Exclusive: Milo suits up...

The exclusive, behind-the-scenes video of Giuliano's shoot for Prestige Hong Kong is now finished and I couldn't resist sharing. Milo is a very dapper, photogenic guy; I hope you enjoy watching it.

Crusader Challenge I

I sat down to write the other day and...Veronica Mars called me. She sounded a little nasal when she asked me if I had time to go over some puzzling notes for her new mystery case. You know, the one about the love fountain in Rome. I told her I had to study for next week's exam. Yes. Two exams, two days in a row. She understood, and then she sneezed "quidditch!" 

"Bless you," I said, holding my phone between my cheek and shoulder.

She thanked me, and then blew her nose as loudly as an elephant warning its heard of incoming landslide. 

"Are you coming down with a cold?" I asked while flipping through my notes on phonetics. Allophones? Fortis and Lenis?

"Yeah- Quidditch!" She blew her nose again. "Sorry, how about I come by on Wednesday?"

"See yah then. It'll give us chance to go over some gossip." I hung up the phone. 

Poor girl. Ever since Sylar set her on fire in Heroes, her clever mind just hasn't been the same.

---

Yeah, I know it's LAME. But I don't have time to write a proper story. I still wanted to take part. I seriously AM studying for two exams. One is on Monday, and the other on Tuesday. And then I have to turn in a short story for creative writing tomorrow. Talk about teacher collaboration! 

This is the first challenge of the Crusaders (a group of people working towards building an online platform - new members are welcome and should visit Rach's site to sign up: Writers' Platform-Building Crusade).

The bonus words were: Mars, quidditch, and elephant.

The prize this round is an interview with Rach, which will be the first with a Crusader of Rach's Insider Scoop Interviews. Which is, of course, a great way to get online coverage. (She has already interviewed Jody Hedlund and Caitie Flum).

Oh, and of course I know what quidditch is - I just decided to use it this way.

Chapter 52.4: The Need for Failure

This is a topic that I'll expand upon, but I believe that the emergence of reality television over the past several years is one of the chief reasons that television writing has suffered. Sure there are well written successful new shows, some of which I enjoy immensely such as Medium, Jericho, Heroes, and even Eureka on SciFi. But I wonder if actors are being allowed to fail on middling shows, from which they'll emerge in the future as better actors.

I blame reality television for this because there are only so many slots for new primetime shows, and with Americans gravitating to game shows like Deal or No Deal and glorified audition tapes like American Idol, we're losing out on the season or two of something else where tomorrow's next superstar cut her teeth.

The irony is that Survivor, the granddaddy of 21st century reality television, arose from the ashes of a Screen Actors Guild strike. And the television set hasn't been the same since.

I suspect many TV viewers would disagree with me. Reality television is incredibly popular, and it's even easier for production companies to sell more advertising with product placements (though using a brand of worms for the gross-out shows was a missed selling opportunity, if you ask me). So, in the mode of giving the customers what they want, perhaps it's a case of no harm no foul. But then I watch a show like SciFi Investigates (which sucks) and see reality show alum Rob Mariano and I realize that it's just another example of a no-talent wannabe taking a job away from someone who's paid his or her dues. He's the most qualified "skeptic" they could find? What a crock!

Reality television is taking jobs away from actors and writers.

Good television shows are still being written, but the average shows are being shelved. That's what's missing. We're getting middling reality shows of people we'd not talk to at a bar if they bought us a drink instead of allowing people with talent and dreams to get somewhere with their lives.