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Just a few days before this year's Festival de Cannes, those of us who watch, love and write about Arab cinema received a press release from Abu Dhabi that seemed like just another announcement. Sent out by their media hub twofour54, part of the emirate's Media Zone Authority, the release's title "Abu Dhabi's film industry embarks on a new era" made me put it aside for later reading. I already knew anyway that the capital of the United Arab Emirates has been getting quite a lot of international productions to film there (most famously Furious 7 and the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens) because of the Abu Dhabi Film Commission's 30 percent cash-back rebate, as well as twofour54's recently upgraded state-of-the-art facilities for post-production.

So, off I went to tend to the rest of my day, and the press release I received was bound to end up in some folder, never to be looked at again. But then my Facebook homepage and Twitter feed started buzzing, the equivalent on social media of a hundred ringing phones going off at once, with alarming news: the Abu Dhabi Film Festival was no more. Yes, their development and post-production fund SANAD remained, with some familiar names at its helm like festival director Ali Al Jabri and Arabic programmer Intishal Al Timini, but no more event to premiere and showcase the finished products, the beautiful films SANAD is famous for helping to create.

Had I missed the big news in the press release? Well, yes, but only because it seemed purposely tucked away among all the other big news, of better facilities, more TV, Hollywood and Bollywood productions, more ambitious plans to come for Abu Dhabi. Yet, here was the news of an eight-year-old, week-long event everyone in the film world looked forward to, a wonderful tradition of cultural interaction and cinematic bridge-building, coming to an end. And its demise told in just one short paragraph, no pomp and circumstance, simply gone. I was left to mourn.

Then Cannes rolled around and I had neither the time nor the occasion to think much about ADFF, as the festival was affectionately known to all those who were fortunate enough to have witnessed its magic.

Magic. What a perfect word to describe a place, an event, a festival that created the one ray of hope for our overly divided world. With ADFF's demise, I see dire prospects for Arab cinema, to tell you the truth.

Of course, there remains that undisputedly wondrous cinematic event of the year for the Emirates, the Dubai International Film Festival. Oscar-qualifying for short films, celebrity filled, red carpet ready and chock full of incredible movies, DIFF is the undeniable king of the festivals in this part of the world.

Yet ADFF was a meeting place, of minds and artists, of world-citizens who perhaps held the wrong passports to be friends anywhere else in the world, but in Abu Dhabi felt at home as one. ADFF was equally welcoming to media, filmmakers, film distributors and celebrities, we all interacted and mingled, without divisive velvet ropes.

It was a festival I will always remember for the great films I watched there, but also the calm lunches around those large round tables at Emirates Palace where one could find Indian superstar Irrfan Khan to one's right, Iraqi rapper extraordinaire The Narcicyst to one's left and sitting across from all, Iranian autrice Rakhshan Bani-Etemad; where a blogger like me could share the stage with her favorite Palestinian filmmaker Annemarie Jacir for a public "In Conversation with..." and learn from the endless wisdom of this poetic writer and director; and where the last edition's jury members included Cannes' Critics' Week director Charles Tesson, Palestinian actor Ali Suliman and Vietnamese master filmmaker Dang Nhat Minh. That was Abu Dhabi Film Festival. And as with all great things, we learn this early on in our lives, it had to come to an end. Or did it?

Strictly my own very personal opinion, but while I do understand the commercial implications and financial reasonings for this move, I don't approve, and never will of the final solution. We are living through a time when the obvious dumbing down of our society in general, but more specifically of Arab youths, has finally yielded what some of us could see coming way down the road, long ago: an ultra divided albeit social media interconnected, violently alienated, dangerously intolerant world. And as long as we keep making those blow them up, tie them down, cut them off, intolerant, violent films -- and don't even get me started on video games -- we'll keep yielding the same results. What we see is what we get. Only thoughtful cinema could save us now.

So here's my heartfelt eulogy for a film festival with a conscience, ADFF, gone too soon, and sadly missed by all who ever witnessed it. A blog I dedicate to one of its key programmers, Intishal Al Timini, a man who not only understands the value of the press, as much as that of his filmmakers, but also cares for the world around him as much as he cares about his family and his films. And in SANAD we trust, Intishal. so may this incredible work of healing the world, one film at a time, be continued in the upcoming cycles of SANAD funding.

Inshallah.

Top image courtesy of twofour54.

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Chagall-Malevich (2014)
Cast includes: Leonid Bichevin (Mortify), Anatoliy Belyy (Metro), Kristina Schneidermann (The Audition), Semyon Shkalikov (Kuresky osoboy vashnosti)
Writer/Director: Aleksandr Mitta (Lost in Siberia)
Genre: Drama | History | Fantasy (119 minutes) Russian with subtitles

1887, the Russian town of Vitebsk is on fire... "ablaze with arson to the Jewish quarter." At this moment, Marc Chagall comes into the world, looking absolutely stillborn but finally gasping for air. "The world was so magically bright, horrifying and beautiful that I started to breathe... and that intolerable beauty burns within me." Twenty years later, Marc is in Paris, "the art capital of the world." Artists learn from each other, and Marc is obsessed with all the innovation. When he gets his first show, he finally makes enough money to go back and marry his fiancé, whom he hasn't seen in 4 years. When we first meet Bella, Naum is trying to woo her with poetry, but she's waiting for Marc. When the lovebirds are finally reunited, they float with joy above the town... imagery we instantly recognize from Chagall paintings. Even though Bella's parents want her to marry into money, they reluctantly agree to the love match. The wedding... which starts late because Marc gets sidetracked helping a young artist... becomes a swirl of traditional music, dancing, rich colors and magical imagery.

Bella wonders if they'll "laugh at me in Paris." But as it turns out, Paris is out of the picture right now. The year is 1914, and Russia is at war with Germany... and with itself. "The road back to Europe is cut, and there is a revolution in Russia." With violence everywhere, Chagall can't work... until he decides to strike out... "I'll make Vitebsk into a city of the arts... we'll wake it up." By creating a center for contemporary art, "Vitebsk can become Paris!" The unlikely project turns out to be wildly successful in attracting top artists. When Kazimir Malevich arrives, it's a mixed blessing. Malevich wants to "connect with the cosmos," not the kinds of "bourgeois" paintings that Chagall is known for. Malevich's calls his work "Supermatism," and much to the surprise of Marc's old nemesis, Comrade Naum, Trotsky loves it... dubbing it "Revolutionary Art." As the revolution deepens, Chagall's cult may be abandoning him to become the Malevich cult.

Most of Chagall-Malevich centers on the time Chagall was Commissariat of the Academy of Modern Art, 1917-18. While the story is set against historic events, it makes no claim of historic accuracy, which becomes obvious fairly quickly. There's a kitsch yet wonderful fantasy quality about the story and the cinematography... as if Chagall's paintings are coming to life. While the story is told from Chagall's point of view, it introduces us to Malevich, who isn't as well known outside of Russia. But you'll instantly recognize his work and its significance. Even though their work was totally different, these two artists are the most iconic Russian painters of the era. This film will definitely have more appeal to those who have an interest in the art or the history, because enjoying it will require overlooking a few details that aren't at the same level as the cinematic expressionism... for example, the acting and the editing. (It could easily have been a half hour shorter.) One of Bella's lines in the film describes the delicate balance required for great art, although she's describing her relationship with Marc... "For one to be able to fly, another must stand firmly on the ground." Enjoy the flying part and try to overlook the parts that are not quite grounded.

3 popped kernels (Scale: 0-4)
A combination of history and fantasy... as if Marc Chagall's paintings come to life and illustrate turbulent times in Russian history

Popcorn Profile
Audience: Grown-ups
Gender Style: Sensitive
Distribution: Art House
Mood: Neutral
Tempo: Cruises Comfortably
Visual Style: Computer Effects & Nicely Varnished Realism
Nutshell: Two iconic Russian painters
Language: True to life
Social Significance: Informative & Thought Provoking

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Ronnie Gilbert, an original member of the legendary folk group, the Weavers, died today (June 7) at the age of 88. While the prodigiously talented Pete Seeger was clearly the most noted member of the group (Fred Hellerman and Lee Hays were the other two members), it was Ronnie Gilbert who gave the Weavers their lyrical elegance.

While Gilbert could be as playful and whimsical as the rest of the gang, her contralto voice projected a haunting solemnity that stood out. Listen to her segment on the Weaver's version of the great Leadbelly song, "Goodnight, Irene." Her voice is so achingly "declarative," it's heartbreaking. Wonderful song, terrific singer. (Fun fact: Ken Kesey's book, "Sometimes a Great Notion," takes its title from a "Goodnight, Irene" lyric.)

The daughter of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Gilbert was born and raised in New York City. Her mother was a seamstress (just as the iconic Mary "Mother Jones" Harris was) and labor union advocate, and her father was a factory worker. Gilbert once said that it was listening to the "subversive" lyrics of Paul Robeson on the radio, when she was a kid, that inspired her to become a folk singer.

Anyone conversant in Cold War history and its attendant "Red Scare," is aware of what happened to the Weavers (formed in 1948). Suspecting this folk group of being too "leftwing," the merchants of hatred and fear, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, smeared them as "Communists" and had them blacklisted.

Despite their hit songs (Goodnight, Irene, Wimoweh, On Top of Old Smokey, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine, et al), they were banned from appearing on radio or television, and their recording contract with Decca Records was abruptly cancelled. They went from being one of the most popular post-war groups to being almost totally ostracized, all the result of America's ideological ignorance and hypocrisy.

Basically, the Weavers were destroyed. The group formally disbanded in 1953. But even with the ruination of her music career, the irrepressible Ronnie Gilbert went on to become a fully committed social activist and organizer, traveling to Cuba, in 1961, and visiting Paris, France, in the turbulent year of 1968. She later earned a master's degree in psychology and became a psychotherapist.

When I was a kid, a friend's parents took me to a Pete Seeger concert in Pasadena, California. These people were folk music aficionados, owning records by Odetta, Baez, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, etc. Of course, by this time the Weavers had long since been dissolved and Seeger was working as a solo performer.

