How To Use LAX's Taxi, Lyft, Uber Lot

LAX's new system for taxis, Uber, and Lyft began rather disastrously at the beginning of November this year.  We'd heard it was a little better, but weren't sure how we were going to negotiate it.  Turned out to be reasonably easy.  There are big light green signs all over telling you how to get to the new lot - via shuttles that stop on the inside lane by those same green signs.

We asked an employee about when to order the car.  J has Lyft and I have Uber (which I got last summer when we were in Argentina and there was no Lyft).  She said to do it before getting on the shuttle.

Shuttle came quick and wandered through a maze of curving roads.  (It was 8:30 pm on a Monday so we decided not to take the bus.)  I ordered the Uber on the bus and got a code number and instructions to go to 2A, 3A, or 4A.  When we got off the bus there were lots of people helping people figure out what to do and where to go.

Taxis were in one place, Lyft in another direction and there were long lines of cars waiting to pick people up.  Not that many people.

At the front of the line there was someone guiding people into cars.  We got into the next car and gave the driver our PIN.  With the canopy and lights, and all the staff directing people, it felt like going to some big event with crowd control.

So the difference here is that you aren't ordering a specific driver - just the next one in line, like in a taxi line.  And the driver said, from his perspective, he doesn't get to screen the customers.

Normally, Uber drivers, he said, anyone with a rating of less that 4.8 (out of 5)!  That's a pretty high standard I thought.  But here, he has to take whoever is next in line.  Of course, we don't get to pick drivers either.  I asked what got people a good rating.  Tips* and then whether you're decent people.  I suspect it's more about whether you're a jerk.  But still 4.8 out of 5 is a high bar.  If you've taken as few Ubers as we have, one 2 rating would make us untouchables.  If you had a hundred rides a few big negatives wouldn't matter, but I'm not sure how a jerk would get enough rides to render a 2 from someone not a big deal.

I asked what our rating was.  Turns out were a 5, but that's only out of three rides.  Ali, our driver, was a 4.95.  He said we could find our own rating, but I haven't figured out how.  But, of course, Google to the rescue.  Turns out you need 5 rides for your rating to show up on your profile.  We aren't there yet.

Anyway, it was easy, one-third cheaper than a cab (though I don't know if their price has gone down since Uber and Lyft are now here big time).  Though when the crowds get really bad next week, not sure how easy this will be.

And I'd note that the big red and white billboard in the back was for My UBER Lawyer, offering to help with accidents and other problems with Uber.

*I tend to tip cab (and Uber and Lyft) drivers generously since I drove a cab out of LAX long ago after graduating UCLA and before Peace Corps training resumed.  I needed to earn some money and this let me beach during the day and then work the 4pm to midnight shift.

Some Suggestions For Improving Don Young's Online Poll And Anchorage Impeach Rally

I got an email poll from Don Young today.

It would appear that he is looking for confirmation of his priorities.  If he really wanted to know what his constituents wanted, then when we marked other, it would ask for specifics.  Here's the poll:

priorities opt in

Heading into 2020, which legislative priority would you like to see Congress work on? Which legislative priority would you like to see Congress work on? Protecting the Tax Cuts Strengthening the Middle Class Energy and Resource Development Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs Rebuilding our Infrastructure Other Email Address*

I took it to the next step just to be sure it didn't ask for comments.  It didn't.  But it gave me the results so far.

If you want to participate you can here.

My interpretation is that Democratic priorities are on top, and Republican priorities are at the bottom. Does Don Young really want to know what we want?  Or is this just something to test whether his email list is up to date or to get his name before his constituents as we had for the 2020 election?

But just to clarify - Climate Change legislation - specifically a carbon fee and dividend bill  like the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act would be my top priority.  Impeachment is high on my list too.  Income equality through revision of the tax structure and strengthening environmental regulations and enforcement.  Immigration reform and, in the meantime, humane treatment of asylum seekers and others along the border - including letting doctors to give flu shots to inmates of ICE as well as other health care.


I also got this email today.

