Daily Archives: August 11, 2017

‘All the Rage (Saved by Sarno)’ Review: Alternative Medicine Doc Lacks Focus – TheWrap

Posted: August 11, 2017 at 6:14 pm

Should you ever see All the Rage (Saved by Sarno), youre going to want to embrace it. (Thats as much of a prognostication as it is a warning.)

The directors, David Beilinson, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley, all seem like warm, emotionally present people. Sometimes their movie, which unmistakably comes across as a labor of love, feels that way too: Alive and engaged. However, its hard to work past the projects limitations, both creatively and budgetary. All the Rage is a documentary with a thesis and not much else.

The central case being made is for Dr. John Sarno, a revolutionary practitioner who devoted his life to the pain epidemic born in America. More specifically, Sarno is responsible for developing TMS (Tension Myositis Syndrome). This psychosomatic condition, Sarno contends, is the root of various illnesses regarding physical discomfort, especially in the back. Sarnos protocol for treating this condition is, essentially, acceptance and introspection. You must first recognize that I do have structural abnormalities, he says, and that thats okay. The mind and body are connected.

Also Read: 'Step' Review: Dance and Dreams Bolster Exhilarating High School Doc

The next step includes an exhaustive unpacking of ones psyche. The mind holds onto the idea as a physical problem, says Sarno. But he believes something like chronic back pain is anything but. Its a psychological problem, stemming from unresolved issues in our subconscious.

All of this sounds a bit woo-woo when read in a film review. In fact, it sounds a bit woo-woo when Sarno speaks, too. Thats sort of the movies point. Despite unending testimonials from celebrities like Larry David and Howard Stern, what Sarno is offering seems to good to be true. This is not alternative medicine, he insists. Youd like to believe this. By the end of All the Rage you may be just be a convert. If thats the case, then tally a mark in the win column for the movie.

What I found was something a little messier to grapple with. Sarno, who passed away in June, a day before his 94th birthday, is worthy of our time. Hes a dynamic central subject for a documentary. That much is clear. So why doesnt All the Rage hit harder?

Also Read: Howard Stern Sued for Airing Woman's IRS Conversation

On the surface, the diagnosis is simple: this could just as easily have been a well-reported segment on 60 Minutes, or perhaps an episode on Malcolm Gladwells beloved podcast, Revisionist History. You could see Gladwells eyes lighting up upon meeting Sarno, a renegade MD unafraid of blazing his own trail.

And yet while knocking the movie for its outstretched 94-minute running time is fair, it doesnt paint the full picture. The heart of All the Rages issues, I believe, are with Galinsky. In an attempt to give his film depth and personality, Galinsky often pivots back and forth from Sarnos office at NYU Medical center to his home. Splayed on the floor, we hear Galinsky yelling. Hes one of the 100 million (per the film) suffering from chronic pain.

For a variety of reasons, this is all hard to watch. Without Sarnos inevitable intervention, who knows where Galinsky would be today? But theres something unfocused and lackadaisical about the directors internal probing. He repeatedly tries to open up his world to us childhood, parents, marital strife, professional pressures. Few have managed to pull this off successfully in the documentary format without being trite or egotistical. Sarah Polleys spellbinding Stories We Tell comes to mind. Galinsky and his cohorts lack the ingenuity of Polley, though. Ultimately, his personal journey is more admirable than interesting.

Also Read: Larry David is Related to Bernie Sanders. Yes, Really

This narrative fixation causes other issues. By turning the camera inward, Galinsky forgets to ask more of his core subject. Sarno built an inimitable career. Why not dig deeper? Theres a chance the seasoned doctor is a little fatigued by it all. Decades of fighting against the status quo in a profession that chooses to not acknowledge your existence will do that to you. I got the sense Sarno was open to answer anything, if properly asked.

Those big questions never come. Sarno urged his patients to be mindful and curious. Someone shouldve encouraged the films crew to do the same.

Heres an example: Toward the end, Galinsky is asked to speak at his brothers wedding. Michael stands in front of the crowd, reciting the speech his late father gave to him at his wedding. Its a tender monologue about rolling with the punches, taking life as it rapidly comes at us. His eyes begin to well up as he reads the note aloud. Hes flooded with emotions. For a moment, so are we.

Then, without missing a beat, the film cuts to Michaels narration. Making it through that speech was one of the hardest things Ive ever done, he says. But once it was over, I felt lighter than I have in a long time. Less than two seconds after watching Michael bravely make it through that speech, hes telling us how hard it was to make it through that speech. We know it was difficult. We saw. We felt it. Much of All the Rage does not need explaining, and yet it insists on elementary explanation.

Days after I watched All the Rage, my opinion started to take shape. Ill be honest, though, even writing this now I feel some reluctance to criticize a movie I believe means well, an endeavor with pure intentions. Sarno, especially, comes off as a divine creature and thoughtful force in the world. If All the Rage does nothing else, it will at the very least serve as an widespread introduction to this revolutionary doctor.

Yet there is something frustratingly artless about the movies execution. All the Rage was supposed to be about Sarnos story. Instead its script contains dueling protagonists, competing for screen time. The team needed to pick a lane here. Instead, Galinsky and company find themselves in the middle of the intersection, blindsided by incoming traffic. Its a movie about two people that ends up being about no one at all.

Documentariesand chill?

If you're getting a bit tired of endlessly scrolling through Netflix movies, try these films on for size.

Added plus: You might even accidentally learn something.

"The 13th"

Ava DuVernay's latest documentary, "The 13th" sheds light on the prison industrial system and its relation to historical inequality in the United States. It's titled after the 13th amendment which abolished slavery.

"Blackfish"

We can pretty much credit the downfall of Sea World to Gabriela Cowperthwaite's "Blackfish," which tells the story of Tilikum, a killer whale living in captivity that killed its trainer in 2010. The film discusses the dangers to humans and the orcas who are confined in theme parks.

"The Black Power Mixtape"

This 2011 documentary showcases the evolution of the Black Power Movement by using footage found 30 years after it was shot by Swedish journalists. It covers the time period between 1967 to 1975 and includes interviews from Angela Davis, Huey P. Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, along with others central to the movement.

"The Imposter"

This British-American documentary is about a French imposter,Frdric Bourdin, who presents himself to a grieving family as their missing boy Nicholas Barclay -- a 13-year-old from Texas who went missing.

"Room 237"

If you've ever wondered what mysteries lied behind Room 237 in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining," this is the film for you.

Each segment of the film, focuses on a specific element in "The Shining" and offers different interpretations.

"What Happened, Miss Simone?"

Academy Award-nominated "What Happened, Miss Simone" features previously unreleased footage and interviews with singer Nina Simone's friends and family that tells the life story of the activist and music legend.

The film was also executive produced by Simone's daughter, Lisa Simone Kelly.

"Into the Abyss"

Werner Herzog's "Into the Abyss" focuses on capital punishment in Texas by profiling Michael Perry, a convicted killer on Death Row for the murder of a 50-year-old nurse, among other crimes.

Some of his interviews were filmed only eight days prior to his execution.

The documentary neither focuses on Perry's innocence nor his guilt.

"Virunga"

This one is for all the animal lovers out there. "Virunga" focuses on four park rangers who risk their lives to protect critically endangered mountain gorillas from poachers in Congo's Virunga National Park.

"Biggie & Tupac"

If you've ever been curious of the mysteries surrounding the deaths of two of rap's most prominent artists, watch "Biggie & Tupac."

While the documentary doesn't give a clear answer of who killed the rap icons, the director suggests that Suge Knight was responsible for the latter's murder.

"The Invisible War"

While the military is known for fighting our wars overseas, there's one silent battle within the armed forces that few are talking about -- sexual assault.

Kirby Dick's "The Invisible War" features interviews with veterans who share their experiences of sexual assault in the U.S. military.

"Super Size Me"

This documentary can pretty much becredited for pushing McDonald's to alter their menu to include more healthy items and getting rid of their super size option.

Morgan Spurlock takes on a 30-day challenge -- he eats at least three meals a day for 30 days from McDonald's. The film documents the changes that occur in his physical appearance, as well as his health.

"20 Feet From Stardom"

Most of us see backup singers providing support to the main act, but rarely do we recognize their talent.

This documentary follows backup singers like Judith Hill, Darlene Love and Merry Clayton and sheds light on their lives through behind-the-scenes footage.

"Hot Girls Wanted"

The appropriately titled doc features interviews with several young porn actresses, as they discuss their experiences in the industry.

Documentariesand chill?

If you're getting a bit tired of endlessly scrolling through Netflix movies, try these films on for size.

Added plus: You might even accidentally learn something.

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'All the Rage (Saved by Sarno)' Review: Alternative Medicine Doc Lacks Focus - TheWrap

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Food supplements – European Commission

Posted: at 6:14 pm

As an addition to a normal diet, food business operators market food supplements, which are concentrated sources of nutrients (or other substances) with a nutritional or physiological effect. Such food supplements can be marketed in dose form, such as pills, tablets, capsules, liquids in measured doses, etc.

The objective of the harmonised rules on those products in Directive 2002/46/EC is to protect consumers against potential health risks from those products and to ensure that they are not provided with misleading information.

With respect to the safety of food supplements, the Directive lays down a harmonised list of vitamins and minerals that may be added for nutritional purposes in food supplements (in Annex I to the Directive). Annex II of the Directive contains a list of permitted sources (vitamin and mineral substances) from which those vitamins and minerals may be manufactured.

This list has been amended by the following Regulations and Directive to include additional substances:

The trade of products containing vitamins and minerals not listed in Annex II has been prohibited from the 1st of August 2005.

Directive 2002/46/EC has been aligned with the new Regulatory Procedure with scrutiny by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008.

Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements envisages the setting of maximum and minimum amounts of vitamins and minerals in supplements via the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed ( PAFF Committee) procedure.

The Commission has issued a Discussion Paper on the setting of maximum and minimum amounts for vitamins and minerals in foodstuffs , which identified the main issues to be considered in this exercise and originated a set of Responses.

Although the Commission has consulted extensively with Member States and interested stakeholders on the issue, no proposal has not yet been presented due to the complex nature of the issue and the divergent views that were expressed. All the available data on the potential effects on economic operators and consumers of the setting of maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals in foods, including food supplements, will be taken into account. Every effort will be made to ensure that the maximum amounts set will take into account the concerns expressed by all interested parties.

The EC commissioned a study on the use of substances with nutritional or physiological effects other than vitamins and minerals in food supplements.

Taking into account this study and other available information, the Commission - in accordance with the requirement set out in Article 4(8) of Directive 2002/46/EC on food supplements - has prepared a report to the Council and the European Parliament on the use of substances other than vitamins and minerals in food supplements.

The report is accompanied by two Commission staff working documents.

Member States may, for monitoring purposes, request notification to their competent authority of the placing on the market in their territory of a food supplement product in accordance with Article 10 of the Directive. The list of competent authorities may be found here:

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Would you buy supplements from Alex Jones? – New Food Economy – The New Food Economy

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Were just going to put this out there: Alex Jones is not the most trusted name in news. The Infowars host has devolved, in recent years, from a shameless peddler of baseless, far-right conspiracy theories into a bizarre, disorienting spectacle. What exactly is happening as Jones, shirtless and goggle-eyed, roars spit-flecked tirades at the camera? Maybe this performance of rage is somehow cathartic, enacting an anger his viewers feel but cant express. Maybe its self-parodic shtickJones lawyer seems to suggest hes in the know. Or maybe hes simply on some varsity league drugs.

Whatever the case, heres the unfortunate truth: A not-insignificant number of Americans have elected to buy mail order health supplements from this man. The exact number isnt known, but New York magazine estimates between $15 and $25 million dollars worth per year. And thats too bad because, according to a new BuzzFeed investigation, Joness products arent much better than his newsbasically, a waste of time.

BuzzFeed submitted a range of products to Labdoor, a San-Francisco based lab that tests the quality of dietary supplements. The laba for-profit company with a list of venture capital backers including businessman and vocal Trump detractor Mark Cubansubjected each of Joness offerings to a legit-sounding process: We tested samples in triplicate, and wherever possible, cross-checked those results with at least two independent analytical laboratories, so we have complete trust in our conclusions, Brian Brandley, the companys laboratory director, told BuzzFeed News.

