Again, in pretending to some effective degree that the 2001 Super Bowl didn't happen, I've chosen to re-live the glory that was Super Bowl XXV.

I had to work that night, toiling at the neighborhood Carvel, slinging ice cream for the body image-challenged sort that populated the suburban Long Island town I had spent my high school years living amongst. Undaunted, I recall carrying my bedroom television to the store, setting up a makeshift antenna out of aluminum foil that worked a little bit better than awful when one would firmly and repeatedly smack the side of the set, and doing a pretty shitty job selling ice cream sundaes and birthday cakes while the closest Super Bowl in history played out in front of me (along with both the coworkers and loiterers gathered around this flickering, snowy hearth I'd fashioned).

I'll refrain from the recap of the infamous (if you're a Buffalo fan) end. But you can watch the entire final 10 minutes below. Ominously, they talk about Scott Norwood throughout. It always comes down to the kicker in a tight spot. Always seems to, anyway. And they only remember you, as I know they do in Buffalo, when you earn it... for better or worse.

I just found out today that Spencer Daniels has been cast in J.J. Abrams' redux STAR TREK movie as Captain Kirk's brother, Sam.

I was fortunate enough to cast Spencer as the lead in my short film WITCHWISE a few years back and he proved to be a great choice. Awesome kid with a lot of potential and I'm very happy for him.

We were supposed to rally in front of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle (you'll always be the NY Coliseum to me, baby girl).

A sign of good faith as bargaining resumes between leadership and management? We shall see...

I saw CLOVERFIELD earlier in the week and absolutely loved it. Visceral, thrilling and tense.

I remember when THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT divided the nation into factions who got what was brilliant and frightening about it... and those who bitched at the shaky cam and/or lack of actual things on screen to be scared of. I won't get into the merits of showing what we're scared of versus keeping it off-screen (I, personally, think BLAIR WITCH was one of the scariest movies I've probably seen in my adult life)... but I do see some people bitching and moaning about the handheld cameras... again. Which... well, you just missed the point if you think this aspect should've been left out.

What a game. What a fucking game. Though, if you've been paying attention, this shouldn't surprise you. This team is magic. Ever since that goal line stand in Washington, they've gotten better and better. What's one more road game in two weeks?

If you're a betting man, how do you not take the Giants over the Patriots at this point? They're playing with the house's money right now and thriving. Man, I can't wait to watch this defense take another crack at Tom Brady.

Greatest Giants game since last week's game in Dallas. And they're both two of the biggest in Giants history.

Go Big Blue!

I forgot to post mention of my favorite movie(s) of 2007. My screener stack runneth over and, since it looks like we WGAians nominated "Michael Clayton", I'll be getting a DVD of this shortly. But, of the movies I've seen, "There Will Be Blood" takes my best picture award.

Daniel Day Lewis glows brighter than I could have even expected... and who doesn't expect a mesmerizing performance from Lewis? Astounding job. Paul Thomas Anderson has finally made the mature movie to stand next to "Boogie Nights" in his cannon of exceptional filmmaking. From the pure cinema of the opening search for oil at all costs to the unrepentant raving of an ending that almost defies you to feel bad for a character so comfortable with what's devilishly wrong with him you have to just shrug and allow what works for one to work.

Although if one really predicts blood... next weekend things get really interesting:

United Hollywood has the lowdown on the recently struck deal between the DGA and the AMPTP, dissecting all the pros and cons as they see it. Very useful and illuminating.

Working Life has their own analysis (which I'm going to digest later today).

I agree with John Rogers, honestly. This is a deal that seems pretty good considering the Guild which struck it doesn't really depend on residuals the way the WGA membership does, and has struck over.

This deal seems to suck for TV people. And since, as a feature writer, I have the relatively unique perspective of marching the picket line with mostly television people... I suspect I'm going to hear a lot of misgivings in my circular walkabouts this coming week.

Honestly, the single most annoying thing I hear from my non-WGA Hollywood-type friends, colleagues and associates is that the DGA's acceptance of the studios' terms represents some sort of fait accompli... as though we, the writers who started and caused this whole labor mess, will have no choice but to accept what the directors got and end our strike.

Why?

Hey, I think this covenant between the directors and the bosses is a good step toward our own settlement. It's shady in that it clearly shows the AMPTP has not been remotely interested in bargaining with us fairly before getting the easier to roll Directors Guild to agree to more favorable terms. But we're apples and oranges here. And while I know the prospect of getting back to work is going to tempt some of our membership to really consider taking what we can get and ending the walkout... I don't see us caving unless the residual numbers come up substantially.

And why, oh why, don't I see that happening easily, quickly or willingly on the part of management?

Yankees future (and present?) franchise ace pitcher Phil Hughes has a blog. And it's not one of those ridiculous commercial site-hosted deals either.

In one post, he picks the Giants over the Packers Sunday, contemplates using Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" as his walkout song (an excellent choice, btw) and wishes for an end to our cursed writers strike so new episodes of "The Office" can be made.

Seems like a nice, bright kid with a hell of a future. I'm looking forward to a big 2008 and to seeing him open the new Yankee Stadium in 2009. A pitching talent like Hughes comes along once in a long, long time. Very excited, I am.

Assuming we don't trade him for Johan Santana, I mean.

God, it feels great to beat the fucking Cowboys...

Next week's NFC Championship game on the frozen tundra of Green Bay's Lambeau Field is the biggest Giants' game in 20 years (note: I have conveniently forgotten the 2001 Super Bowl loss to Baltimore and, to make the memory purge that much easier, the NFC Championship win over the Vikings that preceded it -- I'm nothing if not thorough).

How long before Jessica Simpson dumps the biggest pretender of a big name quarterback I've ever had the pleasure to watch melt down in the playoffs? I'm assuming Michael Strahan will still consider her, but not for very long...

