Trump And The Arts

Prediction:  The period beginning roughly in 2017 will be known in the future for its burst of artistic creativity in music, literature, poetry, painting, graffiti, and all other forms of human creativity.

AIFF 2016: Shorts In Competition - Old Stars Dominate: Danny DeVito, Ed Asner, Valerie Harper

"In competition" means these films were selected by the screeners to be eligible for awards at the festival.  

"Features" are 'stories' that are 55 to  140 minutes. "Shorts" are stories that are 10-55 minutes.  Super shorts  are stories under 10 minutes.  'Stories' are fictional and distinguished from documentaries.  

This looks like a particularly strong group this year.  Danny DeVito is in one, Ed Asner in another, Valerie Harper in yet another.  Bruce Springsteen played a role in getting one to screen (because of issues over music rights.)  


Here's the list and below is a bit more about each.  

Shorts in Competition	Director	Country	Length
Curmudgeons	Jake DeVito	USA	17 min
Gorilla	Tibo Pinsard	France	14 min
Il Campione (The Champion )	Boming Jiang	Italy	12 min
Like A Butterfly	Eitan Pitigliani	United States	28 min
My Mom and the Girl	Susie Singer Carter	United States	20 min
Thunder Road	Jim Cummings	USA	13  min

 Since shorts are short, they are grouped into programs. These are the programs that the films are in and when those programs show:  Hard Knocks, Love and Pain, and Global Village.  The Martini Matinee is a regular AIFF event and takes a few shorts from different programs.  Also, there are some super shorts mixed in some of the programs.

This chart is my attempt to help you find which program each of the shorts in competition is in and when you can see them.  I'd note that those shorts not in competition can also be really good.  I often find films at the festival that are not in competition that I think should have been.  But seeing the ones in competition is a good bet.  And the others are mixed into the programs.

Program (right)   Film (below)	HARD KNOCKS Saturday - 1st Dec 3, 2016 11:30am -1 pm - AK Exper Small Thursday -2nd Dec. 8 5:30-7:30pm AK EX Large	MARTINI MATINEE Friday. Dec 9 2-4 PM BEAR TOOTH	LOVE AND PAIN Wed.  1st  Dec. 7 5:30-7 pm BEAR TOOTH Sat 2nd Dec. 10 5:45-7:15pm AK Ex Small	GLOBAL VILLAGE Sunday, DEC. 13  1PM-2:45PM AK Exper Large
Curmudgeons		√	√	√
Gorilla			√
Il Campione (The Champion )		√	√
Like A Butterfly			√	√
My Mom and the Girl	√			√
Thunder Road		√	√	√

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Curmudgeons
Jake DeVito
USA
0:17:00
✓
Danny DeVito is actually listed as the director and an actor in the film.  Jake is one of the producers and one of several other DeVito's in the credits.

This is the whole film*:

Curmudgeons from Jersey 2nd Avenue on Vimeo.


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Gorilla
Tibo Pinsard
France
0:14:00
 ✓

From Gorilla's Kickstarter page:

 "THE INSPIRATION. I love apes. Not you? I love real monkeys, but also "fake" apes, like the old King Kong, those played by actors in the original The Planet of the Apes, or the wonderfully created apes by makeup master artist Rick Baker for Greystoke, with Christopher Lambert and Ian Holm. All these films and these movie apes have profoundly marked my viewer's imagination, the universe they live in, the dangerous and fascinating jungle, but mainly because it talks to my "inner ape". We do not think enough about our "inner ape". Do we ?"







------------------------------------------------------------------

Il Campione (The Champion )
Boming Jiang
Italy
0:12:00
 ✓
I'm having trouble finding much about this film, so I'll just leave you with the trailer for now.








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Like A Butterfly

Eitan Pitigliani

USA

0:28:00

"About a man who dreams he's a butterfly and he becomes so involved in this dream that he no longer knows if he's a man dreaming he's a butterfly, or if he's a butterfly dreaming he's a man."

