A Movie Director Comes to Iselin - Part 2

Kat Brooks visited Iselin the other day, to meet with Sara. Kat is a famous producer, director and film-maker; Sara, an Iselin resident, is one of Kat’s 5,000 facebook friends. They had never met before.

Photo of Kat Brooks - courtesy of Sara

How did this meeting come about? Well, one day, when Kat was feeling ill and alone, she reached out to facebook, to the “friends” she didn’t know. Almost immediately, more than 50 people responded – they would LOVE to meet her! So Kat began a journey, making a movie about coming FACE2FACE with these people. (My previous post about Kat is linked HERE.)

Kat and Sara met in Kennedy Park this weekend, and had tea and talked, and became REAL friends – not just “facebook” friends. Sara told me it was a great experience. “Kat was super nice,” she told me. “We talked about a lot of personal stuff.” While they got to know each other, they played a little basketball…according to Sara, Kat didn’t want to leave until she made 3 baskets in a row. “Then, we went to downtown Iselin, and we got henna tattoos at Kangan Beauty, near the corner of Correja and Oak Tree Road. We also had some Indian food, Samosas (stuffed pastry shell with a savory filling),and Masoor Daal (lentils).”

Photo courtesy of Kat Brooks

“They were shooting a Hindi film down in Iselin when we were there,” Sara told me. “It was cool to see, they had a HUGE camera. Kat just had a small HD Sony Hard drive camera.”

Kat, a very spiritual person, left a few gifts with Sara, before saying her goodbyes: she gave her a rock salt lamp, incense and sage, which is known for its healing properties.

All in all, Sara felt that the meeting went very well. “It’s a life-changing experience,” she said. “I want to reach out to other people, just like Kat did with me.”







What is a Salt Lamp? From www.wisegeek.com

“A salt lamp is simply a chunk of mined salt that has been hollowed out to allow room for a lightbulb or tiny candle. The light glows through the medium of the salt crystal, which can range in color from a dark salmon pink to a pale orange. Salt crystals for salt lamps are mined in Russia and central Europe as well as in the Himalayas. Salt lamps make attractive accent lights. Their main attraction, however, is that the heating of the salt causes the crystal to release negative ions (often called simply 'ions').

Negative ions have long been considered healthy; the sea air, mountain air and the air around swiftly running water is high in negative ions. Indoor air, recirculated air, and air around electronic equipment is very low in negative ions. Many office workers who suffer health complaints around fluorescent lighting and computer monitors report considerably less fatigue and headaches if the concentration of negative ions in the air is increased. Why negative ions may be beneficial is only partially understood.

It has been shown that negative ions in the air bind with airborne pollutants, making them heavier so that they fall to the ground, and therefore are unavailable to be inhaled. Many modern air purifiers - the so-called 'ionic air cleaners' - use this technique to provide cleaner indoor air for allergy sufferers. Some studies seem to indicate that an increase in negative ions in the air increases bloodflow to the brain, which would have the effect of improved concentration. The salt lamp is an attractive alternative to the utilitarian look of an air purifier.”