For those with a hearty appetite, 1996's BIG NIGHT is a hilarious and satisfying food film! Esp. if you love Italian food as much as I do!

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When I first saw BIG NIGHT starring Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Isabella Rossellini, and Minnie Driver, I immediately bought the film for its charm, wit, and, of course, food -- Italiano style! I'm still learning the recipes. If anyone would like to try them, below is the link. Piacere il pasto!

http://www.meetup.com/cooking-239/messages/boards/thread/4459784?thread=4459784

Synopsis:

Primo and Secondo are two brothers who have emigrated from Italy to open an Italian restaurant in America. Primo is the irascible and gifted chef, brilliant in his culinary genius, but determined not to squander his talent on making the routine dishes that customers expect. Secondo is the smooth front-man, trying to keep the restaurant financially afloat, despite few patrons other than a poor artist who pays with his paintings. The owner of the nearby Pascal’s restaurant, enormously successful (despite its mediocre fare), offers a solution – he will call his friend, a big-time jazz musician, to play a special benefit at their restaurant. Primo begins to prepare his masterpiece, a feast of a lifetime, for the brothers’ big night…

Enjoy a believably fun impersonation of Bob Dylan by Jimmy Fallon!

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Sunday is for Poetry: LIFE

Minimal possessions --

Splashes of rainforests

Panoramic heavens

Oceans of desert

Stampeding animals

Trees of music

All of creation.

Life.

**written by petra michelle**

Meditating at one's desk 5 minutes a day can reduce stress

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More often, the better!

To my dearest niece, Nicole...

...in making the Dean's List your Freshman year! Mere words cannot describe my pride! You're a super star! :))

Inspiration

Inspiration is such a fragile thing...just a fragile

thing. Just a breeze, touching the green foliage

of a city park. Just a whisper from the soul of'a

friend. Just a line of verse, clipped from some

forgotten magazine...or a paragraph standing

out from among the matter-of-fact chapters

of a learned book.

Inspiration...who can say where it is born, and

why it leaves? Who can tell of its reasons for

being...or for not being?

Only this...I think that inspiration comes from

the Heart of Heaven to give the lift of wings, and

the breath of divine music to those of us who are

earthbound.

Margaret E. Sangster

Are We Programmed For Self-Destruct? by Marc Stoiber

A fascinating and realistic perspective on sustainability and human nature!

http://community.maddockdouglas.com/article/15187/Are-We-Programmed-For-Self-Destruct-Sustainability-and-Human-Nature/

"I saw Dr. David Suzuki give his legacy speech in December. The speech was positioned as the summary of Suzuki’s learnings from his long, illustrious career as a leader in the environmental movement.

One observation he made really stuck with me. He pointed out that humans are up to 90% water – yet we deliberately pour our most toxic waste into our water supply. If we saw any individual poisoning a glass of water, then drinking it down, we’d surely put them on suicide watch.

Then he talked about the air we breathe. Again, as an element it’s vitally important. But we pollute it as if we had a death wish.

Suzuki went on to draw similar conclusions on our shabby treatment of the soil, the oceans, and other organisms we depend on for existence.

His conclusion was that we show all the symptoms of suicidal insanity. We know we’re killing ourselves, but it doesn’t seem to slow us down.

Why?

UBC professor of ecological planning William Rees provides this insight:

The real problem is that the modern world remains in the sway of a dangerously illusory cultural myth. Like Bjorn Lomborg (author of The Skeptical Environmentalist), most governments and international agencies seem to believe that the human enterprise is somehow 'decoupling' from the environment, and so is poised for unlimited expansion.

Malcolm Gladwell goes further, stating:

The fact is, we can be law-abiding and peace-loving and tolerant and inventive and committed to freedom and true to our own values and still behave in ways that are biologically suicidal.

This leads me to two obvious questions – what could be causing us to behave this way? And what could get us back in sync with our environment?

In actual fact, we are not all behaving this way. Guy Dauncey writes that it is in fact a small group with interests vested in unsustainable industry and production that needed to be targetted and turned. But he is hopeful:

The real story here, which merits attention, is how fast we humans are learning to use our collective pressure to achieve this end. We succeeded with slavery, votes for women, labour unions, civil rights, overthrowing kings and tyrants. Will we succeed with the world’s big corporations, whose leaders currently sit on top of the pile…?

Climate Counts does an annual climate action audit of hundreds of leading US companies. They are, in fact, seeing year over year improvements across the board with these companies. So, in fact, consumers are having an impact on producers.

But will it be too little, too late?

I’m an innovator and believe there is a way we can speed our recovery. We can take a tip from traditional marketing strategists and innovatively link happiness with sustainable products, services and business models to shift society from the brink. Or go one further, we could link happiness with spiritual fulfillment.

It isn't a terribly new idea. In 1972, Bhutan's former king coined the concept of Gross National Happiness which defines the quality of life in more holistic and psychological terms. The four pillars of GNH are sustainable development, strengthened cultural values, conserving the natural environment, and good governance.

If this sounds a bit kumbaya, consider companies like Patagonia. They work on a GNH model, and thrive financially.

Not that Patagonia is an anomaly. Innovations like social media have pushed corporations toward greater transparency. That means even non-believers in the C-Suite are recognizing the importance of transparency, greater sustainability and, well, playing nicer in the environmental sandbox.

Are we doing enough yet to stop our collective suicide? No. But is there room for rescue? I believe so.

Our brains landed us in this pickle. And properly engaged, our brains can pull us out of the vinegar. Couple humanity’s brainpower with the earth’s remarkable ability to heal its scars, and you have a recipe for hope.

Hope may be just what the suicidal patient needs."


Here, here, Marc!

"The Future is not ours to erase." David Suzuki

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Please join me in signing the Declaration of Interdependence. It’s a heartfelt pledge to preserve the Earth and act on the understanding that we are completely dependent on Mother Earth and interconnected with nature.

Watch the video to listen to the Declaration.

Jackie Cooper (September 15, 1922-May 3, 2011)

Jackie Cooper was an American actor, television director, producer and executive. He was a child actor who managed to make the transition to an adult career. He is also the youngest performer to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, an honor that he received for the film Skippy (1931).

He died in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 88.