Life Lessons

My Experience using a Pebble Watch

October 5, 2016 By Ben Lane Hodson in Apple Watch, Life Lessons

I’ve been wearing a Pebble Time watch for the past 60 days (day & night), only taking it off to shower, and I have to say, it’s a solid wearable device. Having been a long time Apple Watch user (been wearing an Apple Watch since it was first released) and also having used a majority of the fitness bands on the market, I wanted to see how the Pebble compared.

The quick of it is: the Pebble easily blows away the basic fitness trackers like FitBit and the MisFit 2 in terms of features, usability, & design. That’s pretty obvious because the Pebble is a quality, full-featured wearable watch. But more surprising, the Pebble holds its own against my Apple Watch, especially when it comes to the core features a smart watch needs to really do well. And in some cases, like Pebble’s incredible battery life and price, it bests Apple’s much more expensive watch.

Watch Design

Overall, I like the Pebble’s design. I think it looks better on my wrist than my Apple Watch. There’s a sleekness to it but its design also makes it look more like a watch than a mini-computer strapped to my wrist. It isn’t too flashy and with the frame & interchangeable watch bands, it goes well with my wardrobe no matter what I choose to wear. I did notice that using a thicker / wider band helped make the watch look more cohesive on my wrist. (thinner bands made the watch itself look oversized & too large on my wrist). Luckily, there are tons of affordable bands for the Pebble.

Build Quality

The Pebble feels more rugged and solid, less like a miniature iPad on your wrist. Sort of like the difference between a case-less iPhone and a Nintendo DS (if that makes any sense). I never felt worried about banging it into a wall on accident like I do with my Apple Watch. The components feel well made and everything adheres without seams giving you piece of mind in the water or a dusty place. That being said, I did find that the Pebble’s screen seemed to get micro scratches often dulling the smooth look after several days of use (most noticeable in direct sunlight and hardly detectable otherwise).

Screen

Speaking of direct sunlight, the Pebble’s eInk display really comes alive in direct sunlight. Whereas the Apple Watch’s screen is unreadable in bright light (the Apple Watch series 2 is better but still not as good in direct sun as the Pebble). But the Pebble is less impressive in very dim light. Because the screen doesn’t provide touch and the raise wrist to turn on feature requires a massive flick of the wrist to activate, I found it hard to see the time without having to fumble for a button press with my other hand. The main issue I ran into was that the “raise wrist to show backlight” feature is difficult to trigger. Whenever you raise your wrist to look at your Pebble, the backlight is supposed to turn on but I found that I had to flick my wrist up, almost violently to trigger this action (sometimes multiple tries). After a while, I just gave up on that and instead used my free hand to tap one of the buttons on the Pebble to get the screen to show the backlight. I hope this will be improved in the next version. Still, the Pebble’s backlit display looks good in the dark and illuminates more than enough to use the device comfortably.

Wearable feel / weight / long term wear

I hardly noticed the Pebble on my wrist. It’s a comfortable device. Even more impressive, while wearing it at night for sleep tracking, I was never bothered or frankly even noticed it. It seems maybe a bit heavier than expected when you first hold the watch in your hand but as soon as it’s on your wrist, you hardly notice it.

Wrist strap

While I like Apple’s clever custom mechanism to attach wrist straps to their watches, the Pebble has a unique advantage here because it works with nearly every existing wrist strap on the market. Instead of using a proprietary wrist strap like Apple, Pebble just works with the standard watch straps you can find anywhere, giving you many more options. They are harder to take on & off but the additional choices and cost savings are a nice benefit.

Waterproofing

This was a big selling point for me. The Pebble can be showered with, fully submerged, and you can even swim with it. Apple has come out with a similar feature in it’s Apple Watch series 2. I used Pebble to track my swims as at a local pool, doing laps with both crawl and breast strokes. I found the swim tracking to be adequate but not overly impressive. The problem is that the Pebble can’t do much more than track some wrist movement and elapsed time, basically causing it to guess on number of calories burned and distance. I found it to be off by as much as a few pool lengths after a swim session. That might be okay in some cases but the additional problem for me is that the Pebble does not currently have a built-in Swimming app and no health kit integration so even if you do track your swims, they won’t be logged on your iPhone. Word is that several third parties are working on swim apps with health kit integration so this should get better over time. So basically, the Pebble has awesome waterproofing and a somewhat disappointing swim tracking experience.