During the show (which he performed on a homemade banjo), Seeger made a couple of memorable announcements. The first was addressed to Ronnie Gilbert. Without any explanation or introductory words, he issued a shout-out to her, wishing her "good luck." Apparently, she was either recovering from an illness or had been laid low by some personal problem; we had no idea. In any event, at the mention of Ronnie's name, the audience cheered.

The second thing Seeger did was remind us that when you write a song, you have no idea where it will wind up, which made it analogous, in his words, to "raising a child." He said the next song was one he had written but hadn't bothered to copyright. Still, its success had made him as happy as a "proud parent."

He then proceeded to sing, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (which became a big hit by the Kingston Trio). When the audience heard the opening chords, they cheered wildly.

Celebrity activists are to be commended. After all, it would be a lot easier to sit poolside and count their money than to march in a rally or travel to a Third World country and promote a cause. But it's even more impressive when this "activism" is done by celebs who aren't millionaires, and is done without fanfare or the expectation of praise. Rest in peace, Ronnie Gilbert. You done good.

David Macaray is a playwright and author. His latest book is, "Night Shift: 270 Factory Stories."

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TONY AWARDS PRESS ROOM -- Although the space where we flacks are packed into rows is provided with a simulcast and earphones, you don't have to watch the show if you don't want to. The winners are coming our way at times and that preoccupies us, but there are lulls, and you don't have to tune in to the presentation then either.

The show is now about seven minutes old and hosts Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming have finished their uninvolving opening number. Just now on the tube is "It's a Musical," the first act biggie from Something Rotten. It's so beloved by those associated with the tuner that they do pretty much the same number in the second act, though under a different title.

Helen Mirren just won best actress for The Audience, and there wasn't much response in these quarters, but we're certainly waiting to get to her with questions when she arrives. There is, however, heavy mittage for Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron for their Fun Home score.

Changing costumes constantly on the show, Chenoweth and Cumming have done more below-par material -- some of it requiring sloppy lip-synching -- and it doesn't look as if things will get any better. So I'll leave them to it for the rest of this report.

Christian Borle wins his second Tony for his Something Rotten featured role. He's on screen as the winners of a special citation for regional theater talk to us. Attention is divided. But since no one is on the interviewees' podium during Annaleigh Ashford's win for her featured You Can't Take It With You role, she does get nice response from this gang for her cute on-screen chat.

Now Tony Yazbeck is doing a reworked number (or is it numbers?) from On the Town. Most television viewers won't be aware of the jockeying that goes on when deciding what numbers from what shows get televised. No one seems to consider that more often than not, larger numbers look pushy and tinny to folks sitting in their living rooms.

Helen Mirren, humble and direct and looking like a billion dollars, says the best advice she ever received about having a career was to conquer fear. While she was game to answer more questions, she was graciously cut off by one of the facilitators. John Cameron Mitchell talks about starting his career thinking he must hide his homosexuality and has learned that what's important is protecting yourself as a person when taking on roles, implying that hiding may not be the way but maintaining a remove might be. Christian Borle says he wished he'd learned sooner that other people's success is not your failure. That's a tonic.

This might be the time to note that the pressroom quiet stretches outnumber the active minutes. It's akin to a funereal pall. Even when someone is being queried from our crowd, things can be ultra-dull but there's no need to go on about that either.

Bunny Christie confides that while designing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time set she repeatedly referenced both Mark Haddon's novel and Simon Stephens's script for more inspirations. That meant something to me, if not anyone else. Ruthie Ann Miles, having nabbed her Tony as featured actress in The King and I, said her advice to her younger self would be, "Don't be a dentist." Then she was movingly emotional talking about how her mother "sacrificed her life" so she could go to college.

Perhaps worth noting: Not one of the women is asked who designed her gown. Is this the difference between Broadway and Hollywood? Hold the iPhone. Costume design winner (The King and I) Catherine Zuber has just been asked if she designed her gown. Nope: Marc Jacobs did. So I ask Christopher Oram, whose Wolf Hall costumes won, about obtaining fabrics now that were used prominently then. He replies that there are fabric houses still turning out such materials. Kelli O'Hara is wearing Oscar de la Renta, but doesn't say it was defined before or after his recent demise.

It's hard to resist pointing out that underscoring the "In Memoriam" section Josh Groban comes close to burying "You'll Never Walk Alone."

The biggest response in this room by far is Kelli O'Hara's win. She thanks her Oklahoma vocal coach Florence Birdwell, who, obviously not by accident, also was Kristin Chenoweth's vocal coach back in the day. (Is her phone ringing right now? It should be.) The second biggest response goes to the Fun Home win for Best Musical.

OK, so the show is over, but we're sitting here waiting for the later winners to address us. Alex Sharp, direct from Juilliard into Incident of..., says Al Pacino movies were early influences for him. The applause Kelli O'Hara gets in this room emphasizes how popular the win is with those of us who follow these things daily.

I notice this is a surprisingly short account of the year's Tony Awards as scoped from the press room. I can only suggest it's an indication of the excitement the event didn't create from start to finish.

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It's a lot of fun talking with Jaime Camil, an icon throughout Latin America who's currently blazing new territory as the hugely popular Rogelio De La Vega, on CBS Studios International's hit series Jane the Virgin, which airs in the U.S. on The CW. Señor Camil is a performer's performer -- trained in theater and opera, with extensive film and television experience -- and these days, recognition and awards nominations are peaking for him in el norte. He's also hosting this week's Rockie Awards at the Banff World Media Festival. The guy knows his business, and he's an international superstar, but there's no Downey, Jr. attitude to him -- rather, he's charming and easygoing, and a polyglot: he even steps up when my Spanish vocabulary briefly falters. Fresh from a suit fitting, the ever-stylish Jaime is happy to talk shop. Here's our chat:

Jaime Camil

You started off in radio, is that correct?

Correct! I started off in radio. You know, I wanted to sing [Jaime laughs -- possibly knowingly: he's good], and life was like, 'No, we're going to give you these acting opportunities!' When I was very stubborn, I saw these acting opportunities as something that would help promote my singing career. But actually it was God, or the Universe, or whatever, telling me, 'No, you should pursue acting. This is your life.' So I think the Universe was right, and I was wrong. [laughs]

Exploring acting, it seems that you've portrayed some characters who've been pretty amazing, like twins (in the Mexican-Argentine telenovela, Los Exitosos Pérez), and playing a woman--

I played twins in a very funny show called "The Successful Pérez," about these twins who are separated at birth -- and one is gay, the other one is not gay -- it's a funny show. [laughs] And then I played a woman. You know, as an actor, playing a woman is a beautiful, challenging thing to do, because you really have to become not only another person, but another gender. It's just a great privilege to an actor, to play a woman. [Camil's role has been likened to Dustin Hoffman's turn as "Tootsie."] And it's fun to do, setting aside the three and a half hours of every-day make-up I had to go through!

That was Por Ella Soy Eva?

Correct. Very good Spanish, by the way.

Oh, middle school and high school. Did your agent pitch that to you, or how did you come to that role? [Ever the professional, Jaime kindly guides mi pie away from mi boca.]

Well, it's funny, you know: In Mexico, in Latin America, I kind of have an established career, so things work differently than they work here in the States. This particular show-runner -- her name is Rosy Ocampo -- this is one of four shows with her: the Mexican version of Ugly Betty, a couple of others. We always work together, and we always try to put projects together.

That makes sense.

To answer your question, Rosy was looking into rights for this Colombian show, and she called immediately, and said, 'I have this show, I want to do it with you -- I think you are one of the very few actors who can pull this off -- so should we do this together?' And I said, 'Yes!'

Internationally, you've worked in a lot of different cultures, and in different languages. How do you translate comedy -- for different languages and cultures -- or is it mainly universal?

That's a very good question. There's terminology we have in Latin America, the English translation is roughly "Brilliant Comedy" -- but I think comedy, situational comedy, goes beyond languages. It goes beyond cultures. If you approach comedy as a very serious matter -- without trying to be a clown, or to make people laugh by throwing pies at their faces -- I think fine, detailed comedy goes beyond any language or culture. You meet people who have a talent to tell jokes, and no matter the culture or nationality of the people in front of this guy or this girl, when they tell a joke, everybody laughs -- regardless of where they're from. So a certain type of comedy, at least, has an international language.

Well, certainly. It can be a very strong unifying entity, comedy.

That remark you made is brilliant, because comedy is also a very powerful tool, to talk about very passionate subjects. You see a movie like Life Is Beautiful, from Benigni -- talking about the most horrible things in the world, and doing it with comedy, for the love of God -- and you have our show, Jane the Virgin, talking about immigration issues. These are very serious issues, presented in -- I don't want to say a 'light' kind of way, but yes, taking advantage of comedy, to express important subjects.

Rogelio (Jaime Camil) and Jane (Gina Rodriguez)

Indeed. And it's a good segue! The role you play, Rogelio, that's so funny!

Thank you.

But it's almost risky, though -- because he's the romantic star, but he's also hilarious. How do you find the right note, when you're doing that role?

[Laughs] Thank you for your kind words. I think I'm lucky. Jennie Urman [who developed the series from the Venezuelan telenovela by Perla Farías], and her team of writers, they're just brilliant, and I'm very privileged to be playing such a well-balanced role -- because they write brilliant one-liners for Rogelio, but at the same time they write beautiful, heartfelt scenes with Gina's [Rodriguez] character, and Andrea's [Navedo] character, so I have to thank the writers, for being so clever.

At the same time, like you say, it's a character that can get out of your hands quite easily, so we have great directors. This might sound crazy, like it might not make sense, but Rogelio needs to be grounded. He's super-eccentric, and always out there, but he needs to keep it real.

I think you're right: clowning is too easy. Everybody gets Rogelio, though, so congratulations!

Thank you, man. I think you have to be sincere: whenever Rogelio throws out these lines, like, 'I want my daughter to have the pleasure of knowing me' -- you have two choices: either slap him, or hug him, because he's being so true with himself. That's what we were talking about: when you play comedy seriously, you can get away with these kinds of lines.

Is it a conscious choice, or is it simply organic, when you go from the stage to a film set, or a TV set?

It's organic. I've been doing this for over 20 years, so when you're onstage, you understand the culture that theater represents, so you have to act for the guy sitting in row 'W.' When you do television, you may be a little over the top. And when you do movies, you're on a 20-meter screen, so when you lift your eyebrows, that's powerful enough. You get to know how each discipline works, and to respect how they need to be approached and treated, each of these beautiful, lovely disciplines. I would give my life for them, because I love what I do.

