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#i could even ....................................... make rio laura's age at this point
jaceyourself · 5 years
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End of Year Wrap-Up 24/12/2018
Happy Merry to all you readers!
I’ve had a great year but all us music fans have had an even better one! Streaming services mean that now more than ever we can experience the musical output from all corners of the globe (though overwhelmingly the English-speaking parts of it) to understand different points of view, learn of the goings on in other parts of the world and most importantly indulge ourselves in a bit of a boogie. All the moods, genres and feels you could think of are out there, so over the holiday period perhaps try and listen to something new. Who knows it might break the tension with that younger/older relative round the xmas table when you find they also happen to like k-pop/jazz-funk/grindcore or at the very least you can bicker about the tragedy of the current album charts (Greatest Showman: 21 weeks!). To aid you in your quest for knowledge/excitement/small-talk I have spent almost 30 minutes curating a best-of for both albums and singles in the year of 2018. 
(NB even with my album-a-day policy, there’s no way I can get through everything I want to within the 365, so if your fave appears ignored, let it be known that I probably haven’t heard it yet. The full list of everything I’ve listened to this year is at the bottom)
So in no particular order:
Albums 
Jinx Lennon- Grow A Pair!!!
The Beths- Future Me Hates Me
The Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel
Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD
Mount Eerie- Now Only
Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy
The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic
Singles
Confidence Man- Out The Window
Cardi B- I Like It
Janelle Monae ft. Grimes- Pynk
Lori McKenna- People Get Old
SOPHIE- Immaterial
Marie Davidson- Work It
Car Seat Headrest- Stop Smoking (We Love You)
BLACKPINK- AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST
The 1975- It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You)
https://open.spotify.com/user/jaceyourself/playlist/1kFex3QLVv0l3cCqjVC6dT?si=_GqTJXrOSoSXYaMC9ra_lg
Have a great festive period and I’ll see you in 2019 :D
2018 Albums what I listened to
Floating Points- Reflections – Mojave Desert
James Elkington- Wintres Woma
Miguel- War & Leisure
Ride- Weather Diaries
Sidney Gish- No Dogs Allowed
Emperor X- The Orlando Sentinel, Oversleepers International
Broken Social Scene- Hug of Thunder
MC5- Kick Out The Jams (Live)
Public Service Broadcasting- Every Valley
JJ Doom- Key to the Kuffs
HAIM- Something To Tell You
Camila Cabello- Camila
Sheer Mag- Need To Feel Your Love
Taylor Swift- reputation
Shabazz Palaces- Quazarz vs The Jealous Machines
This Is The Kit- Moonshine Freeze
Japanese Breakfast- Soft Sounds From Another Planet
Tune-Yards- I can feel you creep into my private life
Jupiter & Okwess- Kin Sonic
Various Artists- The Passion Of Charlie Parker
Waxahatchee- Out In The Storm, Great Thunder
Offa Rex- The Queen Of Hearts
Dizzee Rascal- Raskit
Alvvays- Antisocialites
Childhood- Universal High
Marmozets- Knowing What You Know Now
Declan McKenna- What Do You Think About the Car?
Paul Heaton- Crooked Calypso
Lana Del Rey- Lust For Life
Charles Lloyd New Quartet- Passin’ Thru (Live)
Rip Rig & Panic- Circa Rip Rig + Panic
Avey Tare- Eucalyptus
Justin Timberlake- Man Of The Woods
Rio Mira- Marimba del Pacifico
Oddisee- The Iceberg
Aimee Mann- Mental Illness
Katie Von Schleicher- Shitty Hits
Arcade Fire- Everything Now
Girl Ray- Earl Grey
Ezra Furman- Transangelic Exodus
Randy Newman- Dark Matter
Dead Cross- Dead Cross
Chronixx- Chronology
Mondo Cozmo- Plastic Soul
Kesha- Rainbow
Lal & Mike Waterson- Bright Phoebus
Steve Reich- Pulse / Quartet
Orchestra Baobab- Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng
Ratboy- SCUM
Prince- Dirty Mind, Controversy, 1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Sign ‘O’ The Times
Stanley Cowell- No Illusions
Oneohtrix Point Never- Good Time Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Downtown Boys- Cost Of Living
Screaming Females- All At Once
Rob Luft- Riser
Sibusile Xaba- Open Letter To Adoniah
Jen Cloher- Jen Cloher
Everything Everything- Fever Dream
Grizzly Bear- Painted Ruins
Bob’s Burgers- The Bob’s Burgers Music Album
Superorganism- Superorganism
Maren Morris- HERO
Courtney Marie Andrews- Honest Life, May Your Kindness Remain
Stefflon Don- Real Ting Mixtape
Ghostpoet- Dark Days + Canapés
Young Fathers- White Men Are Black Men Too, Cocoa Sugar
Queens Of The Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf
Thurst- Cut to the Chafe
John Moreland- Big Bad Luv
Aruan Ortiz- Cub(an)ism [Piano Solo]
Mount Eerie- Now Only
The War On Drugs- A Deeper Understanding
Various Artists- Pop Makossa
Liane Carroll- The Right to Love
Fickle Friends- You Are Someone Else
Nadine Shah- Holiday Destination
Various Artists- Howsla
George Ezra- Staying at Tamara’s
The Doors- The Doors
Filthy Friends- Invitation
Susanne Sundfør- Music For People In Trouble
LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver, American Dream
Mogwai- Every Country’s Sun
Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour
The National- High Violet, Sleep Well Beast
The Klezmatics- Wonder Wheel
Hercules & Love Affair- Omnion
Mount Kimbie- Love What Survives
The Aces- When My Heart Felt Volcanic
Matthew Bourne- Isotach
Finished- Cum Inside Me Bro
Forced Into Femininity- I’m Making Progress
Heron Oblivion- Heron Oblivion
Hamell On Trial- TACKLE BOX
Confidence Man- Confident Music For Confident People
Swet Shop Boys- Cashmere
Princess Nokia- 1992 Deluxe, A Girl Cried Red
Steely Dan- The Royal Scam, Aja
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard- Nonagon Infinity
Sparks- Hippopotamus
J. Cole- KOD
Fat Tony- Macgregor Park
L’Orange and Jeremiah Jae- The Night Took Us In Like Family
Little Simz- Stillness In Wonderland
Lady Leshurr- Queen’s Speech
RAY BLK- Durt
Brand New- Science Fiction
Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever- Talk Tight
Fred Thomas- Changer
Myra Davies- Sirens
Laraaji- Sun Gong
The Killers- Wonderful Wonderful
Descendents- Milo Goes To College
Frank Turner- Be More Kind
The Horrors- V
Moses Sumney- Aromanticism
Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People…, AM, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Oxbow- Thin Black Duke
Dee Byrne’s Entropi- Moment Frozen
Mike Stern- Trip
The Vampires- The Vampires Meet Lionel Loueke
Gogol Bordello- Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike, Super Taranta!, Seekers And Finders
Umphrey’s McGee- Zonkey
Hard Working Americans- We’re All in This Together
Courtney Barnett- Tell Me How You Really Feel
Jllin- Black Origami
Various Artists- Rough Guide to the Music of West Africa
Wolf Alice- Visions Of A Life
The Young’uns- Strangers
Fever Ray- Fever Ray, Plunge
CHVRCHES- Love Is Dead
Oumou Sangaré- Oumou, Mogoya
Charlotte Gainsbourg- Rest
Daniel Avery- Song For Alpha
Daphni- Joli Mai
Kanye West- ye
Cécile McLorin Salvant- Dreams and Daggers
Trio Da Kali, Kronos Quartet- Ladilikan
Kelela- Take Me Apart
Bob Dylan- The Times.., Another.., Bringing.., Highway.., Blond.., John.., Nashville.., New.., Blood..
