Ever have that feeling that the universe offered you a pass, or a gift, and you blew it? Take a walk with me along the path of imagination, of fantasy, of what could have been, of what if, of possibility....
I just had that experience. Actually, I had the experience when I was seventeen, I just had the realization of how I could have altered another's life for the better so long ago. But because I was weak, immature and inured with Catholic superstitions back then, I had relented, I had run away.
It wasn't about me, though. Not at all. Of course, at the time I had thought it was. It was something I could have done and didn't and, had I done it, there is the possibility that it would have changed someone's life, entirely. As it was they had a rough life, a really rough PTSD kind of rough life. Broken bones kind of rough.
Maybe, just maybe, had I done the "right" thing that day so long ago, I might have altered someone's entire life from that point on. In some cases it's not so much what you do but that you show someone how things can be better for them. Give them something good to compare their life to. But I didn't and because I didn't, did I screw up my Karma? Or, did it have no effect on it at all?
Eventually I realized that it wasn't all about me and, at least some of it was about my friend. So when I had the opportunity to track this friend down, I tried, I sent a message. It took months but we eventually got to corresponding and through those communications I discovered all of what I mentioned above. I discovered that what I could have done, what seemed to me at the time to be the "wrong" thing to do, and had I instead done what was probably the "right" (but Catholically speaking, the "immoral" thing to do), perhaps I cold have made someone's life all the better for it.
Now, I can only try to make amends, which I have done now. I can only now try to sooth psychic knots that are at this point unknown and possibly perceived not even to exist. But I'm sure they do, buried deep in the mind somewhere.
My point here is this, when this kind of thing happens, all you can do is to help the person for who they are now, to help them be even a touch closer to the person they could have been now. And although that may not now be possible, still maybe in the end with all being said, Karma will just get that little bit better for them, and for you.
Now about Karma. People have weird ways of what they think Karma is all about. I don't see it as something you can save up, or something that you barter off. It's not a reward from God or the Universe. I see it as cause and effect. If you live a good life, that is bound to come back to you. Unless, you make choices that guide bad things toward you. Which happens. I'm sure we've all seen people who are the nicest people in the world, but always there seems to be a darkness lurking just around the corner for them. Their life is in a shambles. Why? Shouldn't karma pay them back?
Not necessarily. Not if you understand Karma. And let's contain it within one lifetime and not go into the other life consideration for our purposes here. The concept of Karma is a good short hand for how to look at life, at the dynamics of exchange in good and bad behaviors.
Karma is like, well, let's take fishing as example. If you cast the right lure or fly in the right location at the right time, you'll probably get a fish; but you'll also have to be able to land it properly so it doesn't get away. It really doesn't matter how nice you are. Now in a social context, if you are in a river with a lot of other fishermen and you treat them well, they may even let you have, or tell you where the best spot to fish, is. But if you are one mean son of a bitch, they will very possibly not want you around, block you, or simply be nice and tell you the best spot is... anywhere but where they are.
In a way you can look at "building good Karma" as Karma in the bank; but in reality, that's simply the wrong view to take. You can't just be nice to everyone because, some not only don't deserve it, some will go out and create bad Karma for others. You have to be somewhat judicious in who you help and how.
Even if you do spread good Karma everywhere, it's still possible you will generate bad Karma for yourself, or others. There's simply more to it than blindly going about trying to do good to everyone, everywhere. In general yes, doing good is better than going around trying to do bad. But blindly going around doing anything, is usually a foolish thing to do, also.
If you go around doing good, you also have to see your actions and reactions that they will cause. You have to pay attention and the further ahead you can see what each action of yours will cause, the better off you will be. It's not so much about being savvy about your actions so as to reclaim bounty from them, but to see when you are doing good and when it will return only bad.
You also have to realize that many times what you see as something affecting only you, is really more about how it will affect someone else. Karma is all about that, too. I never said that there is anything easy about any of this. Just that it's possible to make it work for you more often than against you if you're open to the situation in its entirety.
If you always try to fit in helping others even when you think you can only help yourself, things will get better. Having people out in the world predisposed to viewing you in a good light, is always better than having them view you in a negative light, or even no light at all. Though perhaps I should have said when you are building good Karma for yourself, be sure that really it isn't more about someone else. You will very likely one day look back on it and realize your regret, a regret you should have had for a long time and now, only have a short time or no time at all, in which to change things. Just consider how, had you seen this and done this all back when whatever it was first happened, how you could have had that much more good Karma seeking you out over all that time.
Pay attention, see what is all around you, act with consideration and, you may just find Karma building up all around you. At some point most likely, it will eventually come back to let you know just how well you did.
kar·ma [kahr-muh]
noun
1.
Hinduism, Buddhism. action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman. Compare bhakti ( def 1 ) , jnana.
2.
Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person's deeds in the previous incarnation.
3.
fate; destiny. Synonyms: predestination, predetermination, lot, kismet.
4.
the good or bad emanations felt to be generated by someone or something: Lets get out of here. This place has bad karma.
Origin:
1820–30; < Sanskrit: nominative, accusative singular of karman act, deed
Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Colleges or Prisons, Education or Punishment - It's Our Choice
Where would you rather spend your late teens and twenties? College? Or, prison? Where should we prefer our youth, in colleges or prisons? Should we even care, if they aren't our very own young adults?
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
― Nelson Mandela
It is our choice if we want more colleges or prisons in this country. We are ultimately responsible. It's no secret that we need to better educate our country. It is an established fact that those with higher educational levels have less violent crime and produce fewer children. That means, to spell it out, that more of those with a poorer education produce most of the violent crime and children. We don't need more ignorant children raised to be more ignorant adults.
We need fewer children being not just better, but well educated. In prisons, we literally have a captive audience of potential students. Of course we can't force feed education in prisons. But there is something we can do. We can inspire through education, and we can educate through inspiration.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
― Plutarch
I wanted to compare the numbers of colleges against the numbers of prisons and I couldn't find how many prisons there are in the US. That is mostly talked in numbers of prisoners in the US, not in how many prisons there actually are. But finally, I did find it.
I found on Salon that there are 4,575 prisons in the US. I also found that the number of inmates in state and federal prisons decreased by 1.7 percent, to an estimated 1,571,013 in 2012 from 1,598,783 in 2011 (NY Times).
There are 21 million college students as of 2010 (enrollment increased 37% from 2000 to 2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics). Well, that's good news anyway. But not good enough. There are 2,774 four year colleges, nearly half of the numbers of prisons.
Why? Why should that be?
Why should it apparently be easier to get into jail than into college? This may at first sound stupid, but what if many of those jailed, were instead in college?
Why don't we have more colleges than prisons? Are we just a criminally based culture or, can we admit we are letting down our children in educating and taking care of them as they grow into productive adults?
“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
There are also many more students in those colleges than prisoners in those prisons, but what if we had that number more evened out for students? Have you attended a university? Have you been in, seen, or heard of the 1,000 student GUR (General University Requirements) classes in colleges, classes that you are obligated to take in order to graduate? Classes like for instance, "Intro to Psychology". What if those were instead like my own Intro to Psych class, which had less than thirty students?
I started my college career at a very well ranked Community College in Washington state which eventually got accreditation as a full College. I then had my two year AA degree transferred to a four year University where I received my Bachelor of Arts and Letters degree. I feel I got a very good education starting at the Community College level because I had easy access to my teachers. The Community College had Master's graduates teaching where the University has only PhDs teaching. Yes the work may be harder at a University but some of that is because you have to do so much more on your own which leads to some degree of guessing. Which can be good, but wouldn't it be better to have those questions filled in and then some by Professors? Allow me to explain.
I admit, it was a shock to go from Community College level to a University, but so is the divide between sophomore and junior years of college.