Nobody is Above the Law Impeachment Rally
WHEN:Tuesday, December 17 at NOON
HOST(S):Izzy F. Joni B.
WHEREU.S. District Court building
7th Ave and C Street (south east corner)
Anchorage, AK 99513

Unfortunately, I won't be able to go because I'm at the airport on my way to LA where we'll be joined in a few days by kids and grandkids.  (Unfortunately because I'll miss the rally - definitely want to be with the kids.)

AIFF2019: Award Winners - Live From Awards Ceremony [All Awards Up]

I'll update this regularly as awards are announced.  (They're done now.)

Group of avid AIFF pass holders at awards tonight.











Audience Award  Made in Alaska Narrative Short:

2nd Runner Up:  Dasher, by James Kendall
1st Runner Up:   How to Say Goodbye
Winner:  The Naughty List


Audience Made in Alaska:  Short Docs
2nd Runner Up:  Trampoline Alaskas
1st Runner Up:  Eskimo Ink - Max Bering
Winner:  Games of Survival - A Culture Preserved in Ice

George Attla's daughter accepting award for Attla

Audience Choice Made in Alaska:  Feature
Winner: Attla

Short Animated 
2nd Runner Up: Gum and Sauce Go to School
1st Runner Up: Earthquake
Winner: Mountain Valley:  The Earthquake

Audience Award:  Short Doc
2nd Runner Up:Man of the Trees
1st Runner Up: Knocking Down the Fences
Winner: Class Act:  Dance Hall Divas

Audience Award:  Narrative Short
2nd Runner Up:  Just Me and You
1st Runner Up:  [t]here
Winner:  Madame

Board members Rich Curtner and George Pollack

Audience Award Best Narrative Feature
2nd Runner Up:  Those Who Remain
1st Runner Up: Team Marco
Winner:  Laugh or Die

Trang Tran of The American War - Winner of Audience Award

Audience Award Documentary Feature
2nd Runner Up:  Condor and the Eagle
1st Runner Up:  Nae Pasaran
Winner:  The American War

Screenwriting Award
Winner: Those Who Don't Belong


The Rest Are JURY AWARDS

Made in Alaska Narrative shorts
2nd Runner Up:12:34
1st Runner Up:  Dasher
Winner:  How To Say Goodbye

Made in Alaska Doc Shorts
2nd Runner Up:  Trampoline on Flattop

Josh Albeza Branstetter - Kevin, Dear

1st Runner Up:  Welcome to Gwichyaa Zhee
Winner:  Let the Blonde Sing

Made in Alaska Feature
Winner:  Attla

Animated Short:
2nd Runner Up: Nothing To Say
1st Runner Up:  Monsters in the Dark
Winner:  The Phantom 52

Documentary Feature
2nd Runner Up:  Northern Travelogues
1st Runner Up:  Nae Pasaran
Winner:  Kifaru


Narrative Feature
2nd Runner Up:  Laugh or Die
1st Runner Up:   Straight Up
Winner:  Those Who Remained

Short Documentary
2nd Runner Up:  Love Birds
1st Runner Up:  Wandering in the White
Winner:  Tungrus

Short Narrative
2nd Runner Up:  Sin Cielo        

Kelly Miller and Arthur Halpern - Touchscreen

1st Runner Up:  Showan
Winner:  Touchscreen

AIFF2019: Saturday Starts At 10am with Team Marco - And My Favorites of What I've Seen

10:00 am Museum

Team Marco is about a kid addicted to his iPad.  Dad's not happy.  Grandpa introduces him to bocce.  Supposed to be a great film for kids.

Noon - Loussac Library

Immigrant Outpost - A look at Alaska's Filipino-American community

Noon - Museum

The Condor and the Eagle - Indigenous Canadians look at how Canadian oil and other mineral extractors are threatening their culture and lives.  Then go to South American and visit their indigenous brothers and sisters facing the same kind of threats.  This is one I've been looking forward to.

2pm - Museum

Shorts:  Love and Pain - The shorts programs this year have been of mixed quality.  But the narrative shorts have been better.  This is a program has both.

4pm  Museum

Attla - George Attla's dogsledding career.  Need I say more?  I'm guessing the museum auditorium will be packed.  Get there early.