Lily Allen- Alright(,) Still, It’s Not Me(,) It’s You, Sheezus, No Shame
Fanfare Ciocarlia- 20
Wolf Parade- Cry Cry Cry
SOPHIE- OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES
Zara McFarlane- Arise
St. Vincent- MASSEDUCTION
Margo Price- All American Made
Bebe Rexha- Expectations
Motörhead- Under Cöver
Orchestre Les Mangelepa- Last Band Standing
Drake- Scorpion
Various Artists- Gentle Giants: The Songs Of Don Williams
Noga Erez- Off The Radar
Baxter Dury- Prince of Tears
John Maus- Screen Memories
Lankum- Between the Earth and Sky
Shamir- Revelations
Years & Years- Palo Santo
Converge- The Dusk In Us
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino- Canzoniere
Fred Hersch- Open Book
A. Savage- Thawing Dawn
Big Thief- Capacity
Kelly Clarkson- Meaning Of Life
Dirty Projectors- Lamp Lit Prose
Robt Sarazin Blake- Recitative
Shed Seven- Instant Pleasures
Spinning Coin- Permo
Call Super- Arpo
Laura Perrudin- Poisons & antidotes
Ellen Andrea Wang- Blank Out
Lori McKenna- The Tree
Wu-Tang Clan- Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
Lee Ronaldo- Electric Trim
Deer Tick- Vol. 2
The Paranoid Style- Underworld U.S.A.
Youssou N’Dour- Set, Joko- From Village To Town, Nothing’s In Vain, Seeni Valeurs
Gaika- BASIC VOLUME
Kasai Allstars- Around Felicite
Carly Rae Jepsen- Emotion
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds- Who Built The Moon?
Anna Ternheim- All the Way to Rio
U2- Songs of Experience
Mônica Vasconcelos- The São Paulo Tapes
Travis Scott- ASTROWORLD
Nabihah Iqbal- Weighing of the Heart
Van Morrison- Versatile
Jim James- Tribute to 2
Criolo- Espiral de Ilusão
Maciej Obara Quartet- Unloved
N.E.R.D- NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES
The Beths- Future Me Hates Me
Maryam Saleh- Lekhfa
Naomi Bedford- Songs My Ruiner Gave to Me
Jens Lekman- Night Over Kortedala
The Spirit of the Beehive- pleasure suck
Tom Rogerson- Finding Shore
Paul Jacobs- Pictures(,) Movies and Apartments
Ariana Grande- sweetener
Rina Sawayama- RINA
Marcel Khalife- Andalusia of Love
Gunter Hampel- Bounce (Live at Theater Gütersloh)
BAYNK- Someone’s EP
Omar Souleyman- To Syria(,) With Love
Blood Orange- Negro Swan
Open Mike Eagle- Brick Body Kids Still Daydream
First Aid Kit- Ruins
Shame- Songs of Praise
Homeboy Sandman- Veins
Playboi Carti- Playboi Carti
Eminem- Kamikaze
Troye Sivan- Blue Neighbourhood, BLOOM
Joey Bada$$- ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$
Priests- Nothing Feels Natural
Rhiannon Giddens- Freedom Highway
King Krule- The OOZ
Django Django- Marble Skies
Bon Iver- For Emma(,) Forever Ago
Calexico- The Thread That Keeps Us
Mary Gauthier- Rifles & Rosary Beads
Hookworms- Microshift
Aphex Twin- Collapse EP
Rae Morris- Someone Out There
Field Music- Open Here
Rhye- Blood
Shopping- The Official Body
MGMT- Little Dark Age
Christine and the Queens- Chris
Alela Diane- Cusp
Sonic Youth- Sister
Brigid Mae Power- The Two Worlds
Deafheaven- Sunbather
Various Artists- American Epic: The Collection Disc 1, 2, 3
Rich Krueger- Life Ain’t That Long
Lil Wayne- Tha Carter V
Modern Mal- The Misanthrope Family Album
Rejjie Snow- Dear Annie
U.S. Girls- In a Poem Unlimited
The Orielles- Silver Dollar Moment
Tal National- Tantabara
Marie Davidson- Working Class Woman
Superchunk- What a Time to Be Alive
Brandi Carlile- By The Way(,) I Forgive You
Car Seat Headrest- Twin Fantasy
Loma- Loma
Quavo- QUAVO HUNCHO
Marlon Williams- Make Way For Love
Nipsey Hussle- Victory Lap
Insecure Men- Insecure Men
Kendrick Lamar- Black Panther
Rapsody- Lalia’s Wisdom
Khalid- Suncity
Tracey Thorn- Record
Anna von Hausswolff- Dead Magic
Jinx Lennon- Grow a Pair!!!