My girlfriend at the time had her first year at a University in one of those 1,000 student classes. She had a scholarship, I just had my V.A. benefits after getting out of the Air Force. After that first year, she decided to come home to finish school and so we moved in together. We had a lot of time to discuss this topic until we both later graduated at the same University. It was her belief that I had gotten a much better education because of the smaller classes I had, than she did starting at a prestigious four year University, because I could have more in depth discussions with my teachers. Which I did many times, where she could barely get to see hers and many times, simply didn't. Of course, much of this is about how much the student pushes to learn. But a student shouldn't be put up against other students to steal their time with a Professor. They should all have equal time, as needed or desired.
My Psych teacher didn't have "office hours". Her's did. Hers had to. My teacher didn't need office hours because I could talk to him anytime between classes, before or after school. He was very available to us, as were most of our teachers there. But my girlfriend had to jockey for time with her Professors among the long lines of other students trying to see their Prof. for what could only be a few minutes and during too few "office hours" times. She said sometimes she'd stand in line outside a Professor's office, wasting time, trying to study in line, and not infrequently, simply not get to see him at all. Of course not all classes are like that, but many are. Certainly the more popular classes were.
So what if we had enough University level schools so that all students could have a Prof. and a class with only thirty students in it? What if we had as many higher education schools, that supported the levels needed by the available students, to the students' needs and not societies lack of money to pay for what is needed? What kind of education would they get then? What kind of graduates would we end up with compared to now, when many of those students are simply sitting in jail learning to be better criminals, rather than better students and citizens? What kind of advancements would our country see, then? What would life in America be like then? What would our world be like if America produced so many fewer ex prisoners and so many more University, College, or even Community College students?
Simply put, we need to turn this thing with our prisons, around. We need to stop using 18th century paradigms of jurisprudence and start using what we have learned works, replacing what we know perpetuates generational criminals.
I would like to end this with a caveat. That being that how we educate is as important as what and who we educate. We need to teach how to think, critically. We need to teach accurate information and the best knowledge we have at the time. We need to separate out theology from science as theology can be it's own educational direction, but has little to do with a fact based education other than in historical perspectives. Much of our education system lacks progression within itself and inspiration. And to that I will end with this....
“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”
― Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook
Just know that we can do better.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
― Nelson Mandela
It is our choice if we want more colleges or prisons in this country. We are ultimately responsible. It's no secret that we need to better educate our country. It is an established fact that those with higher educational levels have less violent crime and produce fewer children. That means, to spell it out, that more of those with a poorer education produce most of the violent crime and children. We don't need more ignorant children raised to be more ignorant adults.
We need fewer children being not just better, but well educated. In prisons, we literally have a captive audience of potential students. Of course we can't force feed education in prisons. But there is something we can do. We can inspire through education, and we can educate through inspiration.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
― Plutarch
I wanted to compare the numbers of colleges against the numbers of prisons and I couldn't find how many prisons there are in the US. That is mostly talked in numbers of prisoners in the US, not in how many prisons there actually are. But finally, I did find it.
I found on Salon that there are 4,575 prisons in the US. I also found that the number of inmates in state and federal prisons decreased by 1.7 percent, to an estimated 1,571,013 in 2012 from 1,598,783 in 2011 (NY Times).
There are 21 million college students as of 2010 (enrollment increased 37% from 2000 to 2010, according to the National Center for Education Statistics). Well, that's good news anyway. But not good enough. There are 2,774 four year colleges, nearly half of the numbers of prisons.
Why? Why should that be?
Why should it apparently be easier to get into jail than into college? This may at first sound stupid, but what if many of those jailed, were instead in college?
Why don't we have more colleges than prisons? Are we just a criminally based culture or, can we admit we are letting down our children in educating and taking care of them as they grow into productive adults?
“Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
There are also many more students in those colleges than prisoners in those prisons, but what if we had that number more evened out for students? Have you attended a university? Have you been in, seen, or heard of the 1,000 student GUR (General University Requirements) classes in colleges, classes that you are obligated to take in order to graduate? Classes like for instance, "Intro to Psychology". What if those were instead like my own Intro to Psych class, which had less than thirty students?
I started my college career at a very well ranked Community College in Washington state which eventually got accreditation as a full College. I then had my two year AA degree transferred to a four year University where I received my Bachelor of Arts and Letters degree. I feel I got a very good education starting at the Community College level because I had easy access to my teachers. The Community College had Master's graduates teaching where the University has only PhDs teaching. Yes the work may be harder at a University but some of that is because you have to do so much more on your own which leads to some degree of guessing. Which can be good, but wouldn't it be better to have those questions filled in and then some by Professors? Allow me to explain.
I admit, it was a shock to go from Community College level to a University, but so is the divide between sophomore and junior years of college.
My girlfriend at the time had her first year at a University in one of those 1,000 student classes. She had a scholarship, I just had my V.A. benefits after getting out of the Air Force. After that first year, she decided to come home to finish school and so we moved in together. We had a lot of time to discuss this topic until we both later graduated at the same University. It was her belief that I had gotten a much better education because of the smaller classes I had, than she did starting at a prestigious four year University, because I could have more in depth discussions with my teachers. Which I did many times, where she could barely get to see hers and many times, simply didn't. Of course, much of this is about how much the student pushes to learn. But a student shouldn't be put up against other students to steal their time with a Professor. They should all have equal time, as needed or desired.
My Psych teacher didn't have "office hours". Her's did. Hers had to. My teacher didn't need office hours because I could talk to him anytime between classes, before or after school. He was very available to us, as were most of our teachers there. But my girlfriend had to jockey for time with her Professors among the long lines of other students trying to see their Prof. for what could only be a few minutes and during too few "office hours" times. She said sometimes she'd stand in line outside a Professor's office, wasting time, trying to study in line, and not infrequently, simply not get to see him at all. Of course not all classes are like that, but many are. Certainly the more popular classes were.
So what if we had enough University level schools so that all students could have a Prof. and a class with only thirty students in it? What if we had as many higher education schools, that supported the levels needed by the available students, to the students' needs and not societies lack of money to pay for what is needed? What kind of education would they get then? What kind of graduates would we end up with compared to now, when many of those students are simply sitting in jail learning to be better criminals, rather than better students and citizens? What kind of advancements would our country see, then? What would life in America be like then? What would our world be like if America produced so many fewer ex prisoners and so many more University, College, or even Community College students?
Simply put, we need to turn this thing with our prisons, around. We need to stop using 18th century paradigms of jurisprudence and start using what we have learned works, replacing what we know perpetuates generational criminals.
I would like to end this with a caveat. That being that how we educate is as important as what and who we educate. We need to teach how to think, critically. We need to teach accurate information and the best knowledge we have at the time. We need to separate out theology from science as theology can be it's own educational direction, but has little to do with a fact based education other than in historical perspectives. Much of our education system lacks progression within itself and inspiration. And to that I will end with this....
“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his or her school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of being indoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not a system of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What you are being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices of this particular culture. The slightest look at history will show how impermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been able to accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by their predecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are more robust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways of educating yourself — educating your own judgements. Those that stay must remember, always, and all the time, that they are being moulded and patterned to fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”
― Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook
Just know that we can do better.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Don't play the victim role in American economics - they want that
First off, have a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day! Observed on 17 March and the date of his death, it is celebrated inside and outside Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday. So for me, I claim it as a religious holiday as I'm half Irish and raised Catholic (and even if I do consider myself Buddhist now, well, never mind, I still take a day or two off work for it when I can). I'll be in Seattle for part of the day enjoying the festivities and since I have to take the ferry over the 9.5 miles from Bainbridge Island, I'll probably just hit: the Fado on 1st Avenue (there is a walkway from the ferry direct to 1st Avenue), the Owl and Thistle on the street below them, with much of the time first up north a few blocks at Pike Place Market on Post Alley at Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub. Which is north a couple of blocks from the notorious Gum Wall. Kells will open today at 9 AM & Music starts at 11 AM. So, I'll be there about 11 AM. Proceeds from this year's event will go towards benefiting the Pike Market Clinic!
Sláinte!
Now....
This is exactly how I deal with any long term, entrenched mind sets. Don't play their game, you'll lose. Step back, really look at the whole picture, then think about it and see what is really happening. That's when you speak up and complain... about THAT.
I agree that the words in this graphic are inflammatory and are meant to be, to shock you into sensibility. So, don't use their words, come up with you own.
What is being said here, the supporting concept, is extremely valid.
Maybe "they" aren't "stealing" our homes. But calling it "foreclosing", is still using their words and yes you can argue that is the definition. These may not even be good examples. But it should start you thinking in the right direction.
Why are these things happening? Now there's a question.
It is something that is being done to us? It's not just how things happened to go, trust me. Someone, some group, has done things that led to how things are now. Once you start to realize that, you start to see things that don't make sense, start to make sense. There are a lot of things going on outside of our view, things that are NOT conspiracy theory rants and hysteria, but concrete, CPA type working, money making concepts that were put to play years ago and need to be broken, reworked and taken back.
And it won't happen easily.
It may not in many cases even be something that is being DONE to us. Just a way to make more money for the rich. We're what people like to call, who don't like to talk about bad things, as "collateral damage". Even if, like with the military, they are the ones doing those things, which is in their case, is blowing people up, and you could argue that necessity but we're talking about money here. Even those people though, will tell you that if what they are legally doing to increase wealth is hurting most of the other people, then it's up to us to do something to limit them, because even they know they don't need that much money. And after all, there is literally only so much money to go around.
I like how "they" say "we" should fix it so "they" can't do bad things legally to "us", even though what they are doing is immoral, legal and fattening (or not). Whatever happened to ethical and moral considerations? Kind of like the antithesis of capitalism, I guess.
This is not "redistributing the wealth" as they like to say, nor is it communism or socialism. It's setting limits so the system cannot be abused, harming those who have no control because wealth is power and power is control. Same reason we had Sheriffs and Marshalls in the Old West, to protect people.
By the way, if you don't feel controlled, you need to realize that you are then even more powerless than you are if you do feel controlled. So, don't be controlled. Or at least, try not to be. It would appear that something this big and entrenched can only be changed through revolution, or through grass roots democracy, though I don't give us good odds on that one. I mean, just look around. The "Occupy Movement" did some good, but not enough, they were just too unfocused on what they wanted, because what they wanted was so vast. It was a mindset, it was a desire to change the American entrenched way of doing business.
Still, grass roots are so much more gentle and rewarding, for everyone. Only if we can find a way for "them" to save face, will we be able to evoke change. Of course they will also want to save money, but good luck on that one. Let's face it, for the kind of change we need to happen, someone is going to lose money. Sometimes those in control will bring military action in play to make or keep money, so be aware of that one.
The first thing to do, though, is just to... think about it. The second thing is to... realize what is happening. The last thing to do is to, do something. Anything. Talk about it, be open about it, get angry sometimes, show your passion. Who knows, you may be the one who comes up with a way to make change happen. Be creative. Evoke change.
And, best of luck with that.
Sláinte!
Now....
This is exactly how I deal with any long term, entrenched mind sets. Don't play their game, you'll lose. Step back, really look at the whole picture, then think about it and see what is really happening. That's when you speak up and complain... about THAT.
I agree that the words in this graphic are inflammatory and are meant to be, to shock you into sensibility. So, don't use their words, come up with you own.
What is being said here, the supporting concept, is extremely valid.
Maybe "they" aren't "stealing" our homes. But calling it "foreclosing", is still using their words and yes you can argue that is the definition. These may not even be good examples. But it should start you thinking in the right direction.
Why are these things happening? Now there's a question.
It is something that is being done to us? It's not just how things happened to go, trust me. Someone, some group, has done things that led to how things are now. Once you start to realize that, you start to see things that don't make sense, start to make sense. There are a lot of things going on outside of our view, things that are NOT conspiracy theory rants and hysteria, but concrete, CPA type working, money making concepts that were put to play years ago and need to be broken, reworked and taken back.
And it won't happen easily.
It may not in many cases even be something that is being DONE to us. Just a way to make more money for the rich. We're what people like to call, who don't like to talk about bad things, as "collateral damage". Even if, like with the military, they are the ones doing those things, which is in their case, is blowing people up, and you could argue that necessity but we're talking about money here. Even those people though, will tell you that if what they are legally doing to increase wealth is hurting most of the other people, then it's up to us to do something to limit them, because even they know they don't need that much money. And after all, there is literally only so much money to go around.
I like how "they" say "we" should fix it so "they" can't do bad things legally to "us", even though what they are doing is immoral, legal and fattening (or not). Whatever happened to ethical and moral considerations? Kind of like the antithesis of capitalism, I guess.
This is not "redistributing the wealth" as they like to say, nor is it communism or socialism. It's setting limits so the system cannot be abused, harming those who have no control because wealth is power and power is control. Same reason we had Sheriffs and Marshalls in the Old West, to protect people.
By the way, if you don't feel controlled, you need to realize that you are then even more powerless than you are if you do feel controlled. So, don't be controlled. Or at least, try not to be. It would appear that something this big and entrenched can only be changed through revolution, or through grass roots democracy, though I don't give us good odds on that one. I mean, just look around. The "Occupy Movement" did some good, but not enough, they were just too unfocused on what they wanted, because what they wanted was so vast. It was a mindset, it was a desire to change the American entrenched way of doing business.
Still, grass roots are so much more gentle and rewarding, for everyone. Only if we can find a way for "them" to save face, will we be able to evoke change. Of course they will also want to save money, but good luck on that one. Let's face it, for the kind of change we need to happen, someone is going to lose money. Sometimes those in control will bring military action in play to make or keep money, so be aware of that one.
The first thing to do, though, is just to... think about it. The second thing is to... realize what is happening. The last thing to do is to, do something. Anything. Talk about it, be open about it, get angry sometimes, show your passion. Who knows, you may be the one who comes up with a way to make change happen. Be creative. Evoke change.
And, best of luck with that.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Advancing in your career?
Monthly job progression reminder. Every day, week, month, quarter and year, remind yourself to review your situation in your career position, or at your job, if that's how you see it. I've spoken on this before, but I thought it might be time to bring it up again, being it is a new year and all.
And it's been a while not but, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl! Or, the Superb Owl, as Stephen Colbert calls it on his show.
How is your job going?
How have you progressed toward something better? Try to find one thing per day that helps to move you even one inch closer to advancement in whatever way you define that. Your current job helps you advance through networking, showing you are creative, productive, personable. Your boss always should know your being around is helping him to advance in some way. Your coworkers should know by your being their it somehow enhances their work careers.
But you also need to progress outside your company. Is anyone talking about you career wise to others? How can you get them to? Have you contacted others outside your company in a professional capacity? Have you volunteered somewhere to pick up skills you need to perfect or acquire, or that will give you an in road at some point in the future should you leave your job? Are you acquiring references? Have you built your resume, reviewed it quarterly and sent it out to jobs you might, but probably can't get?
Realize too that in your off hours, they are not just there for you to rest up to go back and do your job, or just for entertainment and leisure purposes, or to simply be with family or friends. Off hours are your money in the bank to learn new things, do activities to advance your life and career and educate yourself, too.
To get new jobs you try for a job you are qualified for but maybe just a little shy of in skills or resources so that once you gain the position, you can grow quickly into it. Don't lie on your resume or interviews, but enhance and be prepared to be taken at your word, and expand to justify their confidence in you, once hired.
One thing to remember in working for a company, especially a corporation. They won't hesitate to lay you off for a second. Unless possibly, if you are very, very good or have a job no one else wants or will be hard for them to replace so that your responsibilities simply stop once you're gone, otherwise, anyone is a possibility to be laid off.
So don't hesitate to use them for your advancement, in any ethical way you can possibly think of.
