"Isn't It Delicious" at the Bethel Cinema 9/18

Come over to the Bethel Cinema on September 18th at 7:00PM for the big Connecticut premiere of the home-grown feature film "Isn't It Delicious".

Filmed entirely in Connecticut (with the exception of a single looong day in Manhattan) and crewed by many graduates from the CT Film Industry Program, the story explores the often hilarious and heartbreaking efforts of a family matriarch who finds she has little time left to make things right with her many dysfunctional relationships.

The cast features Kathleen Chalfant and Keir Dullea as the parents of adult children Alice Ripley, Nick Stevenson, and Jonah Young, and features notables such as Mia Dillon, Robert Lupone, Malachy McCourt, and Jay Patterson.

A question & answer session will follow the showing, and we expect to see some of the actors in attendance.

Tickets are available HERE for the measly price of $10 each! Get them quick because this screening will definitely sell out fast!

Jim Himes's views on Syria 9/06/13

Here is the response I received from Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) regarding the Syrian situation:


Perhaps the most difficult decision a Member of Congress must make is the decision to go to war. I would like to share with you my preliminary thoughts on the proposed attack on Syria and provide you with the opportunity to convey your thoughts before Congress votes next week.

It is clear that many of you are appalled by the atrocity in the suburbs of Damascus, but have profound misgivings about any intervention in Syria. For my part, I am assessing the circumstances surrounding the sectarian violence in Syria and the consequences of the United States launching a strike.

This weekend, I flew to DC to attend a classified briefing with intelligence officials on last months’ chemical weapons attack in Syria. There is little doubt in my mind that Assad undertook this attack, but the case is not absolute. Considering what we went through ten years ago with bad intelligence, I want to see more.

I am troubled by the relative lack of international support for the President’s proposed attack. In contrast to the intervention in Libya, the proposed US strike does not enjoy the support of the UN, of NATO, or of the Arab League. An alliance comprised of Sunni Gulf monarchies with questionable human rights records, and France, the former colonial power in Lebanon and Syria, and only a handful of other countries - mostly without significant military resources of their own - seems insufficient to me.

Most importantly, it is very unclear what would follow a strike. The Syrian civil war is complex and unpredictable, with meaningful risk of regional expansion, including into Israel. As a member of the House Intelligence Committee, I can say with some authority that a strike and ensuing chaos opens the possibility of chemical weapons falling into the hands of Hezbollah or al-Qaeda affiliated rebel groups. Hezbollah or Iran could respond to a strike with an attack on Israel, Turkey or Jordan. If we are to get involved, we must be very clear on the specific objectives and possible consequences of any military action we may pursue.

The President has forcefully articulated the potential loss of international credibility should we not respond to the use of chemical weapons. Whatever you think of the remarks the President made on red lines, he made them, and I am concerned about what the leadership of Iran may think when a US red line is not enforced. I worry Iran may be emboldened to accelerate its development of a military nuclear capability and that Assad might use chemical weapons again if unchallenged.

As I continue to review the evidence, prospects, and possible outcomes, I want to hear your opinion. There are no easy answers in this deeply serious situation. I look forward to receiving your thoughts.

Chris Murphy's vote on Syria

Sen. Chris Murphy is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and he discusses here why he voted against the Syria resolution.

The resolution was passed anyway, by a vote of 10-7, and it will be discussed in the full Senate. But Sen. Murphy addressed issues that seems to be ignored by the President and the rush to action by leading members of Congress.



Bravo to Sen. Murphy for being a leader and a voice of reason in this increasingly tense situation. There ARE ways our nation can be more helpful in the region besides attacking Syria and attempting to topple a government that someone decided needs to go.

UPDATE: Chris appeared on Rachel Maddow earlier today.

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MoveOn town hall on Syria 8/30

Yesterday MoveOn.org held a town hall style online meeting to discuss President Obama's rhetoric about needing to attack Syria in retaliation to alleged chemical attacks on their citizens.

It appears that the U.S. is on the fast track to war. We may see some Congressional discussion before the President acts independently to attack if we're lucky. Congress is back in session on Sept. 9th (and I hope they all had a lovely and relaxing vacation...jesus, how many days off do these guys get?) and I sincerely hope our representatives pressure the President to think carefully and logically before committing our troops to another expensive and (let's be real) dangerous war.

