Allen Rucker

BUSTER GOES SKIING

2010-02-04T11:06:00.000-08:00

Buster is headed for Mammoth this weekend and he's knows the look. For those of you who have too much free time on your hands and want to follow Buster's lifestyle, go to http://buster365.tumblr.com. And yes, he is available for weddings and bar mitzvahs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLAINE!

2010-01-25T11:17:00.001-08:00

Old man take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me
the whole day through
Ah, one look in my eyes
and you can tell that's true.

BUY ABILITY

2010-01-19T14:21:00.000-08:00

Go out and buy (or subscribe) to the Dec-Jan issue of ABILITY Magazine, for two reasons: an excellent report on the HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM last October by David Radcliff. And a profile of comic actor David L. Lander by AR. Thank you, Chet and ABILITY, which are one and the same.

ABILITY.

Also go to: http://www.abilitymagazine.com/.

Over.

MY SISTER LOUISE

2010-01-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

Louise Rucker Connor

June 20, 1938 - January 7, 2010

CHEERS TO ALL

2009-12-29T12:57:00.000-08:00

Buster toasts the whole lot of you but he can handle it -- he's a big dog. Photo courtesy of Buster's mistress, Nicole Mournian. Happy New Year!

A T-SHIRT IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

2009-12-19T16:16:00.001-08:00

From Nancy Cain, the video OG turned Robert Frank of Desert Hot Springs, CA. Merry Christmas, friend.

JOY ALL

2009-12-16T11:58:00.001-08:00

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong

Thank you, LOU BEACH, for the beautiful image, and thank you everyone else for reading this, writing back, sending photos, buying books, and all the rest. Now for a new decade, hopefully better than the old decade. Peace!

HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM KILLS!

2009-10-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM PICS. PIC #1: DARYL "CHILL" MITCHELL ("BROTHERS"), AR, RJ MITTE ("BREAKING BAD"). PIC #2: from left to right: DAVID MILCH ("DEADWOOD"), JANIS HIRSCH ("BROTHERS"), OLIVIA RAYNOR (UCLA), CHILL MITCHELL, LINDA BOVE ("SESAME STREET"), ROBERT DAVID HALL ("CSI"), AR, VINCE GILLIGAN ("BREAKING BAD"), MARGARET NAGLE ("WARM SPRINGS"), RJ MITTE, PETER FARRELLY ("SOMETHING ABOUT MARY").

I borrowed the following copy about last Saturday's event at UCLA from my friend, Jason Boog, editor of the hip publishing blog, GalleyCat (http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat). It's a deft summary.

Saturday, Oct. 24, celebrities, screenwriters, actors, and writers mounted the first-ever Hollywood Disabilities Forum--an event for entertainment industry professionals to "explore opportunities and challenges of people with disabilities in entertainment." Comedy writers (and actors) Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant contributed that mildly controversial video(NOTE: SOON TO BE SEEN HERE) to support the cause.

The all-day event was held at UCLA's Melnitz Hall. GalleyCat caught up with Allen Rucker--the Writers with Disabilities chair for the Writers Guild of America, West and a critically-acclaimed author--to find out more about the event.

He explained: "The event was packed. Two morning workshops for aspiring actors and writers with disabilities had to turn people away. The afternoon keynote by 'Something About Mary' director Peter Farrelly was an hysterical primer on how things get done in Hollywood. After that, the panel of Farrelly, David Milch ("Deadwood" creator), Vince Gilligan ("Breaking Bad" creator), Daryl Mitchell (star of the new Fox series, "Brothers,"--the first sitcom ever to star in a man using a wheelchair), and others."

Rucker concluded by laying out the day's most controversial writing topic: "They discussed the creative inclusion of characters with disabilities into their work and argued, sometimes vehemently, over the issue of whether only actors with disabilities have the right to play characters with disabilities."

LOGO LOGO LOGO

2009-10-13T11:10:00.000-07:00

This is the new logo for the WGA Writers With Disabilities Committee, dreamed up by Karol Silverstein and designed by Blaine Rucker.

Elegant, no?

HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM...BE THERE!

2009-10-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am the chair of the Writers With Disabilities Committee at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and in that capacity, I am one of the producers (with SAG, AFTRA, et al) of a star-studded event on SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24TH, at UCLA. It's called the HOLLYWOOD DISABILITIES FORUM and it will bring together all kinds of Hollywood movers and shakers to talk about increasing the presence on TV and film of the 56 million disabled Americans out there.

After morning workshops for writers and actors with disabilities, RICKY GERVAIS will open the main proceedings with a taped welcome from London. Then writer/director PETER FARRELLY ("Something About Mary," "Kingpin," "The Ringer," "Me, Myself, and Irene," etc, etc) will give the keynote address.