Gwenno- Le Kov
Judas Priest- Stained Class, FIREPOWER
Robyn- Robyn, Body Talk, Honey
The Magic Gang- The Magic Gang
Essaie Pas- New Path
Bob Dylan and The Band- The Basement Tapes
The Decemberists- I’ll Be Your Girl
Pistol Annies- Interstate Gospel
BCUC- Emakhosini (Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness)
Jack White- Boarding House Reach
Yo La Tengo- There’s A Riot Going On
Sidi Touré- Toubalbero
Lil Peep- Come Over When You’re Sober(,) Pt. 2
The Breeders- All Nerve
The Vaccines- Combat Sports
CZARFACE- Czarface Meets Metal Face
Laurence Pike- Distant Early Warning
Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band- Bone Reader
Leo Kalyan- The Edge
Hayley Kyoko- Expectations
Tristen- Sneaker Waves
Thelonious Monk- Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana- Mehliana: Taming The Dragon
Amy Rigby- Til The Wheels Fall Off, Little Fugitive, The Old Guys
BLACKPINK- BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA
Rose Cousins- Natural Conclusion
Nora Jane Struthers- Champion
Lilly Hiatt- Trinity Lane
The Rolling Stones- The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones No. 2, Out of Our Heads, Aftermath
MAST- Thelonious Sphere Monk
The 1975- A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
Jhene Aiko- Trip
Don Bryant- Don’t Give up on Love
EMA- Exile in the Outer Ring
Small Believer- Anna Tivel
Vera Sola- Shades
Cardi B- Invasion of Privacy
Darkthrone- A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers- Years
Goat Girl- Goat Girl
Vic Mensa- HOOLIGANS
Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food
Alasdair Roberts, Amble Scuse & David McGuiness- What News
Kali Uchis- Isolation
Wye Oak- The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs
Migos- Culture II
Hinds- I Don’t Run
DRINKS- Hippo Lite
Alexis Taylor- Beautiful Thing
Jenny Wilson- EXORCISM
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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years
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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND April 19, 2019  - THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, BREAKTHROUGH, PENGUINS
Yay! Another week where I haven’t seen any of the new releases! This is what happens when studios offer a single press screening rather than a few options, I guess.
After a rather dismal weekend, this weekend sees the release of a mixed bag of movies that will wrap-up the winter/spring movie season before Avengers: Endgame comes along and just destroys everything else in theaters. This is also Easter weekend and with no schools and many being off work for Good Friday, we’ll see a large bump with most movies being frontloaded for the weekend. (Easter Sunday is usually reserved for family meals, Easter egg hunts, etc, so not as much movie business.)
Beginning on Wednesday, we have two relatively family-friendly films in Fox 2000’s faith-based BREAKTHROUGH  (20thCentury Fox) and DisneyNature’s PENGUINS  (Walt Disney Pictures), again, neither which I’ve seen. The first is a higher-profile faith-based drama that’s being released in perfect timing with Easter, but unlike the movies of PureFlix, I feel that the marketing campaign could bring in a wider audience, especially with popular actors like Chrissy Metz, Topher Grace, Mike Colter and Dennis Haysbert.  Penguinsis another Disney nature doc, this one a cute story about a penguin named Steve, voiced by Ed Helms, and its G-rating will help make it a choice for family with young kids over the holiday weekend.
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Then on Friday (or rather, Thursday night) comes the latest horror film from producer James Wan, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (New Line/WB), which looks like another solid scare-fest even if the reviews out of SXSW weren’t as strong as the ones for Pet Sematary (which I still haven’t seen!) and Us (which I’ve seen twice). I’m definitely interested in checking it out, especially the work of director Michael Chaves, who has already been attached to direct the next Conjuring movie (although this one is not related).
Opening in 300 theaters Wednesday is the Bollywood release KALANK (FIP), directed by Abhishek Varman, a romantic drama about six characters looking for love in the town of Husnabad, North India.
Also opening fairly wide this weekend is Michael Berry’s adaptation of Riley Thomas’ stage musical Stuck (Eammon Films), starring Giancarlo Esposito, Amy Madigan, Omar Chaparroand Ashanti as four of six New York commuters stuck on a subway car, as they sing their stories to each other. Sounds more fun than what normally happens in New York when the subway car stops between stations.
Apparently, Bleecker Street plans on expanding Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit, starring Elle Fanning, wider, although I don’t have a theater count at this point in time, so I’m not sure if it’s expanding enough to get into the top 10 or how many areas it will be in.
LIMITED RELEASES
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My favorite movie of the weekend is Pamela Green’s doc BE NATURAL: THE UNTOLD STORY OF ALICE GUY-BLACHÉ (Zeitgeist), which will open in L.A.  at the Laemmle Monica Film Center then move to NYC on April 26. If you don’t know who Alice Guy-Blaché is then you really need to see this movie, since she was such an important part of cinema history. She was there from the very gestation of cinema in France as the first female director who was making so many inroads into various filmmaking techniques while being mostly ignored by the men in the industry, including those who documented the history of cinema. This is an amazing film to see all of Ms. Guy’s accomplishments, while also being demeaned by a philandering husband who took credit for much of her accomplishments. I was also amazed to learn while watching this film that Fort Lee, New Jersey used to be the hub of cinema in the early 20thCentury before Guy’s husband and others moved to California and set up Hollywood, mainly to get away from paying fees to Tom Edison. This is an amazing doc that I recommend highly if you consider yourself a film buff on any level.
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Another great doc opening this week – New York on Weds and in L.A. Friday – is Penny Lane’s new one HAIL SATAN? (Magnolia), which explores the Satanic Temple and its leader Lucien Greaves, who have created a political movement around the ideas that church and state should be kept separate. They do this by raising funds to set-up statues of Baphomet on the same capital grounds where governments have set-up statues of the Ten Commandments. They also do this with a sense of humor that reminds me of The Yes Men, whose own pranks have been documented well in film. Either way, this movie is not what you might think i.e. it’s not a commercial for Satanism as in the type that sacrifices babies. It’s just a group that uses the name of Satan to fight for religious freedom.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays a woman who goes on the run after her superpowers are discovered in Julia Hart’s FAST COLOR (Codeblack Films). This opens in select cities this week, and I’ve reviewed it over at The Beat.
It Follows director David Robert Mitchell’s new noir thriller UNDER THE SILVER LAKE (A24) seems to be getting dumped with a quick release in New York and L.A. on Friday before debuting for streaming on Amazon Monday.  I guess the mixed reviews it got at its premiere at Cannes last year didn’t help matters.  It stars Andrew Garfield as 33-year-old Sam who discovers the mysterious Sarah (Riley Kough) in his apartment swimming pool, but when she vanishes, he goes looking through L.A. to find what happened to her. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but it’s looking unlikely I’ll see it in theaters now.
Dame Judi Dench stars in Trevor Nunn’s RED JOAN (IFC Films), playing Joan Stanley, a widow living in retirement when the British Secret Service arrests her for giving classified information to the Soviets for decades. Based on a true story, it will open at the Landmark 57 and IFC Center in New York as well as other theaters and On Demand.
Tessa Thompson and Lilly James star in Nia DaCosta’s feature film directorial debut LITTLE WOODS (NEON), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year, at which DaCosta won the Nora Ephron award. Thompson plays Ollie, a North Dakota woman who was once arrested for smuggling prescription drugs across the border, something she gives up until her pregnant sister Deb (James) shows up needing $3,000 to save their family home. I’m hoping to catch it again sometime this week, since I want to give it another chance.
Currently playing on DirecTV and opening in select theaters and On Demand Friday is Fred Wolf’s DRUNK PARENTS (Vertical Entertainment), starring Alec Baldwin and Salma Hayek. Semi-wealthy Frank and Nancy Teagarten are dropping their daughter off at college just before the repo man shows up at their door, so they do some drinking and hold a yard sale as to hide their deteriorating wealth.
Orange is the New Black star Taylor Schilling stars in Laura Steinel’s Family  (The Film Arcade) as career-focused Kate Stone, who is asked by her estranged brother to babysit her ‘tween niece Maddie, as one night turns into a week.
Prolific Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo’s new movie Grass  (Cinema Guild), will open at the Metrograph in New York. It’s a rather talkie piece that involves a bunch of people talking to each other in a café where a young woman (Kim Min-hee) eavesdrops and adds their characters to her story.  I’m generally mixed on Hong Sang-soo, and this one seems a bit more artsy with less of a narrative, but I assume diehard fans will enjoy it.
Wanuri Kahui’s Kenyan coming-of-age drama Rafiki (Film Movement), the first Kenyan film to show at Cannes, will open at BAM on Friday. It follows the journey of Kena and Ziki, two young woman whose fathers are rival political candidates but who have formed a bond of friendship.
Just in time for 4/20 comes Robert Ryan’s doc Breaking Habits (Good Deed Entertainment) about Christine Meeusen’s decision to leave her cheating husband of 17 years with her three kids, reinventing herself as Sister Kate and setting up a cannabis farming business that would become the Sisters of the Valley medicinal marijuana empire.
Also, a reminder that Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce, is supposed to get a limited release this weekend after its Fathom Events “one night only,” although I have no idea of number of theaters or locations or anything.
LOCAL FESTIVALS
As with every weekend, there’s a lot going on, and in New York, up at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, they’re kicking off this year’s ART OF THE REAL on Thursday and running through April 28. The Opening Night film is Frank Beauvais’ Just Don’t Think I’ll Scream, compiling the thoughts and revelations of the filmmaker. I haven’t been able to get to any of the press screenings, but it usually has an interesting and diverse line-up which you can read more about at the link.
REPERTORY
METROGRAPH (NYC):
Fans of Brazilian cinema will want to check out some of the Metrograph’s new series about Brazilian filmmaker Nelson Pereira dos Santos, which runs from Friday through April 28. The movies range from his groundbreaking 1955 doc Rio, 40º to 2011’s The Music According to Tom Jobim with nine films, few of which have received distribution in North America. This week’s Late Nites at Metrographinclude Sion Sono’s Anti-Porno and Bertrando Bonello’s 2011 film L’Appollonide (House of Tolerance), neither which I’ve seen, but the weekend’s  Playtime: Family Matineesis Disney’s The Love Bug, one of my absolute favorite films from childhood.
THE NEW BEVERLY  (L.A.):
Besides showing Henri-Georges Clouzet’s murder-mystery Quai Des Orfevres on Wednesday afternoon, Tarantino’s rep theater is showing double features of Hitchcock’s Family Plot  (1976) and the thriller Black Sunday  (1977) on Weds. and Thurs, the classic Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau The Odd Couple (1968) and Robert Redford/Jane Fonda’s Barefoot in the Park (1967) on Friday, then Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980) and Ice Cube’s Friday (1995) on Saturday. This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is a surprisingly recent movie in Universal’s Hop – cause it’s Easter weekend, get it? – and the midnight movies are The Hateful Eight on Friday night and the 1981 John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd movie Neighbors on Saturday. Sunday and Monday are double features of Only When I Laugh (1981) and I Oughtta Be in Pictures (1982). Monday afternoon is a screening of Martin Scorsese’s 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead, starring Nicolas Cage and Patricia Arquette.
FILM FORUM (NYC):
One of the repertory series I’m most excited about since first hearing about it is the Film Forum’s latest series “Trilogies,” which this weekend will show all three of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy, and Sergio Leone’s Western trilogy with Clint Eastwood: A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1966) and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966). This weekend is also the start of Masaki Kobayashi’s The Human Condition, while Monday is a trilogy of films by Jacques Beckere called his “Paris Youth Trilogy,” including Antoine and Antoinette.  Sadly, they don’t seem to be showing Edgar Wright’s Three Cornetto Trilogy as part of the series. :( This weekend’s Film Forum Jr. is the 1985 crime-comedy Clue, based on the board game.
EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):
Word came out last week that Netflix is looking to buy the Egyptian, so hope they retain the repertory programming. Thursday is the new restoration of Bjork’s 1990 movie The Juniper Tree, Friday night there is a Brian Yuzna double feature of Society and Bride of Re-Animator, both from 1989 with Yuzna in attendance. Saturday sees a TRIPLE feature of Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness (1992), Waxwork  (1988) and Fulci’s The Beyond (1985), all in 35mm!
