Stealing the Show

August 11, 2014

My husband and I rarely agree on movies. I like dramas, historical films, documentaries, and the occasional rom-com. He on the other hand, favors sci-fi, thrillers, and action-adventure movies. You see the problem, I’m sure. Maybe you even sympathize. But it was a dog-day-of-summer afternoon and although both of us had things we SHOULD have been doing, neither of us wanted to do them, so my husband said, “Think there’s a movie we could go to?” Quickly, I spun up Fandango and started perusing the possibilities. “A Most Wanted Man”? ” Nope.” “The Hundred Foot Journey? Oh, no, wait. I’m saving that for Girls Night Out with Sylvia and Angie.” (There was a “whew” from the male in the room. I heard it.) “Ummmm…..Would you go see Chef? It’s got Dustin Hoffman and and Robert Downey, Jr. and Sofia Vergara and it’s about…” “Yeah, I’ll go see that.”

 

It didn’t matter that he didn’t know what it was about. I knew I had him at Sofia Vergara and it started in exactly 20 minutes, which was just enough time, so off we went.

 

In case you’re not up to the minute on this summer’s hot movies, “Chef” is a light comedy road movie about the recently fired chef-de-cuisine of an A-list LA restaurant and his efforts to simultaneously re-build his professional life and his family life in the back end of a food truck. (For the trailer,  click  here: http://www.fandango.com/chef_165720/movieoverview ) We enjoyed it – and why not? The cast is stellar, the story is heart-warming, the soundtrack is awesome, and all of that is well and good.

 

However, there was a scene-stealer and truthfully, I think it made the movie. I don’t know if

everyone would notice, but I did. And pretty much the rest of the theater audience became appreciatively aware of it when I jumped up in the middle of a dialogue between Jon Favreau and Sofia Vergara and pointed it out in not-very hushed tones. There on the patio wall, right over Sofia Vargara’s left shoulder, was REC22. “OMG. ‘Birds in Flight’ That’s OURS!!!”

 

You want to talk about product placement! Promenantly hung on the mocha-colored stucco wall, delecately framed by bougainvilla. It was lovely. It was perfect. It was OURS!

 

So when do you want YOURS to ship? It’s not every day that you have the chance to order a genuine piece of Hollywood memorabilia. This is your moment! Don’t wait! (“As seen in ‘Chef’ ” plaque sold separately.)

 

Contributed by Linda for It’s Cactus

The Enduring Mystique of La Sirene

August 7, 2014

Mermaids are the among most ubiquitous of sea creatures, at least from a cultural point of view. They appear in ancient legends of the deep from Egypt and Greece, the Eskimos have them in their lore, as do the Western Europeans, Australian Aborigines and the tribes of Africa. Across boundaries of time and space, this half woman, half fish is at once powerful, beautiful, protective, hypnotic, and dangerous.

 
It was from the combined influences of West African spirit worship and Western European folklore that mermaids made their entrance into the New World. Mami Wata, as the sea spirit was known to West African tribes, was an integral part of the belief system that traveled with enslaved Africans to the Americas. Reestablished and revisualized across the Atlantic, Mami Wata emerged in new communities and under different guises, among them Yemanja, Santa Marta la Dominadora, and most commonly, La Sirene. African–based faiths honoring these manifestations of Mami Wata continue to flourish today throughout the Americas, including Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

 
From Europe, and beginning with Christopher Colombus, mermaid veneration and ideology was reinforced. During his explorations of Hispaniola Colombus wrote of seeing, “…three mermaids, though these were not as pretty as mermaids that had been previously described to me. In fact, somehow in the face, they appeared more as men.” Too bad for Colombus. Years later in 1614, Captain John Smith had a more pleasant experience, taking note of a lovely mermaid that had, “a fish-tail, round eyes, a finely-shaped nose, well-formed ears, and long green hair.” Though he could not have failed to notice her naked breasts, his impression of that was delicately omitted from the Captain’s log…(!)

