The Alchemist

In a new Newsweek poll, we once again see that 91% of people believe in God (fine), 48% don’t believe in evolution (ack!), and admitting to being an atheist is pretty much the kiss of death for anybody running for political office. No big surprises there. Here’s what really burns me, though:

In the poll, 68 percent of respondents said they believed someone could be moral and an atheist, compared to 26 percent who said it was not possible.

Are you kidding me?!? So 26 percent of people believe you can’t be moral if you don’t believe in God… and I assume that another 6% just don’t know… so basically 32% aren’t convinced that you can be a moral human if you aren’t a god-worshipper! Very disappointing! After all, it is pretty darn easy to demonstrate that many atheists that have demonstrated far more morality than certain god-worshippers. Hitler, after all, considered himself a Christian… so certainly as a Christian, you still may be moral or immoral. I would argue that shows quite clearly that worship has no bearing on morality.

My definition of morality is not rooted in mysticism and divine edicts as I don’t believe those are necessary or even useful to leading a moral life. No, my definition of morality is security rooted in the physical world and humanity:

You may be considered moral if you make your choices in the interest of: 1) granting freedom of choice to others, and 2) causing the least amount of harm possible.

Ok, I just made that up… so I reserve the right to make changes if I missed something, but I think that pretty much covers the core. You may now discuss amongst yourselves.

Some good news, some bad news. First, the good news:

I finally created and posted a demo reel on my portfolio page!

The bad news is that it really isn’t all I want it to be. First of all, there are some volume problems… sorry, I’m working on that. Secondly (and more importantly), there are some really, really great performances that I can’t include on the reel yet because the films are still in post. How frustrating!

Anyway, please(!) send me an email or otherwise comment on what you think. And of course I’ll be sure to let you know when I get some newer stuff up there!

Hey all, just a note to let you know that Foxxy Madonna Vs. The Black Death won the “Best Use of Spy Genre” in the National Film Challenge! Nifty cool.

Seth Godin recently published a fantastic blog entry about making choices:

The movie business provides us with a clear window on what happens when people make good choices (and bad ones). Everyone… in the industry makes critical choices on a regular basis. Smart choice makers do far better than those that don’t work at it.

I think the same is true for a career in programming, marketing or just about anything else. If you’re in the position to start a company, why didn’t you do it a year ago? Why not now? If you’re a programmer, why didn’t you apply to work at YouTube when the getting was good? If you’re a marketer, how are you going to spend your time and your money? Not choosing is still making a choice.

The life you lead is all about the choices you make. Big choices or small, they all add up. The choices that you’ve already made got you to where you are today. And although you can’t change the past, you set your future course with every new choice you make. And remember: “Not choosing is still making a choice.”

Choose wisely.

Sorry, I’m a little behind on my film news, so let me try to catch you up quickly….

1. I’ve accepted a role from Chris Allen for his new feature film “A Time For The Heart”. I’ll be playing the role of Rev. Dan Hoffman - a trusted advisor to the lead character.

2. I’ve accepted the role of Jimmy Flanagan, a member of a crime family, in the short film “Cap”. This film is being produced and directed by Adam Shepard.

3. Finally, I’ve tentatively accepted the role of Joe, a drug addict and pusher, in the short film “Dependence.” By the way: The director of this film, Tim Sutherland, won the award for best cinematography at the Heartland Film Festival last year! Very cool.

A very exciting start to the new year! And I’m already hearing of some more interesting projects on the way that I hope to be a part of! This is going to be a good year!

Woo hoo! I just found out that I’ve booked a commercial TV spot for the ICVA (Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association). I’m still waiting on the details, but I’m quite excited to have a chance to represent Indianapolis!

From a NY Times on the dangers of sleeping pills:

…in one case, a woman… painted the front door of her home while asleep.

Hmmm. I wonder how using a power saw would work out…

I finally bit the bullet and spent the time necessary to move my site and blog to a new host. While I was at it, I upgraded my blog to run on the latest version of Wordpress and updated my site a little bit as well.

The end result (I hope) will be a faster, more stable site. Please let me know if it’s not!

We all know that Mac is better than Windows, right? But in general it seems that most folks are more than willing to support the monopoly… so imagine my surprise when I read that J.C.Penny is switching to Macs! Well good for them!

Oh, and I just love this quote from the article:

“It’s strange and cult-like,” said Doug Boehner WFAA.com’s online operations manager and Mac fan. “Once you kind of drink the Kool-Aid of the Apple product you realize: Oh my gosh, this is what a computer should have been doing all along.”

Yup. It’s just like that!

In the article Six Things That Innovative Companies Do Well, the author discusses a short list of best practices to create and maintain an innovative company. It’s interesting reading and thought provoking.

As I read this, I realized that these concepts clearly also apply to each of us as individuals and can be used as inspiration in our daily lives. So, I’ve adapted this list to focus on personal growth and have included which each principle one of my favorite inspirational quotations that seems especially applicable. Enjoy!

Question everything

Don’t just go with the status quo. Dream of a better way. Ask why? And why not?

“All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions.” - George Bernard Shaw

Accept failure

When you are growing and attempting new things, you will stumble at some point. That’s OK. You will learn and grow more from your mistakes than from your successes. By giving yourself permission to fail, you will enable your success.

“Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward; they may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Don’t leave innovation to someone else

You are the driver of your life. Don’t wait for pressure from somewhere else to change. Evaluate yourself regularly and look for opportunities to make positive change. You have the ability to achieve far more than you may give yourself credit for.

“A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.” - Rita Mae Brown

Train constantly

Never stop learning. You can learn through formal classes, books, or just watching out for day-to-day lessons that you can apply to your life. But try to learn something new every day and apply it to your life.

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” - Epictetus

Try, try again

The corollary to accepting failure is to keep on trying. Learn from your mistakes and try another approach. Keep pushing. And don’t assume failure too soon! Sometimes just a bit of patience is needed to achieve that illusive goal.

“Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” - Plato

Be wary of others’ opinions

Certainly, listen to others and consider their advice, but don’t take their opinions as fact. Don’t adopt another person’s limitations. Your situation is unique and you should evaluate your goals and capabilities independently.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face in marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt