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From our Mailbag 03/21/01 - 03/30/01

We know you love Max. What about the rest of us?

From From Stu W., Kingston, ON, CANADA:

SUBJECT: FROM KINGSTON, ONTARIO

I'm 50 years old. I've devoted my life to scriptwork since finishing graduate school in '78. I am not successful; I will never be a success. Not in business terms. I will labour in obscurity -- the obscurity known as Canada. (My American wife never wants to return stateside.)

That said, I consider myself a creative success. I do good work, and it satisfies my soul. One must learn to live without recognition in this world of ours -- or better still, to recognize oneself.

A co-writer in Philly emailed me your article on the writers strike and the vanity-credit issue. You have said everything I've ever throught about the industry and more. The writer is Hollywood's favourite kitchen-nigger. As everpresent and as enduring as Faulkner's "negroes".

Want my prediction? Watch for the writer-eliminating technological innovation: CGS -- computer generated scripts. In many cases (especially TV), you won't be able to tell the difference, or course, because so much professional, on-screen writing is a composite of derivations and formulae aimed at the dumbed-down LCD.

Anyway, you have my thanks and my respect for telling it like it is. Maybe, just maybe, WGA scribes will force their way out of the kitchen and into the dining room. I won't be there, but I will smile from the front lawn.

By the way, I thought it was a sad commentary on screenwriting that the highest paid writer should be Shane Black. In consideration of the script he wrote, we have demonstrable proof that Hollywood is not a meritocracy. On the other hand, someone greenlighted BULWORTH, BEING JOHN MALKOVITCH, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS -- and many, many other quality "subversive" projects that prove, however paradoxically, that Hollywood is also not a monolith.

Aux arms, les citoyens!

stu w
Golden Dog Productions
Kingston, ON


MAX ADAMS RESPONDS: Damn, Stu, I think your letter is better than my article.


From Jeff W., Colubus, OH, USA:

SUBJECT: Rant

Rod,

I know it works your last nerve to be compared to Salon in any way, shape or form, but I find your "rant" mostly on target.

The only thing on the Net people will consistently pay to access is porn, not news and opinion.

I doubt Salon's ploy will work any better for them than it did for Slate when they tried it.

Still, this idea that everything on the net should be free baffles me. There will always be a schism between the commercial sites and those put out by people who have something they want to say.

G21 is a entity unique and into itself. However, you've tried to find partners to invest capital in G21 and if someone wanted to bankroll the site I don't think you'd haggle too long over dollars and cents. I wouldn't want the headache of bankrolling a site out of my own pocket.

All n' all, I share your indignation, but it seems to be the wave of the future. Ý

JW


From Howard R., (No City Provided,) USA:

Subject: your g21 piece

...is the most coherent, cogent philippic i've read on this whole mess. well done!

i was listeining to kfwb yesterday and they quoted the studios as saying that the writers' demands 'would bankrupt the industry.' no countervailing argument or quote, of course.

which makes what you wrote all the more valuable.

again: thanks.

your fellow toiler in the vineyards of culture (and wga/w member),

Howard


MAX ADAMS RESPONDS: Howard, when you hear stuff like that, you have to call the radio station right up and say something. Start dialing. . . .


From Darius T., (No City or Country Provided):

Subject: Is There a BSE Plague?

However prions originated, there seems to be a reasonable consensus that they are passed on when one animal eats the infected brain or spinal cord of another. ... According to Purdey, recycling concentrates manganese until the concentration is high enough to induce prion formation in the foetus.

I have not seen such a quote from him, but he also says:

"I don't believe that the "prion" is highly infectious as they are suggesting; that is, I don't believe that it can infect those who eat prion-contaminated meat. I believe that it is the manganese 3+ attached to the prion that is the infectious agent and only when it is transmitted by injection, etc., into susceptible genotypes. Prisiner himself is skeptical of "the-BSE-feed-caused-new-variant-CJD" hypotheses. He was the only person (apart from myself) who suggested this to the BSE inquiry!"

See "MAD COW UPDATE" at the end of http://www.westonaprice.org/myths_truths_mad.html

(I am just learning about all this today, sorry for the jumbled presentation :)


From Meredith T., Tampa, FL, USA

Subject: vox pop

The cookie recipe? THE COOKIE RECIPE?!? Was that really necessary?

Hope you're having a peaceful and happy birthday, Meredith


ROD RESPONDS: Meredith, my Loyal Reader and fave friend, as Dean Martin used to say, "I just read 'em, I don't explain 'em."