The talk begins about 3 minutes in, so skip forward to when the introductions begin.

Sunday Night Music Club XXXII

This installment of the Sunday Night Music Club features The Whiskey Sisters performing a soulful rendition of their song "I Take It Back".

When I was in Austin for work early last month, a friend told me to check out this band, who usually plays a happy hour gig every Thursday at the legendary Austin music venue Continental Club.

I was completely awed by the exuberance and showmanship this band displayed, which makes sense because they won the SXSW "Best New Band" award. They are definitely headed to greatness, as exhibited in their album, which I purchased after returning home.

Here's a video of The Whiskey Sisters performing earlier this month at the High Sierra Music Festival.

Profile in courage

Texas senator Wendy Davis stands up for women's rights during a 13-hour filibuster to defeat a draconian measure to limit access to abortion. Governor Rick Perry finally admitted at 3AM that the bill did not pass.

As far as I know, not a single news network carried the live feed of the dramatic conclusion of this event. Thankfully, several sources put up live streaming on the internet. Anyone who doesn't think network news is a joke might want to rethink their opinions.

More on the "Connecticut Film Grant Program"

It's not a real thing yet, it's just what it should be called.

The extinct Connecticut film tax credit was a great idea but poorly executed. I'll use the following example to prove my point:

The film "Righteous Kill" (2008) was shot partially in Connecticut. In fact, the interior bar scenes of that film were shot at the Star bar, about a mile from my home. I visited the set, but didn't get to see some of the stellar cast that included Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino.

I'm not sure if they employed a single person from Connecticut in their crew, and the craft services company was based in New York even though there were many local caterers who would have jumped at the chance to work for a major picture. The film, which was a significant box office flop, received over $12,000,000 from Connecticut.

Yes. Over 12 million dollars!

Now, here's the way that amount of money could have been much better spent:

Create a program that provides 50% of the budget of an indie film shot exclusively in Connecticut, with at least half the employees being local crew. And all the associated services like equipment rental and support services must be given to Connecticut businesses with the right of first refusal. If there's something we can't do, then you can hire someone from out of state.

Limit the budgets under this program to say $200,000 or less per film. When the production manages to raise half their projected budget, the state kicks in with the other half.

So, if someone writes the 2013 equivalent of "Slacker" (1991) or "Clerks" (1994) with a budget of say $90,000, they need to show proof that they raised $45K already, and have agreements with local industry-trained workers (say, probably FITP grads would fill the bill!), and sign a contract to hire Connecticut services and rentals for their picture, ONLY then would the state kick in the other half, $45K in this example, and production will begin.

This works because it takes the money the state would otherwise give to huge out-of-state corporations and gives it to indie filmmakers who will then, by agreement, dump the money DIRECTLY BACK INTO OUR LOCAL ECONOMY!

The $12,000,000 spent on that flop could easily fund anywhere up to 75 or 100 local indie films, especially considering that some incredible films have been produced for well under $80,000. And with the state encouraging local cinemas to show these films, Connecticut has the potential to create a living, thriving, eclectic indie film culture and help our state become a force in the indie world that could rival places like Seattle and Austin.

And this thriving film industry would be a tremendous incentive to keep our college grads here IN Connecticut, where they can add to the economy rather than expatriating to those places that have a more agreeable creative climate. Think how much business it would bring to Connecticut if we could create a festival that would rival South By Southwest?

How can we get a legislator to voice this idea in the capitol? Do any of you folks still read this blog? Please let me know your thoughts.

The day the movies died

July 1st is the day our wonderful state government has decided to kill the tax credit for film making here in the Nutmeg state.

While there were obvious problems with the program, it appears that rather than attempt to fix those problems, they lost interest and pulled the plug entirely for film projects.

This is what happened, via the Hartford Courant.

Nobody asked me of course, but here's a list of things they could have done to better govern this situation:

1. Address the issue of out-of-state film productions coming here and shooting for 30-60 days with many out-of-state employees, by making it a requirement that they hire at least half their crew from the many graduates of the Film Industry Training Program. And purchase/rent their hardware from in-state businesses

2. Cap the tax credit to something reasonable, like a one-for-each three dollars they spend credit only if they can trace that has gone towards Connecticut businesses and salaries. It doesn't help our state if Steven Spielberg shoots a big budget film here but brings crew like craft services in from Manhattan.

3. Keep the FITP going! It really is a pittance in budgetary terms, but it created interest and skills in a very important demographic to the state: the recent college grads. Connecticut is suffering from a massive brain drain among those interested in film, simply because we don't provide any incentive for them to stay here and explore their art.

4. Create a grant program for small and fully in-state produced films. I can't begin to describe how much it would help Connecticut's indie film community if the state offered grants for people to create and finish films! It would create jobs, keep talent in the state, and generate publicity for Connecticut. How about making it easier for folks to make features with a budget of $50,000 by providing them a grant of 1/3 to 1/2 of their budget? The promise of funds would help them raise money, and by default it would establish an indie film economy. And it would put Connecticut taxpayers to work!

5. How about appointing an official liaison to the indie film community? The reason FITP was unceremoniously snuffed this year is because Governor Malloy combined the department responsible for the program with the Department of Labor. Putting the FITP funds under their control pretty much made it a fait accompli to its demise. They wanted the money for their own programs.

Programs like paying for people to stay OUT OF WORK. Maybe if we knew who the fuck to talk to with suggestions, could we have gotten better legislation?

6. How about holding some public meetings about the program when working people can actually attend? I'd love to be up at the Capitol on a Wednesday afternoon, but sadly I have to earn a living because Connecticut doesn't encourage the indie film community. It would be awesome to have "town hall" style events in the evening when more supporters would be available.

Anyway, the premature death of FITP makes me sad. It seemed so unnecessary and perfunctory. So fucking bureaucratic.

And the repeal of the tax credit for film hurts too. I wish they even gave it a chance for someone to change it into something that would actually work for Connecticut-based indie film.

They should have fucking asked US.

A smart legislator would have suggested that.

National vote plan making headway

In an Op-Ed on CT News Junkie, Andrea Levien discusses how there is a plan to make every voter's ballot count in presidential elections.

Simply put, the new system eliminates the Electoral College, and simply makes each citizen's vote count. The final number of popular votes decide the election.

For years I assumed the Electoral system was set up somewhere in the fine print of the Constitution, and would require an exhaustive campaign to convince 3/4 of the states (not to mention 2/3 of both houses of Congress) to amend the law.

But it turns out the Constitution allows states a lot of discretion when it comes to setting up their way of voting for the President.

Luckily, Connecticut lawmakers can pass a law that will make Connecticut voters as relevant in presidential elections as voters in Ohio and Florida. The National Poplar Vote plan is an interstate compact that states join by passing state legislation, committing to having all of their electoral votes be cast by the electors supporting the winner of the national popular vote in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The compact is only triggered once it has been adopted in states representing a majority of Electoral College votes (270), thereby guaranteeing that the White House to the winner of the national popular vote – and thereby, making every vote in every state matter.

So far the law has been approved in states totaling 49% of the 270 votes, so it is already nearly halfway there.

The idea of eliminating "swing states", "battleground states", the massive amounts of money that pour into New Hampshire every four years while Connecticut gets almost nothing, and the fact that we don't have to count on the fucked up system they have in Florida that prevents them even 12 years after the disastrous 2000 election from counting their votes properly, well, it makes me happy.

And the added benefit is that MORE citizens will vote in states that are predominately red or blue, because their votes WILL matter equally with everyone else's.

The details of the plan are at Fairvote.org

Read the entire article over at CT News Junkie, and let me know your thoughts on this plan.

UPDATE: Jason Paul has an opposing Op-ed over at CTNJ worthy of consideration in this matter. Particularly in the case of Florida, who can't seem to get their shit together to count their votes in a timely and accurate fashion. A national vote recount could be an epic nightmare of year 2000 proportions.

Train crash video

This video was recorded by some kids who were skateboarding nearby the wreck. I found the commentary amusing. Not at all annoying.



Can anyone on the video tell me if the train crashed? I think I missed that bit.