Hollywood Faces Tough Times In This Battered Economy

During the Great Depression people still poured into movie houses for escape and the industry thrived.

But during our current Great Depression, Hollywood is struggling and facing layoffs

Part of the reason is that people can now be entertained in their home with movie videos that are a lot cheaper than going to movie theaters.

Storm clouds gather before this year's Oscars ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The entertainment industry is facing its worst economic outlook in decades.

Photo by Bryan Chan / LA Times

DAY ONE BLOG: Here's Hoping That 2009 Will Be Fine

So here we are dear reader.

Another year to pick apart in monthly stages, as the drama of a new presidency presents us with changes. Each day is to be dissected and reflected upon in blog fashion. Indirect, and direct opinions, about the world we live in can be expected from me. I see each day in a sweeping search of online blogs, newspapers, magazines, and conversations with people.

Some readers last year wondered if I was a Christian. One reader even wondered what my platform AS IT STANDS is built upon? Of course that's both a symbolic and theological question. In simpler terms the reader wondered if I believed in God and is my blog God-based?

For some reason I didn't anticipate questions about my religion when I started this blog in July 2008. But in the last six months I've had a fair amount of people responding to my newspaper column and this blog, wondering what my beliefs are? One reader wrote a letter-to-the editor about my Christmas column in the Times-Standard. That reader gently chastised me for not pointing out that it's a Christian holiday honoring Jesus Christ's birth.

In retrospect, I know why I didn't come out and just say that. During my years as a newspaper editor I wrote many Christmas columns. The one's where I made it clear what Christmas was all about always resulted in a negative backlash. Now as a Christian, I should expect that and even be glad because I'm doing the right thing.

All I can say is, when you try to serve segments of the public you pay a price. Everyone's not a Christian. So as an editor, I always attempted to appeal to the general public. Call me a coward. But after enough battering on a yearly basis over the same subject of Christmas, I opted to stand on the fence last year. So someone called me out on my beliefs. Sigh. There's no such thing as a middle ground for some people.

Does this make me a bad Christian? Am I a hypocrite for not preaching God's word in my columns and blogs? I don't think so. I never set out to convert anyone. God did not give me that calling. He did bless me with the ability to write, and I try to be humble about this gift. Sometimes my pride shows and I'm guilty of patting myself on the back. I guess I'm just human after all.

My mission for this year is to entertain readers and present subjects of interest, including opinion pieces, to stimulate readers to  respond. The more comments the merrier. I'm hoping to make you laugh and to make you ponder subjects you might not have thought about before. I want to share local, national, and world events with the reader on a daily basis. So that's it. Is this a New Year's resolution? Heck no.

AS IT STANDS, this is just my mission in life!

 

Robot To Lead Off 2009 Rose Parade

POEMS FOR WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT

 

It's a New Year
It's a new year
Let's give a cheer
Pour us some wine
And maybe some beer
Get all your friends
Party till the day ends
Then the ball will drop
And the balloons will pop
It will be 2009
Give me a high five
Another year passes
Through life's glasses
Happy New Year  

                                          

New Years are a Chance for a Beginning
New years are a chance for a beginning
Even when there hasn't been an end.
Wheels turn in an interminable bend,
Yet, marked in one spot, seem to wobble spinning.
Each year we hope to do a little better
Although we know that really nothing's changed.
Reason thinks that everything's arranged,
So we must dream if we would fate unfetter.

Comic Books: Which Ones will Be Breakout stars in 2009?

The New Year is wide open with comics firing on all cylinders in the upper echelons of superhero comics to the vibrant field of modern comics. But who rests at the top? Who are the biggest and brightest – who are the ones who pose to make 2009 a breakout year for themselves? From characters to comics to creators, and even to the wider spectrum of television and movies – who will be the breakout stars?

Click here to read Chris Arrant's take on things for Superheros in the New Year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO MY BLOGGER BUDDIES & READERS!

I have wisely chosen not to make a New Year's resolution. I've never managed to stick with one, and there's no reason to think I will this year.

