An antidote to the gecko...

Not that the gecko isn't rather cute in its own way....

Margaret Atwood: Year of the Flood

Atwood is having a lot of fun with her readings and related events. Here is the menu for a dinner in Ottawa and the food taken from the book.

Margaret Atwood: Year of the Flood

Year of the Flood

I'm enjoying Atwood's new novel and although it is a dystopia like Oryx and Crake it is quite funny and not so gloomy. She introduces a number of different species like "Rakunk". In today's TC this new species was featured so who knows what's out there. Atwood generally maintains that everything in her dystopian fictions exists already in some sense.


A Cat Ba leopard gecko found in Vietnam is among 163 new species last year but all are at risk of extinction due to climate change, the WWF said.

I heart New York

Carole is off to New York this week and I'm sure she and Don will love it...who can't love NYC? Wonderful city and super people. A few photos I took on our 2004 trip there.


A little bistro around where we were staying...could be Paris!



Frank Lloyd Wright's wonderful Guggenheim Museum...a piece of sculpture really.



They just happened to be having a free outdoor concert at Lincoln Center when I went there.



The Met Opera House...not quite sure why we have never gone when we've been in NYC. Perhaps a problem with tickets.



Subway art.



New York Public Library...this is the outdoor reading room where you can also take out books, play chess, etc.



Central Park is an absolute jewel.



Met Museum of Art...fabulous collection!

Auntie Kake Desserts and Baking

I picked up my first order from "Auntie Kake" and Jim and I loved everything...congratulations, Kate!

The order was very professionally presented in a wicker basket with the cookies in a tin. I'll be looking forward to trying lots of new things every week.



Kate has created a very cool blog especially for the business...take a look.

Warning: May lead to immediate need for home baked goodies.

Auntie Kake Desserts and Baking

And more Ted Harrison...

First artwork of 09

I noticed that Alesha Davies Fowlie (from whom I took my first art course called "Absolute Beginner Drawing) was offering a course called "Hands-On Acrylics" which looked interesting...blending and painting techniques. I almost never "blend" anything so I thought this might be fun and it is!

I've always painted on top of a background I've laid down but we put the background in after and it was quite interesting to keep playing around with it all.

Can't seem to get a really good photo but you get the idea.


"Tulips"
12 x 18 acrylic on canvas
Sept/09

Allee Willis' Museum of Kitsch

I thought this was a really fun site to browse through.

Allee Willis' Museum of Kitsch

Ted Harrison at The Legacy

Mary and I went to the Ted Harrison exhibit on the weekend...amazing stuff and I bought the book, of course. They even allowed photos so some today and the rest tomorrow.

A great new option for baked goods

Take a look at Kate's blog post and the introduction of her new business called "Auntie Kake". I'm so often disappointed in store bought bread. I liked Cobbs for a while but then that all seemed to taste the same after a while so we're back to Silver Hills which is the best of a bad lot. Wildfire even disappointed.

So, I'm really looking forward to trying out this new possibility!

See Kate read See Kate write See Kate run

Twitpix from Atwood

Atwood Twitpixed the cover for the German translation of "Year of the Flood"...very cool cover I think. With all this blogging, twittering, performances, and rave reviews I hope she will get the attention of the Nobel Prize for Literature people. Canada has never had a winner and Atwood is the absolute logical choice for her longtime, prolific and amazing contribution to Canadian literature.

Oscar and his mouse...

I don't think Oscar is a hunter and seems not very interested in playing with this catnip mouse but every once in a while he notices it and goes a bit wild for a moment or two.

The absolutely amazing Alice Munro

I just finished the first story called "Dimensions" in her new collection "Too Much Happiness"...just wonderful...how does she do it?

Oscar again...

Fern suggested that I perhaps try to paint Oscar...I certainly have lots of material to work with!

My two Mr. Irresistibles...

How Jim begins his day. The newspaper is not even read right away as the noise bothers Oscar. He will not be devastated if daily newspaper delivery ends.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "February"

"February" by Lisa Moore

An impressive second novel by a Newfoundlander. "Aligator" was her first and she did a short story collection called "Open" I believe. I'll have to see what those are like. The story revolves around the life of a woman whose husband dies along with 83 others on the Ocean Ranger oil rig on St. Valentine's Day in 1982 and is left with four young children to raise. You get quite a feeling for Newfoundland and the people. Pretty fine writing and someone to watch I think. Newfoundland is definitely a place I want to got before it changes completely.


An outport in Newfoundland...lots of painting subjects I think.

The ever hopeful Oscar wants in....

Ted Harrison Painting Paradise

I'm really pleased to see this biography of Ted Harrison. Looks like a beautiful book. He'll be signing copies at the Legacy Art Gallery at 630 Yates this Saturday from 1-3pm. There is currently an exhibition of his work there. Not to be missed I think!

Ted Harrison Painting Paradise

Our good old pal

Doug Coupland on Twitter

I do get quite a laugh often out of his posts. Recently ranting about some feature in photoshop. And I loved this:

"Tore back a fingernail at Heathrow and asked security if they had nail clippers I could borrow, they had a bucket filled with 5000 clippers."

Just think of all those thwarted hijackings...

Neighbourhood photos

Yippee...blogger seems to be uploading photos normally again!

I haven't done any painting this year so think I will start off with something I love and something easy to get me warmed up...these sunflower photos I took today should inspire me.







I've been meaning to take a photo of this "flowerbed" all summer...Oak Bay grounds crew had fun with this one.





Nature's bounty.



Jim's little helper...

Margaret Atwood | Canada | Year Of The Flood | Home

I'm finding it quite fascinating following Atwood's twitters about her book tour. She also mentioned in a twitter that the music and hymns that were created for the novel and presentations can be performed free of charge for non profit groups. They mostly have an environmental basis. Clips of the music and the sheet music are available on her website for the book.

Margaret Atwood | Canada | Year Of The Flood Home

James Bay Art Walk shoes on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

This event goes on this Sat and Sun and I really liked the idea of the artists painting shoes to hang on their sandwich board. Doing links again as not sure if I can post photos yet...what a drag!

James Bay Art Walk shoes on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

James Bay Artwalk map and info:
Home

Marvel Disney merger

It didn't take long for the artists to have a ball with this...some proposed characters.

myphotos

Trying this out

Since I'm having real problems uploading my photos with Blogger the way it is currently set up for me I have created another blog on Blogger that seems to upload photos still so my plan is to upload here and then link to my Janice S blog. A rather inelegant solution but all I can think of at the moment. I'll experiment with some Malta photos.
Click on the link to see the photos..this is the way it's going to have to work with photos for a while.

myphotos