Thank you for your support

I've had so many possible topics to write about these days that I don't know where to begin. So of course, the list just gets longer and longer.

"Thank you for your support" is the kind of boilerplate saying I never gave much thought to until recently. Now I know all too well how important the "support" of others is to making indie film (and other media) is.

So a big thank you to the good volunteers who made the Utopia film festival possible. We had another succesful screening there last Saturday, full of interesting discussion which I'll get into more detail in another post. Thank you to Video Americain of Takoma Park for acquiring a copy for rental. A big thank you to Victor Valdivia of DVD Verdict whose review was so thorough and insightful. It was obvious he really got what we were trying to do with the film. Even though we are a little independent, he took a remarkable amount of time reviewing every extra. He even made it through the commentary track. If even half the reviews are that exhaustive DVDVerdict is a site to bookmark when researching a movie.

everything we intended

happened last Saturday in the city of Frederick at an art gallery called "The Blue Elephant". We'd made the film to inspire thoughtful discussion - and the audience fulfilled our wish most splendidly. Between 40-50 people not only watched the entire film, but laughed at the appropriate places. Most of them stuck around for the discussion afterwards, which had to be stopped after 90 minutes. All of this occured mostly because of one determined, well connected friend who worked her tail off to make it happen for us.

So in many ways it was a triumph. After many setbacks and frustrations it was reassuring to know that if you put the film in front of the right audience it will have the desired affect. Our challenge remains how to make it happen more often.

show me the money honey

Front page, below the fold headline on Tuesday's Washington Post "Obama adds $60 billion to economic plan . .. ".

Whatever else I am, I'm a pretty strong fiscal conservative who feels uncomfortable with debt. I do realize that some amount of debt can be productive. A mortgage for a family home is widely recognized as a good device to build a family's assets. But what our government already owes is proportionally way beyond this already. I can't see how we can keep running up the debt clock even further. Yet both candidates just keep promising more and more spending and tax cuts.

We all know the lessons of Jimmy Carter's one term presidency. Americans don't want to be told anything negative. But I don't have a real sense of how true this is anymore. I think one of the reasons for the crisis of confidence in our economy right now is because everybody in power is dancing around the issue and not speaking honestly of the tough times ahead. After 9/11 Americans waited hours in line to donate more blood to the Red Cross than it could possibly use because they wanted desperately to do something positive. Obama made a baby step on the right path by daring to mention the idea of turning down our thermostats to save energy. Hopefully it's a path he'll follow further if he gets elected.

Obvious to an 11 year old

My 11 year old wanted to see a bit of the debate last night before bedtime. Since he has to get up earlier these days I said I would allow him to if he laid down on the couch with me. After a short while he said "they aren't answering the questions" and soon fell asleep in my arms. I agreed completely with him. I'd heard the same old tired boilerplate from both of the candidates before. So I turned off the TV and took a few minutes just to gaze at his sleeping face, which made infinitely better viewing.

I've felt disgusted by the presidential debates for several years now. The current debate formats are of severely limited use. I suppose they serve as a test of a candidate’s ability not to fall apart under the pressure of such a venue. This is a bare minimum qualification of a president, but not much more. I don't see what more they accomplish than that.

I've pondered how I would change things if I were in charge. Suppose after the "response" to a question, the moderator would turn back to the questioner and ask if they felt their question had been answered. If not, the debate could not be moved on until the questioner was satisfied, even if it took the whole debate. I certainly wouldn't have let Sarah Palin openly say "I'm not going to answer your question, I'm going to talk directly to the American people . . . “ That’s fine in another venue. Debates are supposed to be about getting the answers we need to make an informed decision.

invest like a girl

I remember reading a while back that men purchase the vast majority of stocks and other investments. However, female investors on average actually have a better performance record with their investments over time. This is because women tend to buy and hold, as they aren't as afraid of commitment as most men. Men, on the other hand, tend to buy and sell too easily. They tend to be always chasing bigger and better numbers. They frequently get burned in the process.

I thought of this when I saw photos today, of the old and new Fannie and Freddie executives. All white males of a certain age. Perhaps it's time to let some new blood take a crack at this problem.