Then a panel of serious writers and actors -- DAVID MILCH ("NYPD Blue," "Deadwood"), DARYL "CHILL" MITCHELL ("Brothers"), VINCE GILLIGAN("Breaking Bad"), RJ MITTE("Breaking Bad"), JANIS HIRSCH ("Will & Grace," "Brothers"), LINDA BOVE ("Sesame Street"), DANNY WOODBURN ("Seinfeld") -- will talk about the creative possibilities of disability-connected characters, humor, and story lines. Then we'll have cocktails and laugh about human frailties of all kinds.

For more info, go the FACE BOOK and search "Hollywood Disabilities Forum." Or contact diversity@wga.org.

This is a first of its kind event in Hollywood and has already gotten more response than we ever imagined. Let the gimp media revolution begin!

TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF WHITENESS

2009-09-18T10:41:00.001-07:00

These are pictures from the 25th anniversary reunion of most of the people involved in the TV series,"The History of White People in America." Look closely and you will see Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Mary Kay Place, Michael McKean, Julie Payne, and David L. Lander, among others. Not present, sadly, is director and co-star Harry Shearer, who was in New Orleans at the time. You will also spot the gracious Kevin Bright, who both produced all the White People shows and hosted this soiree at his Malibu compound. Mary Willard took all the pictures and Wendy Mull and Ann-Marie Rucker are in one of them.

The White People shows, originally broadcast on Cinemax and HBO, are still available on Amazon.com. Just type in "The History of White People In America."

Perfect setting, perfect crowd. I am blessed to know and have worked with every one of these fine people.

SUMMERTIME SUMMERTIME SUM-SUM-SUMMERTIME

2009-09-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, home of the Little Bohemia Lodge, site of famous 1934 John Dillinger shoot-out, where you can still see the toiletries he left behind. We stayed at Voss's Birchwood Lodge down the road. We ate all you could eat at Paul Bunyan's in Minocqua. We took the ferry to Madeline Island. We sat by the fire and played Casino. A good time was had by all.

LOCOMOTOR TRAINING

2009-07-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

Do you know what it is? Have you heard about it and said to yourself, "I've heard about that, but really don't KNOW about it"? Well, stop fretting and read the August issue of NEW MOBILITY MAGAZINE -- in print or on-line at http://www.newmobility.com/ -- where I've written a long piece about LOCOMOTOR TRAINING, or LT. It's pretty amazing. I've seen incomplete quads who've applied themselves to LT and can now walk across the room in a walker. It's not a cure-all but it's not pie-in-the-sky BS either. And there's a lot of research money behind it betting it will change a whole lot of lives. To learn more...

NEW MOBILITY, AUGUST ISSUE, IN YOUR MAILBOX OR ON-LINE ON AUG 1, 2009.

Thanks for listening.

BUY THIS BOOK

2009-06-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

A brand-new edition of probably the very best resource for anyone who is paralyzed, quasi-paralyzed, or just thinking about becoming paralyzed has just been published, and it's a beauty.

It's called SPINAL NETWORK: THE TOTAL WHEELCHAIR RESOURCE BOOK. If you are old enough to grok the reference, it is the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG of all things wheelchair and para-health related, from sex, travel, and sports to personal assistance services, insurance, and cure research. It's all there.

There are also many witty and provocative essays on life in a wheelchair by people who live it daily. For instance: in a section called "Our Labels, Ourselves," a writer named S.L. Rosen makes this eloquent observation:

"For me, and I imagine for most others like me,'survivor' is the real term that holds meaning. We are surviving indeed, to the embarrassment of a society that can't figure out what to do with us, ghastly successes of that medical skill of patching together shards of people who, some years ago, wouldn't have survived at all."

Even crips, patched-up shards that we are, tend to take life for granted.

Anyway, get the SPINAL NETWORK book by logging on to www.spinalnetwork.net or calling 888-850-0344 ext 209. It runs 400 pages and cost $34.95. It's worth every penny.

Mention my name and it won't save you a dime.

BUSTER AND THE PIG

2009-06-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

Buster is not part of the Vegan Generation. He's a throwback to the Pigmeat Generation.

RAMP THAT

2009-05-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

Another nightmare wheelchair scenario courtesy of writer and Philadelphia's favorite daughter, Karol Silverstein. Thanks, K.

see more pwn and owned pictures

WE GET LETTERS

2009-04-25T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the best I've ever gotten re "The Best Seat In The House." I just received circuitously via my agent in New York because my email service on this site messed up again. In any case, this note goes on top of a big stack. I will now shamelessly reproduce it as a way to thank the very thoughtful Judy Finelli.

"Mr Rucker, you wrote one hell of a book. I loved it! I am a 61 year old quad and you had me in tears, laughing and crying in recognition. As far as I am concerned, you did the impossible -- you found the humor in the horror. Not only did you tell your own story, your own personal truth, but you told all of our stories. That's the neatest trick of all.

Gratefully, Judy Finelli, San Francisco Clown Conservatory"

Thank you, thank you, Ms. Finelli.

I say, if you want to be a clown, go see Judy.

REAL NEWS

2009-04-22T09:09:00.001-07:00

If you didn't catch Tuesday's New York Time Health section, you probably missed this astounding story. I'll just give you my own headline.

THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT MORE PARALYZED PEOPLE IN AMERICA THAN EVER IMAGINE!

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation commissioned a meticulously designed study to revisit the old guesses about this population and here's what they discovered:

* There are 5.6 MILLION people in the US paralyzed by a central nervous system disorder. That's almost 2% of the population.

* There are probably FIVE TIMES as many SCI paralytics out there as previously thought. The old number, seemingly writ in stone, was 250,000. The new number: 1.275 MILLION. Big dif.

* The number of people with paralysis due to MS -- where I more or less fit -- was estimated to be 939,000, which is TWICE the previous estimate of all people with the disease, period.

All of this leads me back to a question I have had since the day I became paralyzed. With all those paralyzed people, a majority of them in wheelchairs, I'd guess, how come I rarely see any of them in public? You go to IKEA on a Saturday, the place is filled because they're having a sale on cooking pots or something, and you'll see one or two wheelchair users, tops, and one of them is simply overweight. Strange. 2% of the population and it's virtually invisible.

Here's the Times link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21para.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Paralysis%20study&st=cse

Back to you, Brian.

MEET BUSTER

2009-04-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

A recent addition to our extended family. This is Buster, a French bulldog or "Frenchie," as a pup. A few months later, he now weighs in at 25 beefy lbs. It's hard to be depressed when you're around Buster.

WAKE UP AND READ

2009-04-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

Please check out -- if you are so inclined -- the April 09 issue of NEW MOBILITY MAGAZINE, either hard copy or on line.

http://www.newmobility.com

I wrote the cover story about Hollywood and the disabled, called THE NEW GIMP MEDIA REVOLUTION.

Also, I'm proud to say that I am now a Contributing Editor to NEW MOBILITY, a fine mag which has just been nominated for 2009 UTNE READER INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD in the category of Health/Wellness Coverage. Congratulations, Editor Tim Gilmer, Publisher Jeff Leonard, Editorial Director Jean Dobbs, Managing Editor Josie Byzek, and all other staff and writers.

NM celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and deserves your support.

Thanks for listening.

MAIL SNAFU

2009-03-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers and Writers: Because I'm a computer Bozo and let my mailbox at ar@allenrucker.com get overstuffed, much mail has been getting kicked back to senders lately. If this has happened to your mail, please resend. We here at allenrucker.com thrive on your spirited correspondence. Keep it coming, please.

Just back from three days in Palo Alto speaking at the new Stanford Med SCI Partnership with the Palo Alto VA and others. Created and run by the dynamic Dr. Graham Creasey, this program links SCI researchers and staff at Stanford with the vet population at the VA SCI unit and other facilities. I learned more about my own psychic situation talking for an hour to a roomful of severely disabled vets, young and old, than I have at a hundred medical conferences. Thanks, Dr. Creasey, for a memorable visit.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING

2009-03-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

If you are a published author -- and you know who you are -- consider joining THE AUTHORS GUILD(http://www.authorsguild.org/), a group looking out for all writers' best interests. The guild, currently headed by one of America's finest writers, ROY BLOUNT JR, recently settled a case for $145 million with GOOGLE to provide authors royalties on all books that Google plans to scan and offer free of charge. And Roy just wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times about Amazon's new and egregious practice of providing in-house audio versions of copyrighted books for free on KINDLE. I love my Kindle but this is thievery. And THE AUTHORS GUILD is out there fighting it.

This week I'll be at Stanford Medical Center and the Palo Alto VA on Thursday (19th) and at the CSUN Disability Tech Expo at the LA Renaissance Hotel at LAX on Saturday (21st). If you are interested in the Expo, a big one, go to http://www.csunconference.org.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

2009-02-25T11:25:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION K-MART SHOPPERS! Your favorite web destination -- ALLENRUCKER.COM - will soon come to you with a whole new look! It's a total face lift and tummy tuck. With all new features, like...HOW TO BUY AR BOOKS DIRECTLY! MORE VIDEO! GREAT NEW GRAPHICS! AND OTHER STUFF. Please stay tuned.

Secondly, AR would like to thank the wonderful people at the DAYLE MCINTOSH CENTER FOR THE DISABLED for inviting him down to speak at their big awards gala last Friday. It's a terrific organization. If you live in So Cal, check it out.

Thirdly, AR will be speaking next at the CSUN Conference on Technology and People with Disabilities on Saturday, March 21 at noon at the LAX Marriott, sponsored by FLEXICISER. Go to http://www.csunconference.org for more info.

Finally, see above -- the message of the day.

READERS OF THE WORLD

2009-02-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Check out this month's (FEB 09) issue of that fine mag, NEW MOBILITY. http://www.newmobility.com/ The cover story is called SEX, WHEELS, AND RELATIONSHIPS. You wouldn't want to miss that. When you cool off, read my story on the evolving jargon of DISABLE-SPEAK.

Then tell 100 of your closest friends to subscribe. It's a very classy publication, whether you are a wheelchair user or not.

Do it. Now. Chop-chop.

Thanks.