So most every television show is shutting down, some earlier than expected now that the writer's guild has gone on strike. Many had counted on the fact that sitcoms and dramas had a good 4 or 5 unfilmed scripts to work from that would get them into January before production shut down... However, the studios didn't count on the fact that many of the lead actors and the show-runners were in the guild as well and would refuse to do "non-writing" duties on a show as well. As the creators of various shows noted, casting, editing, scouting and the like are all too closely related to working with the script for them to feel comfortable continuing to do them. "The Office", "Heroes", "Pushing Daisies", "40 Rock" and more are going to have to make do without their showrunners or even some of their main stars as well as without writers.

In other news, another mangy animal was photographed leading people to declare "It must be a juvenile bigfoot!". Well, that or a really hairy wood nymph. Or, you know... a bear with mange, as many animal experts have noted. In any event, judge for yourselves:

http://www.bfro.net/avevid/jacobs/jacobs_photos.asp

Basically it's crunch time for me at the lab as some new developments mean that things will be rolling on my research sooner than expected. So, my zeal to a) finish my research and thesis and b) try and find a job after I finish a) means I have little writing time handy. I'll be able to get up a new poster thread soon. After that, I'm really not sure.

Mr. Cynical

There's so little first run television I watch now I can't really say the strike is going to affect me, outside of "Daily Show" and "Colbert".

And you really shouldn't make jokes that comment on the lack of board participation; apparantly it scares posters off.

EDIT: That third Bigfoot picture shows us why they're so hard to spot. If I could do that I wouldn't ever leave my cave either.

Angry again assumes angry first time, and really I've only got to "mildly irritated" over the replies issue, as previously discussed. I did note the low number of responses to my last story (4 in the first 48 hours) and decide to prioritise my currently very limited free time doing something other than writing the next chapter, but that just means I'll be picking it up in the next few days rather than continuing the twice-weekly stuff I'd been doing up to then. It's not a big deal.

I'm going to miss my House, Boston Legal, Nip/Tuck, Pushing Daisies, Scrubs, and whatever the hell else I watch if this strike lasts a long time. I need mah teevee!

But no, I have been writing, just not anything I'm quite willing to post on the internet for free just yet. We'll see how it goes.

I'm with Jason ... I thought most of the seasons currently being broadcast had already finished filming? Aside from that, so much of what I watch is in syndication anyway that it's hard for me to keep track of what's in reruns and what's original-run anymore. In my world, Jerry Orbach will never die, and he will always be Det. Lenny Briscoe on Law & Order.

As for writing, the fact that I have cable and Internet in my name now at my house should make things more convenient, since my housemate who had ordered it had moved out recently, so I was kind of living on borrowed time there. Aside from that, I find myself still paying off the expenses of my move in late August, not to mention a speeding ticket that jumped from $110 to $165 after the post office refused to deliver it to my address (they had the right address, but our local postmaster refuses to deliver any mail to an address unless the receiver has registered themselves as living at that address, which I've never had to do before).

I'm trying to experiment with my writing style a bit, by taking some of the techniques I took for a test drive in my fanfics and adapting them to my Parodyverse writing. I'm thinking of a point-of-view exploration of a bedroom scene, that focuses more on the spiritual than the physical, by exploring how the characters relate to one another through metaphor.

And with Sasquatch, the key is not the photos, but the footprints, which remain the best evidence. Plaster casts with distinct dermal ridges remain from as early as the 1950s and '60s, made at a time when such fine details simply could not be forged by technology, much less duplicated across the country. Couple this with the width of the strides between many sets of documented tracks (far greater than humans could stretch their legs) and the depth of the footprints in hard soil (which would indicate a weight at least twice that of most humans), and Occam's razor would tend to indicate that a series of hoaxes is actually more implausible than the existence of such a creature. I'd recommend the works of Grover Krantz, former professor of anthropology (and head of the department) at Washington State University in Pullman. Dr. Krantz has since passed away, but when I was in grade school, I got to meet him. The man came to a logical conclusion based on the evidence, and he stuck to his guns, and I always respected that.