 

In the practice of Voodoo today, La Sirene is recognized as a strong female deity. She is capable of bestowing great fortune and even magical powers upon those who do her honor, and bringing catastrophy to those with whom she is displeased. Her beauty strenghens her powers of enchantment but also causes her to be vain. She is associated with lunar movements and also with dreams which she uses as tools of inspiration and creativity for endeavors such as writing, painting, and music. In reference to these characteristics, La Sirene is often depicted with a mirror, a comb, and a horn or other musical instrument. Of these items, the mirror is most significant. The glass itself is representative of the sea, while the back of the mirror is the dividing point between La Sirene’s underwater world and ours.

 

Contributed by Linda for It’s Cactus

 

 

 

 

 

So many books, so little time…

July 31, 2014

A few months ago, I first heard of an author previously unknown to me by the name of Zora Neale Hurston. This was an egregious gap in my command of of American literature for she is recognized as woman of considerable note and stature in literary circles. Her crowning achievement, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a powerful story of a black woman living in the South in the 1930’s finding security, status, love, and finally herself. Hurston wrote this landmark piece while working on a Guggenheim grant she had received for the purpose of doing an anthropological survey in….are you ready for this?….Haiti.

 

So I gobbled up “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” which I would encourage anyone with the slightest bit of interest to read, for it truly is wonderful. Then I looked into her study of Haiti in the 1930’s. Hurston’s book, “Tell My Horse,” is a result of that effort. At once a diary, travelogue, political commentary, and ethnographic piece, she respectfully illuminates Haitian cultural life, with Voodoo at its center.

 
Actually, it is a book written in three parts, the first dealing with the blend of Africa and the New World in Jamaica, and if the opening page of the chapter entitled, ” Hunting the Wild Hog” is any indication it is not to be missed. To quote, “If you go to Jamaica, you are going to want to visit the Maroons at Accompong. I warn you in advance not to ride Col. Rowe’s wall-eyed, pot-bellied mule, which he sent to meet me at the end of the rail line so that I wouldn’t have to climb that last high peak on foot. That was very kind and I appreciated his hospitality, but the mule didn’t fall into that scheme somehow. The only thing that kept her from throwing me was that I fell off first. And the only thing that kept her from kicking me, biting me, and trampling me underfoot was the speed with which I got out of her way after the fall. Maybe it was that snappy orange four-in-hand tie that set her against me. I hate to think it was my face.” I have no line of defense against story-telling such as this. To me, it is marvelous.

 

The remaining two sections transport the reader to Haiti, first with a vivid and colorful foray into its history. Even though history “stops” in 1938, the year the book was written, it is amazing to me that it still so closely describes the Haiti of today. As she writes, “ The president of Haiti is really a king with a palace, with a reign limited to a term of years….There is no concept of the rule of the majority in Haiti. The majority, being unable to read or write, has no idea what is being done in their name.” Carrying on to the final section, the subject turns to Voodo and Voodoo gods, and it is here that Hurston truly shines. Her own immersion into Voodoo practice was as an initiate, not a mere adacemic observer. She describes Vodoo beliefs and rituals in a manner that is well-informed, respectful and endearing; veering at times to the romantic. She records legend and correlates it with ritual practice in a style that is at at the same time edifying and graceful.

 

So what more do you want? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “Book club, anyone?”

 

 

Contributed by Linda for It’s Cactus

It’s All Good at the Folk Art Market

July 17, 2014

The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, held this past weekend on Museum Hill was another stellar achievement by the International Folk Art Alliance. The annual event, this one being the 11th, included 150 artists from 60 countries. Though sales records have not yet been released, I can tell you that enthusiasum was high. The Friday night gala and the Saturday Early Bird opportunities were both sold out and Saturday after general admission opened was packed. It is hard for me to imagine that the Market was anything less than a resounding success.
Of course, the Haitian art is near and dear to my heart and its representation did not disappoint. There were 15 artists in 8 booths, displaying metal sculpture, voodoo flags, paper mache masks, stone carvings, and paintings. It was great to see Georges Valris, a sequin artist, and Serge Jolimeau, a metal sculptor – both of whom are friends of It’s Cactus – doing well.
And there was so much more! This time, instead of ONLY power shopping, I also took some time to eat – a delicious African lentil curry, thank you very much – and watch some wonderful music and dance performances. Curiously, my favorite performance was off the main stage, featuring an ad hoc duo consisting of a Nigerian drummer and a Peruvian pan flutist. An odd pairing, perhaps, but it worked. I loved the combination, and I can tell you I had plenty of good company listening with me, nodding and tapping to the beat.
The great thing about the Market is the good that lasts beyond the weekend. Ninety percent of artists’ earnings go home with them. The money is spent in various ways, but many artists and cooperatives choose to share their good fortune with their communities. Funds have been distributed to provide such basic necessities as food, clothing, new health clinics and freshwater wells. In places where the people struggle with enormous social, political and environmental challenges, the impact is enormous. Forgive me for being trite, but it really is ALL GOOD.
See you there next year!

 

Contributed by Linda for It’s Cactus

Vetiver: The earthy, aromatic smell of success

June 18, 2014

Who knew?

A grassy plant known as vetiver- originally introduced in the 1940s as a soil anchor to reduce erosion on the steep, dry, denuded mountainsides of southwestern Haiti – has become the premium cash crop of the region.  The Haitians appreciated it for its quick-growing density and began cutting it seasonally for thatch, but its real value, as it turns out, is in its roots.  When harvested and boiled down, the root oil becomes a primary ingredient for the world’s perfume industry, which demands 100-120 tons of vetiver annually.  Haiti is now the largest producer, raising over half of the world’s total, with smaller quantities grown in Java, China, Madagascar, Brazil and Paraguay. Pierre, a Dutch-trained Haitian agronomist calls vetiver, “a miracle plant. You dig it up, cut off the roots, plant it right back and it produces again next year. It needs no irrigation or fertilizer.”

Vetiver oil is the major ingredient in some 36% of all western perfumes, Caleche, Chanel No. 5, Dioressence, Parure, Opium, to name a few.  (For a comprehensive list, click here: http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Vetiver-2.html) It’s value lies in the fact that it blends easily with other aromatic oils and because its fixative properties promote lasting fragrance. In the words of Dr. Chandra Shekhar Gupta, Senior Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resourses in New Delhi, vertiver possess, “aromatic verdancy, fragrant rootiness, subtle, refreshing citrusiness, enjoyable earthiness, a wonderful hint of woodiness, and a certain Guerlainesque leathery-ambery darkness in the drydown.”

In addition to its direct perfumery applications, vetiver oil in its diluted form is extensively used in after-shave lotions, cosmetics, air fresheners and bathing products, as well as flavoring syrups, ice cream, and acting as a food preservative. It is used in cool drinks, incense sticks, and (I love this part!) for reducing pungency of chewing tobacco preparations, thereby providing a sweet note to other masticatories.  Additionally, roots have been used for making screens, mats, hand fans and baskets. In Java, screens are hung like curtains in the houses and when sprinkled water, imparting a fragrant coolness to the air.

There is no synthetic substitute available, making vertiver a crop with excellent value and staying power.  Approximately 150 pounds of vetiver roots are required to produce a scant 1 lb of oil.  The roots are cut, cleaned, delivered and sold by the farmers to distilleries which produce the oil. From there, it is transported to major distributers of essential oils who in turn, sell to the perfume industry in 55 gallon drums, (sound familiar?!) the contents of which being worth between $30,000 – $40,000 each.

Unfortunately, the vetiver farmers of Haiti don’t currently collect their fair share of that princely sum, but that is changing.  Following the 2010 earthquake, both perfumers and distillation companies became (suddenly and curiously) overcome with the desire to engage in fair trading and sustainability practices.  Schools were built, roads were excavated, wells were dug, and farming cooperatives were formed.  To date, approximately half of all Haitian vetiver producers are participating in co-ops which protect their prices, teach good conservation practices, and provide incentives for superlative crops.  As a result, the farmers’ daily earnings have increased dramatically; up almost 30% since 2010. This is an astronomical growth in earnings, but bear in mind, the average daily wage back then was $2.  In other words, there’s still a long ways to go, but the trend is both important and encouraging.

