Possessed

An intriguing, short documentary about "hoarders," people who can't help but collect many possessions, "Possessed" is an anxiety-inducing document of a disorder that, in extreme cases, poses physical danger, and can even cause death. It's only twenty minutes or so; a very striking vignette. Worth your time.

I'd like to embed it, but it's better if you go to the site and read the blurb. Plus, the video would probably cross over onto the sidebar which would just look silly.

POSSESSED.

The Eternal Children

Just watched a documentary on YouTube about the sort of freak folk movement... specifically, it interviews and follows Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons), CoCoRosie, Devendra Banhart, and Vashti Bunyan (considered the Matriarch of the "freak folk" movement). I have to say it seemed to clarify a lot of everyone - both the people and their music. It gave an emotional floor to Devendra and Antony that I had previously not known. Music from both of them, in particular, has found no place to sit in me, but I find myself now very much in tune with Antony and eager to hear more of his music.

As for the documentary itself, it's subtle and largely passive. I didn't feel as though anyone was digging around trying to find something except during a couple of the interviews. For the most part, it just felt like I was watching things unfold from a single vantage point. At times I wanted to stop watching, others I wanted to press forward. It is neither good nor bad. It just seems to "be." Let me know what you think. Below, all six parts of "The Eternal Children" by David Kleijwegt:

Culmination

For a long time now, I have sought to keep myself informed of the betrayals of the government, the ways in which our government seeks to control us, manipulate us, and dictate an immoral and unconstitutional agenda both at home and abroad. I've done my best to rant and rave, as well as point out some kind of substantial evidence to you to support these beliefs.

The time when these things will all be proven is far in our future, most likely at a time just before or during an era that mimics our own. And proof is a worthless pursuit anyway, because truth is its necessity. Truth, as we all know, is dependent on one's perspective. And there will never be a full consensus on anything so long as we live.

That being said, I beg and plead for you to watch the following documentary. It is available online. It is free to you, thanks to Google, thanks to the internet, thanks to people like you. This movie is the culmination of all of the things I've said to you regarding our government. I have had it with the United States, with politics, with those in power. Only through evolution can we save ourselves.

WATCH ZEITGEIST. And tell every single person you know to do the same.

Orson Welles

Here's an interesting documentary on U B U W E B about Orson Welles's last ten years of life, entitled "Orson Welles - The One Man Band."

I haven't finished watching it yet, but so far its an interesting look into the life of someone who is very fictionalized and grandiose, but about whom I really know very little. Worth checking out.

Spying on the Homefront

It's not YouTube, it's not Myspace, it's not MoveOn.org.

It's PBS.
Watch this documentary online for free. It's not too long and it's a good Public Broadcasting look at things I talk about and express fear of on this blog all the time. Show it to your friends and family.

Iraq In Fragments

I just saw a documentary entitled Iraq in Fragments this afternoon... a three-segment film, it concerns itself with various parts of the overall narrative of Iraq. Of course I use the term "narrative" in that case fairly unconventionally. Naturally, the country is not just a film and I am by no means making it diminutive by treating it as a narrative.

What it gave me was something I crave more and more: to see what other people's lives are like. In this case, it showed me the lives of people in war-torn Iraq. Those are lives I particularly want to have a better understanding of because my image and concept of the Iraqi people (as of Middle-Eastern people in general) are skewed.

In My Opinion, it was terrifying, enraging, consuming, engaging, and thoroughly worth my time. It continues to push me to ask myself, "How am I going to interact with the world and affect those around me?" A question that I have now and again asked myself within the context of this blog, and a question I hope will never be far from my mind.

I have asked my housemate, Zach, to be a contributing writer to this blog because he expressed to me the desire that was the same as when I started this blog: to express himself in the public forum. It's my hope that he will accept my invitation, and engage in the blog in a way that brings in more readership, is thoughtful and engaging, and that making this blog a joint venture will allow us to push each other to be less lethargic Americans.

Fingers are crossed.