Had lunch with Coach Katie yesterday. We talked of many things, including running. Katie felt I'd lost all sense of joy when it came to this sport of ours. Very true. Most of 2007 was spent training, being injured, and training again. So tomorrow I set out on a five-mile run without my watch. I'll run, finish whenever, and just chill. Mid-January I'll train again.
Next stop: May 4, 2008 - the Eugene Marathon! (That's Eugene, Oregon, a city that is to running what South Bend, Indiana is to college football.)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Blast From My Improv Past
In the early 80s I performed improvisational comedy with a group called the L.A. Connection. Our cast worked Friday nights. Afterwards, we'd buy a lot of beer, head over to someone's apartment and wait for SCTV to air at 12:30 AM. When it came to parody, they lived in the zone. Here's an old favorite starring Martin Short.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy T-Day!
A brisk run, writing, some phone calls to friends and family then off to the in-laws for chow and the Southern Cal game.
At some point this weekend, my darling wife and I will sit down to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Starring Steve Martin and John Candy, this film is our Thanksgiving favorite. Released in 1987, "Planes" celebrates its 20th birthday. Next year, it can buy liquor.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Strike Talks and Writing
WGA and Producer's Guild talks resume next Monday. Talent agents did a little back-channel negotiating and got things moving. We shall see.
Going from poi to Pai Gow poker, running partner Ernesto prepares for the Las Vegas Marathon now a mere two weeks away. This will be his first 26-miler since Honolulu last year.
Writing like a frenzied fellow on the second draft of my book, Dummy Fever.
An animated series I worked on this summer has begun airing. I haven't seen an episode yet, so I won't link. But the story editor told me most of the show's humor has been culled out to make way for a lengthy didactic message on proper behaviour for kids.
Just writing that caused me to slip into rem.
Going from poi to Pai Gow poker, running partner Ernesto prepares for the Las Vegas Marathon now a mere two weeks away. This will be his first 26-miler since Honolulu last year.
Writing like a frenzied fellow on the second draft of my book, Dummy Fever.
An animated series I worked on this summer has begun airing. I haven't seen an episode yet, so I won't link. But the story editor told me most of the show's humor has been culled out to make way for a lengthy didactic message on proper behaviour for kids.
Just writing that caused me to slip into rem.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Writers Fight for Cyber Gold
Cutting writers in on internet revenue is a key component of the strike. The producers maintain they aren't making any money off the Web. Thanks to Little Miss Attila for this link showing what studio heads really think.
Another Blorthday
Number two, to be exact, since I started Write Enough. Somewhere I discovered a ranking system measuring blog traffic. I am the 59,000th most popular blog in the world.
From a practical standpoint, knowing my writing could be read by anywhere from 6 to 17 people a day does improve my prose.
Or at least compresses it.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Happy B-Day, USMC!
Friday, November 09, 2007
Craig's List Strike Nuggets
A guy this morning offered to picket in exchange for an introduction to an agent. (I think the post has since been taken down.)
Then there's this fellow.
(The above post has been taken down. But it said: "I Am A Scab!" The author then described himself as an "amazing writer"ready to work now and that the strikers were all "has-beens." I think it was put up by Les Moonves.)
Then there's this fellow.
(The above post has been taken down. But it said: "I Am A Scab!" The author then described himself as an "amazing writer"ready to work now and that the strikers were all "has-beens." I think it was put up by Les Moonves.)
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Big Darn Writer's Strike
Nikke Finke's sources say that if this dispute isn't settled by December, there could be six more months of strike-filled fun. Find out the latest at Deadline Hollywood Daily.
A friend of mine is an editor at Universal. His union local (I.A.T.S.E. or the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts [It goes on.]) has a no-strike clause in their contract. That means they can't walk out in sympathy. Nevertheless, he honks his horn and patiently endures the strikers' "slow walk" in front of his car as he leaves work.
Oddly enough, I also belong to I.A.T.S.E. and would hazard a guess that animation writing falls under the heading of "allied crafts." Long ago, they represented animation artists when artists and directors worked out the action on storyboards. There were a few "gag writers" such as Michael Maltese who came up with story ideas, but for a 6-minute theatrical short, you didn't need a script.
By the time I started full-time at Warner Bros. (1992), there were 65 half-hours to produce and the clock was ticking. Writers wrote scripts that were story boarded, inked, painted and animated. But we remained in I.A.T.S.E. In the mid-90s there was a push by the Writer's Guild to represent us. But our I.A.T.S.E. local must first release us from their jurisdiction. At a meeting I attended, a local official stated the national union wasn't interested in letting us join WGA. Furthermore, the local would side with the studios if that were necessary to block our transfer.
Some union. But they had pretty good health coverage that my wife and I dearly miss. Health coverage is based on the amount of hours you work on union jobs in a six month period. Alas, I haven't worked many. Over the last few years I've burned through my COBRA and now pay a hefty fee for mediocre coverage.
In any case, I don't know what happened between WGA and I.A.T.S.E., but, as I mentioned earlier, it's nice to be remembered.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
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John P. McCann Sizzle Page
'Twas suggested I post a few episodes of my work in a pleasant spot. I've chosen here. Sadly, not everything I've written has y...
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Twice in the last eight years I've run the Santa Clarita 5k on Independence Day. Back in 2007 it was sizzling hot. Three years late...
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More memories from the boxes . Here's my life at Warner Bros. that year. Cleaned up my office after the Northridge earthquake rearranged...