pledge followed by the acapella high school group Close Harmony handling the National Anthem.
Reverend Bela Poznan performed the invocation and this was interesting only in that he is the father to one of Kate’s high school pals and I’d never seen him before. After that, the two Selectmen were given the oath of office followed by a second musical selection, “I want you Back.”
Our Town Clerk, Betsy Browne was then given her oath and she then took over the podium, bringing up the rest of the elected folk by office. Seven sets of people took their oath prior to the ten Representative Town Meeting districts. Those of us in District 8 looked particularly dashing as district resident Sue Barrett and her father Bill Barrett saw to it we all had boutonnières and corsages.
Now, those who may recall two years ago, Betsy told me afterwards she was tempted to give me the Vulcan salute when I took my first oath. Well, last night, as we stood before her in a semi-circle, her fingers splayed and I returned the salute – a first in Connecticut no doubt. Deb says from her seat she could tell that Betsy seemed ready to burst in laughter as we had our moment.
Once we were all sworn in, the other high school’s acapella group, Talisman, sand “Vive L’Amour” and were a delight. Ken Flatto was given the oath by Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz and Blumenthal. I do appreciate the comments they made about all of us who ran, even the “runners up” since it takes time, effort and commitment to do this. Flatto echoed it and asked the long-suffering spouses of the elected officials to rise for a moment of recognition.
Ken then read his speech which had three interesting initiatives attached, which already was putting the RTM to work – and we haven’t even organized yet. That comes next Monday which should also be interesting as we select leadership and receive our committee assignments.
Afterwards there was more chatting, handshaking and back slapping but it was all good. Despite some of the schmaltziness, it was a night I thoroughly enjoyed.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 10:06 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 16, 2007
The Recount
Thanks to the botched Florida election in 2000, the United States has marched towards the chadless future and insisted every state have modern, up-to-date voting machines. The optical scanner is apparently the device chosen by a majority of the states. It’s like filling out an SAT, using a pen to fill in bubbles to mark your preferences and then you feed it into the scanner. This way, should someone challenge the computer calculations, there’s a paper copy for recounts.
I miss the old lever machine I used the previous 48 years of my life.
In five districts, we had several RTM races within two votes forcing a mandatory recount. Said recount began on Tuesday and ended today. Yep, it took us four days to handle recounts. As I understand it, the ballots were fed back into the machine to check the tallies. If the numbers remained too close to call, they were then hand counted.
Volunteer poll workers were sequestered in a room at our town Senior Center and performed the counts, one district at a time, with Democrat and Republican representatives watching.
The races in districts 7 and 9 worked out just fine and were easily dispatched. District 1 was much closer and required the hand count and that was done twice.
Yesterday, District 4 suddenly looked like our Majority Leader, Doug Jones, went from being 2 votes down to 4 votes up. This triggered a new hand count, conducted this morning. Also, while they tallied District 2, our Democrat, Karen Sussman, challenged a hand count feeling one of the people missed a vote. Since it affected the outcome, the moderator made the decision to have everything up to that point recounted today. The remaining 20% or so would be counted and their tally would stand.
Today, I was asked to come down and help the Democrats, taking a shift of monitoring people tally the papers. What was supposed to be 90 minutes stretched to closer to 5 hours. The place was packed with reps from both parties including the senior and most active members of the RTC – I felt outnumbered. I consider myself fortunate to be on good terms with all of them which made it feel more collegial than anything. Michael Hahn, who lost in District 10, was there and sprung first for donuts then later bought everyone, including many of the volunteer counters, sandwiches for lunch.
All the local press including Channel 12 were there, watching and hearing everyone gripe about the system not quite working as advertised.
While the optical scanner is great at reading what’s fed in, the hand tally requires the tried and true method of making hatch marks and counting every bundle of five. Apparently, some of the people were putting their hatch marks all over the tally sheets rather than in need rows and columns which led to sloppy totals.