Aww, they're so cute...

As Andrew Sullivan writes on his blog alongside this embedded video, "All resemblances to the Obama-Clinton fight are accidental."

Indeed.

My Giants seem to be surging at the right time. I believe Eli Manning has most of the same tools his brother Peyton has. I think he's got lightning in that right arm... he simply might be mildly retarded or something, hence the slow development.

We shall see...

Meanwhile, the trash talking escalates. I wish the Giants would shutup, myself... though it's hard not to smile when Michael Strahan both stands up for Dallas QB Tony Romo in his dating (and understandable distraction) Jessica Simpson... as well as makes his own move on Miss Daisy Duke.

To quote Strahan: "...if Jessica Simpson wanted to date me, I may give her a shot."

Should make for very interesting trash talk when the Giants all-time sack leader plants Romo into the turf on Sunday.

Go Giants!

When not walking the WGA picket line and/or absorbing every scrap of shameless election porn on cable news... over and over... I get work done. Well, I try anyway.

What's up at present:

• Just finished an issue of a BATMAN project to debut this summer. I'll post more on this once DC solicits the book.


• There's something else going on with THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY. The Fox Atomic/Harper Collins graphic novel was so much fun. Can't wait to dig into this new part.


• I'm developing three new, original creator-owned comics series' with a trio of artists I'm excited to be working with and proud to call friends. I feel rejuvenated, working in comics like this again. Once upon a time, I aspired to climb the Marvel ladder... to toil on lesser books, then X-books, then bigger X-books, then... splat. Times changed. I made horror movies but still longed to write comics. I'm so pleased things have come back around and feel I'm just starting to really get my feet under me, my voice in shape, etc. This is fun and I'm very excited to get these projects out there.


• And since I'm not screenwriting for money... I've also been writing a new paranoid thriller spec about fear, war and government control. I left a variety of projects I'd been developing with different producers and companies attached either on the table or in suspended animation. I miss them all and can't wait for this strike to end so we can get back to work getting those going. But this strike has given me the unexpected chance to spend time writing things I really care about, say things I really want to say. I'm really excited about this new script I'm working on.

Well, that hurt. While I love seeing Bill Clinton on the winner's stage once again, I'm disappointed in last night's outcome. Not that I don't admire Hillary... I absolutely do. And I could, were it not for her past voting record and the inspirational campaign of Barack Obama, get very, very excited about the prospect of our first woman President.

But, really... it's this simple:

If you believe launching an illegal, immoral war against the Iraqi people which has no end in sight was a good thing... you're a Clinton democrat.

If you really can't wait to go after Iran next on the same sort of imaginary justifications and political, opportunistic posturing... you must also be excited about Hillary!

Hillary's experience, while vast and varied, includes enabling George Bush and the republicans in the greatest foreign policy tragedy of any of our lifetimes. But, hey... at least she's projecting "strength" in her refusal to apologize for it!

You know, the next well-intentioned whussy of a Democrat who has the balls to say something to the effect of: "America is never going to elect a black man" or "Do you know anyone outside of New York and California?" with regards to my enthusiastic confidence that Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States is going to get punched in the side of their non-attention paying head.

Senator Obama just opened a double-digit lead over Hillary the Dinosaur in New Hampshire. I would say this nomination is almost in the bag. On Wednesday morning, after the Democratic Establishment rank and file flock to his candidacy... after the South Carolina and Nevada Primaries later this month in which black voters are expected to surge the polls and unionized hospitality industry workers are expected to endorse heavily... he'll be an unstoppable freight train.

Now, I understand where doubt comes from... we've watched our leaders bow before Bush and his Republican thugocracy for too damn long. We've watched them whistle a melody while he appointed super-right wing Justices to the Supreme Court. We've watched them cow as Bush eviscerated Habeas Corpus, the Bill of Rights and the sanctity of the Geneva Conventions. And we've all choked down enough bile as scandal after scandal erupts then fades due to the timidity of a Democratic Congress unwilling to end the war, impeach the scumbags who deserve it, or bring swift action against the myriad of wrongdoings, law-breakings and shit-wipings they've foisted upon a staggered, beleaguered nation.

But if you're not paying attention to what Barack Obama is doing... if you're not aware that he just won the Iowa Caucuses with a turnout that favored Democrats almost 3-1 as opposed to Republicans... if you're not conscious of the fact that young people actually showed up to vote this time out... if you're not paying attention to the fact that both Iowa and New Hampshire (two of the whitest states in the country) have both independents and republicans showing up to cast inspired ballots for the great, Democratic hope...

You just might be a lost cause.

Get on the bandwagon, people. To naysay is to be mocked at this point so far as I'm concerned... to be laughed at heartily because you're on the wrong side of the sea change sweeping this pissed-off, yet yearning country.

Don't be a statistic.

Well, sort of... I haven't been down at the Conan/NBC picketing last week, but I'm resuming my line walking duties today when we show up to picket the return of THE DAILY SHOW this afternoon.

Come down and check it out if you're curious... we'll be at 51st Street & 11th Avenue. Should be something of a media event. We'll be out in concentrated force.

We're then picketing Viacom in a big way on Wednesday.

Big things happening... I think. We'll see. But I'm optimistic about the UA deal and reports Nikki is referring to regarding lots of side deals with movie companies such as The Weinsteins, Lion's Gate and more.

We remain united and I don't see us cracking anytime soon. We're getting the deal we want or I'm confident we won't vote to accept.

I wasn't all that thrilled, initially, by leadership's recent deal with Letterman's World Wide Pants to get Dave back on the air... but something about this makes me perk up and get excited.

Nikki Finke has the details, as usual...

Now this is damn good stuff...