9pm  Charlou (formally the Taproot - Spenard and 33rd)

Awards Ceremony - Music, food, and the winners of the jurors' awards AND the audience awards.  This is the first year that AIFF has had audience awards for individual short films, with a cleverly designed ballot at each short event.
Doors should open at 8pm.  I've been live posting the last several awards ceremonies.  I've done a low energy coverage of the festival so far this year.  Been battling a cold and need sleep, so staying up to 2 and 3am to post has been out of the question.  I'll take my lap top tomorrow and see what I can to.

This is the last official day of the festival.  Sunday from noon to 5pm the award winners will be shown again - FREE.
Some I'm hoping people will be able to see:
Documentary Features - Nae Pasaran
I didn't see, but was told it was very good:  Northern Travelogues
Won't know until I see it tomorrow:  The Condor and the Eagle

Narrative Features  - Laugh or Die and  Those Who Remained 
Also very strong films:
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
Gutterbug -  this film was compromised, in my opinion, by adding a very unlikely happily ever after 'one year later' addendum that was totally at odds with the rest of the film.  

Short Documentary - I wasn't impressed with most as films.  Lots of compelling issues though.  My favorite so far has to be The Man of the Trees.

Short Features - Without a doubt -  Mr. Sam.   I didn't see the Late Night Chills program and was told it was very good, so there might be some in there.  I also like Just You And Me

Animated Shorts - I didn't see most of the animated shorts but I really liked two:  Museum and The Phantom 52.  I also enjoyed Maintain Yourself.

AIFF2019: Friday - Fun Starts At 4pm at Museum and AK Experience

Hard to choose.

4pm

Museum
AlaskaTeen Media Institute After School Special - show case of shorts by local students

AK Experience
Shorts:  Power to the People

From the Vine - Narrative Feature - CEO goes back to Old Country to grow grapes



6pm

Museum
Power of Yoik - Bringing back spiritual chanting of Sami people of Lapland

Museum
7:30pm

Shorts - Our World, Our Home

AIFF2019: Thursday - Shorts, Homelessness, Holocaust Survivors in Hungary - Bear Tooth, Then Museum

Note: Today's venues are:  Bear Tooth in the afternoon, then the Museum.  

2PM   MARTINI MATINEE - Bear Tooth - a shorts program that, I'm told, includes some great ones.  We'll see.  

6:00  FERAL  - Anchorage Museum -  another narrative feature about a homeless person.  Last night's 'homeless narrative feature' - Gutterbug - was a very powerful film that gave me chills at the end.  Well, where it should have ended - with the mom at the hospital.  I would have chopped off the rest that gave it a happily ever after Hollywood ending that seemed at odds with the rest of the film.  

But all that's to say that a film about homelessness can be very worth watching.  

7:45  Those Who Remained  -Anchorage Museum - This is the one I'm looking forward to seeing.  It's a Hungarian film about Holocaust survivors in Hungary.  There was another film on this theme last year as well - 1945.  This has personal meaning for me because my step-mother was a Hungarian speaking holocaust survivor who returned to her home to find all the neighbors had appropriated all their belongings including their house.  

Green Grass In December, Parasite, Broken Glass

This is not what our front yard normally looks like in December.  And it was covered with snow a few days ago.  But then it got into the 40s.

OK, we've often had bits of warm weather once or twice in winter, but we've had record warm months just about every month this year.

Trump calls Climate Change a hoax.  Note that he also calls the impeachment a hoax.


I also managed to fix a faucet that had been causing a drip.

And last night we skipped the film festival to see the movie Parasite.  They'd been showing the trailer at the Bear Tooth during the festival and people were saying it was really good.  It was playing here just for three nights and I decided this was the best night to miss the festival films.  

Director Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year.  Bong's Snowpiercer was one of the early Netflix films we saw that convinced us to stick with Netflix.  All I'll say is that Parasite is a dark movie about rich and poor in Korea.  And the preview that we saw several times waiting for film festival movies, was always worth watching and didn't really give anything away. That's all I'll say for now because I think people should see it for themselves.  

And in line with the theme of economic inequality, when we got out to the car, J found the passenger side window had been smashed in.    911 told me to call 311 and they told me to report online.  

I went back into the Bear Tooth to tell them and they said they'd check the security cameras.  Meanwhile outside J saw another woman who's window had also been smashed.  

Here's what it looked like when we got it home after a chilly ride.  From what we can tell, nothing was actually taken.  J had a cloth shopping back on the seat, but nothing was in it.  The quarters for parking meters weren't touched.  The garage door opener was there.  The timer light plug and the book I'd just bought were all there.   I think they probably couldn't figure out how to unlock the door on that old Subaru.

State Farm and Speedy Glass were quick and efficient and J's waiting for the new window already.  But whether this is a homeless issue or a drug issue or just petty theft, it's a symptom of our economic inequalities and our lack of good, effective schooling and and physical and mental health care.

Back to the film festival tonight.

AIFF2019: Wednesday - Alaska Shorts, Vietnam, Mental Health at College, Homeless

Alaska Experience Theater  6 pm

SHORTS: Made in Alaska

• Eskimo Inc
• How to Say Goodbye
• Wolf Tracks
• 12:34
• The Dying of the Light
• Dasher

OR

Inside the Rain - A narrative feature about a college student with mental health problems.  

Alaska Experience Theater 8pm

The American War - Documentary feature about Vietnam, from the Vietnamese perspective

Excerpt From Veteran Documentary Corps Blog:

SC: How did you come up with the idea for the film?
Daniel Bernandi: After successfully producing roughly 25 short films on 25 different veterans, I knew it was time for Veteran Documentary Corp to begin making feature-length documentaries to tell deeper, more developed stories of the veteran experience. I selected Vietcong veterans as the subject of our first feature for a couple reasons.  First, despite the fact that many Americans have seen stories or read about the Vietnam War, the story of the Vietcong veteran has not been told — at least not for American audiences. Why did the Vietnamese fight? What was their experience of, for example, Agent Orange or South Vietnamese torture? What was it like being Veterans in a county that includes veterans from the “other” side (e.g., South Vietnamese soldiers)? Second and equally important, I wanted to address experiences shared by veterans across time and country. The experience of war is more universal than era or nation might otherwise suggest.

OR

Gutterberg - Narrative Feature about a young homeless man.  Here's an interview with the director about the film.:

AIFF2019: Last Night I Watched A Rhino Die [UPDATED]

Kifaru documented the death of the last male white rhino in the world through the eyes of the men who take care of him and his two daughters.  Slowly he decayed until he could pull up on his two front legs, but not his hind legs.  We learned a little about the Kenyan caregivers, but mostly this movie was documenting extinction.  Watching what consumerism is doing to destroy the earth -  coveting goods (like rhino horns) and the deforestation and other environmental degradation exploiting natural resources causes.

Of course, coveting was noted in the bible, so modern capitalism didn't invent it.  But modern capitalism took it to an unprecedented level, putting profit (mostly short term) above everything else.  Most people don't know the concept of externalities.  Theoretically capitalism is supposed to be the most efficient form of production.  Producers are supposed to be as efficient as possible so they can keep the price low enough to beat their competitors. But one of the problems of capitalism is externalities.  These are the costs that the producers impose on society, but that aren't captured in the price of their goods.  Pollution is the most common example used - the loss of clean water and air, for example, imposes huge costs on society.  These examples used to be about the health costs and some cleanup costs.  But now we see the loss of habitat, the loss of affordable housing, deaths from legal drugs, etc.  

And the loss of rhinos and hundreds of thousands of other less dramatic species.  

The death the last male northern rhino should make people think about seriously rethinking their lives.  Sudan (the rhino's name) is just the symbol, the catalyst, but the damage climate change is already causing should make us all ready to drastically reduce humanity's carbon footprint.  (The link discusses options for where to contribute to projects that do that.)

[UPDATE Dec 10, 2019:  I ran across this Al Jazeera Tweet just now

A baby white rhino at San Diego Zoo has been named Future for what she represents to worldwide rhino conservation.

Future was born last month via artificial insemination, part of efforts to save a subspecies called the northern white rhino. Only two are left, both female. pic.twitter.com/hIoadUfLXd

— AJ+ (@ajplus) December 11, 2019]

NOTE:  KPBS says the baby is a southern white rhino (not a northern white rhino, like Sudan) and

The calf is the first baby rhino born using artificial insemination at the San Diego Zoo facility.
The mom, Victoria, carried her baby for more than 490 days.
Victoria is one of six southern white rhinos that could become surrogate moms for the critically endangered northern white rhinos.]

Mr. Sam and other "WTF!?!?" Shorts

After Sudan left the world and chunks of his flesh were taken in hopes of using his DNA one day to recreate white norther rhinos, the shorts program started.  

We saw six shorts that were, in my mind, what film festivals are about.

THE SHORTS

Mr. Sam was my favorite - demonstrating my bizarre taste.  Not everyone afterward agreed.  But I love the imagination that created this odd character and the story the film maker put him into.  Others in the program are also worth noting:

Maintain Yourself took an oddly shaped doll and a shelf full of small, colorful flasks, and proceeded to 'groom' the doll with the contents of the flasks.  It was particularly poignant since during the intermission we'd seen a preview for the movie Toxic Beauty which highlighted the tens of thousands of chemicals in cosmetics people use.  

The Phantom 52 featured an animated truck driver calling out to others over his CB radio with a background them of various kinds of whales calling out to their distant brethren.  Some wonderful images.  

Eternity  - This Ukrainian film took place in 2058 and was about 'digitizing' the souls of dying people and placing them in digital worlds for eternity.  I got that part, but the details were a little confusing.  But it was worth watching.

Hearth - was the creepiest for me.  A couple goes from one  luxury AirBnB to the next, where they then use a dating app to lure gentlemen to their last tryst.  Very well done.  AirBnB and other hosting sites do not want prospective hosts to see this film, I'm sure.

The Dig  -  She's getting married tomorrow and she wants her brother to help her get her mom's ring before the wedding.  

A wonderfully disturbing (in the sense of forcing you think) set of films.  If one of them gets the audience award or best narrative shorts award, you might be able to see it Sunday when they will be showing the award winners.  

AIFF2019: Tuesday - St. Louis Ghosts, Fairbanks Founder, A Road Trip, and Creepy Shorts

The Ghost Who Walks is for St. Louis folks.

For St. Louis fans, this is done by a St. Louis native in St. Louis.  It's also fairly new (this year) and hasn't been seen by that many folks yet.   From St. Louis Magazine:

"Just as writer/director Cody Stokes’ career began to take off in New York City—meaning that he was traveling a lot—his first child was born. The St. Louis native began thinking about what it means to be gone and miss things back home, from his, his wife’s, and his child’s perspectives. He knew he wanted to make a film about it. But rather than create a simple kitchen sink drama about fatherhood, he set it in a world beyond, made it exciting, turned it into a crime thriller. “I wanted people to feel like they’re going to watch some sort of Liam Neeson movie but by the end be completely moved,” Stokes says. And he shot it in St. Louis, having moved back home with his family. The Ghost Who Walks screens as part of the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase later this month."

Felix Pedro:  If One Could Imagine - Alaska history here.  From Ululate:

The documentary Felix Pedro ... If one could only imagine, tells the story of a man from the Bolognese Apennines, who was born in the mid-nineteenth century and his name was Felice Pedroni. This man flees the poverty, takes a ship to America, where he becomes Felix Pedro and in 1902 he discovered gold in a stream in Alaska founding subsequently the city of Fairbanks.
The story is told today on the trail of a search by Giorgio Comaschi, Claudio Busi and Massimo Turchi to build a show about the adventure of Felix Pedro.

Vanilla - A road trip.   Everything about a film is how it's carried off.  Here's a snippet from one reviewer who thought it went well:

"We have an odd couple on the road, so funny stuff happens – and this is a funny movie.  Naturally, the audience is waiting for the two to jump into bed together.  But Vanilla is fundamentally a portrait of these two people, both comfortable in their ruts.  Elliot is posing as an entrepreneur, and Kimmie is posing as a comedian-in-the-making; something is going to have to shake up these two so each can grow.  Kimmie seems utterly intrepid, but we learn that she can be paralyzed by self-consciousness, just like Elliot.
Vanilla is written and directed by its star, Will Dennis, in his first feature film.  It’s an impressive debut, rich in character-driven humor."

Late Night Chills - Shorts Program -  here's a link to the Festival Website for the shorts.