So, for today’s tally, District 4’s votes were sorted into all 5 for the Democrats, all 5 for the Republicans then the mixed ones had a separate stack. People then tallied each stack to make certain they were properly sorted and were properly all five for one party or the other. Sure enough, three sheets from the Elephants to the Donkeys. Meantime, people were re-verifying the absentee ballots to make certain those numbers matched and sure enough, today’s tally matched Tuesday’s but not Thursday’s.
The mixed votes were then tallied, split among two teams. Fortunately, that went fairly quickly but it also showed that Doug was once more behind.
To be certain about District 2, our First Selectman asked for two auditors to come over from Town Hall. They arrived and were set up in another room. I got to watch them tally the two closest candidates and while tedious, it moved along at a much faster clip. However, when we were done, it also proved to be the 20% that didn’t need to be counted. The Moderator got things mixed up so as I finally left, they were just getting started on the 80% they really needed to count.
When all was said and done, everyone declared a winner a week ago, were still the winners. Not a single contest changed. This goes to prove that our former Town Clerk, Maugerite Toth, was right. The final totals may change but not the outcomes.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 07:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 15, 2007
Emerging from the Dungeon
Since returning to the home office, I’ve been to the city three times. Twice for brief interviews and yesterday, it was for a mixed reason. Publisher’s Weekly is holding a series of breakfast discussions under the umbrella title Think Future and yesterday’s was about graphic novels.
I strolled uptown, repeating a path I trod countless times over the last twenty years, and wound up at Random House’s current headquarters. In their Louis L’Amour room we gathered and it was like visiting a con, plenty of familiar faces. Over in one corner was Danny Fingeroth, who I’d been helping close the next issue of Write Now! and by the dais was co-moderator and long time pal Heidi MacDonald. Betsy Mitchell stopped by to compliment my work on the Batman Encyclopedia, which made me beam. People from various walks of my life were gathered together, munching on fruit and Danish, awaiting the event’s start.
The conversation was entitled “Comics & Graphic Novels: Harnessing the Power of Visual Literature” with panelists including John Cunningham (DC Comics), Dan Frank (Pantheon Books), a svelte Joe Quesada (Marvel Comics), Bill Schanes (Diamond Comics), and Rich Johnson (Yen Press).
A show of hands demonstrated that the majority in attendance were in the mainstream book publishing business and were here seeking wisdom and insight. Depending upon your background and experience in the field, much of what was said was not new or news. Some of the perspective and opinion was certainly interesting and the panelists were all well-spoken.
Suffice to say that graphic novels are here to stay and will only grow as more publishers enter the field and the bookstores devote more space in recognition of their growth and potential in the future. Print is here to stay although everyone is experimenting with the New Media and trying to find a model that worked. The consensus seemed to be that as a marketing tool, it could not be beat.
Afterwards, there was more mingling and networking. I renewed some acquaintances, was introduced to some people and agreed to do work with one outfit. So overall, it was a great morning.
I then walked downtown for lunch with a group of pals, most of whom I had not seen since August so that was a delight. We chatted, laughed, debated, argued and ate. It went by too quickly but it was great to be among peers once more. If anything, it shows that if I remain working from home, I need to find ways to see people every now and then.
The walk back to Grand Central was a good way to work off too much food. Up in Boston, my pal Michael Burstein blogs about the many samples he usually is handed en route to his office. I was thinking about that, noting I had been offered nothing despite walking right through Times Square. Then, in the final one hundred yards to the train terminal I was bombarded. First, there was the sample from a new frozen yogurt shop. Then, at one corner, I was handed a CD case advertising ABC’s forthcoming broadcast of the American Music Awards and in lieu of music was a chocolate disc. Across the street, CVS was handing out cans of soda with coupons to use at one specific location, clearly trying to break people of their Duane Reade habit.
As days go, yesterday was pretty darn entertaining. When I got home, after stops at the gym and the local comic shop, it took three hours to dig through e-mail and immediate work but that too wasn’t so bad.