That isn't to say, steal from them. But to make the best use of your time there. For instance, if you use your work time to seek other jobs, be sure you are working harder to get your work done sooner than normal so you are making up for your extracurricular activities.
Some companies don't mine and are more lax about this kind of thing. Some want you to advance and in some cases it is expected. When I worked at the University of Washington in their Personnel office, they actually expected you to apply for jobs above your position so you will move into a new job within a year or two. At eighteen months, they started talking to you about why you are still there, even before that, but in a good way.
They were more like family who cared about you, then an employer who wanted you out as soon as possible. You could certainly stay at your current position but it was a wonderful environment to know that they wanted to see you succeed and progress in life and career. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough job in some ways, too. Although if you wanted to stay in your current job, they would then talk to you about what you could do to enhance your education or skill sets. Really, it was a pretty wonderful environment to be in, in many ways. And at the time, it was run mostly by women, which is interesting to note.
Some companies don't mind if you use their copy machines/printers for printing out new resumes. Some, will fire you if they find out you do. The idea isn't to rip off your company, but to make the most use of the resources you have available to you, through your being there. Yes, you should work on this at home, on your own time, before or after work, or at lunchtime. But if your current job can propel you into a higher position or even a better one elsewhere, you are wasting your time and money, and possibly your company's, if you don't make use of what resources are available to you.
Ask around, you might find out you have resources you knew nothing about. But don't be foolish as some companies would move you out of the company if they find out. I might argue in that case however, that you should probably find another company to work for anyway.
I'd also like to say, and maybe this is just me, but I've heard others mention it, that every time I've had a bad situation, get laid off, or whatever, I've eventually ended up in a better situation anyway. Even though it can be tough at times.
You don't just have to look toward your career, or your job, either. You can have hobbies that turn into careers. You can work on a second or replacement career at home. I've been working on replacing my IT job with a writing career for several years now and have made very good progress. Not enough yet to actually switch careers, but it takes time, and a lot of effort to switch careers, as well as not giving up, and knowing when to give up, or change tactics.
I was a Tech Writer back in the 90s but got tired of it and moved more into the technical side of production web / internet support. Now I'm ready to just write fiction and screenplays which I find more challenging and rewarding. My orientation has changed and so I'm pursuing it. I don't commute anymore which saves me four hours a day there, but even when I did, I would write on the bus, on the ferry and at lunch times; then on the way home in reverse fashion. I admit sometimes I'd just talk with friends on the commute, as we need sometimes need to decompress, and take time for fun and friends. But that too is a useful networking opportunity. And I always knew that options and extra time were available to me and I made use of it. After a while it wasn't even a conscious thing, but always there in the back of my mind. And in reverse, I am always looking for how to help someone out in this area if I had any knowledge or leverage that might be helpful for a deserving friend or even, an acquaintance.
There is a lot you can do, now. If you watch TV all the time for instance, watch less, or none and work on something that can change your life for the better for you. Especially if you live alone, or are a bit of an introvert, use your time for something that can change your life. If you have a family, that can take up a lot of time, so get up early (if you even can) or carve out just thirty to sixty minutes a day for this. It's amazing what even thirty minutes a day can achieve.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain worked a merciless and thankless job for decades in hot kitchens In Europe and America until one day while working in a Manhattan restaurant, he decided he had a story he wanted to tell and started getting up an hour or half hour early to write. He'd force himself to get up as early as he could force himself that day after working late and maybe drinking after. He wrote a really great little book that changed his life, Kitchen Confidential, which also changed how the world looks at commercial kitchens. He didn't even think he could write or that anyone outside of the city of New York would care to buy it, yet it make him world famous.
Another example was just the other day on a cable show, "House of Lies". The character, Jeannie Van Der Hooven, played by the very fun, Kristen Bell, gives a freshman employee advice from her veteran point of view. Having found the employee reading a novel at lunch time for fun, when the employee asked for advice in how to be like her, she advised her that if the younger employee wanted to gain the status she has now, the way that she got that status was in not reading for fun, in making all of her spare time instead devoted to furthering her work goals, to learn all she can in every second of the day. Focusing. Learning. Making every breathe oriented toward her goals.
I did the same thing in getting my university degree. When I graduated High School I never wanted to go to school again, I hated school. After I got out of the military, they made me realize that I was better than that and that I could achieve anything I put my mind to. And so I did. I found ways around things that hampered me in my focus and direction, I made my failings into successes, or found ways around impediments caused by those things.
So just don't feel like you are stuck in the same, low paying (or even high paying if you're dissatisfied) position forever. Go out (and also don't go out, stay in if that's what you need to do) and make use of your spare time and resources to find that perfect position out in the world; or perhaps even at your own company.
And all the best to you! Carpe Diem! That literally that means "pluck the day", but it's generally accepted as meaning, seize the day. It also refers to, however, "the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future", and that's another way to look at it. Make making your life better an enjoyment, and a thrill. Hey, whatever it takes to--
Seize the day!
And it's been a while not but, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl! Or, the Superb Owl, as Stephen Colbert calls it on his show.
How is your job going?
How have you progressed toward something better? Try to find one thing per day that helps to move you even one inch closer to advancement in whatever way you define that. Your current job helps you advance through networking, showing you are creative, productive, personable. Your boss always should know your being around is helping him to advance in some way. Your coworkers should know by your being their it somehow enhances their work careers.
But you also need to progress outside your company. Is anyone talking about you career wise to others? How can you get them to? Have you contacted others outside your company in a professional capacity? Have you volunteered somewhere to pick up skills you need to perfect or acquire, or that will give you an in road at some point in the future should you leave your job? Are you acquiring references? Have you built your resume, reviewed it quarterly and sent it out to jobs you might, but probably can't get?
Realize too that in your off hours, they are not just there for you to rest up to go back and do your job, or just for entertainment and leisure purposes, or to simply be with family or friends. Off hours are your money in the bank to learn new things, do activities to advance your life and career and educate yourself, too.
To get new jobs you try for a job you are qualified for but maybe just a little shy of in skills or resources so that once you gain the position, you can grow quickly into it. Don't lie on your resume or interviews, but enhance and be prepared to be taken at your word, and expand to justify their confidence in you, once hired.
One thing to remember in working for a company, especially a corporation. They won't hesitate to lay you off for a second. Unless possibly, if you are very, very good or have a job no one else wants or will be hard for them to replace so that your responsibilities simply stop once you're gone, otherwise, anyone is a possibility to be laid off.
So don't hesitate to use them for your advancement, in any ethical way you can possibly think of.
That isn't to say, steal from them. But to make the best use of your time there. For instance, if you use your work time to seek other jobs, be sure you are working harder to get your work done sooner than normal so you are making up for your extracurricular activities.
Some companies don't mine and are more lax about this kind of thing. Some want you to advance and in some cases it is expected. When I worked at the University of Washington in their Personnel office, they actually expected you to apply for jobs above your position so you will move into a new job within a year or two. At eighteen months, they started talking to you about why you are still there, even before that, but in a good way.
They were more like family who cared about you, then an employer who wanted you out as soon as possible. You could certainly stay at your current position but it was a wonderful environment to know that they wanted to see you succeed and progress in life and career. Don't get me wrong, it was a tough job in some ways, too. Although if you wanted to stay in your current job, they would then talk to you about what you could do to enhance your education or skill sets. Really, it was a pretty wonderful environment to be in, in many ways. And at the time, it was run mostly by women, which is interesting to note.
Some companies don't mind if you use their copy machines/printers for printing out new resumes. Some, will fire you if they find out you do. The idea isn't to rip off your company, but to make the most use of the resources you have available to you, through your being there. Yes, you should work on this at home, on your own time, before or after work, or at lunchtime. But if your current job can propel you into a higher position or even a better one elsewhere, you are wasting your time and money, and possibly your company's, if you don't make use of what resources are available to you.
Ask around, you might find out you have resources you knew nothing about. But don't be foolish as some companies would move you out of the company if they find out. I might argue in that case however, that you should probably find another company to work for anyway.
I'd also like to say, and maybe this is just me, but I've heard others mention it, that every time I've had a bad situation, get laid off, or whatever, I've eventually ended up in a better situation anyway. Even though it can be tough at times.
You don't just have to look toward your career, or your job, either. You can have hobbies that turn into careers. You can work on a second or replacement career at home. I've been working on replacing my IT job with a writing career for several years now and have made very good progress. Not enough yet to actually switch careers, but it takes time, and a lot of effort to switch careers, as well as not giving up, and knowing when to give up, or change tactics.
I was a Tech Writer back in the 90s but got tired of it and moved more into the technical side of production web / internet support. Now I'm ready to just write fiction and screenplays which I find more challenging and rewarding. My orientation has changed and so I'm pursuing it. I don't commute anymore which saves me four hours a day there, but even when I did, I would write on the bus, on the ferry and at lunch times; then on the way home in reverse fashion. I admit sometimes I'd just talk with friends on the commute, as we need sometimes need to decompress, and take time for fun and friends. But that too is a useful networking opportunity. And I always knew that options and extra time were available to me and I made use of it. After a while it wasn't even a conscious thing, but always there in the back of my mind. And in reverse, I am always looking for how to help someone out in this area if I had any knowledge or leverage that might be helpful for a deserving friend or even, an acquaintance.
There is a lot you can do, now. If you watch TV all the time for instance, watch less, or none and work on something that can change your life for the better for you. Especially if you live alone, or are a bit of an introvert, use your time for something that can change your life. If you have a family, that can take up a lot of time, so get up early (if you even can) or carve out just thirty to sixty minutes a day for this. It's amazing what even thirty minutes a day can achieve.
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain worked a merciless and thankless job for decades in hot kitchens In Europe and America until one day while working in a Manhattan restaurant, he decided he had a story he wanted to tell and started getting up an hour or half hour early to write. He'd force himself to get up as early as he could force himself that day after working late and maybe drinking after. He wrote a really great little book that changed his life, Kitchen Confidential, which also changed how the world looks at commercial kitchens. He didn't even think he could write or that anyone outside of the city of New York would care to buy it, yet it make him world famous.
Another example was just the other day on a cable show, "House of Lies". The character, Jeannie Van Der Hooven, played by the very fun, Kristen Bell, gives a freshman employee advice from her veteran point of view. Having found the employee reading a novel at lunch time for fun, when the employee asked for advice in how to be like her, she advised her that if the younger employee wanted to gain the status she has now, the way that she got that status was in not reading for fun, in making all of her spare time instead devoted to furthering her work goals, to learn all she can in every second of the day. Focusing. Learning. Making every breathe oriented toward her goals.
I did the same thing in getting my university degree. When I graduated High School I never wanted to go to school again, I hated school. After I got out of the military, they made me realize that I was better than that and that I could achieve anything I put my mind to. And so I did. I found ways around things that hampered me in my focus and direction, I made my failings into successes, or found ways around impediments caused by those things.
So just don't feel like you are stuck in the same, low paying (or even high paying if you're dissatisfied) position forever. Go out (and also don't go out, stay in if that's what you need to do) and make use of your spare time and resources to find that perfect position out in the world; or perhaps even at your own company.
And all the best to you! Carpe Diem! That literally that means "pluck the day", but it's generally accepted as meaning, seize the day. It also refers to, however, "the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future", and that's another way to look at it. Make making your life better an enjoyment, and a thrill. Hey, whatever it takes to--
Seize the day!
Monday, March 3, 2014
On Book Trailer Videos
I was on LinkedIn recently and someone was posting about book trailer videos. I built my own book trailers on Animoto.com. Not Oscar level work, but certainly workable. I could tell when I finished one and in watching it, it made me want to read my own book.
You do of course have to divorce yourself, your evaluation and consideration of the final product from the effort you put into it. You can't take the tact that you worked hard on it and so it should just be good. Obviously. Either it is good or not. Don't hesitate to ask for someone else's consideration before making it public. The book trailers I made are now on my TheJZMurdock account on YouTube. Check them out if you want to see what I'm talking about.
I learned how to do it, I did it and then I moved on. I also learned how to do audiobooks on ACX and have three out now.
It's worth trying these things as it saves you money, you learn more, and you may like it. I liked all over it, just discovered that it was very time intensive.
My comments on videos:
We should consider that there are a variety of things a book trailer video should do. It's not just there to sell one book. The priority of what you want it to do is important. Not necessarily prioritized:
The main thing is to get people to know you brand, your name, your works. So if it is a bad video and it has people talking about it, it may be doing it's job. If however it gives the impression that you are a bad writer, then it certainly failed.
The point is, in marketing, things are not always as they appear.
I have been contacted by professionals in the past through things totally unrelated to what I was trying to do in my brand marketing. Things that have led to other projects and other connections. Networking is good. Trying to open as many options as possible is good and now a days, quite necessary.
You can spend a lot of money that you will never see come back to you. In branding and marketing, you do not always get what you pay for. Sometimes you do. I would suggest however that before you get into spending a lot of money to promote your works, try doing it yourself, try doing it for as cheaply as possible.
Try to turn out a quality product, not a cheap product, because "cheap" can mean several things and not all of them need to be bad. In trying to do it yourself, you will not only learn about something, maybe pick up or better a skillset, but you will have a better idea of what you are paying for, if you decide to pay others to do it for you.
You do of course have to divorce yourself, your evaluation and consideration of the final product from the effort you put into it. You can't take the tact that you worked hard on it and so it should just be good. Obviously. Either it is good or not. Don't hesitate to ask for someone else's consideration before making it public. The book trailers I made are now on my TheJZMurdock account on YouTube. Check them out if you want to see what I'm talking about.
I learned how to do it, I did it and then I moved on. I also learned how to do audiobooks on ACX and have three out now.
It's worth trying these things as it saves you money, you learn more, and you may like it. I liked all over it, just discovered that it was very time intensive.
My comments on videos:
We should consider that there are a variety of things a book trailer video should do. It's not just there to sell one book. The priority of what you want it to do is important. Not necessarily prioritized:
- Make people want to read that book.
- Make people want to read another book of yours, or check out another project you are invested in.
- Make people want to talk about that book, or that trailer, or you, so others might want to read that book (or others of yours).
- Make people want to know more about who you are as an individual, a writer, expert, or what have you.
- Make people want to look up your other pages, your web site, your blog, your Facebook page or whatever.
- Make specific industry professionals want to look you up or contact you.
The main thing is to get people to know you brand, your name, your works. So if it is a bad video and it has people talking about it, it may be doing it's job. If however it gives the impression that you are a bad writer, then it certainly failed.
The point is, in marketing, things are not always as they appear.
I have been contacted by professionals in the past through things totally unrelated to what I was trying to do in my brand marketing. Things that have led to other projects and other connections. Networking is good. Trying to open as many options as possible is good and now a days, quite necessary.
You can spend a lot of money that you will never see come back to you. In branding and marketing, you do not always get what you pay for. Sometimes you do. I would suggest however that before you get into spending a lot of money to promote your works, try doing it yourself, try doing it for as cheaply as possible.
Try to turn out a quality product, not a cheap product, because "cheap" can mean several things and not all of them need to be bad. In trying to do it yourself, you will not only learn about something, maybe pick up or better a skillset, but you will have a better idea of what you are paying for, if you decide to pay others to do it for you.
Monday, February 24, 2014
The Insane Process of Filmmaking
"Living in Oblivion", is a sweet little indie film (1995) written/directed by Tom DiCillo with Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney (Catherine's husband at the time), Danielle Von Zerneck, James Le Gros, and Peter Dinklage as the "dream dwarf", or, maybe not.
The idea came to Tom though because Ryan was so happy to see him because he knew he had actually produced a film. Tom's experience on this was so bad (the film only ran one week and because of that he lost financing for his next planned film, stagnating his career for a while), that he came off at Ryan about what a pain film production is. And that's when the idea hit him for, "Living in Oblivion".
