Sebar's Blog

The world class Chef Gordon Ramsey known for his expletives continues to run hot shows that sizzle viewers. With the worst cast of chef contestants vying for a prize in Ramsey's own Los Angeles restaurant, the competition has been anything but lack luster, while dinner guests are treated to cursing, yelling and chaos in the kitchen rather than to a dinner. I honestly feel sorry for Jean Phillip and have wondered how long he will be staying on with the abuse he must get, though being a famous TV waiter does maintain his interest I suppose. Another thing I have wondered about is this. Who is making all the drinks for the dinner guests? We never see who is pouring the drinks or mixing them, and it seems the drinks at least are getting out to the tables.

To date I have not seen anyone majorly worthy of winning the restaurant and I must say that I often wonder if Chef Ramsey is seeing the same thing. Though anyone can go home on a whim and I do mean that literally, I would think that Christina and Jen are at the top of their game. On the guys side I would have to say Louross followed by Bobby seem to be it with a distant Petroza as third. My feelings are the competition will go to the girls though, and the girls I do not care for as contestants are both Corey and Rosann. As for the guys, you have Ben who Ramsey seems to ride and Matt who has the weirdest facial expressions. Like I stated earlier, there isn't much here that seems deserving of running Ramsey's L.A. restaurant that I have yet seen in this competition. Unless something terrible happens here I can easily see both Christina and Louross in the final two and hopefully Chef Ramsey sees that too as he has in the past exercised his proxy on the competitors. As for Bobby, the four star general, I have yet to see anything even remotely resembling leadership!

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

It has been bandied about for many years now "Is Van Nuys airport going to take on the excess traffic of Burbank and LAX amongst others?" The question has haunted residents (wink) living near the airport for years, so I decided to look into the cold hard facts and here is what I found out.

Van Nuys has two main parallel runways that can accommodate large jets including the 747, yes you heard me right. It isn't that far fetched and extending the runway to Victory Blvd, while acing a golf course or beyond, would all but cement its future in that direction; much to the dismay of one very pretty Vanna White, whose own jets currently use the field.

Runway 16R/34L has a length as of this writing of 8,001 feet and the other runway 16L/34R has a length of 4,011 feet in length. Yeah I know what you folks are going to say, that a 747 cannot takeoff from 34L....WRONG! While a 747 requires 10,500 feet to take off, that is at full capacity. According to the ATSB, a 747-400 can take off from 8,400 feet with a 90% capacity and at only 80% capacity can take off from 6,600 feet putting it easily on the tarmac at runway 34L. In addition here are the remaining numbers of aircraft in usage today that could use 34L and a future expansion to both runways would open Van Nuys up to major air traffic which homeowners and local businesses dread equally.

Here are the ATSB specs on current aircraft in use at U.S. airports including LAX and Burbank amongst others.

MD-81 4,400, 5,700, 7,800 feet at full capacity
MD-11 7,800, 10,000, 11,800 feet at full capacity
737-700 4,600, 6,300, 10,300 feet at full capacity
737-300 4,700, 6,000, 10,600 feet at full capacity
747- 400 6,600, 8,400, 10,500 feet at full capacity
757-200 5,000, 6,500, 10,000 feet at full capacity
767-400 6,500, 8,300, 11,000 feet at full capacity
777-200 5,500, 7,600, 11,500 feet at full capacity
Airbus A320 4,300, 5,400, 6,600 feet at full capacity
Airbus A300 4,900, 6,400, 8,000 feet at full capacity

Now, with the proper figures above, you can see that almost all of the aircraft in some capacity and even others at full capacity can easily be accommodated by runway 34L; and if runway 34R were lengthened or even both runways lengthened, it changes the entire dynamics of the airport completely.

So the big question is not if it will happen but when it will happen and how it will change the central San Fernando Valley and either benefit or fail the L.A. passenger and cargo air routes locally? I know one thing, Rick will love those Mamas donuts as he fraternizes with local 747 pilots...cheers!

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Generally I am right about things like this. After a bit of a hiatus on the show since the strike, I began watching some episodes and was quite shocked to see where the writers and production were going with the format of this show. Now while big names and great talents as the actors can float a show, they cannot keep ratings covered for too long. The format and consistent character developments, and especially plots are what make and break all entertainment venues, no matters the genre. While I do not generally author comedy and leave that genre to far better authors then myself, I must say that two traps are at play. Kids and animals...yes you heard me right.

Kids and animals will always upstage other talents no matter how great those talents are and the family plot now in play, is a sure path to a quick ratings grade drop. The show is originally about news anchors and the news cast around them, and that is where the writers and production should go. What they have essentially done, is take a unique show and turn it into another show about a family of sorts, and this is very, very bad indeed. Because the show's original sales premise was the newsroom, the anchors and field reporters and all those antics, however it has quickly gotten away from what worked.

If I might offer my best advice, "Back To You" needs to go back to its original roots of the newsroom antics or suffer the consequences of becoming, Back To The Defunct TV Series Junkpiles.

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Here is the third party a Conservative party candidate for president "Chuck Baldwin. I hear so many people saying they have to go McCain or the other two. No you don't. If you want to make a change, here it is. If you vote for the others, then good luck, because you'll need it. Anyhow listen to what is being said by the candidate. Maybe Bob Tarlau a news head will actually give this candidate and party some real airtime. Hey BOB, if you don't like the other choices then do what is right for your country. Give equal time for equal politicians who will fix what is broken or suffer the consequences of losing your freedoms to Liberalized socialists. Your children and their children will thank you all for having the guts to hear others who can fix what is broken. To those out there, make a wise vote because your very future hinges on it now. Ok, I have made my piece...good luck.

http://www.constitutionparty.com/

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Hath, no rath like unbridled greed - Sebar 2008 

and you can quote me on that one folks. As sure as I am sitting here, the guy who predicted 4 dollars a gallon by this summer is now saying 10 dollars within a year or two and oil at 200 dollars a barrel and higher. That means you and this country which is an oil based economy are being raped and there is no government trying to protect you. It has nothing to do with free markets either. The oil industry is a monopoly from the very top to the near bottom and this government is saying a very big goodbye to everything that people in the past and present have sacrificed their lives over. We have to secure Iraq and its borders with our blood. Who is securing our borders and speaking of Iraq, the trillions we are spending rebuilding their entire infrastructure. How about providing us payback in oil rather then shipping Iraq's reconstruction to foreign countries and thumbing your nose at America?

I am telling you folks, and I have said this for a very long long time. The government is fostering great changes in this country and I am telling you that unless the Feds protect you and everyone else here as China does for its citizens, you can kiss everything goodbye. It will end in a bloody revolution. Just the thought of this all is too God damned depressing. Did you know the reason the Chinese can drive Luxury Cadillac Escalade's cheap, their government has laws regulating gas prices. That is absolutely correct. They regulate gas prices so that their people aren't getting buried by high fuel prices, while your government has thrown you to the wolves, in fact has thrown everything to the wolves. People cannot afford gas prices right now, and it is making everything else rapidly accelerate to the point that the middle class in this country is being rapidly KILLED off. American cities are crumbling while the Feds piss our money away to every other cause in the world except taking care of its people, and how are you rewarded by all branches of government? Taxes, taxes and more taxes, because you're rich! If you thought 4 dollars is bad, just wait till you are paying 10 dollars a gallon. Canadians are already being gouged as high as $5.62 a gallon. Gas and Diesel isn't a free market, but rather a monopoly as I had mentioned. It is time to re-regulate a monopolized market and bring the products in line, and stop allowing foreign companies to drill American oil and sell it to foreign markets. Charity beings at home, or we will continue to disappear under that Unbridled Greed!

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Okay, The Tonight Show goes to Conan because NBC promised it to him, great. I can respect them for honoring their word. That means Jay Leno is out. Yeah they will give him this or that to keep him, but he is essentially out. As a long term strategy, honoring what they promised means that the longterm show will tank, because to be very honest, Conan isn't very funny, and he leans way left in many cases, which means he gets only half America, as to where Jay leaned in the center and appeals to most everyone alike. So as the TN on NBC begins to fail, they might try and throw Jay Leno in there again, but it will not feel or be the same after NBC realizes their programming mistake. So here is what FOX does, if they are smart.

Instead of waiting for Leno to come to FOX, the network should throw any and everything to Leno including his own show, his band, whatever the guy wants. One idea I have had for years is a Merv Griffin/ Andy Williams variety hour like in the early 70's. This is the type of show that has long been missing, and to make it even better, include both Smothers Brothers as frequent supporting guests with Leno. Have music, skits, plots and stage entertainment before a taped audience each week, and nothing in that FOX hour will be able to overcome the powerful ratings of a show like this, and I know just how to format it. You can even have Mark Thomas dancing away and introducing Jay's dancing guests amongst many other things, or let Jillian do some ice skating taped sequences for the show with ice skating guests included for a ten minute segment. Remember the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and his "Really Big Shoe" as I spell it, though he really meant show? Well this is waiting to happen. All FOX has to do is set up a brunch and it can happen with the parties that be. With Mr. Murdoch, money isn't an issue and with the quality programming, a smart format that is consistent, and keeps offering new entertainment on a weekly basis most of the year around, the entertainment sky is the limit. It all starts with FOX realizing they can have something new with great older talents and introducing younger or newer talents to the American screen and beyond.

It is just a matter of the will power to make it all happen.

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Stop Illegal Aliens from all countries from invading America... Click Here

Stop The North American Union. Stop the Super Highway, stop the Amero and preserve the US Constitution and our borders, language and culture... Click Here



For Conservatives, check this out. Call your congressman here is a lobby toolkit for you.

How they Voted on Amnesty for Illegals... Click Here!

Read about the bill to kill NAFTA once and for all. Current Globalist elitist Feds are destroying our great country as well as many in Congress. Stop them cold with legislation, weigh in, get involved, restore America.

George W. Bush is pushing the very L.O.S.T. at Sea program rejected by Reagan. It is time to click the nearest link above and read what it is. It essentially surrenders our naval power at sea to a world body made up of countries including Russia and China. Is this president on drugs or what? This is one that the media hasn't been following too closely, but it is happening. We are being rapidly dissected to death by this President and our liberties squandered like yesteryears old newspaper crumplings. Get involved and lobby your congressman and woman to just say no and kill the L.O.S.T. program once and for all.

Much more happening here at the Constitution Party H.Q. Dr. Michael Savage so far has not recognized this party and Bob Tarlau is mum on the third alternative. I say to these powerful men, stop ignoring it, embrace it and let's all put that third child in the pen to go at it and start rebuilding the tinker set known as America that others have been knocking down, before the pieces disappear from the crib. How about it Bob Tarlau and FOX news, if you are all really Conservative how about sticking with real Conservatism???

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Time to post the topic. The WGA strike is over and they got a lot of what they wanted, but not everything, like a larger say in the production hacking of material. But that is another topic for another day.

Like a giant Dinosaur of old, the many guilds are not always addressing issues, but then again there are those that do. The WGA, does have a great future ahead and its members, but it also has issues that must adapt to the 21st century and so here are my own thoughts on what the WGA might consider changing.

1.) The Repository - First and foremost is the repository and 5 years for registered work. We live in the electronic or E-age as I call it. A filmplay or stageplay or teleplay in pdf format takes up no room, and the Terrabyte drives are already here. It is time to begin archiving a larger one time fee for the life of the author, the media script in pdf format. They can always be backed up to blank dvd media and stored until future usage may be required. This 5 years nonsense as a revenue generator is passe. Time to bring the Repository into the E-future and present with everything else. Computers can always database and catalog the works in question and maintain the record.

2.) Memberships - Time to open the flood gates of the guild(s) in this case the WGA and welcome those registering as dues paying "Associate" members of the wga, or Junior members. After all the guild enjoys registering the legitimate work of the public that authors it, and thus should incorporate these junior members or associates whose status changes when they accept professional job earnings. This is a shunned bulk group of literary artists and their participation strengthens, not hurts the guild or existing members. It gives these writers a voice and when the time comes to picket, you have not a tight knit party, but a bulk army behind you.

3.) Computerized Database - It is time to nail down a full blown system that the studio productions can access for existing stories as projects. This brings the studios closer and allows both senior and thus associate members a chance to have their work looked at. A powerful search engine of the work, genre, time period, plot and characters can easily be displayed to studio execs of current registered materials. Now mainstream members would be promoted higher in the searches, since they have a higher priority because of their seniority in the union standing, however, that aside, the talents of newer members would also come through. This would create fast new opportunities and remove the chaotic process of first trying to submit great stories and the service would provide productions, big and small, the opportunities to locate the very projects they want in short order.

4.) Healthcare - The union(s) have for the most part always cared about their members. By enlarging membership to include associates, you can thus barter a large health cost for members, at least senior members from Associate revenues, and as an Associate comes into their own, they would then get that insurance as well. The system does pay for itself.

5.) Abstaining of Work - When existing Senior members cannot get work, they can take a furlough. Again, because of the low cost bulk Associate memberships that the WGA allowed, it can easily compensate for those WGA members who are inactive for a long period of time. The Senior members would then go to a "Dormancy" state and not be hit with huge yearly or quarterly dues until they were better set to working again. Once they located work, in the film biz, their status would be restored to seniority where they left off. This would insure that the union didn't break members financially during times of employment despair

I believe that these 5 reforms to the WGA, and its encouragement of adopting Associate members into the guild at a lower cost for registering work would greatly strengthen the guild and bring in a lot of newer bloodlines for the media industries as well. It streamlines things and makes finding work easier as well as buffering against tighter times. These 5 proposal changes only enhance the WGA and its current membership and fix things that have been broken or have remained in the twentieth century. The time for change exists today so we can all enjoy a better tomorrow.

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

A major Hollywood Acting talent once told me that writers have massive egos, talk about themselves, right? Truth is that most writers struggle hard to create stories, characters, plots and subplots, and it ain't easy either. Writing is not only a craft, it is an employment agency creating many jobs. Think about it a second or two. Writers create the work and jobs sprout from there. Producers, Directors, Camera, Editors, Actors, entire crews, and finally the viewers. Oops I forgot the ad agencies, and the industries that service the other industries and industries that service them. It all starts with pen and paper, ideas, and finally a working story. Hollywood, the United States, the world and even history come from writers.

Let us bypass commercial interests of sorts and go to religious and artistic works throughout history. It all started from authoring words. No matters who they were, what they did, the craft of writing kicked it all off. Was it truly ego? No, it was art. It was the ability to honestly create something from nothing. It was a God given art of proportions greatly unappreciated by the masses throughout time, but it was artistic endeavors, freedom to create and the freedom to appreciate the original gut instinct work. It was never ego, never about monetary gain, rather true art and nothing less then that. It will always be that and never change. Much like a painter doing the endless waves of the Pacific, and a long sun cast upon them like the lazy afternoon, it will always be about creativity, raw God given talents, and no ego can ever fill that!

God bless America and God bless the artists of the globe.

American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!

Well it is simply, the past, present and future. It is a growing musical trend that is overtaking the world. It is made up of several musical components. Fast moving Motown and Soul musical tunes of the mid 1960's to the early 1970's and the dancing to it is a mixture of Irish clogging mixed with Disco splits and traditional dance for faster tunes. Here, listen to this youtube posting and you will soon realize what Northern Soul is. It is the past and future and present times coming together in a new musical trend and it is growing more over time. It is a persistent beat, with energy, drive, consistency and direction.



American Author, Poet, Songwriter and Filmwriter
"Mark Paul" Sebar
The Power To Write The Best!