Shooting the Musical

Shooting the Musical is a mocumentary film by one of the directors for "Taking My Parents to Burning Man", Joel Ashton McCarthy. It has many layers of artful subtlety and my wife and I enjoyed it.

It has the following layers:
-Film student doing a documentary on what other fellow students have done in the year since they graduated.
-Emotional and successful film student graduate commits suicide, by sleeping pills, and says that his script about a high school shooting from the point of view of the shooter should never be filmed and should act as his suicide note.
-Roommate of the emotional film student discovers script and erases video suicide note. Gathers everyone from the same class of film school graduates to get his roomates film made. Changes the script to make it a musical.
-While using duplicity to film at the only school that will allow them on their property, a religious school, they have to also film a religious film to fool the principal priest.
-Romance develops between the roommate and the dead graduate's girlfriend.

There are more little layers besides. Here is the trailer. I was impressed by the talented storytelling and method used to tell all these stories and wrap it up nicely, while using humour to convey many delicate messages.

Taking My Parents to Burning Man

My wife and I saw a great documentary called "Taking My Parents to Burning Man". Its about a fellow whom him and his sister have been to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, who take thier parents there for the first time.

It is an eye-opening and heartwarming film. It captures the wonderment that I expected the Burning Man festival to be with all the emotions that go with it, as well as a family travel exposition. Great fun.

One of the director's, whom was there, said it is expected to be avaialable for purchase and on NETFLIX in the fall of 2015. I highly recommend it.

Il Covo Trattoria

Il Covo is a very nice Italian restaurant in James Bay, Victoria. Myself and my wife were treating some friends of ours who took care of our cats while we were away. The atmosphere is pleasant and is in the old Superior Cafe Tapas location.

My wife and I shared the antipasto for two, with cured Italian meats, cheeses, marinated vegetables (artichokes in this one), assorted olives, bruschette and fruit. It was a pleasant way to start and reminded us of our time in Italy a few years back.

For a main I had the cioppino livornese, which is a mix of calamari, prawns, mussels, clams, sea scallops and flaked rock fish in il Covo marinara sauce with crostini. Everything was delicious except the crostini, as it was too salty. The broth of the cioppino itself as incredibly delicious.

We'd eat here again.

VocaMe performing Hildegard von Bingen

VocaMe is a choral group that performs compositions from females in history. The have been in town before, performing through the local Early Music Society, with a Byzantine lady named Kassia. My wife and I missed that one but did come to thier concert this time featuring music of Hildegard von Bingin, who lived in the 1100's.

I have been a fan of Hildegard since the mid 90's when I picked up a CD of her music. The choral notes and combinations of voices to make a new one was fantastic. The four women of VocaMe did her music justice and more. My wife and I were very impressed with thier range of sound and quality of voices.

We'd highly recommend them and Hildegard's music to others.

Hugo Awards for 2015, Sad/Rabid Puppies, Hitler and Vegetarians

Are you a vegetarian? Then you must like Hitler, because he was a vegetarian. Do you see merit in Confucius's teachings? Then you must agree with Mao Zedong's actions during the Chinese Revolution who had multitudes killed and also admired Confucius? Do you like the mosaics in Greek Orthodox churches or the chanting? Then you must agree with Josef Stalin who was schooled at an Orthodox school, had multitudes killed, and heavily repressed all religions. Therefore I will not acknowledge you or your opinion and will disparage vegetarians, Confucius, and the Greek Orthodox Church.

Does the above paragraph make sense? If it does then read no further because this post is not for you. If it doesn't then carry on. This is a post about this year's Hugo awards.

Several years ago, a group of people who were upset at the Hugo awards (the Hugos are the Golden Globes of the Science-fiction and Fantasy crowd) got together. They didn't agree with what, as they perceived, the liberal bias of the awards. Two Hugos ago, they created a list of what they felt should win and encouraged others to vote the same way. Other people have done it before and since so this is not new. The result was that over the last two Hugos, more and more nominees on their list were nominated. They called themselves the Sad Puppies. Then the nominees for the Hugos this year were announced and things went super nova. Most of the nominees on the Sad/Rabid Puppies list were nominated.

This would normally not be a concern. In democratic governments around the world, there are many political parties that come and go. They support certain views and candidates, vote for certain bills and delay others. It's a principle of democracy. The problem that many have is the people behind the Sad Puppies and the more "angry at the Hugos" group, the Rabid Puppies.