Did you imagine 20 years ago that you would be where you are today?

I actually -- no -- this is a very tricky question, because you can come off as a real professional bastard! [laughs] But to be honest, when I was a little kid, and I used to sing in front of my study group, where I did my homework, and I'd grab the lamp -- of course, the lamp was my microphone -- and I was singing, I'd always envision a huge audience! I never envisioned myself in a small coffee shop.

Good.

But of course, don't get me wrong, never in my wildest dreams did I think I was to reach the level I was able to reach in Latin America, and in Mexico, and now there's great things happening in the U.S., with the show, the recognition Gina is getting -- I'm freaking out a little bit right now.

That's good! Enjoy that!

Thank you, man. I will tell that to the butterflies in my stomach.

That's great! Um, papillon. I know the word in French. I'm forgetting the word in Spanish.

Mariposa. Papillon, French. Mariposa, Spanish.

Jaime in "Rogelio" mode

Thank you. And Jane the Virgin is going into a second season, so can you tease anything?

Oh, no! I can tell you without hesitation that we, the actors, are not kept in the circle of trust of Jennie Urman and her writers! We don't know what the hell is gonna happen! We're like, 'Come on, Jennie. Tell us a little bit. We're the actors of the show.' 'No, I'm sorry. I can't share.' Which is great, as an actor, because you are always surprised -- you don't know how to prepare for the next season, or the next episode. Just to give you an idea, we found out who Sin Rostro was at the table reading! Like that.

There's a video out there, of Jennie Urman, talking about a little bit of what to expect from the second season -- and that's the only thing we know, as cast members. So I would love to share with you, more information, but honest to God, we don't have it!

That's actually very fun -- that you get to be surprised when you go to work. Let me close with a music question: Do you have more albums or singles in the works? More music?

I have accepted myself as an actor that sings. If my character needs to sing, I do it, they don't have to dub me. No plans. It's a thing that I have, and it helps my career, and whenever a character needs to sing, then I can pull it off.

I don't like to use the word 'craft' -- because it sounds so pretentious -- but you have to keep your craft active. And study. And lessons here, lessons there, just keep doing it!

Photos courtesy of CBS

Official Site: Jaime Camil

Official Site: Banff World Media Festival

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You can't turn on the news right now without hearing about Caitlyn Jenner. She's made an enormous splash with her coming out and transition. And, it seems the reception has been surprisingly positive. She's been lauded as inspiring and courageous and, of course, beautiful.

So, this is good news, right?

As young transgender people look on, more transgender individuals are being highlighted in positive ways on the news, on TV and on the covers of magazines. The conversation has also begun shifting toward the issues that transgender people face such as discrimination, trouble with employment and violence. And, Caitlyn Jenner has been inspiring and courageous. Her story says that maybe trans people can expect greater acceptance and visibility. And this is big news.
But, if this is so good, why does it make so many young transgender people feel so bad?

Many transgender youth look at Caitlyn and feel despair: How could they ever have the money, genetics or support to look that beautiful or handsome? After all, she has access to the best surgery, makeup artists and clothing that money can buy! Very few people have the resources to look like Caitlyn.

With money and genetics on her side, she can easily "pass" or look so completely feminine that no one questions her gender. This is not often the experience for transgendered youth. Those who go through life being misgendered, harassed or bullied for their gender expression may start to think that the only way to get any acceptance at all would be to look as gender normative (looking like the typical man or woman) as Caitlyn does.

And, what has left many young people feeling quite angry is that they might not even want to look that gender normative. "Great," they might think, "the whole world assumes the only way to be transgender is to go from being all one gender to the other." It leaves no room for those with a more genderqueer identity, or who wish to be more of a tomboy girl or feminine guy, or something else altogether.

Everyone seems to accept Caitlyn because she looks beautiful, very feminine and tells a transgender "story" that people start in one gender and then just "switch" to the other. Except, these standards apply to so few people.

So, what is there for transgendered youth to do as this media circus continues to invade their phones, feeds and TVs?

Remind yourself you're not alone.

There are plenty of transgender, genderqueer and genderfluid folks out there who are feeling this way too. The internet is full of them. Even as we cheer on the increasing visibility of trans people, lots of folks are having mixed feelings, and that's really ok.

Let go of wanting to be "perfect."

The media is flooded with images of "ideal" representations of masculinity and femininity, and people everywhere (cisgender and transgender) are comparing themselves to what they see on TV and in magazines -- but the truth is that these ideals are not realistic. We would all be happier if we could accept that all bodies, faces and genetics are unique; we should strive to be our authentic selves and our own perfect role models.

Be with the people who see who you really are.

Because giving up hope of being that "perfect" man or woman may leave you wondering "what now?" Being around the people who care for you, who see you as beautiful and handsome, right now, just as you are, is a great remedy for all the people who don't. In the face of harassment, or being misgendered, spending time with friends and loved ones who really see you just as you are is a way to boost your spirits and remind yourself that you really are great, just how you are today.

Remember that Caitlyn Jenner is only the first step.

Even if Caitlyn is setting an impossible standard for acceptance, she is only one early step toward acceptance for people of all gender expressions. We've come a long way over the last 10 and even five years. In your lifetime we will come even farther. You're an important part of that work.

Fall in love with yourself.

Many people struggle with body shame or hatred. This can be much worse for transgender youth who often feel at odds with their body and their true identity. Thus, the suggestion to fall in love with yourself may seem wrong or odd. But, the fact is that your body, just how it is today is what you have. You may find that even if or when you get the body you hope to have in the future, it still will not solve all your problems. Get creative about how you can treat yourself like a friend right now: Maybe that means getting a manicure or buying a tie. Dying your hair a new color -- regardless of your gender -- can be a really fun way to treat yourself. Be in your body with a walk, yoga or a sport. Get outside and feel the air on your face. Anything you can do befriend your body is great.

Remind yourself of what's unique about you and your gender.

The fact is that everyone has their own, unique and wonderful way to express their gender. We might feel angry or spiteful that Caitlyn's expression is unattainably "movie star." But, that's her expression right now. We all have pressure on us to look a certain way and it takes a lot of courage to express yourself genuinely. Truly for all we know, Caitlyn is really more of a tomboy sometimes but feels the same pressure you do: to conform to expectations of gender and attractiveness. So, take some time to think: What would you look like, and who would you be, today, if there were no pressures, no restrictions, no expectations? And make sure you know that this person you just imagined is good, very good. And be proud.

Tune out.

Shut down the social media. Turn off the TV. Focus on something that makes you feel happy.

Reach out.

As always, if you are feeling so sad, anxious or angry that you aren't sure how to cope, or you are having thoughts of harming yourself, speak to a counselor, therapist or trusted adult. The Trevor Project staffs a hotline to help young LGBTQ people who are feeling suicidal or overwhelmed: 866-488-7386.

In the end, it is good news that, after so long, we finally see some positive images of transgender people. We're in a new era of acceptance and public awareness of the fact that transgender people even exist. And, however you feel in response -- whether good, bad, indifferent or a mix -- is not only your business, but totally normal. As the media dust settles, realize that your journey -- your unique, incredible journey -- is yours alone. Being real and genuine about yourself in the world takes a lot of courage. It took courage for Caitlyn, and it takes no less courage for you. Maybe more. And for that, well, there just aren't enough magazine covers available to celebrate exactly how amazing that is.

Jayme Peta, MA, MS is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University and has worked with LGBTQ youth since 1997, when she first joined LYRIC's (San Francisco's Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center) LGBTQ youth talkline. She also spent time doing health education with LGBTQ youth, leading support groups, and helped with the creation of San Francisco's Trans Health Clinic at the Dimensions Clinic. She is a co-author of The Gender Quest Workbook (New Harbinger Publications, February 2016).

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Hooray for Hollywood now refers more to the past than the present. The movie capital has in inferiority complex when it compares itself to prior glories. Detroit (if that's still the generic term for the auto industry) would have you believe cars are better than ever. All other product industries are "new and improved." But in movie town, when they say "the Golden Age of Hollywood," they're not talking about the present.

There's no one in the world of motion pictures who doesn't regularly allude to and defer to the Golden Age of Hollywood in describing that prior time of undying films, adulated and enduring stardoms and higher aspirations. They remind themselves that there once was a a sky full of stars, truly grand and glamorous personalities who glittered on the screens, in the public's thrall and on the everyday streets of tinsel town 365 days a year, not just on Oscar and Golden Globe nights. The phrase the Golden Age of Hollywood is part of the vernacular, a commonplace of film commentary. The public knows the expression well understands that it means then and not now. Those addicted to Turner Classic Movies know it in their bones. By general consensus, such a time and place once existed and will never exist again.

The magic of the place was as tangible as the magic of its films. You were issued a passport to Camelot, not just we happy few who toiled in its gilded trenches, but the guy who dished out the corned beef at Nate And Al's and, the soda-jerk at Schwab's drugstore where Lana Turner sipped her Coca Cola the afternoon she was discovered there. The glamour and excitement of Hollywood tantalized the world and permeated the huge chunk of Southern California which shared that fabled name. The fellow who kept the Who's Who in Hollywood didn't write for Variety or The Reporter. It was Ken Hollywood, the gate guard at MGM who knew everyone by name. You felt truly inducted when Ken welcomed you with his joyful Mr. whoever you were, even if you were just a bottom-runger on the totem pole of the majestic Rogers & Cowan Publicity agency as was I.

The Golden Age doesn't need my testimony, but the golden aura of it does, because it was so much fun you can't even imagine it. So I sat down for five years and distilled 650 pages into a book called Starflacker: Inside the Golden Age of Hollywood to explain why it existed and why it will never exist again. Here it is in a nutshell, but I also invite you to have the fun of getting it straight from Cary Grant and Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn and Paul Newman, Greer Garson and Warren Beatty, Barbra Streisand and Clint Eastwood and the hundreds of other legends with whom I spent my life. They're pretty good company, especially when seen in the very human way a press agent sees these people.

A starflacker is what I am, a press agent to the stars. The book is not about the sad, slow decline of that era but rather about the high-octane characters who peopled it. That artistic high water receded not because the creative artists of Hollywood wouldn't have liked to keep churning out a full schedule of classics. Rather, the bottom line would no longer let them.

Yes, there is a cluster of fine filmmakers who still create daring, original films, swimming against the mainstream of big-bang special effects productions. There are enough such free spirits to keep the jockeying for Oscar nominations each year competitive. But the movie factory has splintered out across the world in runaway production and it's placing its money on big blockbuster action films, with less emphasis on the occasional films of excellence that each year squeeze in between the tent poles.

Gone is the village that so excitingly throbbed with stars and with a production mind-set that demanded the best of its art and of its artists, that guaranteed them careers and opportunities, a chance to soar, a chance to fail and still get on another horse tomorrow. When I came to the business in the mid-fifties, we were celebrating the end of the contract star system. Under that indentureship, fine actors and directors and writers were brutally deprived of freedom, true. But of film excellence they and we had a generous helping.

The studio moguls who built and dictatorially dominated the industry and constructed its stardoms during that flowering were justly despised. So, too, was their oppressive "contract system" of stardom-building and willfully casting assignments in a manner which made even those who emerged as legendary stars feel very much like contract laborers yearning to be free. However, It is also true that those omnipotent studio czars who controlled the lives of their serfs, had an immense taste for deeply human films that touched their audiences in a real and inspiring way. In evidence are the hundreds of films like "The Grapes Of Wrath," "The Best Years of Our Lives," "Sullivan's Travels." "How Green Was My Valley," "Mrs. Miniver." Great waves of them each year. The output in 1939 alone justifies the imperious and heavy hand of the bosses. Ten classic films got nominated. And another ten classics didn't make the Oscar cut..

When my PR firm handled the Academy Award campaign for "Save The Tiger," Jack Lemmon, who won Best Actor for it, told us that Billy Wilder had assured him he would keep giving Jack films until one made him a star. And many of Billy's films did. That's what the studios had done. Actors and their management didn't consider that trade-off when they snapped their chains. The successful star-building had been as crucial to studio profits as the film-making. There are still fine films and remarkable filmmakers, but it's a little like our dying oceans. The fish used to jump into your boat, and now you have to go out and try to find them with radar. And so the Hollywood which once lovingly created and sustained a thick forest of glamorous and noble stardoms lost the knack. As result, you can't see the forest for the tent-poles.

There are 25 Google pages of Golden Age of Hollywood contemplations. That sacred time threw off stars that have lasted and will last forever. How? They accomplished that most fantastic thing of all... they lived up to their publicity.

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Photo Credits: Stephen Sorokoff

It was a evening of stars at the 69th Annual TONY Awards last night, with some surprise wins -- rather, vindication for dedicated fans who were excited to see favorites win across categories including Best Musical (Fun Home), Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (Kelli O'Hara, The King & I), Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Helen Mirren, The Audience), and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Christian Borle, Something Rotten).

Skip below the story for photos from the exclusive winners room

The little musical that could, which began at the Public Theater in SoHo and has now swept the TONY Awards just a year later, Fun Home also took home the award for Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Michael Cerveris), Best Direction of a Musical (Sam Gold), Best Book of a Musical (Lisa Kron), and Best Original Score (Lisa Kron, Jeanine Tesori).

Among the upsets, however, was Chita Rivera's loss to Kelli O'Hara (both of whom were considered front runners) in Kander and Ebb's final musical, The Visit. There was also a near total snub of Something Rotten with the exception of the award going to Christian Borle -- a show that was considered a possible frontrunner for Best Musical, and more likely, Brad Oscar as the ill-informed soothsayer, Nostradamus.

In addition to Fun Home, the night brought a series of coveted awards for another favorite, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, taking home a total of five including Best Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Alex Sharp), Best Direction of a Play (Marianne Elliott), Best Scenic Design of a Play and Best Lighting Design of a Play.

Among the award show's firsts, the night brought recognition of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron as the first female duo to win Best Score of a Musical (Fun Home) and Ruthie Ann Miles as the first Asian American to win for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (The King & I). It also brought an end to Kelli O'Hara's six TONY Award nominee-only streak, finally bringing home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical as Anna Leonowens in the lush revival of The King & I. The show itself swept an additional three awards including the TONY Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Kelli O'Hara (The King & I)

Alex Sharp (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)

Annaleigh Ashford (You Can't Take It With You)

Christian Borle (Something Rotten)

Ruthie Ann Miles (The King & I)

Richard McCabe (The Audience)

John Cameron Mitchell (Special TONY Award, Hedwig and the Angry Inch)

Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron (Fun Home writers, book and score)

Sam Gold (Director, Fun Home)

Marianne Elliott (Director, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)

Corey Mitchell (Recipient, Excellence In Theater Education Award)

Creative Team, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Bunnie Christie and Finn Ross (Best Scenic Design, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time)

Christopher Austin and Bill Elliott (Orchestrations, An American In Paris)

Catherine Zuber (Costume Designer, The King & I)

Christopher Oram (Costume Designer, Wolf Hall)

Natasha Katz (Lighting Designer, An American in Paris)

Producers of Fun Home

Producers of The King & I

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It's often an interesting story how you discover something that ends up being special to you, from how you met your significant other (you always want a good story to tell the grandkids) to how you discovered your favorite drink (I like sharing how I developed a passion for the Negroni) to how you discovered an artist that moves and inspires you.

I vividly remember the first time I heard musician Sufjan Stevens. I was drinking in a Chicago bar and a Chicago themed play list was in full swing. All the songs were either from Chicago artists or were songs about the Windy City. After Sinatra's "Chicago" a song I had never heard of came on. It seemed quirky then lush and finally glorious as a myriad of sounds meshed to create an absolutely gorgeous melody. I quickly grabbed my iPhone to Shazam what I was listening to. It was Sufjan Steven's "Chicago" from his record Illinois. I was mesmerized. I immediately download the record and was hooked. Don't even get me started on the awesomeness of his ode to "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."

So when I heard earlier this year that he had a new release, Carrie & Lowell, coming out, I was eager to hear it. I got the record and got lost in a wave of introspective and moody songs. Then I became anxious to see his live show. After viewing clips on youtube, I loved his performances. They seemed grand and quite the production; a mix of Flaming Lips meets Polyphonic Spree glee and madness. But Carrie & Lowell is more somber in nature as the record is about death and loss and forgiveness.

The Guardian wrote of Carrie & Lowell, it "is a fall-down gorgeous and emotionally devastating masterpiece prompted by the death of his mother, Carrie, in 2012. It features some of the most beautiful music ever made about loss, and some of the most direct explorations of death ever recorded. It is a brutal, extremely sad, relentlessly wrenching record that, because it's so exquisitely crafted, you might keep on a loop for days."

The live show stayed true to the feel of the record. A tight quartet on stage, Stevens, 39, and his band, mostly dressed in black so as not to distract, played in the shadows and sometimes in front of family home movies or awesome landscapes played through what appeared to be church stained glass windows delighting his mostly hipster crowd, some of which even bought his Sufjan tote bag (that's new in the merch world).

Props to Sufjan Stevens for not just playing the hits on his current tour as he performed Carrie & Lowell in its entirety. While the record reflects on the relationship with his mother Carrie who suffered from schizophrenia and alcoholism and abandoned her family when Stevens was a one-year-old, it also shines a light on his stepfather Lowell Brams, an inspiring man who ended up being a beacon in Stevens' life. It was through Lowell that Carrie rekindled a relationship with her children. There was no music in the home Stevens shared with his father and stepmother, but Lowell was an amateur musician and introduced Stevens to the likes of Leonard Cohen, Frank Zappa, Nick Drake, The Wipers, and Mike Oldfield. Lowell now runs Stevens' record label, Asthmatic Kitty, from his home in Wyoming.

After playing for nearly an hour of mostly new material during two sold out shows at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, Stevens finally addressed his audience. Soon, the was broken if not shattered as he began shared stories (different each night) about his family, growing up and life in general. You'd swear he has some kind of theater background because he's so comfortable and his timing is so spot-on.

The performance during the second night was at times a little sloppy but genuine nonetheless and sometimes, in those moments, even better than the stellar precision of the first night. A multi instrumentalist, Stevens' band members also seamlessly switched instruments showcasing their dexterity. With harmonies that reminded me of Brian Wilson, comparisons have been made to Elliott Smith and Paul Simon, and Stevens' knack for taking somber songs and suddenly giving them dance beats or an electronica feel reminded me of Moby's ability to fight off being mired in any one style.

While the show wasn't the carnival I had seen online from previous tours (that just wouldn't have meshed with Carrie & Lowell), I did appreciate the sincerity and raw emotion of this tour. By the time Stevens and company finished the show with "Chicago", which they played slower and with more feel instead of the over the top gloriousness that I originally fell in love with, it was still beautiful and marked a maturation that was inspirational. While a wake can be a sad occasion it is also an opportunity to celebrate life and raise some much needed hell as a cathartic breakthrough.

Wednesday, June 3 set list:
Redford
Death With Dignity
Should Have Known Better
Drawn to the Blood
All of Me
Eugene
John My Beloved
The Only Thing
Fourth of July
No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
Carrie & Lowell
Owl & Tanager
In the Devil's Territory
The Dress Looks Nice on You
To Be Alone
Futile Devices
Casimir Pulaski
Blue Bucket of Gold

Encore:
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!
Chicago

Thursday, June 4 set list:
Redford
Death With Dignity
Should Have Known Better
Drawn to the Blood
All of Me
Eugene
John My Beloved
The Only Thing
Fourth of July
No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
Carrie & Lowell
Owl & Tanager
Paradise
Heirloom
To Be Alone
Futile Devices
Sister
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!
Blue Bucket of Gold

Encore:
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
Chicago

Live photos courtesy of Justin Schaible

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In the most shocking departure from the books yet, Shireen gets sacrificed in a vile move that now proves Stannis Baratheon is totally unworthy to sit on the Iron Throne. In a season of startling departures from George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books, Princess Shireen's depraved murder at the hands of her father, Stannis Baratheon, was the most disturbing. Really, disturbing doesn't even begin to describe the horror of watching a power-hungry father and his weak wife, Selyse, send their bright, gentle little girl to be burned alive at the stake. And all in the name of some hocus pocus so he can get power.

