Content (or Lack Thereof).

I love content.

I love reading fourteen different books at the same time because I'm so fascinated by everything they may hold I can't commit to just one at one point in time. I love looking at my bookshelf, so scattered in range of topics, as it makes me feel enriched knowing I have the option of learning new things or just browsing over long-loved, familiar passages any time I so choose.

I love music. I love listening to old school hip-hop (or new school in some cases, I'm talking to you, Blackalicious) while I write. I love making mix cds for friends. I love how a song can connect everyone on my back porch while we sit around and have a few beers. I love turning up old 70's tracks on the radio while driving on sunny days. I love looking for new music to share with friends. I love guilty pleasures that I only listen to by my damned self when I'm at home alone. I love bickering over who's the best drummer that ever lived or what albums are the best to listen to on rainy days. Music, to me, is life.

I love movies. I love sitting on the sofa all day watching James Bond marathons. I love watching documentaries on diverse topics. I love quoting favorite lines of shared movies with people I meet at bars. I love that baseball movies usually run an 85% chance of making me tear up. I love watching the antagonist get shot at the end. I love laughing until my stomach hurts. I love escaping reality and watching someone else fight their battles for a few hours.

I love television. I love character development over the course of a season. I love checking in with a group of people every week that don't exist, just to make sure they're ok. I love Arrested Development. I still have no idea how someone could be so smart as to fit that many inside jokes into 22 minutes every week (Bluth Family, I miss you). I love watching Denis Leary fight fires and honest-to-God finding him believable doing so. I love clever writing on a regular basis. Writing, it's really what makes the show quality. That's why the WGA Strike is a dangerous thing. The Writer's Guild of America is currently on strike because the writers get none of the DVD residuals nor do they receive any compensation for new media (most notably being online content). I feel the writers have a valid point, as studios earn $4.8 billion in home video sales vs. $1.78 billion at the box office. So in other words, studios get paid five times the amount the writers do for content they didn't create. Many, many notable writers and actors have walked out of their jobs in protest of this (At this time SNL, Lost, 24, The Office, 30 Rock, among many other shows have halted production). The WGA are asking for 2.5% of home video sales and online advertising, which is a petty amount for creating the backbone of most media. Go to http://www.wgaeast.org/ for a little bit more information.

So, stand up with them, Kids. Write an e-mail to studios letting them know how shitty they're being. Tell them how important writing is to you by doing just that: Writing.

Peace, Love, & Afropicks,

Eric.

PS - Those savvy writers over at Saturday Night Live brought up a good point, take a look: