what’s happening?

i’ve never been a big fan of m. night shyamalan’s movies, though i’ve always been impressed with his name. i called the sixth sense early on, signs had some heart but no guts, the village and lady in the water were picturesque but predictable, and the happening kills itself with an anticlimactic dead end. i liked unbreakable though.

the popcorn crunching movie-goer in me resists shyamalan’s movies with strong conviction. i didn’t even finish my soda at the happening, which is extremely rare for me. but as an artist i have an appreciation for what shyamalan is trying to do. trying is they key word though. finishing one of his movies feels very similar to being back in art school for critique day. too often in art school you are left let down, and yet appreciative of what an artist is trying to achieve. i would buy shyamalan a round or two, but i wouldn’t buy one of his paintings.

i think the problem is that m. night shyamalan is given too much money to work with. most often i find that i am most creative, and produce my best work, when i’m lacking resources because i have a reason to fight for artistic vision in the face of adversity. shyamalan needs to step away from hollywood for a while and produce the kind of films that truly communicate his vision without the hollywood nonsense that gets in the way. those are the kinds of films that great actors beg to be in, and aspiring actors and filmmakers cite and discuss for decades to come.

creationism vs evolution

the battle between creationism and evolution has been going on for many decades, and interesting things are happening regarding the teaching of these theories, but there is a fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of all of it.

in 1981 senator bill keith of louisiana managed to get a law passed that required creationism to be taught alongside evolution. his bill was inspired by the 1961 publication of “the genesis flood”, which used selected scientific facts to support the six-day process of creation described in the book of genesis. the bill was passed, but later overturned in 1987 after the supreme court ruled that the law was in violation of the first amendment separation of church and state.

evolution was a theory developed by charles darwin as an explanation for the broad range of differences among similar species. the theory became more powerful as darwin began to more clearly understand the implications that a species may change over time to adapt to the environment, and then may become entire new species altogether. the theory was controversial from the start because it seemed to conflict with the purposeful creation of individual species by an intelligent, diving creator; god.

the fundamental misunderstanding does not lie in the theories themselves, it is the approach to exploring, or proving these theories. it is a situation where theories are being pulled from ahead instead of pushed from behind. but what does this really mean?

if a theory is being pushed from behind, it is moved forward solely by the evidence that is piling up behind it. if it is being pulled from ahead, it is not necessarily evidence that moves the theory forward, but the motivations of supporters of the theory to give credence to a particular political idea. whether a theory is truth or not, if the examination of a theory is motivated by political bent rather than the desire for truth, that theory will never stand on its own. the motivation to prove one theory in order to discredit another theory is grossly misguided.

as an atheist and a believer in evolution as the source of the myriad forms of life on our planet, i must still withhold my support from individuals who would further this theory with the purpose of disproving creationism or the existence of god. evolution must be studied free of the conflict between science and religion, or it will never truly exist on it’s own as an acceptable theory.

charles darwin was a man of faith, and i think it is important for creationists to understand this. he wasn’t trying to disprove god, as so many would have you believe. he was simply trying to understand the source of biodiversity on our planet. if creationism can ever actually be called a theory, then it too must develop free of the conflict between science and religion.

whether you are an atheist, or the faithful, when you do find your truth, it will taste bitter and poisonous if it is motivated by the need to prove somebody else wrong.

customer neglect as company culture

i am not a journalist, so i don’t know the legal ramifications of what i am about to write. i am going to keep things relatively vague until i understand the legal aspects more. i intend for this to be the first of several more posts relating to the title of this post; customer neglect as company culture.

my primary job is that of a graphic designer for a major university where i live. my second, less glamorous job is that of a commission salesman for a major local retailer. you can usually find me somewhere near the lawn and garden section if you’re looking for a lawn mower or yard tractor.

most of us that work in retail understand that customer service is the critical function of our job, and we do our best to take care of those customers as well as we can. i have personally sacrificed personal time and profitability to make sure a customer’s needs were met. why sacrifice for a stranger? because i believe that it part of a larger function of participating in society. i’m sure most other retail workers don’t intellectualize it on that level, but the consequences are the same. how you choose take care of your customers effects the type of relationships you build in society. social networking, if you will.

leadership in the retail space plays a critical role in influencing the chain of command, all the way down to those on the lowest link of the chain. the leadership are what truly define company culture.

the store manager is particularly damaging to the company culture as it exists in our store. several weeks ago we had to make some changes to our floor arrangement to make room for a special garage furniture display. while some associates were dismantling a shelving fixture, one of the large panels fell and landed on a customer’s foot. i don’t believe she was hurt very badly, she didn’t seem too distressed, but an accident report must be made for legal reasons. while the report was being taken, the store manager came by and completely ignored the possibly injured customer to ask the cashier how many credit applications she had. although none of us were surprised, we were livid that the store manager could be so callous as to ignore a customer that might have been injured in his store to find out how many new credit cards had been issued.

last night a customer had an issue of some sort and asked for the store manager by name. a perfectly reasonable request, you would think, as there are signs up in the store saying that he’ll be available if requested. the associate helping the gentleman paged the manager over the store PA system. the manager then called the associate at the extension and began to verbally reprimand him for paging him. the associate then informed the manager that the customer asked for him by name, so the manager did come out and take care of whatever the problem was. afterward the manager continued to reprimand the associate, saying that he should have referred the customer to the department manager, who happens to be on vacation for the week. the saddest part of the situation is that the associate has a mental illness over which he has no control, and he has worked for the company for over 18 years.

it is a shame that i cannot fully illustrate the disgusting nature of these situations. nobody deserves to get paid so much money to neglect the very customers and associates that make it possible for them to have a job in the first place. but i believe the problem is one that infects the entire company as a whole.

next time i will write about my recent experience with the company being dishonest with it’s own associates in the hopes that they will sell services to customers that the company really has no way of providing.

Cowboys are badass.

Seriously Americans, STOP HATING YOURSELVES! Stop believing what you hear about us having inferior culture to other countries. We have great culture, as long as you choose to consume the culture that doesn’t suck. For example, stop reading Tom Clancy and read Mark Twain instead. Or Hemmingway. Listen to Bob Dylan and understand what he’s trying to tell you. Jimmy Buffet has some pretty amazing messages for you too.

American culture isn’t exactly old. We haven’t really been around that long. We have music, movies, and books; and these are all important things. Amazing things have been said by lots of Americans, and they deserve to be loved and appreciated.

And another thing; a lot of Europeans have told me that they expect us to all be wearing cowboy hats and boots. I always thought that was a ridiculous misunderstanding that we should try to change. But I’ve recently changed my mind. Cowboys are an important part of American culture that we should be proud of because they are badass. Rugged and self-reliant. Not necessarily pretty, but functional. Salt of the earth, and lots of other cliche descriptors like that. We should be proud of cowboys and promote them at every opportunity.

So, here’s to American culture. Be proud of it, and make an effort to consume good American culture. And help to guide other misguided individuals in consuming good American culture.

And remember: Cowboys are badass.

Video Games Vs. My Imagination

I’ve been a World of Warcraft junkie since December-ought-five, logging an impressive number of hours into several different characters. I don’t think I could really be considered a hardcore player, as I’ve accomplished much less than my peers in the same amount of time, but I spent enough time logged into the game or doing research related to it that it has consumed a pretty significant amount of my life in the last two years.

Recently financial circumstances have caused me to put my Warcraft activities on hold while I focus on other things and re-establish some financial footing. It’s been about two weeks without logging in, and I’m starting to notice some very interesting things that I believe are related to my absence from the game.

The most major thing that seems to be happening is that the number of dreams I seem to be having and remembering has increased dramatically since my time away from the game. It is worth mentioning that I haven’t been watching very much tv or watching many movies either. I’ve also noticed a dramatic increase in my visual creativity. This is extremely important because I am a graphic designer and photographer, so I live and die by my ability to translate my world into images.

I have a theory that the visual stimulus that we encounter in our daily lives, primarily in entertainment, can effect our creativity and our dreams. World of Warcraft is a pretty amazing visual fantasy environment that I would spend two to ten hours a day interacting with, depending on the circumstances. I’m beginning to wonder if a mind processing that kind of stimulus still feels the need to produce fantastic images of its own in dreams.

I’ve noticed that I’m quite a bit more motivated to produce visual art as well, and I’m becoming more visually sensitive again. Part of this is simple due to having more time to think about and create things, but I believe that part of it is due to the big cut-down of visual stimulus I experience.

Has anyone else out there experienced something similar to this? If so I would love to hear about it.

Slowing Down

As a creative, and particularly as a photographer, I find that it is so important to slow the mind down and really look around you to find the beauty worth sharing. Because that beauty isn’t going to go out of its way to knock on your door or jump in front of your car. You have to slow down the mind and shut out the distractions. Then I believe you will find that the beauty is abundant and surrounding you everywhere you go.