AERO  (LA):
The Aero’s “Classic Movie Clowns” series begins Thursday with a Harold Lloyd-Buster Keaton double feature of Safety Last! (1923) and The Navigator (1924), Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) plays on Friday, as well as a series of Silent Comedy Shorts (with live music!) on Saturday, as well as Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (1933) along with their shorts Brats and Helpmates. Easter Sunday sees a collection of Bugs Bunny and Friends animated shorts and a double feature of Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko (2001) and Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead  (1981).
IFC CENTER (NYC)
The IFC Center started its spring series last weekend, but I received the info too late to include. This weekend’s Waverly Midnights: ParentalGuidance is Hitchcock’s Psycho, while the Weekend Classics: LoveMom and Dad is Terms of Endearment and Late Night Favorites: Springis David Fincher’s Fight Club.
MOMA (NYC):
Modern Matinees: B is for Bacall this week shows the 1947 film Dark Passage on Weds, Howard Hawk’s To Have and Have Not  (1944) Thurs, and The Big Sleep  (1946) on Friday. Also the What Price Hollywood series continues with Clarence Brown’s 1931 film A Free Soul and Josef von Sternberg’s 1934 film The Scarlet Empress on Weds, the 1939 film Midnight and 1935’s Sylvia Scarlett on Thursday and more. They’re also showing Franco Rosso’s Babylonover the weekend.
MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):
This week’s series is See it Big! Action with screenings of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Seven Samurai, Anne of the Indiesand The Adventures of Robin Hood. On Good Friday, the family program is the animated Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
QUAD CINEMA (NYC):
The Quad continues its Wild Things: The Ferocious Films of Nelly Kaplan this weekend with Charles and Lucie, Néa, The Pleasure of Love and more.
BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):
Thursday ends the The Anarchic Cinema of Věra Chytilováseries of the Czech film star.
LANDMARK THEATRES NUART  (LA):
This Friday’s midnight offering is Panos Costamos’ too recent to be repertory Mandy, starring Nicolas Cage.
STREAMING AND CABLE
Streaming on Netflix this week is Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s SOMEONE GREAT, starring Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez as an aspiring music journalst trying to get her dream job at a magazine, even though that would mean moving to San Francisco. Her boyfriend of nine years (Lakeith Stanfield) decides to break up so she and her two best friends (DeWanda Wise, Brittany Snow) decide to go out for one last adventure in New York City.
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gloriasousaus · 7 years
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Smart Cities and the potential Misuse of Data
Context
During the seven weeks of the Pre-College Summer Intensive English Program at The New School, my class was divided into groups of three to work on a Capstone project. Each group received a broad theme, and our job was to narrow it down to build a presentation with a specific thesis, which was presented to an audience composed by The New School Faculty and Staff on August 3rd. We also had to write separate research papers with paraphrased academic sources.
My team got Technology as a topic. The following text consists on the final research paper I handed in, named Smart Cities and the Potential Misuse of Data.
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Credits: Gabriella Ullauri 
Introduction
Smart Cities are emerging hotspots. Huge producers of Data, these are places that aim to use the personal information collected from its citizens to improve public infrastructure. Cities like Singapore, London, and New York are among the few that openly declare their attempt to adapt to this new model. In the case of NYC, this undertake exists since the year 2000: presented on September 28th of that year, at the 2nd International Life Extension Technology Workshop in Paris, the document entitled “The Vision of A Smart City” stated the early solid efforts of the city government (in consonance to Brookhaven National Laboratory) to integrate the city. According to this report, the main strategies at that point included underground utility mapping and passive structural integrity monitoring.
As written in the article "Addressing big data challenges in smart cities: a systematic literature review", the gathering and use of Big Data through new technologies increases information awareness, facilitating the policy-making process while creating many alternatives for social interaction in the city. In that sense, the data compiled enhance real-time services automation, which consequently drives city administration towards making urban management more effective. Examples of that would vary from installing intelligent traffic lights to monitoring the conditions of infrastructure in public areas, transforming urban settings into more dynamic spaces. And that is what should happen in smart cities.
But although the authors’ conclusions are true and can be extremely beneficial to society, there is an aspect that is often overlooked: A Smart City is a direct product of its government. Despite the idea and the tools to implement it, what is done to the online content is not a matter of technicality. Once carrying people’s information, the success of a Smart City is an outcome of political intention. And that can be disastrous. 
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Songdo, a smart city in construction since 2004. Retrieved from https://youngining.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/smart-city-songdo-incheon-korea/
We know humanity is now experiencing an invisible revolution. At the beginning of the XXI Century, there were already 502 million internet users in the world [1]. In 2012, 67% of the internet users had social media accounts [2]. In 2013, 56% of American adults owned a smartphone [3]. What these numbers show is a fast transition to the globalized world. But the intrinsic fact is that the latest changes are not material, yet virtual. They consist on the interpretation of our personal lives, sprinkled in infinite bytes of Data.
In this scenario, Big Data is a key term, once it can be stated as the theoretic column of smart cities. Amply used in the sense of an amount of complex, coded information., it has intrigued tech enthusiasts for different reasons: The interpretation of this informational web has many uses, from knowing a target audience for a product to extracting index statistics. But while some agree that it can be a tool to address the Common Good, others argue that once addressing particular interests, it can be a weapon for controlling of the public opinion.
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Retrieved from https://smartcity.org.hk/index.php/aboutus/background
This way, the conception of privacy and State’s power in smart cities rises as two big question marks in our future. As we go deeper in the Digital Age and the interconnection between different devices becomes clearer, the ethical aspect of technology must be discussed. Between the absence of concrete policies to regulate enterprises and the political apathy of the civil society, privacy becomes more and more of an abstract idea: In the realm of social media, is anything really private?  
To answer this question, our research tries to look into the way the governments operate in smart cities. More specifically, our approach to the privacy issue focuses on how Smart cities raise privacy concerns, considering the potential misuse of Data and violation of people’s basic civil rights. For that purpose, we adopted examples of various smart cities initiatives, from those in Boston and New York City to in Rio de Janeiro.