Shireen was "sacrificed" to the bloodthirsty, mythical Lord of Light, who supposedly will only help Iron Throne contender Stannis if he makes a sacrifice from his own blood. Talk about selling your soul to the devil -- that's who the "Lord of Light" must be, if his price of a throne requires the torture and death of a precious only child. Game of Thrones viewers went wild following the horrific scene with commenters lashing out at Stannis and Selyse for being the "worst parents EVER"! Yeahh!

This pair, in the real world, would face the electric chair for having their screaming daughter tied to the stake and then burned alive. Shireen's cries were pitiful --"Father, don't do this! Mother, don't do this!" -- before they turned into heartrending screams as the flames reached her small, innocent body. Poor Shireen. She didn't even have a humane Jon Snow to shoot an arrow through her heart to stop her suffering.

Stannis and Melisandre mercilessly let the poor thing die in agony. And Selyse's change of heart from being a power-hungry Lady MacBeth was too little, too late to save her sweet daughter. Even manipulative Cersei Lannister is mother of the year next to Selyse. Cersei is a lioness about protecting her kids no matter how monstrous, like son Joffrey. GoT fans' fury at the hideous plot twist was swift and sharp:

@JamesHibberd @EW @GameOfThrones I wanted to stop watching after that scene. Very disturbing, even for Game of Thrones.

-- Nick Price (@NickPrice05) June 8, 2015

tomorrow on the internet: Why Game of Thrones' Depiction of Burning Innocent Children Alive is Problematic

-- david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) June 8, 2015

Worst parents ever. #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/3ErQvAS7Cn

-- Jon Snow (@LordSnow) June 8, 2015

Yup #GameofThrones officially became the most fcked up show ever tonight.But, that ending though

-- Vinny Guadagnino (@VINNYGUADAGNINO) June 8, 2015

Updating my people who need to die on Game of Thrones: 1) Ramsey Snow 2) Walder Frey 3) Melisandre

-- Joe (@BuffaloWins) June 8, 2015

What is now proved beyond a shadow of a doubt is that Stannis Baratheon is another epicly undeserving contender for King of Westeros. His daughter murder drops him even lower on the deserving ranks than sadistic slimeballs Ramsay and Roose Bolton. If a man is willing to burn his own innocent daughter to ashes to sit on the Iron Throne, then what depths of disgusting will he NOT go to? He's already murdered his own brother, Renly, with an otherwordly shadow and cheated on his wife with evil Melisandre.

His chief advisor, Davos, almost had us convinced that despite Stannis' transgressions against Renly, he was actually a decent man who would be a fair ruler of Westeros. Well, that idea just got blown away forever. Stannis has revealed himself as the biggest evildoer of all. Even Roose Bolton puts a premium on his crazy bastard son, Ramsey, and legitimizes him. Really, every other clan in the Seven Kingdoms is all about furthering the FAMILY, and ensuring its grip on power for generations.

Stannis just ended that, when he sent his only child to the grave. That means that ruling Westeros is ONLY about his own twisted ego, not some manifest destiny that he babbled about. And talk about a stone-cold heart. Stannis ordered his daughter to a painful death right after she trustingly proved her own true love to her father, by saying she'd do anything to help him. Of course, she didn't mean "anything"!

Now, Stannis has probably sealed his own doom by this cowardly act. For as Tyrion wisely said to Daenerys, in the same episode last night: "A ruler who kills those that are devoted to her, is not a ruler that inspires devotion. And you're going to need to inspire devotion, and lots of it, if you're ever going to rule." Stannis just demonstrated to his army and all of the Seven Kingdoms what he does to those most devoted to him. He will never inspire devotion and therefore he can never successfully rule. Stannis -- you're a loser, not a leader.

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Bachelor Chris Soules and fiancee Whitney Bischoff announced they have mutually and amicably decided to call off their engagement. Chris shared that the split has been "really tough," but they continue to be supportive friends. Despite the fact that the way in which couples meet on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette is so exciting, it seems many relationships don't work out in the long term. Even so, the show carries intrigue for the viewers in the same way it does for the participants. It gives everyone the chance to think about the possibilities of meeting someone new and starting over, finding Mr. or Mrs. Right, and having the sense that anything can happen, the world is your oyster. It can seem like a dream come true.

Being a contestant on one of these shows is available to only a few people, but many of us have had the experience of meeting someone new in a more exciting than real life situation such as on vacation or at a big event like a wedding. When that happens there can be an immediate connection, and the sense that you have known that person all your life. Those feelings can be fueled by chemistry and the attraction you have for one another, as well as the fanfare of the situation in which you met. In the same way that people meet on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, it can be a key in the ignition that turns the relationship on, but then how do you keep it in motion? And why do so many of these relationships, whether they begin on the television show or in an out of the ordinary setting, end sooner rather than later?

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that these couples aren't having the opportunity to experience the other person under typical circumstances. On the show, for example, there is an intended outcome, goal, and timeline for a decision to be made which can disrupt the regular flow of getting to know each other. In the case of those couples who meet in other places, on a whirlwind vacation or swept up in the romance of the wedding they are attending, the same can be true because things might move faster than they would otherwise. It's all about the excitement and celebration - capturing relationships at the very beginning, where almost everyone starts out excited about falling in love. For many people, however, making a relationship succeed requires work that has to kick in once you're past the first stage of making the connection. This entails being able to communicate effectively with each other, dealing with compromising, sharing goals, and finding a balance between personal lives and their life as a couple. Those are the elements that make a relationship durable and enduring.

The inability to navigate their way through these important steps, paired with the idea that they are no longer in a glamorous world or on a television set, can very often diminish desire. The more frustrated, disappointed and angry you get, the faster you can lose your footing and grasp on what is keeping you together, and the more likely you are to get turned off to your partner.

Of course, it helps to know what you are looking for before you embark on the search for a new mate, whether through participating in a show like this or not. In other words, consider the values, temperament and energy level you are hoping to find in a new partner. Do you hope to be with someone who is a go-getter, or on more of an even keel? Are you searching for someone who is ambitious and looking to make a lot of money, or someone who is more creative and not so focused on the finances? The most important thing in all of this is figuring out how you feel when you are with the other person, and how he or she makes you feel about yourself. If all of that falls into place, it might be worth making the effort to stay together even after the band goes home or the camera people are no longer a part of your time together.

For Chris and Whitney, getting back to the ordinary elements of living and away from the show may have shed a light on a reality they no longer wanted to be a part of. At least they are making the best of it and continuing their friendship.

Please tune in to the Doctor on Call radio hour on HealthyLife.net every Tuesday at 2 PM EST, 11 AM PST. First and third Tuesdays are Shrink Wrap on Call, second Tuesdays are HuffPost on Call, and the last Tuesday of the month is Let's Talk Sex! Email your questions dealing with relationships, intimacy, family, and friendships to Dr. Greer at askdrjane@drjanegreer.com.

Connect with Dr. Jane Greer on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/DrJaneGreer, and be sure to follow @DrJaneGreer on Twitter for her latest insights on love, relationships, sex, and intimacy.

For more on Dr. Greer, visit http://www.drjanegreer.com.

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Lightning in a Bottle entrance

Golden plains and rocky terrains, a land where dust and sunshine reigns. A long and peaceful meandering road, reveals a dry lake where water once flowed. Upon the Earth my joyous feet tread, with love in my heart and dreams in my head. Then through the looking glass I wander, seeing many sights that make me ponder. Falling arms-first into a warm embrace, I find my tribe bathing in bass. Together we roam in a place we call home, ahead is a swirling geodesic dome. Thunder, Lightning, Grand Artique and Woogie, as the music plays we begin to boogie. Life is love and I love this life, free of judgement, hate and strife. Hand in hand we plunge full throttle into the magical realm of Lightning in a Bottle.

As one of the pioneers of the transformational festival scene, Lightning in a Bottle has transcended from its small beginnings at Live Oak Camp in Santa Barbara and Irvine Lake in Orange County, to a sold-out show at San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley. The transformation seems to be working as more and more humans begin to discover the beautiful world which the Do Lab has created. Cascading colors, encompassing stages, climb-able art installments and the prismatic array of performers, creators, and music-lovers paint the three dimensional masterpiece that is Lightning in a Bottle.

LIB has become a collection of worlds within a world, a series of complex organisms all working together symbiotically to form one magical living creature. In addition to four stages (Thunder, which was once the Bamboo, Lightning, Grand Artique and Woogie) the Pagoda Bar and Favela Bar also offered music from the likes of Headtron, Street Ritual, Desert Hearts and more. With many stages, sounds, and vibes, I felt like a tiny cell, floating from organ to organ. I enjoyed the breath of the Lightning Stage, the solar plexus of the Thunder Stage, the pulse of the Woogie and the spirit of the Grand Artique.

The Lightning Stage

And then, there's the campgrounds.

Another microcosm nestled beside the creature of LIB is the pulsing life force of the campgrounds. Headtron, WAPA, The Good Vibe Tribe, and many more, rattled campers morning, noon and night. Tang, Bijoux, and Wet Hand Dan dropped the trop at the Good Vibe Tribe camp while Peewhee and Kompozart were amongst WAPA's stellar array of diverse performers. With the comfort of a campground and the sound system of a stage, these renegade parties were like a vortex, making it easy to get sucked in and difficult to venture out.

TANG at the GVT Camp / Photo by Orange Ortiz

With so much going on inside and outside of the festival, the only tactic to avoid the disappointment of unmet expectations is to live like a tumbleweed. Let the wind of the festival roll you, tasting the flavors of where you are taken, feeling the vibration of the earth passing beneath your feet, and meeting other tumbleweeds along the way. Living in the moment is essential to maximizing enjoyment as chasing set times and friends can cause you to lose sight of the festival itself. Oftentimes it is those nonchalant moments of wandering when you discover your new favorite band or artist, make new lifelong friends, and become a believer of festival magic.

Some of the most memorable musical acts that I tumbleweeded through were Govinda, Stylust Beats, The Opiuo Band, and Koan Sound at the Thunder Stage; Rising Appalachia, Polica, Goldroom, Random Rab and Tycho at the Lightning Stage; and Tara Brooks and John Digweed at the Woogie. Not to mention all the other glittering sonic bliss that tickled my tympanic membranes at times when I found myself without the wit to look up who was playing.