Input: Buttons vs Touch Screen

I was a bit hesitant going from a touch screen (like I’m so used to with my iPhone) to a button-only interface but I found the Pebble to be easy to use and actually, the buttons have some unexpected benefits. One of the most useful is that you don’t need to look at your Pebble to interact with it. This comes in handy when you’re in the middle of a meeting and your wrist starts getting tapped that you are receiving a phone call. A simple quick press of the side button silences the call. With a touch screen phone or watch, you’re forced to look at the device while tapping around to silence a call. There is a way to silence your Apple Watch by just putting your palm over it but still, the Pebble’s buttons seemed easier for this type of action. That being said, when using an app on the Pebble, I did find the buttons sometimes cumbersome to use compared a touch screen so there’s pluses & minuses to both.

Battery Life

The Pebble’s battery life blows away all the other major smart watches on the market. I found my Pebble got almost a full week of battery on a single charge with heavy daily usage. The Apple Watch barely gets a day under heavy usage and if you do a long workout like a hike, you’ll be lucky to get more than 4 hours. That made the Pebble viable for all kinds of activities as well as sleep tracking and I found myself wearing it more often because it was spending less time on the charger.

User Interface

I like the Pebble’s playful user interface with smiling sunshines and upbeat graphics. It’s fun and interactive. On the other side of the coin, I seemed to get lost in the menus often and had trouble getting to apps as quickly as I hoped. Still, for a non-touch screen device, the overall user interface is well thought-out and pleasant to use in most cases.

Haptic Feedback

The tap you receive when a new notification arrives is comfortable, not too hard or soft, and noticeable but not annoying. I feel like this is as good a haptic engine as any other smart watch I’ve tried and worked well in every case.

Time keeping & Watch faces

The clock on my Pebble was always accurate to the second. That’s pretty much a basic must-have in a watch but I’ve found several time-keeping devices in the past to be off by as much as a few minutes over time. But what’s really great about the Pebble is the hundreds of watch faces offered by both the company and third parties. There’s a Pebble watch face store where you can browse hundreds of designs with all kinds of helpful complications & interesting themes/colors. Pebble blows away any other smart watch when it comes to their watch face store. It’s one of the highlights of the device.

Settings Menu

I didn’t love the way the Pebble organized its settings. I think I’m in the minority here though because many people I’ve talked to and reviewers online seem to be obsessed with the idea of being able to control all the watch settings from the device itself. I see the point here and the idea behind it but in practice, I like Apple’s approach better of controlling a majority of things from your much larger and more practical phone screen. To me, it was a hassle to click around 5 levels deep into settings to get to something and I had trouble getting an overall picture of all the things the Pebble could do because I kept getting lost in the depth of the settings & options. So your mileage may vary on this. If you like the idea of being able to do everything from the watch itself, Pebble has you covered.

Fitness

It seems like all smart phone manufacturers are increasingly narrowing their focus to fitness tracking. It’s now the key marketing point for both the Pebble & Apple Watch. I think it is likely due to feedback from the smart watch early adopters who found the biggest value & most staying power from devices that helped them get fit / healthy faster & easier. Pebble’s fitness tracking features are solid and with the next release of the Pebble later this year, you’ll see that focus tighten with key features like heart rate monitoring & more health sensors.

Activity Tracking & Step counting

At the heart of most fitness devices is activity tracking. How much movement did you get in a day? How many calories did you burn? How many steps did you walk/run? These types of automatic metrics are the basis for seeing an overall activity picture of your health on a daily basis and Pebble does a good job of capturing them without you having to interact with the device at all. One place where the Pebble wasn’t as accurate though was in step counting. Because the Pebble only uses the swing of your wrist to track steps, any unnatural motion could cause missed step counts. I did several tests with the Apple Watch and then with the Pebble, same paces, same distance, same time of day, same wrist movement and the Pebble continually over-counted my steps by about 10%. I found the FitBit and Misfit to also over count steps while the Apple Watch either was accurate or under-counted steps. The differences were not drastic enough to be alarmed by but I still wished the accuracy was better. This may be improved in the upcoming Pebble out later this year.

Apple Health Kit / Activity integration

As an iPhone user, I really loved that Pebble synchronizes with my Apple Health app & activity. I saw step counts, calories burned, and daily activity rates sync’d automatically to my overall health data, letting me use Apple’s built-in reports to analyze my health statistics. The integration is reliable and seamless.

Sleep tracking

I was impressed by the sleep tracking in my Pebble. This is something my Apple Watch has never been able to do (both because of short battery life and also because there is no built-in sleep tracking function on the Apple Watch). The Pebble consistently captured my sleep cycles within 10 minutes or less of the actual times I feel asleep and woke up. Best of all, there was nothing I needed to do. I just wore my Pebble to bed and in the morning, the Pebble app showed my sleep for that night in a convenient and easy-to-use graph.