     2. Structural vulnerabilities in Smart Cities and how they afflict its inhabitants
As humans, we often don’t want to share something. Where we are going, our health records, our bank account information: These are some examples of what it’s usually considered private matters.Yet, we display so much information online without hesitating. And by doing that, we allow private companies and governmental organizations to take advantage of it by selling or incorporating (in their databases) our personal data. Still, we trust and agree to website's security policies.
In this vicious cycle, Smart cities can be extremely vulnerable places. In their article “Data Security in Smart Cities: Challenges and Solutions”, Daniela Popescul and Laura Diana Radu write about how this happens. According to the two researchers, if on one hand the use of smart objects - that is “objects connected in order to provide seamless communication and contextual services”- enables the collection, transmission, and processing of huge amounts of Data; on the other hand, it needs to be constantly protected. These devices have multiple resource-constraints, such as network requirements, hardware limitations or software restrictions, which is an obstacle to the installation of security mechanisms.  Due to these difficulties, software designers often overlook the issue of device security and prioritize other aspects of the product, such as performance and energy consumption. That seems like a way to deceive the consumer: The best-ranked tech products on the market cannot guarantee your safeness in the virtual world,  and they are sold as they could.
Another factor that weakens Smart Cities’ structure is the lack of regulations. Our Capstone group had the opportunity to interview New School’s Director of Information and online security, David Curry. When asked “how secure is our Data?”, Mr. Curry said: “ In Europe, particularly, and some would say in Latin America, [...] there are very specific laws about when you collect private Data you have to say exactly what is it used for, and you’re not allowed to use it for something you didn’t say you’re going to use it for. In the United States, that’s a little squishy. As for smart cities and that kind of thing, that is a real concern: What kind of Data is being collected by what? Who has access to it? It’s the whole notion of the Internet of Things. ”
Besides not being able to guarantee information security, the smart city system doesn’t make the city accessible to all citizens. In the November edition of Fordham Urban Law Journal,  the authors Kelsey Finch and Omer Tene argue that, despite the nature of government’s intentions, services offered by smart cities often impact individuals in a discriminatory way. According to Finch and Tene, that happens because the system automatically favors those used to technological devices. For example, when looking closely at the case of the Street Bump app, which was an initiative aimed to report to Boston’s Public Works Department the location of potholes and road castings,  it is possible to affirm that the younger and wealthier areas of the city benefited the most. By that we can infer that people who are less likely to carry smartphones, such as seniors, were indirectly excluded from the perks of such in the same manner others did.
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Retrieved from https://www.bu.edu/systems/2014/12/18/boston-is-becoming-a-smart-city-with-eng-support/
This problem appears in other social and infrastructural projects. For instance, take Singapore’s regulated Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme. Once the toll booth system was installed in a single cordon area, dramatic changes in traffic happened. According to the book “Transport Economics”, within few months, the percentage of carpooling with less than four passengers dropped from 48 to 21, while the use of public transportation rose from 41 to 62 percent. Despite that, the average number of cars during rush hours also declined, but the traffic after ERP’s functional hours peaked. What these numbers show, in fact, is that those who could not afford the extra fee were indirectly prevented from accessing some parts of the city. As we can see, technology itself is not inclusive, and often perpetuate the status quo.
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Retrieved from https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/managing-traffic-and-congestion/electronic-road-pricing-erp.html
     3. Governance vulnerabilities in Smart Cities and how it affects individual liberties
The complete eradication of privacy in Smart Cities by the government is also a risk to the current democratic system. By exchanging our information for security and practicality, we allow the government to not only know about us but also to profile us and even forecast our actions. In her article, " Legislating Privacy: Technology, Social Values, and Public Policy", Priscilla M. Regan, Professor at George Mason University, writes about the implications of new technologies in Public Policy. According to Regan, while the use of digital media devices by enterprises is usually classified as an invasion of privacy, it usually makes the organization even more powerful over individuals. That is, the online information turns into a new source of mass control, once that by accessing it, they can know one's history, activities, and proclivities.
In this scenario, minorities are groups of special interest. Historically underrepresented in public matters and often the target of authoritarian measures, this part of the population is more exposed than any other. One key factor to explain this is society’s tendency to generalize. Although the United States of America Civil Rights Act states that “All persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, and privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin”[4],  ethnicity, nationality, and religion continue to result in stereotypes and hate crimes. Take terrorism as an example. After the 9/11 attacks in New York, more muslims started to be selected for security checks at airports, despite the fact that most of them were peaceful individuals. Simultaneously, less of them were accepted in the U.S. as immigrants and tourists [5]. Statistically speaking, when the numbers prove that there is a profile for people that commit certain crimes, it is almost impossible to assure that there won’t be reprisals to this particular group.
Indeed, as technology makes these kinds of web intelligence acts evident, it also broadens its scope. In that sense, one concern about the interconnection of databases is shown in the forensic use of DNA. While the use of DNA samples to identify criminals boosts the efficiency of the judicial system, it also makes us question whether this measure leads to wrongful convictions. According to the article “Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA”, some researchers doubt the accuracy of the technology used in the recreation of facial images. The argument is that such techniques could stimulate racial profiling among law enforcement agencies, consequently affecting individual privacy and resulting in a violation the Fourth Amendment, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”[6]
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Retrieved from http://nuffieldbioethics.org/project/bioinformation
Another example of how good ideas can become dangerous is seen in New York City. Recently, the City Hall opened the possibility to its citizens of avoiding bureaucracy when registering to its Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program through an app called HRA Mobile. Instead of handing documents directly to a social services office, applicants can quickly upload them using the platform. According to Nina Stewart, the reporter behind the New York Times’ headline “Those Needing Food Stamps Find City App Eases the Path”, from March to June 2017, more than a million documents were posted. What is not said in the news, however, is what else these Data can be used for. From mere statistic purposes to profiling people to make use of populist measures, there are unlimited possibilities.
Unfortunately, one of the effects of Big Data usage by the government can be the perpetuation of tyranny. When it comes to an actual vigilance mechanism, the lack of privacy that is characteristic of Smart Cities becomes a dangerous threat to freedom of thought and expression. In the article “The watchers”, the author, Jonathan Shaw, argues that the mere awareness of surveillance reshapes people's behavior. This happens because, once you know you are constantly being watched, you tend to be more careful in your actions. According to the text, many governments use this kind of self-censorship to perpetuate its values. One example of this comes from China. By basing its system in 24/7 vigilance and rigorous repression, the Chinese government manages to keep its population following the rules. The understanding behind this approach is that, in the words of Bruce Schneider, one of the experts working in the cybersecurity program at Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, “if you don’t know where the line is, and the penalty for crossing it is severe, you will stay far away from it.”