Definitely need more days like that.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 04:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 12, 2007
Feeling Just a Little Pressure
It’s all a little dizzying. The last week or so has been packed with stuff, some I can talk about, some I’d rather not, and some I just can’t discuss as yet. Still, all totaled, life has been busy.
While I await word on one fulltime job, I am inching ever closer to having enough freelance to make a go of it by staying home. Two different sources have talked about starting paying me weekly come December 1, which would be just lovely, if things go as planned. The problem is, since I left Weekly World News, every option that sounded promising has either taken far longer than anyone has imagined or fizzled. It’s a bit of uncertainty that keeps me preoccupied from time to time.
As it is, I do have commitments and I am trying to make time for them all so as not to leave anyone hanging. The problem is developing the self-discipline to deal with them all and still leave time for my own personal projects. At dinner Friday night, a friend challenged me to have the outline to the original novel done by December 31. Deb thinks it can be done and took his side. I’ve accepted the challenge and we’ll see what happens.
One positive thing is that an editor friend called on Thursday and offered me an assignment out of the blue. I signed the requisite Non Disclosure Agreement and await contract and other vital details, but I look to be spending December writing a 70,000 word novel. The interesting thing is if all goes according to schedule, I will suddenly have two books and a short story all in print next June. Weird.
Speaking of writing, I shared some thoughts on the writers’ strike the other day but an e-mail pal, Doris Egan, has done a wonderful job putting the writer’s point of view into context. I strongly urge you to give it a read.
And, with everything else going on, Deb and I decided to get a jump on our holiday shopping. Two days later, we’re largely done although there is still much wrapping to be done in addition to figuring out appropriate stocking stuffers, which gets tougher as the kids get older. But, having this much done before December gets nuts is a good thing.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 09:47 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
November 09, 2007
At Long Last, a Review
Predator: Flesh & Blood has been out for nearly two months now but the reviews and comments have been sparse.
Fortunately, one of the biggest Aliens and Predator websites just posted a rave review from Colonel Hicks:
Humans have all but destroyed the Earth, creating an opportunity for unscrupulous moneymakers to take advantage of the destruction. One family, the Ciejek clan, has made their fortune exploiting Earth's misfortunes. But with power comes corruption. The members of the Ciejek clan are at each other's throats, enlisting the help of the fearsome Predators to settle the score... When the Predators arrive, however, the brutality the warriors unleash is far beyond what the Ciejek family could have imagined.
Flesh and Blood has been a long time coming. Originally slated for release in March, the novel was pushed back God knows how many times. And during all this time, the Alien series has managed to churn out two more novels! Well, better late than never I suppose. Flesh and Blood is the second in the Predator series, with another two known to be following next year. Written by Michael Jan Friedman and Robert Greenberger, Flesh and Blood follows on from Shirley's previous novel in that it keeps it in the future.
Some might feel that the future setting is a little out of place for the Predator and it did, at times, feel a little weird in Forever Midnight. But something about Flesh and Blood helped it seem more natural. Not once was I questioning the jump into the future and to be honest, I think it all roots into the characters and the way they acted - both human and Hish. In some ways, it took some advice from Alien in that it omitted use of futurist technology and etc. It was all there, it was just all taken for granted or in some cases, useless. The only real piece of futurist technology that was prominent was a laser gun which was so useless it was barely used. This helped to keep the focus away from all the space age technology and on the story and the characters within.
The story revolves around blood feuds, within family or clan. Basically, after the death of their grandfather, the business the Ciejek family owns is to be passed onto one of two cousins: Andar or Derek. Both two very different people. Andar left his family because he found out what they actually did to people and the worlds they owned: They raped, they exploited. Derek, however, is very much a Ciejek. The same is paralleled by the Hish side of the novel. We find ourselves with a group of hunters, made from two clans that are unable to join together and reconcile their own traditions.
