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Herbs for Your Pet
Saturday, January 30, 1999 I was a bit busier this morning than I would have been in an ideal world. Instead of lying in bed as late as I wanted, I had to get the food together for the homeless men who sleep at an overflow shelter at my church. Good thing I went through the mail in my mailbox the other day, or I wouldn't have seen that I was listed on the schedule! The coordinator will call and remind you if you are listed on the first few days of the schedule, but not if you are at the end of the month, since she reasonably assumes that one looks at one's mail more often than once a month! The last time I did this, there wasn't room in the refrigerators where I drop off the dozen packed "breakfasts", so I left the food on the counter. Unfortunately, the room was so warm that one of the yogurts popped open! So they threw all the yogurts away. I didn't buy any yogurt this time, so even though I again had to leave the bags out, I don't think they will have a problem.
Today was the second day of the Fourth Women in Cinema Festival. They schedule the more serious items during the afternoon, and the fun stuff in the evening. A--- was there when I arrived, along with Doug Ing and other festival friends. The first feature was a documentary, Paulina, about a Mexican woman who overcame a horrific childhood and now works as a servant. Sounds depressing, right? But actually it was interesting, even uplifting! She had worked as a maid in the filmmaker's family (Vicky Funari, an American) as Funari was growing up in Mexico City in the seventies. The film reenacts incidents from Paulina's life, and follows her on a visit back to her home village, the first in many years. Paulina's personality, humor and determination make the gruesome and disturbing incidents in her childhood and early adolescence tolerable. The second show was a group of shorts, termed "Travelogue." One of the filmmakers, Elizabeth Holder of "Weekend Getaway," was present, which meant we had to ask her questions after all the films had been shown. Her film was funny, and it took me a little while to guess the punchline. Shorts are always a mixed bag, but I liked "Joint Venture" the best -- it was an English short about an old woman and a motorcycle chick working together to provide marijuana for a loved one who's dying. Sounds grim, but it was really tender and funny! Then back for another documentary, Juliette of the Herbs, about a woman who is known as a wholistic healer and herbalist, especially famous for her books about herbs for animals. Juliette de Bairacli Levy is now eighty five! The most interesting parts were about her early life. She's a true original, and although the pictures of her as a girl show her dressed in typical English schoolgirl outfits, the family must have been outsiders -- her father was Turkish, her mother an Egyptian Jew, and they lived in Manchester in the early 1900s! She went to university, then to veterinary school in the twenties, then went to live among the Gypsies to learn their wisdom, etc. The director/producer was an herb person before she became a filmmaker, so she's quite a true believer and there wasn't a critical eye cast on the subject at all. I stayed awake for it all, which is a mark in the film's favor. A group of us went for a nice dinner at an unpretentious Chinese food place a block away. I like this place because they do a good job on chow fun, the wide rice noodles, stir fried. A---, Doug Ing, another Doug, and C--- and Y--- were there, getting caught up on things. I hadn't seen C--- and Y--- since last August, at A---'s surprise birthday dinner. I think I ran into them at a movie sometime last fall, but I can't find the reference. The two movies we saw in the evening were on the lighter side. Restless, which purports to be the first American/Chinese coproduction, follows some American twenty-something expatriates living in Beijing. I liked it, and the cast was great! The movie is very easy to take. The last movie of the day, Twice Upon a Yesterday (original title was The Man with Rain in his Shoes), was my favorite of the day. In a Groundhog Day kind of way, an out of work actor gets a chance to go back and undo the actions that led to the break-up of his longterm relationship. Another coproduction, in this case Spanish and British, it was set in London with a mostly English cast, a few Spanish actors thrown in, and Elizabth McGovern to boot. The magical parts of the story are really well done! and the movie really had some serious things to say about relationships, forgiveness and love. My friend Tami Vining gave me a ride home, although we walked several blocks to get to her truck, first. I enjoyed getting caught up on what she's been up to lately!
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