In smart cities, surveillance is a vivid reality. Both New York and London have special departments to deal with the information gathered from security cameras - the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) and Government Communications Headquarters (CCHQ), respectively. And even not so developed cities seem to be heading in the same direction. In the online article “The truth about smart cities: ‘In the end, they will destroy democracy'”, Steven Poole mentions Rio de Janeiro’s center of operations. In Poole’s view, “One only has to look at the hi-tech nerve center that IBM built for Rio de Janeiro to see this Nineteen Eighty-Four-style vision already alarmingly realized. It is festooned with screens like a Nasa Mission Control for the city.” The journalist also highlights what Anthony Townsend writes about the building in “Smart Cities: Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia”: “What began as a tool to predict rain and manage flood response morphed into a high-precision control panel for the entire city.” They both make use of a quote of Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, when he affirms that “The operations center allows us to have people looking into every corner of the city, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
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Rio’s Center of Operatios (Centro de Operações da Prefeitura do Rio). Retrieved from http://www.metropolismag.com/cities/big-data-big-questions-data-smart-cities/
      4. Conclusion
To sum up, although Smart Cities seem to be a strong tendency for the future, they still must overcome many issues. The matter of whether technology should influence in policy-making – and more importantly, remain under the realm of already rich and powerful institutions such as governments – has to be addressed in the next years. In that sense, awareness of the population over the matter needs to increase, and is, therefore, one of the goals of this paper.
In the original online survey conducted by this Capstone group, the subjects were asked to briefly tell us about their background with social media. But we included an extra question. By the end of the form,  we simply put “What is Big Data?” as an optional part. From the 779 responses, we obtained only 65 answers to this particular inquiry. And even between these few, many included variations of “I don’t know.” The outcome of the process described was clarifying, even though it was somewhat expected. Living immerse in a technological environment, we understand that the loss of privacy often seems natural and that concepts like Big Data are not really discussed. What surprised us, however, was the unwillingness of people to find more about it. Most of the participants didn’t even try to google the term, they just jumped the question. And that is worrying.
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Translated from Portuguese: “ Have you ever heard of Big Data?” In red, “no”; in blue, “yes”; and in orange, “maybe”.
So, the best way to address the privacy issue is to invest in ways to inform the population about it. Once we are all aware of the complexity of Smart Cities and understand the possible consequences of it, we can demand our governments to be more transparent and to formulate concrete online privacy policies. Anyway, the future is uncertain, but it is possible to minimize its risks.
References (in order of appearance):
Hall, E. (2000). The Vision of a Smart City. Retrieved from: https://ntl.bts.gov/lib/14000/14800/14834/DE2001773961.pdf
Chen, W. & Wellman, B. (2004). The Global Digital Divide. IT&Society (1) 19. [1]
Duggan, M. & Brenner, J. (2013).  The Demographics of Social Media Users – 2012. Pew Research Center. 2. [2]
Smith, A. (2013). Smartphone ownership – 2013 Update. Pew Research Center. 2. [3]
Chauhan, S.; et al (2016) Addressing Big Data challenges in smart cities: a systematic literature review. The Journal for Policy, Regulation and Strategy for Telecommunications, Information and Media. 2, 2-5.
Popescul, D. & Radu, L. (2016). Data Security in Smart Cities: Challenges and Solutions. Informatica Economica. 30.
Finch, K. & Tene, O. (2013). Fordham urban Law Journal. 41. 1602-1604.
Oum Hoon, T.; et al. (1999). Harwood Academic Publishers. 289.
Regan, P. (1995). Legislating Privacy: Technology, Social Values, and Public Policy. University of North Carolina Press. 74-75.
The United States Civil Rights Act (1965). Retrieved from https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=false&doc=97&page=transcript [4]
Abbas (2007); Croucher & Cronn-Mills (2011); Gonzàlez, Verkuyten, Weesie, & Poppe (2008). [5]
Pollack, A. (February, 2015). Building a Face, and a Case, on DNA. New York Times: D1
Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment [6]
Stewart, N. (2017). Those Needing Food Stamps Find City App Eases the Path. The New York Times. Published on July 25th, 2017.
Shaw, J. (2017). The Watchers. Harvard Magazine. 119 (3), 56.
Poole, S. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/dec/17/truth-smart-city-destroy-democracy-urban-thinkers-buzzphrase [7].
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Balloon release to celebrate National Donate Life month outside the Edinburg Renaissance Conference Center.
Gerardo Hernandez, kidney recipient, and his daughter, Janett Arambula, donor, as they thank physicians, hospital and all supporters. Photo by Roberto Hugo Gonzalez.
Daughter donates kidney to her father to save his life
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published by Mega Doctor News in its newsprint edition April 2017.
April 13, 2017- This month, Doctors Hospital at Renaissance Health System and the Renaissance Transplant Institute celebrated a milestone in kidney transplantation. Marissa Castañeda Chief Operations Officer at DHR, acted as master of ceremony as they also celebrating with Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) the National Donate Life month.
Marissa Castañeda Chief Operations Officer at DHR
Castañeda said, “This is a very special day for us. It’s a celebration of life.”  She praised the amazing team of talented physicians, nurses, and most of all their first patients. “Thank you so much again, Janett Arambula and Gerardo Hernández; thank you for your courage.”
  Laura Disque, MSN, CGRN
The first speaker was Laura Disque, MSN, CGRN. Disque is the Transplant Administrator for the Renaissance Transplant Institute. She thanked daughter and father, Ms. Janett Arambula, the kidney donor as well as the kidney recipient, her father, Mr. Gerardo Hernandez. “It has been one month and six days I believe since your surgery.” Disque said, “And look at them, amazing.”
Disque stated that the kidney transplantation success was a team effort; a combination of great patients and a talented group of physicians. “We’re extremely proud of them, for the hard work that they have done. And I would like to thank our administration for all the support. This has been quite a task and we’ve had a 110% support,” she said.