The characters really helped this novel stand out. As of the writing of this review, I have already read and reviewed the latest entry into the Alien series, Steel Egg and my biggest complaint in that novel was the severe lack of character development. Flesh and Blood has it in the bucket loads. The first good chunk of chapters was dedicated to the characters and to slowly setup what was coming. The right amount of backstory beforehand plus some built up tension equals excellently executed novel equals reader being mucho happy. Grande smile.
One particular part of the novel I really enjoyed was before all the shit hit the fan. We've arrived at the planet; everyone is at a meal type thing before the reading of the will which, as far as everyone there is concerned, will decide the rest of their life. Up to this point we'd never met Derek, only learnt of him through Andar and his lawyer who accompanies him. So here I was, expecting some bastard of a man to great his cousin. What I got was a friendly man, talking to all his men as if they were family and to his cousin like he really loved him. And I brought into it. Of course, Derek was an asshole but it was moments like that really had me buying into these characters and the writing of Friedman and Greenberger.
Now one of the more "controversial" aspects of the preceding Predator novel, Forever Midnight, was the introduction of a new version of the Predator culture: The Hish. This radical change in the approach to the inner workings of the Predator - it's for fun this time like it was in the original movies, not for honor like in the Perry's version and to some extent, the AvP movies. Given the uproar it caused within the Yautja fans - so only really the fans of the whole hunt for honor concept - it was a wise choice for the authors to downplay the Hish in Flesh and Blood.
It was done very differently in that in Flesh and Blood the Hish don't actually speak. All our interaction with the Hish is done via one particular Hish: Bet-Karh. Specifically, done from within his mind throughout the entire novel. At first I thought it might get old and fast but gladly this wasn't the case. Due to the ever changing situation and how the group of Hish were interacting and conflicting with each other, my mind left thinking about the delivery methods and took more notice on the content as it should have.
My only real complain about the novel is the length. At 240 pages this is the shortest Alien/Predator novel from DH Press. It didn't really present a problem until the end when the conclusion felt a bit short and unsatisfying. In some ways, it was good in terms of the characters but it felt rather abrupt and unpleasing. I just didn't feel I got a good enough conclusion. It focused too much on the Hish character rather than following up on the humans and how the survivors felt and what happened to them after. Now understandably there were a few problems with this novel - if I recall right, the first manuscript was handed in around the original release date and obviously this caused time problems with editing and etc.
DH Press has been publishing these new Alien and Predator novels for about two years now. The Alien novels have had their ups and downs, the sole Predator novel being the equivalent to marmite for the Predator fanbase but this has to be the best novel out there. And from what I've seen of responses from the fanbase, that seems to be the consensus. I'd recommend this novel to any Predator fan out there - whether they love Perry's Yautja, Shirley's Hish or just a passing Predator fan, this is one for them. Be sure to pick this one up. From Hicks here at AvPGalaxy, I award this novel a solid 4.7 and if it wasn't for my disappointment with the ending it'd be a solid 5.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 12:58 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 08, 2007
Scaring Away the Audience
What always amazes me when an industry finds itself in the midst of a strike is that usually one side is so blinded to reality; they allow the strike to happen when it could be avoided with rational thought. In baseball, the owners usually are out to crush the union and are so ham-fisted about it they lose every time. That we avoided a strike this last time convinces me there’s hope for us all.
The Producers don’t want to give up on their profits or profits-to-come so never really bargained in good faith with the Writers Guild and now we’re in a strike that will affect our choices for entertainment for the foreseeable future. In six or eight months we’ll do this all over again when the Producers have to face the Directors Guild and Screen Actors Guild.
It’s all over sharing profit and frankly, that’s what it’s there for, to share with those who actually produced the material. That includes everyone from the stagehands up through to the studios and networks that invested in the project. What we’re dealing with now is a situation where fear has overtaken common sense.
