moviewise

1) Cause And Effect Is A Force Of Nature

If you put effort into something, you’ll get better at doing it, and it will result in something good, or at least in something tangible. If you do nothing, you get nothing in return.

From: A Summary Of The Best Life Lessons From Movies: Or, Everything I Know So Far

Also, we all could help plant more trees: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33186529#33190054

I love rats. I love all mammals and birds, most reptiles, and some insects, but although this is inventive and creative, I imagine that people suffering from the trauma of being trapped under rubble due to an earthquake or an explosion are not going to react well to a rat coming close and speaking to them via a microphone, I'm sorry to say. A cute, friendly, small robot would really be better for this kind of thing.

Related: https://www.nestlemedicalhub.com/products/mct-oil

I like it! Thank you!

Thanks! Will add it to the queue!

>>Guardianship, which provides essential protection to many frail or incapacitated people, has also been criticized as overly intrusive, and its legal processes as secretive. Claude Pepper, the former chairman of the House Select Committee on Aging, once called it “the most punitive civil penalty that can be levied against an American citizen, with the exception, of course, of the death penalty.”<<

This is true. Here is an article about it (The New Yorker, October 2, 2017):

How The Elderly Lose Their Rights

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderl...

There are many examples of abuse of the elderly, such as this case, "a 90-year-old woman almost lost her house for failing to pay $0.06, six cents, in property taxes, thus making a slogan of the Libertarian Party empirically true, “taxation is theft.”

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nj-homeowner-nearly-lo...

And cities taking away people's rights and their property are the main culprits, as in these cases:

Left With Nothing (The Washington Post, September 8, 2013) https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/09/08/l...

A Property Tax Money Machine Crushes Families (Bloomberg, December 20, 2021) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-12-20/minority-...

I wrote about it in a post titled, "When A House Is A Tragic Character" because I feel, like Claude Pepper did, that this theft is so punitive, abusive, and unethical, yet it keeps happening and nobody in government is doing anything to prevent it, and not enough people know that it could happen to them.

Gaining a skill is how we can measure learning.

Writing is a skill.

Writing clearly, grammatically, persuasively, and logically takes many skills.

These essays are usually assigned in college-prep courses with the intention that the students will go to college where they will need to read/write in APA, MLA or other rigid, clear styles that would allow them to read/publish in specific academic journals. It's a high standard for the high-achieving students.

As a teacher of English as a second language, I find the Jane Schaffer method quite helpful in teaching structure, idea generation, and the skill of supporting statements by providing examples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schaffer_method

Of course all essays shouldn't be written exactly this way, but for students just learning about writing long form, it is a brilliant stepping stone to get the basics down. Too many students—and readers—can't differentiate between a "concrete detail" or statement of fact, and "commentary material" or statement of opinion. This method helps to distinguish them.

Quoth They Might Giants, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)":

Istanbul was Constantinople

Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople

Been a long time gone, Constantinople

Why did Constantinople get the works?

That's nobody's business but the Turks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XlO39kCQ-8

Isn't Substack.com like the old "blogosphere" and hence like the old internet? There certainly are many quirky people publishing on Substack who are writing, creating and talking (via video and podcast) about anything and everything. I myself publish essays about the life lessons found in movies, and I'm creating a four-panel comic strip on Substack. Others are putting up original music, poetry, fiction etc. And of course there are many technical Substacks, covering economics, politics, research, etc. Many of these are large enough to have their own communities. Can't you get what you liked from "the old internet" on Substack?

Yes! I have a movie recommendation site: The Meaning Of Life According To The Movies (A Virtual Comedy Film Festival)

Six Films That Leave You Better Off Life Lessons From Inspiring Documentaries

Some cities will plant trees in the public areas near homes if homeowners request it:

California:

Cupertino https://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-works/...

L.A. https://www.cityplants.org/our-programs/

Gardena https://cityofgardena.org/planting-trees/

North Vancouver, BC https://www.dnv.org/community-environment/urban-tree-canopy-...

Massachusetts: https://www.maurbancanopy.org/tell-me-more/

Two people, a photographer and his wife, managed to plant 2 million trees in 318 million acres (129 million hectares).

https://t.co/qyViRbeyYO

A couple of organizations work toward the goal of planting more trees across the world:

https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/plant-...

https://www.arborday.org/about/

https://8billiontrees.com

https://trilliontrees.org

Here are more lists of charities that plant trees:

https://impactful.ninja/best-charities-for-planting-trees/

https://donorbox.org/nonprofit-blog/best-charities-planting-...

Carl Sagan is endlessly quotable! Even though I write about movies, or specifically the life lessons in movies, I've found myself quoting Carl Sagan a number of times:

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." —Carl Sagan

“It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brains fall out.” —Carl Sagan

"Our passion for learning, evident in the behavior of every toddler, is the tool for our survival. […] What distinguishes our species is thought. The cerebral cortex is a liberation. […] We are, each of us, largely responsible for what gets put into our brains, for what, as adults, we wind up caring for and knowing about. No longer at the mercy of the reptile brain, we can change ourselves.” — Carl Sagan, Cosmos, pgs 278-279.

The country of Israel has desalination plants to help with its water needs.

If California had a functional government, seasonal drought wouldn't be an issue. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/general/project-water-desa...

"In order to comply with the desalination plan set out by the cabinet, 5 desalination plants were constructed over the years, in Ashkelon (2005), Palmachim (2007), Hadera (2009), Sorek (2013) and Ashdod (2015), with total production capabilities of some 585 million m3."

If you need help for drug addiction please consider visiting:

Alcoholics Anonymous, https://aa.org/

Alcohol Detox Resource, https://addictionrehabtreatment.com/alcohol/alcohol-detox/

American Addiction Centers, https://americanaddictioncenters.org/

Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, https://www.hazeldenbettyford.org/

Lily’s Place, https://www.lilysplace.org/

Self-Management And Recovery Training, https://www.smartrecovery.org/

or call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline:https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/

1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Google: "communication insights from movies." Key takeaways: "If you are a good communicator, you have empathy.

How can we develop empathy? It’s just the mental exercise of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and trying to see the world through their eyes.

The key, therefore, to meaningful communication is to use empathy to listen to others as if you were in their position trying to be understood."

Steve Jobs is an inspirational figure. The best of him is represented in the graduation speech he gave at Stanford: https://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

There are also two documentaries about him worth seeing: Steve Jobs: One Last Thing (2011)

"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again."

Steve Jobs: The Lost Interview (2012)

“Expose yourself to the best things that humans have done, and then try to bring those things in to what you are doing.” — Steve Jobs

Cosmos, 1980 by Carl Sagan It's an introduction, explanation, and celebration of science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos_(Sagan_book)

Good luck to all indie game developers!

If you need a break, seeing this documentary about it will be worth your time: Indie Game: The Movie (2012) https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-mo...

And, if you need some encouragement or diversion about the joy and reward of learning and how it get help you achieve "flow" and happiness from your work, please read: Some Advice On Happiness From A Few Good Movies https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existentia...

I realized that a source of unhappiness is expecting other people to do or say something without communicating with them first. People are not good mind readers, so you have to be clear about what you want and expect.

I wrote more about it here: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/communication-insights-from...

But the real realization is that you should not expect anything from anyone. You should be able to feel happy and satisfied no matter what other people do or don't do.

In other words, don't allow other people to control your happiness by setting yourself up to be dependent on what they say or do. It shouldn't matter to your contentment. If you can just accept things as they are and enjoy what you can without lamenting what could be, what could have been, what other people have—then you can be stronger and happier:

https://moviewise.substack.com/p/facing-lifes-difficulties

Just remember that you can't eat just any leaf: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32089650

Movie soundtracks. I search for the best on Google/YouTube.

"Pretty in Pink, by the way, also has the best soundtrack of any movie I’ve ever seen, with many of the songs specifically written or re-recorded for the film. It is one of the most acclaimed musical compilations in modern cinema, and in 2013 was ranked #11 in Rolling Stone’s list of greatest soundtracks."

From: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-pretty-in-...

"I just talked about myself, and you, yourself. You should’ve talked about me, and me, about you."

— Michel Poiccard, Breathless (1960)

"The 1960 French crime drama film, Breathless, by Jean-Luc Godard has a very interesting idea about love. The protagonist, Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a car thief and crook, is unlikeable. He steals from helpless women as well as vulnerable men, and kills a police officer without remorse. He claims to be in love with an American, Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg), but at one point he threatens to strangle her, and he disregards her wishes whether big or small. But he wants to be with her, and we believe him. Is this enough to be defined as love?"

From: What Is Love? The True Definition According To The Movies https://moviewise.substack.com/p/what-is-love

“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston S. Churchill

"I am thankful for all of those who said NO to me. It's because of them I'm doing it myself."

― Albert Einstein

From: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/there-is-no-bad-news-there-...

I'd argue that the problem when you don't feel motivated (provided it's not because of a lack of sleep, hydration, or nutrition that's making you feel tired) is that you are not learning something new. This is why it's important to vary the location, or time, or who you go hiking with etc. If you add some variety to your activity, you will feel more motivated because you'll get to learn/experience something new, which is intrinsically exciting and rewarding.

Experiencing flow while learning skills and working on something meaningful is happiness.

"It’s amazing how much contentment and sheer satisfaction is found in finding something you are interested in learning and seeing yourself grow as your mind and skills expand while progressing through ever more complex levels. It’s like a video game, but better! Actively learning something stops time, or at least you won’t notice the passage of time because you’re so gratifyingly engaged in something. This is the state of “flow,” or the feeling of energized focus and enjoyment while engaged in an activity that is discussed in the 2011 documentary, Happy."

From: https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existentia...

Addicted to Life (Nuit de la Glisse) (2014) is a documentary written and directed by Thierry Donard about men around the world who seek extreme athletic challenges.

https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2021/05/31/addicted-to-life/

Ed: “If you can’t get the work done, then the past two years are basically worth nothing … There were at least five times, a good five times, where I totally broke down and I just didn’t want to do it anymore … I was actually really worried that either Tommy or I would die in the process of making this.”

From:

https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-mo...