Tag: Opinion

Women and Children, first…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So I was watching Titanic the other night. I love that movie. I’ve seen it like 50 times. It’s one of those movies that you start it and when the credits roll, you’ve not realized that 3 hours has passed. It’s that good of a movie. They don’t make movies like that anymore.

Yet, when the ship starts to sink…Spoilers!…I always chuckle a bit when the crew yell, “Women and children first…women and children here!” Because I flash forward to today and think how that doesn’t happen anymore. I know I know, ships now have the capability to save everyone so there’s no panic of going down with the ship. I know this because I took an Alaskan cruise several years ago and the first thing we did was life boat drills that first night. Everyone was calm and there was a fine organization to get us all in the boats. The women and children had no fear that their husbands and fathers would not be sitting right next to them.

Yet, we have lost that noble and chivalry of the past. I’m not saying I want people to perish in a tragedy of a ship sinking. But with equality laws and a new social norm of everyone is equal, I do not see anyone place a preference on another demographic before themselves. Nope. It’s everyone for themselves attitude. A selfish attitude more likely.

So I laugh. I find it funny. Feminists yell and bark that women suffered so much in the past. (and I’m not smart enough to argue that) but I do counter: “but you ladies always survived tho and us men died.” And I think it would be hilarious if we could actually flip the roles today. I wanted the crew chief to yell, “Men first. Men here now!” We want some compensation for all those centuries of letting woman and children go first. Just sayin….

And just because we have advanced to the ability to insure no one dies on a Caribbean cruise and there’s enough life boats for all, that we can’t still be honorable and let women and children go first! Be kind. Be humble. Thanks for reading….

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My character flaw is…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

… being too cynical.

Unfortunately, as I grow older, this doesn’t seem to get any better. Perhaps it’s just my life experiences that have influenced this? I try to explain this to people that I’ve been around the block. I’ve seen behind the curtain and I’ve seen the strings. It’s not my first rodeo.

I find myself questioning everything and anything. I don’t trust anyone. Those that I do trust you had to earn it. This goes for even major corporations. McDonalds doesn’t get my trust just because they’ve served a quadrillion Big Macs. And a business like McDonalds has to earn that trust with every return visit. Because they can lose that trust on multiple levels. Customer Service. Was the person at the counter able to speak clearly? Did they greet me with a smile? Food Quality. Did the food look good? Was it delicious? Value. Was paying $15 for something, that just a few years ago was only $5, worth it? There is only a few fast food places that hasn’t lost that trust at least once or twice. This goes for big box stores too. Wal-mart or Home Depot have the same responsibilities.

With that said. I would say McDonalds and their trust depends on the day if that day’s name ends in “day.” I can’t count how many times, I’ve been unhappy with something that company has provided. There’s a day when I go their the drive-thru I basically make a dice roll. Yes, I’m very nit-picky. I basically look at things and wonder why can’t that be accomplished? Why is there dirty tables? Why is there no ice cream? Simple things that I don’t understand why they can’t be nearly perfect every day. It all comes down to dedication and work ethic. Those two things can make McDonalds run like a Chick-fil-A. And why I don’t go to McDonalds more often.

Another example. I work for a very large corporation. It pays the bills. This company is possibly the top dog in their market. So they have lots of money. Last week, they decided to treat everyone in the office to a “pizza party.” It’s these little things that bring joy to a mostly joyless day. Yet, if you didn’t line up fifteen minutes before the specified time, then you didn’t get any pizza. Many folks arrived to find only empty boxes. Why is that? Just to clarify: there’s not a lot of people in the office anymore. Heck there would be a lot less if they didn’t mandate employees to go into the office. I would say there may have only been a 100 people in the office that day. Each floor got about 12 pizzas. Which wasn’t enough. The aftermath of this “pizza party” looked like that scene in Bug’s Life when the locusts “come, eat and leave.”

I inquired how they determined how many pizzas to order. Those determinations were: individuals had to RSVP and each one of those individuals get 2 slices, 8 slices per pizza… I believe you can do the math. But did they think about how many people are in the office? Did they think that some may have not realized you had to RSVP? Did they tell everyone only to take 2 slices or less? This wasn’t the first time this has happened either. A few months back, they decided to treat us to bundt cakes…well, we got tiny slices of a bundt cake. They did the same math. Everyone gets two tiny slices. Now what they didn’t think about is that those rules were never stated. So what happens when someone takes 3 slices? or 4 slices. Back to the bundt cakes, it was witness that some people (people from other cultures) decided to literally load their plates with about 3 bundt cakes so that would be about 12 tiny slices.

Sorry I got distracted. The actions of bad people shouldn’t destroy the enjoyment of a “pizza party.” Yet, you know this will happen. And taking an extra slice of pizza when you weren’t told you were allocated only 2 slices because 3 slices is a nice hardy lunch. My point here is: where did we loose the generosity of providing a “pizza party”? Why is a billion dollar corporation worried about how many pizzas are ordered? Just for the record I used my Dominos Pizza App to order 100 medium pepperoni pizzas. I got a 20% coupon and requested a time several hours away and the app allowed me to order these pizzas. The total cost was something like $778 or just shy of $800. So let’s call this at a $1000 to give some employees a lunch. And they could eat as much as they wanted. And maybe have some to take home. (trust me, you leave food on the counter it will disappear) Now, I know what the nay sayers will say. Well, its just not those employees but if they did it for the whole company that could be like $20,000!! I get it. And I’d still call this out. $20K is nothing for a company that made $3.5B just last quarter.

Thus, my cynicism continues…

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The Robotech Tapes

Posted on by CV Whitfield

March 1985. I was in the sixth grade. I had just moved schools because my mother had an issue with the teachers at my old school. I wasn’t happy about it. My friends and my life as I knew it was there at that school. I wasn’t really that outgoing back then. Today, you’d call that introverted. So I didn’t make friends at my new school. Why? because I was going to be here only 4 months then it was summer break. After summer break, it would be another new school – this one called Middle School.

I think back on this time and I believe I felt the affects of anxiety. When I was 12 years old, I just thought it was fear– fear of things, people and places I didn’t know. Recently, I’ve had lots of experiences with anxiety. Growing older, I found that my body sometimes reacts in a manner I don’t believe I feel. It wasn’t until my 40s that I experienced an anxiety attack when I was on a exciting adventure with my family. I thought it was the early symptoms of the flu and I was mad as I didn’t want to be sick while on vacation. Oh how times have changed and now I have an understanding of that feeling. Yet, when you’re a little kid, you just force your way through. I relate this to how dogs deal with new environments or when they find themselves at the veterinarian. Yet, that’s a tale for another time.

So, during that time, at a new school, and no friends, I raced home on my bike after that 3 o’clock bell as fast I could. I found comfort in cartoons. The cartoons of afternoons on channel 13– KCOP 13 Los Angeles. (and no I didn’t live in L.A. Instead it was a hole in New Mexico but the cable company beamed those channels in.) Every afternoon it was Flintstones, Jetsons, Thundercats, He-Man, and now Robotech!

Robotech debuted in a 90-minute premier episode called Codename: Robotech. When I watched it that first day, I will admit I didn’t have a clue what was going on. I was downright confused. But I didn’t care. The show was freaking awesome. It had planes that transformed into robots. Yeah, it was like Transformers but it was better. These weren’t sentient and intelligent alien robots but a “mechanical” or “mecha” that humans controlled. Not sure if it will make sense but I felt this very akin to the worlds of Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers. I completely found myself addicted to this show. And I couldn’t get enough. The commercials informed me the new show would be on daily starting Monday starting at 4:30pm. I had learned that time meant it would be an hour later for me. I knew where I’d be everyday at 5:30 and nothing was going to deter me.

There was a few other shows that Robotech reminded me of. Notably Voltron. Votron was my favorite show at the time. And a show that I watched many years earlier called Battle of the Planets. The animation was very similar to both these shows. (as this long story will eventually describe, I had no idea that the shows were Japanese and redubbed for American audiences.) Perhaps this is why I immediately took to Robotech. It had a style that I was familiar with and naturally enjoyed. It was different than He-Man (a Filmation product) and Scooby-Doo (a Hanna-Barbera Animation). It was so detailed. The closest I had seen before that was the G.I.Joe A Real American Hero (1983 and its sequel 1984) mini-series.

So as I travel down this journey known as “The Robotech Tapes” I will explore the history and impact on my life. How this show and other shows forged my idea of storytelling and creativity.

to be continued. and I hope this succeeds….

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What happened to Discipline?

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So, I notice things when I’m out and about the world. And today my observation today was the wardrobe of the employees at the local Target.

I was lucky enough to see several of the employees working. So I guess thats a good thing. Right? But I noticed outside of their wrinkled and difficult to notice “Target” vest was they were basically wearing the clothes you’d where to high school or a weekend at the mall. Basically the wardrobe wasn’t anything to be impressed by. It included ripped jeans, baggy jeans, big blocky sneakers, logo t-shirts and tank tops. I don’t mean to sound like a know-it-all but I thought the Target uniform was tan pants and read shirts? At least that’s what it used to be. Sometimes I would wear khakis and a red polo to the office and go to Target after work only to be mistaken for a Target employee.

Long before I became a white collar employee of the corporate world, I used to work a retail job. Almost every retail box chain had a dress code. I worked for the now deceased Kmart Corporation. Our store had a dress code requirement of black pants (not jeans) and a nice profession white shirt or top (for the ladies). This was accentuated with the bright red Kmart logo vest. Some other workers and management could wear black pants and a red logo Kmart polo. Yet, the uniform was taken seriously and I recall some getting sent home if they didn’t have the right color pants or top.

When I started working for the corporate insurance industry and working in a high rise office building, the dress code was business professional. That meant we had to wear slacks or pressed khakis, along with a shirt and tie. If you had a meeting or face-to-face with a client, a jacket was required (a jacket was a sports coat or suit coat — sorry not sure if the youngins’ know those terms). Fridays were a dress down day. We could wear what they called Business Casual – khakis and polos or rugby. I remember the day they decided to let us go Business Casual all the time. Then dress down Friday allowed jeans or denim. We still have that dress code today if meeting with clients or meetings. Yet, we can now wear nice jeans all the time. No rips. No tears. No sag and no bag.

So, I’m wondering what the next generation is getting out of simple things like work dress codes and appearance disciplines when they are abandoned? I truly think it brings the attitude down to a second thought or could-care-less mentality. We wonder why people now wear their pajamas to Walmart and wear flip-flops all year long like they are real footwear! Sorry, I feel if you’re not at the beach, the pool or going into a locker room, flip flops is not an appropriate shoe. But I digress….

So I guess I just have high standards? Should we expect employees to present themselves like they are at a job and not hanging out with friends? Just a thought….

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I just watched Super/Man…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

… and this film was a massive pull on the heart.

Superman is my favorite super-hero. I have 1000s of Superman comic books. It’s possible the reason this true because I saw Superman: The Movie in 1978 when I was six-years-old. I have faded memories of reading the comics at my grandmothers house, lying in the floor with the air conditioner blowing cool air over me and the comic pages. I remember holding the pages down so they didn’t turn on their own. I also have a memories of gazing at an image from the movie (the one below) and wishing there was a real Superman. I even prayed and wished I could be Superman.

To say, this film impacted my life is an overstatement. I bought the trading cards, the comic books, the soundtrack on vinyl and recorded the moving off the ABC Sunday Night Movies on VHS. I still have the VHS tape and the movie is in rough shape as I know I wore out that magnetic tape long ago. I recently found a digital copy of that ABC screening (it had scenes that weren’t in the theatrical cut) and watch it once a year.

So, back to the Christopher Reeve story. It saddened me in 1995 when Christopher Reeve suffered his riding accident that nearly took his life. I prayed he would recover. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t wish his recovery was because I wanted him to return to the role. Most of us comic geeks hoped that he’d return and maybe even team up with Michael Keaton in a cross over movie. It was just fan boy fantasies as movies like that weren’t as common as they are now.

I think the film brings great awareness of his life and struggles. I learned much about the man behind the Superman that I didn’t know. I also hope that the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation continue to fund medical research to hopefully find a remedy to spinal cord injuries. To see what Christopher went through was hard. He may not have had the physical strength of Superman but he had the determination and bravery of Superman. To see his children remember those horrifying days and years of recovery brought tears to my own eyes.

If you get an opportunity to watch the film and I insist you do see this documentary, you’ll see that Christopher Reeve had the support of many Hollywood celebrities, premier politicians and even some Presidents of the United States. A bill was even signed into law by President Barrack Obama to set aside roughly $150 Million dollars to do more research into spinal cord injuries. And I tried hard not to bring my own jaded emotions to this part of the film.

I know I’m cynical and as I get older it doesn’t get any better. So, we have something that impacts thousands of Americans, millions of people worldwide, and the US Government only sets aside $100 million bucks?! Why isn’t this more. Especially when we send billions to other nations. We sent $100 Billion dollars to the Ukraine alone in the last year. So yes, this is why I look at Congress and that President with disdain. It disgusts me that they send that kind of money funding a war that doesn’t benefit us. And they praise and expect us to cheer and give standing ovations because they got a minor $100 Million dollars for something thats much more important than foreign wars that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. (Ok, enough of the politics!)

But you’ll now understand why I have little faith in our respected leaders.

Please go see this documentary. Please donate money to the cause.

Be a Superman!

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Are we just a bunch of ….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

….pansies!

Seems like everything has a warning label nowadays! Geez!

So, I was going to watch a movie last night and the movie had a warning- no not that it had adult language or nudity – but there are flashing images. Say what!? Huh isn’t that the point of movies is images being flashed onto a screen? Ok, I’m not stupid. Maybe there’s a rave scene, explosions or a violent lightening storm and maybe that would cause someone to go into a seizure? How’d did people survive these movies for the last 75 years? Or were hundreds of people flipping out and flopping around on the theater floor that I’m not aware of?

I’m in a restaurant and now menus have these tiny little warnings: peanut, gluten dairy, pork, and vegetarian. Again how’d people survive 20 years ago when ordering a hamburger, house salad or a big plate of pancakes?

Or have we become so passive to make excuses for dumb people? If you have a food allergy or a weakness to flashing lights, shouldn’t that be on you? I mean, it’s bacon! It has pork in it. the pancakes have gluten so don’t order ‘em! And if you have a food allergy that will kill you why do you think a restaurant is your best option to have a meal? I can’t stand the karens that go to an Olive Garden and proceed to ask the waitress if they can make the meal to order—Cesar salad hold the Cesar, fettuccine, but can you hold the sauce since that’s got milk in it and just make it butter noodles, as long as the butter was churned on the seventh holy day of the third moon, and add the chicken, if the chicken was free range and humanly slaughtered—. Or the lady at the table telling the waitress to take back the garden salad because it had croutons because she can’t have gluten! OMG! Pick the damn things off! I don’t like tomatoes but I don’t send the salad back I eat around them. And a breadcrumb is not a deadly virus or radioactive waste. It don’t work that way!

Either way, I think people should man up and worry about yourself vs making everyone worry about you!

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The significance of time….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

No, I won’t hit you with a quasi-technical and philosophical word salad!

But, seems like the significance of time for politicians is tremendous growth and change. I’m speaking a bit more finite and referring to my local city government. In their eyes, simple, familiar, normal, same-ol’ same-ol’ are not good things.