The last contract was before the advent of myriad delivery systems that quite frankly have already changed the way audiences watch their shows. In addition to the actual initial broadcast, we can choose to watch shows via DVR, On Demand, streaming at a website or pay to download it to our device of choice. It’s all happening very, very quickly and in some cases the Producers are right, they don’t know the full financial ramifications of what this all means. Yet, rather than be proactive, cutting everyone in on the action or putting the promise of sharing in writing, they’d rather stick their heads in the sand and pretend the money isn’t there.
Trust me, it’s there. Significant revenue is being earned from iTunes downloads or the advertising that surrounds the network streams. And no doubt, there will be more to come as we find new ways to deliver filmed entertainment. The entire compensation formula needs to be rewritten for everyone so no one is left out and there’s less to grumble about. The Producers tried to do away with residuals altogether but what they proposed didn’t appeal to the Writers Guild. The WGA came out with taking a demand off the table and the Producers, rather than negotiate, walked away.
The strike is now several days old and the networks are already scaling back plans, canceling and rescheduling shows. Has anyone gone back to the bargaining table? Nope.
And with every passing day, the day the screens go dark comes a little closer. While the networks are finding new delivery systems, they still need people to watch. Alienating the audiences, keeping them from the next season of Lost let alone the next episode of The Office isn’t going to make people sit and wait in the dark. Instead, they will find offerings on other channels or in other forms of entertainment. Look for stories discussing increased use of entertainment such as World of Warcraft or Second Life and check to see how subscriptions to Netflix have increased. We’ll find some other way to remain amused.
On the first day of the strike, a list I’m on already began sharing recommended books to help keep us occupied. Books – fiction and non-fiction – never go out of style and never strike. (My recommendation was Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott, a look at Chicago’s most famous house of prostitution and a delightful read.)
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:12 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 06, 2007
Election Day
6:02 a.m.
Can’t sleep. It’s either the Claritin or the anticipation of the day ahead. I can hear the steady patter of rain outside and think it was genius of me not to sign up to do the first shift at the polls.
The campaign season kicked off around Labor Day and ends tonight. Every weekend and several weekdays I was out and about in my neighborhood, by myself or with fellow candidates. We knocked on doors; spoke to people both happy and upset with the state of Fairfield. We listened, we answered questions, and we explained our positions. Often, no one was home and we just left behind a brochure. All too often, we had to educate the home owner on what the Representative Town Meeting is, or how the government in Fairfield works so if they’re annoyed about overdevelopment, they should focus on the Town Planning and Zoning candidates and not blame the Board of Selectmen.
Largely, we heard satisfied or very positive noises. Our competition, three Republicans running for the five seats in our district, seemed to lay low. No evidence of mailings, lawn signs or them also going door-to-door. Heck, two of them didn’t even include their phones in the Republican ticket mailing.
We respected the district’s long-standing tradition of not doing lawn signs and were pleased the Republicans did as well. Instead, we took a nice group shot of the five Democratic candidates and turned it into a post card which people received around Halloween. We have extras and will use that as a hand out today at the polls.
I’ll be there for eight of the fourteen hours the polls are open but am up now, actually getting some freelance obligations out of the way to be fair to my employers.
12:05 p.m.
Just finished my four hour shift and I must be getting old, my lower back is really bothering me. The rain let up now and then and the temperature remained in the low 50s so it was cool but manageable. My umbrella seems to be wearing out as I got wet despite holding it most of the time.
The turn out was light but steady and with six hours down, over 540 votes in the district had been cast. Most seemed okay with the new optical voting machines although many felt it was a slower process. We stood there greeting and thanking voters, handing out our material and making the best of a tough situation. The Democrats kept the schedule we worked out allowing us to come and go fairly promptly. Our opponents though, seemed a little under-manned and way off schedule so a poor woman from District 10 was stuck for five hours covering District 8 and had to be relieved by her father, who happened to be running for Selectman. Never met Ralph Bowley before and he was genuinely nice to chat with.