Theodore Beale, aka Vox Day, is not a nice human. He is the driving force of the Rabid Puppy crowd and an influential member of the Sad Puppy crowd. Amongst other things, he believes women should no longer get to vote and has referred to Africans as half-savages. He is not egalitarian in any measure, despises SJW (social justice warriors) and is a hater of others. Many of the works nominated by the Rabid Puppies are the same as the Sad Puppies. Together, through a focused nomination campaign, they have influenced who will win the Hugos this year. The heads of the Sad Puppies, Brad Torgerson and Larry Correia, do not seem to espouse the same views as Theodore Beale but are associated with him.

Now we start to get back to the opening sentences and an important question. Do you hate vegetarians because Hitler was a vegetarian? After the nominees for the Hugos were announced, many people on both sides released their vitriol and stomach acid at anyone who agreed with the other "side". Several nominees, who were nominated by the Sad or Rabid Puppies, asked to be removed from those nominated so as not to be associated with either group and did not know they were being supported by either group. The Sad/Rabid Puppy haters hate vegetarians because Hitler liked his vegetables.

I concur with those that say that what occurred should not have happened but disagree with those who say in the same breath that rules must be put into place to discourage "those works" from being nominated. Have they gone through those works? Have they properly judged them? Have they given them a chance or pre-judged them, as Theodore Beale pre-judges an entire ethnic continent or sex? Both are wrong. As an example of the insanity, for best dramatic presentation long form, Interstellar, Lego Movie and Guardians of the Galaxy were on the Sad/Rabid Puppy lists and some are calling for not giving them any votes. All of these three works were imaginative and noteworthy, especially Interstellar. Denying them the opportunity to stand on their own is like...not eating vegetables.

Voltaire once said that "although I may despise what you say, I will defend with my life your right to say it". I despise several things that Theodore Beale has said. I disagree with many things said by the Sad/Rabid Puppies crowd. I despise many of the petulant sentences thrown by both sides. But they get to say it. At the end of the day, if a small crowd of people get what they want (Hugos or Politics) because not everyone cared in the democratic voting process by analysing the work as it stands, who is to blame. Think with your mind, restrain yourself from hate and vote. Then publicly enjoyed nominees and winners will dominate the Hugos and none would legitimately be able to dispute it.

Am I a supporter of the Sad/Rabid Puppies? That's the easy question and does not get to know the person who is answering. The life's work that is a person. A better question is: will I try to view each work and vote on whom I see as worthy of the Hugo. That answer is yes, regardless of the source of the nomination.

Besides...who could hate the Lego Movie as much as Hitler?

Mr Turner

Another film about art, Mr Turner is a wonderfully uplifting and tragic film that the British have done many times before and always get right. I've seen some of J.M.W Turner's work in museums before but didn't know much about the man who painted those works. You understand why he is one of the predecessors of the impressionist movement through the film. The art he paints, the way he paints them, the places he goes, and the slightly posed quality of the scenery that seems like a painting add to a film that is wonderful to watch. The acting is also supurb and the story engaging as we see into the latter life of this famous painter.

Walking Dead - Season Five

For those that have been living under a rock for the last five years, Walking Dead is a television series from AMC based on the comic series of the same name from Robert Kirkman.

Regardless of the zombies and extreme violence, at its root it is a great drama utilizing extreme and banal problems to provide plot and character development. In this they do an excellent job, similar to the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, where they don't make the trope or effect the centre of the show but a periphery element that influences the core of the story.

I have not commented on this show before but am now because of the last season...it made me uncomfortable. Dwell on that thought for a moment. It was not the violence that put me off but the sheer logical savagery of the main characters Rick and Carol. They have both been the glue that have held the group together. At the start of the series they were the moral compass and it has slowly turned, and in the fifth season accelerated, to a brutal logic for survival. Currently its that logic that is making me uncomfortable.

Being the experts at survival that the group is, in this season they meet a group that protects itself very well from the outside world but oblivious at living in the outside world. The struggles that Rick's group has gone through makes Rick and Carol realise they might have to take over to keep the protected area safe. This might seem a departure from the morality Rick has been practising so far but it is not. Carol reached the conclusion Rick did in this season in the last one, that you have to do things to keep her people safe and that sometimes means killing people.

Rick's goal is to keep his son and daughter safe. They need people they can trust around them so Rick needs the current group. After realising the people in the compound are dangerous when it comes to dealing with the outside world, he knows he might have to kill some of them to continue to keep his people safe. Logical but disturbing. Uncomfortable. Great drama and emotion. Being uncomfortable means I'm learning about myself while being entertained.

Looking forward to the next season.

Damali Wine

Damali Wine, in particular the blackberry with lavender above, makes great fruit wines. They make grape wines too but myself and my wife were particularly impressed by this one. Why not give them a try!