Not really... that mostly holds for cable shows and shows that are intended as replacement programming. Your major network dramas and sitcoms are usually only filmed a couple of weeks ahead of air. Heroes, the Office, and the like are expected to run out by the new year, barring work starting again.



Well, then you won't notice much of a difference.



Yeah, my postman did something similar, insisting that nobody lived at my apartment and so returning all my mail. I had to go through a lot of channels to get it delivered again, and my building manager said she had never heard of anyone having to do that there before. I think the Postal guy was just covering his ass for a mistake on his part though... I mean, it's a freakin' apartment building. Surely finding new names on the mail going to that address is to be expected.



Interesting. I look forward to it.



A warning: I really don't believe in Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness monster, or so on. You're never going to convince me, and I'm just going to rain on your happy beliefs (while likely never convincing you). So you may want to just skip this next part.

Occam's razor would likely find that the existence of a never discovered large ape species on a continent with no record of supporting any ape species at all is pretty dubious. Add the fact that the sightings and evidence come from all over the country (these pictures are from Pennsylvania... not far from where I lived. Heavy hunting territory, and a lot of people tromping through those woods which are bordered on all sides by roads and civilization) and now you need a huge breeding population to account for them all.

Large mammal species are not easy to overlook. Every large mammal species that has been "discovered" in the last century was one that was simply a new classification of an unremarkable species for the territory... many of them commonly known (and even domesticated) by the people living in the area, but simply not yet identified in scientific circles.

To coexist in the same territory with man and yet never have left conclusive proof of their existence is more than just improbable.

Nip/Tuck might have had the entire season filmed already, although I'm sure the others haven't.



Good luck!

This is probably true. And besides, to fill the gaps Networks are likely to simply turn to more reality television anyway, and what else is on the Discovery Channel? At least their reality shows are good, and not crappy bizarre game-show concepts.


Actually, no. Right now they'd be filming episodes that would air in a few weeks, if that... most every scripted show on the networks would run out in January, at the latest (December is mostly a month of reruns anyway following November sweeps.) Cable shows are often filmed a season at a time, but network shows are not.

And that's not counting daytime soaps, which are filmed about a week before they air, and latenight shows which are filmed the day they air. Letterman, Colbert, Stewart, Conan... they're all done for now. Saturday Night Live is also done.



Well, hopefully things will pick up soon.

Those ones hurt the most for me. I only watched the odd network show these days myself.



I'd have to have faith that people were there to read it to worry about it.



But then where would new baby bigfeet come from?

Okay, so maybe a thesis is a good excuse. Although you can apparently put those things off for years...

And you are a Scoffer.

> Occam's razor would likely find that the existence of a never discovered large ape species on a continent with no record of supporting any ape species at all is pretty dubious.

Again, in relative terms, it's a far more likely explanation than positing the existence of a nearly century-old coast-to-coast footprint hoaxing conspiracy, armed with technology that could recreate the fine details of dermal ridges, when such a feat is still considered cutting-edge by modern law enforcement standards. After all, at least there's a real-world precedent for the undiscovered and/or presumed-to-be-extinct species, with the Coelacanth ...

> Add the fact that the sightings and evidence come from all over the country (these pictures are from Pennsylvania... not far from where I lived. Heavy hunting territory, and a lot of people tromping through those woods which are bordered on all sides by roads and civilization) and now you need a huge breeding population to account for them all.

I'm honestly not sure whether the Pennsylvania Bigfoot is real, as there have obviously been any number of false reports of Sasquatch over the years. However, what Krantz postulated was that Sasquatch is probably near extinction, even in areas with more available wilderness, due to precisely the sort of encroachment that you're talking about.

> Large mammal species are not easy to overlook. Every large mammal species that has been "discovered" in the last century was one that was simply a new classification of an unremarkable species for the territory... many of them commonly known (and even domesticated) by the people living in the area, but simply not yet identified in scientific circles.

Here's where I show my regional bias; while I'll freely concede that it's less likely in the eastern United States, I don't think you people quite grasp just how big the outdoors are here in the West. In Washington state alone, the remaining untouched and federally protected wildlands are equal to an area roughly the same size as the entire state of Massachusetts. And Washington is practically metropolitan when compared to Idaho and Montana (although it's probably no more urbanized than Oregon).

> To coexist in the same territory with man and yet never have left conclusive proof of their existence is more than just improbable.

I suppose it depends upon how much intelligence we ascribe to them, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms ...

I have a story all written but not posted. I have a second part to that story planned but not yet written. So, should I post what I have & write what I planned or would that make me a "Scab"?

Way I heard it, Heroes can finish it's current storyline, but then it can't move to the next. Heroes Origins was canceled.

Ah well. Things will turn around soon enough. I hope Journeyman, Ghost Whisperer and Moonlight can continue for a while longer.

Smallville has been bad enough that it seems the writers have been on strike for the last several years. Still, I keep watching. Its like a dieing animal that you can't stop watching as it twitches to death. If it stops for a while, no big.

It's way to soon for Eureka to be affected and Doctor Who dosent count.


As for bigfoot, those legs are too long for a bear. A monkey maybe?

> > So most every television show is shutting down, some earlier than expected now that the writer's guild has gone on strike. Many had counted on the fact that sitcoms and dramas had a good 4 or 5 unfilmed scripts to work from that would get them into January before production shut down... However, the studios didn't count on the fact that many of the lead actors and the show-runners were in the guild as well and would refuse to do "non-writing" duties on a show as well. As the creators of various shows noted, casting, editing, scouting and the like are all too closely related to working with the script for them to feel comfortable continuing to do them. "The Office", "Heroes", "Pushing Daisies", "40 Rock" and more are going to have to make do without their showrunners or even some of their main stars as well as without writers. > > In other news, another mangy animal was photographed leading people to declare "It must be a juvenile bigfoot!". Well, that or a really hairy wood nymph. Or, you know... a bear with mange, as many animal experts have noted. In any event, judge for yourselves: > > http://www.bfro.net/avevid/jacobs/jacobs_photos.asp > > > >

> Basically it's crunch time for me at the lab as some new developments mean that things will be rolling on my research sooner than expected. So, my zeal to a) finish my research and thesis and b) try and find a job after I finish a) means I have little writing time handy. I'll be able to get up a new poster thread soon. After that, I'm really not sure. > > Mr. Cynical

Indeed.



Well, obviously. However, that presumes two things:

1) That a conspiracy is necessary. I personally know multiple people who would fake a Bigfoot encounter if they thought they could do it convincingly, and none of them would need to be in contact with each other to act upon it. I'm sure such people exist all over the nation, let alone those who are simply mistaken about what they see/find.

2) That these footprints really have the fine details of dermal ridges and that they would have been impossible to fake. While I have no personal evidence either way, over and over again people have claimed that there was no possible way to explain supposedly paranormal events and over and over again people have found surprisingly simple ways to recreate them without the need for the paranormal explanation. (See crop circles which couldn't possibly have been formed without advanced intelligence or technology. I've also seen plenty of "scientific fact" stated in various theories, such as those trying to prove the moon landing was a hoax, that I personally could see was wrong and based on a complete misunderstanding of the science involved.) So I tend to take such claims with a very large grain of salt, and even allow for the possibility that, rather than a hoax, people are misinterpreting what they're seeing as well.



I've always been a fan of the Coelacanth. There are a few problems with using it as an example, however.

1) It lives in the ocean, and we do not. We don't share the same territory. In truth the ocean likely holds the vast majority of undiscovered species. Really, because of this, you'd have a better chance of selling me on a Kraken than on Bigfoot.

2) Once scientists were first alerted to evidence of the existence of this fish, it was a reasonably short time before they could find more and more of them to confirm it. However, with Bigfoot, a hundred years of supposed sightings in our own backyards have failed to produce any animal.

3) Again, this turned out to be a fish well known to natives in the area... It was caught regularly. It was only a "discovery" to the scientific community.