At this point, none of us has a clue of the rain will dampen turn out and if so will that be better or worse for one side or the other. When it comes to town politics, it’s so hard to know.
Now I’m warming up, tending to work and some rest before heading back at 4.
10:46 p.m.
I won.
All five of us in District 8 won by a wide margin.
The skies had cleared and the sun came out by the time I returned to the polls. However, the temperature also started to drop so by the third hour, it was definitely chilly just standing there. I saw neighbors and friends and I got to meet several key Republicans during that time, including John Nelson, the First Selectman candidate, and our state rep, John McKinney.
Robbie stopped by to vote, en route to work, and dropped off a sandwich for dinner. Deb came by later with gloves. It was getting chillier and the voters were dwindling in number. By 7:45, we were allowed into the polls to take the results when they were ready. Since these were the new voting machines, it was a new process for all concerned. It seems to have worked just fine and by 8:30 we were given the tallies. First, I was thrilled that the turn out in the district was well over the town average and I got over 50% of the vote.
From there, I joyously stopped at the house to collect Deb and Rob and then it was off to the Beach Café for the party. While there, the results continued to trickle in and we were shocked as some favorite sons lost seats but overall, it was a strong night for the Democrats. If the final numbers hold up, and as I write this one district was being recounted and absentee ballots in another were being tallied, the RTM majority increases from 26-24 to 27-23 in favor of our party.
Next step will be letting the dust settle then begin leadership discussions to see which Democrats will lead the party going into the next term. With the swearing in on November 19, we have plenty of work to do in a short time.
And now to bed.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 03:31 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
November 04, 2007
Bob the Stealth Guest
Once Peter David worked out whether he was or was not a guest at United Fan Con, he said, “You should come up and hang with me and Mumy.” So I did.
United Fan Con replaced the much-missed Wishcon, which was a charity fundraising con for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In addition to a bunch of writer guests like me, Peter and Mike Friedman, they could only afford one or two Name guests and it was a small, fun fan-run show. It faded away because they had trouble growing it and some of those involved took over, came up with a much more lucrative business model and have been running the show in the weekend slot ever since. They still do some fundraising for different charities, which is cool.
Anyway, I campaigned before the weather turned sour then zipped across the state to reach Springfield, Mass. The rain didn’t slow me down much – the volume and road repair work did.
I got there about half an hour late, then walked into the Sheraton not the Marriott across the street so I was feeling all sorts of confused (and dumb). Finally, I found the David clan and the hanging out began.
Peter was going to be on a writers’ panel and invited me to crash. The other panelist, a lovely woman who has written dark science fiction was also there and I cannot for the life of me recall her name, although we share Michael A. Burstein as a common friend. Anyway, the panel was a little bit about writing and was all over the place from politics to sheer nonsense. The dozen or so attendees seemed entertained.
At one point, Bill Mumy stands in the doorway and gives me a wave hello. A few minutes later, his delightful wife Eileen comes in and declares, “You have the most amazing brother!” Not something I normally hear. It turns out Neil is the Mumy’s banker out west and they think he’s not only good with their money but a nice guy, too.
From 5 until 8, all the signatory guests were lined up at tables and one by one, fans clutching actor-specific tickets snaked by Peter’s table and got their autographs. Along the way, Peter sold books, scripts, signed stuff and we chatted during the lulls. I saw folk from other shows and it was nice to be recognized, even if I was there in stealth mode.
Finally, every last fan got their stuff signed and then everyone went to freshen up for the banquet. All the guests were scattered around the room so most every table had someone present. With Kathleen under the weather, I attended as Peter’s guest. Our table chatted about movies, Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Love, the relative merits of Ben Affleck’s acting, and so on.
Finally, around 10 came the cabaret. A holdover from Wishcon, the cabaret was a chance for those guests wishing to show off, got the stage. (My all time favorite memory was Armin Shimmerman and Robert O’Reilly more or less performing dueling Shakespeare as they quoted favorite soliloquies from memory.) Peter kicked things off with a reading from the first chapter of his novel, Tigerheart, which will be out next June and will be a must-have. The room was spellbound. Even Torri Higginson stopped from leaving the room and stood in the back, listening to every word. Peter is a natural performer and the reading was certainly part-performance. But his pastiche of James Barrie was a delight.
Wendy Padbury went next and did a reading from a 500 Year Old Diary she found with wistful and humorous annotations from her time travelling with the Doctor as his companion, Zoe.
The final half-hour was Bill Mumy Unplugged, as he played an acoustic set of songs from his various recordings. His borrowed guitar sounded fine and I was most impressed by his playing. With several diehard Barnes & Barnes fans in the audience, he performed a number just for them. His encore was a sing-a-long as he sang his greatest hit, “Fish Heads”.
By then it was 11 so I was getting ready to leave. I did manage to have a nice, albeit brief chat with Battlestar Galactica’s adorable Nicki Clyne and then spent a little more time with Bill and Eileen. Then, finally, it was back on the road for a zippy ride home.
All in all, a wonderful break from the routine, a chance to see old pals, eat some good food and just hang out and relax at a con.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 05:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 01, 2007
Writing and Editing Update
Some times it’s hard to keep track of what I have done, what is in progress, and what is pending. The following is to help me as much as it is to show you guys what I’ve been up to.
Completed and Scheduled
You Said What?: Several essays, book due for publication on December 10, 2007.
Write Now! #17 : Peter David talks adapting The Dark Tower.
Back Issue #23: Guest editorial on the founding of the Suicide Squad; should be out in January.
Written and Scheduled
Tales of Zorro: Short story submitted to editor DATE; revisions requested October 31; awaiting feedback from editor on proposed modifications. Book scheduled for December release (yikes!).
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Slings & Arrows – A Weary Life: Delivered to editor, October 2, delivered from editor to Pocket Books October 24. Scheduled for downloading March 2008.
The Essential Batman Encyclopedia: Copyedited manuscript due this month, to be published June 10, 2008.
The Avenger: Short story delivered to Moonstone September 13; editor requested revisions October 22; revisions delivered October 29. Scheduled for publication June 15, 2008.
The Encyclopedia of Storytelling: J.R.R. Tolkien essay written, edited. Scheduled for publication June 2008.
Written and Unscheduled
Christina Aguilera: Manuscript delivered to the editor September 13, 2008.
Captain Midnight: Short story delivered to editor October 17.
Wonder Woman: Essay for BenBella; awaiting edits and publication date.
"Steel & Chrome" in Age of War: A Classic BattleTech Anthology: manuscript turned in to editor on December 1, 2005; on indefinite hold.
In the Works
How to Lose a War: Three essays due in March 2008.
”Things That Aren’t” sequel: Co-writer Michael A. Burstein is at work on the first draft.
Actionopolis book: Started writing, awaiting revised deal memo.
Media tie-in novel: Pitch finally read by editor; comments going back and forth.
Media tie-in book: Pitch to editor September 13, no response as yet.
Media tie-in book 2: Pitch to editor October 2, no response as yet.
Media tie-in book 3: Publisher interested, awaiting word from co-author as to sample chapter.
Media tie-in short story: Apparently rejected by licensee but with no explanation.
Media tie-in comic book: May be dead, too, can’t tell from publisher.
Additionally, I’ve been doing writing for a few websites but they prefer it be anonymous. I am grateful for the work and proud of it, but respect their wishes. I’ve also written some book jacket copy for Marvel which was a fun exercise.
Editorial Work
Write Now! #17: Pitching in to help editor Danny Fingeroth get this late issue completed. Been proofreading, copyediting, caption writing, nudging, the usual.
Not much else I can say here. I’m project managing three things for one outfit and doing editorial consulting with a European outfit.
I’m also this close to being able to talk about something I’ve been working on that may well be the next chapter in my life.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at 12:33 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack