Author Archives: Cordell

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When Fans Become Less Than People

This weekend I was in Dallas for one of the greatest Comic Conventions in the US. The Dallas Fan Expo. If you don’t know what Fan Expo is, Fan Expo HQ is one of the largest entertainment convention groups in the world. Collectively it hosts almost 500,000 fans annually at Fan Expo Canada, Fan Expo Dallas, Calgary Expo, Fan Expo Regina, Megacon Orlando, Fan Expo Boston, Edmonton Expo, Megacon Tampa Bay, Dallas Fan Days, Toronto Comicon, and Fan Expo Vancouver. Basically, it’s one big Comic-Con.

Vendors, or exhibitors as they are called, set up in a small area where they can showcase their talent. It could be art such as paintings, books they have written, clothing they have created, blankets or quilts they have made, etc. Any number of talents can be shown off. Of course, there are those exhibitors that just sell toys and different gadgets. All in all, the entire expo is set up around one thing…comics.

One of the coolest things about an Expo is the fact that you can meet celebrities there. This could be movie actors, voice actors, comic book creators or artists, authors, and a number of other celebrities. Now, this is where it really gets sketchy for me. It’s not that I don’t think that celebrities shouldn’t be there. I actually like the fact that I can meet some of the people that I admire and enjoy watching on TV or in a movie. Getting to talk to these people is something that I think is really cool. My issue is money.

Now of course this isn’t about my money. This is about how much money these celebrities want to get out of their fans.  It does get just a little bit deeper than just money so hold tight and let me explain.

Every celebrity that makes an appearance at one of these expo’s is invited. Now they have the power to accept the invitation or decline it. In most cases if they accept the invitation, they are paid a certain amount of money for making an appearance. Most are willing to at least sign autographs and others are even willing to take pictures with their fans. Now here’s where it gets tricky when it comes to money.

Some celebrities will not even say “Hi” to you unless you buy a ticket to see them. That’s right, you have to pay them to speak to them and even then it’s like a 15 second conversation before they move on to the next person. Some celebrities will charge you for their signature. I’ve seen then charge are low as $25 and as high as $100. Then on top of that some will charge those same amounts for a picture with them. So, depending on the celebrity, you can spend a good $300 just to see them, get their autograph, and take a picture with them.

Now this is the one time that I believe that celebrities should be giving back to their fans since their fans have given so much to them. The amount of money that fans spend on celebrities is absolutely stunning when you look at the whole picture. Fans spend their time to pay for the cable to watch them on TV or they pay for a movie ticket to watch them in a theater. They dedicate their time to these people. Fans buy their DVD’s and in some cases merchandise that supports these people. Fans follow these people on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Snapchat. Fans tell others about them and get other people to become fans. Fans do so much to support these people.

When they find out that their favorite celebrity is coming to an Expo, they take the time off from work to go see them. Many travel many miles to see them and have to book hotels. They pay for gas to come and see them. They pay for a ticket into the expo and ultimately when it comes down to seeing their favorite celebrity, the celebrity wants more money from them. Haven’t fans spent enough money already?

This is where I believe that celebrities can give back to their fans when their fans have given so much to them. Sadly, I believe that celebrities have lost touch with reality and have made it more about them than anything else. It wouldn’t take anything to make these people more of a fan than they already are than by giving their signature away for free or taking a photo with a fan for free. Not charging fans just to simply meet them. It’s something so little but it can make a world of difference to a fan.

One other thing that I saw that really bothered me was the fact that some of the celebrities acted like they didn’t even want to be there. They actually treated their staff and fans like garbage. I was in shock because nobody made them come to the expo. They were invited and they accepted that invitation. If they didn’t want to be there then they should have declined the invitation. There is nothing worse that a fan that spends the time, effort, and money to come see someone that they admire and then be treated like a piece of garbage.

So, in the end, it’s my belief that celebrities should be giving back to the fans that have given so much to them. Without the fans they wouldn’t be living these multi-million dollar lifestyles. Without fans they really wouldn’t be anybody at all. It’s the fans who make them and it’s the fans who can break them.

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Business, Politics

When Will We Grow Up

It’s amazing to me how today’s society has become so clouded in their judgement.  We protest at almost anything that doesn’t fit our own narrative of thinking.  I mean, God forbid someone else have an opinion that doesn’t fit yours.  Isn’t the right of the individual to have their own opinion?  Certainly in our lives at some point we have all experienced something that we did not agree with that others did.  It’s bound to happen hundreds of times in our lifetime.  Used to, we would just brush this stuff off, but today we take a whole new approach.  We boycott, we strike, we avoid, and the list goes on.  Simply put, when we don’t get our way, we just cry about it.

Over the last year or so, America had done more damage that it has good when it comes to boycotting.  We have just about boycotted every business possible when they seem to see something that isn’t inline with what we believe.  The major part of this comes from the presidential election and the presidential campaigns.  There’s no doubt that this past election had to have been one of the more bizarre elections in recent history, if not the most bizarre.  What’s even more amazing is how much we have protested over things not going our way.  We have burned down cities, started riots, enacted violence upon each other, all because something didn’t go our way.  How foolish have we become?  The most amazing part of it all is when we boycott over something before actually knowing all the facts and then it comes out later that what we thought was true was actually false or misconstrued in some way.

This morning I wake up to find out that the American based company L.L. Bean is facing a backlash and boycott because people thought that they were backing the current president elect Donald Trump.  Come to find out, all these people boycotting L.L. Bean jumped to conclusions based on a donation given to the Trump campaign by the granddaughter of one of the companies members.  People misinterpreted it as if the company themselves had made the donation, which is completely false.  In fact, if you look at the company’s history, you’ll quickly find out that L.L. Bean has never in their history endorsed a presidential candidate…ever.

Shawn Gorman, L.L. Bean’s executive chairman, said in a Facebook post, “We are deeply troubled by the portrayal of L.L. Bean as a supporter of any political agenda.  L.L. Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters or make political contributions. Simply put, we stay out of politics.”  

This all began when Linda Bean contributed $60,000 to the Making America Great Again LLC.  In response, Grab Your Wallet, a group that advocates boycotting companies that “do business with the Trump family,” added L.L. Bean to its running list of pro-Trump entities.  The fact is that Linda Bean made the donation on behalf of herself and not the L.L. Bean company.  Never the less, people across America have vowed to boycott the company because of this reason.  

But that’s just one of many examples of the foolishness that we are pouring over our great country.  The fact is that no matter what people do, Trump is still going to be President.  It’s inevitable.  He won the Electoral College, he won the Electoral College vote, and is only days away from being sworn into office.  When are we going to grow up and stop this foolishness?  We are doing nothing but hurting our own country.

The one thing that we must do is come together as a nation despite our differences.  If we cannot do that we are doomed to destroy ourselves.  It doesn’t matter your background.  It doesn’t matter the color of your skin, whether your male or female.  It just doesn’t matter.  If we cannot come together as a nation and stand with one another, we will simply ruin this country from within.  We won’t have to worry about some other country or group like ISIS coming over here.  We will have accomplished their goal for them.  

So to America I say, stop the foolishness.  Let’s stand hand in hand and support one another no matter our differences.  America is a great nation that has tons of great people here.  If we can come together we can become greater.  If not, we are doomed to destruction.  United we stand.  Divided we fall.  History has taught us this.  Let us not repeat the mistakes of history.

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Vehicles

Warrantied Out

If there is one thing that I hate in this, world it’s deceptive practices.  Those where people tell you the truth, but don’t fully explain how something actually works so it becomes deceptive.  One of the biggest today, in my own personal opinion, is that of the manufactures warranty of a new or used vehicle.  Most people don’t understand how a manufactures warranty actually works so let me lay it down for you.

All vehicle manufactures of vehicles offer some type of warranty to their vehicles.  In most cases this is going to be a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.  Whichever one of those two you hit first is when your vehicles warranty expires.  But is it really?  Yes and no.  Let me explain.

When you buy a new vehicle you get a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty.  The 36,000 miles is a given.  There is nothing that is going to change that unless the manufacture changes that on their own, which they have every right to do, but it’s not likely.  The 3 year part of the warranty is where the confusion comes in.  Most people believe that the 3 year/ 36,000 mile warranty begins the day that they purchase the vehicle, which is supposed to be the case, but may not always be the case.  Like I said, the 36,000 miles on a warranty is a given.  You already have that.  However, you may not have a full 3 years.

A manufacture starts their warranty the month that the vehicle is actually listed as sold by the dealer.  This is where the deception comes into play concerning warranties in some cases.  According to carsguide.com, dealers are prematurely advising manufacturers and importers that cars are sold to pocket sales incentives such as cash and overseas trips. Once the manufacturer is notified a vehicle is “sold”, the warranty starts ticking. However, it could still sit on the dealer’s lot for several months before it is actually sold to a customer who is then shortchanged on their warranty. An industry source predicts that as many as one in five new cars could have reduced warranties.

AMIF senior policy director Colin Duckworth said some car makers deem the warranty period to have started when they are notified of a vehicle’s sale, even though it can be sitting in the dealer’s lot. “This practice has been around for who knows how long,” Mr Duckworth said.

Another deceptive practice among car dealerships and warranties is the selling of a used vehicle.  This is slightly more complex, but still just as deceptive.  

If you’ve been in the market for a used vehicle, one of the biggest advertisements that dealers put on a vehicle is the model year of the vehicle.  Chances are that is you go to a used car dealership, the model year of the vehicle is going to be in big bold print on the front windshield.  It draws attention for people looking for a specific year model on a vehicle.  

So let’s say that you bought a 2014 Ford Mustang in March of 2015.  One year later in March of 2016 your having problems with it.  So you take it into the dealer, and alas, they tell you your vehicle has no warranty at all.  How could this be possible you might ask.  After all, the vehicle is only 2 years old.  Not so fast.  Vehicle manufacturers are allowed to start selling any given model year vehicle in January of the preceding year.  This means Ford could have made your vehicle on January 1st of 2013 and market it as a 2014 model.  So in this scenario, let’s say that Ford manufactures your vehicle in January of 2013, shipped it to the dealer which in turn sold it in February of 2013, starting the warranty clock at that point.  This would mean that your manufactures warranty would expire in February of 2016 meaning you just missed out on your warranty by a month.  Sad but true, and what makes it even worse is that it’s perfectly legal.  In the long run, it helps manufactures not have to pay so much out of pocket costs to fix vehicles.  They essentially pass the buck to unsuspecting customers.

So let me go back to used car dealers for a second.  It’s actually possible to drive off the lot with a vehicle that has no warranty yet your under the impression that it does.  This would go back to the not knowing when the actual manufactures warranty began.  The Used Car Rule, formally known as the Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule, has been in effect since 1985. It requires car dealers to display a window sticker, known as a Buyers Guide, on the used cars they offer for sale. The Buyers Guide discloses whether the dealer offers a warranty and, if so, its terms and conditions, including the duration of the coverage, the percentage of total repair costs the dealer will pay, and which vehicle systems the warranty covers.  Some unwitty customers may actually overlook this guide and simply pay attention to the model year of the vehicle instead.  In rare cases, a dealership might not put the Buyers Guide on one of their used vehicles.

Let’s use my example above of buying a 2014 Ford Mustang, but instead of having problems with it in March of 2016, this will be the date that you purchase the vehicle.  Everything else remains the same.  If this were the case, it’s possible to drive off the lot with a used vehicle with no warranty. Even though you think the vehicle still has a year of coverage left, it doesn’t because of when the vehicle was actually made and then sold.

So the moral of this story is when buying a new car, make absolutely sure that the manufactures warranty has not begun until you purchase the vehicle and the vehicle has been marked as sold.  The last thing you want is a brand new vehicle with only a 2.5 year warranty or maybe even something worse.  And when buying a used vehicle, make sure that the warranty has not expired if your looking to still have some sort of coverage on the vehicle.  Carfax.com is an excellent way of getting this information.  It will tell you when the vehicle was actually purchased and when the warranty began.  Most dealerships will offer the carfax to you for free if your on the dealers lot or you can go online and get it through the dealers website.

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Uncategorized

Are Americans Deplorable?

Recently, Hillary Clinton said in a speech that half of all Trump supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables”.  Deplorable, if you don’t know, means extremely bad in quality.  What I find amazing about this statement is that it’s coming from someone who wants to be President.  It comes from someone who is vowing to represent the very people that she has called deplorable.

Every election, Republicans attack Democrats, and Democrats attack Republicans.  Most of the things that they say are just an outright attack in the fact that it has no basis.  For example, Clinton saying that Donald Trump is a racist because David Duke endorsed him.  Just because David Duke endorsed Donald Trump, does not make Trump a racist.  In fact, Donald Trump refused to accept the endorsement and disavowed it, but Clinton still uses this as a platform for calling Trump a racist.  I honestly believe that people are throwing the word racist around and truly don’t know what it really means.  If Trump was a true racist, would he be married to his current wife, Melania, who is a Slovenian?  I mean, think about it.

So back to the topic at hand.  Every election cycle when there are several candidates for each party, they attack each other.  Democrats attack Democrats and Republicans attack Republicans.  All Democrats are at each others throats trying to discredit their opponent so that they can get the nomination.  Republicans do the same.  Most of what’s said is complete nonsense and really doesn’t have anything to do with actual facts.  That’s why in 2008, Obama said that Clinton was unfit to be President.  He wanted to nomination so he attacked her and she did the same to him, but now in 2016, it seems that they are the best of friends.  Obama has even endorsed the very person that he said was unfit to be President.  It’s all just words and just a bunch of made up jargon to make the other look bad.

Once it comes down to a 1 on 1 match between a Republican candidate and a Democrat candidate,  they start attacking each other to try and discredit one another.  Once again, it becomes a lot of words without a lot of facts between the two candidates.  Their goal it to discredit the other and seem as if they are unfit to be President.  For example, it Trump wants to deport illegals, he’s labeled as a racist, but if Clinton wants to keep open boarders, she’s labeled as insensitive to the safety of America.  I’m sure both candidates have good values and it’s one thing to attack another candidate, but when Clinton took her attacks to the American people calling them deplorables, I think she took her attacks as a candidate to a whole new level and a whole new low.

It doesn’t matter who your voting for.  Whether your going for Clinton, Trump, Johnson, Stein, or whoever, nobody should ever be called deplorable.  It’s insulting for one and for two, how in the world are you going to call the very people that you claim to want to represent, bad people and of poor quality?  Especially Americans of all people.  While Clinton has since apologized for the comment, I believe that the damage is done.  People don’t easily forget something like this and I truly believe that she will feel it in the polls.

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Uncategorized

Until Death Do Us Part

Have you ever just wondered what it would be like to live in a world where everybody just got a along in a marriage?  I know it sounds simple enough and often times I wonder what it would be like.  But have you ever thought about it?  According to the American Psychological Association, currently in America, 40 to 50% of all marriages end in divorce.  That’s an alarming rate considering that every married couple took an oath that they would stick with the other person no matter what and until death separated them.  But wait, there’s a catch.  I’ll get to that in a minute.

Marriage is supposed to be a permanent bond between two people.  Permanent as in forever or something that will never be broken.  Sadly, this is not the case.  So I want to look into marriage for a minute and see what makes people grow apart if I can and how it can destroy the lives of children as well.

Everyday in America people get married.  Most do it on a weekend, but it can be any day of the week.  According to staticbrain.com, 56% of Americans are currently in a relationship.  This doesn’t include marriage relationships.  People ask others out every day and people break up every day.  It’s said that most people go through about ten relationships, three of them serious, before actually finding the right one and getting married.  So if those people are the right ones, then why do people divorce?

According to staticbrain.com, the number one thing that people fight over in a relationship is money.  This includes marriage relationships.  We’ve all heard people say that money is the root of all evil.  Not quite.  That’s actually a misquote from the Bible that actually says for the love of money is the root of all evil.  Not money, but the love of money.  Regardless, people get divorced over money more than any other reason.  It’s not usually the lack of finances that causes the divorce, but the lack of compatibility in the financial arena.  Opposites can attract but when two people are opposites in the financial department, divorce often ensues. Imagine the conflict if one is a saver and one is a spender. One is focused on the future while the other believes in living for today. One has no problem buying on credit, while the other believes in saving up for what one wants.  Over time, this conflict can reach such heights that divorce seems to be the only logical conclusion.  But does it really have to be?

Another common reason is intimacy issues.  Somewhere in a marriage there is a subtle change in the intimacy department. One person has an off day, there is a misunderstanding or someone doesn’t feel well. Then there’s the idea that he isn’t as romantic or she isn’t as sexual.  Whoever is the one with the subtle change can trigger a downward spiral in the intimacy department. Men generally need sexual receptivity to feel romantic and women generally need romance to be sexual receptive. As long as both people are getting what they need, they willingly provide what the other person wants. However, when there is a lessening on either’s part, that can trigger a pulling back in the other. If gone unnoticed and unchecked, before the couple realizes, they are seriously intimately estranged and wonder what happened. This can lead to divorce as couples begin to feel unloved and unappreciated.

Sometimes divorce comes in the form of unmet expectations.  Somewhere written into a human’s genetic code lie the instruction that when a person isn’t happy, he or she is supposed to force his/her significant to make the changes required to make the unhappy person happy again. This usually takes the form of complaining, blaming, criticizing, nagging, threatening, punishing and/or bribing.  When one or both people in the marriage are attempting to coerce each other into doing things they don’t want to do for their partner’s happiness, it is a recipe for disaster. When you are unhappy in a relationship, it’s okay to ask for the change you want. But, if your partner doesn’t oblige you, then you become responsible for your own happiness.  But in all honesty, both parties should make every effort to be receptive to change as the other wants within reason.

Those are just a few of the reasons that people get divorced.  I’m sure you can find tons more online or even just think of some in your own head.  But what about the kids if there are any in the relationship?  How does a divorce affect them?

According to Focus on the Family, divorce not only affects the parents, but the kids as well and in a major way.  Here are just a few of the statistics from the Focus on the Family website on children and divorce.

  • Children from divorced homes suffer academically. They experience high levels of behavioral problems. Their grades suffer, and they are less likely to graduate from high school.
  • Kids whose parents divorce are substantially more likely to be incarcerated for committing a crime as a juvenile.
  • Because the custodial parent’s income drops substantially after a divorce, children in divorced homes are almost five times more likely to live in poverty than are children with married parents.
  • Teens from divorced homes are much more likely to engage in drug and alcohol use, as well as sexual intercourse than are those from intact families.
  • Children from divorced homes experience illness more frequently and recover from sickness more slowly.  They are also more likely to suffer child abuse.
  • Children of divorced parents suffer more frequently from symptoms of psychological distress.  And the emotional scars of divorce last into adulthood.

Here’s a thought.  When you divorce and children are involved, just remember that chances are that your still going to have to see your ex partner quite often when children are involved.  It’s just a fact.  You may see them at birthday parties, school functions, and of coarse during every single drop off and pick up of the children.  It would be my advice to challenge yourself to stay in a healthy relationship.  Try to figure out where the breakdown is and try your best to fix it.  In the end, it will all work out for the best.  For you and your children.

Finally I would like to explain the catch that I talked about earlier.  What I’m talking about is a prenuptial agreement.  A prenuptial agreement is entered into before marriage. This agreement can set forth what will happen to your and your spouse’s assets and income in the unfortunate event of a divorce.  Sometimes you’ll hear people say that they got a prenuptial agreement just in case their spouse dies so that they are not subject to community property or equitable distribution laws, however in most states when a spouse dies, the other takes sole possession of the deceased’s property.  Community property or equitable distribution laws us up don’t take effect unless both parties die and even then, most property is handed down to the children unless there is no immediate family. Even if both parties die, a simple will can settle all disputes on one’s personal property and finances. Let’s be honest, a prenuptial agreement isn’t about death. It’s about divorce. Literally thousands of people are planning their divorce before their marriage even begins. That’s a sad truth in today’s world.

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