The Opiuo Band, described on their Facebook page as a "broken-frog-stomping-funkadelic-hippo-hop-monkey-crunk-chunky-bouncy-stomach-morphing-bassdolloping-scrumptious-bowl-of-glitch," commanded the Thunder Stage with melodic live instruments, sticky bass, a moment of moshing, and hypnotic vocals by a compelling front-woman. They defibrillated the audience with a hefty dose of aural electricity.

The Opiuo Band at the Thunder Stage

Tycho's silhouetted set in front of scenes from Alejandro Jodorowsky's acid western Holy Mountain, was a melancholy albeit psychedelic way to close out the festival. Undulating bodies swayed to their sounds, the smell of gratitude wafted through the air in the form of cannabis and Palo Santo. Even a recent and unfortunate equipment theft (not at LIB) didn't hinder them from playing a captivating set as the audience drank every last drop of Tycho's smooth, liquid sound.

Kaleidoscopic eyeballs, shapes, colors and swirls by Android Jones were projected onto a geodesic dome that encased a plethora of festival art. Stepping inside the rabbit hole brought you into a gallery of hallucinogenic visions that were masterfully translated onto a 2-dimensional medium. However, depending on what chemical was being released by your endocrine system at the time, these pieces may not have looked 2-dimensional but 3 or even 4-dimensional.

Kaleidoscopic Dome / Photo by Yee Yang

What makes Lightning in a Bottle a transformational festival is not just its freedom of creative expression, but its endeavor to make change instead of just exist. With multiple types of educational panels ranging from permaculture and eastern remedies to "Sex, Love & Porn," there was a vast array of brilliant minds sharing the fruits of their knowledge. Education and awareness are what separate the transformational culture from the mainstream music festival. Lightning in a Bottle is a party with a purpose.

A festival of this magnitude however is not without flaws. Though there was a vast improvement in structural design such as distance between stages as well as the building of bridges versus stairs, the one element I noticed that seems to dwindle with each year is respect. While the majority of patrons at Lightning in a Bottle are smiling, selfless, brilliant humans, there are those who seem to find themselves attending for the wrong reasons.

The amount of trash has significantly increased. Advertised as a leave-no-trace-festival, there were certainly many traces left behind that the annual "clean-up song" did not affect. The Temple of Consciousness sign was defaced, as were the bridges, and possibly more that I did not see. These issues are not in any way caused by the Do Lab or the festival itself but by the people in attendance. We consciously have the power and the choice to improve the world or destroy it. The Do Lab has created a beacon of light for the bright minds who have chosen to share beauty, make change, and be healthy. Respect your body, respect others, and respect your surroundings so that we may keep Lightning in a Bottle our sanctuary. It takes teamwork to make the dream work!

With yet another phantasmagorical year, one can only daydream of 2016. A paradigm of transformational festivals, Lightning in a Bottle weaves us a visionary tapestry that we are blessed to decorate with our dreams. Let our colorful tapestry grow and drape upon even the darkest corners of the world. Like stars in the Milky Way, the more of us there are, the further our lights shine.

For more photos from Lightning in a Bottle 2015, visit Miles Najera Design & Photography

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By Amber James, content producer at LittleThings.com

We scream, you scream, and apparently we all, piglets included, scream for ice cream!

During a hot summer day, Max DiNatale decided to treat his mini pig named Pickle to a sweet dessert. When he came back with a vanilla ice cream cone, Pickle was snoozing in his little bed.

But this little four-month-old piggy sure didn't mind being waken up when he saw what was waiting for him. It looks to me as though he was happy with the outcome!

This was Pickle's first time trying ice cream, and his reaction is priceless. (For any who are concerned, it is completely safe to give pigs ice cream and it will not disrupt their diet or digestive system.) He is just as big a fan of ice cream as his human pals.

Think this is cute? Take a look at these baby opossums eating fruit or a tiny hamster eating pumpkin pie.

Pickle was completely delighted to enjoy an ice cream cone with his human and completely had no reservations about pigging out on the frozen goodness. This cute piglet looked absolutely delighted with the summer treat. I am surprised that Pickle has not broken the internet yet with his cuteness!

If you think this pig will make your friends and family smile, please SHARE this video.

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Photo Credit: Boosie Badazz

Boosie Badazz is an interesting figure in hip-hop. A rapper originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he has amassed a following in some areas where he can sell out entire arenas alone. Many of his fans have gone as far as to call him the Tupac of the South. Having officially started rapping at the age of 16, he has already has an illustrious career despite having served five years in prison from 2009-2014. Last week he released his album Touchdown To Cause Hell, the first since being released. I had a chance to sit down with him to chat about what he has been up to, his thoughts on the album, and what we can expect from him in the future.

The inspiration for the album came from Boosie wanting to show everyone he is one of the biggest names in the rap game. He feels he has been considered a legend in so many categories, but that it was time to release a classic album so that he could also be considered a legend with his albums too. Metaphorically, he described this project as him spreading his wings.

The content itself for the album came from what Boosie has been going through over the last few years. During his time in jail he had written over 1,100 songs, and they were just about things he had been feeling. He said he likes to always find the lyrics in his music based on the things he is going through in life at that time. While he is satisfied with the album, he doesn't feel it's his best work. On the subject he said,

"I always think my next work will be better. I'm a perfectionist in that way. I am satisfied with it, but that's all. People around me are saying it's a classic album, but I always think I can do better. And the next album will be better."

Having hundreds of songs written out to choose from for a single album would be difficult for most people to ever work through. But it only took Boosie four days to decide which songs he wanted. He did add the song "Hands Up" as a new track to talk about the police brutality we are seeing in the media. But overall, he said he knew what he wanted the album to stand for. He had an idea of how he wanted the album to touch people so when he was putting it together he had that in mind. He just knew he really wanted the album to be filled with his reality, and to let the world know that he is back and better than ever.

Photo Credit: Boosie Badazz

The album itself is full of amazing features from some of the top artists today. Some of the names are J. Cole, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, Young Thug, Rich Homie Quan, T.I, and more. While most of the time features are very expensive, Boosie says all of these came in very organic ways. On each record he had an idea of artists he wanted on the track so he reached out to them. Instead of paying going rates on features he ended up doing trades. Because he had full creative control unlike many artists today, he was able to make the album come out in a way that most artists never can.

I asked him what the reception to the album has been so far, and he said;

"The reception has been amazing. It's been a lot of good feedback. My phone is full of texts right now where people are going crazy, and saying it's a classic album. The best thing they're saying to me is they don't feel like they have to fast forward anything. They even love the Intro on it so much that they're listening through it. It's a great feeling."

There are many people who refer to Boosie as the Tupac of the South. When asked why he thought that was he told me that it was probably because they both made similar music that touched people's hearts. He said that may rappers have the ability to make you want to dance, but few can make you cry. And many of his fans have told him that Boosie's music puts tears in their eyes because they can relate to it in such a strong way. While being compared to someone like Tupac would be a huge burden, Boosie just sees it as motivation. Whenever he hears it he knows he is being compared to the greatest so it make him realize he just has to try harder on his music than anyone else will.

Aside from his music, Boosie is very involved with the community. For the past seven years he has given away 20,000 bicycles each Easter, over 5,000 turkeys during Thanksgiving, bought Christmas baskets for homeless children, and done back to school supply drives. He knows it's something that gets overshadowed because he has had legal troubles in the past, but because he just does it to feel good about himself he said he wasn't upset that his charitable acts never got press coverage. He said he just likes to see people happy, and children smiling so that's all he needs in return.

Boosie Badazz has had a career to marvel at. He has accomplished great things, been through a variety of tough things, overcame them, and is back on the road to greatness. For someone so young he has the ability to achieve whatever he decides to. We had a few years of quietness from him while he sorted through legal troubles, but the name is one you will definitely be hearing about more as time goes on. This album showed resilience and excellence, and it is only the beginning so stay in tuned because he has touched down to cause hell.

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You could be vaccinating felines for a year at an animal shelter and still not hear the word "pussy" as much as you do in the first half hour of Entourage. This expansion of the HBO TV series appears to have been conceived by a gaggle of misogynistic, beer-chugging adolescent virgins who brag about getting laid, but the closest they've ever gotten is a Playboy centerfold bespattered with cream of mushroom soup that they rescued from the city dump.

To be fair, I have never viewed any episode of this series that I thought was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek inside gander at Hollywood. Instead, what we have here is a glorified daydream of the male need to copulate with any orifice within five inches of his zipper. Make that four inches.

Directed and written with unflinching ineptitude and fetid taste by the series' executive producer Doug Ellin, the film is basically plotless. Vince (Adrian Grenier), a pretty boy superstar discovered in a Mentos commercial by super-agent-turned-studio-head Ari Gold (a one-note Jeremy Piven), is now given the chance to act in and direct a $100 million motion picture even though he's had no previous experience behind the camera -- and before the camera he's no Ian McKellen.

2015-06-07-1433698540-6158853-EntourageinVanityFairvf.jpg

The cast of Entourage gets the Vanity Fair treatment. Photograph by Art Streiber.

Of course, the lad goes over-budget, which jeopardizes both his and Ari's careers. Meanwhile, his hangers-on -- the boys from the borough of Queens -- do little more than palpitate over mammary glands and well-rounded arses that apparently have overrun Los Angeles.

Kevin Dillon plays Vince's sibling, Johnny Drama, a character apparently based upon himself: a talentless, less attractive brother of a well-known actor (Matt Dillon) who desires to be a respected thespian. In the film, Johnny eventually receives that acclaim. In real life, based upon this performance, Dillon never will. Even his breathing seems overdone. Drama's supposed highlight moment here is when a video of himself slapping his salami goes viral. This is supposed to be extremely amusing. It isn't.

Worse is the dramatic arc for Eric (Kevin Connolly), a pizza maker turned Vince's manager. He has unprotected sex with two damsels in one day while his ex-girlfriend is just about to give birth, and she knowingly takes him back. How desperate does Ellin think West Coast women are to behave in such a manner? Sue the bastard for child support, girl, and find a man whose brains aren't shoved into his one-eyed trouser snake.

Four blank minds in search of an orgasm.