Heres the good news. According to Labdoor, the supplementsunlike #pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracy theorieswerent actively harmful, testing free of heavy metals, illegal substances, and chemicals known to be toxic. But they probably arent doing much good either.

The supplements arent actively harmful. But they probably arent doing much good either.

Some examples: Anthroplex, a daily foundation for men sold for $39.95, cites its zinc content in promotional materials, but Labdoor found that theres actually 31 percent less zinc than promised. At that negligible level, according to the report, even a seriously zinc-deficient person wouldnt see results. This product is a waste of money, the report reads. The claim that Anthroplex works synergistically with the powerful Super Male Vitality formula in order to help restore your masculine foundation and stimulate vitality with its own blend of unique ingredients is fluff on multiple fronts.

Then theres the $29.95 Survival Shield X-2, an iodine supplement that Jones claims is derived from 200+ million year old salt crystals, is tested for radiation and supports thyroid health and healthy hormone levels. According to Labdoor, thats bunkits just everyday iodine sold, at 30 bucks an ounce, at a steep markup. Its the same stuff doctors used to pour on surfaces as a disinfectant, Labdoors report read.

Theres more: a Child Ease concoction that claims to support attention span in kids, made from herbs that havent been tested for safety or efficacy. A $50-dollar Lung Cleanse spray thats basically cheap cough medicine. A Brain Force Neural Activator with B vitamins and amino acids, but at lower levels than youll find in other products.

Taken together, the items in the Infowars store offer imagined, pseudo-scientific solutions to a range of American symptoms. Were scattered. We cant concentrate. Our joints hurt. We dont feel as young and vigorous as we used to. Were afraid of aging. Were afraid of death. And Jones is only the oldest trick in the con artist book: hes tapping into peoples anxieties and insecurities, and exploiting them to make money. Its gross. Its unethical. But, in this case, its actually not illegal.

By their very legal definition, supplements dont have to do anything. Unlike drugs, supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, prevent, or cure diseases, according to the Food and Drug Administration(FDA). That means supplements should not make claims, such as reduces pain or treats heart disease. Claims like these can only legitimately be made for drugs, not dietary supplements. In other words, supplements are just like drugsin that you put them in your body. But unlike drugs, they dont have to have measurable benefits. The bar for supplements is extremely low: basically, they just cant be poison.

The Atlantics James Hamblin has a good explainer on how we got here, a huge and growing supplements industry thats based on little more than wishful thinking.

Jones is doing his very thing hes built his brand decrying: namely, abusing power and influence to dupe people and take advantage of them.

This expansive category was set forth in the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994, known as DSHEA, Hamblin writes. Backed by Senator Orrin Hatch and enormous investment from the supplement industry, the law allows any of these products to go directly to market and carry unfounded claims about what the product does. The burden is on the FDA to prove that the product is unsafe, if it later proves to be harming people, and then take the producer to court.

But considering the amount of money that Americans spend on supplementsestimates range from $11 billion to almost $40 billion, which averages out to between about $30 and $120 per person per yearits clear that people dont expect them to do nothing. We spend our hard-earned money on supplements because we want to be more healthy and less sick. Surely some people probably see, in their vitamins and herbal solutions, the promise of a cure.

And thats whats weird about Jones-branded supplements. As Vices Motherboard points out, Infowars makes its products appealing by tapping into peoples fears about Big Government. In this case, the idea is that government doesnt want you to know about health cures, because its in bed with Big Pharma, which makes money by preying on the sick. The only way to buck the tyrannical system is to spend $59.95 on Caveman Pure Paleo Shake Powder.

Like all good lies, theres some truth to ityou dont have to reach very far to find examples of lobbyists weakening laws that protect public health. But the sinister thing is that, by selling the dubious supplements he sells through the Infowars store, Jones is doing the very thing hes built his brand decrying. Namely, abusing power and influence to dupe people and take advantage of them.New Yorkmagazine makes a compelling case that Jones hardly makes anymoney from his news operation. The real revenue driver? Supplements.

Most people would agree that government regulation should protect us from unduly harmful products and especially predatory business practices. Should it protect people from wasting their money on products that are basically harmless? That depends on your point of view. In the end, perversely, the whole thing proves Alex Jones point: the government has turned its back on you on this one. With supplements, youre on our own.

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Supplement recalls: Polish, Czech and Hungarian authorities report cases of banned substances – NutraIngredients.com

Posted: at 6:14 pm

European authorities have notified the EU of several incidents of food supplements being found to contain banned substances this week.

A food supplement was withdrawn from the market in the Czech Republic after inspections by Czech authorities found a supplement aimed at sexual appetite and function contained a banned substance.

The State Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority (CAFIA) said the batch of Maxxes food supplement, a food supplement containing a blend of botanical herbs, was found to contain the banned substance sildenafil.

Maxxes claims to: increases the libido and confidence, while other properties of Maxxes boost the endurance for long lasting sexual activity and promote circulation to the reproductive organs resulting in a faster, harder and longer lasting erection.

Sildenafil, the substance identified in Maxxes, is an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), and is the main acting agent in Pfizers erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. Active pharmaceuticals like sildenafil are banned in food supplements.

This drug is only allowed for use in medicines, and preparations containing sildenafil can only be given by the doctor due to possible side effects, said the CAFIA.

Czech authorities immediately withdrew the Maxxes food supplement from sale and the distribution network. Proceedings have also begun to impose a fine.

During inspections, authorities also noted that the product had been distributed to other EU countries, as such as rapid alert has been put out via RASFF.

Poland and Hungary: Unauthorised novel ingredients

Meanwhile, in a second case Polish and Hungarian officials have notified that a foodstuff of special nutritional, imported from the USA and targeted at athletes, was also found to contain banned substances.

The Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Agency (NBIH) said it was notified of the incident via the Union's Rapid Alert System (RASFF) after the issue was initially discovered in Poland.

The product Cellucor C4 G4, Chrome Series, primarily intended for bodybuilders, is a multi-flavoured, special nutritional food. It is available in many EU countries however Polish officials found that the Pink Lemonade flavour contains unauthorised ingredients in the form of creatinine nitrate and teak (a caffeine-like purinase alkaloid).

Both ingredients are classed as novel food ingredients, and are therefore unauthorised for sale within Europe, said the NBIH.