I say again, if you've experienced the set of a film being made, you have to appreciate this film. Tom talks a lot about the technical difficulties and he explores that in this film. I can relate. I can really, relate.
I got my university degree in Psychology. But I also got a minor in creative writing that involved a year of a special screenwriting class with eight specially chosen other writers, from a previous playwriting class we all had together. Before that though, I shot a film for two of my Psychology Professors on Phenomenology. That was really my first experience in a film production. As a kid I was the go to guy for our family for our home movies whenever we would watch them. I learned to use a film splicer for 8mm.
In high school I had a couple of years of Audio Visual where you got to run media devices for classrooms whenever a teacher needed the equipment. Then came my college experience. I was using a reel to reel half inch black and white video tape camera whose vidicon tube was really beyond its years of use. This equipment had really been run through its paces and were at the end of their life cycle. But I didn't know that.
My first day of shooting was driving through downtown Bellingham, Washington. These were not small cameras and were attached by thick cords to the reel to reel. It had a battery in it so it could be used remotely which was great, but only lasted about a half an hour before needing a charge again. I was trying to drive, direct (that is find interesting things to shoot) and drive. At several points I nearly drove off the road and one time in particular, literally scared the hell out of myself in almost losing control of the car. But I got the shot!
My next shot was at the beach just south of Bellingham in a suburb called, Fairhaven. Essentially a community of ex hippies who moved there in the 60s and now they had kids who were going to college. It's a nice little community almost on the beach. I went down to the beach and found a sign that warned about "red tide" and said do not pick the shellfish. The shot had large storage tanks nearby for waste sewage or something and I really liked the composition of the shot.
So I have the tripod set up, the camera mounted, the reel to reel running and I was getting footage of the scene shooting out toward the Puget Sound waters. As I was shooting I noticed a family, parents and a couple of kids, picking shellfish. I looked at the sign. As they walked past me I asked the father if he had seen the sign, but he just said, "Naw, I don't pay any attention to that, it doesn't mean a thing."
Okayyyy.... Well, maybe he knew what he was talking about. One could only hope. I got about fifteen minutes of footage there. I was pretty happy at this point.
Then I took it home. I had gotten enough footage outside all over town. Then I was going to shoot footage inside. Then I realized that there was no way to hook up a microphone. There was a plug in but it wouldn't work with my microphone which was a normal 1/4 inch jack. Not wanting to admit defeat, I got out my electronic tools and wired together something that would work. During this production phase I came up with a paper with a light behind it and an embossed insignia (just happened to be my family name), but it looked cool.
I had noticed while shooting around the town that I was having problems with the camera equipment. Before I got to doing any shooting indoors, I ended up at school that next day. So I went to the A/V department where I had checked out the equipment and asked them. What's up with the battery on this thing. Do you have another better one? I got a shocked look.
It would seem that none of the batteries worked anymore and they had pulled all of them. You had to plug it in for it to work. But I had a battery. He said I shouldn't have one, but that would explain any problems I was having. They were getting new equipment to replace all this ragged stuff, next year. Which was too late for me.
Then I got a cold chill. After school I hurried home and ran the tape back and sure enough, the battery had enough power to run, but not record. All that footage I had shot, the risked possibility of driving into a telephone pole, the ironic footage of the family gathering allegedly tainted food on the beach, was all lost. I was crushed.
I pulled myself together (a couple of days later) and realized I would have to plug it in, limiting me mostly only to indoor shots, and that was that. So I had to start all over again on my theme. I only had the equipment for a weekend at a time and each time might get me different equipment. One weekend I had a camera where the vidicon tube, which you should never aim at a bright light as it would make a permanent burn in on the tube. Then you would have ghosts in your frame when you record.
This one weekend I received the worst camera I had used, with lots of these burn ins leaving it almost useless for me, so I got this idea. I noticed that if you did aim it at streetlights and moved the camera, you'd get trails. It looked like UFOs in the night sky. Which, was awesome. Things started to pull together and in the end, I got the film done, turned in and was done with it.
Then I found that one of my Professors had shown it to all of his classes. He did that to me a lot, I'd turn in a paper one day and later find he had shown it to all his classes as a handout. The film needed an actor in one part, I had decided and no one was available in my time frame with the camera. So I thought I could use myself. Why not? No one but the Prof.s will see it. So I did.
I became an instant semi celebrity around campus. Lots of attractive women would stop me between classes to talk to me, argue my theme, and so on. I was living with my long time girlfriend so all these interruptions weren't doing anything but making me late to my next class. So it was kind of lost on me at the time. And I was not pleased with the overall quality of the film. Luckily, it was a pass / fail kind of class. I passed.
Film production. What a nightmare. I figured my next turn at it would be much better.
In 1984 just after graduating college, I had moved down from Bellingham to Tacoma. My sister's husband Joe, called one day to ask if I wanted to go with him to the Stanley Kramer film production series of seminars at Bellevue Community College. I was stunned and excited to think of meeting the famous director. I was broke, just out of college and Joe paid my $150 for the seminars. Thanks, Joe! [By the way, for the last few years Joe has been running Live it Out Loud!, an awesome kind of day band camp for teens.] It seems Mr. Kramer had moved up here to retire and be around his daughter and family and wanted to teach at the college. It was a fascinating set of Saturday's to sit and listen to a film legend. Needless to say, it was re-energizing in my love for film.
By 1986 I had split up with my girlfriend and moved up north to Seattle. One day a film crew was shooting the pilot to the new TV show, Starman, from the feature film with Jeff Bridges. I ran into them on the way home from work, on Queen Anne Hill. I heard them talking and they said they would break and then head to the Seattle Center for night shooting. So I went home, ate, and ran down to the center. It was amazing. The rides there were all running just for background for the show. They guy I saw with the walkie talkie up on the hill would give an order and all the rides would start up or stop.
The location guy in charge kept walking by me and seeing me just sitting there watching it all. He stopped one time and asked if he hadn't seen me on the hill earlier that day and what was I doing? I said yes, and that I had studied screenwriting but never been on a set. He said to follow him and we went beyond the security guys up to the monorail platform where the lights and camera were set up. He put me just behind the camera to the side of the director and I got to sit there all night and obverse. I learned a lot just from that one night. It was also kind of fun in that many of the crew kept looking at me like, who is this guy?
In the late 80s early 90s, I was involved with a project from the Psych Department at the University of Washington. My wife at that time was running one of the computer labs for the project, and I worked for MCIS at the UW and would help her out in the lab sometimes. We became friends with the head of the project and one thing led to another and my wife, our nearly four year old son and I were the subject of a BBC documentary. It was an interesting and difficult week to be the focus of a project like that, and that doesn't say anything about how fascinating the actual Psych department's long term project itself was. And so, I got to learn just how "real" a reality show could be, or not be.
In the late 80s early 90s, I was involved with a project from the Psych Department at the University of Washington. My wife at that time was running one of the computer labs for the project, and I worked for MCIS at the UW and would help her out in the lab sometimes. We became friends with the head of the project and one thing led to another and my wife, our nearly four year old son and I were the subject of a BBC documentary. It was an interesting and difficult week to be the focus of a project like that, and that doesn't say anything about how fascinating the actual Psych department's long term project itself was. And so, I got to learn just how "real" a reality show could be, or not be.
Years later I became a public cable TV producer in Seattle. It was the wild west of the cable industry in about 1992. There were shows on like a girl that interviewed people, only in her bikini in hot tubs around the Northwest. Another with a woman who was naked and danced around candles. There was a garden show that was very low quality but ended up as a real cable show on a real cable channel years later.
I was again lacking help to do a production, but I convinced my best friend to do a film of some sort with me. He was being difficult. He didn't want to do it. I made a mistake in not using the resources of other producers and film makers at the station but I wanted someone I knew I could trust. We finally agreed on doing a documentary on his favorite topic. An old TV sci fi show, as it just happened to be its twenty-fifth anniversary. And he would do anything to talk about that show.