From an Italoeurope  interview with Eitan Pitigliani

"the reason why I became a director, which is the need to capture the essence of life ­ and of what life could be ­ and then put it on screen, through a special medium: the film. What is great about films is that you make them together with other people, in my case with wonderful and special individuals that helped me take the idea I first had to the final stage. The story of the film came from a series of personal experiences that I have had over time, that I then jotted down in words together with the screenwriter Alessandro Regaldo. There were so many things that inspired me while I was writing the story."

------------------------------------------------------------------
My Mom and the Girl
Susie Singer Carter
USA
0:20:00


From Richard Rossi website which includes an interview with Susie Singer Carter.

"MY MOM AND THE GIRL is a true story based on an odd encounter my East Coast mother, who suffers with Alzheimer's, shared one evening on the streets of East L.A. The story takes off after dinner with family & friends takes a dark turn and my mother is led to a proverbial crossroads where 3 very disparate, desperate women are unpredictably pulled back into the light. It's a funny, poignant and surprisingly rich story where apparent disabilities can be seen as gifts."

------------------------------------------------------------------


Thunder Road
Jim Cummings
USA
0:13:00
 ✓

"As Cummings tells it, the film very unexpectedly got into Sundance, where it then won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film. Of course, this brought some heat to the short and Cummings, which meant attention was also paid to a major question from the film: If he’d secured the rights to Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road,” which plays during a pivotal scene.  After paying $7,000 for the rights to the song so it could travel the festival circuit, Cummings was faced with a $40,000 to 50,000 licensing fee to put his short online. This prompted Cummings to take his case to Springsteen in the form of an open letter he posted on the internet."

This is the whole film*:

Thunder Road from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.




*When I first starting blogging the film festival, films that were available online were not eligible for most festivals and there was some concern when I would find the whole film somewhere.  But online video has gone from the dark ages to the present in just a few years.  If a film is good, you should want to see it several times, and on the big screen as well as on your computer.

How To Talk To Your Cat About Gun Safety And Other Books At Elliott Bay Book Company

There was a book I couldn't get in LA, San Francisco, or Anchorage.  But Elliott Bay Book Company said they had a copy when I called.  It's a surprise for a relative, so nothing here yet.  

But here are some other books I saw on the shelves.  Remember books?  

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CAT ABOUT GUN SAFETY -  Zachary Auburn

From the Preface:

"My fellow purrtiots,
You hold in your hands the only book in print today with the courage to tell it like it is.  To stand up to the idolaters, the liberals, the international bankers, and the secret kings of Europe who want to destroy America and replace it with their one-world government.  To bring about our downfall, these villains have targeted what is surely our greatest national resource:  our cats.  They know that no other cats in the world are as cute as ours.  American cats have the softest bellies, the fluffiest tails, and the loudest purrs.  We are the greatest country in the history of the world, and we have the cats to match.  Our enemies know they have no chance of defeating us while we stand tall with our cats by our sides, and so for years these scoundrels have worked in the shadows, trying to weaken us and our cats.  Stripping from ur cats their Second Amendment right to bear arms!  Undermining the faith of our kittens by teaching them the lie of evolution!  Addicting out feline friends to the scourge of catnip!  The cats of America are under siege . . ."

BLANKETS,  Craig Thomson

From DrawnandQuarterly:

"This groundbreaking graphic novel, winner of two Eisner and three Harvey Awards, is an eloquent portrait of adolescent yearning; first love (and first heartache); faith in crisis; and the process of moving beyond all of that. Beautifully rendered in pen and ink, Thompson has created a love story that lasts."

RAD WOMEN WORLDWIDE  - Kate Schatz

From Advocate:

Rad Women Worldwide tells fresh, engaging, and inspiring tales of perseverance and radical success by pairing well researched and riveting biographies with powerful and expressive cut-paper portraits. Covering the time from 430 B.C.E. to 2016, spanning 31 countries around the world, the book features an array of diverse figures, including Hatshepsut (the great female king who ruled Egypt peacefully for two decades), Malala Yousafzi (the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize), Poly Styrene (legendary teenage punk and lead singer of X-Ray Spex), and Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft (polar explorers and the first women to cross Antarctica). This progressive and visually arresting book is a compelling addition to works on women’s history. 

