The Writer's Life 7/28 - Survival

Survival has long been a film theme and will continue to be. I couldn't think of a single title of the genre that was boring, so I added Jungle (2017) to my Netflix list. I watched it last night. It is based on a memoir of the same title by Yossi Ghinsberg, a young Israeli who traveled South America. He falls in with two other young men, and the three are persuaded by a middle age man to hike into the wilds of Bolivia in search of an indian tribe that will probably be extinct very soon. This isn't a bad flick. It's simply standard, distinguished by Stefan Duscio's cinematography. It was shot in Australia, Bolivia and Colombia. Daniel Radcliffe is solid as the optimistic adventurer, as is Germany's prolific Thomas Kretschmann as the guide. As is usually the case in such fare, the outcome is not in doubt despite long odds. It was directed by Aussie Greg Mclean, who has been linked with a group specializing in horror dubbed the "Splat Pack" that includes America's Rob Zombie. He was at the helm of two Wolf Creek movies, which spawned a TV show down under. The screenplay was adapted by a New Yorker, Justin Monjo, who has worked largely in TV, including the imaginative sci-fi series Farscape. 29,000+ users at IMDb have rated Jungle, forging to a consensus of 6.7 on a scale of ten, too high in my opinion. Its financial figures at Box Office Mojo don't reveal much. I sense it did not do well. It appears it wasn't even released in the USA. Its appeal is probably limited to fans of the genre and of Radcliffe. Here's a still of the star in character:

Anyone over 50 has likely begun considering long term survival and probably knows about probiotics and how they are supposed to do wonders for digestion, cleaning out toxins that might otherwise stay in the system. I take them and, if my bathroom habits are any indication, they work on clearing the colon. Yesterday I viewed a video from an MD touting prebiotics, which he claims make probiotics work properly in that they enhance the good bacteria in the stomach. He also warns of foods I'd believed were healthy. He says the skin and seeds of tomatoes kill microbes, as do breads of all kinds, including the much-touted whole wheat, and grains and most nuts, especially pecans. He claims a single can of diet soda can wipe out all microbes for a time, which should surprise no one. He drank seven a day when he was 70 pounds overweight, and worked out religiously, and had no idea why he wasn't dropping pounds. He touts dark chocolate - yay - but says it must have a 72% efficiency, which, to my surprise, is noted on many packages. He also praises extra virgin olive oil. Then again, he says one can eat anything as long as one takes his powder each morning. It's $50 for what looks like a month supply. I went to a review site, which ranked it second behind a product that costs half as much. I may give it a try, as it claims to ease gas and bloating. What's next - a product called  Pre-Prebiotics?

It was another day of surviving high humidity. Despite it, business was good at the floating book shop. My thanks to the young woman who parked her bike and bought three novels, including Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes; and to the gentleman who purchased five books in Russian despite complaining there were too many fantasies in the inventory; and to the elderly woman who selected Mary Higgins Clark's Stillwatch; and to Monsey, who walked away with Tao of No Stress: Three Simple Paths by Stuart Alve Olson; and to Bob, who was intrigued by the title Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change It: Wisdom of the Great Philosophers on How to Live by Daniel Klein; and to Danny, who for the fourth straight week bought non-fiction in bulk, choosing The Way of the Small: Why Less Is More by Michael Gellert and Thomas Moore, The Improbable Primate: How Water Shaped Human Evolution by Clive Finlayson, Educating Intuition by Robin M. Hogarth, Dharma, Color, and Culture: New Voices in Western Buddhism by Hilda Gutierez Baldoquin, Walking the Path of the Jewish Mystic: How to Expand Your Awareness and Transform Your Life by Rabbi Yoel Glick, and Stocks Bonds Options Futures by Stuart R. Veale. I wrote it all down.

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