Film #14: “How To Lose Jobs & Alienate Girlfriends” is an unusual documentary. It is ostensibly about the careers of two musicians. One is the boss and mentor of the film maker. The other is his girlfriend. In reality it is about the film maker’s relationship to those individuals and his desire to attain his goal of creating a movie seen by someone other than himself. Surprisingly the movie is better than that description suggests.

One of the great things about attending a film festival is the opportunity to speak to the people involved in the making of the film. Like the conversation I had with lead actor Jessica Cummings about the movie “Astraea” and why its departure from the typical post-apocalypse survival story made it so special. I was able to spend five minutes with her talking about speculative fiction and why this movie feels so different from all the other movies that use the same premise.

The title isn’t mine. It’s from this article by Charles P. Pierce. Watch James Inhofe toss a snowball on the Senate floor to “prove” climate change is a hoax. We are doomed if idiots like Mr. Inhofe are in control of our future. I wouldn’t trust Mr. Inhofe to walk my dogs. I understand that Mr. Inhofe can’t be an expert on every subject (neither can I). That does not excuse is continual statements regarding climate change that are at odds with the scientific consensus.

I’m amazed that after ten movies there have been no major-league assholes who insist on fondling their phone during a movie. I’ve only had to ask someone to turn their phone off three times and in each instance they did so promptly with no backtalk. This is an improvement over last year. Film #8: “Clew” explores the topic of synthetic humans who do not have full human rights. This topic has been used in many films; most notably “Blade Runner”.

Film #5: “For Some Inexplicable Reason” uses the well trodden story of a thirty year old male, Aron, who has been drifting through life and loses his girlfriend. Yet this film from Hungary manages to make the story feel fresh. This was mostly due to the imaginative ways used to show the tension between Aron’s desire to move on from the old relationship while still longing for his old girlfriend. It was a delightful 90 minutes.

“Life In A Fishbowl” is an interesting exploration of how three peoples lives affected by the 2008 financial crisis intersected after that event. It is set in Iceland which was particularly hard hit by the crisis due to unwise decisions by the bankers in that country. So it is no surprise that several bankers play a role in the film. What is a surprise is the pivotal banker was a former sports star hired by the bank central to the story seemingly solely for his name recognition and personal charms.

Today I saw two films. The first was “Apples From The Desert” set in present day Israel. It is a marvelous portrayal of a young woman, 19-years old, still living at home with her ultra-orthodox Jewish parents. Her aunt makes an early appearance that hints that the women in this family may be less bound to Jewish religious traditions than the father. The daughter decides to run away after learning that her father intends to “give” her to a middle-age widower with three children.

Deepak Chopra (aka “Deepity* Bullshit”) has made numerous statements such as Contrary to our traditional notions of ageing, we can learn to direct the way our bodies metabolise time. Julia Sweeney hilariously discusses this in her book “Letting Go of God”. If you haven’t listened to the audiobook version of her book I strongly encourage you to do so. This picture concisely captures the issue: It appears to me that Deepak Chopra is aging at the rate we expect of normal humans.

I’ve been a fan of Glenn Greenwald for over a decade. He was the primary reason I was a paid subscriber to Salon. I’ve purchased most of his books on politics. I still value his views on politics and think his new venture, The Intercept is extremely valuable. But I have lost all respect for his views on religion and have therefore “unfollowed” him on Twitter. I have disagreed with Mr.

Tom Kirby, Georgia representative district 114 has no idea what the phrase “human life” means but is still willing to legislate on the topic: Ethical treatment of Embryos We in Georgia are taking the lead on this issue. Human life at all stages is precious including as an embryo. We need to get out in front of the science and technology, before it becomes something no one wants. The mixing of Human Embryos with Jellyfish cells to create a glow in the dark human, we say not in Georgia.