|
|
|
May 5, 2006
Hola Peep-a-ronis Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Finally, after over 40 days and nights of continuous rain, spring is in the air in northern California—and people just need their umbrellas to cap their margaritas. Haven’t written in a while cause I have been busy worshipping the sun! I did manage to check out the San Francisco Women’s Film Festival over the weekend and interview prolific actor Danny Glover. Picture this—the bohemian Minna Gallery tucked away in a downtown alley…modern art, vintage dark wood bar, beret-wearin DJ spinning old school and techno beats, vegan appetizers, wire rimmed glasses galore. A good sized crowd came to check out a great collection of indie films and mingle with the artists. The films were amazing, covering topics like breast cancer, self love and identity, as well as international issues, like the genocide in Darfur. Founder Scarlett Shepard was sick and tired of seeing female filmmakers left out of the history books in her film classes, (even though women have been making films since 1913) so she decided to create the Women’s Film Network and this film festival to help fill that void and create a place to showcase their works.
An interview with Danny Glover…
Now you might ask, what was Danny Glover doing there? He’s the lead actor in a new indie film featured at the festival called Lost in America, (formerly called the Woodcutter) directed by Gabrielle Savage Dockterman. Glover plays a reclusive Vietnam vet named Jake who becomes the unwilling guardian of an abandoned child. Glover unassumingly walked into the gallery with his baseball cap and jeans, but he was hard not to notice. He was at least 6’3 inches tall, and had a very charismatic presence.
He is also very passionate in his beliefs, as I found out during our 10 minute interview—which quickly turned into a half hour conversation.
When it comes to acting, Glover has been in big action hits like the Lethal Weapon series, but also in smaller more character driven films. When I asked him which one he prefers, he didn’t feel he could choose one over the other. “I acted in the films that came to me, it’s more about a compelling story than about the size of the production.” When I asked him how the landscape has changed for black actors since he started acting almost thirty years ago he surprised me with his answer. “The landscape hasn’t changed, and you can really see that when you have been acting as long as I have. Studios follow the same pattern in typecasting people, and this will only continue with media consolidation, as power gets into fewer hands.” He went on to explain that if a formula works, or is profitable, media giants will have little incentive to change things. The only way to stop this is to give people who think out of the box the power to reshape the filmmaking industry—and he didn’t seem to think this would happen any time soon. Although I tend to be a little more optimistic, an awareness of this problem is important before things get better.
Friday Mailbag…
I figured now is a good time to play catch up on some of the letters I have been receiving from you guys—thank you so much for your feedback and support!
From Andrew in Mountainview:
I just heard about the big merger between KTEH and KQED, what does that mean for video i? Your program has been a part of our Monday ritual for years, will the show be cancelled?
Hey Andrew, thanks for watching video i—unlike other business deals, this merger will benefit the viewers. With San Francisco and San Jose joining forces, PBS will be in a better position to get more funding for programs like video i, and other original shows too. Now the geographic reach will be even larger, to include all of the San Franicsco Bay Area, plus Monterey and Napa counties. Right now the two channels will remain the same, at least for a year. For the record, we have almost finished completing the video i series for next season, and have funding for the season after that—so you can get your indie film fix for at least another two years!
From Jessica in San Mateo:
Love your clothes on the show, where can I find them?? Particularly the silky hot pink tank and shrug you wore a couple of weeks ago.
Thanks Jessica--for the past couple of seasons two boutiques have been providing the clothes for the shows—Cassis and Leaf and Petal in Palo Alto. That silk tank is from Cassis, though I’m not sure they’re still selling it, but worth checking out. Their clothes are gorgeous--good luck!
From Christophe in New York:
Hey Blanche, don’t know you, never seen you on the tube, but enjoy reading your journals, why don’t you update them more often? Going national anytime soon? Any plans on having a message board?
I hear ya Christophe…I know I know, I should update the journal more, though I have suffered writer’s block on more than one occasion—maybe it’s all this sunshine lately. The journal was really experimental, never knew it would get the feedback it has received. But I will try to update the journal as much as I can—I prefer to focus on quality more than quantity. I have received a lot of e-mail about wanting video i to go national. The truth is, video i was THISCLOSE to going national, except some FCC requirements slowed down the deal. There’s still hope though, especially if PBS gets larger grants with this upcoming merger. Whether I will still be involved with video i is a different matter—not everything is finalized yet, but this June, I will be in a brand new show on a different channel. I can’t talk about it yet but this opportunity should give me that much more writing material (though suck up even more of my time.) As for a message board, still thinking about it—worried about spam ;)
From Esther:
Dear Blanche, why don’t you put a doc on video i detailing the horrors of North Korea? Here are some of the articles that I read that I found atrocious. I think it would be good to let others know about it too.
Oh Esther, I read over the links you sent me, and the crimes committed in North Korea are unspeakably horrible. I am in the process of securing a documentary dealing with this important issue for the next season of video i—will keep ya posted. And if any of you reading have more suggestions, send em my way!
From Tom:
I think you are doing a great job. You must get sick and tired of hearing this but you are a most beautiful telecaster.
((Blush)) Thank you Tom—I am assuming by your use of the word “Telecaster” that you are from Europe or Canada—so glad my journal is being read so widely!
With Mother’s Day around the corner…
Why not pamper your momma with a yummy breakfast? I discovered these ridiculously amazing lemon ricotta pancakes while staying at a hotel during a business trip, and I managed to snag the recipe and put some touches of my own, like adding a raspberry sauce. These light as air pancakes don’t have much flour and are full of protein—enjoy!
Yo Momma’s Lemon Souffle Pancakes
3 Eggs – separated
1/3 C All-Purpose Flour
3/4 C Ricotta
1/4 C Butter-melted
2 Tbs Sugar
1/4tsp Salt
2 Tbs Grated Lemon Zest
Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, stir together the egg yolks, flour, ricotta cheese, butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest until well mixed. With a spatula, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Gently stir, there should still be small pieces of egg white showing. Set your skillet or griddle to medium heat. Grease lightly and use about 3 large tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Cook slowly for about 1 1/2 minutes, then turn the pancake over and cook about 30 seconds. Keep the pancakes warm in 250 F oven until ready to serve. Serve with raspberry or maple syrup and fresh berries.
For Raspberry Sauce:
One half pint (1 cup) raspberries, gently washed and dried
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Puree the berries in a food processor or blender until very smooth. Strain the juice in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl; discard seeds and pulp. Stir the sugar and lemon juice into the bowl with the raspberry puree.
Until next time...
|
 |
