bradley's almanac - a boston music blog

boston area events of note:

wednesday, december 3rd

viva viva

darker my love

the strange boys

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, december 4th

jukebox the ghost

@ the middle east upstairs

thursday, december 4th

sebastien grainger & the mountains

eksi ekso

@ tt the bears

friday, december 5th

mercury rev

dean & britta

@ the paradise

friday, december 5th

constantines

tim fite

@ tt the bears

friday & saturday

december 5th & 6th

wfnx miracle on tremont st.

with franz ferdinand,

vampire weekend, black kids,

airborne toxic event, & more

@ the orpheum

saturday, december 6th

ted leo (solo show)

cale parks (of aloha)

@ tt the bears

saturday, december 6th

tigercity

taxpayer

lifestyle

midatlantic (bleedin' bleedins)

@ great scott

saturday, december 6th

noah & the whale

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, december 7th

bazaar bizarre boston!

(with djs, including brad 'nac)

12-7pm @ the castle, park plaza

monday, december 8th

love is all

crystal stilts

reports

@ great scott

monday & tuesday

december 8th & 9th

letters to cleo

midatlantic (on the 8th)

modern society (on the 9th)

@ the paradise

tuesday, december 9th

radar bros.

the russians

the divorced

@ the middle east upstairs

tuesday, december 9th

jeremy enigk

dave deporis

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, december 11th

stella with michael showalter,

michael ian black, & david wain

@ the wilbur theatre

saturday, december 13th

+/- {plus/minus}

@ the middle east upstairs

saturday, december 13th

neil young

wilco

everest

@ the dcu center, worcester

sunday, december 14th

bon iver

@ the wilbur theatre

wednesday, december 17th

the broken river prophet

quincunx

shepherdess

@ great scott

sunday, december 21st

hallelujah the hills

aloud

nassy

ad frank & sarah rabdau

@ great scott

monday, december 22nd

tristan da cunha

tom fitzgerril

neptune

@ great scott

sunday, december 28th

akron/family

@ tt the bears

tuesday, december 30th

caspian & constants

@ the middle east downstairs

thursday, january 1st, 2009

one happy island

cotton candy

(mark robinson & evelyn hurley)

the smittens

cathy cathodic

@ the middle east upstairs

sunday, january 4th

glasvegas

rails to russia

dj carbo

@ great scott

thursday, january 8th

forest henderson

the new collisions

the lights out

sir q

@ great scott

saturday, january 10th

head automatica

radio 4

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

illinois

@ great scott

thursday, january 15th

the raveonettes

@ the paradise

sunday, january 18th

frightened rabbit

@ great scott

saturday, january 24th

vic chesnutt

elf power

@ the middle east

tuesday, january 27th

annuals

jessica lee mayfield

what laura says

@ the paradise

friday, january 30th

andrew bird

loney dear

@ the orpheum

wednesday, february 24th

the pretenders

@ the paradise

friday, february 13th

los campesinos!

@ the paradise

saturday, february 21st

norm macdonald

@ the wilbur theatre

tuesday, february 24th

tapes 'n tapes

@ the paradise

saturday, february 28th

swirlies!

gregory & the hawk

@ the middle east up

wednesday, march 11th

fleetwood mac

@ the garden

visit tourfilter for more shows

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Writer's Guild Strike: Boston Rally Report (with audio)

A snowy Sunday afternoon here in Boston finds me taking a brief detour from my usual music-related ramblings...

Jaime Paglia, Rob Kutner, & Joss Whedon

On Friday afternoon, television scribes and proud Writer's Guild of America members Jaime Paglia (co-creator of SciFi Channel's excellent Eureka), Rob Kutner (from The Daily Show), and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly) came to Boston to lead a strike rally of fans and their fellow WGA faithful. While the attendance was surely lessened by the previous day's snowstorm, more than 250 supporters filed into the First Parish Church in Cambridge's Harvard Square, winter boots on many feet and slogan-filled signs in many hands.

A variety of TV shows were name checked on posterboard in thick sharpie, including Pushing Daisies and The Office, but it's no surprise that most of the crowd was there to bow down at the altar of Joss (even his fellow writers humorously acknowledged the obvious imbalance). There may be no more devoted fiction fans than Whedon fans, and they showed up in force. Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker's introduction, while eloquent, garnered its most raucous applause when she admitted her love of Buffy.

Once inside the church, each of the three writers delivered impassioned, wit-filled speeches; Jaime spoke of being inspired by a young intern who, rather than go elsewhere when told they had no work for him due to the strike, has been on the LA picket lines every day. Rob gave us a small taste of what we're missing with the Daily Show in reruns (Alberto Gonzalez, incomprehensibly named the ABA's "Lawyer of the Year" last week, took one on the chin). And Joss spoke to us of dragons.

Here's the audio from each speech, as well as the strike-centric question & answer session that took place before we all hit the streets for an old-school picket march...

01. Introduction (Cambridge Forum Director Pat Suhrcke & Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker)
02. Jaime Paglia (Eureka) speaks
03. Joss Whedon (BtVS, Angel, Firefly) speaks
04. Rob Kutner (The Daily Show) speaks
05. Q&A session

Another attendee shared up video here, and the Cambridge Forum, who hosted the event, will hopefully have their own recording up at their site soon.

I encourage anyone reading this to not just listen closely to what each writer had to say, but to do what you can to show your support when you're done, even if it's just by spreading the word. The AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and their associated mogul-run media outlets are conducting a cliched campaign of disinformation. To find out what the strike is truly about, check out this YouTube video, a concise explanation of what's at stake. And if you're so inspired, hop on over to the Jobs With Justice site, where voting is taking place for their 2007 Grinch of the Year, an annual 'award' for "the national figure who does the most harm to working families". Vote as you see fit, but note that among the cads up for nomination is AMPTP President J. Nicholas Counter III (man, does his name scream cash-infused pretension or what?).

And lastly, a few related links...

All of my photos from the WGA Boston Rally are here. More photos from other attending supporters are here, here, here.

Bostonist wrote up the rally, as did Wicked Local Cambridge. The Cambridge Chronicle filed a video report.

The strike march through Harvard Square brought us to the front of the Harvard Lampoon Castle, where local comic/actor/writer/WGA member (and former CBS employee, so he knows how the big guys treat writers, too) Jimmy Tingle rallied the troops with a little harmonica and some impromptu drumming. The Lampoon guys even brought out free donuts for the crowd, a kindness that made me resist asking what the deal is with all the tree killing.

Battlestar Galactica writer/creator Ron Moore is blogging about the strike here. And as you'll discover there, Joss wasn't wearing a Red Sox cap just to suck up to us locals.

For more information on what you can do to support, or at least stay informed about, the WGA Strike, check out the Fans4Writers and United Hollywood sites.

Labels: wga

posted by brad at 11:47 AM | direct link | rss (1 :2) | |

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