Happy New Year

There is so much to say about what was 2007, and about what 2008 is capable of being. But what it boils down to is that 2007 was big, and 2008 is expected to be bigger. I just don't have any kind of best of list other than there were plenty of things that I enjoyed, and had plenty of family, friends, and acquaintances to enjoy all the good times with. I have a New Year's ("Substance") Potluck Party to get to, so let's leave things at that. And hope all of you reading this had a good 2007, and an even better 2008. And be safe in all your New Year's Celebrations.

I have a lot, and I mean a helluva lot of photos that I gotta upload to myspace and flickr that date as far back as October. So hopefully, I'll get to post a Photo Parade blog entry by next week at the latest. Also, I wanna write a bit about a sorely missed television favorite: Arrested Development. All in due time, of course. Until then, and once again, Happy 2008 err-body!

Viral Marketing article

Don't have a lot of time to devote to this entry, but this bad boy deals with how the marketing for The Dark Knight and Cloverfield has gone down this year, and plus marketing a film in general. Dig it!

http://boxoffice.com/distribution/2007/12/viral-marketing-promotion.php

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Yeah, folksies, have a good and Merry Dec. 25th. This day otherwise known as Christmas. Be safe and be well, eat some grub, and make sure you remember to not forget to bring your gift receipts when you go back to the mall tomorrow.

Life is Happening

So yeah, I've running around both San Francisco, San Jose, and in between. Last Tuesday, I found out my friend Q.A. and her roommates were having a potluck party in Daly City, and because, I hadn't seen her, James, and a couple of other friends in that circle of SF/Daly City friends. Although I had to get someone to cover my Friday night closing shift. Lucky enough, I found someone who had a morning shift that same day to switch with. But that also meant that I had to open the store Friday morning after helping close the store on Thursday night.

Ho-Boy.

But it's not like I hadn't done something like that before, and it was a necessary evil. So I drove up to DC, and hung out with James, Q.A., and the gang. James' roommate, Bill, questioned my man-hood each time I didn't down whatever drink I had in my hand... I got a damn good drunkedness Friday night. I kept going on and on about my 100 & 150 Font roommates, and how much I missed my Wednesdays. My drunkedness even spread onto Twitter, where I texted in that not only do I miss my roommates, but also my potlucks and general hanger-outing with my fellow City Kids. Yeah, lately I've been lamenting just how much I miss living in San Francisco.

Anyway, I crashed at James' place that night, and Saturday morning we had breakfast at IHOP. It really hit the spot, and then went to the Metreon and watched The Dark Knight prologue and I Am Legend on IMAX. AS expected, the TDK prologue was so very the awesome, and I Am Legend was better than I had been expecting.

When I had gotten back to San Jose later Saturday night, it was for Frances' two younger kids birthday party: Julian (9yrs) and Alexis'(4yrs).

My pregnant sister, Frances, told those of us still at the house at the later stages of the party, that she felt she'd be giving birth any day now... she gave birth less than 24 hours later. I'll post photos of the newest member of the Fernandez brood soon. My sister and brother in-law have four kids: three of them with birthdays in December, and within four days of each other. Tristan is the only one not in December. Shit, she's gonna be 14 next year. Damn, I'm feeling old.

Anyway, I went back to SF on Sunday to join in on the WGA's protest in Union Square. I was there from about noon to three. As I was getting more fliers from the Strike Captain's car on Post St., I coulda sworn I saw Mindy walk by down the cross street, Powell. I shouted to try to get her attention, but I guess she was out of ear-shot. Met and chatted with some a few writers, got about a handful of cars to honk their horns, and froze my tookiss off, and by the end my feet were ice cold. But I felt good about what I did Sunday. And I swear, the short cat-nap I took on BART on the way back to Daly City from downtown after the protest, was the best cat-nap the earth has ever known.

Yesterday, I helped open up the bookstore, and today I'm goin back to SF with my brother, Patrick as he's taking an insurance license exam. I'm goin because I don't have anything better to do. Oh, shopping, and maybe watch Juno while I'm up there.

Hopefully, I'll have something very cool to plug in the next week or so.

Writer's Strike & the Strike-Fro

From the Cabal.
Many of the members in the WGA have grown out Strike-beards, and I will, in a show solidarity, do the same. Except, that I'm gonna grow out the hair on the top of my head. I can't grow a mustache and/or beard very well, or barely at all, but even still, I won't be shaving or cutting my hair until this writer's strike is done. I'm prepared for the unkempt-ness of having a fro again, and the horrible similarities to a bad high school teenager growing out facial hair for the first time.

Anyway, here's a work that I had written something like two or three weeks back, and I wasn't initially intending to publish it. Or at least not here. I'm sure that it's okay that I'm posting it here. Hopefully, I'll have some news on some writing projects I've got cookin. Which is a fact that tis very cool in of itself. But yeah, what's below sums up what I feel about the strike.

Writing and weaving a story is art. It is also a job. Writing is a job the same way an accountant maintains the books, or an auto mechanic fixes cars. The main objective for a writer – of any medium – is to tell as a good a story as possible. But where writing differs from all other professions is in the same way in which not two people share the same fingerprint. For a writer, or group of writers, to be able to tell a story and capture the imagination of an audience requires enough discipline to sit down and somehow conform their ideas into an understandable structure. It can be a very difficult process. But in the end, I’m sure that most all writers relish the challenge of tackling something so difficult. Successful writers wouldn’t be as good as they are if they don’t look forward to that challenge. But what the writers of the Writers Guild of America haven’t looked forward to is this strike. Yet, it is something very necessary.

Producing a television show or film is a very collaborative process, and the role of the writer is a very important one as he or she helps to jump–start that collaborative process. However, despite holding that extremely pivotal position in a production, writers feel they are not fairly compensated for the residuals for their work distributed via the Internet. This work stoppage affects writers, directors, producers, actors, grips, best boys, craft services, make-up, casting, and so many more. In fact, it feels as if everyone is affected. Fortunately, most crew members above and below the line are supporting the WGA and the strike. But what is unfortunate is that most crew members below the line, that live from paycheck to pay check, are out of work. The situation is what it is, and nobody in the industry is immune. It is also a situation in which there really isn’t anyone at fault. To square blame on a particular group of people will accomplish nothing in this strike.

Studios and networks are currently not paying nearly enough residuals to the creative types responsible for producing the works that they, the studios and networks, distribute via the Internet. Soon negotiations for the other guilds will come up, and undoubtedly, one of the major sticking points will also be about the Internet. At that time, those guilds will do what they feel they must do. But now, it is the WGA’s time to act upon what they feel is necessary for the betterment of their guild. That is their job right now. That is their objective right now, and like so many others that have voiced their support for the strike, the WGA also has mine.