Saturday, June 23, 2007
Sunk Costs and Storytelling
Went to the cheap movies last night. I left in awe and in question. I had heard that Spiderman 3 wasn't that great. But the people that take a not that great movie and make trailers for it do an amazing job. Plus it was the cheap theater. So, here are some questions:
1. In a day when amazing storytellers abound, how does a company or individual allow such a story to be told? I'm no expert, but I find it unusual that the producers took the director of Spiderman and Spiderman 2 and had he and his brother write the story for Spiderman 3. Just a little IMDB background, Sam may have done a descent directing job in the past, but his screenplay abilities are centered on Hercules and Xena princess warrior. I'm not trying to critique him, I'm just asking how does a story like that actually sound appealing to a group of seasoned producers? Do they not listen to stories anymore? Were they so emotionally involved or thinking that Spiderman 3 had to come to market no matter the story that they were willing to accept anything? I'd really be interested to know how that all took place
2. Here's an economics lesson. It doesn't matter how much you've invested in a certain decision or path. What you've spent on that decision is already spent. You can't get it back. It's called a 'sunk cost.' When you're deciding whether or not to move forward with the remainder of the decision you began, don't take those sunk costs into consideration. They're gone. Only take the further investment and return into consideration. For example, if you have been in a relationship for a long time and are not happy and now looking at the possibility of marriage, don't say, "I've been with him/her for so long. I feel like I need to keep moving forward with this and see how it goes." It doesn't matter how long you've been with that person. Will it be worth the continued investment? Same with business decisions. Yeah, you've already spent $300,000 developing this new facility. Then you find out that it's not going to have the return you thought it would. Do you continue with construction? It doesn't matter how much you've already spent. So now, no matter how much you've spent producing a movie, when you see the final product on your desk and it is Spiderman 3, don't say, "We've spent so much on this, we have to continue and release it." You've already spent the money. It's gone. Is it worth the embarrassment to release such a picture from here on out? That's the question.
3. How did my friend, who had already seen this movie and said that he didn't really like it, actually go with me a second time and allow me to spend 2.5 hours and $3 dollars on the film? How did he not physically restrain me from continuing? What kind of a friend does that to someone? How did all of my other friends that had seen it and said, "I didn't really like it," not describe just how horrible it was? How could they be content with allowing me to think that it was cheap theater acceptable, just not big theater acceptable? I know that misery loves company, but please, we're friends. Have some class.
1. In a day when amazing storytellers abound, how does a company or individual allow such a story to be told? I'm no expert, but I find it unusual that the producers took the director of Spiderman and Spiderman 2 and had he and his brother write the story for Spiderman 3. Just a little IMDB background, Sam may have done a descent directing job in the past, but his screenplay abilities are centered on Hercules and Xena princess warrior. I'm not trying to critique him, I'm just asking how does a story like that actually sound appealing to a group of seasoned producers? Do they not listen to stories anymore? Were they so emotionally involved or thinking that Spiderman 3 had to come to market no matter the story that they were willing to accept anything? I'd really be interested to know how that all took place
2. Here's an economics lesson. It doesn't matter how much you've invested in a certain decision or path. What you've spent on that decision is already spent. You can't get it back. It's called a 'sunk cost.' When you're deciding whether or not to move forward with the remainder of the decision you began, don't take those sunk costs into consideration. They're gone. Only take the further investment and return into consideration. For example, if you have been in a relationship for a long time and are not happy and now looking at the possibility of marriage, don't say, "I've been with him/her for so long. I feel like I need to keep moving forward with this and see how it goes." It doesn't matter how long you've been with that person. Will it be worth the continued investment? Same with business decisions. Yeah, you've already spent $300,000 developing this new facility. Then you find out that it's not going to have the return you thought it would. Do you continue with construction? It doesn't matter how much you've already spent. So now, no matter how much you've spent producing a movie, when you see the final product on your desk and it is Spiderman 3, don't say, "We've spent so much on this, we have to continue and release it." You've already spent the money. It's gone. Is it worth the embarrassment to release such a picture from here on out? That's the question.
3. How did my friend, who had already seen this movie and said that he didn't really like it, actually go with me a second time and allow me to spend 2.5 hours and $3 dollars on the film? How did he not physically restrain me from continuing? What kind of a friend does that to someone? How did all of my other friends that had seen it and said, "I didn't really like it," not describe just how horrible it was? How could they be content with allowing me to think that it was cheap theater acceptable, just not big theater acceptable? I know that misery loves company, but please, we're friends. Have some class.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Resistance
Scott Young posted this morning on the zen of folding laundry. Basically, he had to fold laundry, but didn't want to. Within his own mind, he had turned it into a horrible task because he didn't want to be doing it. He was resisting it. Once he realized what he was doing, he was free to accept the fact that he was actually doing it. Peace then had room to enter. He relates this to a few circumstances, including depressed or lonely moments. If we can accept that we are feeling certain emotions, like loneliness, which we might try to resist, "as if they were the color of your shirt rather than a symbol of your character. Not something to resist or feel ashamed of but just a fact" then peace would have room to enter our lives as well.
