Okay, Hollywood, Let's Make a Deal...

Hey, Hollywood, I'll make a deal with you.  You like deals, right?  Okay, so I'll start going to see movies in theaters and buying DVDs again if you start making original movies again.  That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?  You can stop spending a hundred million per picture on blockbusters that have half a chance of failing because original movies don't cost nearly as much.  Plus, stars LOVE to do indie.  It makes them feel like they haven't forgotten their roots.

A good litmus test: If I go to look it up on IMDB and have to choose a year after the title, and the descriptions aren't a help or, even worse, contain the words remake or reboot, it's not an original movie.  Does that help? 

I feel like we need to compromise here and, this way, everyone wins.  Read more!

A Thought: On Walking Old Roads

In the depths of insomnia some nights, I'll lie in bed and run back through my life, tracing a pattern from the major events, good and bad, to where I would be. It wastes hours of time. I've done this for as long as I can remember. The thing is, over that time, I started to realize that I was focusing on the things lost, rather than those gained by the choices I'd made. Shifting was difficult, and I still fail at it sometimes. But it, like life, is all about perspective, about wanting what you have rather than having what you want. 

These kinds of dark thoughts, these nightmares, kill dreams and dreams are the most important thing in the world, when you're willing to act on them. Read more!

Before Midnight

Keeping up with the traditional nine year span between installments, principle filming recently finished on, "Before Midnight," the third film in Richard Linklater's series that began with, "Before Sunrise," and, "Before Sunset."  I loved both of the first two, but I'm not sure how I feel about another.  I want to like the idea, to have faith that it will live up to its predecessors, but I'm not sure how they can continue the story without retreading old ground.  Still, I'm hopeful and they've more than earned the benefit of the doubt. Read more!

A Thought: On the Difference Between Growing Up and Growing Old

Growing up and growing old are not synonymous.  One does not have to sacrifice the joy and wonder of childhood as some brutal rite of passage into the adult world.  Some of it will be lost, because it's impossible ever hold on to all of any part of the past, and there will be those who resent you, berate you, for not forgetting how amazing the first cold, clear day of winter can be, how beautiful it is to wish on a star or the numbers of a clock, aligned just so, to be filled, for just that tiny moment, with the hope of endless possibility.  Remember, though, that these bits of magic are only looked down upon by those who let them go in favor of less precious, more fleeting things and regret the empty space in their hearts left behind when they did so.  It is our job to remind them of what the world can be. Read more!

An Open Letter to the Movie and TV Industries

I would have a lot more sympathy for the whining and woes of movie and television companies if they didn't so stubbornly and childishly insist on not keeping up with the times.  They fight tooth and nail against technological advancement rather than just embracing the realities of it, including all the amazing and wonderful things it can do, and shift their business paradigm to thrive in the new century. 

Instead, they keep blundering in their attempts to fight the future.  So you end up with copy protection that doesn't do much to stop pirating (as it's always three steps behind what's readily available online) and just ends up making the people who actually paid to rent movies legally feel cheated, at best, by denying special features and screwed, at worst, by making them sit through 10-20 minutes of unskippable commercials and trailers, some of which can't even be fast-forwarded through.  Oh, and should you actually go out and buy one of these movies, there's a good chance it won't play on your gaming console, laptop, desktop or anything else that isn't solely a DVD player.

As for the television industry, I've got some news for you.  Streaming, not so much a fad.  It's a staple and the way of the future.  Lots of people, more every day, are using their DVRs, Hulu, Netflix and tons of other perfectly legal sites to watch your shows, for which you get paid heartily for the rights (I'm not even getting into how you keep trying to screw over actors and crew out of their share, as everyone remembers the painful writer's strike from a few years back.) 

So, rather than creating a program that tracks unique views of shows on said sites and incorporating them into your ratings calculations, giving you a much more accurate gauge than you've EVER had of viewer interest for targeted marketing, you cling stubbornly only to the first TV air ratings and cancel shows which appeal to your biggest market-share, the tech-savvy generations. 

Oh, and because YOU won't change the way you measure these things, you try to make sure people watch that first airing the old-fashioned way by punishing people who want to watch it via streaming because, you know, they have lives.  They're still watching your shows.  Raptly.  But should they miss an episode of something on, say, Syfy, they can't watch it through any (legal) online means past the first four of a given season until thirty days after the original airing. So there's no catch-up and hey, guess what?  You just lost that household's legal viewing for the rest of the season.  Way to go.

