Bit's and bobs...

I am sure you've all heard about the guy in Austria that kidnapped his daughter and kept her in the basement of his house....had kids with her...etc. All I want to know is how her mother had no idea that people were living in the basement!!!! How did she not hear them cooking, eating, moving about, and for heavens sake--Childbirth!!!! What did she think went on in her basement for all those years? was she never curious enough to take a peek, or even to store something there? If she knew about it...I think hell will be too good a place for her!

The Maryland film festival starts this week, and I am going to see I.O.U.S.A... it's a documentary about America's national debt. It should be rather interesting I think.

Also, in my attempt to be a little more open minded-- I am trying to see Story of women. I think it will have a bit of a 'Vera Drake' feel...so I am still debating that thought.

Sadly I wont be able to but would have loved to see 'Bamako' and 'Today the hawk takes one chick'.... because of a prior engagement.

Bamako (named after the capital city of Mali), is a sort of documentary/film in which the actors, pretend to have a trial against the IMF/ World Bank for crimes against "third world" nations. It is surprisingly produced (but not written) by Danny Glover and Elia Suleiman.

Today the hawk takes one chick:- Documentary following the lives of 3 Swazi women, who have taken on the responsibility to care for their orphaned grand-children. It's the story of most of a lot of grandmother's in the Southern region of Africa.

Other documentaries/ films of note that I may see are:-

Betrayal:- about the upheaval in Laos post the Vietnamese war

La Americana:- about an illegal immigrant who works to make money to help her daughter who is very sick in Bolivia. (I think we'll need lots of tissue for this one!)

The listening project:- This seems like a fun documentary--they have people go all over the world asking people what they think about America and stuff.

Over all I think the Maryland film festival easily beats the D.C. film festival! Baltimore ROCKS!!! I don't care what people say!!!

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In following with my little comments about the U.N last week...I saw something in the Economist magazine about the new Human rights council-- http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11090832 okay, as I see it, every country has human rights violations of one kind or another. So I do not understand what criteria they use in allowing countries to be members or not. If every country has a violation--there shouldn't be any members in the council innit???

Surely, can America (with it's history of Guantanamo, Vieques, Amadou Diallo (you get the picture) judge China?

Can Israel judge Palestine?

Human rights can not be standardized for all countries and they shouldn't be...that's a fact.

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Madonna has a new AIDS documentary out...and I was chuffed that she had carried her baby the Zambian way in the little clip I saw.

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My future husband Warren Buffet has been in the news this week-- he says that the recession may be worse than we think... then he went on to buy Wrigley's!!! Instead of buying me that Mercedes I want!

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I am watching 'God grew tired of us' the Sudanese documentary-- it is really funny if you have a funny bone in your body! But it is also quite heart wrenching. Especially when he is explaining how he thinks that God grew tired of them and that's why he wants to Finnish them off. I will talk more on the subject later