When You Die You Never Fear Anymore

I misheard this lyric last week as "When you die you never fear anymore."

I forget the correct lyric, but I thought that was so cool it was worth writing down.

CostCo Sightings

Random observations from CostCo:

• Overhearing one food sample presenter remark to another, "If I see one more piece of freaking cheese..."
  
  
• Seeing a raised truck with an American flag on a pole and several cases of Top Ramen in the bed. 

No judgments--just psychologically memorable as unusual.

Forks Over Knives

On Sunday, while others were distracted by Akira Kurosawa's epic masterpiece Seven Samurai, I watched "Forks over Knives" (2011; Trailer #1; Trailer #2),

First, the high points the movie claims during the trailer:

• (Trailer #1) ?: "This could be the first generation of children in the United States that lives less than its parents."
  
  
• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn: "Heart disease is an absolutely toothless paper tiger that need never ever exist."
  
  
• Dr. John McDougall: "People who were raised in Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, never had heart disease, prostate cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis...."
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "We learned we could turn on and turn off cancer growth just by adjusting the level of intake of that protein."
  
  
• Dr. John McDougall: "I knew, at that point, what caused most diseases...."
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "Our national authorities are simply excluding this concept...to protect the status quo...."
  
  
• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn: "With a Western diet, there are gonna be half-a-million people in this country, this year, who will have to have the front half of their body divided, their heart exposed; some people would call that extreme."
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "I know of nothing else in medicine, that can come close to what a plant-based diet can do."
  
  
• Dr. Pam Popper: "If you go through life thinking what happens to you from a health perspective is based on your genes you're a helpless victim."
  
  
• San’Dera Nation (random patient): "I reversed the diabetes. The diabetes is not coming back."
  
  
• Rip Esselstyn (son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn): "To me the answer is so simple, it's criminal. It's just, people starting to take responsibility for their health and starting to eat more plant-based foods. It's that simple."
  
  
• (Trailer #2) Katie Couric: "Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in this country...."
  
  
• Tagline: "What if we could cure sickness without medicine?"
  
  
• Tagline: "What if our nation's health crisis could be solved?"
  

• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "If everyone were to adopt this, I...I really believe we could cut health care costs by 70-80%...."
  
  

• Tagline: "Two men who grew up on farms turned their backs on the past and turned to science to find the answer."
  

• Dr. T. Colin Campbell (speaking about milk): "When I was young, we promoted our product because it was nature's most perfect food; but it took a slightly different twist as time passed. I mean it's the most perfect food--for calves."
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "I mean it's so provocative, this information: we learned we could turn on and turn off cancer growth just by adjusting the level of intake of that protein."
  
  
• Dr. Junshi Chen: "Because they are all Chinese, genetically they are all the same. Why they have so much difference in single cancer mortality."
  
  
• Tagline: "What if there was a single solution to all these problems?"
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "On the one hand, I'm coming from the scientific route, getting some ideas. He's coming from the clinical route. Here's the science, here's the clinical evidence. What they do together's amazing."
  
  
• Tagline: "A solution so overlooked that no one is taking it seriously?"
  
  
• Tagline: "Two men one improbable conclusion"
  
  
• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn: "The greatest gift that you could possibly give to their family--if you can make them be aware of the incredible power to avoid life's most painful events, you just don't have to have those kinds of events."
  
  
• Tagline: "What if they're right?"
  
  
• Dr. T. Colin Campbell: "I can say this with a great deal of confidence, that our national authorities are excluding this concept of nutrition from the debate and the discussion in order to protect the status quo...."

Some thoughts:

• I went in skeptical, expecting a weak argument--and came out pleasantly surprised at the amount of information and quality of information presented.
  
  
• This movie pulled no punches in casting a negative slant on the practices of the USDA with respect to commodities (namely, both advocating for, and regulating the same industry) and the opinions of former President of the American Dietetic Association, Connie B. Diekman.
  
• The main target of the movie seems to be animal protein, whether by meat, dairy, or other dietary products.
  