Then you have companies like HBO or Showtime, whose intelligent programming is like water in the desert to people sick of the reality shows and dumbed down fodder of the network landscape, where quality, though it exists, is increasingly hard to find.  So what do they do to make sure these young, educated people can enjoy their shows?  They require a cable subscription.  To verify that you're subscribed to their channel.  To watch their shows, streaming, on your computer.  Which runs on a separate system, altogether.  I personally know lots of people who would pay a reduced rate, or even an episode by episode rate, to watch just the streaming.  But no, it's the way it's always been or no way at all.  I guess all the smart people at HBO are working in the writing department, hm?

Things move quickly, these days.  Ten years ago, cell phones were just becoming commonplace.  Social networking wasn't really a thing.  Music was still primarily confined to plastic discs.  Speaking of, take note, TV and movie industries, of how well not changing with the times worked out for the music industry, which is now more of a sad joke than anything else among my generation because of their stubborn refusal to re-invest in new technology even as their inevitable doom grew ever closer.  Of course, the same can be said for certain other industries, too...  ::cough:: Energy ::cough:: Read more!

A Thought: On the Burdensome Fear of Loss

A willingness to give freely completely removes the fear of having things taken.  There is no weakness in charity, only in greed. Read more!

A Thought: On Why Politicians Should Fear Americans

Those in power should not fear us because we are willing to rise violently.  They should fear us because we are willing to show that we don't need them to survive, to thrive.  They should fear us because we are America and the voice with which they speak is our voice.  Read more!

A Thought: On Drones (Not the cool kind)

Where were those now complaining about the president killing children with drones when our previous president was killing them with American children?

Same goes for crying to protect The Bill of Rights when The Patriot Act was being passed.  Seriously, folks, if you're going to trumpet, at least hit the right notes.  There's plenty of real things to get upset about, if you want to, that don't make you sound like a giant hypocrite. Read more!

A Thought: On Guns and Taxes

I was behind a battered pickup the other day with a bumper sticker that read, "I'll keep my money and my guns.  Obama can keep the change." 

First off, people, Obama has NEVER tried to take away your guns.  The only significant legislature passed under his term was one which made it legal to carry concealed in state parks.  He made you MORE able to keep your guns. 

Second, poor people, people who make less than 250k a year, your taxes have gone down.  The only people whose taxes are going up, even a fraction, are those who make 250k or more a year.  I guarantee, if you're driving THAT truck, you're in no danger. Read more!

A Thought: On Separation of Church and State

A religion ceases to be a valid spiritual path the moment it sets foot in politics, just as a political movement cannot, in The United States of America, find it’s foundations in religious doctrine.

While philosophical beliefs may, perhaps must, influence one’s political decision-making, unless those beliefs are shared by all the citizens of a nation, it goes against the very fabric of this country’s primary doctrine to use it as the basis of any such decision. 

Read more!

A Thought: On Perspective and Life Experience

I prefer to think of life experience, rather than, "I haven't done that," as, "I haven't done that YET."

Read more!

A Thought: On Clergy as Political Counsel

Unless they plan to pay your taxes, provide your health care, guarantee your equitable retirement and do all the other things that are the province of the government, your religious leaders shouldn’t be telling you how to vote.

Read more!

A Thought: On Being Cool

When did being cool go from being self-possessed enough to like what you chose without caring what others thought to liking only what your particular subculture decided was valid?  

The Fonz sure as hell didn't check to make sure that Richie and Chachi were down with things before he gave them the thumbs up, nor was he interested in making Ralph and Potsie feel like an idiot for disagreeing.

Read more!

A Thought: On Voting with Your Conscience

Anyone asking you to vote with your heart or conscience is implicitly asking you not to vote with your mind and is probably terrified that you will.

Read more!

A Thought: On the State of Social Media Political Discourse

I obviously have no issue with political discourse, and I love my friends, but I am disappointed when the sum total of my knowledge regarding their politics I've gotten from posts of other people's thoughts, especially if they're people who, like most of modern media, have been paid to divide this country.  Show me that you think and I will take the time to think back. Read more!