Heart rate monitoring

The Pebble currently has no heart rate monitoring but the new version coming out later this year will introduce this feature. Early reviews have said the heart rate monitoring is really solid in the upcoming device so I expect this feature to catch up with some of the other devices already on the market.

Pebble app

The Pebble app is useful and reliable. There’s basically three main parts: 1) Home screen. 2) Watch face & app store. 3) Basic settings & notifications. The home screen shows you graphs about your sleep, activity, and other helpful info. The watch face & app store lets you get new looks for your watch and download helpful apps to use on your Pebble. And the settings section lets you set up some basic configurations as well as determine how notifications will work between your phone and your Pebble. The app is well laid-out, intuitive, and the health info is especially insightful.

Phone integration

Even though Apple has a very closed system in terms of what a wearable can do with the iPhone, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Pebble functioned with my iPhone. Android phones offer a lot more customization & integration points so the Pebble is even better with those types of phones but it was solid on an iPhone. The Pebble’s iPhone integration was never going to be as tight as the Apple Watch of course because Apple built specific integrations between those devices that Pebble does not have access to. That being said, the Pebble is a good device for iPhones. And on Androids, it’s even better.

Phone calls

Once the Pebble is paired to your phone, it basically acts as a notification extension for many of the things you do on your phone. The Pebble doesn’t actually have its own cellular connection, instead it uses bluetooth to pair with your phone and piggyback on your phone’s connection. So when you get a phone call, not only does your phone ring but (as long as your Pebble is within a close range of your phone) your Pebble will also tap your wrist and display the caller ID information. This worked reliably in every case I tested. The Pebble doesn’t have a microphone or speaker so there’s not a way to answer the call from your Pebble but for just notifying you of an incoming call, it works well.

SMS & Other Notifications

Getting notifications on your Pebble works the same as getting a phone call notification. The Pebble’s screen changes to show the notification information and allows you to scroll through the entire message. For example, when you receive a text message on your phone, the Pebble will display the person that sent the message and the message text. You can then use the side buttons to scroll up or down to see the entire text. Although the notifications were reliable and worked just fine, I didn’t love that because of the way the Pebble displayed an SMS (emails have the same issue), most of the message was off the screen and required scrolling. I found that I could only see maybe the first 4 or 5 words of a message before I had to do more scrolling to read it. In addition, when notifications come, they stay on the Pebble, covering the time display and all other details. This is great if you happen to be able to look at your wrist right away when the notification arrives but it’s kind of annoying if you were too busy to look at the time and then maybe an hour later, you want to check the time. You raise your wrist to look at the clock only to find an hour old message still covering your screen and you have to use the side buttons to dismiss it. Despite these annoyances, the notifications themselves and the wrist tapping worked well.

Calendar

The calendar integration with your phone’s calendar was reliable and worked well. You can see your next appointment clearly displayed on the Pebble and you can use the scroll buttons on the side to jump forward in your day to see upcoming future appointments. Meeting notifications were reliable and the tapping felt natural. It’s a small thing but I also liked that Pebble automatically told me when sunrise and sunset were happening for a day. That came in handy several times. Calendar integration on the Pebble is very good.

Camera & Photos

There’s not much to say here right now (although this will probably change in the future). Currently there’s not a way to view photos on the watch but through third-party apps such as Triggertrap, you can remotely take a picture using your watch as the button for your phone’s camera.

Cardless Payments

I only mention this category because the Apple Watch and a few Android watches can let you pay with your wrist. This isn’t possible with the Pebble out of the box currently but there are several “smart straps” coming in the future that will enable this NFC type payment functionality.

Price

The Pebble’s starting price of $99 is significantly cheaper than the Apple Watch’s entry level pricing of $269. The new Pebble coming out at the end of the year can be ordered for just $129 compared to Apple’s newest Series 2 watch which is currently available at a $369 starting price.

Bottom Line

If you are an Android phone user, the Pebble is the right choice for a smart watch. If you’re an iPhone user, it somewhat depends. If price is no object, then the Apple watch provides some better integration & features (although much worse battery life) but if spending almost $400 on a smart watch seems outrageous (or only being able to go a maximum of a single day on a battery charge), then the Pebble is by far, the best smart watch in the affordable category. Either way, the Pebble is fun to use, reliable, and stylish with amazing battery life and a very reasonable price.

What’s the Real Message of American Sniper?

May 9, 2015 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons, Movies 2 Comments

I recently went back and watched American Sniper (2014) again. I had only seen it once before during its nation-wide release in January 2015. It’s interesting seeing it again, knowing what’s coming, and being able to focus more on the underlying subtext and themes. What struck me this time around is how anti-war the film plays on a second viewing.

When American Sniper was first released, countless critics (like http://www.chud.com/160177/movie-curiosities-american-sniper/) bemoaned their assessment that the film was blatant pro-war propaganda and didn’t give us any real depth to understand who Chris Kyle really was or what he went through emotionally. I have to admit, I kind of bought into this. Upon first viewing, the film is so visceral, so fast-paced, that I was just taking it all in, and from a cursory perspective, it seemed these reviewers were onto something.

But after having taken a second look, I saw things in a different light. In fact, this time around, I couldn’t help but see messages, themes, and emotional turmoil in nearly every scene. Take for instance the very first kill that Kyle makes (a woman and child). In reality, Kyle shot just the woman (not the child) but they child was added for more effect in the movie. Regardless, notice how Kyle doesn’t come back cheering after this sniper kill. Instead, he’s completely dejected and shook to his core. As he puts it, his first kill didn’t go down the way he thought it would or wanted it to. This sets a tone (more like a bad omen) for the rest of his tours in Iraq as he progressively gets more obsessive trying to save his fellow teammates lives while gradually losing touch with his wife and children.

The most telling of all is after his last tour, when he comes home so shellshocked, riddled with PTSD, a walking zombie, that only devoting his life to serving his fellow vets, counseling, and the support of his wife, bring him back from the brink. This does not paint a picture of pro-war jingoism.

I get that some are upset that Eastwood’s film doesn’t comment on the good or bad of the War on Terror. For those that particularly despise the U.S.’s policies in the Middle East, they seemed to crave a harsh critique of the political side of the war. But American Sniper sidesteps this completely, focusing instead on Kyle’s experience in the war. Looking at it from a storytelling perspective and in light of the fact that this was a biopic of Kyle’s war days, I can’t see how political grandstanding would have made the film better. I’m glad Eastwood kept it so focused.

Now, I’ve read most of Kyle’s book and I’ve read the commentators who have said that a lot of what Kyle said he did was lies and that Kyle was in reality, a horrible, evil person (yes, many reviewers as well as other commentators have said exactly this). I don’t know what the truth exactly is. As with most things, it probably lies somewhere in the middle. But my take away after seeing American Sniper a second time is that it does an admirable job of depicting what war can do to a man’s psyche and provides a lot of insight into the kind of terrible circumstances our vets are put through. War is always a tragedy and American Sniper shows this in intimate detail.

Social Media Doesn’t have to be a Waste of Time

April 26, 2015 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

It seems more and more common these days when I login to Facebook or Twitter or Instagram or (insert other favorite social media here) that I’ll see a post by one of my friends announcing to the world that they are “leaving Facebook.” Usually, along with this post, they will also describe all the bad things they perceive about Facebook (or Twitter, etc.), how it was taking up all their time.

Unfortunately, it all comes off as very judgmental towards those of us who stay connected and even when it isn’t preachy, I always wonder about a few things:

Why broadcast that you’re leaving? If things sucked that bad, why not just go. Life goes on in social media world with or without you. Presumably, you are broadcasting a farewell message because you have some friends that you care about still on the site but then why leave in the first place? If you’re going to go, then go… If we don’t see any more posts from you, then we will know you are not active on the site and life still will go on.

Do you not have self control? If Twitter is taking up too much of your time or you are spending too much time looking at Facebook, why not just close the site, remove it from your favorites, take the app off your phone, etc? Maybe set aside a time for only a few minutes every week to give it a quick glance. Why cancel your whole account and cut off one of your easiest access points to all of your social friends?

Are you doing social media wrong? Try this, don’t login or access the social media site for 72 hours. Block it on your browser if you have to. Delete the apps off your phone. Remove the favorite link. Just do whatever you’d like for 72 hours and don’t even think about social media. Then ask yourself this question, did the world continue to turn? Did your day still happen? It sounds ridiculous but I’ve known people who freak if they miss a status update but then feel overwhelmed trying to keep up. Bottom line: life goes on even if you miss a post.

Did you know you can block posts? If constant political posts or negative spam are driving you crazy, did you know you can block posts from a specific user. Both Twitter and Facebook allow you to do this. Also, you can always unfriend someone.

Why I Choose to Stay

I get a lot out of staying on Social Media. There are weeks that are so busy I might not even login for the whole week but here are some reasons I stay and what I really enjoy about social media:

1) Keep in touch with friends & family

This is by far, the biggest reason. Facebook is especially good for this. I have accumulated a large collection of friends & acquaintances over the years and being able to see a little update about something that is happening in their lives here and there is just awesome. I can honestly say, I wouldn’t have any contact with a majority of these friends and even some family members if it weren’t for the power of social media. So valuable!

2) Latest news & reactions

Before even the big news and info sites break stories, I usually already know about them because of social media. What’s even better, I not only hear about important news, I also get the perspectives of my friends as they post about the story, it’s personal implications, their thoughts, etc. It’s truly personalized news.

3) Deep conversations

In my busy life, a lot of times I just don’t have the time I’d like to engage in deep and meaningful conversations, especially with extended family and long distance friends. While I constantly hear how shallow and trite social media is (and there definitely is some of that), I’ve had some great, thought-provoking conversations and in many cases, these discussions have influenced my opinions on all kinds of topics.

As with a lot of things in life, you get out of social media what you give into it.

Why you should never show the Star Wars movies in chronological order

March 8, 2015 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons, Movies 2 Comments

This may come as a shock to many Star Wars-fan parents who are trying to raise their kids right by raising them on a steady diet of Star Wars but… you may be doing it wrong.

Definitions: Episodes 1, 2, & 3 = The Prequels. Episodes 4, 5, & 6 = The Original Trilogy.

Revenge of the Common Wisdom

The common wisdom goes as follows: my kids need to “suffer” through Episodes 1, 2, and 3 so that they can enjoy the masterpieces of 4, 5, & 6. Since George Lucas set the prequel trilogy before the original trilogy, when we show our kids Star Wars, we should start them at “the beginning”.

Unfortunately, that’s wrong and could damage your child’s lifetime love of Star Wars.

The truth is, do not let your children see episodes 1, 2, & 3 before they have first seen A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The Prequel Menace

Let me get one thing out of the way right up front, I’m not here to bash on the prequels. I defend many aspects of them. I see what George was doing. I’m one of the few who thinks: The Phantom Menace is the best of the three prequels.

I’m also not saying that you shouldn’t show your kids the prequels. I know some parents avoid them but there’s enough value there (especially for the true Star Wars fan), and there’s so much context that’s required to later enjoy Clone Wars and other great shows, that they are a must watch.

You absolutely should show your kids the Star Wars prequels, but not before they’ve first seen the original trilogy.

An Old Hope

Why show the original trilogy first? Nearly all of the great plot twists, key scenes, and character revelations are spoiled if you see the prequels before watching the original trilogy. Here’s some reasons to consider:

Self-contained stories: You don’t need to have seen the prequels to understand every plot point, character motivation, and storyline in the original trilogy. Both trilogies are self-contained stories and can be enjoyed separately. In fact, the prequels actually spoil most of the story of the original trilogy if you end up watching the prequels first.

Darth Vader’s Character Arc: The astounding first reveal of Darth Vader storming onto Leia’s ship is one of the great moments in cinematic history. You have no idea who Vader is. He’s ruthless, relentless, and terrifying just as he should be. The story of the prequels is a self-contained arc of Anakin as he turns into Vader. It’s the story of his fall. The original trilogy is it’s own arc of Vader’s redemption. They are two separate arcs. Knowing the prequels fall does not help understand the redemption any better because it already clearly illustrated in the original trilogy that Vader is evil.

Yoda’s Introduction: When Luke first meets Yoda, Yoda is nuts (or at least playing like he’s nuts). When Yoda reveals himself to Luke, it’s a giant twist. As Luke begins training, we find out just how powerful Yoda is. All that is lost if you’ve already seen the prequels.

I’m your Father: Don’t spoil the seminal moment in Empire Strikes Back where Vader declares Luke is his son. If you saw the prequels first, you’d already know that.

The Mystery of the Force: In the original trilogy, the force is presented as a religion, way of life, code of ethics & honor, a path that those who are willing to work can master. In the prequels, we find that biology is a much bigger factor than desire or spirituality. Don’t deny your kids the mystery and power of the force from the original trilogy first.

The Emperor’s Plan: The Death Star is a revelation. When Obi-Wan first decides the Death Star is not a moon, the audience has no idea what they are dealing with. If you’ve already seen the prequels, then you know about the Death Star and the scene is spoiled. In addition, you are intimately familiar with the emperor, his plans, and his tactics. Much of the tension of the emperor’s evil plans goes away when you know who he is, what he’s up to, and what his weapons are capable of.

The prequels rely on several moments of fan-service for conflict, tension, and plot. Amazingly, their stories are actually improved in many ways by having first seen the original trilogy in all it’s rugged, risk-taking, late 1970’s / early 1980’s cinematic glory.

Think of the Younglings

Show the trilogies in the order they were released in theaters, not in chronological order. Let your kids experience each trilogy storyline on its own terms. Many times George Lucas has been quoted as saying that the newer generation of fans likes the prequels best. I wonder if that’s because many of those kids lost out on the opportunity to see the original trilogy first and had most of the great story moments, twists, and characters spoiled by seeing the prequels first? Don’t let that happen to your kids.

The 2014 Tombstone

January 19, 2015 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

As is the case each year, January provides a nice transitional time to reflect on the past 12 months and look forward to the year ahead. Last year, I wrote all my creative goals for 2014 in this post:

http://benlanehodson.com/2013-tombstone/

So how did I do?

Well, my overarching goal for 2014 was to get my first book published. That’s where a lot of my creative energy and time went and luckily, I was able to get that published in November. Here’s the list of what I had put down for 2014 creative goals.

2014 Goal Wrap Up

Publish Tales of the Macabre West by April
“Kind-of accomplished” – I did get Tales of the Macabre West published but not in April. It slid to November because there were so many more revisions I wanted to do and then a lot of other prep with the illustrations, book design, editing that were much more complicated than I had planned.

Record a New Album
“Nope” – Totally missed this one. I started messing around with music, meeting with friends to work on song ideas, even learning more about my recording software. After about 3 months of this, I decided I just didn’t have the time to work on it like I should and I wasn’t happy with any musical direction we were going. Nothing was feeling right. So I pushed this one off for the year.

Write Another Short Film
“Yes” – Not only did I write Shadow of the Mountain, but principal photography has already been completed and the film will release this year.

Launch a new Comic Series
“Not quite” – Spent a ton of time last year working on Blood & Glory but didn’t quite get the first issue released yet. My amazing artist Kasey had some life events that slowed her down this past year but the book is very close.

So overall, I’d give the year about a 60% completion rate. Not great. Not where I wanted to be. But certainly not bad at all. And the big consolation is that my biggest goal of a new book being published was achieved.

Looking back at 2013, I can’t help but feel like I didn’t get as much done creatively as I’d hoped. I’m feeling more ambitious for 2015 so here’s a list of my big creative goals for 2015.

2015 Creative Goals

Write 1st Draft of New Novel (December)
I’m working on a new novel idea. The working codename title is: “Utopia” but that will change when it is ready to publish. The story is coming along nicely and I’m currently outlining and researching for the book. I will be writing on it every day this year and plan to have a first draft finished by the end of the year.

Record a New EP Album (November)
This is a carry-over from 2013. I can’t let another year go by that I don’t really dig in on music. A full album is just too much to bit off but a 5 song EP album is doable and so that’s our goal. Write, record, and release a 5 song EP by November. I’m already spending time each day writing new music.

Issue #1 of Blood & Glory Released (March)
Blood & Glory is so close. We are doing coloring and cover design currently. This first issue will release at Emerald City Comic Con in March.

Release new issues of Shutter & 8-Bit (July & October)
We are working on next issues for Shutter and 8-Bit and both should be out this year. Along with this, I also need to finish up on final drafts for the next issues so that’s part of this work item as well.
– Release Issue #2 of 8-Bit Released by July
– Release Issue #3 of Shutter Released by October

Submit Shadow of the Mountain to Film Festivals
Shadow of the Mountain should be completed by early Spring and ready to submit to film festivals. We still need a finalized cut, some special effects work, sound design, and I need to compose the score for the film as well.

Write a New Film Screenplay (May)
We’ve got a new idea for a short film that has a great hook. I will be working on a screenplay this year for this idea and my goal is to have that written before summer.

Write & Draw 30% of “Death & Loneliness” Graphic Novel (December)
I’ve got an idea I feel very strongly about for a full length graphic novel. And I’m going to really push myself to do both the story and the art on this one. I am practicing drawing each day. My goal is to have the script completed before Summer and then work on the art for the rest of the year. I think 1/3 completed by year’s end is a good goal. This is probably the toughest and most time-consuming goal of the entire list so that’s why it is on the bottom. It may have to slide if things get dicey.

2015 is looking to be a crazy-productive year!

Isaac Asimov’s Long Lost Essay on Creativity

October 27, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons, Tips & Tricks, Writing

Asimov’s writing had a big impact on my young reading life. His Foundation Trilogy was the first science fiction series I really fell in love with. I was captivated by the high concept, 10,000+ year spanning story and clever plot twists. His I, Robot series (don’t see the movie, read the book) was excellent as well. In college, I moved from Asimov’s fiction to reading his work on explaining Physics and still to this day, use many examples from his book as a way to illustrate principles in physics.

So when I heard this past week that a lost essay, written by Asimov, had been found and published online, I jumped at the chance to read it. Arthur Obermayer, a colleague of Asimov’s found this essay in which Asimov describes his thoughts on creativity, where it comes from, and how to develop it.

You can read the full essay here:

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/531911/isaac-asimov-asks-how-do-people-get-new-ideas/

A few of the takeaways I thought were most interesting:

Where Creativity Comes From – Although it was unclear to Asimov where the creative spark came from, he developed an ingenious method for deducing how we might discover the similarities between creative ideas and people. He uses Darwin and Alfred Wallace as an example of two independent people, not working together or communicating, who both came up with a similar idea at roughly the same time.

Attributes of a Creative Person – Someone who truly has unique and radically creative ideas must be very self-assured. They must be willing to defy authority. They must have a personality that Asimov calls “eccentric” but I think he means they need to dare to be different. He also added that isolation was a factor that really helped him with his creativity.

How to Foster Creativity – This paper was written for a government institution but could be substituted for a corporation or just your own creativity. The single biggest factor to promote creativity was to NOT pay for it. Organizations should pay for the employee’s menial tasks but creativity should all be for free. This can apply to even your own creativity by never approaching a project just to make money on it. The creativity flows best when money is NOT the primary driver.

It’s a quick and interesting read that gives some great insight into how Asimov reasoned through things and his clear and concise writing style.

Entertainment as a Comodity

May 22, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons, Movies

Does anyone else find it troubling that almost every commenter online and media pundit refers to a movie series, book series, or comic series as a “Property” or “Franchise”? Star Wars is spoken of as a franchise as if every joe-blo-entrepreneur is starting up a Star Wars fast-food joint in their town complete with Wookies hunched over the fryer, Stormtroopers taking orders, and Jawas on bathroom clean-up.

Star Wars is huge. It’s definitely a brand. The Star Wars brand sells products across countless markets but is it a “franchise.” The definition of a franchise is to sell a right to use a business model. Star Wars is a story with characters and lore. The word “property” might be a little better but it sounds wrong. Star Wars is fun, imaginative, entertaining but it’s surely not a business model.

But regardless of using a word like “franchise” incorrectly, what worries me much more is the immediate relating of an entertainment or art piece to being a “product.”

The Nature of Art

It’s a question asked by artists for hundreds of years:

Can art and product exist as the same thing? Does something cease to be art when it is mass produced? Is a piece of media art like a book, film, song, or comic less artistic when it becomes popular and a best seller?

There does seem to be an element of uniqueness in the way we perceive something as truly artistic. In human nature, the more of something there is, the less special, less meaningful we see it. The truth is that art by definition is completely subjective. Art is whatever you say it is. Simple as that.

Commoditizing Art

We’ve taken all the fun out of art. Everything is a business now. A sequel comes out to a successful movie and suddenly its a franchise. “With Zack Snyder at the helm, the Batman franchise appears to be in good hands.” How is Batman a business model? Why would we want our favorite character to be associated with a staple of consumerism like franchises?

Someone writes a great book or maybe just an awesome blog post and instead of talking about the work itself and its intrinsic artistic value, we say “that is quality content.”

Everyone is so consumer-focused that our entire entertainment system is about monetization and business value. Every Marvel movie is talked about as a “franchise.” Every successful comic series is a “property.” Every piece of writing is “content.”

I’d love to see those clinical words dumped in favor of more passionate, art-driven analysis that doesn’t just focus on the monetary value of a piece of entertainment. Money has its place in art but that doesn’t mean it should be the all-encompassing focus.

Remembering Verland “Bill” E. Bishop

April 24, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Life Lessons

My grandpa passed away this past week. Verland E. Bishop, who liked to be called Bill by friends and family, was the only grandfather I ever knew. My grandpa on my dad’s side died in a sugar factory explosion when my dad was only 8 years old so I never knew grandpa Hodson.

Grandpa Bishop was in his 90’s and his health had been failing him these past few years. But despite those health challenges, you are never truly prepared to lose a loved one. He will be greatly missed and leaves a legacy of children and grandchildren that loved him dearly.

A Complex Man

He spent most of his life working as a paver operator, building roads in the Northwest. The paver moved slowly across the gravel and grandpa’s face became weathered from the punishing heat of the summers. The fumes of the tar and road chemicals effected his breathing and the extremely loud machinery greatly reduced his hearing capacity in later life. He suffered much from a distance that developed in conversations because he struggled to hear what was said. This only contributed more to his quiet nature. He was a deeply personal and private man.

