Movie: Mud

MudWriter/director Jeff Nichols brings us Mud, about a young teenager, Ellis (Tye Sheridan), who lives on a river in Arkansas with his soon-to-be divorced parents. He is trying to make sense of the world in general — and love in particular.

Ellis has many of the qualities you might expect in a kid his age and in his situation. His parents are trashy and often neglectful, and he occasionally gets into fights and is a rough around the edges. But he is tough and astute. His lack of fear and self-doubt make him a diamond in the rough who we root for to win, even in the face of a universe that seems to have given up on idealistic things like love. Continue reading →

Movie: Burzynski: Cancer is Serious Business Part II

Burzynski The Movie Part 2If you haven’t listened to my review of Burzynski: The Movie on The Movie Film Show, stop reading this right now and go listen to it now by clicking here (I am “Mr. Movie”). It is an excellent documentary about one visionary physician who is successfully treating cancer with what he calls antineoplastons–and often with greater success than tradition methods, such as chemotherapy. Unfortunately, Dr. Burzynski has had to overcome many obstacles in the development of his treatment–the worst being our own US government in the form of the FDA. Continue reading →

Movie: The Great Gatsby

The Great GatsbySet at the height of the roaring 20’s, Baz Lurhmann’s version of The Great Gatsby is slick, entertaining, dramatic at times, and accessible to modern audiences.

That last point is not necessarily a good thing. Some of the driving scenes play out like a Grand Theft Auto video game, much of the extravagant parties are set to hip-hop music from decades into the future, and the 3D adds little to the experience. Some will love it, some will not. But consuming an adult beverage just prior to viewing the film is recommended, regardless. Continue reading →

If Puppies Could Text

A husband and wife bought a new puppy. Visit Website to know how we trained our puppy.The husband worked at home during the day while the wife was off to work.  The following are text messages that the dog sent to the wife … with a little help from the husband:

Hi Mommy.  I am waiting patiently for you.  Will you take me for a walk tonight?  I miss you so much!  Can we play this weekend?  Can we can we can we?!?!?!!

Continue reading →

An Introduction to Parenting

I am adding “parenting” to the range of topics here, and this is an introductory post on the subject.

About a year ago my wife and I became parents, and one of our goals early on was to find a parenting philosophy or approach that was compatible with our own values.

As Objectivists (Objectivism being the philosophy of Ayn Rand), we wanted an approach that was aligned with our goal of raising a child to become an independent, productive and ultimately happy human being. We want our child to have a vast array of chosen values and pursue them passionately. We want him to become independent, think for himself, and have the ability to become successful in his chosen ventures. We want him to be in touch with his emotions and know how to deal with them effectively, and we want him to be able to think rationally.

Luckily, we found an approach that meets much that criteria with Magda Gerber (191?-2007), founder of RIE and author of such books as Your Self Confident Baby and Dear Parent. RIE is the name she gives her approach and is the name of her organization. Continue reading →