Film historian Jeanine Basinger notes in A Woman's View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women 1930-1960 that

no one has ever seriously questioned the idea that Hollywood has ever had only one real reason for making movies -- to generate profits. There has been no other organized agenda, hidden or otherwise. If certain individuals have had ideas or beliefs or political persuasions that were important to their artistic visions, they had to find a way to steer them past a large committee of executives, writers, designers, producers, actors and other people. That some could do this was a tribute to their strength of character, determination, talent and perseverance.

Clearly, these are all traits that Ellin, who also wrote and directed Phat Beach (1996), lacks.

As the Washington Post's Richard Harrington noted of that early effort to cash in on the African-American youth culture, "Phat Beach looks all too often like the kind of black film so wickedly parodied in Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle... It's weakly plotted, badly filmed, terribly acted. It's low-phat."

Doug Ellin, Hollywood's least cerebral director?

"It's weakly plotted, badly filmed, terribly acted. It's low-phat" is a critique that fits Entourage like a custom designed condom, which is sad because biting yet loving comedies about the film industry have so often worked before. Robert Altman's The Player, François Truffaut's Night for Day, and Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, for example. All these boasted wisdom and artistry. These film's directors had a vision where Ellin has a cash register.

Entourage, in the end, is an unfunny schlong-a-thon fashioned by a crude purveyor of infantile sexual impulses and a fear of formidable, astute women.

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Thursday, June 11 at the Los Angeles Film Festival, #BlackLifeBlackProtest will showcase seven short films exploring issues of police violence, implicit bias, black identity and human rights, followed by a public dialogue on how content creation can be used as a tool for social change.

In anticipation of the event, I spoke with four of the filmmakers in the program about the social significance of their films. Included in the conversation were dream hampton, director of We Demand Justice for Renisha McBride; Pete Chatmon and Dorian Missick of Black Card; and James Lopez, producer of AmeriCAN.

Though their films tackle different topics, all of the filmmakers say they felt compelled by current events. Lopez, a Sony executive, was inspired to make AmeriCAN during unrest over the police killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. He shared the idea with director Nate Parker, who wrote the script on a three-hour plane ride to protests in Ferguson, MO. The resulting short film follows a white police officer whose night on patrol takes a shocking turn.

"I felt like no one was listening to each other," says Lopez. "You had people on one side saying that police are bad, and on the other side they're saying African American males are criminals and deserve to be shot. So I wanted to make something that both sides would listen and relate to."

Before the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement on social media and in the public consciousness, Lopez and his team chose the hashtag #AllLivesMatter to use with their short film, looking to connect with people of all backgrounds.

"The main group of people that we wanted to see this piece, we felt like they would tune it out if they weren't being addressed. We wanted people of all races to be engaged and we didn't want to exclude any one group."

dream hampton was in Detroit filming her feature documentary Treasure: From Tragedy to Trans Justice when she heard about the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Renisha McBride. She staged a protest, and aided by DP Adam Saewitz and the camera from her feature film, captured footage that would become the short We Demand Justice for Renisha McBride.

"I would have called a protest even if it was just me and two of my friends in the Dearborn Heights Police Department parking lot," she says. "I was that outraged, and I needed to be around other humans who could still muster outrage about a 19-year-old girl, unarmed, and shot in the face."

Not only did the piece offer an emotional release, but it also helped fill the gap in mainstream media where coverage of McBride's shooting was lacking.

"I think that we can fight back against erasure with these films," hampton offers. "Everyone from CNN to Democracy Now to the thousands of shares on social media, they all used it as source material because they hadn't gone out and built up this story themselves. In fact, the police department hadn't even bothered to investigate her death. They went to [shooter] Ted Wafer's house and he told them his version of the story. He never had to come out of his pajamas. And then they went back to the station and were going to close the case. There wasn't an existing Fox News clip that you could go to, so we created the news clip. We created our own media."

While many of the films in #BlackLifeBlackProtest look at biases stemming from outside the black community, Black Card explores issues of identity within. The short satire represents blackness with a proverbial black ID card that can be issued, lost or revoked.

Says director Pete Chatmon, "There are a lot of outward injustices that come against us as a people, but I think there should be some type of conversation that faces inward and discusses what folks might be doing that isn't allowing them to be whatever they want to be. You have to have both conversations at the same time."

Tony Patrick wrote the script a decade ago, but Chatmon found it to be timely today in an age when the status of black Americans is constantly challenged, and yet those outside the culture still appropriate blackness for popular use.

"It's hard to have the conversation without going back hundreds of years, because the biggest challenge in blackness is that there was a strategic effort to strip it away. So all you were left with was trying to find out how to define yourself against the idea of whiteness. It becomes, 'You can't dress like they do, you can't talk or walk like they do.' It becomes all of these things that you can't do because you don't want to reflect an oppressive construct."

Adds producer Dorian Missick who also stars in the short, "I think of it as the curse of the middle class, because the middle class is the only part of our community that seems so concerned with how we're viewed by people outside of our culture. Because you have to operate in both worlds - the very black world of whatever your family life is, and the mixed world of whatever your work or school space is."

The filmmakers are hopeful that young people will be the key to resolving some of the issues explored in their films, whether from within the community or outside.

Says Lopez, "I'm acutely aware of the race problem, but my child's generation is completely different. They don't see it at all. It's not how they think, they haven't been conditioned to think that way."

Missick agrees, "The younger generation is taking things from every different culture and have made it into their own thing. I think because of that, less and less the conversation is going to be about what's definitively black or white."

"But without having a conversation about it, you're not going to get people to have that aha moment," adds Chatmon. "I don't care if it's as small as somebody in the hood acknowledging that they like skateboarding. That's actually a pretty big thing. So over a long enough timeline, hopefully people get a little more comfortable."

hampton is already seeing her films at work in the community and hopes to do more. For Treasure, there are plans for a curriculum guide and workshops led by the trans women who appear in the film. "Most people don't know the difference between gender and sexuality and all of these things," she explains. "They confuse and conflate them, and the girls that I've worked with in Detroit do these amazing workshops around gender that I hope to be a part of any screenings that can accommodate them."

As for Renisha McBride, the short stands as an example of the influence that content creation can have. Says hampton, "Inasmuch as we can get justice from this criminal injustice system, we got it. [Prosecutor] Kym Worthy got a conviction. Ted Wafer is in jail for the murder of Renisha McBride. So hopefully this will be something that people who are trying to produce their own media can use as a template. They can improve upon it, correct any mistakes they may have seen, and it can be instructive."

#BlackLifeBlackProtest screens at LA Film Festival on Thursday, June 11 at 6pm at Regal L.A. LIVE. Seven short films will screen, followed by a panel discussion with actor and filmmaker Tony Okungbowa, author and educator Tananarive Due, activists Ashley Yates and Damon Turner, and film professor Christine Acham PhD. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets can be found at lafilmfest.com.

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Let me begin by saying that, I do in fact understand that I am a 34-year-old mother of 3. I am also a huge Taylor Swift fan. I have several friends who have given me grief for being such a "Swifty," but I simply do not care. Here is my open letter to Taylor Swift, explaining why I am head over heels in love with her.

Dear Taylor Swift,

You are adorable. Sometimes I pretend to be your beautiful, fancy older sister who gets to jet set with you all over the globe. You are remarkable. I am in awe of your song writing talents and ability to engineer social media. You are undoubtedly a genius. I am impressed with your musical talents, but also your business and marketing skills. You have become a very accomplished individual at a very young age. Being a mother, I am grateful to you as an artist and competent role model. My children all adore your music and I am happy that they can listen to it. Your music videos are all safe for their eyes, and you have given back to the community that has supported you over and over again.

It seems like critics are always waiting for the other shoe to drop with you. They are waiting for you to "Lose it" or get photographed doing illegal or immoral things. To them I say, "Haters gonna hate," to you I say, "Shake it Off." You are a smart business woman, who I am thrilled to have my daughter look up to. You have found a way to make a huge impact while remaining grounded and sane. I applaud your efforts and I wish you the best. I know you will continue to succeed going quintuple platinum on your next three albums. I hope you are happy and find satisfaction with your craft.

I find your music infectious and I can never sit still when listening to your sick beats. I find myself mopping the floors to your energetic tunes. Your lyrics send a message of hope and inspiration, as well as power, to know it is safe to be yourself. You have cornered the market on threenagers, teenagers and thirty-somethings. I look forward to your 1989 tour, and I will see you in October.

Sincerely,

Crazy Mother of 3 Super Fan

P.S. My husband also loves you and uses the 1989 album as his workout mix ;)

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The Seattle International Film Festival, under the culinary cinema program, featured several films and documentaries with a food or drink focus. Here are my personal favorites:

Top restaurant and chefs

King Georges is a film on Georges Perrier and his historic French luxe restaurant Le Bec-Fin. When he announced his closure, director Erika Frankel was willing to document with her camera its final years. Her camera lenses said it all: revealed George's love for cream and butter, his famous galettes and the French sauces, his demanding nature and his big heart all nicely pairing with entertaining stories from the restaurant and haute cuisine dishes. But the historic French establishment in Philadelphia couldn't last more than 40 years. The chandeliers were too heavy as were the creamy sauces for the new generation of diners who wanted simpler, yet quality food. George is now a retiree but occasionally spends his time at Laurel, top chef Nicholas Elmi's restaurant and George's protégé.

Food writer Kevin Pang wanted to make a web short but Curtis Duffy's intriguing life gave him and co-director Helenowski an incentive to continue to a full film - For Grace. The camera follows Duffy and his search for the perfect location, chairs, cooks and dishes during the year of preparation for his new restaurant Grace. Through the well-paced film, viewers will be shocked at Duffy's personal drama and his quest for happiness. The 3-Michelin star chef might not be fully happy but at least he has the grace to admit it.

In Cooking Up a Tribute, director Andrea Gómez follows the brothers Roca, owners of the El Celler de Can Roca restaurant, in their search for local, indigenous food cultures and ingredients in South America - from Oaxaca to the mountains of Peru. The goal is to create 57 new dishes using the newly discovered ingredients in the restaurant's headquarters in Girona; then they all travel for five weeks and re-creat those dishes during the restaurant's world tour in six cities. The result: unforgettable food and drinks. It is not a surprise that the restaurant was voted the number 1 restaurant in the world just a few days ago.