 

Contributed by Linda for Beyond Borders/It;s Cactus

Back in Haiti

June 2, 2014

Casey just got back from a week in Haiti.  It was an eventful trip!  As always, she was glad to see and have the opportunity to work with the artists again.  The creative juices continue to flow as they were able to hammer out (HA!  Pun intended.) and nail down (Oh stop!) many new designs to deliver in the coming months.

She was so delighted to observe many changes in Croix-des-Bouquet itself.  For nearly 20 years, she has been traipsing up and down the dirt roads of the village, going from workshop to workshop along the main drag.  But no longer – the road is paved.  And lined with streetlights! There is even a large sculptured metal statue signifying the major activity of Croix-des-Bouquet, that of course being recycled metal art.  Nice!  The Haitian government has undertaken these improvements to make life more safe, secure and maybe just a little bit easier.  Hopefully, it is the first of many steps the government will take toward uplifting the lives of its people.

Having observed huge containers filled with what appeared to be plastics of all kinds

being transported for recycling, Casey speculated that perhaps it was the recycling program SRS Haiti (about which I blogged in April) in action.  A terrific program in concept, it seems in action, it is making a palpable difference.

Beyond in Port-au-Prince, the large tent cities which arose after the 2010 earthquake have disappeared.  It was hard for her to say if more permanent housing had become available; in the papers and online there

have been stories of eviction notices and small amounts of cash being doled out to tide the tent city residents over.  Guess we’d all like to believe that the tent city nightmare is over.  Maybe all of the international goodwill and all of the funding flooding in from the four corners of the world is finally paying off.  Maybe bureaucratic inertia has been overcome.  Maybe a new day has dawned for the Haitian people and a new way of life has begun.

 

Contributed by Linda for Beyond Borders/It’s Cactus

Creating a buzz: Beekeeping on the upswing in Haiti

April 30, 2014

Honey has always been in great demand in Haiti and there was a time when the island country’s needs were met by local beekeeping.  However, political upheaval, environmental degradation, and a bee blight combined for a triple whammy that nearly killed Haitian production.  Those beekeepers that continued to struggle on did not have access to information or tools which would allow them to maximize production and in fact, it is something of a miracle that they were able to harvest honey at all under the circumstances.  Most beekeepers were reduced to not using hives, but rather tending to the bees wherever they happened to build their nests. Others were managing their bees in traditional hollow log hives, harvesting the honey by smoking the bees out and then removing the honey after the bees left. Though that method is inexpensive for the beekeeper, the honey retains a smoky taste  and the farmer is unable to check brood health without damaging the comb. A sorry state of affairs no matter how you slice it.

Enter Farmer to Farmer, a program administered by Partners of the Americas and Funded by USAID.  Farmer to Farmer set out to reestablish the once thriving beekeeping industry in the country by sending successful beekeepers and agriculturists from the United States to Haiti. Their goals were simple: train young Haitians to work in the industry; help transition old hives to more modern ones; and educate beekeepers about disease, production and processing. As a result of their efforts, many Haitians are producing enough honey for their own communities with plenty of extra to sell to others. Just one year after the Farmer to Farmer program began its work, more than 1,000 beekeepers returned to raising bees and more than 300 hives were restructured. Honey production has increased from three to seven gallons per hive, generating significant income for Haitian beekeepers. In addition, beekeepers are now communicating with each another and forming beekeeping associations, recognizing the need to organize in order to increase profits and reduce costs.

The amber liquid along with other hive products like propolis hold countless health benefits, which make producing it an ideal industry for impoverished nations. It has antibacterial properties that make it an effective topical agent for wounds. It is used as a skin care product, a sweetener for foods and beverages, and as a treatment to take the sting out of sore throats. The honey business has also provided micro-enterprise opportunities for women in Haiti who use the beeswax to make candles and crafts for sale.

Meghan Oliver, a program officer of the Farmer to Farmer Beekeeping Project believes that revitalizing local enterprise is a key ingredient in eliminating the cycle of poverty in countries such as Haiti. In the case of reviving honey production, she says, “Increasing cash in the hands of poor farmers is going to empower them immeasurably. The money they earn can be spent on their most important needs, whether it’s a generator for electricity, for repairs to their home or school fees for their kids. The best thing is that THEY earn and THEY decide.”