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Government prods producers on extending NWS – The West Australian

Posted: at 6:13 pm

Karratha Gas Plant, North West Shelf Project

The Federal Government is showing signs of taking a more interventionist role in ensuring the life of the North West Shelf LNG project is extended, according to a research report.

The report by resources consultants Wood Mackenzie said the Government was motivated by an NWS life extension being worth up to $US48 billion in additional taxes.

Industry regulator the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator had written to resource owners in North West waters requesting more information about the viability of prolonging the project, the report said.

There are signs the Government is becoming more proactive in the sector, and has leverage under the retention lease system to push developments forward, a summary said.

There are now real drivers pushing for the projects life extension, and conditions are unlikely to get more favourable than what we have now.

The three-decade-old NWS needs new sources of gas in the 2020s to keep its five production train Karratha Gas Plant going.

Wood Mackenzie said a life extension development should be able to take advantage of lower costs during the construction phase and a tightening energy market once production began.

It said a new industry focus on costs and margins had made resource owners more open to sharing third party infrastructure.

NWS operator Woodside Petroleums preferred option for the Browse joint venture it leads is to pipe the gas to Karratha.

While citing Browse as the leading candidate, other developments the report identified as potential suppliers were the ExxonMobil-led Scarborough field and the Chevron-led Clio and Acme fields and undeveloped Greater Gorgon fields.

Woodside in May said the NWS partners had agreed on a proposed toll for resource owners to process gas through the Karratha plant.

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Global scientists working to stop aging gather at San Diego conference – CBS 8 San Diego

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SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - A conference underway this weekend in San Diego is changing the way we think about getting older.

The Revolution Against Aging and Death conference, or RAAD Fest, is bringing scientists and doctors from all over the world to discuss their progress on creating a world without aging and death.

James Strole, Director of Coalition for Radical Life Extension, and Dr. Ben Goertzel, Chief Scientific Officer at Hanson Robotics, joined News 8s Heather Myers on News 8 Morning Extra Friday to talk about what exactly the industry is trying to achieve.

Strole said that there are several scientifically proven modalities out there to help reverse aging, and possibly bring you back to your biological age of 25. Extending or lengthening telomeres, gene editing and genetherapy are just a few.

Dr. Goertzel works with artificial intelligence applied to humanoid robotics to better understand the human biology and what goes on when we age.

It gets a lot more complex than that, and thats why theyre the doctors and scientists and were not. You can find more information about RAAD Fest and its panels at RAADFest.com.

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BWXT Canada lands $48M add-on to Bruce Power deal – TheRecord.com

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TheRecord.com
BWXT Canada lands $48M add-on to Bruce Power deal
TheRecord.com
Refurbishment of the steam generators will extend the life of six of the reactors in the Bruce B Unit 6 reactor. "BWXT values its contributions to Bruce Power's Life Extension Program, which is critical to ensuring the supply of low-cost, clean and ...

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Why Aubrey Plaza Is a Modern-Day Andy Kaufman – L.A. Weekly

Posted: at 6:13 pm

It's Aubrey Plaza's 33rd birthday, and she's curled up on a couch in a deafeningly quiet, concrete-walled room at the Line hotel in Koreatown. She hugs her knees to her chest. Her T-shirt features a hyper-realistic image of Nicolas Cage's face, and I can just see his toothy, maniacal smile peeking out from between her legs it's unnerving. Her hands fidget, knotting and unknotting a black string attached to a Santa Muerte charm. The actor hit stardom with her sardonic slacker character April on the NBC show Parks and Recreation and, like many TV stars on long-running shows, she has found it difficult to escape her monster creation. With a recent succession of mold-smashing projects Legion, The Little Hours and Ingrid Goes West she's about to leave April behind. But who will she become?

"If Andy Kaufman is alive, he should come and find me," Plaza tells me.

Kaufman is one of Plaza's greatest influences. The comic actor died from cancer in 1984 but he melted so deeply into his myriad personas that there are people who still believe he is alive and simply playing a long con on his suffering audiences. If you've only ever seen Plaza on the uplifting comedy Parks & Rec, the Kaufman reference may not immediately resonate for you. But to friends and colleagues, she is a Loki trickster who revels in absurdity.

"She's not just playing at being Andy Kaufman," Plaza's Legion director, Noah Hawley, tells me over the phone. "She is Andy Kaufman."

He shares the story of their first meeting: Plaza shows up 30 minutes late, on crutches, and immediately opens up about her quest to be a director on Parks and Recreation and her disappointment that they denied her the chance while letting the men direct.

"I said, 'That is wrong. They should have let you direct,' but then she said, 'Oh no, I just made that up. I didn't want to direct.'" Hawley sounds simultaneously exasperated and impressed when he speaks of Plaza. "There's a sense she's always testing you I didn't even know if she really needed those crutches." She did, but that's another story.

On Legion, a show about a young mutant who's hospitalized for schizophrenia but realizes he may actually have powers (it exists in the X-Men universe), Plaza plays Lenny. She's a projection of the Shadow King, a psychic mutant who is a kind of gender-fluid parasite who possesses the bodies of others. Essentially, Plaza is playing up to four different characters all of whom have varied mannerisms and speech patterns in the same scene. Her performances are as unpredictable from take to take as the multiple characters she plays: Will she embody a power-hungry therapist, or will she break into a sexy, Fosse-style song-and-dance number?

Aubrey Plaza plays the complex Lenny in FX series Legion.

Courtesy FX

"With her, you never quite know what's going to happen, and that's really for me very exciting," her co-star Dan Stevens says. "She's always kind of looking for the mischievous choice in the scene," which is hell on continuity folks and editors charged with making sure she picks up the coffee cup the same way in every take that never happens. But Stevens and Hawley say Plaza's spontaneity precisely fits the show's tone.

"I needed someone who could be anything and everything in any moment," Hawley explains to me. "There's a sort of slippery quality this character has, very fast-talking. Part of this character's dance is about manipulating people and tricking them, and yet I really wanted her to be likable."

Plaza's had a lot of practice being abrasive but likable most of the characters she plays fall into this category, from the diehard party girl of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates to Depressed Debbie in Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress and perpetually annoyed Julie Powers in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. But Hawley's casting of Plaza (and changing the character from male to female for her) has begun a small avalanche of projects that could finally leave her Parks & Rec charter behind and let Plaza become whoever she wants.

