I hate to break this to you, but. . .

. . these are some inevitable truths that 2008 has already presented us:

a) Britney really has lost it, poor thing. .
b) Race is still an issue on the Presidential campaign trail.
c) There hasn’t been a real “dynasty” in major league sports since the 90s.
d) The dollar in your pocket isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on outside of the U.S.
e) The Writers Strike is not letting up anytime soon.

While I’d love to dialogue about all of these revelations, let’s be honest, by the time it’s all said and done, you’re probably gonna miss the last two new episodes of your favorite show. . . .and given the circumstances, you might not want to waste that precious time.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the ever-present Writer’s Strike, here’s a brief re-cap of the situation:

The Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West are labor unions which represent film, radio, and television writers. The two unions, are striking against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over the WGA contract as it pertains to “DVD residuals; jurisdiction over animation and reality program writers; and, perhaps most importantly, compensation for "new media"-- content written for (or distributed through) emerging digital technology such as the Internet.” (cited: from “2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike”: http://www.wikipedia.org/). In other words, David is standing up to Goliath and we’re all suffering the consequences.

Basically, the writers want to negoiate a new contract to ensure that they are being fairly compensated (residuals) for all forms of new media in which their work is broadcast (TiVo, online streaming, iTunes, etc.) and for reprints/re-runs of their work (DVDs, etc.).

With no end in sight, the real question becomes how will you fill your time? For those of you who, like me are cable-babies and are already experiencing withdrawal symptoms, I would like to offer some tips in order to fill the estimated 3.5 hours daily you used to spend watching TV:

1) Start from the beginning and watch the re-runs of your favorite shows or rent/buy DVDs. -Reminisce on how it all began. . . .

2) DVR your shows now and don’t watch them
-Kind of like spreading the jam a little thinner on the sandwich, make ‘em last as long as possible. (then if you were smart, cancel your cable until the strike is over- ain’t nothing on anyway. . .)

3) Find a friend -There’s probably one or two that you haven’t heard from in a while.

4) Watch more YouTube
-People never cease to amaze me at the things they put out for the public to see.

5) Read a book
-I know this foreign for most of you who haven’t picked up a book since college, but give it a try.

6) If you’re single, go on more dates. If you’re not, compromise and refer to bullet #2.

7) Have a house party.

8) Give into “reality TV”
– American Idol, FOL3, Celebrity Apprentice, ANTM (season 10 –please make it stop!), Project Runway, Top Chef, Deal or No Deal, etc.

9) Succeed in actually fulfilling your New Year’s Resolution.

10) Keep reading The Collective. We promise to education and entertain!