That small farm or open space is better served with an apartment complex or strip mall or the new concept of urban living -with restaurants and shops below, and luxury apartments above.

The city councilwoman smiles and praises things like “progress” and “economic development” and “diverse and engaging communities.” Yet I only see more traffic, rising costs, more taxes and regulations. I see more and more people fill our once small out of the way neighborhood. It almost feels suffocating. There’s lines to get into stuff where there wasn’t before. A calm Sunday is no different than a busy Monday.

I admit that I may be a bit of a hypocrite or maybe it’s more that I’m getting older and my preferences and attitudes have changed. Twenty years ago I may have praised the addition of another Starbucks in the neighborhood. Or may have even hoped for a Target or McDonald’s in short driving distance. But that definitely has changed.

I ran from home to live in the big city. Although really big cities scared me (like New York or Chicago) so I chose Denver. It was big but still felt hometown-like 30-years ago. Now I feel like it’s Los Angeles of the mountains. I wanted someplace bigger as a young man (a kid really). That’s because I grew up in a town where Kmart was the only option for most things and there was no comic or game shops in sight. Movies rarely came to our two theater town. The to-do thing on a Friday night was to go to the high school Football game or cruise Main Street.

When you’re young you want the progress and the technology. Now that I’m older , I’m tired of the change. And the technology down right scares me more and more. “The machines are taking over!”

Maybe I’m just missing the old days. I miss TV shows coming out every week instead of dropping all at once. I miss newsstands. I miss Furrs Cafeteria. I miss the days when the future might be a better place than now the fear of the future will be worse and most likely more expensive place.

I definitely need to figure out this significance of time thing for sure….

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Pet Peeves…. every Wednesday…. maybe?

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Today’s pet peeve. Flip-Flops. Say what? What’s wrong with flip-flops you say?

As the title states, this is a pet peeve. It’s my own neurotic disorder and opinion. If you don’t agree, then that’s fine. I don’t need to hear your reasoning behind it. But you will hear mine. haha.

OMG. I really can’t stand people who wear flip-flops everyday and everywhere. What in the hell? Put on some real shoes for god’s sake!

This goes mostly for men. Yet, I can easily say the same for women too. If you’re not by the side of a pool, or on a beach, or a boat, or locker room shower, PUT some real shoes on! They are not the appropriate foot wear to go shopping. They are not the appropriate foot wear to board a plane. They are not the appropriate foot wear for site seeing. They are not the appropriate foot wear to got to a restaurant (even if that formal dining is a Taco Bell or Hardy’s).

Why in the world would one think I want to look at their nasty feet while I’m eating my chalupa? Or stuffed next to you on a flight to New York? Or standing behind you in the grocery store? Is it just laziness? Does the person not own any real shoes? Like pair of boots, tennis shoes, flats, heels, docs, Mary Janes, high-tops, vans, or converse? What if you needed to walk or run. Those things can’t be a wise choice. And the noise. Flip. Flop. Flop. Flip. Flip Flop. AAAAGGGG. Make it stop!

Oh, ladies….sandals, if nice and pretty, are exempt. Carry on.

Oh and everything I just said also goes for CROCS!!!!

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The Book Market…. and why it’s chaotic…

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Do not take my word for it. Just think about this observation and make your own conclusions. I have no real reason or even a clue why it is this way. Maybe there’s some industry secret that makes sense and the senior’d Editor or Publishers would get in my face and say, “yeah, duh dude!!” (I used two exclamation marks because that means it’s more exclamatory than just one, right?)

It’s been over a decade since I bought my first e-reader. When the Amazon Kindle entered the market, it basically dominated. It was a nice piece of engineering. It was CHEAP! And it with the power of Amazon books behind it, the sky was the limit. I remember when the big book sellers all had one: B&N had the Nook, Borders had the Kobo. I really struggled with which to buy. Because like everything in America, they were proprietary. I wanted something more universe. I really didn’t like how I had to buy my books from one business —all the time. In the end, my mother solved it by buying all Kindles one year for Christmas. Why? They were the cheapest and technically the largest source of books.

I was so excited. Don’t get me wrong. I love books. And when I say books, I mean real books. You know, paper, ink, the smell of a printing press. But, like the iPod, I was amazed and fascinated by the efficiency to carry around every song I owned and not have to worry about a back pack full of CDs and Cassette tapes. Now I had something for books too. Wow. No more rooms full of books. No more storage units filled with books. No more sleepless nights thinking where I put that one book that I now want to re-read. Yet, there was a problem. A very big one.

The cost! I would literally have to rebuy all my books. Or I could just simple move forward with digital only books. And that was a problem just as big. I love books. I want to hold them and smell them. So, okay, I’ll just buy most books digitally and then the favorites I would buy the real deal. Ok. That might work. Then it didn’t…. see, digital books should be cheaper. And when I say cheaper, I mean A LOT cheaper. And unfortunately they weren’t. Even a basic knowledge of commerce knows that a book you pay $26 for is really only getting about $6 to the publisher and $3 to a writer. (And cost of printing isn’t even factored here for ease of understanding). Because the universal rule of business is 50% as in everything is purchased at 50% to make the seller money. So the book is printed and sold to Wholesaler who buys book for around half the cost they’ll sell it to a Bookstore. Then that bookstore needs to double it so they can pay the rent, employees and make a profit. What if? The book never has to be printed. This cuts out a bunch of middle men and costs. The book never has to go to a printer. There’s no paper, no trees sacrificed to feed the machines. The books are not stacked on pallets and stored in warehouses (rent of warehouse costs money). Nor is the book put on trucks and trains and shipped to the Wholesalers warehouse. No gas used, no salary of a truck driver (or train driver…huh engineer?), no wholesale warehouse rent. Then those books would have to be back on a truck or train to ship to the bookseller. See where I’m going here?

