This is an exciting time for people who enjoy English language films and theater. Below is a press release:

Mazatlán Film and Theater is a new group that will begin offering international films and play readings for the public beginning this October.   With the support of Cultura Mazatlán the group will be presenting either a film or a play reading performance every Tuesday evening from October through May.  Films and performances will take place in the Cinematógrafo, a 50 seat theater located in the Centro Municipal de Artes at the Plazuela Machado.

The creator of the group, Ken Albanese speaks about the impetus for Mazatlán Film and Theater: “Mazatlán has so many cultural offerings; it is rich in all kinds of music and dance – even opera.  There is now some theater and film happening too but of course, it is in Spanish.  There are currently few opportunities for English language residents or visitors to enjoy film or theater”

Ken has an extensive background in theater and has been a film aficionado for many years.  He has been concerned that we don’t see many really good films here.  “We do get most  of the top box office movies at the Cineplexes and the films that figure in the awards season usually come here once they are in DVD but we really don’t get the smaller independent films from the US or from other countries (with English subtitles) and of course we don’t get the documentaries.”

Play readings will offer an opportunity to have live performances without the complexity of full productions.  According to Albanese:  “Most people not involved in theatre don’t appreciate how complex it is to put on a full production – the appropriate space, lighting, sound, makeup, costumes, props, sets, etc.  It all requires many people with different talents working together…and money.”  The group is hoping that play readings will fill a need here in Mazatlán.  “Play readings will be rehearsed and at a performance level but they will not have action, sets, etc.   This is a well established approach whereby the actors sit on stools and read from the script but with full expression and interaction – like a radio play.”

The group is fortunate to have the support of Cultura Mazatlán.  “The Cinematógrafo in the Centro Municipal de Artes is a small space – it only seats 50 people but it is set up well for films and play readings.  We really appreciate the support of Raúl Rico and Juan Manuel Flores, the Director of the Center for offering us the space on Tuesdays.”

For information on the films and playreadings that will be offered check out the website at http://www.mazact.com.

Disclosure:  Paul and I are friends with Ken and are members of the Mazatlán Film and Theater Board of Directors – and are pretty excited about this new cultural undertaking!

I’ve been a vegetarian for more than 25 years. Being a vegetarian is as much a part of me as my height or my eye color. Unchangeable.  I started out just being mildly repulsed when I thought about what I was preparing or cooking. After a while I was unable to separate the bellowing, frightened animal I could see in my mind from the steak on a plate.

While taking a class in college (yes, I went to college late in life) I was assigned to do an in depth report on a topic of my choice.  I chose the ethics of vegetarianism, and my eyes were opened in a dramatic way. I wish I still had the report to refer to, but I will never forget my introduction to the realities of factory farming in John Robbins’s Diet for a New America. Another mind-blowing book that I read for the paper was Carol J. Adams’s The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory.

Since then I have read a variety of books – Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals, Marion Nestle’s What to Eat, Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, and Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. All of the authors above are prolific writers, and I would recommend any of their books.

I also watched several movies. Do you remember the 1995 movie Babe?  If you didn’t, you can watch the three minute “That’ll do, pig” scene here.  How about the movie Food, Inc?  It is an eye-opening and award winning documentary that every meat eater should have to watch. If you click on the link you can watch a trailer and check out their recommended reading list. Food Inc. is a book, too. I highly recommend it.

Everything I’ve been talking about above has to do primarily with the perspective that our food choices are our ethical choices. I don’t think that it is a responsible choice to choose meat when the same amount of plant food that is used to raise animals could feed the world.  Truly.

But there’s another perspective, too… and that is the impact meat has on our health and our public health systems.  At the top of this post you see a screen shot from the Forks over Knives website. It’s a new documentary about how to reduce or even reverse diabetes, heart disease, and cancer by adjusting your diet. The documentary was released in May 2011 and everyone I know who has seen it has found that they are thinking much more critically about their food choices every day. The meaning of the title is that you can choose how to manage your health – either through surgery (cardiac stents, etc) or through food choices.  One of the inspirations for the movie is T. Colin Campbell, the author of The China Study. This work is a must-read for anyone serious in learning about the links between diet and health.

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Above is another screenshot, this time from another new documentary, Vegucated.  This is supposedly a very funny documentary where several meat-eating New Yorkers agree to become vegan for six weeks.  The website link above has a trailer and more info.  It got excellent reviews when it opened at the Toronto Film Festival a couple of weeks ago and IMDb gives it a 9.7 rating.  If you live where it’s showing, please go see it and then come back and tell us about it! They’d also like you to take the challenge and go vegan for one month – why not give it a try?

Last February, Oprah and 378 of her staff took a one week vegan challenge.  The link at left has tons of links to information about eating vegan and much more.

Because of all the reading I’ve been doing lately, I have been considering becoming vegan.  I’ve been eating cheese, eggs (usually as part of a cake or something, not on their own) and occasionally yoghurt. I never drink milk. The modifications I am trying now is to not eat eggs or dairy at all except for occasionally a bit of cheese if it is a minor player in the dish. So I will sprinkle a bit of parmesan on my pasta, or eat a salad with organic feta but not a grilled cheese sandwich. Everyone has to work things out for themselves!

As this has turned into a vegetarian resource post, I am going to put some links below to my very favorite vegetarian cookbooks.

Vegetarian & Vegetable Cooking – Christine Ingram This is my first go-to cookbook every time.  I’ve loaned this to friends, everyone loves it.

The 30-Minute Vegan – Mark Reinfeld & Jennifer Murray Easy recipes, a good first vegan book.

The Food Matters Cookbook – Mark Bittman I read anything and everything by Mark Bittman.  He preaches that we should enjoy meat but as a condiment.

Smith & Hawken: The Gardeners’ Community Cookbook – Victoria Wise This is not a vegetarian cookbook but its focus on the garden and fresh food in season plus tons of lovely pictures make this one of my most used cookbooks.

Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen This is a new book for me Deborah Madison is an icon in the vegetarian restaurant world.

The Bold Vegetarian – Bharti Kirchner Every recipe I make from this book has turned out great.

Lean Italian Meatless Meals – Anne Casale This is another often used book.

The Engine 2 Diet – Rip Esselstyn

I love to read about food and eating, too.  Here are my favorites.

The Gastronomical Me – M. F. K. Fisher

An Alphabet for Gourmets – M. F. K. Fisher

The Art of Eating – M. F. K. Fisher

American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza – Peter Reinhart

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef – Gabrielle Hamilton

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating – Mark Bittman

These links are just a few of my favorites – there lots of wonderful books and websites to help us create delicious, healthy meals.  I hope you’ll consider making some or all of your meals meatless in the future.  Buen provecho!

At 11 pm on September 15 El Grito de la Independencia (The Cry of Independence) will be heard around the country. The grito, or shout, is called out as a reenactment of Father Hidalgo’s historic cry in the town of Dolores.  Government officials call out the names of the heroes of the war, which are repeated by the throngs of citizens in this most celebrated holiday in México. The grito culminates with shouts of “Viva México!” and usually a fireworks display. Every city and town has its own way of celebrating the event that marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence, and everyone gets ready to celebrate beginning early in the month.

In preparation for this blog post I asked several blogger friends if they’d care to share a few pictures from the celebrations in their cities so that I could show you pictures from around the country as well as from my Mazatlán.  You’ll notice some similarities, and some differences between our communities, I’m sure. These ladies write wonderful blogs which I hope you’ll check out, but right now I’d like you to introduce them to you:

• Linda Adams from Álamos, Sonora – Good2Go2Mexico
• Rebecca Smith Hurd from Puebla, Puebla – All About Puebla
• Leslie Harris de Limon from Yahualica, Jalisco – Motherhood in Mexico and Recipes by Leslie
• Billie Mercer from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato – BillieBlog

I’d like to show you some pictures of some things that are similar between all the different communities:

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It is obvious by now that there are a lot of flags being sold around the country! 

Let’s take a look at how different places decorate their municipal buildings:

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Each community is a little different in how they celebrate.  Here are some unique Dia de la Independencia traditions around the country:

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I hope you have enjoyed taking a tour around México on Independence Day with me.  Now, all together, let’s shout “Viva México!”, “Viva México!”, “Viva México!”

This is a Blog Hop post – fellow Mexico Today bloggers and I are all writing about Mexico’s Independence Day.   I hope you’ll click on some of the badges below to visit their blogs.

Disclosure:  The above blog post will also be shared with Mexico Today. I am being compensated for my work in creating content as a Contributor for the México Today Program.  I was also invited to an all-expenses paid trip to Oaxaca as part of my role and for the launch of the program.  All stories, opinions and passion for all things México shared in my blog are completely my own.