Vote for the Dairy Barn!

American Express-Partners in Preservation program is giving grants to historical Massachusetts landmarks that need funding for the preservation of these sites. Out of 700 applicants, they chose 25 and they are asking that you the public vote for which you think most deserves funding. The winner will be guaranteed a grant. Others will be reviewed by committees to decide whether they should get some of the funding.

So why am I writing about this? Because my high school's Dairy Barn is one of the 25 contenders. I attended Norfolk County Agricultural High School from 1994-1998. I was an Environmental Science major but had a special place in my heart for the Dairy cows and the Dairy Barn. The barn was built in 1919 and has been instrumental in teaching students about farm management. However, due to detoriation the barn no longer houses dairy cows and students are not allowed in. This gorgeous barn is now used only for the storage of hay.

I spent many many hours in this Dairy barn. I got to see a cow give birth, I got to feed the cows, milk them and even bond with them. In my Junior year, I selected a special Guernsey cow named Gemma to be my cow for the Spring show. I would go to the school on Saturday mornings to train with her and groom her. I clipped her, bathed her, cleaned her ears and nose, scrubbed her, shined her hooves and got her all gussied up for the show. Together we won 3 ribbons! I have so many special memories of her and they all tie together with that barn.

So I'm asking you, please vote for my high school's barn. Register on the website and you can vote for it once a day until May 17th. The more votes it gets, the better chance it will receive some funding. Unlike the other sites, the barn is used for educational purposes and does not get any outside funding from admission fees. So it really really does need your votes!

VOTE!!!

That's me at 16 showing Gemma the Guernsey cow at the 1997 Spring Show.

Here is Gemma and I again and you can see the Dairy barn and silo in the background.

My friends Kevin and Lisa outside the dairy barn. 5/3/09

Here I am petting Crystal the Guernsey. She's Gemma's great-grandaughter! 5/3/09

and have a Happy Mother's Day!

TCM Latino Images in Film Giveaway

I'm very blessed to be able to do another TCM related giveaway, this time in conjunction with their Latino Images in Film festival. This festival is by far my favorite and very close to my heart since I am a Latina who loves classic films. I really hope that you'll take the time to watch some of the films in the festival and really think about the representation of Latinos in these movies.

I will be giving away some Latino Images in Film themed composition notebooks to the winners of this contest.

How to Enter:

1) Check out the TCM's Latino Images in Film line-up and the TCM Originals video clips.

2) Add a comment on this post about which film in the line-up you want to see and why or have seen and what you thought of it. Or tell me something interesting you learned watching the video clips.

3) Bloggers, add a link or write an entry on your blog about TCM Latino Images in Film festival. If you are on Twitter, tweet about it to your followers.

4) Entries must be in by midnight Sunday May 24th. You can also e-mail the entries to Quellelove at Gmail dot com.

Winners will be announced Tuesday May 26th. They will be chosen at random. This contest is open to everyone. If you chose not to participate, you can always enter TCM's contest on their website for the same prize. You do however have a better chance of winning a notebook here!

Latino Images in Film ~ Border Incident (1949)

Border Incident (1949) is a gripping noir about the illegal smuggling of braceros (Mexican workers) into the US. Ricardo Montalban stars as Pablo Rodriguez, a Mexican undercover agent who is posing as a paisano/bracero in order to infiltrate a band of devious smugglers. Pablo befriends bracero Juan Garcia (James Mitchell) and the two form a close bond. As Pablo and Juan get smuggled across the border, American agent Jack Bearnes (George Murphy) who is posing as a dealer in forged immigration papers. However, the network of bandits are violent and determined to get their way and things get to get complicated and ugly really quickly.

I have to say, this was a very uncomfortable film to watch. It's very violent, not in terms of gore but with torture and murder. Plus there is also a pit of death where the illegal braceros are thrown in to die once they are no longer needed (yikes!). Some folks don't think it's technically a noir but it's got all the elements of a noir just in an atypical setting. This films merits I think lie in the performances of Ricardo Montalban and James Mitchell. They are our heroes and we root for them all the way.

You mean, you can make a film about Latinos with Latino actors?! No!!! The Mexican characters in this film are mostly played by Latinos, which makes a welcome change from Caucasian actors with olive complexions (or extra make-up). The only exception is James Mitchell, who I don't think is actually Hispanic but I could be wrong. The theme of illegal immigration and the exploitation of Mexican workers makes this film incredibly relevant today. The situations in the story are disturbingly real and I think this is a good movie for sparking some political discussions.

Level of Brown Face: 1 out of 5 Shades.

TCM Latino Images in Film Line-Up for Tuesday May 7th

Bordertown (1935)
Border Incident (1949)
Right Cross (1950)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Revenue Agent (1950)

Latino Images in Film ~ The Mark of Zorro (1920)

In The Mark of Zorro (1920), Douglas Fairbanks Sr. plays the title role of Zorro, a masked crusader out to defend and fight for the interests of the oppressed. In his world, this is everyone who is subject to the law (governor, soldiers, sargeants, etc) which is corrupt. By day, he is a soft, jaded rich boy with a delicate education from Spain, the motherland, but whenever the oppressed people of his community needs him, he transforms into the masked Zorro, a genuine hero full of masculine bravado and good intent. No one knows Zorro's true identity, not even his love interest Lolita who he is wooing as both versions of himself. Can he save his townspeople from oppresion and win the heart of Lolita? Zorro can do anything!

This silent classic was produced by Douglas Fairnbanks' production company and was the first feature film release of United Artists, which Fairbanks started with Chaplin and his wife Pickford among others. This was the first in a series of swashbuckling movies that Fairbanks did, which made him vastly popular. Fans of his son Douglas Fairbanks Jr. might remember him mocking his father's performance in the film Our Dancing Daughters. In the cast is also Noah Beery, brother of Wallace Beery and Walt Whitman, although no relation to the poet (darn!).

I thoroughly enjoyed this silent film. Fairbanks was quite acrobatic and his stunts were enjoyable to watch. The representation of Mexican/Spanish people in the film I thought was done very respectfully. What I found interesting is that although the main division is between the townspeople and the law, there is a cultural division between the light-skinned noble Spanish blood which is higher in ranking than the dark-skinned natives. As I am fascinated with early Dominican culture, these kind of cultural divisions always fascinate me.

Level of Brown Face: 2 out of 5 shades

Oh my! Those pants are rather tight, aren't they Mr. Fairbanks?

TCM Latino Images in Film Line-Up for Tuesday May 5th

Ramona (1910)

The Mark of Zorro (1920)

Old San Francisco (1927)

Big Stakes (1922)

In Old Arizona (1929)

The Gay Desperado (1936)