Alex Gibney on Democracy Now
I was pleased to see this interview she conducted the other day with independent documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney on his gutsy, comprehensive, intelligent and chilling look at billionaire Elon Musk who right now is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into our midterm elections.
I am proud to count Alex and his wife Annie as friends and some of the cool people I have met up here in Maine and like Amy Goodman, people who have been on the side of good their whole lives. The documentary MUSK is such an important film right now, a blockbuster revealing astonishing facts about one of the most powerful (and crazy) men in the world--not to be missed.
MUSK has been making the film festival circuit for the past month or so, to serious acclaim, and I am sure it will defintely be an Oscar contender. It is being widely released to the public this weekend. Ignore the fact that it is long--I saw it at the Camden International Film Festival and I didn't blink the whole almost four hours (don't worry, there is an internmission). It is totally riveting, replete with astonishing facts and interviews of people close to him, including two of his ex-wives Justine and Ashley St. Clair, who admitted being offered $40 million dollars and $100,000/month to keep her mouth shut (she refused). The documentary, whose material has been very carefully fact-checked, reveals and concludes that Elon is a great salesmanis . For starters, he was not the founder of Tesla--he bought the title when he paid off the real inventor.
Until you make it to the movie theatre or wait a bit more for it to be released on HBO Max and Apple TV, " Amy Goodman's interview with Alex Gibney is a great and comprehensive primer for the film, as is this must see interview conducted by journalist Kara Swisher with Gibney and ex-wife Justine Musk. I highly recommend both of these.
The film is the talk of the town worldwide and there are so many reviews and interviews about it--I encourage you to google them and explore...all full of information we need to know...
Samhain Harvest Festival, Oct. 31
SANHAIN (pronouned Saw-ween) is an ancient Celtic cross quarter festival meaning "summer's end." Samhain marks the end o0f the harvest season and the transition into the darker, colder half of the year Beliefs across the Celtic cultures suggest that the veil between the physical world and the spirit realm is at its thinnest during Samhain, allowing the living to honor and communicate with ancestors and departed loved ones.
This holiday is the precursor to current day Halloween, given its focus on the departed, and on witches, crones and masks. Throughout the ages, older women have been depicted as witches who are to be feared and vanquished, their wisdom and power threatening to the societies they inhabited. Known as the "Witchs New fear, "Samhain is truly about reclaiming the feminine power and wisdom that is indisputable (yet has always been disputed), and about gratitude for the blessings of our past and for those who came before us. Samhain has always been intended as a sacred opportunity to honor those we have loved and to remember their presence in our lives, in the past, and also in a quiet moment of peace and reflection, in our hearts.
Like so many of the Druid wheel celebrations, samhain involves flames in the form of candles or bonfires. Fire, of course, has always been central to survival, providing warmth, protection from wild animals, and the cooking of meat as sustenance. Fire gave people hope that the darkness surrounding them would eventually yield to the coming light of spring, helping them survive the oncoming winter and likely hunger or death.
Back then, as today, people celebrate Samhain in a number of warming ways. Again, with its emphasis on those ancestors who made it possible for us to be alive, we set up a home altar with their photos or trinkets, and we gather autumn leaves, apples, and candles. Other rituals include personal or professional items that must be 'harvested' and let go of before the winter stillness. To this day, many even hold a 'dumb supper,' a ceremonial meal eaten in complete silence to honor the dead. Celebrants set an empty chair or place setting for deceased loved ones and eat without speaking to let the living commune with the spirit world. Some even eat the meal backwards, starting with dessert or walking backward to the table, in an effort to open the space for the supernatural to come forth. In early Applachia, women often hosted dumb suppers to divine the spirit of a future husband.""
Poem by e.e. cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings, or e.e. cummings, 1894-1962
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
By E. E. CUMMINGS
i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet) i want
no worldn(for beautiful you are my world,mmy true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)
Photo of the Week
Photo taken by me at the Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California of the installation by light and space artist
Robert Irwin (1928–2023)
Charity of the Week:
Please consider donating to Troy Jackson’s campaign in order to defeat Susan Collins. We need the help—money-wise, phone banking, canvassing, etc.
About The Author
New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.