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Oct. 19th, 2007 10:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell, this week's Entertainment Weekly had three nifty little gems.
1. The Buffy Sing A Long was shut down by Fox because "SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) caught wind that McClung (the producer) was charging admission - and present 20th Century Fox Television with a six-figure bill for residuals that it said the series' cast was owed." LOL! See guys its not those annoying writers, directors and producers faults this time around, it's the actors. Who knew? Not that you're going to get anywhere by pestering James Marsters and crew about it. SAG sort of operates on its lonesome, it's a union that's what union's do-defend their members interests whether they like or not. Dirty little secret that I learned from a set design guy a couple of years back - repertory theater in LA is close to impossible to make money at and can't ever be as good as NYC, because of SAG. There's a really weird union clause that states actors under contract to tv or movies in LA can't do theater without being paid a certain amount and since no theater can afford that - they have small theaters out there and act like it is amateur theater hour. (Not sure I put that right, the guy's description boggled my mind and it was about six years back.) Same deal with indie films - Amber Benson couldn't get a distributor or sell her film Chase - without paying the actors in the film a certain amount - which would have bankrupt her. Not the actors fault - it's union rules. At any rate - Fox had allowed it because they thought no one was charging admission, the moment someone started to charge admission - things got dicey. (This is what I keep telling people online about fanfic and fanart - as long as you do not try to sell it or charge anything for it - you are fine! The moment you try to sell it - curtains!) So in short you can still do Buffy Sing A Long's you just can't charge any money for them.
2.Erica Jong's quote regarding Doris Lessing getting the Nobel Prize for Literature: " I heard rumors they'd been looking at Philip Roth for this prize, and I was so relieved we didn't have to see a Nobel for his paeans to his penis." LOL! (You may have to be NOT a fan of Philip Roth to appreciate that...I'm really not - find him unreadable.)
3. And...this nifty little surprise - in a small box highlighting what is new in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Catherynne M Valente (who has a blog on lj) - recent novel The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice is highlighted. (Although not sure I'd call it a novel so much as a short story anthology by the description.) Here's the description: "A complex, engaging collection of fantastical "Orphan's Tales" - featuring manticores, dijinn, and girls made of tea leaves and twigs - that stack up like Russian nesting dolls. For Fans of: Smart, surrealist fairy tales steeped in ARBIAN NIGHTS lore and gnarled fables of Hans Christian Anderson. Lowdown - The dense imagery and heavy use of metaphor can overwhelm, but the overall effect is intoxicating. - B+" - review by Adrienne Day. Now that is what I call a well written capsul review - tells me just enough about the book to intrigue, and just enough to let me know if I'll like it without putting down anyone who will like it or won't for that matter.
Other bits from mags - worth noting - this one from a business trade journal I've been reading:
When dealing with a personal set-back, whether it be the loss of a loved one (such as child, spouse, friend, parent, etc), a job, or a home....
Here are three key predictors of success:
1. Optimism or an underlying faith that life is good, even though it includes tragedy
2. A level of development that allows one to always choose his or her response to a situation; and
3. Fortitude ( a downright stubbornness that prevents quitting when things get tough).
"Simply put, when you are down, you must change your attitude about 'being out'. Develop a feeling of acceptance rather than an aversion to problems. According to psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross,
- the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
"As a culture we tend to run from setbacks before we have from them and thus tend to repeat the behaviors that may have contributed to the out-come....
Once we experience and learn from the ending, we can then explore all the possibilities that exist between the ending of the old situation and the beginning of the new. "This is a very creative, albeit scary time full of new possibilities."
[Then the article discusses a woman who lost her first born child - she notes: "Grace's death force me to look at every loss I had experienced. To avoid doing so means living life in a lower dimension by numbing ourselves mentally." She became aware that society does not teach the life skill of triumphing over tragedy. She learned that grief can be delayed but not denied. "A real test of character is how we draw meaning from what seems cruel and meaningless." [ As an aside, I have a lot of problems equating the loss of a child with the loss of a job. One can replace a job - it may be difficult but it can be done, one cannot replace a child. Losing a person is a gut-wrenching type of grief that one never quite gets over and will always stay with you and you'll find aching at the oddest times. Granted that can be said about losing jobs too, but not to the same degree. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing animals to vegetables in my opinion. But I do like how she handled it - by creating a grief cancelling workshop.]
Resilience is defined as "the ability to decide that no matter what happens to you, you're going to learn from it. Resilient people accept responsibility for their lives and their choices and they understand what's gone wrong, so they can fix it." - From an article on professional development by Kathy Simmons, in Contract Management Magazine.
[Am putting this here for myself not anyone else. Since I sort of need to focus my mind on that right now. What lies before me, what I think I have to do feels at this moment a bit like I'm staring up at Mount Everest after having fallen off Pikes Peak. But I'm working very hard at ignoring that feeling and not giving in to my old escape/coping mechanisms - ie. no BTVS video marathons, no retreats into porny fanfic, and no lengthy essays on tv shows posted to my lj or discussion boards, and well other things which I won't mention.]
