Gelbart and Russnow: Be Skeptical of the Rumors and the Media

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.15.2008I have to admit, I completely suck when it comes to calling friends.It's not that I don't love them or want to talk to them, I just don't think to call them. I'm not trying to be rude or send a message or anything like that. I'm just clueless.

Yes, we are hearing the same rumors you're hearing. Repeat: rumors. And last time we all got too excited by such unsubstantiated expectations, well, you know.

So as you get your third email and/or phone call from the guy who knows somebody who talked to the woman who heard from a person "who knows people who know," take a deep breath and read Ray Richmond's column yesterday on The Huffington

The WGAw's general membership meeting will be held at the Shrine Auditoriumat at 7pm (NOT 6:30pm as we reported earlier) on Saturday night.

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As of Thursday afternoon, we are all still waiting on specific contract language. Lawyer and blogger Jonathan Handel has pulled together media reports of alleged WGA deal points on his Digital Media Law blog. But none of the rumors or media

The message boards were buzzing about this last week and I just couldn't bring myself to write about it. Then again, it's been a while since I've been able to bring myself to write about much of anything, but it's the new year, so what the hey.

Have you seen this circumspect ad for the VW Polo? The slogan says "Small but tough" and the creative "execution" (if that's what you want to call it

Mark Evanier has another excellent piece up at his blog, this time on the ever-thrilling rumor mill churning over WGA strike developments. http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2008_01_26.html#014706

As the media blackout continues, the only voices we hear are our own as we discuss the DGA deal, parsing it for nuances, looking for weaknesses and breakthroughs. On the picket line the work continues, as we keep our struggle in the public eye. Voices4Action! has been posting video interviews with our fellow members.

Steve Gaghan gives a clear-headed, no-nonsense view of the strike. Jordan

No weather report or reports of any kind today, since I'm under the weather and trying to recuperate. I suspect my comrades on the Barham gate soldiered on despite my infirmity, and with any luck I'll be back out with them for day #25.

Former WGAw board member Michael Russnow has been covering the strike on his personal site and recently began blogging "The Writers Strike for Dummies" on the Huffington Post. In his most recent entry, Russnow discusses the importance of setting precedents for compensation on the Web. We believed the AMPTP when they cajoled us to accept the cable deal in 1981 with the understanding that when they

(We want to welcome SAG Member Justine Bateman as a regular contributor to United Hollywood. We hope to continue opening the site up to more voices from SAG and other unions. Justine reminds us that this fight belongs to all of us. We're all on the same page.)Attention all SAG Actors: