Life, Spa, It's just not Cricket & The Globes

Tuesday morning - and I feel like I haven't slept at all - but I know I
have. You know that really crappy sleep where (to you) it lasts about 30
mins? It was like that. I think I need a vacation ;)

Last week/end... well, apart from 3 days work where no-one was in the
office (except myself and 3 'surprise jobs' which had to be organised
for this week, there was the New Year holdover, the most excellent
Flickerfest opening night (which I attended with Bec), Ascension on
Saturday night with Bekk and Brighid (along with seeing many people
there - way too many to tag, yet it also seemed a little
under-attended). Still, Ascension finished and the evening turned into a
Sunday of spa-induced madness with Conrad, Bekk, Barbara, Jared, & Kate
(apparently including some 'unique' phone calls - which I have... er...
little memory of - I blame the punch, and the punch blames Bekk, and
Bekk blames the punch - you had to be there).

Last night was more Flickerfest, both International films and the Best
of Australian Animated films (a retrospective), coupled later with
something laughingly called sleep which (as I mentioned earlier) seemed
to last all of a subjective 10 minutes. Today, there's a VIP move
coupled with setting up more moves for the following week. There will be
more Flickerfest this evening and then more sleep.

I'm not a sports fan (really) - well OK, I do like The Olympics and so
forth, of course... Anyway, I have little interest in most 'normal'
sporting teams etc, except when I am in a situation where I 'have' to
because it's the only thing available. However, this Indian Cricket team
thing coupled with (to me) bewildering calls for Ricky Ponting's sacking
is confusing me. This isn't a rules thing - it seems to be an ego thing
(or perhaps more correctly - a stupidity thing). There was a request
(specifically in light of the racist behaviour when the Australian Team
was in India - the monkey noises and comments thrown at Marshall) for
all racist comments, and the like, to be reported to the Officials by
the Captains. This was done as requested - and now Ponting is pilloried
for following official directions. I'm not a big cricket fan, but this
subsequent 'walk-out' by the Indian Team seems to be little more than
sour grapes. Singh got caught out flaunting the new regulations. He was
taken to task and banned for three matches. India goes feral and
threatens to take their bat & ball and go home. If that's their attitude
to having a legitimate ruling applied (a ruling that the Indian Cricket
Board must have agreed to in the first place) then let them go home - no
big loss. We have better things to do than have every decision by
Officials politicised and made into a National Tragedy. Also, the
so-called journalists baying for Ponting's blood should also pull their
heads in, stop being so sensationalist, and look to (what appears to be)
the real cause of the issue - Singh got caught now the Indian Cricket
Board doesn't want him punished. If anything, this simply highlights
something I overheard at the office, said by a white-haired old man who
wouldn't look out of place in a Cricket Club-Room. "In my day, it was a
gentleman's sport. Now, the rules and officials mean nothing. It's all
politics, and not competition or sport. It's saddening and embarrassing
to watch."

On a further note: The 2008 Golden Globe Awards (the Awards which are
seen as the signpost for the Oscars) looks like they will be cancelled
for this year. Why? Simply, the Writer's Guild of America, currently in
their second month of striking, have the solidarity of the Screen
Actor's Guild. As such, with a picket-line in place around the location
of the Golden Globe Awards, SAG members have voted to not cross that
picket line and so the stars will not attend the Awards Dinner and
Ceremony. I agree with them. Actors receive residual payments for work
done and subsequent viewings. The Writers want a similar agreement,
specifically for non-traditional models of purchase of media - such as
Internet downloads etc... (which are not listed in the original Writer's
Agreement/s, and as such do not glean any residual payments). Of course,
The Producers Association doesn't agree. So, the writers are on strike
and the Actors are agreeing with them. It's disappointing for the Awards
Ceremony (well, both this one and the People's Choice Awards, anyway)
and there may yet be a knock on effect to The Academy Awards, which is
yet to be determined. The interesting thing is that the Screen Actors'
Guild (SAG) Awards are not affected, as they apparently have brokered an
agreement with the WGA to have the Awards not only written for, but
supported. In a statement late yesterday, Jorge Camara, President of the
Hollywood Foreign Press Association said: " The Hollywood Foreign Press
Association has been placed in an extremely difficult position with the
ongoing Writers Guild strike. We are making every effort to work out a
solution that will permit the Golden Globes to take place with the
creative community present to participate. We hope to announce a
resolution to this unfortunate predicament on Monday [Tuesday, AEST]."

...and now... on to work - of which I have been given another new
Project... and 4 weeks to do it in? Holy Sheepdip!
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