S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 65

Movie Review: The Founder

Last week I watched the movie The Founder about how Ray Kroc turned McDonald's into the fast food empire it is today.

A lot of people have said this movie is anti-capitalism or anti-free markets. I disagree. Yes, according to the movie, Kroc did some not completely ethical things. But he didn't do things that hurt people. He claimed he started McDonald's (he didn't) and he claimed he came up with the "speedy system" that made McDonald's the first fast food restaurant (he didn't). None of that is illegal, either.

I think what a lot of people worry about is the McDonald brothers. But they actually came out pretty well. They were doing okay, I suppose, before Kroc came along. But they tried to franchise and it didn't work. Kroc managed to franchise McDonald's and after some mistakes and false starts, he figured out how to make it work and how to make it profitable. A lot of people got richer (or rich) and a lot of people got jobs because of what Kroc did.

The McDonald brothers each got $1 million after taxes in the final buy-out. Now days $1 million isn't that impressive. But in 1961, when Kroc bought out the McDonald brothers, that $1 million was worth more than $8 million in today's dollars. And they each got that much. If they wanted, they never had to work another day in their lives. In today's terms, invest $8 million at 5% interest and you'd make $400,000 a year. Live off $300,000 (you can live pretty well on that) and reinvest $100,000 a year to keep your equity growing.

And the McDonald brothers would have never made that kind of money doing what they were doing until Kroc took the restaurant national.

However, the McDonald brothers also asked for 1% of McDonald's profits "in perpetuity." That is, forever. Kroc said that would have to be a "handshake agreement" because his backers wouldn't allow it. And the McDonald brothers went for it. Now I was in business and I know a "handshake agreement" isn't worth the paper it's not written on. If it's not written down, it doesn't exist. The movie makes it sound like Kroc, who became a billionaire, screwed the McDonald brothers out of that 1%. But the McDonald brothers never should have agreed to a "handshake agreement." Business is brutal. It has to be. The McDonald brothers weren't good enough businessmen. Ray Kroc apparently was.

And look what Kroc accomplished. How many people had their first job at McDonald's? How many people got rich as McDonald's franchisees? I look at that and think Kroc did an amazing thing that the McDonald brothers couldn't.

Micheal Keaton does a great job playing Kroc. Laura Dern plays his first wife (who Kroc divorces to marry someone else, and yes, that was a jerk move). It was a well-made and interesting movie. And if you look at it from a business perspective, a very interesting movie.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Jayne Barnard and Felicia Cash

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are happy to welcome writers Jayne Barnard and Felicia Cash.
Jayne BarnardJayne Barnard

Jayne is a founding member of Madame Saffron's Parasol Dueling League for Steampunk Ladies and the author of the Aurora-nominated Maddie Hatter Steampunk adventures for adventurous women aged 12 to 92. Drawing on her early psychology studies, she's also a longtime crime writer, with numerous award-winning short stories to her credit. Fueled by love of the wild, she’s at work on a trilogy of wilderness suspense novels for Dundurn Press. She divides her writing year between the Rocky Mountain wilderness near Calgary, Alberta and a rocky Pacific shore on Vancouver Island.

Jayne's Books:

Maddie Hatter and the Deadly Diamond

Enigma Front: Burnt

Maddie Hatter and the Gilded Gauge

Jayne's Links:

Website/Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Felicia CashFelicia Cash

I am a full-time mother of five, with three adopted girls and two bio boys. I am currently homeschooling all of them, so that doesn’t leave a ton of time for writing, as I’m sure you can imagine. However, writing is my passion and has been since I was a little girl. It is actually through my writing that I came to be an adoptive mother, and through being an adoptive mother, I believe that my writing has matured.

Felicia's Book:

The Last Sorcerer (book one of the Aurelius Series)

Felicia's Link:

Facebook

From today's program: Ceres has Briny Volcanoes.

Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Life Lesson I have Learned

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "A Life Lesson I have Learned."

Oh boy, this one is tough.

If someone (a job, a boss, a spouse, a boyfriend/girlfriend, a friend, a relative) tries to make you be something you're not, it's not worth it. You'll be miserable. And when you're miserable, you aren't having much joy in your life.

It took me a long time to learn that.

Okay, that was short.

What life lessons have you learned? Comment below.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with William Alan Webb and Stephanie Osborn

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers William Alan Webb and Stephanie Osborn.
William Alan WebbWilliam Alan Webb

I’m the world’s oldest teenager. At a stop light you might hear my car thumping as I crank up the rock and roll, or wonder why I don’t get a haircut and a real job.

I was born and raised in West Tennessee, during the days when kids were allowed to get dirty and play with toy guns. My earliest memories are of a particular TV show (I was 2 at the time) and falling asleep watching it on our den floor, and reading books. I get bored quite easily, but for some reason books were like my soulmates. To this day, give me a beach and a book and I’m good to go.

I’m insatiably curious, too. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t, but I am. Don’t take me into a museum, we’ll never leave.

We have six dogs in our house, four of them rescues and one a gift. I like people well enough, but dogs won’t let you down. I’ve never been a cat person, yet we have one cat out of two kittens I pulled out of the middle of a highway after somebody abandoned them there. He’s an old bag of bones now, but Mr. Baggins has the run of the place.

Maybe I’m a cat person after all.

William's Books:

Standing The Final Watch (The Last Brigade, Book 1)

Standing In The Storm (The Last Brigade, Book 2)

The Last Attack: Sixth SS Panzer Army and the Defense of Hungary and Austria, 1945 (Nonfiction)

William's Links:

Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter

Stephanie OsbornStephanie Osborn

Stephanie Osborn, award-winning Interstellar Woman of Mystery, is a 20+-year space program veteran, with multiple STEM degrees. Author, co-author, or contributor to 30+ books, including Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281 and the Cresperian Saga, she writes critically-acclaimed Displaced Detective, Silver-Falchion winner Gentleman Aegis, and the new Division One, her take on the urban legend of mysterious people who make things...disappear. She "pays it forward" through numerous media, and SIGMA, the science-fiction think tank.

Stephanie's Books:

Alpha and Omega (Division One book 1)

A Small Medium At Large (Division One book 2; available for pre-order)


Fear in the French Quarter (Displaced Detective book 6)

Stephanie's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Google+

From Today's Program: Ceres Has Organic Molecules


Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Well, Somebody Has to Say It . . .

Time once again for the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "Well, somebody has to say it..."

Well, tax day is coming soon. So I'll say our tax system is a horrible bollixed-up mess.

Okay, something else.

I support indie authors. I am a semi-indie author. Some of my books are traditionally published by a small-press publisher and some I've published myself.

But some (perhaps just a small minority) of indie authors suck. Then they get their friends and family to give them 5-star reviews (something I've never done). These authors are bad writers and they don't get adequate editing done. Part of that is NaNoWriMo, I think. Someone writes a manuscript in 30 days ending in November, and they think "I need to get this on the Kindle just in time for Christmas."

NaNoWriMo has taken steps to encourage writers to revise and edit their manuscripts. So I hope that is getting to happen less.

So, if you are a writer, you need to edit and revise your work, then edit and revise your work. And finally, edit and revise your work. Then have someone else proofread and edit it. And I hope that person will be brave enough to tell you it sucks, if it does.

There, I said it.

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Len Berry and Georgina Young-Ellis

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are please to welcome writers Len Berry and Georgina Young-Ellis.
Len BerryLen Berry

Len Berry studied biology before turning his imagination toward writing. In his spare time, Len enjoys drawing, watching anime, and playing an occasional video game. He is the author of the dystopian e-book Vitamin F, and several steampunk and fantasy short stories. Len's art can be found in the book Elegance.

Len's Works:


"The Mirror of Tila" (short story in an anthology)

Scars Of Shadow

"There Are Always Three of Them" (short story in an anthology)

Len's Links:

Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
YouTube
Twitch

[image error] Georgina Young-EllisGeorgina Young-Ellis

Georgina lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband who is an artist, writer, and teacher. They have a son who is a professional musician in New York City, where they all lived for eighteen years. She is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and was a stage actress for many years. Born and raised in the Southwest, she went to school in New York City, graduating from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. She is also a screenwriter, journalist, film/theater critic and blogger.

Georgina's Books:
The Time Heiress
The Time Contessa
The Time Duchess
Georgina's Links:
Website Blog Facebook Twitter Pinterest Instagram Tumblr
From Today's Program: Hubble Spies on Ancient Galaxies.
Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.

Guilty Pleasures

Once again it's time for the 52-week blogging challenge. Today's prompt is "Ten guilty pleasures."

I don't know if I have ten guilty pleasures. I'll try.

One: The movie Smokey and the Bandit . Low-brow, country-fried comedy from the late 1970s. But it still makes me giggle.

Two: Driving fast. Usually I set the cruise control five miles per hour over the posted speed limit. But every now and then I'll find a back country road and hit felonious velocities. The roads around here tend to be arrow-straight so high speeds are easy to hit. Curvy roads are also fun to drive fast even if you don't hit high speeds, but there are scarce in this flat part of Washington State.

Three: The movie The Seven Year Itch . Yes, it's from 1955 and yes, it's very politically incorrect in many ways that may grate on our modern sensibilities (especially the opening). But I find it hilarious, probably because my mind works almost exactly like the main character's does.

Four: Pizza. Pepperoni pizza to be exact.

Five: The Simpsons. Yes, the show has been on forever (since 1989) and has lost some of its early bite (political correctness has affected it, too), but it so often is funny and sometimes is relevant.

Six: Five Guys Burgers. Amazing burgers and fries to die for. They've started doing shakes recently. And those are very very delicious. I avoid them.

Seven: Family Guy. Not as funny as it was at the beginning and very irreverent and often cringe-worthy, it still has some funny moments. And sometimes is just hilarious.

Eight: The Princess Bride. The book, not the movie.

Nine (I'm running out of ideas): Netflix Marvel series. I started watching Jessica Jones because I'm a fan of Krysten Ritter (okay, I think she's cute) and that got me hooked. I've now watched the first season of Jessica Jones, two season of Daredevil, and the first season of Luke Cage.

Ten: University of Washington Husky football. If you've read this blog, no need to go into details.

Wow, I came up with ten. I'm somewhat surprised.

Once Upon a 24 Legacy

Sometimes when I'm watching movies or television, I'll recognize and actor and wonder where I've seen them before. This happened when I was watching Sunday night's Once Upon a Time episode. So what I'll often do is open the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) app on my iPhone and look them up. I was trying to figure out why the actor who was playing Jafar (yes, from Aladdin; if your haven't seen Once Upon a Time it loves to mash up Disney characters) seemed so familiar. So I looked him up on the IMDb. And found the actor is 
So Mr. Fehr has an opportunity to show off his acting chops, playing the evil Jafar in the fantasy show Once Upon a Time and then playing the evil Naseir in the action show 24: Legacy. Yes, both characters are evil, but Jafar is a different kind of evil than Nasier.

But when you DVR the shows and watch them one after the other, it's a bit jarring to have the same actor in both shows that are completely different types of programs.

And, here's how my brain works: both shows deal with time as in once upon a time and 24 hours in a day.

Spring into Reading Giveaway 2017

It's time for the "Spring into Reading Giveaway 2017!" There are hundreds of prizes including paperback and ebooks and a Grand Prize of $100 Paypal cash. Enter here and good luck:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Speculative Fiction Cantina with Andrew Hiller and Richard Paolinelli

Today on the Speculative Fiction Cantina we are pleased to welcome writers Andrew Hiller and Richard Paolinelli.
Andrew HillerAndrew Hiller

Andrew Hiller attempted to travel the road least taken only to fall off. Caught in wild currents, he surfaced to find his commentaries selected four times as best of the year on Washington’s NPR station WAMU 88.5 FM, a pair of his plays fill the New York City stage, and an opportunity to act and write with the original Muppets gang in his Cobblestone Documentary series.  His first fantasy novel, A Climbing Stock, grew to reach the top 50 on Amazon’s humor best sellers. In between projects, he has taught art in a psychiatric ward, hosted an internationally broadcast science, health, and tech radio program, and reads everything that makes him go “Huh?” or “Ha!” His second novel, A Halo of Mushrooms was released in December 2015.

Andrew is currently working on a new YA fantasy novel as well as a new Cobblestones’ documentary. When not writing, editing, or producing you can often find him in front of a canvas. A sampling of his radio, visual and literary work can be found at www.andrewhiller.net.

Andrew's Books:

A Climbing Stock

A Halo of Mushrooms

Andrew's Links:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

Richard PaolinelliRichard Paolinelli

Born in Turlock, California in 1964, Richard Paolinelli began his writing career as a freelance writer in 1984 in Odessa, TX and gained his first fiction credit serving as the lead writer for the first two issues of the Elite Comics sci-fi/fantasy series, Seadragon. In 1991 Richard began his sports writing career at the Gallup Independent before moving on to work for the Modesto Bee, Turlock Journal, Merced Sun-Star, Tracy Press, San Mateo County Times and the San Francisco Examiner. He also served as an editor and photographer with some of the newspapers. He won the 2001 California Newspaper Publishers Association award for Best Sports Story while at the Turlock Journal.

In 2013, Richard retired as a sportswriter and decided to return to his fiction writing roots. He released two short stories - "The Invited" and "Legacy of Death" - as well as a full-length sci-fi novel, Maelstrom. In 2015, Richard completed nearly two years of research and interviews and published, From The Fields: A History of Prep Football in Turlock, California, chronicling 95 years of high school football in his hometown. One month later, the first book of the Jack Del Rio series, Reservations, was published by Oak Tree Press.

In 2016, Richard was one of a dozen authors selected to participate in, Beyond Watson, an anthology of original Sherlock Holmes stories and was one of 20 writers involved in a second Holmes Anthology, Holmes Away From Home, released in December. Perfection's Arbiter, a biography of National League Umpire, Babe Pinelli, was released on October 8th. W & B Books acquired the Jack Del Rio series and released the second book, Betrayals, in November. The remaining two books in the Jack Del Rio series will follow in 2017 & 2018.

In January of 2017, Richard returned to his science fiction roots with the release of the novel, Escaping Infinity, and hopes to release another sci-fi novel, When The Gods Fell, later this year.

Richard's Books:

Escaping Infinity

Betrayals 

Perfection’s Arbiter (non-fiction)

Richard's Links:
Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads
From today's program: NASA has plans to land on Europa.
Listen to today's program at 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT, or in archive here.