There’s a ton of cost in printing a book and just getting it where it needs to be. But digital doesn’t have that. I mean its basically just electrons and photons right? How do you put a price on tiny particles of energy. I guess if you wanted to get picky you could say how much does it cost to transmit the file of about 1MB to a user. There’s the small cost of the user’s internet and electric bill. The publisher or writer has to store the book on a server or hard drive that costs money to buy or maintenance. But isn’t that literally pennies. I mean like 5 cents or a dime! So I’ve concluded that a book, with the original profit margin in place, should sale for about $4.99. Split that 50/50 with the writer / publisher…. huh? HUH? Sounds good. Maybe the publisher worries about lost sales buy sharing digital files?….

Now my RANT and gripe. Why in hell are digital books more than paper books? Clearly this is a big issue and why digital books will fail. Unlike digital songs which went to a very cost effective (cheap) model. .99cents a song…. So why can’t books do something similar and stay around the 4.99 price model? You know why I’m still buying tons of paper books to my regret. Because the books I’d most likely buy digitally are usually $14.99 and I can get the Hardcover for 12.99 (or a soft cover for 8.99). Sorry, I’m not JK Rowling and I don’t have $billions to burn. Is it me or is this just backasswards??

to be continued…..maybe….

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Writing is Hard Work….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

I know I’ve said it before. But writing is hard work. Especially for me. Mostly because, I have good days and great days. And then some not-so-good days.

I can easily sit down and work the keyboard for a few hours and write pages and pages. Yet, then my OCD and Anxiety kicks in and I look at the writing and feel its not very organized. Or my thoughts are not coming out right. Even when I know its just a rough draft. Or a quick blog post thats not polished. I sit and worry that it’s crap.

Then, the internal debate happens. Delete. Leave it. No. Delete it. Okay, lets revise and edit it. No, it wasn’t meant to be edited. Okay. Delete it. Forget it. Just leave it. I’ll come back to it tomorrow and edit.

Sometimes writing is a chore. Yet, I do it because I know its something I have to do. Like a job, you have to do it even if you’re not really into it. So I just write. Mostly garbage or just stream of conscience stuff. This is when I rant or throw common sense at a problem and try to explain the upside or downside.

I hope I’m not alone in this battle to write. I think this is why I’m insanely curious to how others write and try to voyeur on their writing process. Like a nerdy 7th grader, I’m trying to justify I’m not alone in this complex world.

And don’t get me started when I think I’m just writing this stuff and its like a note in a bottle. I doubt anyone is reading it or even finding it on the web…..

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Some simple bullet points….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Here are some simple bullet points that could save the Comic Book Industry. First off, I’ve been a reader, a consumer, a business owner, a manager of a company and lived life. These are based on common sense, not political correctness nor social pandering….

  1. Cover price must drop. $1 sounds right.
  2. Reprint issues from the past. Like all the time.
  3. Return to newsprint (or similar) paper.
  4. Advertise the comic book! I’ve seen a dozens of comic book movies in 10 years, NOT one time did I see some kind of promotion or tagline to go buy the comics these stories were based on. Poor marketing!
  5. Get comics at every check stand in America. Again, this should be a $1, reprint or even first run.
  6. Advertise. Plan and simple. Where does DC or Marvel advertise besides their own comic books. I remember as a kid seeing television commercials to pick up G.I. Joe, X-men and Superman comics “where magazines were sold!”
  7. Stop hiring comic writers simply because they fit a demographic.
  8. Overhaul the compensation of comic creators, writers and artists, so they want to create the best comics possible. This starts with lower salaries and more royalties. If I’m making $75K write a book and you hired me just cause of my skin color, why do I care if the book sells or is popular. Lower the going rate and offer more sales incentives. Allow creators to feel some ownership of the characters they are writing even if its owned by a mega-corporation.
  9. Run it as a business not as cultural propaganda. Tell good stories and everyone, all diversities will buy it.
  10. Listen to your consumers, the customer, your readers, your fans, your audience. Even 1 bad review is 1 too many. Ask yourself, why are readers angry. Don’t blame them for the poor quality of the product.

Simple stuff. And that’s probably not all of it. Comic books should LIVE!

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Comic Book Rant….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Be warned this will be an unbiased and honest rant about an aspect of the comic book industry and those that are in leadership of said comic book industry.

It’s my opinion. It may be lacking all facts but its what I see and how I feel. And if I can conclude these feelings from simple observations, than perhaps, those folks should look into a mirror and ask themselves: what the hell are we doing? Because these simple impressions are very important to business.