Willemiek Kluijfhout documentary, Sergio Herman, Fucking Perfect features Sergio Herman who exhausted chose to close his 3-Michelin star Oud Sluis restaurant, only to open a new one a year later. The film documents the struggle between perfection, hard work and sacrifice of a top chef who finds it difficult to keep his personal balance. The journey is not easy but the film reveals one thing: chefs can't stay away from the kitchen even if they don't cook.

Heritage Drink

In the birth of Saké is a well-shot documentary about the 2,000-year-old tradition known as saké. Filmed at Yoshida Brewery, a 144-year-old family-owned small brewery in northern Japan, it features the tough life of saké makers who work in the brewery during the winter months until saké is made. Erik Shirai's camera moves from the fermented grains of rice, to the faces of the brewers, their bowls of miso and their lighthearted moments. The outcome: Erik Shirai's film puts saké successfully on the big screen and pays tribute to those who make it.

For meat lovers

In Steak (R)evolution, spectators will travel around the world in the search of the perfect steak. French butcher Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec is the leading character in Franck Ribière's document as his guide: he talks to farmers, touches the cows and eat many steaks before his mind is up. But the movie is not just about a steak; it's about the relationship between farmers, butchers, restaurant owners and the diners who all together decide what steak will be on their table. You will learn about Peter Luger's famous secret, see cows in Japan who listen to Mozart, an Italian chef who changed Shakespeare's famous lines and the entertaining writer of the Steak book -I can't reveal more. Vegans will pass out but carnivores will look for their best steak afterwards no matter what.

The food critic

City of Gold, a film where Los Angeles Times food citric Jonathan Gold reveals his anonymity while at his desk at work, is not only a tribute to the food columnist himself. It's a film that celebrates the food diversity of the city of Angels that -sadly- so little Americans know about. Laura Gabbert's lenses successfully alternate between Gold and local favorite dishes with Los Angeles being the backdrop of this thought-provoking film.

The politics of food trade

Sugarcane Shadows director David Constantin chose the controversial topic of sugarcane factories and its closures in the island of Mauritius. Known as a vacation resort, a paradise on earth, the film portrays a very different reality than the colorful island's postcard. It documents what Constantin calls "a violent metamorphosis of the island: abandoned sugar mills, cane fields going down and being replaced by luxury villas, commercial centers and 5 stars hotels." The main characters belong to local, multi-ethnic communities who live with very limited resources. Although I found the movie rather sad, I got a glimpse of hope at the very end. The turquoise-colored beach (the first time viewers actually see it) and the main protagonist, Marco, who can imagine that another life is possible after the mill.

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I'm preparing to attend a press junket for Love & Mercy, the astonishing new Brian Wilson biopic starring John Cusack and Paul Dano, and my yorkshire terrier is keeping me waiting. He's sitting in front of our neighborhood Trader Joe's, staring inside and waiting for my ex-girlfriend - who's been gone for two years - to come out. He remembers when the three of us walked together, and how he and I would wait while she'd run in for dinner items. He doesn't understand why the relationship ended. He doesn't realize humans can grow apart. All he knows is that his mom is gone, and that she used to emerge from Trader Joe's. So he sits there waiting, and making me late for an interview session at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons, where John Cusack and Brian Wilson will field questions about Love & Mercy. I tug his leash, and off we go.

I drive over Laurel Canyon, thinking about Love & Mercy, which tells the fascinating tale of Beach Boys co-founder/musical mastermind Brian Wilson's rocky rise, hard fall and ultimate salvation, alternating between the young Wilson (Dano) during the artistically explosive Pet Sounds era and an older Wilson (Cusack) in a bizarre, you're-not-gonna-believe-this-really-happened later period of isolation, abuse and emotional torture. Cusack and Dano turn in Oscar-worthy performances alongside Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks, who play the bad guy and the good girl.

I pull into the Four Seasons, listening to Pet Sounds, Wilson's hugely influential 1966 masterpiece, widely considered one of the best rock albums ever recorded. As "God Only Knows" plays, I sing the lyrics "God only knows what I'd be without you," inadvertently making eye contact with a stocky valet parking attendant. It's an awkward moment. As I get out of my car, he gives me an odd look, but still calls me "sir" as I scurry into the hotel.

I arrive late. The complimentary lunch spread is being removed. I grab what I can - an albacore tuna wrap and the last of the spaghetti squash - and rush into the press junket, passing Brian Wilson in the lobby. A few publicists surround him as he prepares to be interviewed. Brian Wilson is one of rock and roll's most impressive icons, but he doesn't appear comfortable with whirlwind publicity situations. And, frankly, who can blame him?

As I settle in for the interview session, Brian Wilson takes a seat next to John Cusack. It's a beautiful thing to witness: two brilliant American artists sitting side-by-side, ready for the questions to roll.

How did John Cusack prepare to portray Brian Wilson?

"The period that I played in Brian's life was much less public than the period Paul (Dano) played," explains Cusack. "Brian had sort of removed himself from public life, so there wasn't as much information about him in that era. There were a lot of legends and a lot of superstitions about him. More lore than fact. Brian was nice enough to talk to me and let me ask questions. I met with Brian and I saw how he intuits. That was very helpful. I also dug into Smile and Pet Sounds because my opinion is that you can hear everything about Brian in his music if you just listen carefully."

Does John Cusack have a favorite Brian Wilson song?

"I was obsessed with The Smile Sessions record when I was making the film, to try to feel what he must have been feeling," says Cusack. "When he played Smile in the Royal Albert Hall, it was so beautiful to see Paul McCartney weeping in the front row."

"Right, right, I remember that," Wilson lovably chimes in.

"I listened to everything," Cusack continues. "If you make Amadeus, you've got a really good soundtrack because it's going to be Mozart. If you're making Love & Mercy, you have the Mozart of rock and roll."

How does Brian Wilson feel about John Cusack and Paul Dano's performances?

"John and Paul are absolute geniuses, and I've been called a genius myself," Wilson says with a grin.

As everyone chuckles over this playful remark, I take a moment to appreciate how amazingly cool it is to be in the same room as Brian Wilson and John Cusack.

Why did John Cusack want to do Love & Mercy?

"I've known about Brian's musical legacy and what he's meant to music and American culture," Cusack begins. "It was a great gift for me to try to channel the spirit of someone who has so much heart and vulnerability, but is such a survivor, who has changed music and culture in such radical ways that are primarily about opening up your heart. Brian is a pure artist. Any of us who are in the business want to keep the flame of that pure artist alive. Not all of us are at Brian's level. Not many people on Earth are, but to be able to make a film about a full creative spirit like this is why I want to keep making films."

Did Brian Wilson bring a horse into the studio during the recording of Pet Sounds?

"No," says Wilson. "We actually didn't get to that point. The horse was just a thought. Somebody said, 'let's get a horse in here.' They said I said that. I didn't say that."

Now I'm back home, taking my dog for another walk. As he sits and gazes into Trader Joe's, a couple in their early twenties kneels down to pet him. As we talk, I mention the Love & Mercy press junket. They say they've heard of the Beach Boys, but not Brian Wilson. As I explain how the Pet Sounds album offers a departure from the Beach Boys' signature fun-in-the-sun formula, they smile politely and ask if I've interviewed Drake?

As they walk away, I hope Love & Mercy introduces the soul-baring genius of Brian Wilson to the millennial generation. I also find myself wondering how I can arrange an interview with Drake?

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The end of Mad Men, which I viewed on the small screen of a notebook computer in, of all places, Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam, two weeks ago, is simply perfect.

I have waited to comment on it to give those who had not yet seen it time to do so.

The television series brilliantly (apart from one down season a few years back) carried viewers on a tour through the tumultuous changes in American society from the late 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s. It did so through the lens of the advertising industry, with the social, cultural and political upheavals of the era as a backdrop.

Advertising was just the thing -- the UnReal Thing -- to provide insight into what happened in --and to -- "The Sixties." The largely unappreciated fact is that the objectives of the Counterculture and the commercial "Counting Culture" were not so different. Both promoted hedonism.

In the 1950s, leading corporate consultant Ernest Dichter proclaimed: "One of the basic problems of prosperity is to demonstrate that the hedonistic approach to life is a moral and not an immoral one." People, in short, had to be persuaded to adopt self-indulgence as a way of life so that "stuff" could be sold to them.

The 1969 film Easy Rider marvelously captured this connection at a time when few saw it. Billy, the perpetually stoned Dennis Hopper character, sounds exactly like the middle-class Americans targeted by the Madison Avenue Men: "We've done it... We're rich, man. We're retired in Florida, now, mister." "That's what it's all about, man. I mean, like you know -- I mean, you go for the big money, man, and then you're free. You dig?"

The Mad Men ending reiterates that message from Easy Rider and the ease with which the chants of the Sixties were molded into the advertising slogans of later years, as in the hippie refrain, "If it feels good, do it!" becoming Nike's "Just Do It!"

The smile that comes across Don Draper's face as he is sitting in lotus position and chanting "ooom" at a commune in Big Sur, where everyone is constantly asked how they "feel" about this and that, is the idea for the 1971 "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" Coke commercial, one of the greatest and most memorable ever made, into which the smile fades.

Getting inspiration at a commune for a way to sell a product through the feelings, sound, and imagery of the Sixties flawlessly captures what happened to the spirit of the decade and how readily it was co-opted by commercial America.

Mad Men's epitaph for the Sixties is the same as that of Wyatt, the Peter Fonda character in Easy Rider: "We blew it!"

But the Mad Men demonstrates how we blew it.

The perfect ending for a nearly perfect show.

Robert S. McElvaine is completing a book on America in 1964: "The Times They Were A-Changin' - The Year 'The Sixties' Arrived."

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Requiem for a Cinematic Heavyweight: Adieu Abu Dhabi Film Festival

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Rest in Peace, Ronnie Gilbert

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If Caitlyn Jenner Is So Gorgeous, Why Do Transgender Youth Feel So Sad?

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The Magic of Lightning in a Bottle 2015

Watch Pickle the Mini Pig Eat Ice Cream for the First Time

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An Open Letter to Taylor Swift

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15 Minutes With John Cusack and Brian Wilson

Why the Mad Men Ending Was Perfect