Jennifer Milton, BSN, MBA, CCTC
Jennifer Milton, who addressed the attendees, is the Director for Transplant Services at the University Transplant Center and Clinical Assistant Professor UTHSCSA. She was introduced as “the fire-starter”. “I have great admiration for Jennifer and all that she does for the Rio Grande Valley,” Castañeda stated.
“I’ve been a part of this for 18 months and I’m so proud of Doctor’s Hospital At Renaissance, the community, and how they’ve come together.” Milton said, “I’ve been in Transplant for 23 years, and what we are is stewards of that gift, we’re stewards of donor families who say yes to donation because in the worst moment of their lives they’re thinking about other people.”
Milton commended Doctor’s Hospital At Renaissance for their support in reopening the transplantation program in the Rio Grande Valley. She said, “It has been a humbling privilege to be a part of this and watch this team’s leadership and the guidance of the surgeons and physicians to carry that torch and bring transplant back to the Valley.”
Milton said that it was an honor for her to be part of this celebration, a momentous day for this community.
Dorothy Starr, TOSA
As the celebration continued, Dorothy Starr, the Director of Hospital Services of the Northern Region for the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance also said, “We honor those who have given others a second chance at life.” She continued, “We aim to highlight the extreme need for organ, eye, and tissue donors.”
TOSA is committed to providing organ donation and recovery services to families waiting to donate and to those waiting for a lifesaving transplant.
Starr pointed out that in 2016 Doctor’s Hospital At Renaissance had three individuals who donated and provided nine lifesaving transplants. “At the end of today, 22 people will die because of the lack of organs. But another 78 people from different backgrounds of all ages will receive the transplant which they waited for months or even years,” she stated.
Starr also said that as we all celebrate Donate Life Month to remember the courageous organ donors and the inspiration of hope they provide to those who continue to wait. “Because without these donors there’s no transplant and no second chance. We encourage the community to support the 11,000 Texans awaiting a transplant by signing up to be an organ donor,” she stated.
Dr. Jose Almeda was introduced as one of the heroes and a true visionary in the field of transplantation. Dr. Almeda is the Transplant Director for the Renaissance Transplant Institute. He said, “I appreciate your support and the time and the efforts from all our staff and the hospital administration.”  In addition, he said, “It’s a tremendous undertaking that the hospital and the community and the community leaders have invested into the patients of the Valley.”
Dr. Almeda said that he didn’t really know too much about the Rio Grande Valley even though he is from West Texas. He trained in San Antonio and Los Angeles and that now that he is here, he feels privileged because he says that the patients in the Valley are very appreciative. “They are humble, they’ll do anything for their family, and they’re so grateful,” he stated.
Dr. Almeda said, “We want to do this again. We want to be able to help more patients.” He also asked for help to spread awareness, “We have 300 patients that are knocking on the doors wanting the same thing and we’re trying to get to them all,” he stated.
Castañeda said she feels that Dr. Almeda is a God send, and that everyone appreciates Almeda’s efforts and leadership.
Dr. Robert Martinez, DHR
Dr. Robert Martinez, Chief Medical Officer, Chief Physician Executive at Doctors Hospital At Renaissance Health System said, “I want to thank everyone for coming out to celebrate this wonderful milestone, not only for DHR and the physician community here but certainly for South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.”
He reminded everyone in need of any more information on organ donation or any other questions about transplant, to let them know. “We’re here to answer your questions and hopefully partner to make this dream come true.”
The morning of April 13, 2017 was indeed when DHR’s dreams became reality. Castañeda said, “There’s a lot of gratitude, a lot of emotions today; all good emotions.”
The ceremony concluded with a video that showed some of the staff behind the scenes. Shortly after, Janett the donor, and Gerardo, the organ recipient, participated in a photo session with the physicians. After this, outside the Edinburg Renaissance Conference Center celebrated a balloon release as shown in the photo. MDN
Dr. Almeda Transplant Director for the Renaissance Transplant Institute said, “It was a live donor kidney transplant in which the daughter donated her kidney to her father. A true sign of love, I think. We know that the life expectancy on dialysis is a certain amount of time; it’s not forever. The kidney transplant is the best thing we have, to prolong someone’s life, so it’s a lifesaving operation. DHR is the hospital in the Valley to have stepped up to that plate, to invest the money to make it the best because in the words of one of the entrepreneurs here who we all know very well said, ‘if you’re not going to do it right, don’t do it at all’.” 
Dr. Phillip Thomas, transplant surgeon. “I think we all recognize live donation as being a heroic act. Society needs heroes because we can’t function without them.” Dr. Phillip Thomas said, “To do a transplant you have to have this concept of a multi-disciplinary approach. It actually involves doctors, nurses, coordinators, social workers, dieticians, respiratory therapists, rehab folks, all working together for a patient, and coming together on a regular basis to deliver that complexity of care.”
Dr. Mourad Alsabbagh, Transplant Nephrologist. “In the few days after the surgery which is very important, any minute could affect the patient’s kidney survival. The surgeon and I, we round on the patients more than one time a day and we must be sure that the kidney is functioning well, the patient is doing well, and the nurses get enough education on how to manage the patient when the patient is in the hospital.
Gaudencio Olgin, MD, Urologic Surgeon, “I feel that DHR has a very strong commitment to the patients and the population in this area. This is the kind of undertaking as far as this type of surgery, the pre-operative care, and the post-operative care that goes along with this is a way of showing how the institution and medicine in general are pushing the boundaries and keeping up with different benchmarks across the country.”
Dr. Greg Abrahamian, Transplant Surgeon at UT Health San Antonio. “To reestablish a kidney transplant program in the Valley is a tremendous benefit to the patients and their families in this region.”
Dr. Glenn Halff, Transplant Surgeon at UT Health San Antonio, “The first kidney transplant at DHR went beautifully. The staff, physicians, surgeons, and hospital leadership here are wonderful and I think this program will create a tremendous opportunity for the community and the Valley.”
Kidney Transplantation, a Milestone for DHR and Valley Community Daughter donates kidney to her father to save his life By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez As originally published by Mega Doctor News in its newsprint edition April 2017.
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