The Little Hours, a heartfelt nunsploitation period piece from Plaza's longtime romantic partner and creative collaborator, Jeff Baena, opened in June to rave reviews. Plaza not only stars in the film alongside Alison Brie and Kate Micucci but also earns her first producing credit.

"A lot of time you see actors getting producer credits, it's just a vanity title for them," Baena says. He describes watching Plaza naturally morph into the nurturing attitude of a producer, even using her day off to take actor Paul Reiser on a Tuscany tour producers have to keep everyone on set happy. "Whatever she does, she takes it seriously. Ultimately, I think she's going to be a filmmaker with that heightened sensitivity."

Plaza describes that "sensitivity" as a manifestation of her tendency to "please" people, which is a double-edged sword: Acting and producing require a person to be highly attuned to others' needs, but what happens if you can't turn that off?

"I'm such a people pleaser that my natural reaction in interviews and things is to give people what they want. It's like I'm a robot," Plaza says. "'Oh, these people want me to say something weird or mean or sarcastic, so I just do that. That'll make them happy.' I'm just now getting better at feeling more comfortable in my own skin, but it can be hard when people are projecting ideas onto you at full speed, constantly."

But Plaza absolutely emphasizes that she knows her life is not achingly difficult. As a young artist who got cast on a popular network series simply by showing up to an informal meeting in shorts and a T-shirt to talk about the meaning of life and suggest that, hey, maybe a character could be a droll slacker, Plaza sometimes can't even believe that they let her on television back then. And if ever she were to get a big head, she says, her real family and her TV family were there to slap her back down to Earth.

"Nick Offerman knew every single person on set's name, [he] was the most generous man to be working with, and if I would have a bad day and be annoyed or acting like a brat or whatever, he would be the first one to say, 'Just remember we're on network television, and our lives are spectacular,'" Plaza says, offering an ace Offerman impression. "And I'd be like, 'Of course! Thank you. Fucking of course our lives are spectacular!'"

Aubrey Plaza in The Little Hours with Dave Franco

Courtesy Gunpowder & Sky Distribution

Still, this doesn't mean the road ahead to reinvent herself from past characters will be necessarily easy, but it seems the secret key to doing so is to expand her role as a producer. After The Little Hours, she read director Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith's script for the Instagram-stalker tragicomedy Ingrid Goes West and saw something special there. "I knew what it could be, and I wanted to make that happen the script is never the final product," she says. Spicer agrees that Plaza's biggest role in production was pushing for "curve ball" casting choices, like O'Shea Jackson Jr., who most famously portrayed his father, Ice Cube, in Straight Outta Compton, as her character's nerdy but confident love interest.

"[The part] was written for a kind of dorky stoner dude, but I recognized that the chemistry I would have with O'Shea would be really different from something you usually see," Plaza explains. She'd met the rapper-turned-actor at a party and relentlessly waved the script in his face until he committed to the project. "I thought if we could capture that on camera, it would just make the movie that much deeper."

Plaza may be a trickster and comedic actor but she craves depth, and those things aren't mutually exclusive. Her entire life has been dictated by the motto: "Take it as far as it can go." The "it" could be anything a character, a bit, a basketball team because whatever Plaza does, it's gonna be sincere, even if it's just sincerely weird.

Along "Cult House Road," deep in the forest on the Delaware-Pennsylvania border, the skeletal trees lining the pavement angle outward, away from the road and their sun source. Through an overgrown path, there is a burned-out abandoned cabin, which is said to have hosted Satanic rituals, pagan animal sacrifices or DuPont incest weddings, depending on whom you ask. Something about this place seems wrong, even if you can't put your finger on exactly why. This is where M. Night Shyamalan shot The Village. It's also where Aubrey Plaza's mother, Bernadette, would drive her late at night on impromptu road trips with her cousins.

"We'd drive down Cult House Road, and she'd turn the lights off, and we'd all be screaming. My mom is kind of mysterious. She would always do weird things with us," Plaza says, taking a moment to think. "Maybe that's why I'm into witches."

Plaza was raised Catholic and attended an all-girls school in Wilmington, Delaware, with her two sisters. "The power of three is real," she says. She loved The Craft and doing silly spells, but she was also a teacher's pet (damn that need to please!) and class president. In true Plaza fashion, she took her presidential campaign as far as it could go, actually convincing a staffer from Republican senator Bill Roth's office to help her.

"He showed up at my school and was flyering and helping me with my posters, and I remember he helped me set up this archway with balloons at 6 a.m., so everyone who showed up that day had to walk through this thing to get into the door." Plaza shrugs. "Really bizarre. I was just a kid. But he helped me win."

What people most often miss about Plaza's sense of humor is that she doesn't enjoy "mean" comedy. Yes, she is deadpan, once showed up to a national TV interview wearing vampire teeth for no reason, and bewildered ESPN viewers with her re-creation of The Decision to announce that she was trading herself from her infamous Pistol Shrimps basketball team to the Spice Squirrels, but she insists she was never what you'd call a "bad" kid. She was and is a "thrill seeker."

In high school, she and her friend Neil Casey (Inside Amy Schumer, Ghostbusters) would stand on the side of the highway, dress in costume and toss a beach ball back and forth, simply to boggle passers-by. Plaza thinks her fascination with absurdity stemmed from growing up in such a conservative area. "It was satisfying to do something weird for weird's sake, with no purpose, to make people stop and laugh."

Her natural trajectory was comedy and New York. She graduated from NYU and went to work as an NBC page around the time that Amy Poehler was staffed on Saturday Night Live. "I like to think that I walked by her wearing an astronaut costume while she was making up lies to a group of tourists," Poehler wrote to me in an email.

By the time Plaza got an audition for Judd Apatow's Funny People in Los Angeles, Poehler had gone West herself and was prepping to lead her own sitcom with the creators of The Office. Plaza got that informal meeting set up with the Parks folks and quickly thereafter got the casting phone call that would change her life. Los Angeles became her home. And the Parks cast and crew became her new weirdo family.

"Leslie Knope was supposed to be April Ludgate's mentor, and so our first couple of seasons felt like that [in real life]," Poehler says. "But Aubrey Plaza, the person, is an old soul. Very wise. Always watching."