I wouldn't say 2008 was great because the economy tanked so badly. I'd like to say 2009 will be fine, but our depression is probably going to get worse before it gets better. Having said that, I still think that we all have the choice to be happy or sad, regardless of the economy, and world events.

I'm not suggesting a Pollyanna outlook on life, but I believe that we do have some control as to how our days go. It's harder to think positive, than it is to think negatively, according to experts.

The answer is, you have to force yourself to think of something positive, but in time it will come easy as you train your brain! Happy New Year's To You!

Time To Say Bye Bye Bush, We Certainly Won't Miss You!

Dubya will go down in history...as the worst president this country ever had! Take a moment to check out His Chimpness in photos that were taken during his disastrous days in office.  

 

 

photos source - king-mag.com

Blagojevich stuns everyone by making senate appointment!

Gov. Rod Blagojevich stunned everyone yesterday by appointing Roland Burris (right) to the vacant senate seat left by president-elect Barrack Obama.

It's apparent that Blago is as brazen as they come, as he defiantly made the appointment despite the legal problems that will probably kick him out of office. It was just a month ago since Blago was taped trying to sell the senate seat to the highest bidder! To add to this growing circus, former Black Panther-turned-Daley-machine-functionary, Bobby Rush decided to throw a race card out there by suggesting that anyone who tries to stop Burris from taking the senate seat is a racist!

Give me a friggin break! Rush threw out words like "hanging and lynching" a black appointee when he made his appeal for Burris to take the senate seat without opposition. Well, guess again Rush. This isn't about race, it's about a corrupt governor trying to make an appointment before his indictment comes through in another week.

How could anybody be expected to not be concerned with any appointment that Blago makes? The guy's a corrupt politician and that's all there is to it.

Gambled Thrived During Great Depression, But That's Not True for Our Current Depression!

      By Dave Stancliff
    My father lived through the Great Depression and over the years he’s told me interesting stories about those tough times. One was that gambling stayed popular, either in spite of or because of, financial desperation.
      “People gambled and went to the movies,” Dad assured me. As far as I can tell people are still going to the movies during our current depression (screw the term recession). It seems all bets are off for the gambling industry in America today.
        As more people lose their jobs, the revenues for state lotteries and casinos are dropping. That old notion that gambling is recession proof is being challenged. People don’t feel “lady luck” will be any nicer to them gambling than what she showed them at the workplace.
        For an industry that doesn’t create wealth but simply transfers it-mostly from the poor to the already rich-the future is not rosy. Their shaky stocks don’t translate to buying lottery tickets. State governments are scrambling to make up for an average 2 percent dip in lottery revenues in the third quarter compared with last year.
       Companies that run casinos saw their stock prices drop by more than 60 percent in 2008, while on the Las Vegas Strip, gambling revenues have fallen nearly 10 percent. Nevada faces a sobering moment about the risk of risk. Not only is its gaming industry suffering, but the state has the highest rate of home foreclosures.
       To me it appears the gambling mentality extended to buying homes, on the assumption that prices would always go up. That belief-nationwide- is now as dubious as the pull of a slot machine.
        It’s the state lotteries that are particularly pernicious because elected officals, supposedly the guardians of public morality, prey on the most vulnerable to supplement their budgets. Experts say that about 1 in 5 people play the lottery regularly. They are the wrong people however. Those who spend the most on tickets earn less than $12,400 a year, parting with about 9 percent of their income!
       There’s some states, like New York, who want to expand their gambling to make up for budget shortfalls. “Get rich” marketing has become more aggressive, trying to hook young people in. I’ve heard that there are some tickets that are infused with smells like chocolate. I guess the buyer can eat them after their numbers don’t deliver them to financial security.
       As It Stands, gambling will never be the answer to people’s problems, it will only compound them.

'Kissing the way into the New Year' on Most Viewed List Today

Thanks to the Times-Standard readers for putting my last column of 2008 on the Most Viewed online list with a Number One rating.

If you haven't had the opportunity to read this column yet, click here. 

Who do you plan to kiss the New Year into with?