As it turned out, he would be the host and narrator. He looked okay on camera but his speech skills weren't so good. He just wasn't an actor. As time went on he got better, though. But rather than using a script, which would have most likely made it more difficult for him, he just winged it. Which was okay, in that he was an expert in this area, but he hesitated at times. So I had trouble, to put it mildly, with the talent. And then, I was the entire crew.
We finally realized at one point that we needed an interview segment with him. That meant, even though I made it clear I never again wanted to appear on screen, I was going to have to, just to make it feel more natural. I fixed that in post. I interviewed him, then took some pick shots of me that would blend in. Not a problem.
One principle shooting was done, it was time to edit. I was the editor. I had Panasonic machines and just had to reserve time and show up to do it. It was professional equipment and I was very excited, after the University experience, to use real equipment. So I got to it. I could only do it in blocks of time within what was available so usually that meant only two or four hour blocks. It took a while, needless to say.
One day I showed up to edit and the editing machine was gone. They had like six editing bays so that wasn't a problem. Right? I asked them and they said that machine #8 had been sent to California as it needed work. Something, was wrong with it. So they pointed me to another bay and I got to work. Except that, the other machines wouldn't correctly recognize my master tape. Oh my God! I asked when the machine would be back and they said a couple of weeks or so.
Great!
In the meantime I had met this girl. Eventually, I moved in but for now, I was just spending a lot of time over there at her place which was in another town and so I'd spend the night sometimes. After a few weeks of that, I moved in with her, later we married, bought a house and ten years later got divorced.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I finally had to go back and see if the machine was back and finish editing. It had been a few weeks now and I was hoping it would have to be back by now. I don't remember but I may have called to check if it was back yet. So I signed up for some editing time and went back to finish the project.
I got back to the editing bay and there it was, good old machine #8. I got a feeling of elation. But now, would the old master tape work? I pushed it in and sure enough, it worked. I finished the cuts, finished the music overlays, the titling and (I may have had to go back one more time or so), I was done. I was overjoyed. I turned the tape in, schedule it for playing across the Pacific Northwest and waited for the premiere day.
Finally the day and time came and I sat with my girlfriend and we watched the show. Then, there it was, on TV! Pretty cool! The quality wasn't what I had hoped, but it was all there, all that we had wanted to say, to show, to tell people about his favorite show. I did realize that I would like to have re-shot the whole thing, redoing what wasn't that good with what I had learned through the entire process. Maybe use a script and reader cards, for instance. But it was all good.
Except for one thing.
About half way through it, I realized that there was no background music whatsoever. At the end where the titles ran, there were the music references. But no music. What happened? I went back to the station and got the tape and rescheduled it to run again in a week. I took it back to the editing bay and listened to it again. And there it all was. All the music sounded great. But then I took it to another machine, a regular player not an editor. And no music! None! What the hell?
So I took it back and dropped it off. It ran its last time on cable TV and then I took it home and put it in a box.
Film production, especially if you are doing it low budget, especially if you are using free help (as Tom mentions on the second audio track on the DVD of "Living in Oblivion"), or no help and doing it all on your own, can be misery. And even if everything is going well with the talent, there are always technical difficulties.
After all this, would I like to direct a film? I don't know. I do enjoy writing screenplays. I can't say I have a great desire to be on the set or in charge of something on the production. Other than writing. And I'm good at writing on the fly, should things suddenly need to be redone. There are so many parts to film production that, it's a bit insane, really.
Stephen King on the set of directing the film Maximum Overdrive (1986) with Emilio Estavez said that film production is insane and he hated it and didn't know how any film ever got completed, ever! I can understand that. I'll never forget the look in King's eyes sitting there at the camera on set that day in the middle of shooting.
Film making is a strange, surreal, sometimes psychotic and marvelous thing.
Film making is a strange, surreal, sometimes psychotic and marvelous thing.
Still, in the end, it is a marvelous thing.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Climate Modification by Nation States
I am not a conspiracy nut. I'm not a nut at all. I once had a therapist tell me that I was the most sane person he had ever met, and that that might have been part of my problem at the time. See, I was in the US Air Force back in the 70s and being sane in an insane environment, well, it can kind of make you loopy sometimes. I had a security clearance. Yay for me. Trust me, those are a big pain in the ass. Anyway, I got over it. Then, I really got over it once I got out of the service. That next year, was amazing...in some ways. I was poor, the transition was horrible, but again, I got over it.
But that's not what this is about.
I've been hearing about chemtrails (not, contrails) for years now. I've heard both sides of the story. Mostly it sounds like a conspiracy theory. But then, like with UFOs, you can explain most of it away, then there is that hard little nut at the end, that tiny percentage, that is not explainable. So on the topic of chemtrails, I've been mostly dismissive, but had this tiny feeling that there just might be something going on.
Is it ridiculous to think this is true? Is there precedent? Surely there is precedent with the American government. This is the government whose CIA took civilians off he street, fed them LSD and threw them into a closet, just to see how they were react. We dropped Agent Orange in Viet Nam, on the energy, and out own soldiers. We have denied PTSD, we have denied Gulf War Vets could have anything wrong from the battlefields were they were exposed to all kinds of things. War, is dirty, after all. Projects like MKULTRA, Operation Midnight Climax (wikipedia), and others.
Like Operation Popeye (Wikipedia) during the Viet Nam war, known as "geophysical warfare". From the wikipedia article:
"Reporter Jack Anderson published a story in March 1971 concerning Operation Popeye (though in his column, it was called Intermediary-Compatriot). The name Operation Popeye (Pop Eye) entered the public space through a brief mention in the Pentagon Papers[9] and a July 3, 1972, article in the New York Times.[10] Operations in Laos ceased two days after the publication of the Times article.
The press stories led to demands from members of the U.S. Congress, led by Senator Claiborne Pell, for more information. U.S. House and Senate resolutions in favor of banning environmental warfare were passed as Senate Resolution 71 on July 11, 1973, H.R. 116 of 1974, H.R. 329 of 1974 and H.R. 28 of 1975."
Anyway, there's precedent. Yes, our government is capable of bizarre things (remember torture during the I don't know, past ten year or so?). Twenty-years ago I would have said no, we wouldn't do that. Yet, we have.
So what about motivation? For there to be a crime, cops, as we all know, have to find motive, opportunity and means. Well, the US Government has the capacity, it has the opportunity, and it certainly has the means. But what is the motive?
The motive is that although Republicans have been denying Climate Change for years now, inside our government, regardless of what the politicians say, those in charge of actually doing something, do things. They have to do things. That's what we put them there for, whether or not you know that.
There are many things we can and may already be doing. Planting trees, solar and alternative green energies, nuclear energy over coal, even painting your roof white. And there is certainly the other side of this conspiracy stuff, the "debunking" side on sites like the Skeptic Project. I've tended to lean that direction myself. Are they spraying reflective materials in our skies to offset climate change? Are they not? If you're not careful you can drive yourself nuts over this.
Sometimes, the government does do wrong things, usually thinking that it is right. Because of misplaced "good intent", bad data, bad management, greedy program managers (and don't get me started on the military industrial complex and their excesses and abused), or even a bad Zeitgeist, as with torture more recently. We got hit on 9/11 and we were angry, so HURT somebody and do it now! And, we did.
The motivation is certainly that scientists have been saying for a while that we need to do something. SOME thing. Now. And that the window for not being able to do anything, wherein something BAD would happen, is closing at an ever increasing pace.
It could slow down, it could speed up. They earth does wobble on it's axis. Things in nature aren't always progressing in a linear fashion (Remember dinosaurs? Exactly.). But if it passes a certain level (2%), we're screwed. Now that, could get a fire lit beneath certain government types. And if they have bad data, they will still act because it's their job to ACT.