 

Contributed by Linda for Beyond Borders/It’s Cactus

No Sugar Added

April 25, 2014

Haiti is fascinating; an endlessly interesting place about which to research and write.  The challenge though, as in so many things, is to report with reasonable balance. Sharing good news and bad, resisting the urge to shine and sugar-coat or conversely, to paint a bleak picture in gloomy shades of black and blacker.

That having been said, the story of a company called SRS Haiti is one that can be told in balance.  SRS stands for Sustainable Recycling Solutions, the brain-child of Andrew MacCalla and Brett Williams, who got together with Mike Shinoda of the rock band Linkin Park, and Louis Blanchard, President and CEO of Haiti’s leading drinking water company to clean up the streets of Port-au-Prince under a for-profit business model of collecting plastic waste.   Their idea was to create a social business with a goal of establishing a lasting recycling industry in Haiti. They set out to provide job opportunities to Haitians and help protect the environment by cleaning up the streets. In 2012, the dream became a reality.  SRS opened for business and, in a society that depends largely on word-of-mouth communication, their collection enterprise soared immediately into the stratosphere.

But the blessing of SRS’s meteoric popularity quickly became a problem. Every person who brought in plastic needed to be paid for it, and as it became more well-known, the company simply couldn’t keep up the pay-out. Specifically, in its first month of operation, SRS received more than seven times the amount of plastic it had originally projected. After six months, SRS was completely swamped and had to shut the doors, under the very real threat of having to close down completely.

While the company was dangerously close to the edge, it didn’t fall over into the abyss.  SRS leadership put together business and marketing

strategies which they presented to the Clinton Foundation in February of this year.  SRS was awarded a grant of $250,000 which has enabled the company to form partnerships and develop a market for their cleaned, sorted plastic for production of consumer goods. Since that infusion of funding, the future for the company and for Haiti, looks very promising.

According to the SRS website, collectors in Port-au-Prince have removed 4.5 million pounds of plastic from their streets.  Let’s say that the average 16 oz. plastic bottle weighs half an ounce.  (The actual weight varies from approximately .495 to .661 oz.) So some quick rough math reveals that the equivalent of 144 million 16 oz. plastic water bottles have been cleared from the streets and waterways of Port-au-Prince. Also, according to their website, SRS has paid out a little over half a million dollars to those collectors.  More quick math, that is approximately equal to 12 cents/pound. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot and in all honesty, it gives me pause, knowing that the price per pound elsewhere is MUCH higher.  That could be apples and oranges, though.  For now, let’s go with the fact that it IS payout, it IS sustainable, and it IS making a hugely positive environmental impact.

Co-founder Mike Shinoda initially was a something of a silent entity, but he has recently stepped out of the shadows to bring more visibility to the enterprise. Clothing manufacturer Eco Wear has partnered with SRS to buy plastic bottles to create a variety of consumer products, including merchandise for Linkin Park. That’s the fun and “sexy” aspect of the business.  More importantly, though somewhat less flashy, Giant Dragon has also become a major trading partner. With recycling operations in Hong Kong and the Dominican Republic, it announced that it has committed to purchasing a minimum of 4 million pounds of SRS plastic over the next year. To learn more about SRS and its operations, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INPIIidauok

Four million pounds of plastic off the streets and out of waterways next year.  No need to sugar coat that.  That’s terrific!

 

Contributed by Linda for Beyond Borders/It’s Cactus

 

The Birds and the Bees

April 17, 2014

As you know by now, we at It’s Cactus are always interested in how people use and display our products.  Therefore, when a gentleman at one of the recent retail shows approached the check-out loaded with four birds and three bees and declared, “I can’t resist.  I’m hanging these together,” we all started laughing appreciatively and applauding his wit.  Birds and bees.  Gotta love it.  We’ve all heard that time-honored, picturesque euphemism for sex, but where did it originate??

Apparently you have to go back to England in 1825, when Samuel Coleridge wrote his poem “Work without Hope,” to find the first use of “birds and bees” as a metaphor for human sexual activity.  To quote:

 

“All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair –

The bees are stirring – birds are on the wing –

And Winter, slumbering in the open air,

Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!

And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,

Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.”