I will focus on a publisher I have loved since I was 10 years old. I grew up on their characters and by 1985 would spending nearly all my allowance and then some buying roughly 20 monthly titles. (Just be aware, comics were only 60 cents back then. Hell, I can’t afford 20 books a month today and I make a pretty good salary for a middle aged man. Math: 1985 20 books = $12. 2019 20 books = $80) That publisher was DC Comics.

Besides the simple cost, what kid in his right mind would pay $3.99 for 20 pages of a funny art book? I know I ask that every time I buy one today. And these f’ing Publishers want to cry and moan that children aren’t getting into comics anymore and the industry is collapsing because of old grumpy white men? These publishers are idiots!

So, this opinion is based solely on a consumer perspective. I’m a consumer and I have money to spend. How will the publishers earn my support? That’s the real question isn’t it? Let’s say that social media doesn’t help their cause!

Well, social media can literally best or break a company. (One can ask Gilllette?). So, it doesn’t help the cause or earn my support with some careless social media posting. And yes, this could be shallow and trite but hey I think it and I have a right to question and talk about it. Thus, I think ‘all’ entertainment companies should have some strict social media rules when they want to lure my money out of my pocket. And to be shallow and honest, this could even be simple family pics highlighting over indulgence….

Not to be someone that just wants to dox another, I will not use the co-publisher’s name. Let’s say his name rhymes with Stan Lee but he’s Asian and much shorter. I’ll refer to him as ‘Little Timmy’ (That kinda rhymes too). So, Little Timmy is a very talented artist. He creates a style and brand for his art; he sets out to be an independent comic creator. And, after all said and done, is a very influential name in the business. He returns to the company that helped him rise up through the industry and has become the co-publisher of all the books this company prints. That’s a pretty impressive CV, right CV? (Why, yes it is!)

So, like every other dumb American, I follow him on social media. I thought it might be a platform to see his art. Well, I was wrong. (Edit: I lie for exaggeration and embellishment! There are posts of his work. Mostly Batman stuff and self-promotion of DC stuff and movies.) Instead, I get photos of him jet-setting around the world. I mean literally “around the world.” There are pics of him front row-courtside at Lakers games ( just a few chairs away from Jaaack!). There, he is, in Greece (I think it was Greece), Saudi Arabia, Dubai, China, Japan, and all of the other European countries. Then I see he’s celebrating a aniversary with his wife (most likely Hawaii) and her brand new Lamborghini Aventador (price tag: just south of a half a mil.).

I know what everyone’s thinking: “So!” He’s worked hard to get where he is. He deserves to treat himself to some luxuries out there in the most expensive real estate of California. And honestly, I’m all for the American Dream and pursuit of wealth. I hope to be there one day too. (Correction: I think I would be more conservative. Chalk it up to growing up poor and knowing the value of things…or more importantly, happiness….) Now to my POINT!

DC COMICS is in trouble. Of the two engines keeping that plane in the air, one is on fire and the other is starting to sputter. So, I question how much time does he actually spend in the board room or his office? Isn’t his job to make sure his company is selling millions of comics and thriving? So when I just see him traveling or buying super sport cars, I feel like somethings being ignored. I want him to wake up and put some dedication in keeping comics around for the next generation — like: try and create solutions to get comics back into the hands of children! My first instinct is to think he’s just milking the cow and not really caring about if the cow is eating a healthy diet.

Little Timmy, pleas stop traveling the world. Instead get in that office and make a difference. Change the scope of the industry once again like you did so many years ago. That would convince me to open that pocket and let that money fly out….

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The New Trilogy…. How I would have done it!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

In 2005, we watched Episode III with great enthusiasm and excitement. Then, we were saddened when George Lucas announced that the Star Wars Saga was complete and there would be no more movies. The dreams of seeing Episode VII through IX (7-9) were destroyed. Yet, we excepted it as this was a story about the life and redemption of Anakin Skywalker.

Suddenly, George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Every fan suddenly realized maybe more Star Wars movies would be on the horizon. The news broke really fast that yes indeed Star Wars would return with a new Sequel Trilogy that would take place 30 years after Return of the Jedi. The movies would reunite the original trilogy cast and introduce new characters. When we got The Force Awakens, we were confronted with the truth that perhaps we were deceived. Just like the Jedi were deceived by Chancellor Palpatine and the Army of the Republic.

The new trilogy wasn’t going to focus on the classic characters. It was a clear and present bait and switch. The new characters were going to be the complete focus. The original characters weren’t even given the respect to be supporting characters. No, they were basically cameos. This was the first mistake made by Disney Star Wars. You sacrificed established characters. The right course would have been introduce the new characters but they should have been an extension of the classic character story.

Episode VII opens with a crawl that informs the audience Luke Skywalker is missing. I loved this concept. Like any classic fantasy story, we set up the quest. The journey the characters must take to resolve the conflict. Where could Luke be? Was he captured? Or was he just lost? I could see this resonating out of George Lucas mind and based on his appreciate for Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. Regardless of the reason behind Luke’s disappearance, it reminded me of the exile of Yoda. Yoda wasn’t running away from the problem. He was simply waiting for the opportunity of returning to the battle. After learning that Luke went in search of old and lost Jedi Temples, I figured this could have been his motivation. He was looking for the knowledge. He was waiting for the right time to return and take on the First Order.

Then, Last Jedi was released and our perception of Luke was destroyed….

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Star Wars….other possibilities….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

With the Skywalker Saga (as they are calling the core Star Wars movies nowadays) storyline coming to an end with Episode IX, I dream about the possibilities of what could have been.

I want to get my thoughts and opinions down on digital paper. When Lucasfilm sold to Disney I was very optimistic about the future of Star Wars. Unfortunately, my optimism was cut short with the release of the new ‘sequel’ trilogy of films. And the basic destruction of the expanded universe cannon. I will clarify that I never expected the expanded universe to become the stories of any new movies. Yet, I hoped that they would at least try to blend in. The reason I stand by this: Lucasfilm took such care and consideration of any and all post ROTJ stories. Thus, I figured George Lucas essentially approved it all. Yet, the films are truly the only ‘true’ cannon. Thus, if Mr. Lucas would have changed his mind, then that would be acceptable and understandable.

In this process, I hope it makes sense. I hope my thoughts and ideas are clear and find a audience. I think the narrative of my opinions would have made in some regards better Star Wars movies. I believe this as I would have written my Star Wars from the aspect of the known source material and universe. I would not have made decisions on the risk and ridiculous hope of ‘pleasing audiences’ and being ‘diverse’.

I think its best if I start from the beginning….

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Snake-Eyes Solo Movie….no thank you!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Again, Hollywood has no clue. Yet, I still blame Hasbro too. Because Hasbro could oversee and control the out come as they “own” the property.

I’ve never understood the motives of film writers and producers that have (literally) the easiest job when it comes to adapting a iconic 80s property. The backstory is there. The characters are there. Heck, the fans and viewership is already there! All you have to do is come up with a great story! How hard is that?

But noooo. Producers and writers have to come in and F*#k it all up. Why? I truly believe its because they have absolutely no clue about the actual source material. Either this is complete ignorance or simply a matter of no respect. Because its all about the money.

Thus, if these producers (or Hasbro) had any clue, they would not be moving forward with a Snake-Eyes solo movie. Snake-Eyes is a product of G.I. Joe. G.I. Joe is a team. G.I. Joe, in definition, is a group of diverse characters with unique skill sets that work together to defeat Cobra, a terrorist organization determined to rule the world. Snake-Eyes excels when he’s fighting alongside Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock and Tunnel Rat.

Honestly, Snake-Eyes is a bad-ass character and he’s freaking awesome. But I don’t want to see him in a movie by himself. He needs his supportive cast. And if you bring even one of those characters, or a member of Cobra (i.e. Storm Shadow) then it’s a G.I. Joe movie. Why not just make that one?

There’s over 200 stories in the form of comic books. Its okay to use those as the basis for a good story – a great story. Yo Joe!

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Today’s Word: Patience.

Posted on by CV Whitfield

Hello, boys and girls. Today’s word is patience.

This is something some writers don’t have. Okay. Well, maybe not some. Let’s just say me. I try hard to have it but ….

My head is filled with stories. It’s full of scenes, dialog and … things. I sit and as I write, it flows so much slower. I can spend a full solid morning and only have a few pages to show but in my mind, I’ve seen the beginning, the middle and the end.

So, with the patience comes focus. With that head so full of stories and ideas, its hard to stay focused on just one. I easily get something else caught in my imagination and start to document that. And typically, as I’m working on that, a new idea bursts forth.

I’ve learned that patience comes with discipline. To ease the chaos of my mind, I try to satisfy it by working on more than one project at a time. I’ve been asked if that isn’t confusing or difficult. To be honest, not really. But it does do, is: it slows down the process and extends the completion of the story.

So, I’m trying to focus on only 2 or 3 projects. I can rotate as needed but I feel it will help me and my blocks. But its not rigid. If I find that I spend all my time on 1 project, then so be it. And congrats to me. The only benefit to a slow process is that I get to think more about the story. I find places to make changes and fix problems. In the end, maybe thats the reward….

Oh, and with that: I use a notebook to catalog all those new ideas. Let’s just hope I can get to them one day!

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Writers and Writing….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

OMG

I feel like I just woke up after spending all weekend immersed in authors panels and looking at art and reading about new writers.

I met so many fellow authors and new literary adventurists.

One of my favorites this weekend was Cinda Williams Chima, writer of the Heir Chronicles, Seven Realms, and Shattered Realms. My daughter was introduced to her writing back in junior high. She had read a lot of fantasy books and was sitting on her wall that the best book in the world was Harry Potter. Well, she read The Warrior Heir and the changed overnight. She brought the books home and introduced them to her parents. We became instant fans. Cinda was very nice and supportive.

Other writers: John Scalzi, Pierce Brown and Tricia Levenseller. All of them were very positive. All were more than willing to encourage you and your writing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If you want to write for more than yourself, you need to find a community. And don’t be afraid to seek out even the big authors. Those that have New York Times Bestsellers books. Those that have the Hugo or Nebula or Locus awards. You’ll find most if not all are very humble. Yet, be respective and don’t try to be the new best friend. If you’re not careful thats where restraining orders come into play! (Just a little joke folks!).

I find that other writers inspire me. I’m sure they inspire all of us. So have fun and find time to meet your favorite authors.