WE CAME TO AMERICA - Faith Ginggold

From Kirkus:

"Known for her trademark folkloric spreads, Caldecott Honoree Ringgold showcases the arrival of people immigrating to America. By way of luscious colors and powerful illustrations, readers embark upon a journey toward togetherness, though it’s not without its hardships: “Some of us were already here / Before the others came,” reads an image with Native Americans clad in ornate jewelry and patterned robes. The following spread continues, “And some of us were brought in chains, / Losing our freedom and our names.” Depicted on juxtaposing pages are three bound, enslaved Africans and an African family unchained, free. The naïve-style acrylic paintings feature bold colors and ethnic diversity—Jewish families, Europeans, Asian, and South Asian groups all come to their new home. Muslims and Latinos clearly recognizable as such are absent, and Ringgold’s decision to portray smiling, chained slaves is sure to raise questions (indeed, all figures throughout display small smiles). Despite these stumbling blocks, the book’s primary, communal message, affirmed in its oft-repeated refrain, is a welcome one: “We came to America, / Every color, race, and religion, / From every country in the world.” Preceding the story, Ringgold dedicates the book 'to all the children who come to America….May we welcome them….'”

THE BATTLE FOR HOME - Marwa Al-Sabouoni


From The Guardian.

". . . With so much of the country destroyed, what will the future look like? People close their eyes, and they wonder: is it even possible to imagine such a thing?
Marwa al-Sabouni believes it is – and her eyes are wide open. A 34-year-old architect and mother of two, Sabouni was born and grew up in Homs, scene of some of the most vicious fighting. Unlike many, however, she did not leave Syria – or even Homs itself – during the war. The practice she and her husband still (in theory) run together on the old town’s main square was shut up almost immediately: this part of the city quickly became a no-go area. But her home nearby somehow survived intact, and her family safe inside it.
“I’m lucky,” she says. “I didn’t have to leave my home. We were stuck there, as if we were in prison; we didn’t see the moon for two years. But apart from broken windows there was no other damage.” She laughs, relishing my astonishment at this (we’re talking on Skype, which feels so strange, the cars in her street honking normality – or a version of it – with their horns). . . "

ATLAS OBSCURA: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders - Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, Ella Morton

This book is divided by continents and then countries.  I randomly opened to a page to a 'hidden wonder' I'd actually been to.  On India's northwest border with Pakistan, outside Amritsar, there's a bizarre, but uplifting ceremony held each sundown when the flag is powered at the border called the
Wagah border ceremony.  A couple pages later was another choice Indian attraction we had visited - Jantar Mantar, an observatory built in 1728, in Jaipur.  The Alaska entries are less compelling.  The Eklutha cemetery and the Adak National Forest sign are definitely unique, but not quite of the same magnitude as those Indian entries.






NEIN - Eric Jarosinski

From Publishers Weekly:

". . . Nein is not no. Nein is not yes. Nein is nein," he explains. The slim manifesto is divided into digestible, tweet-length aphorisms (each on its own page) with a hashtag for a title. "#TechRevolution/ Turn on./ Log in./ Unsubscribe./ Log out." Jarosinski also includes a hilarious glossary of Nein-ish words and phrases. Performance art, for instance, is defined as "six doppelgangers in search of a selfie." Technology particularly draws his ire. He calls Instagram a "marketplace in which pictures of your cat are exchanged for a thousand unspoken words of derision." There are gems on nearly every page. The book might seem tongue-in-cheek, but Jarosinski's cynical aphorisms about philosophy, art, language, and literature hold plenty of truth. . . "

Anthony Dickerson - Life Amongst The Resistance

Last week I encouraged folks to support artists by going to their performances, buying their works, and letting them know you had their backs.  So as I walked out of the Elliott Bay Book Company today, and this man asked if I liked poetry, I realized that this was one of the moments I was talking about.

What I didn't realize was how powerful his recital would be.  He asked for a word.  I gave him 'resistance.'   So here's Anthony Dickerson live on the curb outside the Elliott Bay Book Company at 1521 10th Ave Capitol Hill Seattle.

Stand Strong And Protect Those For Whom Trump Comes First . . .

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

About the author:

"Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps, despite his ardent nationalism. Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation: “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out...”

There are a lot of parallels to the rise of Trump and the rise of Hitler.  There are probably a lot of parallels between Trump's rise and other less notorious authoritarians which may be closer fits.   But it's the one comparison I know best.  And it's probably been better documented than others. And there are a lot of similarities    From History place:

"Adolf Hitler and the Nazis waged a modern whirlwind campaign in 1930 unlike anything ever seen in Germany. . . . Hitler offered something to everyone: work to the unemployed; prosperity to failed business people; profits to industry; expansion to the Army; social harmony and an end of class distinctions to idealistic young students; and restoration of German glory to those in despair. He promised to bring order amid chaos; a feeling of unity to all and the chance to belong. He would make Germany strong again; end payment of war reparations to the Allies; tear up the treaty of Versailles; stamp out corruption; keep down Marxism; and deal harshly with the Jews."

One only has to substitute the date and the names - US for Germany, 2016 for 1930,  payments to NATO for war reparations to the Allies, NAFTA, TPP, and Climate Treaty for treaty of Versailles,  Muslims for Jews,  and this would read like a description of Trump.

But there are also differences.  One is that Hitler's Germany had a centralized government.  American   states have a lot of independence from Washington and states' rights has been a traditional Republican value.

Another difference is that we know what happened in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.  There are still some people alive who experienced it.  The example is still in our memories.   And we have lots of documentary evidence of what happened and how.

Americans would do well to reflect on the Niemöller quote.

The campaign has already targeted Muslims and immigrants, and people close to Trump are associated with white nationalism.  Trump's grandfather was arrested at a KKK and Fascist rally in 1927.  So these values aren't alien to the Trump family.

Those of us who believe in the rule of law, in decency and tolerance for human beings of all races and religions, have good reason to stand up for those targeted by the Trump administration.  If not for altruistic purposes, then to protect yourself and your family when the first targets - it would appear they'll be Muslims and immigrants -  have been dispatched.   We need to reach out and embrace these groups and resist Trump's attempts to target groups of people based not on what individuals have done, but based on assumptions about the guilt of the groups.

One immediate effort Americans can make is to invite Muslims and immigrant families to their Thanksgiving dinner.  Or find out where there will be community dinners where you can help out. Show them your support.  Get to know them and let them know you.  Connect so that if and when Trump moves to disrupt their lives, you will know and you will support them, and resist the kind of things that happened not only in Germany, but in the US with the internment camps for the Japanese.

It's time for good, loyal Americans to speak up.

I hope that those of us who fear the worst are totally wrong.  But Hitler's rise to power was as surprising in its time as Trump's rise is now.  People dismissed his most extreme views and focused on the positive things he promised - the jobs, the renewed glory of German people.  We have that example relatively fresh in our history.  Let's not let it repeat itself today.  When Germany was eventually defeated in WW II, the United States assumed the role of the leading country in the world.   Today, the most powerful countries in the world ready to take the place of the US on the world stage are Russia and China.

Better Than Calexit - California Should Export Voters To Swing States

There were two opinion pieces in yesterday's LA Times discussing some Californians' interest in possibly seceding from the US.  A law professor in Indiana who says California will always be home, considers some of the issues with his heart on his sleeve.  A political science professor from UC San Diego uses logic and practicalities to oppose the idea.

In Alaska, the secession sentiment has always been around.  We even have an Alaska Independence Party.   And given our geographic isolation from the rest of the US, it makes some geographic sense.  The Daily Mail reported a petition to the president to have Alaska secede and rejoin Russia.  Was that one of the earlier Russian attempts to cyberjack the US?

I've heard a couple people recently talking about joining Canada which makes a lot more sense, but we know that won't happen either.


But here's my suggestion to California.  Export excess Democratic voters to swing states.

Clinton beat Trump in California by over three million votes!


In Michigan, Clinton, as of November 10, was behind by 13,000 votes only.

In Florida Clinton lost by only 120,000 votes.

In Pennsylvania Clinton lost by only 67,000 votes.

In Wisconsin Clinton lost by only 27,000 votes.

You get the picture.  California had more than enough excess votes to change the results in these four states and several more.  That's assuming that the voting machines weren't hacked.  If they were, then none of this would be necessary.

click to enlarge and focus

California Democrats could send out electoral missionaries so to speak who would go live in these states long enough to be eligible to vote.  Everything is perfectly legal.  No need to change the constitution - though that effort could continue.






You don't even have to be there a long time.  Michigan's proof of residency seems to require about 90 days.






















In Pennsylvania, best as I can tell, you only have to have lived there for 30 days.

"11. Declaration I declare that 

• I am a United States citizen and will have been a citizen for at least 1 month on the day of the next election.
• I will be at least 18 years old on the day of the next election.
• I will have lived at the address in section 5 for at least 30 days before the election.
• I am legally qualified to vote.

Wisconsin requires that you've been a resident for 28 days, but there's a clause - "with no intent of moving."

Florida has a similar assumption about intent to stay.

"Legal residence-Permanent. Legal residency is not defined in law. However, over the years, the courts and the Florida Department of State/Division of Elections’ have construed legal residency to be where a person mentally intends to make his or her permanent residence.1 Evidence of such intent can come from items or activities such as obtaining a Florida driver’s license2, paying tax receipts, paying bills for residency (light, water, garbage service) and receiving mail at address, claiming the property as homestead,3 declaring the county as domicile, and doing other activities indicative or normally associated with home life. Therefore, legal residence is a convergence of intent and fact. Once residency is established for voting purposes, it is presumptively valid or current until evidence shows otherwise. See Op. Atty Gen. Fla. 055-216 (August 26, 1955). A business address is not typically a satisfactory legal residential address but if the person resides there despite the zoning ordinance, the address could become the person’s legal residential address.4"

So people spreading the gospel of Democracy there ought to make at least a one or two year commitment.  But that's how I originally conceived this anyway - a one or two year mission.  It wasn't until I saw the short time requirements that other possibilities arose.  No, let's do this honestly.  No one can be sure how long they will live in any one place anyway.  One or two years is clearly long enough.

A year or two in Wisconsin or Florida to save the United States?  It's a much better deal than going to Iraq and probably would do more to save American democracy than fighting in Iraq or any other world hotspots.


Californians CAN live in other states. They can survive.  They're much more resilient than, say, New Yorkers who don't even know how to drive or that there is civilization beyond Manhattan.   A large number of Californians are from other states anyway.  They can speak the local dialect and blend right in.  It's easier than trying to change the minds of Trump voters (though I expect Trump will do that himself in the next four years.)

After their two year commitment is up and the 2020 election is over, they can decide to stay or move back to California, though many may find that living in communities where they can walk or bike to work is kind of nice.

The Anchorage Assembly Has As Many Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs) As The Next Congress

An email from the National Returned Peace Corp Volunteer group notes:

"With the retirement of Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) in January, and the defeat of Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA) on Tuesday night, just two RPCVs are left in Congress, the lowest level of representation in almost 40 years. More Peace Corps champions are needed—let's enlist them."

In comparison, the 12 member Anchorage Assembly has two volunteers as well - Forrest Dunbar in  Kazakhstan and Pete Petersen, who served in the Dominican Republic.