But encroachment is more than just chasing living animals away... It's digging up land and developing it. It's unearthing remains of the animals from when they weren't on the edge of extinction. Humanoid bones aren't usually ignored by people... they're reported and investigated. Nobody has found an ape species in North America.




I lived in Colorado for 8 years... I have some concept of the size of the West. Here's the thing... for as large as the outdoors are in this nation, all of the large animals on this continent were cataloged by Western explorers quite quickly... Well before nearly *any* of it was excessively developed. Again, large animals are hard to miss. We're not still discovering new bear-sized creatures in those woods.



Honestly, if people suggested they were magical in some way, then I suppose I couldn't logically rule them out. But if they're playing by the same rules as the rest of the animal kingdom then there's just no room for them to exist.

El Reg's coverage of the writers strike:

Writers' strike hits US talk shows hard You mean they actually script that crap?

As to my writing, I have one or two ideas, but not much time to put them down. One of them is very complex to map out, but I suspect it would actually look quite simple in print. The other one involves nicking one of your ideas, so I am a little hesitant to do it.



Plenty of mangy, vaguely humanoid creatures around Kings Cross...

I have no idea what late night talk shows are like in the UK, but they seem to have a warped idea of what they are over here. Here they script the topical opening monologues, certainly, as well as other comedy bits throughout the shows. Most people don't watch late night talk shows for the interviews themselves. And with most hosts also serving as the head writer on their shows, they'd have to be somewhat of a *$#@ to cross the picket line.


Well, feel free to e-mail me and let me know which one, as I doubt I'll have a problem with it.




We'll dispatch an anthropologist ASAP.

What? They can't just let producers change the names of the characters from the Marvel and DC plots they use?

Ba-DUM-Bum! I kid....



I don't know that I've heard anything about those shows. However, if Moonlight goes off the air, I would suggest you try out DVDs of "Angel" instead.



I've never really watched it much, but from what I hear it does seem to have been rather spastic these last few years.



Indeed.


While it's not obviously a bear, it does seem reasonable to me... Like many thick-furred animals, bears look surprisingly different with their hair removed.

Post and chance the consequences, I say.

> What? They can't just let producers change the names of the characters from the Marvel and DC plots they use? > > Ba-DUM-Bum! I kid....

Hey! I LIKE Heroes...

> I don't know that I've heard anything about those shows. However, if Moonlight goes off the air, I would suggest you try out DVDs of "Angel" instead.

My plan is to wait for the kids to get older before I rent the Buffys. There is not time enough in the evening, after the kids are in bed, to watch all those Buffy shows.

> I've never really watched it much, but from what I hear it does seem to have been rather spastic these last few years.

Somethings have been ok in it, but not much.

> While it's not obviously a bear, it does seem reasonable to me... Like many thick-furred animals, bears look surprisingly different with their hair removed.

I think its a picture of the Beast, sleep walking.

> > > > > Basically it's crunch time for me at the lab as some new developments mean that things will be rolling on my research sooner than expected. So, my zeal to a) finish my research and thesis and b) try and find a job after I finish a) means I have little writing time handy. I'll be able to get up a new poster thread soon. After that, I'm really not sure. > > > > > > Mr. Cynical > >

demoman687@hotmail.com

>

> > > > > > > Basically it's crunch time for me at the lab as some new developments mean that things will be rolling on my research sooner than expected. So, my zeal to a) finish my research and thesis and b) try and find a job after I finish a) means I have little writing time handy. I'll be able to get up a new poster thread soon. After that, I'm really not sure. > > > > > > > > Mr. Cynical > > > >

> demoman687@hotmail.com > > > > > > > > > > > > Basically it's crunch time for me at the lab as some new developments mean that things will be rolling on my research sooner than expected. So, my zeal to a) finish my research and thesis and b) try and find a job after I finish a) means I have little writing time handy. I'll be able to get up a new poster thread soon. After that, I'm really not sure. > > > > > > > > > > Mr. Cynical > > > > > >