 

It might be a stretch, but it’s the earliest documentable hint of birds and bees together in that connotation.

 

Later, in 1875, American naturalist John Burroughs wrote a set of essays entitled, “Birds and Bees, Sharp Eyes and other Papers.” Burroughs aimed to present the workings of nature to children in a way that they could easily understand and appreciate. One might also leap to the assumption that his descriptions were vague enough for the comfort and refined sensibilities of Victorian era parents. His work does refer to bird and bee activity, but conspicuously does not include any specific reference to the phrase, “birds and bees” with regard to sex.  It is therefore curious to me that he gets any credit for the metaphor at all, but so be it.  Theories are theories and who am I to argue?

Finally in 1928, American composer Cole Porter wrote “Let’s Do It,” which lyrically presents the pretty metaphoric picture in the song’s introduction:

 

When the little bluebird
Who has never said a word
Starts to sing Spring
When the little bluebell
At the bottom of the dell
Starts to ring Ding dong Ding dong
When the little blue clerk
In the middle of his work
Starts a tune to the moon up above
It is nature that is all
Simply telling us to fall in love

Porter appears to have been making deliberate, if oblique, reference to ‘the birds and the bees’ and it is reasonable to assume that thereafter, the phrase became a part of the common vernacular.  Just for fun, I thought I’d listen to a Billie Holliday performance of the song on YouTube.  Wouldn’t you know it?  Her 1935 rendition didn’t include the introduction! I had to go to the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s 2011 film “Midnight in Paris” to hear the song performed by Conal Fowkes in its entirety.  So for the nostalgic and the curious among you – Voila! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eraOhezY23s

 

 

Contributed by Linda for It’s Cactus/Beyond Borders

“Creepy Crawlers” and Other Garden Friends

February 19, 2014

Remember the “Thingmaker” by Mattel and those marvelous rubber bug creations that you could make yourself with colored (even glow-in-the dark!) Plastigoop?  You poured the Goop into metal molds that you placed over a heating element and waited impatiently for the Goop to cook sufficiently and then cool sufficiently so that you could pry out your new astonishingly creepy “Creepy Crawlers” and amaze your friends.  Maybe you remember, and maybe you don’t. They came on the market in 1964 and disappeared quietly in the 1970s amid concerns for child safety regarding the heating element. Nevertheless, the “Creepy Crawlers” were marvelous and the burns that I probably did sustain while making them must have been minor and healed quickly, for I do not recall them at all.  Now thanks to Mattel, the moniker, “Creepy Crawler” refers to anything of six or more legs in my garden, flower beds or pretty much anywhere.  It is a convenient catch-all phrase for the entomologically challenged, which indeed, I am.

It’s kind of too bad, really.  “Creepy Crawlers” is a great name, but greater still are the REAL names of REAL bugs.  Take for example, “Green Lacewing Aphids,” or “Minute Pirate Bugs” or “Assassin Bugs” or “Spined Soldier Bugs.” What’s more, each of the aforementioned is great in the garden.  Voracious predators all, they feed on harmful garden pests which can destroy your labors of love in a twinkling. Healthy populations of these carnivorous insects can go a long way towards protecting your garden as it grows.

The good news is that, with a little advanced planning, you can encourage beneficial bugs to take up residence in a bed of your choosing rather easily. Include plants of various heights in your garden, including ground cover, which gives desirable dwellers a place to hide.  Taller flowers with composite blooms, like zinnias and sunflowers, provide attractive food sources to beneficial bugs. Additionally, providing a little water can be helpful.  No need for “your” bugs to go to the neighbor’s for a little refreshment.  Puddles that form after sprinkling can be sufficient.  If you do drip irrigation, place small dishes at intervals and keep them filled for your thirsty friendlies.   Mulch with generosity and put out large flat stones which can be crawled under for protection from heavy heat and mid-day summer sun.

Experts rightly advise gardeners to learn to distinguish the “good” bugs from the “bad” ones. For me, visual identification is one tough row to hoe, and proper nomenclature is yet another. I pledge myself to both tasks, but until I get the names straight I’ll just say, “Bring on the Creepy Crawlers!”

 

Contributed by Linda for Beyond Borders/It’s Cactus