When I was young, grandpa seemed stern and unapproachable but as I grew older, I realized there was a soft center inside of his tough outer shell. He and grandma never missed a chance to come visit, always supportive of my accomplishments whether it was a school graduation or a Christmas visit, they were always there.

Grandpa served honorably as an Air Force mechanic in Europe during World War II. One thing I’ll remember is grandpa’s not-so-sophisticated attitude towards other races, especially the Japanese. It wasn’t so much that he was filled with hatred to those of different races and cultures as much as he just had a lack of understanding towards them. If you’ve ever seen the movie Gran Torino starring Clint Eastwood, you have a pretty good idea of what grandpa was like. Ironically, grandpa’s assigned doctor was an Asian man which caused no small amount of consternation for grandpa. But just as Eastwood’s character had a surprising amount of heart and showed his love in his own way, grandpa had a similar tenderness behind that tough exterior.

Music and Creativity

One of the things I am so indebted to grandpa for is his belief in me. He gave me my first guitar. It was just something he found at a garage sale and thought I’d enjoy. I can honestly say I would never have learned to play guitar, write songs, play in all kinds of bands, and record several records if he had not done that simple act of giving me a guitar. Music is such a huge part of my life and whenever I play music, I think of him and that simple act of giving.

I’ll never forget the time we were visiting grandpa and I had my brothers with me and grandpa asked us to play something. We played a few Railyard tunes and I had a chance to tell him how important he was to my passion for music. The look on his face as we played and sang was a reward in itself.

That thoughtfulness continued to the end of his life. When my mom rushed to be at his side in his last few days, one of the first things grandpa asked her was how my book was coming along. He was always thinking of me, wishing me success, believing in me, supporting every creative project I was working on.

A Legacy of Memories

I can honestly say grandpa’s example of hard work and strength of character made me a better person and continues to inspire me. He had a tough exterior but underneath was a warm smile and loving heart. That’s how I’ll always remember him, pointing the way, cheering me on with an expression of confidence and affection.

Stop Making the Stigma of Self-Publishing True

April 14, 2014 By Ben Lane Hodson in Books, Life Lessons, Tips & Tricks, Writing

I’ve been kind of bummed the past few months with the amount of books I’ve read that I won’t mention here because they were such a disappointment. As I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t do negative reviews. Most of these books were self-published and unfortunately it showed. I have absolutely nothing against self-published books. In fact, I love them and couldn’t be more excited about this publishing option.

It’s not every self-published author but a disturbing number are still not taking it seriously. They are designing their own covers (it looks like they’re using MS PowerPoint). They’re not paying for editing services so the books are riddled with grammatical errors. Worst of all, they seem to not be using a critique group or beta readers to find plot holes and make the story more interesting.

Where Self-Publishing Is Struggling

Here’s a few of the things that these “let-down” books had in common:

Grammatical errors – I know it costs money and I know for many self-publishers, money is super tight. I want to be sensitive to that but I feel like if you can’t care enough about your readers to hire a copy editor, then it’d be better if you hold off on publishing.

Amateur book covers – I wish I could post some examples and I don’t want to hurt any struggling authors but frankly, you know when you see them. Covers put together by non-designers in a non-professional way. Even spending a small amount of money with an up and coming designer makes a world of difference.

Poor plot structure – Plot holes, scenes that should have been cut, and confusing chapters are just unacceptable when the competition is so fierce today in publishing.

Weak story – This is my biggest annoyance. Give me something I haven’t seen before. Surprise me. Make me feel something. Don’t give me cliches, tired dialogue, obvious story lines, and overused settings.

Traditional Publishing Isn’t Perfect Either

To be fair, it’s not only a problem with self-publishing. Several of the books I’ve read recently were published traditionally and while they didn’t suffer from the grammatical errors and the book covers looked at least passable, many were just not great stories. Confusing, boring, full of plot holes, and overflowing with cliches. Frankly, I’d rather deal with grammar errors than a boring story so I guess the above applies to everyone.

The thing is that in many cases, at least traditional publishing provided a filter for the garbage. Now that the barriers to publishing are broken down, it’s harder to tell what is quality and what is crap. A quality cover, a great first page, an excellent story, an awesome blurb. Those are things that can help a self-published book compete with the big boys.

A Higher Bar

There’s already a stigma associated with self-publishing so if anything, a self-published book needs to be better than the average traditional published book just to be competitive. I truly believe self-publishing can be successful (it already is for several unique books) and is the most exciting thing happening in publishing today but self-publishing’s only going to hit the great heights it’s capable of if self-publishers take it seriously and invest their writing work with quality and value.

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