The next question is, if this is true, is America doing it alone?
Sooner or later someone in charge will speak up. Someone in the government, typically ex government types as they have nothing to lose as they would were they still IN the government, are the ones we generally and finally, hear from. Someone will speak up. They always do. But when they do, will we listen, and if we do, will we believe them. Doesn't everyone always have another agenda? Actually, no, not always.
Especially with many of these ex-government types. To that, I can fully relate. When you're immersed in it all, you do what you are supposed to do, you hold you secrets as required by law until you can no longer stand it. So you leave, then you want to tell someone. But why would anyone believe you?
So, let's wait. Even though our lives could be on the line here.
Okay, that's long enough. Ex-Vice President Al Gore says use of geo-engineering to head off climate disaster is insane, as reported in the UK's Guardian newspaper. "Belief in an instant planet-wide quick-fix, such as blocking sunlight with sulphur, is delusional, US activist declares."
Oh, great. Right? That was from January 15th, 2014 by the way.
I've seen the chemtrail videos. Mostly very easily debunked. But like I said earlier, a few things are hard to explain. Like flight maintenance people wondering what nozzles on some planes were about, when there was no record of them, or need for them, to be there. Okay, could be nonsense. I don't know. See, that's just it, that's the thing about conspiracies. You don't know. It's hard to prove a negative. Until you have a positive to point at.
And that's what we're starting to see, maybe. The positives are starting to speak up.
Someone posted a video recently and I don't give maybe half of all this any credence to begin with, but once in a while there is something interesting, or someone that says something that you find hard to ignore. This is one of them.
Geoengineering And The Collapse Of Earth 2014
I don't know what to think. We need to keep an open mind, though. But suddenly, I'm feeling a wee bit uneasy about all this. Remember, just because you want to believe it's nuts, or it just sounds wacky, be skeptical, in both directions until the final evidence comes in. I've also seen some UFO videos recently and either they've gotten very good now a days, or there's some very unexplained phenomena going on out there. Yes, the tech is there to fake it, but there's some very credible people coming out talking about some very interesting things in recent years.
The best thing we can do is try to be informed. Not ignorant. Open minded, critical. Rational. And when the time comes, if not sooner, vocal.
Now, if only these aliens would come down and tell us how to affect climate change properly, without killing ourselves.
But that's not what this is about.
I've been hearing about chemtrails (not, contrails) for years now. I've heard both sides of the story. Mostly it sounds like a conspiracy theory. But then, like with UFOs, you can explain most of it away, then there is that hard little nut at the end, that tiny percentage, that is not explainable. So on the topic of chemtrails, I've been mostly dismissive, but had this tiny feeling that there just might be something going on.
Is it ridiculous to think this is true? Is there precedent? Surely there is precedent with the American government. This is the government whose CIA took civilians off he street, fed them LSD and threw them into a closet, just to see how they were react. We dropped Agent Orange in Viet Nam, on the energy, and out own soldiers. We have denied PTSD, we have denied Gulf War Vets could have anything wrong from the battlefields were they were exposed to all kinds of things. War, is dirty, after all. Projects like MKULTRA, Operation Midnight Climax (wikipedia), and others.
Like Operation Popeye (Wikipedia) during the Viet Nam war, known as "geophysical warfare". From the wikipedia article:
"Reporter Jack Anderson published a story in March 1971 concerning Operation Popeye (though in his column, it was called Intermediary-Compatriot). The name Operation Popeye (Pop Eye) entered the public space through a brief mention in the Pentagon Papers[9] and a July 3, 1972, article in the New York Times.[10] Operations in Laos ceased two days after the publication of the Times article.
The press stories led to demands from members of the U.S. Congress, led by Senator Claiborne Pell, for more information. U.S. House and Senate resolutions in favor of banning environmental warfare were passed as Senate Resolution 71 on July 11, 1973, H.R. 116 of 1974, H.R. 329 of 1974 and H.R. 28 of 1975."
Anyway, there's precedent. Yes, our government is capable of bizarre things (remember torture during the I don't know, past ten year or so?). Twenty-years ago I would have said no, we wouldn't do that. Yet, we have.
So what about motivation? For there to be a crime, cops, as we all know, have to find motive, opportunity and means. Well, the US Government has the capacity, it has the opportunity, and it certainly has the means. But what is the motive?
The motive is that although Republicans have been denying Climate Change for years now, inside our government, regardless of what the politicians say, those in charge of actually doing something, do things. They have to do things. That's what we put them there for, whether or not you know that.
There are many things we can and may already be doing. Planting trees, solar and alternative green energies, nuclear energy over coal, even painting your roof white. And there is certainly the other side of this conspiracy stuff, the "debunking" side on sites like the Skeptic Project. I've tended to lean that direction myself. Are they spraying reflective materials in our skies to offset climate change? Are they not? If you're not careful you can drive yourself nuts over this.
Sometimes, the government does do wrong things, usually thinking that it is right. Because of misplaced "good intent", bad data, bad management, greedy program managers (and don't get me started on the military industrial complex and their excesses and abused), or even a bad Zeitgeist, as with torture more recently. We got hit on 9/11 and we were angry, so HURT somebody and do it now! And, we did.
The motivation is certainly that scientists have been saying for a while that we need to do something. SOME thing. Now. And that the window for not being able to do anything, wherein something BAD would happen, is closing at an ever increasing pace.
It could slow down, it could speed up. They earth does wobble on it's axis. Things in nature aren't always progressing in a linear fashion (Remember dinosaurs? Exactly.). But if it passes a certain level (2%), we're screwed. Now that, could get a fire lit beneath certain government types. And if they have bad data, they will still act because it's their job to ACT.
The next question is, if this is true, is America doing it alone?
Sooner or later someone in charge will speak up. Someone in the government, typically ex government types as they have nothing to lose as they would were they still IN the government, are the ones we generally and finally, hear from. Someone will speak up. They always do. But when they do, will we listen, and if we do, will we believe them. Doesn't everyone always have another agenda? Actually, no, not always.
Especially with many of these ex-government types. To that, I can fully relate. When you're immersed in it all, you do what you are supposed to do, you hold you secrets as required by law until you can no longer stand it. So you leave, then you want to tell someone. But why would anyone believe you?
So, let's wait. Even though our lives could be on the line here.
Okay, that's long enough. Ex-Vice President Al Gore says use of geo-engineering to head off climate disaster is insane, as reported in the UK's Guardian newspaper. "Belief in an instant planet-wide quick-fix, such as blocking sunlight with sulphur, is delusional, US activist declares."
Oh, great. Right? That was from January 15th, 2014 by the way.
I've seen the chemtrail videos. Mostly very easily debunked. But like I said earlier, a few things are hard to explain. Like flight maintenance people wondering what nozzles on some planes were about, when there was no record of them, or need for them, to be there. Okay, could be nonsense. I don't know. See, that's just it, that's the thing about conspiracies. You don't know. It's hard to prove a negative. Until you have a positive to point at.
And that's what we're starting to see, maybe. The positives are starting to speak up.
Someone posted a video recently and I don't give maybe half of all this any credence to begin with, but once in a while there is something interesting, or someone that says something that you find hard to ignore. This is one of them.
Geoengineering And The Collapse Of Earth 2014
I don't know what to think. We need to keep an open mind, though. But suddenly, I'm feeling a wee bit uneasy about all this. Remember, just because you want to believe it's nuts, or it just sounds wacky, be skeptical, in both directions until the final evidence comes in. I've also seen some UFO videos recently and either they've gotten very good now a days, or there's some very unexplained phenomena going on out there. Yes, the tech is there to fake it, but there's some very credible people coming out talking about some very interesting things in recent years.
The best thing we can do is try to be informed. Not ignorant. Open minded, critical. Rational. And when the time comes, if not sooner, vocal.
Now, if only these aliens would come down and tell us how to affect climate change properly, without killing ourselves.
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