The NYC premiere of Forks Over Knives is tonight at the Sunshine Cinema. The movie features the always inspiring Dr. Ruth Heidrich, who beat breast cancer with a vegan diet and and an exercise regimen. Ruth is the author of Senior Fitness and A Race for Life. As the film warns, "This movie could save your life!"
This is the most serious looking I've ever seen Josh Hooten...
It's a gorgeous spring day here in Brooklyn, with the sun shining, daffodils pushing toward the sky, and the temperature considering hitting seventy. It's the kind of day that makes you want to ride your bike. (Unless you're Samo and contentedly lying on a catnip toy.)
That's just what our friend Josh Hooten (from Herbivore!) is going to do. Next month he's leaving Portland on only two wheels and heading 600 miles South to Farm Sanctuary in Orland, CA.
Why on earth would someone want to ruin a perfectly nice spring bike ride by making it last 600 miles? Josh says that it's to celebrate his ten years of practicing veganism. A visit to Farm Sanctuary is what helped him take the leap those many years ago.
If you feel so inclined, you can sponsor Josh's ride—he's trying to raise $10,000 for Farm Sanctuary, and is more than half way there.
You can read all about "Team Herbivore" on Josh's blog, where the tagline is "Low Class, Sore Ass." (I want to know what you can expect when you click on that link!)
And, if you're a Facebooker, which I assume must be an accepted term by now, you can become a fan of the Farm Sanctuary ride. While you're there, become a friend of Lantern!
I have nothing new to offer on the topic of this day, this anniversary. The train this morning was filled with people remembering where they were, how they experienced it. And the papers are full of the sorrows that remain, and the wars still being waged using 9-11 as some sort of "reasoning."
I have nothing new to offer, but knowing the significance of this day to so many people around the globe, I offer links to others, who have been able to put words, images, videos and numbers together.
Just a note to say thank you to all of those (about thirty in all) who showed up to hear Heather Rogers and Elizabeth Royte talk about trash and our disposal of it at our Lantern/Satya sponsored event a week ago. Heather and Elizabeth accurately showed the complexities of a society that values disposability and collective amnesia over conservation and the successful long-term handling of our natural resources. In fitting celebration, Lantern managed to make the event zero waste, which was, really, the least we can do.
Lantern is planning an event on Sudan for June, although we haven't confirmed who's going to speak or where it's going to be yet. But visit this blog page and our events page frequently and we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we do!
Yours truly, as well as Satya editor Catherine Clyne, current staffer Mo Wyse, Lawrence Carter-Long, writer Mia MacDonald, and former Lanternite Anne Sullivan, found ourselves among some bold-face names yesterday at the launch party for the newly reconstituted Jivamukti Yoga Center, now located only a few asanas away from Lantern's offices on Broadway between 13th and 14th streets.
Long-time yogi Sting was there with his partner, fellow activist Trudi Styler, as was Julia Butterfly Hill. Also present was Ingrid Newkirk of PETA, vegan hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and his on-again-off-again wife Kimora Lee, Karen Dawn of Dawnwatch, Dan Piraro and Ashley Lou Smith, and our very own Mark Whitwell. Also spotted among the crowd were actors Matthew Modine and Elizabeth Barkley, writer Jack Kornfield, and Asha Puthli, probably the foremost exponent of Indian song today.
En-chanting entertainment was provided by mantra rock stars Krishna Das and Michael Franti. Sharon Gannon and David Life, the co-founders of Jivamukti, and authors of a book that Lantern distributes, also introduced folks to Dharma Mittra, who performed yoga to the adoring crowd. Jivamukti Yoga Center now has a vegan juice and snack bar run by Matthew Kenney, founder of Pure Food and Wine, and more accommodating space for you to stretch and hang. It's the perfect place to call Om.
Satya magazine is hosting three events in May that Lanternites (yes, you are a Lanternite, like it or not!) might be interested in attending.
On Wednesday, May 3, British actor Mat Fraser will compere "Born Freak: An Evening with Mat Fraser," in which he will explore why disabled performers like himself survived by working in freak shows, traveling in carnivals across the U.K. and the U.S. This is a copresentation of DisThis! and Satya. Info: 6:30-9 pm (screening starts at 7 pm). DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (between Walker & White Sts). 2 blocks South of the Broadway Canal Street subway stop. RSVP: 212-251-4092. Learn more about the film: http://www.disthis.org/BornFreak.htm.
Satya's May issue will explore all aspects of trash. You're invited to attend a party on Thursday, May 18, with Satya and Recycle This! in celebrating the many voices and resources combating NYC's disposable culture. Enjoy light refreshments and mingle with activists and members of the Satya staff at this fun, educational, waste-free party. Info: 6:30-8:30 pm, Time's Up! 49 E. Houston (between Mott & Mulberry Sts). Info: www.satyamag.com; 718-832-9557.
Then on Tuesday, May 23, there's a film screening of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, a 19-minute documentary by Heather Rogers that explores the history and politics of garbage. Discussion panel to follow. This is presented by Satya and us, Lantern Books! Info: 6:30-8:30 pm, Whirlwind Creative Gallery, 330 W. 38 St (between 8 & 9 Aves), Suite 511. For more about the film and panel, click here or see our Events page.
During the evening, I mentioned the statue of Alison Lappercurrently sitting on a plinth (she's in the upper left-hand corner next to the fountain) in Trafalgar Square in London. As you'll notice, Alison is not your usual political hero or member of the Royal Family, whose statues adorn that part of London. First of all, she's female, she's pregnant, and she's naked, and, as far as I know, did not subdue any enemies of Britain's centuries-long Imperial "project."
She also has no arms and has stunted legs, and, when the statue was put in Trafalgar Square it immediately generated controversy, not least, perhaps, because people were unused to seeing disability portrayed in such monumental form. That was until somebody pointed out that Admiral Lord Nelson, Britain's greatest sailor, whose Column towers over Trafalgar Square, had only one eye and one arm.
Lantern's next event will be a screening followed by discussion of images of the disabled in the media. If you want to prep yourself beforehand, here are a couple of events featuring Lantern friend Lawrence Carter-Long that you may want to check out.
First, on April 3, from 10 am to 12 pm (with lunch to follow) join Lawrence in a panel discussion on humor and disability, as part of the Columbia University Disability Studies group. The location is the appropriately named Alfred Lerner Hall, Broadway Room (enter Columbia at 115th St. and Broadway. Follow path and take the first right to building entrance). You need to RSVP to guarantee a seat.
Secondly, join Lawrence, the Disabilities Network of NYC and ConnecTV at "disTHIS!" the launch of a new monthly film series devoted to demystifying disability. It's on Wednesday, April 5 at the ConnecTV studios at DCTV, 87 Lafayette St (between Walker and White), from 6:30 to 9pm.
Grub is a practical and inspirational book on bringing healthy, organic, bioregional food to inner city communities quite literally starved of good food for decades. So, check out a copy, and wherever you are in North America over the next few weeks, stop by and say "hello" to Anna and Bryant. Oh yes, and buy their book! You can see the schedule here.
Our good friends at Satya magazine have a couple of events you might be interested in going to, should you be in the Big Apple or listening on the radio.
First is, the Satya-produced Radio Show "Feminist Food," produced in honor of International Women's Day and playing on WBAI (99.5 FM) in New York City or on the web at www.wbai.org. This show explores how the meat, egg and dairy industries impact animals, women and society. You can hear Satya editors Catherine Clyne, Kymberlie Adams Matthews and Sangamithra Iyer discuss feminism on their plate, and listen to Pattrice Jones of Eastern Shore Sanctuary make connections between feminism and veganism. Satya's Editorial Intern, Maureen Wyse, shows us how easy being vegan is and will tempt your taste buds with women-powered vegan eats and businesses, with shout-outs to Vegan Treats, Babycakes, May Wah and MooShoes.
Then, a mere two days later, you can learn about the genocide in Darfur and what you can do to help, when Satya hosts a discussion with the Sudanese Community including native Darfurian Yahya Osman and former Sudanese Slave Simon Deng. The details: Saturday, March 11, 3-5pm, Brooklyn YWCA 30 3rd Ave., (Btw. Atlantic & State) Boardroom Lounge, 2nd floor. Free Admission, donations encouraged. The event is also sponsored by Brooklyn Parents for Peace, Darfur Rehabilitation Project, and Darfur People's Association of New York. For more info: 718-624-5921 or www.brooklynpeace.org/events/.
You may have noticed that over the last few months Lantern Books has been staging monthly events that at first blush appear to have little to do with our publishing programs. Last year we showed a film on and then discussed the appalling conditions in California’s youth prisons. In February, we explored the issue of street harassment. In March, we’ll be looking at the future of food, and in April, we’ll be examining the topic of disability rights. Why do we do this? After all, these events are free, and we don’t sell our books at the events.
On Olivia's advice in her blog dated January 19, 2006, I moseyed on down to the Freecycle NYC's Post-Holiday Re-Gifting Freemeet on East Sixth Street between A and B on the Lower East Side. I'd be lying if I had a lot of high-priced but unwanted Christmas presents to give away. Instead, I had all the extra rubber bands our office had acquired over the past few months (in a nice see-through container) and had that morning diligently washed all of the old plastic knives, forks, and spoons we'd collected at home, and put them in a tupperware container. Oh yes, I'd brought along some unused wooden chopsticks and a few old books.
For the last twenty years, the philosopher Tom Regan, pioneering author of The Case for Animal Rights, and his wife Nancy have run the Culture and Animals Foundation, which has provided grants to artists and academics on the subject of animal advocacy. Their annual conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, in October always attracted a small (about 100-150) but thoughtful crowd. I’ve always liked this conference because of its intimacy and because the speakers aren’t the usual suspects but bring different, and sometimes challenging perspectives, to bear on the issues.
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