Plaza calls Poehler and Rashida Jones her "big sisters" and gushes about every co-star when asked. For a young woman who'd grown up in a tight-knit family with her two real-life sisters, landing in this supportive cast was something of a godsend.

"Looking back, I am blown away still by just that group of people being in one room doing comedy together, and everyone was a genuinely nice and lovable person," Plaza says. Then she picks up her phone that's been buzzing off and on for the duration of our interview. She holds it up to me and scrolls through an endless series of text messages just fast enough that I can't make out any single one. "Literally this morning, I got a text from every single person. We're on a mass texting chain, that whole cast, and someone will write on it at least every other day, and it's been years. I could show you hundreds of hours of texting. Aziz [Ansari] just sent me a ridiculous picture of him for my birthday. Everyone was commenting while we've been talking."

This adorable text chain feels every bit the real-life extension of the TV show. A large part of the appeal of Parks when it aired, and still today, is its earnestness and the feeling of joy amid darkness it evoked, which Plaza attributes to how pleasant things were behind the scene and how Poehler ran her set.

"I think most people at No. 1 on the call sheet, like Amy is, it's really hard for them to keep things in perspective," Plaza says. "It's easy to take on that No. 1 status and just have your ego take over, and Amy was just so always conscious of the vibe on set, and the idea of gratitude, and respect, but also having fun."

As Plaza has stepped into that No. 1 spot herself, she's tried to take to heart what she's learned from her mentors. But the problem with being a talented character actor zig-zagging from persona to persona with no stop in sight is that the self becomes malleable. "My biggest fear is that I lose myself," she says. Nowhere is that challenge more evident than in the endless press junkets and interviews she does to promote her projects. Seeing how fascinated people are with her personal life is deeply uncomfortable for her. People want to know who her celebrity BFF is, and Plaza has no desire to share yet still feels obliged to entertain. She's the kind of person who makes acquaintances easily but keeps her real friends close she still calls her old high school pals on the phone to chat.

Even this interview brings a certain amount of discomfort to Plaza, which makes me want to apologize for even asking any personal questions do I really need to know her favorite saint? (It's Bernadette, obviously.) She's uneasy with too much attention and especially wary of social media. "It's not real. It's just all in your head, so there's something kind of scary about it. I'm having all these interactions in my head. Physically, I'm just sitting in a chair."

But with all this in mind, it is absolutely no wonder that Plaza was drawn to her most recent project, Ingrid Goes West. The film taps into these fears she has about sharing personal information. Ironically, the actress delivers her most intimate, raw performance yet. Watching this film feels as if you finally know her. But, really, who the hell is Aubrey Plaza?

Actor Chris Pratt may know the real Aubrey Plaza.

"Aubrey is a survivor and alchemist. Her on-screen (and off-screen) personas are equal parts defense mechanism and performance art. She's tough and surprisingly complicated. The very best parts of her are yet to be discovered by audiences and most people. She would deny it, but beneath her signature eye rolls (and accessible to only the luckiest people in her life) is softness, kindness, pathos, creativity and vulnerability."

That's the heartbreakingly sweet assessment Pratt sent via email about his longtime Parks and Recreation co-star. And Pratt's right, because "most people" never will know Plaza. But audiences are now about to see a few new sides to her.

Aubrey Plaza in Ingrid Goes West

Courtesy Neon Distribution

In Ingrid Goes West, Plaza plays a bereft woman with a bag of cash she inherited from her recently deceased mother. Her woeful social ineptitude renders her helpless, unable to reach out to others without becoming too attached to them; think Single White Female "lite" in the age of Instagram. Ingrid stumbles onto the candid photos of lifestyle influencer Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) and maneuvers her way into the stranger's life, forging a "friendship."

"I think the movie could have easily veered into the direction of being an indictment on social media, but I wanted it to be rooted in a human story about human connection," Plaza says. "It's about someone who really wants to have a connection, and they feel lonely and misunderstood, and that's a universal feeling for human beings."

Though Plaza jokes the trailers for the film suggest it is "a crazy, nonstop laugh express train to nowhere," viewers likely will be shocked by how emotional the story gets, or, rather, how emotional Plaza gets. Ingrid walks a tightrope of anxiety, juggling lies; when they catch up to her, her denial and subsequent breakdown turns this comedy into a tearjerker. The success of this film hinges on Plaza's ability to sell drama. And she does.

"There were times when she was in an emotional scene, and we did 20, 25 takes, and she would want to do more," Ingriddirector Matt Spicer says. "I know a lot of people see her as [Parks & Rec's] April Ludgate, but I hope the takeaway from this film is that she's a real-deal actress."

Being a producer on Ingrid, Plaza was forced to watch herself in the dailies, poring over the footage. She says she never watches her own movies or interviews, so this was a little circle of hell for her, but she realized that through watching herself on screen, she was able to overcome her insecurities and simply judge a take on whether it accomplished a goal, not on whether she succeeded or failed. Spicer says she was a dream producer a person who can deliver the impossible again and again, on and off the set.

"Making good movies is sooo hard. That should be the title of this article," Plaza laughs. But however difficult it is, Plaza seems energized by having creative control over her own projects. She tells me that she's never been in a place to be picky. Every role she takes is for a reason. ("Did I think Dirty Grandpa was going to be the best movie in the world? No. But you're telling me I've got a shot to play Robert De Niro's love interest? I'm in.") But more than anything, Plaza is excited to age; she's tired of playing a 20-year-old.

"In Dirty Grandpa, I played a college senior, and I was 30," she says. "I've always thought, 'God, when I'm in my 40s, I think I'm going to get some meaty parts.' But everyone is so obsessed with youth, so every movie is about 19-year-olds. I used to watch movies that had adults who were wearing blazers and high heels and going to work and dropping off their kid. Where did those characters go?"

Today, on Aubrey Plaza's 33rd birthday, she tells me she wants to bring the adult woman back into style. She wants to make action films. She wants to make funny films. She wants to revive the screwball romantic comedies of the 1980s, like her personal favorite, Romancing the Stone, maybe with Chris Pratt. (She cites Michael Douglas as another inspiration for producing that film when no one else wanted to make it.) She wants to be and do everything yet, she tells me, if she ends up like Adam Sandler's character in Funny People "where I'm all alone and lost all my personal relationships" well, it's not worth it.

Next up for her is a bizarro comedy called An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, from Greasy Strangler director Jim Hosking. The script was so out-there that her agents had put it in their trash pile before she told them she thought it was genius. It's impossible to nail down exactly what Plaza will think or what she will like. Or who she is.

At the end of our interview, she gives me a hug. She's been candid and forthright with me in this brutalist hotel room for an hour and a half, and I'm surprised by how normal it all seemed.

An hour later, I'm at home, listening to my recording of our conversation, when I hear myself leave Plaza's hotel room momentarily. I left the recorder on while I was gone. Before I can speed through what I expected to be ambient sounds of shuffling, I hear a demonic voice growl coming from the recorder. "Satan-Satan-Satan-Satan!" it yelled. It was Plaza pulling another trick. Then I hear her deadpan voice emerge from the recorder again: "Hello? Hello? ... Huh, wow, that was weird."

Yes, Aubrey. Yes, it was.

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Why Aubrey Plaza Is a Modern-Day Andy Kaufman - L.A. Weekly

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Cover Stories: Thoughtfulness in design (11 August 2017) – MarkLives.com

Posted: at 6:12 pm

by Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) Lets delve into great media design from South Africa and around the world:

Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us at @Marklives and @shanenilfunct. Want to view all the covers at a glance? See our Pinterest board!

As an establishment in the South African surfing community, one would think that the recent redesign of Zig Zags masthead could have gone pear-shaped. But it didnt. The updated logo, accompanied by a major layout refresh, has made the magazine look a great deal more contemporary. The rustically rendered lettering, superimposed over an energetic action shot, compliments the theme of the issue: Made in Africa. Imbuing a sense of rawness and angst reminiscent of the doodles that teenagers carve into their classroom desks in school, the textured, almost juvenile use of typography is effective, simultaneously suggesting the vibrating pulse of the continent and the ocean, and the free-spirited veneer of surf culture.

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Wired has never been shy to experiment with the left-inclined side of its editorial design sensibility. The latest issue is an example of its culture and its sophisticated design palate, proving that formalism can be contemporary and speak experimentalism. With its orthodox use of typography and colour blocking, contrasted with glitch-inspired abstract forms indicative of the digital age, this cover reminds one of the classic album by British electronic music producers, Autechre, titled Tri Repitae. Aside from the music production that set the bar for the time, the 1995 album is famous for its cover designed by Designers Republic, which uses a similar marriage of High-Modernism and Post-Modernism set forth in this months issue of Wired.

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Aptly referencing George Lois infamous Mohammed Ali cover for Esquire in 1968, the cover for the 31st issue of independent/niche iJusi magazine is a witty commentary on the current sociopolitical state of South Africa and the man at the helm of it all. From a graphic-design perspective, iJusi is undoubtedly an institution in SA; its documented an important visual record of what it means to be African over the past two decades since independence.

Note: Shane de Lange worked on this issue of iJusi.

Australian Fashion magazine, Frankie, is noted for its tasteful, well art-directed covers. Issue #78 is a testament to the refined curatorial sensibility of the editors eye, displaying an illustration that is simultaneously child-like and sophisticated. A more-innocent and nave version of the avant-garde aesthetic propagated by the Fauves in Europe during the early 20th century, this cover illustration is supported by the simple and uncluttered layout, with a masthead that is unobtrusive, effectively framing the vibrancy of colour, gestural mark-making and expressive ability of the artist. Most importantly, it stays true to Frankies tone of voice.

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Dada-data is an online publication celebrating the centenary of the historically influential Dada movement. Embracing the interactivity that the internet brings to the field of editorial design, this publication is a living document, remaining loyal to the conceptual mechanisms and anti-art tactics that were used by the original Dadaists.

The site allows one to participate in Dada-hacktions (staying true to the notion of automatism and the happenings that Dada arguably helped to invent), and to visit Dada-depots to learn about the history of the movement. The bold use of typography, subdued greyscale visuals, and parallax motion of the landing page all play into the zeitgeist of the inter-war, avant-garde period during the early 20th century in Europe.

A Dada tone is instantly struck by the landing page, a homage to the famous 1922 poster collaboration between Theo van Doesburg and Kurt Schwitters a poster titled Kleine Dada Soire (used during their tour of Holland and their so-called Dada Campaign).

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Dot Zero was a quarterly produced by Unimark International, the firm where iconic Modernist designer, Massimo Vignelli, started out. Five issues were printed between 1966 and 1968, with the second cover arguably being the most experimental for its time.

The magazine dealt with the overall rubric of visual communication, effectively mapping what we now see to be normal forms of communication in the media. Modernist to the nth degree, the highly formal almost Minimalist use of black-on-black is still considered sexy today, exhibited by the cover to the new single by Oneohtrix Point Never, titled Leaving the Park, which clearly uses the same visual language that Vignelli contributed to over 50 years ago.

Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) is a designer, writer, and educator currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, working in the fields of communication design and digital media. He works from Gilgamesh, a small design studio, and is a senior lecturer in graphic design at Vega School in Cape Town. Connect on Pinterest and Instagram.

Cover Stories, formerly MagLove, is a regular slot deconstructing media cover design, both past and present.

Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroomservice!

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Cover Stories: Thoughtfulness in design (11 August 2017) - MarkLives.com

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Young and vibrant – The Voice Online (blog)

Posted: at 6:11 pm

At 41 years of age, Dr Alfred Madigele is Botswanas youngest Cabinet Minister.

After completing his studies in Ireland, Dr Madigele was employed for a year at one of the biggest hospitals in Ireland called Limerick Regional Hospital, as a Medical Officer and he decided to quit and come back home.

Dr Madigele was employed by Princess Marina Hospital for a year before opening his own private clinic as a general practitioner before contesting for Mathethe/Molapowabojang Constituency in the 2014 general elections.

Voice reporter Portia Ngwako-Mlilo had a chat with the youthful minister about his political journey, challenges and growth opportunities at his ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology.

Q. What inspired you to join politics?

A. When I was at junior school I read a lot about former South Africa leaders of the struggle like Robert Sobukwe and Oliver Tambo and got inspiration from their stories and what they did for their people.

I think I developed interest at that age and I thought perhaps when I grow up I would be interested in joining politics.

One of the things I really wanted to do was being a medical doctor which I managed to achieve and after 10 years of practice I joined politics.

Q. One would say you were not known much in the BDP until you stood for elections, when did you join politics?

A. I joined politics a long time ago behind the scenes because I had established a business of private clinic and I didnt want my professional life to mix with politics.

I came into the picture two years before the election.

Q. What was the response from people in your constituency?

A. People were very appreciative and according to them it was a breath of fresh air.

They appreciated that I was a professional and young compared to previous leaders.

The message that I put across was also appealing to the electorate.

Q. It is said you come from a family of BNF activists, why did you choose to join BDP?

A. Growing up I read a lot of literature from Russia- the former USSR, because my uncle was a communist and a councilor in Lobatse.

It didnt mean I was pro socialism, and as I grew up I evolved into a situation of a free market of capitalist tendencies because I also felt that I was an aspiring entrepreneur, so I couldnt go with socialists.

BDP is a natural home for me.

Q. What have been your achievements so far in your constituency?

A. There is a lot that has been done so far and I believe there is still a lot that needs to be done.

There is a primary hospital and a bridge on the cards for Molapowabojang village as well as a police station and housing currently under construction.

In Mathethe we have developed an Agricultural Centre which is under construction.

Other areas include Lorolwane village where electrification is underway and there is also a maternity clinic coming up at Gasita village, just to mention a few.

Q. You were employed at Limerick Regional Hospital in Ireland for a year. Why did you decide to quit and come back home?

A. I really wanted to achieve that agenda of business and I had to come back so that I could develop a conducive environment for myself and eventually join politics.

Q. Dont you miss your days at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, considering that it was in line with your qualifications?

A. Yes I do, but for me it was a blessing to shift from the Ministry of Health because it is good to try other new things in life and it was good for growth.

I was happy that the leadership appreciated my leadership skills and I believe so far I have done a good job in starting a ministry from scratch.

Q. There were rumours that you were suppose to defect to the opposition, what happened?

A. I heard about that too but it was just that, rumours! Defection has never crossed my mind.

I think people mistake my character. I like to engage in discourse even with opposition politicians and some of them are my friends.

I would spend some time with them and people tend to believe I am considering joining them.

Q. Are you standing for the next elections?

A. Right now I am the Member of Parliament and the decision to stand or not has not arrived yet.

Q. Whats next after politics?

A. To continue being a reputable entrepreneur.

Like I said I am not a career politician and I am still a professional at heart.

Q. Should BDP be worried by the merging of opposition parties?

A. I dont think so. BDP should get strengthened because for us to govern we need a strong opposition.

In a democracy like ours there has to be strong institutions that will make sure that the government is able to deliver.

We shouldnt take change just for the sake of change.

BDP has so far done a lot of good things in terms of provision of basic things.

As we speak there is no other country that gives free health care or education.

Q. What challenges do you face at your ministry?

A. There is a lot of challenges like provision of quality relevant training.

We talk about programmes that are fully accredited and our graduates can be compatible with graduates from the region and the world at large with regards to relevance.

One of the problems we find is skills mismatch. Creation of HRDC will make sure that we train looking at the economy demand.

Our mandate is to migrate from a resource based to a knowledge based economy.

Q. We outsource skilled labour especially from neighbouring countries.

What are you doing to ensure that your ministry benchmarks in those countries?

A. This is a result of skills mismatch and we trained more people for white collar jobs and there was stigma attached to vocational schools.

We are very much working on that and we believe that a strong Technical and Vocational Education Training is very very key towards attaining a good level of employment.

We studied new models like that of Israel and Singapore and those countries do not have natural resources and depend only on their skills.

Q. What criteria is used to upgrade colleges to universities?

A. We have what we call National Credit and Qualification Framework which grade the level of qualification.

The purpose of a university is not only teaching but also for research and strategies.

Q. Why are other institutions intakes higher than others?

A. As government we have an obligation towards our institutions and we should be able to support them.

For the economy to grow it needs a strong private sector and that is why for the past 15 years- through a parliament Act, we allowed the emergence of private institutions.

Allocation of students is upon institutions to ensure that their programmes are fully accredited.

HRDC gives us an idea of which courses we can sponsor.

This year we have concentrated on construction, auto motive industry and others.

Q. Kindly share with our readers, progress on the Target 20 000.

A. It was introduced to up-skill and to re-tool our young people. More than 9 000 students benefited.

It is a great idea but I believe and agree with some critics that maybe the implementation was not great.

This year we suspended enrollment of new students for the programme and next year we will have a new and revamped Target 20 000, more appropriate and responsive to what we need from our students.

Q. How is the BQA transition process going?

A. I am working closely with the Board of Directors and BQA management to make sure that all the challenges we are facing are addressed.

BQA was formed in 2013 from two organizations BOTA and TEC.

BOTA was responsible for vocational training while TEC was for tertiary.

There was a bit of confusion because with BOTA there are true criteria either the course is accredited or not while TEC there were different levels of accreditation, approved provisionally, fully accredited or rejected.

Q. Do you think the time given to institutions is enough? What happens if they fail to meet deadline?

A. We realized the amount of work that needs to be done is so immense given to a transition within 12 months.

I am still waiting for a report from the board which would advice me on what to do.

Our stakeholders need to be reminded that the transition deadline is nearing so that we can all meet our obligation.

Q. Government funding is drying out.

What are you doing to ensure that scholarship grant beneficiaries pay back the money?

A. BGCSE produce about 35 students every year and our budget only sponsor around 10 000.

The issue is about budgetary constraints.

We are currently exploring a policy shift in tertiary education financing so that we can increase access.

There is need to reform the grant loan scheme which is behind times and really talks to government employment but things have changed.

We are talking with government to open up to the employees to allow them access to education loans for their children.

Q. Who is your inspiration?

A. There are many but I was mainly inspired by political figures like Robert Sobukwe at the level of politics.

On an individual level I was inspired by my late father, Fish.

I always admired his perseverance and hard work.

Q. What legacy do you want to leave at your ministry?

A. Issues of relevance need to be addressed.

there is also the training for the economy which would obviously reduce unemployment.

I would also want to leave a legacy of strong and innovative society.

Q. Thank God is Friday. What are your plans for the weekend?

A. I will be at the farm.

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Young and vibrant - The Voice Online (blog)

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