I think the same is true of temptation. You know that we discuss the road to recovery a lot here. I've related this before to waves at the beach. When a wave is coming, you actually start to feel the water pull into the wave first. The water recedes. That's your first indication (if you aren't looking) that a wave is coming. The wave would pull you in. You can stand and resist it and get knocked down, or dive down and let it roll over you. We've talked many times of letting temptation roll over, just accepting that the temptation is occurring. I think Scott hit it perfectly by describing it as a situation that is occurring, a fact rather than a symbol of your character. We often use the term "resisting temptation." I wonder if that is the wrong way to handle it. Yes, avoid temptation. But when it finds you, and it will. Accept that it is occurring. You're actually in the middle of it. Acknowledge it because it happens. One of the best ways I've found to stop resisting and accept is to start writing in a journal. It validates your situation but allows a forward thinking moment that separates you from your circumstances. You are, suddenly, no longer emotionally connected to the tempting situation, but rather to the writing or to those that will read it later (if you write with others in mind). The emotional connection is that same wave that tries to pull you in and I think finding an alternate activity that allows you to validate your situation creating an emotional connection to something else is the way to let the wave roll right over you. I've really come to enjoy Scott's blog.
I think the same is true of temptation. You know that we discuss the road to recovery a lot here. I've related this before to waves at the beach. When a wave is coming, you actually start to feel the water pull into the wave first. The water recedes. That's your first indication (if you aren't looking) that a wave is coming. The wave would pull you in. You can stand and resist it and get knocked down, or dive down and let it roll over you. We've talked many times of letting temptation roll over, just accepting that the temptation is occurring. I think Scott hit it perfectly by describing it as a situation that is occurring, a fact rather than a symbol of your character. We often use the term "resisting temptation." I wonder if that is the wrong way to handle it. Yes, avoid temptation. But when it finds you, and it will. Accept that it is occurring. You're actually in the middle of it. Acknowledge it because it happens. One of the best ways I've found to stop resisting and accept is to start writing in a journal. It validates your situation but allows a forward thinking moment that separates you from your circumstances. You are, suddenly, no longer emotionally connected to the tempting situation, but rather to the writing or to those that will read it later (if you write with others in mind). The emotional connection is that same wave that tries to pull you in and I think finding an alternate activity that allows you to validate your situation creating an emotional connection to something else is the way to let the wave roll right over you. I've really come to enjoy Scott's blog.
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Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Rescind
What was I thinking? I just posted this photo in my last post with the thought, "That is so true." But then I started thinking about it. And I completely disagree. Yes, goodness whispers. And sometimes evil shouts. But most of the time, evil whispers too. Ignorance shouts. But evil tries to slide in between bits of goodness without you noticing. It is definitely not shouting. I've been in situations where you've come so far that it's hard to tell what's right and what's wrong. Those are the situations that get you. I've been in situations where evil is painfully obvious. No temptation for me there. When evil shouts, it's easy to avoid. But yes, it's true, goodness is whispering there in the background also. It's just which whisper you choose to listen to.Powered by ScribeFire.
Google goes Green?
I am really surprised by Google's announcement that they will be a carbon neutral site by end of 07. They will do this by reducing energy consumption, investing in renewable energy sources, and purchasing carbon offsets. What surprises me is the third on the list. Carbon offsets have come under such heavy criticism in the blogosphere that I'm surprised someone like Google would still consider it a viable option for helping the environment. It isn't truly an offset because it does nothing to reduce the amount of carbon produced and many worry that it actually does more damage by creating more carbon and reducing the price of carbon emitting fuels through increased competition. On top of all that, it's been seen as a yuppie pay out of responsibility by those that really do care. I'm really, really surprised by this move. Powered by ScribeFire.
Goodness Whispers
Friday, June 15, 2007
Happy Smile Day
Apparently we have an day set aside, every year to remind ourselves that we should be smiling at others we come in contact with. That's right. Today is Smile Day. So, go out on a limb. Do what you can to make yourself more approachable and brighten the day of another. It makes everyone happier. Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
CNN/YouTube Debates
This summer and fall, CNN will host both democratic and republic debates based off of questions submitted by YouTube viewers. I think this is exciting. Without a doubt, some of the questions will be incredibly dumb. Also, without a doubt, we'll look back on this and think, "I can't believe we got excited about such interaction. If only we could have seen what was lying in the future." Check out YouTube Debates.
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Storytellers
I have never considered myself a storyteller. I don't tell them well. I have trouble pulling people into the emotion of it all. Growing up, I wasn't even much of a story reader. Eleanor Roosevelt is quoted as having said, "Do something everyday that scares you." I've often thought about that and tried to figure out what I could do that scares me. I'm not afraid of a lot of things. I can walk up to anyone and say anything. What else is there? I decided to write a story. That scares me. What if I can't get the concepts down right? What if I can't follow a storyline? What if it just gets boring? That really scares me. I have plenty of experience writing papers, talks, and articles on websites, mainly non-fiction, but to write a fictional story that will follow a plot and have a protagonist and everything else that I didn't pay attention to in English is something that I have no experience with. So, I started to write. I don't think I ever plan on publishing. I just want to write. Maybe publishing will be the scary thing I do another day. But, something interested happened when I sat down to begin writing the story. I felt the storyline coming together and I could see the timeline in my mind and see where different events were going to be placed. I would figuratively pick up events and drop them into other areas and move things around. I saw it coming together. And that's when I realized, I've done this before. I am a storyteller. I like to tell stories with music. When I hear a piece of exceptionally moving music, I will listen to it over and over again until I can imagine the whole story that it's telling being played out in a video, on stage, or in any other format. I keep listening to it, memorizing when certain events take place. Sometimes I actually turn it into something, if I have the resources. For example, the videos I post on youtube are mostly stories that I feel certain music was attempting to tell. Most of the stories are still in my mind and will likely never result in anything because I don't have the resources to create the story it should be telling. That's the case with "That Next Place" from Meet Joe Black's soundtrack. I can tell you at any given moment what is occurring, but I don't think that I will ever be able to make it happen the way I see it. You might say that those are artistic things and writing a story is not that far from what I'm already doing. Well, I also enjoy telling stories with powerpoint. I hate reading through powerpoints that are loads of information with no emotional pull. I think powerpoints should tell a story and that's how I try and make them at work. Most of my powerpoints never get seen, but that's alright. I still enjoy making them. What I'm saying is, I think we are all storytellers. We have different ways that we tell stories, but it's almost anything we do that involves creativity. Cooks may see a story coming together while preparing a dish. Engineers may see it coming together while working on the design. I think that it's something we all experience or at least have a desire to experience, in many different formats. So, learn how you tell your stories and go out there and make the world a better place by doing so. It's when we're storytelling that I think we release our best work and do the most to enhance the environment around us. Powered by ScribeFire.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
True Community
Last week I caught the stomach flu. I don't normally get sick and this was bad. I haven't been sick like that in a long time. After the 9th visit to kneel by the toilet bowl within a short amount of time, I thought to myself, "I've got to tell whoissick.org about this. I didn't even know the stomach flu was going around."
Now, compare that with websites that are desperately trying to get interaction out of their users. How does one build a site, or rather a community of users that is involved to the point that when kneeling by a toilet bowl in pain, their thoughts turn to this website? Well, what good is my participation going to do? On whoissick, I might be able to alert some elderly man that there is a stomach flu going around and he might want to be drinking more orange juice until it passes. On some retail store, my comments might be aggregated to provide customer service feedback to investors or managers. The good feeling that I have from participating isn't the same.
Now, compare that with websites that are desperately trying to get interaction out of their users. How does one build a site, or rather a community of users that is involved to the point that when kneeling by a toilet bowl in pain, their thoughts turn to this website? Well, what good is my participation going to do? On whoissick, I might be able to alert some elderly man that there is a stomach flu going around and he might want to be drinking more orange juice until it passes. On some retail store, my comments might be aggregated to provide customer service feedback to investors or managers. The good feeling that I have from participating isn't the same.
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Imitation better than real
We live in a society that sometimes values imitations more than the real thing and the rest of society unknowingly accepts the imitation instead of the real thing. The media may glamorize the one night stand or non-committal hook-up while degrading the long-term relationship. We have television shows devoted to plastic surgery. Entire industries are built around soap operas and romance novels. Social groups and gangs are seeking to replicate the family experience. People set goals that will never produce the permanent changes they are looking for. Individuals would rather immerse themselves in the imitation lives of a television show than deal with relationship issues in their own lives. Of course, people don't want to think that these are imitations. They want to think that they are real thing, hence the immense popularity of reality tv shows. But none of this will ever be the real thing. You will not form a relationship with characters that results in mutual growth. So many people are desperate for real relationships, but settling on something of far less value. Don't be fooled and don't waste your time on upholding an imitation. Start committing yourself to the growth and development of relationships of substance and goals that produce the kind of person you actually want to be.(Picture from Threadless.com by Cameron McEwan)
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