The GAIA Health Blog

Some Healthy Food Fun:    Dinner and a Movie

Hav Plenty
(a.k.a. the Doug Wallace autobiography, at least that's what I call it, LOL )

On the Menu Doug's [my] favorite meal, Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Salad
Video Clips from Hav Plenty

"Come watch me make a fool out of myself"
    --Lee Plenty

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Many of us think there is a movie where the main character is the true splitting image of us. Hav Plenty is that movie for me. This is not the same thing a movie we have a false, wishful thinking perception that the main character is a splitting image us; for me, that would be perhaps a super a cool Will Smith in I Robot.

Hav Plenty, for better or worse, is the real me to a "T". I ran across this movie in the late 90's, when this girl I met had me watch it so I could see what kind of "character" I really was. It was like going into some alter universe, because the lead actor, Lee Plenty, played by Christopher Cherot, was the splitting image of me in action and mannerism, and everyone even said he looked a lot like me in when I was in my 20's although I am still fighting that one tooth and nail.

I cannot deny however,  when I look at Lee Plenty's hair in the movie, I have to admit we both had this bad hair thing going on. Other experiences were similar, in that he was homeless, I was on the brink a couple of times, but I always found a job in the nick of time.

I had many of the same books shown in the scene where the lead actress, played by Cheona Maxwell, is looking through his books. The big similarity, is that both of us simply decided to step back from the dating game, because we couldn't take it seriously anymore.

Furthermore, just like him, I often found myself in these situations where some super fine woman would give me a play, but I had no clue why. Not a lot of women, but enough for me to question the "why" of it. Both Lee Plenty and I had this, what I would call, "goofball" type of sex appeal that works every now and then. Conversely, it turns some women off every now and then. In the end, I simply have to embrace this film as "the "me" that I really was, accept the good and the bad, because there is no sense denying it. Especially when a month or so ago, one of my best friends, who knows me better than almost anybody, watched the film with his wife, then called me and indirectly confronted me on the film's main character, thus forcing me to verbally accept or deny that Lee Plenty, was me incarnate. So, I had to throw in the towel and accept the reality. Blogging can be great self-therapy.

So, to celebrate this movie and this Lee Plenty character, and laugh along with every one else who has watched it and saw Doug Wallace transposed on film, this dinner and a movie segment is preparing my favorite "almost" daily dish, baked Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Salad.

Salmon Salad

I don't really have a recipe, I bake my salmon without any seasoning except coarse ground black pepper. I add the Pink Himalayan Salt after cooking because salt can sometimes drain moisture from the fish. If fish was originally frozen, I cook in a generous amount of coconut oil to help replenish the oils of the salmon. It works better for me to thaw salmon an hour before cooking by letting it sit in warm water as opposed to thawing overnight. I eat this meal almost daily so I try not to make it a grand production. I keep a few cans of Vital Choice canned salmon in case I run out of fresh and frozen. Vital Choice has an incredibly good canned salmon.

My salad dressing is a simple half organic olive oil and half coconut vinegar or apple cider vinegar. I mix the two and keep in a bottle and shake and pour when ready. Herbs and spices can be added to the bottle also.

Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon Filet (Avoid Farm Raised Salmon!!!!)

Fresh Organic Spinach
Organic cucumber slices
1 organic garlic clove chopped
Half a sliced bell pepper
Fresh roma tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes
Trader Joes shredded broccoli stems
Organic Fennel
Pink Himalayan Salt from a salt grinder
Coarse ground organic black pepper
hunza raisins (they are incredibly sweet and delicios to balance out the garlic, and they add some carbs to the meal so I don't have to prepare anything else to get some carbs)

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When I wanna take a look at myself as I really am, I will do one of two things. I will look in the mirror, as we all do every day, and the second thing is that I will pop in this movie and have a laugh at my crazy, goofball, but "genuine to me nature". Fortunately, I'm much more polished these days, taking my haircuts as seriously as all the other brothers, and keeping a tight reign on my "I can't take women's games seriously" nature. I keep it to myself and have developed into a relatively silky smooth philosopher and "elder statesman". Or what we call back in Chicago, an "Old School Player".

Incidents come up here and there, where my goofball humor comes out and I just can't help it. For example, I was hanging out with this female up in Portland, who had ignored my advances for weeks, then one day, she gives me a ride home, parks the car, crosses over to the passenger seat and climbs on top of me. She is giving me all her seductive moves while straddled across me, but I can only make these "overly animated" grimacing faces. She asks me "What's the matter, are you stunned that I am attacking you like this". I replied, "No, it's just that your knee is in my hip".

Classic Doug Wallace/Lee Plenty line. I didn't even try to get her in my crib that night cause the whole incident was so stupid and I just couldn't take her seriously. Good thing I have some place to record all this, because the moment was too classic to be lost to the ages. Not naming any names, DENISE, but the incident is now being immortalized for all eternity. My friends told me I should have "shot first and asked questions later". But I told them, "I only operate in ways that are true to me, not in the "Pavlovian" ways that women think and assume men are programmed to act".

When Lee Plenty writes the letter to Havalent at the end, he basically explains himself. He was truly digging Havalent, so even though he could have got with all the other girls, he really had a thing for her. For me, I must confess, when I think about my encounters, I should have got with them all. But hindsight is 20-20.

Facts and Trivia About "Hav Plenty"

Hav Plenty is a 1997 American independent film released by Miramax Films, based on an eventful weekend in the life of Lee Plenty (Christopher Scott Cherot), written and directed by Cherot. The film is based on the true story of Chris Cherot's unrequited romance with Def Jam A&R executive Drew Dixon.

Financing for the film came from Cherot's time as a New York City cab driver, and a third mortgage on his mother's home.

Principal photography took eighteen days in and around New York City and New Jersey.

Upon completion of principal photography, Cherot was out of money again, and it took him almost a year to complete his edit and make a screening print of the film.

In May 1997, at his first "cast-and-crew screening" in a small screening room in New York City, Hav Plenty producer Robyn M. Greene by chance ran into Warrington Hudlin and Bill Duke in the lobby of the building and invited them up to view the film. Immediately after the screening, Hudlin invited Cherot to participate in the inaugural year of the Acapulco Black Film Festival, now the American Black Film Festival. Eventually, the film was purchased by Edmonds Entertainment via Tracy Edmonds and Kenneth "Babyface Edmonds". They re-showcased the film at the Toronto Film Festival and was able to sell it the same same say to Miramax.

Cherot directed another movie "G", with the same actress Cheona Maxwell. It also stars Blair Underwood, takes place in the Hamptons, and is a modern day remake of "The Great Gatsby". Unlike the indie, "B" movie feel to Hav plenty, "G" was shot very, very well. I highly recommend it if you like seeing "Beautiful Black People", on film. [see video below right]

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Update 2/25/2012. Glad to see my boy Chris Cherot is back as editor of a new movie called "Mooz-lim". I know he went through some trials, I heard he lost most of his work and possessions in a California Fire. However, I guess like me, he refused to sell out and works on projects that have a sense of meaning and those that try to throw out some sort of positivity, which is hard to do and make a living at the same time. To me, he has a talent behind the lens that rivals Spike Lee. Good to hear you're still working. Congrats Chris......

The article on Cherot can be found here

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