Weekly Round-Up + Born to be Wild

Saturday my husband I had a “day date.”  We ran errands (hair salon, Target shopping and a visit to Whole Foods) and then went out for lunch and saw the documentary Born to be Wild.

The film is 40 minutes.  It’s definitely “documentary-lite.”  The filmmaker does not go into depth about why the baby orangutans and elephants are orphans (meaning you will find no graphic violence) except to say it’s about the depletion of the rain forest in Borneo and elephant poachers in Kenya. (You have probably seen a segment or two on elephant authority Dame Daphne M. Sheldrick on 60 Minutes.)

Regardless of what some may consider a lack of depth, I got exactly what I was looking for from this film.I was inspired by the two amazing women featured in the film, primatologist Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas and the previously mentioned Dame Sheldrick.  They have devoted their lives to saving orphaned animals. Not to make them pets, but to literally save them and then raise them to go back into the wild.  I wept tears of joy, pretty much during the entire film. And I laughed, and I muttered “oh that baby” more times than I can count.

This was my first IMAX film, or 3D, for that matter.  The cinematography is stunning.  There were times when I felt like a baby orangutans was swinging right at me.  (I reached out at one point, wanting to touch its sweet face.) I felt I was in the lush jungle in Borneo and in the dry valleys in Kenya.

The film is 40 minutes; it’s beautiful; it’s inspiring. Go for some lighthearted entertainment. Go to remind yourself why you’re vegan.  Go and then think about how you might help an orphaned, abandoned or abused animal (I support this darling goat, Clover, at the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary.)

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Here’s a weekly round-up on what you can find on the blog this week, but, before I get started, I wanted to direct your attention to a great series on Oh She Glows.  Angela has been featuring vegan recipes from around the blogosphere in her Vegan Recipe Link Love series.  I have discovered some incredible recipes and fabulous bloggers.  I am delighted that this week Angela featured one of my recipes (pressure cooker refried beans) in Recipe Link Love, April 6. Thank you, Angela!

This week on the blog

It was Restaurant Week on the blog! Jolo’s Kitchen, Pure Food and Wine and Spadaro Ristorante (The vegan’s perspective) and on Saturday I shared a new recipe

“Ice Cream” for Breakfast

I had a good week. How about you?