The Virtual Union

Thousand Oaks, CA – In sport there has been no bigger story in recent months than the personal life of Tiger Woods. While the numerous affairs, the heartbreak of his wife, and loss of sponsors have dominated the headlines those elements are merely cross-current. It is the loss of the squeaky clean, it is the imperfection of someone who seemed so perfect, it is the king coming down to the peons that has made the story so compelling for so many people, as is usually the case for these types of incidents. Scrape TV

Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood divorces are nothing new. From the time when Tinsel Town first began to shine, high profile marriages have frequently ended in high profile splits. The queen of such actions is of course Elizabeth Taylor who has married and divorced eight times. While there are certainly success stories in the town, high profile pairings often end in heart break. It is a combination of factors likely lead to such ends, the biggest of which is simply choosing a partner from such a limited pool which inevitably leads to poor choices. Scrape TV

Los Angeles, CA – Throughout the history of art, creators have often grown tired of the path that has led them to success. No matter the field, creative types have always broken with their own traditions, some with great success, some with more than underwhelming results. While the desire to break out and do something new is something virtually everyone dreams of, creative types frequently grow restless much more quickly than regular people, forcing them to seek new and potentially dangerous outlets for their talents. Scrape TV

Moscow, Russia – On that fateful day in September of 2001 the way the United States saw the world changed forever. Fundamentally altering American foreign policy and the state of the American psyche forever, that attack will likely stand as the greatest terrorist act in human history. Part of the reason for that is because of the people writing the history. Nations throughout the world – England, Spain, India, even Japan – have all struggled with terrorism, sometimes for decades, but it was the attacks in New York that will forever define the act. Scrape TV

New York, NY – The private lives of public people have always held a fascination for the peons of the world. In recent times it is movie and music stars whose intimate details have compelled the masses. Before that it was Kings and Queens, before that even the intimate details of the lives of the Gods were ripe fodder for public discourse. Perhaps that interest is embedded in human beings, the desire to bring the elite down to our level, or perhaps it is just gossip, so universal that it can be discussed with anyone. Whatever the reason, that chatter is here to stay. Scrape TV

Vatican City – The Catholic Church, and by extension all leadership castes of the Christian faith, have been hit by controversy before. Reformation, the Crusades, and countless other crises have come and gone despite real verifiable threats to the institution. In recent years tacit support for Nazi Germany, concerns over birth control and, most significantly, the ongoing sex abuse scandals have been hitting the church hard. Now with those scandals reaching into the very heart of the Catholic faith, the Pope himself, the institution that has stood for so long is perhaps facing its greatest challenge yet. Scrape TV

Los Angeles, CA – There are celebrities and then there are celebrities. Heidi Montag is a celebrity, and so is Brad Pitt. Paris Hilton is a celebrity, and so is Tom Cruise. Like anything in life, there is a hierarchy to celebrity, the heights of which are only accomplished by a combination of factors such as charisma and talent and, of course, luck. Even for the very successful there is another tier to celebrity, the level of icon that very few have ever been able to achieve, the type of person who maybe comes along once in a generation. Scrape TV

Tehran, Iran – There are many advances and inventions in the history of the world that could reasonably be considered the most important in history. Advances such as the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, the development of the printing press, and the invention of the internet are just a few of the things that have advanced human civilization in profound ways. There is one advance however that stands today as more eventful than any other, partially because we can pin down exactly when it came about, partially because of its potential, and partially because of the damage it has already caused. Scrape TV

Washington, D.C. – Despite heaps of critical drubbings and endless fan exodus over the years, ‘Saturday Night Live’ has been one of the most important television shows in history. Since its debut almost thirty-five years ago, ‘SNL’ has become a mainstay of television, spawning hit movies, cultural phenomenon, and rafts of comedy stars, some of whom have gone on to become bona fide successes in their own right. Despite those ups and downs and the rapidly changing cultural landscape that the show once dominated, SNL’s legacy is likely secure for its incredible influence over generations of TV watchers. Scrape TV

Moscow, Russia – Cold is a part of Russian life. It is embedded in the very DNA of people of that nation. Cold and winter are a part of the national identity of all Russians who embrace it when it first appears, curse it by the end, and can’t wait for it to come again. That is the way of many northern nations, but in Russia winter has carved the identity of the nation out of the frozen wasteland. Scrape TV