1. The Buffy Sing A Long was shut down by Fox because "SAG (the Screen Actors Guild) caught wind that McClung (the producer) was charging admission - and present 20th Century Fox Television with a six-figure bill for residuals that it said the series' cast was owed." LOL! See guys its not those annoying writers, directors and producers faults this time around, it's the actors. Who knew? Not that you're going to get anywhere by pestering James Marsters and crew about it. SAG sort of operates on its lonesome, it's a union that's what union's do-defend their members interests whether they like or not. Dirty little secret that I learned from a set design guy a couple of years back - repertory theater in LA is close to impossible to make money at and can't ever be as good as NYC, because of SAG. There's a really weird union clause that states actors under contract to tv or movies in LA can't do theater without being paid a certain amount and since no theater can afford that - they have small theaters out there and act like it is amateur theater hour. (Not sure I put that right, the guy's description boggled my mind and it was about six years back.) Same deal with indie films - Amber Benson couldn't get a distributor or sell her film Chase - without paying the actors in the film a certain amount - which would have bankrupt her. Not the actors fault - it's union rules. At any rate - Fox had allowed it because they thought no one was charging admission, the moment someone started to charge admission - things got dicey. (This is what I keep telling people online about fanfic and fanart - as long as you do not try to sell it or charge anything for it - you are fine! The moment you try to sell it - curtains!) So in short you can still do Buffy Sing A Long's you just can't charge any money for them.
2.Erica Jong's quote regarding Doris Lessing getting the Nobel Prize for Literature: " I heard rumors they'd been looking at Philip Roth for this prize, and I was so relieved we didn't have to see a Nobel for his paeans to his penis." LOL! (You may have to be NOT a fan of Philip Roth to appreciate that...I'm really not - find him unreadable.)
3. And...this nifty little surprise - in a small box highlighting what is new in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Catherynne M Valente (who has a blog on lj) - recent novel The Orphan's Tales: In the Cities of Coin and Spice is highlighted. (Although not sure I'd call it a novel so much as a short story anthology by the description.) Here's the description: "A complex, engaging collection of fantastical "Orphan's Tales" - featuring manticores, dijinn, and girls made of tea leaves and twigs - that stack up like Russian nesting dolls. For Fans of: Smart, surrealist fairy tales steeped in ARBIAN NIGHTS lore and gnarled fables of Hans Christian Anderson. Lowdown - The dense imagery and heavy use of metaphor can overwhelm, but the overall effect is intoxicating. - B+" - review by Adrienne Day. Now that is what I call a well written capsul review - tells me just enough about the book to intrigue, and just enough to let me know if I'll like it without putting down anyone who will like it or won't for that matter.
Other bits from mags - worth noting - this one from a business trade journal I've been reading:
When dealing with a personal set-back, whether it be the loss of a loved one (such as child, spouse, friend, parent, etc), a job, or a home....
Here are three key predictors of success:
1. Optimism or an underlying faith that life is good, even though it includes tragedy
2. A level of development that allows one to always choose his or her response to a situation; and
3. Fortitude ( a downright stubbornness that prevents quitting when things get tough).
"Simply put, when you are down, you must change your attitude about 'being out'. Develop a feeling of acceptance rather than an aversion to problems. According to psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross,
- the most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen."
"As a culture we tend to run from setbacks before we have from them and thus tend to repeat the behaviors that may have contributed to the out-come....
Once we experience and learn from the ending, we can then explore all the possibilities that exist between the ending of the old situation and the beginning of the new. "This is a very creative, albeit scary time full of new possibilities."
[Then the article discusses a woman who lost her first born child - she notes: "Grace's death force me to look at every loss I had experienced. To avoid doing so means living life in a lower dimension by numbing ourselves mentally." She became aware that society does not teach the life skill of triumphing over tragedy. She learned that grief can be delayed but not denied. "A real test of character is how we draw meaning from what seems cruel and meaningless." [ As an aside, I have a lot of problems equating the loss of a child with the loss of a job. One can replace a job - it may be difficult but it can be done, one cannot replace a child. Losing a person is a gut-wrenching type of grief that one never quite gets over and will always stay with you and you'll find aching at the oddest times. Granted that can be said about losing jobs too, but not to the same degree. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing animals to vegetables in my opinion. But I do like how she handled it - by creating a grief cancelling workshop.]
Resilience is defined as "the ability to decide that no matter what happens to you, you're going to learn from it. Resilient people accept responsibility for their lives and their choices and they understand what's gone wrong, so they can fix it." - From an article on professional development by Kathy Simmons, in Contract Management Magazine.
[Am putting this here for myself not anyone else. Since I sort of need to focus my mind on that right now. What lies before me, what I think I have to do feels at this moment a bit like I'm staring up at Mount Everest after having fallen off Pikes Peak. But I'm working very hard at ignoring that feeling and not giving in to my old escape/coping mechanisms - ie. no BTVS video marathons, no retreats into porny fanfic, and no lengthy essays on tv shows posted to my lj or discussion boards, and well other things which I won't mention.]
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Date: 2007-10-20 03:51 pm (UTC)And thanks for the response.
Struggling to understand it myself. What I keep telling myself is everyone handles pain and grief differently and how we handle it teachs us something about ourselves. I don't know.