From Yona R., Oakland, CA, USA:

SUBJECT: The new cover

gee rod. your really getting the hang of this shit.... web talking that is. your mag looks awesome!! yo


From Jennifer B., Glendale, CA USA:

Subject: mas

lloyd morcom is a gem. i enjoyed his thought-provocative article featuring napoleon will. you have an exceptional group of writers w/you right now, rod -- quite a feast.

enthused,
miss blue.

ps: i missed the webcast and so i am kicking myself. do it again!


From Andrew L., New York, NY, USA:

Subject: Highlighting Your Story

Dear Rod,

Hello.

This is just a quick message to let you know that Generator 21's material has been highlighted on the homepage of MediaChannel (www.mediachannel.org).

If you want to check out your link(s) http://www.g21.net/hol1.html

ACTION Alerts and Press Releases

Forwarded by Bob P., Marion, OH, USA:

From: "Hatuna Chigogidze"
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 1:42 AM
Subject: books and magazines

Dear friends,

We are addressing you from Tbilisi, Georgia, Caucasus. We are NGO - Media Democratization and Development Association. We are currently trying to help a Georgian State Library, but it's rather difficult. As you know Georgia now is developing country and unfortunately it has not enough financial sources to get for us necessary books. Specifically, we are looking for an organization or an individual who would be able to donate some books or magazines in English. That's why we apply to you with an unusual request to provide us with some of your books or even one at no cost if it possible. We sure people would read and re-read them here many times.

We would appreciate if you could help us and be much obliged.

If we can do something for you will be happy to help.

We are looking for your prompt answer.

Thousand thanks.

Our address is:

Media Democratization & Development Association
Aleksidze 3
Tbilisi, 380093
Georgia

Tel: 99532 98 53 84
99532 98 63 55
Fax: 99532 92 11 99
99532 99 03 40

Sincerely,
Hatuna Chigogidze
Assistant Director


Forwarded by Meredith T., Tampa, FL, USA:

From Jeffrey Hollender, President, Seventh Generation, Inc., an environmentalist organization.

On March 26th at 9:00 pm, . PBS will air "Trade Secrets:Ý A Moyers Report" (be sure to check your local listings for the exact airdate and time on your PBS station). Now any time Bill Moyers looks into something it's worth our time.Ý But in this case, it's worth more than that because he's investigating the very thing I've been waiting for years for a journalist of his caliber to investigate: the chemical industry and its hidden toxic legacy. It promises to be a ground breaking program, one that at long last gives the chemical industry the glaring attention it so richly deserves. And I think even people like us, people who are already generally aware of the deadly practices and products foisted upon us by chemical companies, will be stunned by Moyer's revelations. I say this because the program is based on interviews with historians, scientists and physicians, and on a massive uncovered archive of secret industry documents that Moyers and producer Sherry Jones say rivals the now legendary "Tobacco Papers" for sheer, appalling shock value. What those papers apparently reveal is an industry that has put our health and safety at very dangerous risk and marshalled powerful forces in a largely successful effort to hide the truth at any cost. I urge you to watch this program.Ý And more importantly, I urge you to gather others to watch it with you.Ý While you and I will most likely tune in (I definitely will), we're already aware of the problem and its seriousness. But that's not the case with the majority of Americans. Indeed, research shows that most believe they're being quite adequately protected from chemical hazards by industry and government alike.Ý That's hardly the case, and a respected journalist like Bill Moyers is just the person to make the point. That's why it's so important that the program be seen by more than the "converted". Try to make sure that all our friends and neighbors, no matter how politically uninvolved or environmentally unaware they might be, tune in and watch this historic broadcast.

To that end, the Environmental Health Fund, the Environmental Working Group, the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, and Women's Voices For the Earth are launching Coming Clean, an effort dedicated to organizing community viewings of the upcoming Moyers Report and doing whatever we can to ensure that after March 26, there are more people in more communities working to stop the chemical contamination of our food, bodies and environment.'

PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO YOUR FRIENDS


From Aaron M., (No City Provided,) USA:

I don't know if a boycott is worth the time. I'm of the mindset that it is time to cut BET loose all together. BJ stopped serving our needs a LONG time ago, before Viacom took over. Viacom's firing of Tavis is the continuation of the degredation BJ started. Why are we concerned all of a sudden? BET has been for the lowest denominator, and white folks, for a long time. Let it die the death it has deserved for years now, and take this time to find/support/invest in a new Black network that is going to do what BET didn't.

In 1555, Nostradamus wrote: "Come the millennium, month 12, in the home of greatest power, the village idiot will come forth to be acclaimed the leader." Sign up for Free-for-Life E-mail at http://www.Africana.com

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