Bent Corner

It’s right at the beginning of this riveting interview and it’s hard to tell because she’s kind of mumbling.

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Former American Idol season two runner-up Clay Aiken wants the world to know that he is gay.  Not that anyone didn’t already know this bit of information.  What’s next, will American Idol season two winner Rubin Studdard announce that he is fat and black?

I don’t think so.

Aiken is to appear on the cover of People magazine with his newborn son along with the caption “YES I AM A GAY-AMERICAN SO DEAL WITH IT YOU ASSHOLES” or something like that.

I say good for him.  I think people hiding who they are is just silly.  Not that I don’t understand why they feel the need to do it. Hating on people because their gay is one of the very last refuges for small minded people that are predisposed to ugly prejudices.

This doesn’t change anything.  I’m sure that anyone who considered themselves a Clay Aiken fan before this announcement will go on being a Clay Aiken fan.

Nine Inch Nails is giving away their new song Discipline.  All you have to do is go to this website and enter your email address along with your zip code and through the magic of the Internets, they will email you a special code that you can enter to download an MP3 of the song.

Free is good.  Long live free!

American Idol contestant David Hernandez is trying to entertain audiences with his singing. It seems he has some experience entertaining audiences, just not with his voice. The Associated Press is reporting that he once entertained audiences by removing his clothes. So says manager Gordy Bryan of Dick’s Cabaret, a male strip club in Phoenix. According to Bryn, the the 24-year-old finalist appeared fully nude and even performed lap dances for the club’s “mostly male” clientele.

According to Bryan, David Hernandez was pretty good at being a gay stripper. Bryan said, “He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here.”

I guess if you are going to be a gay stripper, you had better be good at it, especially if you are dancing at Dick’s Cabaret.

I’m not sure how this will effect his position on American Idol. I think they’ve kicked people off the show for less. Then again, it’s not like he did anything illegal.

The rank and file members of the Writers Guild of America still have to vote, but it appears the 14 week writers strike is almost over. From the Washington Post article:

The most immediate beneficiaries of a settlement could be the thousands of production workers — grips, caterers, camera operators, makeup artists — who were thrown out of work when the writers struck. Although movie production mostly continued during the strike, TV shows on both coasts quickly came to a halt when the strike began Nov. 5.

This has been precisely my contention from the very beginning; This strike was highly damaging to a vast amount of people that work behind the scenes on TV shows. People that never stood to gain a single penny from Internet residuals.

Also from the Washington Post article:

On the key issue of compensation for work streamed over the Internet, both sides gave a little. The studios and their network allies originally asked the guild for time to study the issue and declined to offer any residuals for digital media when talks broke off in early December. The guild, in turn, held fast, arguing that writers had to share in the profits of what may become the preeminent way to view filmed entertainment.

But the writers never wanted to share in the profits. The writers have always insisted that they be paid whether their work generates a profit or not. Their cut has always come from the gross, not the net.

“Tonight Show” host Jay Leno may face discipline from the Writers Guild of America for writing his own monologue. Leno is a member of the WGA. What this discipline may be is unknown. Will they make him do push ups? A couple of months ago he passed out donuts to writers walking the picket line. As fate would have it, there happened to be reporters there who were able to capture the act on video. I’m sure Leno had no idea that reporters would be on the scene and that his good deed would be observed by so many.

Yeah, right.

I thought this strike was stupid two months ago. I haven’t see anything since that makes me think I was wrong. The writers want more money. I get that. The problem is that every day this strike goes on, they are losing money. They will reach a point in this strike where they will have lost more money during the strike then they can ever hope to make with any increase they get as a result of the strike.

That’s assuming they haven’t already reached that point.

Back to Jay Leno. He may face some sort of penalty from the WGA, but his show appears to be winning the late night battle. David Letterman returned to the “Late Show with David Letterman” with his WGA writers. The first night back, Leno’s show got a 5.3 rating and a 12 audience share in the 55 largest U.S. television markets. Letterman’s show scored a 4.3 rating and a 10 share.

Maybe Lettermen would have got better ratings if he went without WGA writers.

Somehow Lettermen was able to secure a private deal with the WGA. Why can’t the other shows do this too? There are only a few shows I actually care about ever seeing again. The rest can go rot as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve getting into English Premiere League football (soccer) and I read that CBS is bringing back Big Brother.  Who needs scripted entertainment?

The Daily Show and The Colbert Report look to be returning with new episodes after the first of the year. From the LA Times:

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert joined their late-night comrades Thursday in announcing that they would reluctantly return to the air next month without their writers.

After a previously scheduled two-week hiatus, “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” and “The Colbert Report” will resume production Jan. 7, Comedy Central said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon.

Stewert and Colbert are members of the WGA. Both of them will in effect be writing their own material for the respective shows. Doesn’t this mean that they are scabs? It certainly seems that way to me. They as members of the WGA will go on to enjoy any advancements the WGA secures as a result of this strike. It just seems unethical for them to cross the picket line now and go back to making new episodes.

I’m not going to pretend that I agree with this strike. I think most of what they are fighting for is silly and not important. With that said, if you are a member of the WGA, you ought to respect your own union and your fellow union members. You ought to be respecting your own strike.

As far as I can tell, both Stewart and Colbert are scabs.

Recently actors from the hit NBC television show Heroes picketed outside Universal Studios. Not the part that is a cheesy amusement park with the fake looking giant shark, but the part that is the actual movie studio. Someone from Comic Book Resources was on hand and was able to write about it.

Greg Grunberg, the actor that plays Parkman on Heroes said something interesting. This from the CBR article:

Grunberg characterized the AMPTP’s position on the issues “ridiculous.” “When a musician puts out a record that becomes a CD and then becomes an online digital download, they still make the same amount of money,” Grunberg said. “Why isn’t the same true for a writer?”

This is something I’ve heard said before. B.J. Novak, actor and writer for The Office said something quite similar in the YouTube video I linked to earlier.

It’s not true. The writers have been getting residuals on iTunes downloads all along. When the consumer pays for a download, the writers get their residual just like they would if the consumer paid for a DVD instead of a download.

I’m not sure if this misinformation is perpetrated on purpose or if it’s simply a case of the people involved not understanding the specifics. Most people that read about the strike or watch YouTube videos about the strike know about iTunes. Most of them have probably purchased media from iTunes. I’m sure it resonates with these people when they hear that writers don’t get paid from iTunes downloads they have paid for.

That doesn’t make it true.

I like watching Judge Judy. I find it extremely entertaining. I find the whole process of two people going before a televised small claims court and arguing their case in front of millions of people entirely fascinating. Ironically, I get the feeling that many of the litigants going before Judge Judy have never bothered to watch the show.

That’s too bad.

I can not help but think that if they had simply watched a few episodes of Judge Judy, they may have learned things that would have helped them avoid a lot of grief and very public humiliation.

These things include:

1. Before you appear in Judge Judy’s court, you will be required to submit a written statement detailing your case. Much of what Judge Judy decides will be determined from your written statement. Make sure you do a good job on your written statement. Get someone who is smarter then you to help you with your written statement. Study your written statement before you appear on the show. Do not come into her courtroom and contradict your own written statement.
2. Um is not an answer. She hates it when when people preface an answer with um. Do not do it. It is preferable to have a few seconds of uncomfortable silence then for you to preface your answer with um.
3. Stand up straight and do not cross your arms. Do not lean on the table.
4. Look her in the eye when you speak to her. Do not look away or off to the side.
5. Do not raise your hand just because you think you have something to say. You will get your turn to speak.
6. If it appears you are winning the case, stop talking. Do not interrupt Judge Judy to add anything while she is questioning the other litigant.
7. Answer simple questions with either Yes or No, or preferably Yes your Honor or No your Honor.
8. If you have evidence to present to Judge Judy, do not attempt to approach the bench and physically hand it to her. Officer Petri Byrd (the bailiff) will stop working on his crossword puzzle and come to you to gather your evidence and present it to her. Under no circumstances should you leave your table and approach Judge Judy.
9. Do not tell her something someone who is not in the courtroom supposedly said. She will tell you that it is hearsay and she will not listen to hearsay. Judge Judy does not like hearsay. It does not matter how you try to reword it.
10. Dress for the show as if you were going on a job interview. The less skin showing, the better. Think about leaving any exposed body piercings at home.