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Oct. 7th, 2011
waiting in the morning
Oct. 7th, 2011 07:06 amThe cats were definitely hungry this morning: waiting eagerly on the patio as of the days of old.
At least that's true of Coco and Sammy. Ash of course is on Plan B, living the other side of her double-life.
I rather like having them waiting in the morning.
Maybe I'll compromise and leave out significantly reduced portions. Besdies, I suspect that the food has been going down slow because Ash hasn't been here eating it, save for the first bite.
At least that's true of Coco and Sammy. Ash of course is on Plan B, living the other side of her double-life.
I rather like having them waiting in the morning.
Maybe I'll compromise and leave out significantly reduced portions. Besdies, I suspect that the food has been going down slow because Ash hasn't been here eating it, save for the first bite.
those new pants
Oct. 7th, 2011 11:55 amBefore Pop heads out, and as I am starting my chili, Pop gets me into some doings about those new pants from that Asia widow. I had completely forgotten about them, and now he is going to have them fixed. We have to have a little ordeal about how to size them. In the end, I give him one of the pants that I have been wearing on my library trips, and he is going to have the woman match them.
He wants to credit me with a greater size, and I have to admit to having a very short leg.
I think I asked for a better pair of pants that may have been on offer, and that he is cheating me again, playing the big and shrewed man against his dependent son. But it could just be my paranoiac imagination.
He wants to credit me with a greater size, and I have to admit to having a very short leg.
I think I asked for a better pair of pants that may have been on offer, and that he is cheating me again, playing the big and shrewed man against his dependent son. But it could just be my paranoiac imagination.
Harry Shearer's Statement
Oct. 7th, 2011 12:52 pmFor many years now, the cast of "The Simpsons" has been trying to get Fox to agree that, like so many other people who've contributed significantly to the show's success, we be allowed a tiny share of the billions of dollars in profits the show has earned. Fox has consistently refused to even consider the matter. Instead, it's paid us salaries that, while ridiculous by any normal standard, pale in comparison to what the show's profit participants have been taking home.
Now, as the show enters its twenty-third season, we are engaged in what will probably be our last contract negotiation with Fox. As you may have heard, the network has taken the position that "The Simpsons" no longer makes enough money and that unless we in the cast accept a 45% pay cut, they are not going to bring the show back for a twenty-fourth season.
Obviously, there are a lot more important things going on in the world right now, in the streets of New York and elsewhere. But given how many people seem to care about what happens to our show – and how much misinformation has been flying around – I thought it might make sense for at least one member of the cast to speak out directly. I should note that I am speaking only for myself, and not for any of the other actors on the show.
Fox wants to cut our salaries in half because it says it can't afford to continue making the show under what it calls the existing business model. Fox hasn't explained what kind of new business model it has formulated to keep the show on the air, but clearly the less money they have to pay us in salary, the more they're able to afford to continue broadcasting the show. And to this I say, fine – if pay cuts are what it will take to keep the show on the air, then cut my pay. In fact, to make it as easy as possible for Fox to keep new episodes of "The Simpsons" coming, I'm willing to let them cut my salary not just 45% but more than 70% – down to half of what they said they would be willing to pay us. All I would ask in return is that I be allowed a small share of the eventual profits.
My representatives broached this idea to Fox yesterday, asking the network how low a salary number I would have to accept to make a profit participation feasible. My representatives were told there was no such number. There were, the Fox people said, simply no circumstances under which the network would consider allowing me or any of the actors to share in the show's success.
As a member of the "Simpsons" cast for 23 years, I think it's fair to say that we've had a great run and no one should feel sorry for any of us. But given how much joy the show has given so many people over the years – and given how many billions of dollars in profits News Corp. has earned and will earn from it – I find it hard to believe that this is Fox's final word on the subject. At least I certainly hope it isn't, because the alternative is to cancel the show or fire me for having the gall to try to save the show by helping Fox with its new business model. Neither would be a fair result – either to those of us who have committed so many years to the show or to its loyal fans who make our effort worthwhile.
-- Harry Shearer
Now, as the show enters its twenty-third season, we are engaged in what will probably be our last contract negotiation with Fox. As you may have heard, the network has taken the position that "The Simpsons" no longer makes enough money and that unless we in the cast accept a 45% pay cut, they are not going to bring the show back for a twenty-fourth season.
Obviously, there are a lot more important things going on in the world right now, in the streets of New York and elsewhere. But given how many people seem to care about what happens to our show – and how much misinformation has been flying around – I thought it might make sense for at least one member of the cast to speak out directly. I should note that I am speaking only for myself, and not for any of the other actors on the show.
Fox wants to cut our salaries in half because it says it can't afford to continue making the show under what it calls the existing business model. Fox hasn't explained what kind of new business model it has formulated to keep the show on the air, but clearly the less money they have to pay us in salary, the more they're able to afford to continue broadcasting the show. And to this I say, fine – if pay cuts are what it will take to keep the show on the air, then cut my pay. In fact, to make it as easy as possible for Fox to keep new episodes of "The Simpsons" coming, I'm willing to let them cut my salary not just 45% but more than 70% – down to half of what they said they would be willing to pay us. All I would ask in return is that I be allowed a small share of the eventual profits.
My representatives broached this idea to Fox yesterday, asking the network how low a salary number I would have to accept to make a profit participation feasible. My representatives were told there was no such number. There were, the Fox people said, simply no circumstances under which the network would consider allowing me or any of the actors to share in the show's success.
As a member of the "Simpsons" cast for 23 years, I think it's fair to say that we've had a great run and no one should feel sorry for any of us. But given how much joy the show has given so many people over the years – and given how many billions of dollars in profits News Corp. has earned and will earn from it – I find it hard to believe that this is Fox's final word on the subject. At least I certainly hope it isn't, because the alternative is to cancel the show or fire me for having the gall to try to save the show by helping Fox with its new business model. Neither would be a fair result – either to those of us who have committed so many years to the show or to its loyal fans who make our effort worthwhile.
-- Harry Shearer
Hamlet (1,1) The Crowing of the Cock
Oct. 7th, 2011 04:58 pmThe ghost returns for one more swing through these frail mortal hearts. Horatio and friends are more emboldened this time, demanding speech, and then even striking at the ghost to compel it to give up its secrets, before it vanishes like an airy demon.
_ _ _
M:
‘Tis gone!
We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence,
For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
B:
It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
H:
And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the god of day, and at his warning,
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine. And of the truth herein
This present object made probation.
M:
It faded on the crowing of the cock.
Some say ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long,
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then, no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
-- Hamlet (1,1)
_ _ _
Dawn is now breaking forth, and Horatio advises that they relate this strange news to young Hamlet, reasoning that the ghostly father will surely speak to the living son. They are agreed that it is needful in their loves and fitting their duty.
_ _ _
M:
‘Tis gone!
We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence,
For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
B:
It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
H:
And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the god of day, and at his warning,
Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies
To his confine. And of the truth herein
This present object made probation.
M:
It faded on the crowing of the cock.
Some say ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long,
And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad,
The nights are wholesome, then, no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
-- Hamlet (1,1)
_ _ _
Dawn is now breaking forth, and Horatio advises that they relate this strange news to young Hamlet, reasoning that the ghostly father will surely speak to the living son. They are agreed that it is needful in their loves and fitting their duty.
seeing Coco staying inside
Oct. 7th, 2011 07:50 pmMy heart swelled at seeing Coco staying inside well into the evening, lying on the couch, though I wondered if this might be because she suffered a traumatic event out there, and I just wished she would stay in for good. However, with the end of the sun, the night calls on her soul, and she is out.
James Bond 23
Oct. 7th, 2011 09:35 pmThe new James Bond film is going into serious production. I doubt I will go to the trouble of seeing it on its theatrical release, but we are talking another whole year and change, and then another six months at least before the cable run. That's a long time in the future for me.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )