Grown Ups Talking

Some time during high school, a literature teacher had my class read Shelley’s sonnet Ozymandias. I was all ready thinking about being a writer, so the poem hit home.

In the poem, a traveler happens upon the ruins of long-gone empires. That is, crumbled statues and structures, once erected to immortalize deeds and men, have been reduced to a heap of rubble, a testimony to man’s hubris. What did survive the centuries, however, were the words. The words carved into the cracked bases of the broken pieces.

I always remembered that. Words last.

That’s what I was thinking about when I read that it’s been 35 days since the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (the media conglomerates) walked away from the collective bargaining table, turning their backs on the Writers Guild of America, and leaving news, entertainment, and reality shows without words.

Many issues are being slung about, but the most compelling is the accounting for, and collection of, residual payments for writers from Internet and mobile device use. With new technology comes new business models, but the producers don’t seem to want to step into the 21st Century (after all, the moniker is 20th Century Fox.)

As explained by actor/writer Eric Bogosian in Nikki Finke’s blog, the Internet and other new media channels allows everyone – including writers – to count how many times their work is accessed. It’s transparent. That means studios and producers can’t game the accounting system, and fudge the numbers. A chronic complaint of writers.

I have no crystal ball or any insight, for that matter, into how long the writers’ strike will continue. But the way I read it, since words and ideas are the only thing that really lasts, the writers will eventually have the last word. They always do. – Chianti

The fresh start that the new year promises always feels good. Like climbing into a bed that has freshly washed sheets, or clearing your desk of 2007 paperwork, or cleaning out your purse after the holidays – eliminating about 50 pounds worth of expired coupons, candy wrappers, receipts and notes to myself.

The candidates for the U.S. presidency get to make a fresh start too, because it is finally here: The election year. Now they can really start campaigning.

My election year resolution is to point out political urban myths. Such as Democrats are bad for business. A silly notion cooked up by conservatives who were pissed off that five-term Republican Senator Barry Goldwater lost his bid for the presidency to Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

Sp here’s something to chew over as the fight for the White House heats up: Despite the Republicans pro-business image, the economy tends to perform better under Democratic presidents. For instance, according to a 2000 study that examined U.S. economic health over the past 40 years, the nation’s gross domestic product grew at an average annual rate of 4.1 percent under Democratic presidents, compared to a 2.9 percent rate under Republicans. Unemployment rates under Democratic presidents averaged 5.3 percent, while it was 6.6 percent under Republicans. Inflation rates during Democratic administrations averaged 3.8 percent, but 5.4 percent under their Republican counterparts. This list of economic indicators goes on. (By the way, the study was conducted by the Joint Economic Committee’s Democratic staff).

Sure, statistics can always be manipulated, but my guess is that Cowboy Bush’s economic numbers will be so very bad, that it will skew the JEC’s next report so much in the Democrats favor, that the MBA President will be redubbed, the YOY President, as in, “Why oh why” did you let this guy near the Oval Office. – Chianti

I, like Pomerol, am a lapsed Catholic who also enjoys a good Christmas mass, especially the caroling. Unlike my friend, however, I cannot make it through midnight mass because I am usually overtaken by waves of sleepiness at least two hours before the clock strikes twelve. So I do my massing in the evening, around 6:00 p.m., and then head out for Chinese food with any number of available family members.

I have no idea why a bunch of Italians, and non-Italians that married into the family, spend Christmas Eve dinner at the New York Times rated (as the banner proclaims) New China Inn. But we do, and find it delightful.

Another tradition that I like, but don’t celebrate, is Boxing Day. It is primarily a British holiday, also celebrated by other Commonwealth nations. It involves, among other things, taking the day after Christmas to give goods, gifts, time, or energy to those less fortunate – and to spend the day snacking on Christmas leftovers. The tradition has evolved over the past 600 or 700 years from a serf’s holiday to a day to sleep-in after a full day of Christmas cheer.

Way back when, Kings and other landowners would box up items or coins to present to serfs and servants who worked on Christmas day. Some say the tradition led to the modern day Christmas bonus – a wonderful tradition, indeed.

In Canada, the holiday has turned into something of a “super sale” day, in which retailers try to lure bargain hunting shoppers with “Boxing Day” discounts the way American retailers try to snag spenders with President’s Day and Memorial Day sales.

Call me old fashion, but I like the medieval sentiment (except for the whole serf, upstairs/downstairs, and eating freshly killed game with your hands thing.) In my house, after all the kids and parents and grandparents have undone all the packages and sit amid a pile of shiny, torn paper munching on cannolis, we always thank which ever God we are feeling close to at the time for allowing us to be one of the fortunate ones – we have our health, our family, our sense of humor, a full table, warm home, and enough disposable income to treat ourselves.

It seems Boxing Day is a holiday I should take up, if for no other reason than to count my blessings while cleaning out the icebox with friends and family. – Chianti