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The Future!

Posted on by CV Whitfield

“Always in motion, the future is.” – Yoda, Empire Strikes Back.

We can sit and do nothing. We can sit and worry about it. Or we can get up, plant our feet on the ground, and take advantage of it.

This is my attitude about publishing. The future is rapidly approaching. The fate of storytelling as we know it could flip in on itself. Not only for novelists, prose writers, short fiction writers but also the comic writer and the comic artist.

Technology is now so advanced; anyone can write and publish a book with little or no fuss (and/or budget). Tools like Amazon or Lulu allow you to place your story online and sell it digitally to millions of Kindle readers or tablet users. WordPress is a brilliant platform for sharing creative content absolutely free!

Then there’s crowdfunding sites to “pre-sale” your product so you absolutely know the demand of your market (and reader)! Sorry big presses; this is the future. One needs to adapt or get out of the way. The time of worrying if a major publisher will accept your work (or story) is over. With the right enthusiasm and motivation, a storyteller can sell his work and bypass them altogether. And actually make a full-time career out of it; paying the bills and paying their taxes.

Right now, you can get lost in a very big sea of content and creators. But soon, millions of people will know where to look for it besides the local Barnes and Noble or Walmart. Comic book stores will become digital stores selling both digital and physical items. And publishers like DC and Marvel need to learn quickly how to stay relevant. Or by 2024, these guys will be only selling reprints of archive stuff or hoping another billion dollar movie can be made. I see Marvel (or DC) being a one room office with a staff of little just trying to protect their copyrights.

I am inspired by the future. And honestly, I still want a big publishing deal. Yet, I know it’s not the only option anymore. I challenge all of you to go to IndieGoGo or Amazon to look for independent stories. Support the next generation of writers and creators! Or be the next generation writer and put you stuff out there, any way you can!

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Meet those that Inspire You

Posted on by CV Whitfield

So I’ve been reading books from this author for nearly 20 years. My first book of his I read in only a few days while working a tedious office job. I consumed it as it made my imagination go into over drive. Mainly because the topic was fantastical and wondrous – and in some ways, very possibly true.

It was Fingerprints of the Gods.

And the author is Graham Hancock!

Although he has dabbled in fiction, his books are mostly hypothetical pre-history investigations.

I find this stuff incredible fascinating and I like it as it questions orthodox understandings of our recorded history. I’ve always questioned many of today’s understood facts – say like the Big Bang theory. Like how do scientists even know this- they took some readings and guessed. Yeah, they don’t really know. Maybe Thanos snapped his fingers!?

Personally, I think it’s a bit of truth to something normally believed to be myth and fantasy. It’s a bit of science fiction but done in reverse. The superior tech was in the past not the future.

Mr. Hancock inspires my own creativity and fiction writing. And as a writer, one should meet and talk to those that inspire you. Let them know as it builds our small community and it scan truly be motivational to continue what we do. So go. Do it. Enjoy.

Here’s Graham Hancock signing my copy of America Before and like his other books will definitely be interesting and entertaining!

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He works in mysterious ways….

Posted on by CV Whitfield

A beloved treasure of history and religion suffered major damage due to a fire on Monday. It was a heartbreaking day. I couldn’t function. I was stunned. I wrote about this yesterday.

As I watched the news and found other articles, I learned the current state of Notre Dame. It had entered a restoration process, the first major restoration in over a 100 years, to fix and repair the structure, ceiling and outside facades. The original restoration cost was going to be 100s of millions of euros/dollars. The church sought to get at least €20M – roughly $23M (thats million, folks) to start the process and begin work on restoring the Spire which was causing water damage to the timber roof. (This is the work that we see happening now) The cathedral struggled to find funding. In the end, the cathedral landed with roughly €6M (6.8M dollars). Nearly all of these coming from the Ministry of Culture. Since the French government owns the building, allowing the church to use it for free, I’m assuming this is why the Vatican wasn’t providing the money. The cathedral started a crowd funding program to raise the rest. The archdiocese launched Friends of Notre Dame to raise another €100M over the next ten years.

THEN! FIRE erupted from the Spire and the roof on Monday! We watched in horror as flames reached toward the sky. And as I wrote yesterday, I was amazed to see that most of the church survived. Some of the priceless windows and statues had survived. Yes, the roof was gone. Yes, there is massive water damage to furniture and floors. Amazingly, most of the vaulted ceiling survived as well. Now my point:

Remember when Norte Dame couldn’t find the money it needed to do the restoration? The price tag to fix it was maybe €150M? They were lucky to get €6M! Well, in the last 2 days, French Billionaires, Video Game Developers, French Government and citizens of the world have pledged over €500M! To rebuild! The generosity is amazing. Yet, it took a tragic and devastating fire to bring attention to a marvel of architecture and religious art in need of repairs. One of the donors, the French Government has pledged €20M – this was the original request yet settled on 6M! Yet now the government finds the funding. The new funding also begs questions of why did we let the building get this state? Why didn’t the Billionaires of the country support it prior to the fire? Was it done on purpose? Was it an accident?

Regardless…. one has to wonder, was it a message from God. Was this Devine intervention? I honestly have to place this in the category of:

HE works in mysterious ways….

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