gas prices - this isn't complex people

look its simple... oil is traded in dollars.  every barrel of oil that is bought or sold in the world is priced in dollars.

when sheik abdul goes to sell a few million barrels, he's left with dollars.  he can't sell them for euros, he can't sell them for yen, he's never left with rubles or pesos.

however almost everything he wants to buy with those dollars can be purchased with every other form of money.  from eggs to ferraris to boats to chewing gum.

so, he wants a strong and valuable dollar, so that his dollars are worth more than everything else, and he can get more for his dollars.

then, we go out and create trillions in debt lowering the value of the dollar... now his dollars are worth less and he can buy less stuff with the dollars he got for his oil.  to compensate, he raises the price of oil.

the more debt we create as a country, the more we force the value of oil down and the price of gas up.

now, some would say that its worth more to have whatever we got for that debt... the government jobs, the stimulus, etc.

the problem is that those things are not sustainable, they are a quick fix.  however, a strong dollar has more value over time, and in more than lower oil prices.  lower interest rates, lower prices for imported goods in general, and nominal inflation to name a few.

so... as your days progress, realize that charity is a good thing, and that the government should support its people, but its not up to the government to do either on a big scale.  we are paying for it either way - if you want to help, don't let the government borrow, spend some of your own money hiring someone else.

auditions, unions, and making the best of it

today i had my first audition for a paying job in almost 2 months... this town is killing me. i love Saint Louis, but its terribly limited for an actor i’ve learned. there’s no Goodman Theater here, there’s no established production economy here, and as technology developed over the last 20 years, it became completely possible for local companies to produce ads in other cities and have them back here within days.

and for this, the community has suffered. people who want to act and be professional can’t make it here - the effort required doesn’t have the possible local reward. and with this leaves an opening for anyone willing to show up and get the job and take less pay.

and i’m SAG; and i completely support performance unions. but in this case, the unions are wrong. and why? the unions allow producers to hire whoever they want for principal roles, bring them in from wherever, and then (except for cities like NY or LA) they can hire whoever they want for background, stand-in, extra, and cameo roles. the reason being that there isn’t the pool of talent to choose from in the union because the general pool of actors is so small.

however, the rules that the union places on me are GLOBAL. i’m not allowed to take any of these jobs if they are non-union, even if they pay better than union wages. now really, how much sense does that make?

i went SAG because i plan to leave STL to chase bigger and better productions and getting my SAG card in other cities will prove to be a challenge. but in reality, if you’re an actor in St. Louis - who’s planning on staying here, get the card, pay your dues - and go Fi-Core. Until the unions want to put the time and effort into the whole country, its really the only option.

after the audition i went on with my plan to do things that i don’t normally do. and for today, i went to Ted Drewes for some tasty Frozen Custard... mmm... I got myself a mocha something and my dad a small vanilla, it rocked. every town has its unique places to eat that everyone needs to try, and this is on the tops for the STL.