elizabeth holmes...

One thing I've learned about millennials they have a lot of balls.  Meaning they have so much false confidence in themselves- they believe they can accomplish anything; even if their ideas are bullshit or a sham.

Elizabeth Holmes who started Theranos as a teenage dropout from Stanford has huge balls.  She persuaded investors with her strange voice that she could change the world by providing a low cost and low blood loss way to draw blood.  

Now we know it was all a fraud.

And she just won't give up.  She's pivoting with another machine.  I won't even go into details.

As much of an asshole that Steve Jobs was rumored to be- he was a genius.   Holmes isn't even close.  She's just a good bullshitter.

It makes me sad that in this day and age where bluster seems to accomplish reaching the highest office...

the illumination...

A short doc about Gordon Gund who lost his sight in 1970 when he was about 30 years old.  The former Cleveland Cavaliers owner has devoted his life to fighting blindness.  Gund is now 77.

Gordon went blind due to an inherited retinal degenerative disease called retinitis pigmentosa.

It's a wonderful short doc that uses Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now in its score.

The Illumination shows a kid who was born blind and was able to regain his sight as an 8 year old due to gene therapy developed by Gund's Foundation of Fighting Blindness.  His name is Yannick Duwe from Belgian and he's about 18 years old now.   Yannick was the first.   To date, approximately 100 people have regained their sight due to Gund's foundation.

Gordon is a great, great man.  And his wife is a great, great woman.

the green fog...

I only attended the closing night screening because I love viewing films at the Castro Theatre and I wanted to attend the After Party...

The best thing about The Green Fog is the live performance by the Kronos Quartet in conjunction with the film.  

I could get into detail about The Green Fog, but I won't.  It's not worthy of my time.  The Kronos Quartet are such wonderful musicians and I feel privileged to have witnessed them live.  

brimstone & glory...

This doc won an award at the SF FILM FEST.  

Really, I just wanted to see the Dolby Cinema at 1275 Market.  A truly spectacular theater!

However, Brimstone & Glory is a spectacular film!

These aren't reviews I'm writing about the films I saw at the 60TH SF FILM FEST, but basically some thoughts I have about them.

A town in the outskirts of Mexico City named Tultepec has a week long National Pyrotechnic Festival.   Meaning a fucking huge firework festival!

There is so much danger involved dealing with fireworks and the people in this town including the kids who make these pyrotechnics understand that they may die in the process.

I'm really thinking more about the kids and it seems to me that they wear the scars on their faces from errant fireworks as a badge of honor.

One question I have about the fireworks festival is how it's funded?  I'm going to do more research about the doc and add it into this post.

bill nye: science guy...

Two things I got from the doc- folks who have a thirst for fame and how some people just don't have the capacity to have an open mind to believe in science.   I'm talking about climate change deniers.

Bill Nye has a strong desire to be in the limelight.

For some reason, I thought he had a science background, but his degree is in mechanical engineering.

The Alamo Drafthouse is a wonderful cinema in San Francisco that has very comfortable seats with food and alcohol table service.   I have to admit I had a few drinks before the screening and I wasn't entirely focused on the film.   I need to take another look at the doc.

I'm not certain whether I'm a Nye fan at this moment in time.  The other famous science guy who really has the background Neil deGrasse Tyson is in bits of the film.   I also believe deGrasse Tyson is addicted to fame.

But if I had to make a choice between fame whores like Nye and deGrasse Tyson and climate change deniers, I'll take the science guys every single time...

aaron hernandez...

I was shocked to wake up this morning to read that the 27-year old former NFL football player hanged himself in his prison cell.   This was days after he was acquitted of double murder charges.

It makes me respect life more.  Aaron was such a talented football player and he just threw it all away for whatever reason.  It just makes me sad...

As I go into the 4th quarter of my life, it's disheartening that someone so young(even in prison without the possibility of parole)would take their life.  But I was not in his shoes, I don't know what was going through his mind.  

Everyday is crucial in this life, because you just never know...