We probably shouldn't be surprised.  As noted in a previous post, Alaska is tied as the state with the third highest number of returned Peace Corps volunteers in the country.


[Regular readers:  I have eight drafts in my blogspot list of posts just since November 11.  These are posts I started but weren't finished.  They are thoughts I want to pursue, but need to do more work on, but I didn't want to forget.  Some will get completed.  Others will probably never get posted.   There are a dozen more still in my head.  Yesterday was a travel day and getting an enthusiastic greeting from my granddaughter reminds me of my priorities.  My grandson and his family arrive in a few days.  So some of my posts my be shorter - like this one and the last two.  Just a brief observation.  And I suspect for many readers, short posts will be a relief.]

Forms of Water: Ice, Snow, Clouds, Water

Flying out of Anchorage always offers amazing views of nature.  As we headed south to gather we family over Thanksgiving, I took advantage of my window seat.  Clouds played a big role in the dramatic landscapes today.  But when I thought about the post, it came to me it's mostly about different forms of water - ice, snow, clouds, and liquid water itself.





The tide was low so we could see the rivers in the mudflats white with ice.

There were low clouds over Prince William Sound and they flowed into the lower levels of the Chugach mountains offering contrasts of the white of the snow and ice to the white of the clouds.

At this part of Western Prince William Sound, the water is blanketed with clouds.

But then there was a spot where the land blocked the clouds and in Eastern Prince William Sound there was water.  At this point in the year, the sun stays fairly low on the southern horizon all day and it will get a little lower yet by solstice.  So at 11am or so it looked like a sunset picture.

Then we got these great cloudscapes.  Large clouds rising in colonies from the water.  It reminded me of the dramatic clouds of Southeast Asia, though these clouds were small in comparison.



My son gave me a book on clouds for my birthday and I was reading through it the other day and thinking I should bring it along.  In the end I put it off for when I have more time and fewer books already on the todo list.  But the clouds today made me question that decision.

The water surface was covered with interesting patterns.  It looked, from 34,000 feet like neat patterns on a flat surface.  But I'm guessing if I could seem them from the plane, the water was probably fairly choppy

And it was still spectacular as we cross out of Canadian air space into Washington State.

Leaving as frequently as we have the last couple of years - first with my mother and then with the grandkids - means constantly cleaning up the house so it's presentable before the housesitter arrives.

Shadow Man

This is not a political post.  It's just about the joy of sun pouring through the windows and setting up every changing images of light and shadows on the walls.  

Eating At An Immigrant Owned Restaurant As Act Of Support And Defiance

There are many ways you can stand up for freedom, equity, decency, and the US Constitution in the new Trump reality.  One is to eat at immigrant owned restaurants to show the owners you support their rights and also to help keep them in business.  

I hadn't thought of this until I saw a retweet from Mark Meyer that said Eater would NOT send out lists of immigrant owned restaurants.  They write that they've had requests for maps and lists of immigrant owned businesses so that people could patronize and support them.  But . . .

"For all that we agree with the spirit of solidarity and inclusion behind these requests, however, Eater will not be publishing lists specifically of immigrant- or minority-owned businesses. We feel that it would be irresponsible to publish guides specifically highlighting restaurants owned by people whose lives and livelihoods may right now be threatened, because of the very real possibility that they would double as cheat sheets to help intolerant actors find new people, businesses, and families to target. In this chaotic moment, we believe it would be indefensible to widely broadcast the cultural affiliations or immigration status of any individuals or their families without their explicit permission."

Pouring Tea at Moroccan Restaurant 

Whether it's a restaurant you've been patronizing for years or one you've just discovered, let the
owners know you are there, support them, and if they have any trouble to let you know.

I suspect there aren't that many people likely to cause trouble, but 1% of Anchorage's 300,000 people is 1,000 people.  One percent of that is still 10 people.  49,573 people in Anchorage (some absentee votes are yet to be counted) voted for Trump.  (45,700 voted for Clinton.)