  
• They claimed acidosis results from consumption of dairy, which leaches calcium, contributing to osteoporosis.
• The movie claims "Over 50% of our firefighters who die in the line of duty are dying from heart attacks and strokes."
• It talks about the USDA food pyramid (then MyPyramid, now MyPlate) and it's origins and how milk and meat remain(-ed?) a key part of it.
• The movie claims people need Viagra because of cardiovascular dysfunction brought on by high cholesterol diets.
• The movie talked about stretch and fullness sensors on the stomach and how different foods fill the stomach differently (oils: most caloric, barely fill; vegetables: least caloric, completely fill)
• The movie also talked about endothelial cells on the interior walls of blood vessels and how they serve a critical role in preventing heart disease.

CSICOP savages the movie here: http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/a_review_of_forks_over_knives

2011 7th Annual Japanese Film Festival of Sacramento

Shortbread cookie provided with peasant tea during intermission of "Seven Samurai"

Dawn and I attended the 7th annual Japanese Film Festival of Sacramento this weekend. This year, the committee selected the following films (descriptions from the festival guide):

• ‎"Dear Doctor" (2009; Trailer (in Japanese)):
  
  "Winner of two Japan Academy Awards for Best Screenwriter/Best Supporting Actress. A doctor faithfully serves 1,500 residents in a Japanese Mountain Village. Dr. Ino is humble and selfless and he makes house calls. The villagers think he is a saint. The doctor is actually a fake, would be physician. The story is about a decent man who is caught in a web of his own lies and wants out. The reaction of the villagers when they learn the truth is acid comedy. Film maker Miwa Nishikawa's movie asks what counts in life and how well do we know each other?"
  
  
• "Still Walking" (2008; Trailer):
  
  "Two adult children return to visit their parents in a family reunion. Family tensions and old hurts contrast with the peaceful setting in a beautiful seaside town. Grandfather Kyobei hides behind his newspaper at the family table. Grandmother Toshiko is cute as she bustles around the kitchen throwing insults saying, "I'm not being cruel, it's normal." Second son, Ryo can't live up to his parents' memory of his dead brother. Brilliantly acted, Director Hirokazu Kore' eda's 7th film has parallels with Ozu's Tokyo Story."
  
  
• "Tokyo Godfathers" (2003; anime; Trailer):
  
  "It's Christmas Eve in Tokyo. An alcoholic, Gin, an aging drag queen, Hana, and a teenage girl, Miyuki, are unlikely friends who are homeless. They discover an abandoned baby girl in a trash barrel. In their odyssey of learning how to care for a baby, they learn about themselves. The film pays loving tribute to the Tokyo's snowy winter beauty. Director Satoshi Kon's animated film is one of the rare movies which use anime to tell a story of human suffering, love, and redemption which is too painful to be realized in live action."
  
  
• "The Harimaya Bridge" (2009; Trailer):
  
  "American Daniel Holder goes to Japan to bring back his late son's art work. He dislikes the Japanese because his own father died in a Japanese prisoner of war camp during WWII. While wrestling with his personal demons in Japan he finds peace within himself. Producer Danny Glover has a supporting role in the movie which is in English with Japanese subtitles and in Japanese with English subtitles. African American film writer and director, Aaron Woolfolk was a junior high school English teacher in rural Japan. Beautifully shot scenes are Japanese in spirit and technique and reveal Woolfolk's love for that country."
  
  
• "One Big Hapa Family" (2010; Trailer):
  
  "Documentary with live action and anime. Yonsei Japanese Canadian Jeff Chiba Stearns uses his anime art to explore four generations of intermarriage in the Koga family. The story of the Canadian Issei, Nisei, Sansei, and Yonsei generations is told through interviews, archival photos, historical film footage, home movies, and animation. Issues of racism, integration, and the instinct to retain the Japanese Culture and language are expressed with a freshness, wonderful sense of humor and open heart. In his journey of self-discovery, documentarian Stearns also explores the reasons why over 98% of Japanese Canadians have intermarried."
  
  
• "Seven Samurai" (1954; Trailer):
  
  "Akira Kurosawa's great film inspired the next 50 years of international film making. The story is simple and clear. Farmers in a small village approach seven ronin samurai to teach them how to fight bandits who will rob their barley crop. The samurai agree for daily rice and lodging. Seven Samurai is anchored in Japan's feudal values of caste and social hierarchy. Kurosawa also argues for individual worth and humanism through Seven Samurai's misfits and renegade heroes. The battle scene of sweeping tides of men moving from a higher to lower plane has been called one of the glories of world cinema. There is deeper meaning in this movie by one of the greatest film makers at the height of his powers. The samurais win the battle but it is the villagers who are the winners."
  
  

My favorites, in order, excluding Seven Samurai, starting with my most favorite:

• ‎"Still Walking": What happens when familial expectations fall apart? An annual family reunion strains and strengthens social ties. The movie sensuously highlights Japanese food preparation, summer heat, childhood friendships and adult dysfunctions. By turns both cruel and kind, the family's matriarch and patriarch find their attempts at control over their childrens' lives frustrated--or do they impact them more than their children let on? Rich landscapes of Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan inspire. This was my favorite movie, showing limits of control and our ability to forgive and accept our own loved ones.
  
  
• "Dear Doctor" (2009): A quack in a remote Japanese mountain village finds his practice challenged by unexpected developments. Everyone suspect--and accepts. The town has never had it so good; or has it? Another lushly-filmed movie in high summer, the greens and the mountains dazzle. A study in contrasts between institutional and rural doctor-patient relationships, Shôfukutei hits all the right notes.
  
  
• "Tokyo Godfathers" (2003; anime): In the cool dark of the theater, I felt the fall of snow watching this film. Set at Christmas, three homeless companions make a discovery which will change their lives forever. Winter is pitch-perfect, even if some scenes and plot resolutions stretch credibility.
  
  
• "The Harimaya Bridge" (2009): This movie had moments of greatness (for example, the Shinto shrine marriage). Bennet Guillory comes across as a caricature of Americans abroad. Misa Shimizu shines, as do Saki Takaoka and actress Misono. Cinematography in Kochi Prefecture is amazing. A great debut film by Oakland, CA-native Aaron Woolfolk.
  
  
• "One Big Hapa Family" (2010): A short (50-minute) documentary of growing up Japanese-Canadian, by Jeffrey Chiba-Stearns. I actually liked this a lot, but could not rank it higher than a feature film and all its attendant challenges. Chiba-Stearns talks in detail, showing several provocative historical photos about the Canadian Japanese internment camps and how World War 2 triggered mass assimilation of Japanese-Canadians. Informative, entertaining, and moving--and this was my lowest ranked screening! :o)
  
  

Festival Notes

• Gave my ticket to Seven Samurai to a friend who had never seen it; I watched it in 2010. Just an epic film.
  
  
• Overall, another great festival year.
   
• The crowed seemed bigger this year--we missed out on getting a goodie bag on opening night, as we arrived just before showtime and they had ran out. So--no list of goodie bag items, this year.
  
  
• The goodie bags did look the same as last year, however (small #3 brown paper shopping bag), with rice crackers, coupons, organic seeds, and so forth.
  
  
• Noticable lack of political sponsorship (again) this year. Where are you, Doris Matsui?
  
  
• On Thursday, we attended a rare screening of Kenji Mizoguchi's film "Osaka Elegy" (1936), a companion piece to his film "Sisters of the Gion" (1936), which they screened in 2010.
  
  
• Coincidentally, the Sacramento Trash Film Orgy (http://trashfilmorgy.com/) kicked off their summer schedule this evening with a Zombie Walk, so as we exited the theater, we encountered zombies wandering about for the midnight showing of "Return of the Living Dead" :o)
  
  
• First year I remember raffles--one before The Harimaya Bridge and one before Seven Samurai
  
  
• Another first--peasant tea and cookies during the intermission of Seven Samurai.
  
  
• Hats off to the staff of the Crest Theater--all class.
  
  
• Tables in the lobby: books for sale, cards for sale, donations for Japan relief fund, donations for the Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church, and so forth.
  
  
• Not sure why, but this year I did not feel as moved by any of the films. :o| Distracted by so many other things going on in my life, presently, I guess.

Links to Previous Years

• 2010 (6th Annual)
  
  
• 2009 (5th Annual)
  
  
• 2008 (4th Annual)
  
  
• 2007 (3rd Annual)

Radio Songs

Heard on 90.3 KDVS out of Davis, CA:

Hawaii-native Herb Ohta, Jr.'s "Pana Mai" from his online album, "‘Ukulele Nahenahe", on the Lele Music Productions label. Audio sample or hear the full audio at the MP3 streams at the 56:05 mark.

? and The Mysterians' "96 Tears (in Spanish)". Audio at the 88:00 minute mark.

Dolores Solá's "Cobardía" -  from her album "Salto Mortal" on the OJO! records label. Audio.