Articles

Recently Posted

What I've Learned About Writing Websites - Over the last four years, I have posted articles, stories and videos on several different websites. It is time for me to reconsider the approach I have followed and see if I can do a better job.

Conversational Films - A while ago, someone suggested that I make a film like "Before Sunrise", Richard Linklater's 1995 movie. Before I try to make my own film, I want to understand just what kind of film "Before Sunrise" is.

The History of the $100 Film Festival - This is an article I wrote on how the $100 Film Festival started. The festival is now in its 20th year and is the longest running film festival in Calgary.

Economics, Statistics and How They Affect Us - The message of the book "The Cult of Statistical Significance" affects almost all of us. I believe it is important that we understand it. However, statistics is hard to understand; I used statistics in my work for 30 years and still find some of the ideas hard to comprehend.

Filmmaking and Writing

What I've Learned About Writing Websites - Over the last four years, I have posted articles, stories and videos on several different websites. It is time for me to reconsider the approach I have followed and see if I can do a better job.

Conversational Films - A while ago, someone suggested that I make a film like "Before Sunrise", Richard Linklater's 1995 movie. Before I try to make my own film, I want to understand just what kind of film "Before Sunrise" is.

The History of the $100 Film Festival - This is an article I wrote on how the $100 Film Festival started. The festival is now in its 20th year and is the longest running film festival in Calgary.

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Part One: What is a movie script anyway? - Exploring my thoughts on writing a feature movie script.

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Two: Writing a script isn't just writing a script - Exploring my thoughts on writing a feature movie script.

How to Write a Feature Movie Script Three: Finding your way into the story - Exploring my thoughts on writing a feature movie script.

Don't Let Your Heroes be Stupid - It is all too easy for writers to make their heroes do something stupid to move their story forward. If the writer cannot give the audience a good explanation why, they may not buy into the story.

Making "Line of Taxis" - Being open to different influences can lead to greater creativity. Making my movie Line of Taxis helped me learn that.

Why Do People Hate my Film? - When I posted my film Who Shot the President on YouTube, I didn't expect the criticism that I got from viewers. Coming to an understanding of why people hated my film was important in my growth as a film maker.

Rick Schmidt's Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices: A Review - You don't need to make a film to be an inspirational filmmaker.

Abandoned Scripts: What Do You Do When You Can't Get That Big Star - The filmmaker Federico Fellini wrote scripts planning to have some famous actors play the leads. Many times, he could not get them. I am sure that most writers and filmmakers run into this problem. It has certainly has happened to me. I am certainly no Fellini. If he can't get someone famous, what chance do I have? With some projects, you can go ahead with different actors, but with others, you have to abandon them. Here are a few of the ideas that I've had to abandon.

The Best Movies I've Seen - Many people try to pick the best movies ever made. What is best is very subjective, so these are chosen purely on my own preferences.

Images From Saving Private Ryan - I recently watched the movie "Saving Private Ryan". Some of the images from the film have been haunting me.

Rationality Versus Irrationality in The Movie "Agora" - After I saw the movie Agora I felt that, while I enjoyed the movie, it would a movie that I would quickly forget. Since then however, I have started to see more to it. I think this movie needs a second look.

Transportation Planning

Transportation: Planners Versus Modellers - As a former transportation planner, I want to write a story about transportation planning, but which will still resonate with other people. Where we find conflict, peril and personal growth, we can create stories that engage people. This article is the result of my search for these elements in transportation planning.

A Review of "Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Fail - and Why We Believe Them Anyway" - This book Dan Gardner caught my interest, because I just spent the last 30 years of my life as an expert predictor in the field of transportation planning. I must admit that I felt defensive at first, since the author appeared to discount all forecasters. However, as I read the book, I found that I agreed with many of his points.

Curiosities

The Dark Side of Quotations - I like to collect and share quotations. They can provide germs of wisdom and humour from great and some not so great thinkers. Lately, though, I've discovered a "dark side" to quotations.

Guess Who Trivia - The Guess Who was one of the first Canadian rock bands to gain international success. Their story has inspired many other musicians.

Contemplations

A Fleeting Moment of Tranquility - It is not often in our busy lives that we can find tranquility. Memories of those time are precious.

The Meaning of James Morison - A short time ago I was talking to a friend about names. I was quite surprised to learn that she didn't know the meaning of her own name. I was always curious about my name.

Why are People Nasty? - A life experience made me look at this question differently.

Science

It's Obvious - Isn't It? - Most people have felt frustration when other people cannot see the obvious. I know that it has happened to me many times. It took me a long time to see the obvious. Just because something is obvious to you, doesn't mean it is obvious to others.

Some Curious Stories From The Discovery of The Solar System - It took thousands of years for people to discover the true nature of the Solar System. The road to understanding was not straight and along the way, some curious things happened. The search, after all, was by people, who can be quite curious.

When Worlds Collide: Gaia Meets Theia - Philip Wylie's and Edwin Balmer's 1933 science fiction novel When Worlds Collide, and the 1951 movie based on it, tells the story of the Earth being hit and destroyed by another planet. Scientists have found evidence that something very much like that did happen.

The Tragedy of Ankhesenamun - Most people have heard of King Tutankhamun, buy fewer people know of his wife Ankhesenamun. When I first learned about her, I thought her life would make a good story for a movie. From Tutankhamun's birth to his death, Ankhesenamun was by his side. With his death, her life became a tragedy.

In Defence of "Blink" and "Outliers" - I enjoyed reading Malcolm Gladwell's books Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking and Outliers: The Story of Success. I was disappointed at criticism of these books and felt the need to defend them.

Career Advice

Six Lessons for Planning a Career - As I think back over my career, I remember the lessons I learned. These are the things I wish I knew at the beginning of my career. I have put together some of them to share with you.

Some Advice to People at The Start of Their Careers - A couple years ago I left my career of 30 years as an engineer to pursue my dream to write and make movies. As I planned my new career I reflected on my experiences in my old career and felt I had some advice that would be valuable for others.

Economics

Economics, Statistics and How They Affect Us - The message of the book "The Cult of Statistical Significance" affects almost all of us. I believe it is important that we understand it. However, statistics is hard to understand; I used statistics in my work for 30 years and still find some of the ideas hard to comprehend.

Can Taxes be Fair? - Nobody really likes to pay taxes, but most people accept that are needed. Since we have to pay taxes, we would like the system to be fair.

Was John Maynard Keynes a Socialist? - With governments considering stimulus packages and running deficits to deal with the current economic crisis, people are again debating the merits of the economic prescriptions of John Maynard Keynes. Some call his ideas socialist and I decided to find out for myself.

Was John Maynard Keynes a Socialist? Part Two - In my previous article "Was John Maynard Keynes a Socialist?", I concluded that Keynes was not, as some people claim, a socialist. While most people who contacted me expressed agreement, many others disagreed. I have delved into their objections and here's some of what I have learned.

What Would a World with 90 Per Cent Unemployment be Like? - Like other writers I am on the look out for story ideas. Recently an Op-Ed article I read speculated on how technology could affect the job market. Increased productivity might mean that only a small proportion of the population would need to work. What happens to the rest of the people? Would they become a new leisure class, or would they become unemployed with no hope for a decent life.

Evolutionary Economics - In recent years the value of economic theories has been called into question because of the failures in the economic system. Economists have looked at other approaches to improve their theories. One potentially useful idea is evolutionary economics.

Politics

Should Canadian Taxpayers Finance Political Parties? - Canada has adopted a system of taxpayer support of political parties. Recently there has been controversy over the current system and proposals to reduce or eliminate taxpayer support. I believe that a system of taxpayer support of political parties enhances democracy and the power of voters.

Can a Conservative Also be a Liberal? - Most people think of conservatives and liberals as the opposite ends of the political spectrum. Until recently, so did I. While conservatism and liberalism have a history of conflict, they are not opposites.

Can Government be Run Like a Business? - Many politicians promise that, if elected, they will "run government like a private business". Is this possible, or even desirable? Government is usually not very good at doing what private businesses do, but then that isn't the purpose of government.

How Would Proportional Representation Change Canadian Politics? - Some people have suggested that Canada's democracy would work better if parliament was elected using some form of proportional representation.

Health Care

Prepare to Meet Your Doctor - It seems like a very simple thing to do, but you can make life much easier for you and your doctor if you write a short note about your problem before you go to your appointment.

Where Do We Spend Money on Health Care? - Many people worry about the increasing cost of health care. Before we can look at ways to reduce costs, we need to have a better understanding of where health care spending goes.

Five Differences Between Canadian and American Health Care Systems - The debate over health care reform in the United States has generated much discussion over the differences between the Canadian and American health care systems. This article will look at how health care is paid for and how much it costs in both countries.