Last year we were packing our bags and getting ready for our flight to Palm Springs Nov. 1. It was pretty quiet around UBC and hoping it will be the same this year. We won't be going to the land of the endless sun but Jim brought me a sunflower plant and it even had a Halloween decoration.
I think I just might put up my Christmas tree and decorations pretty soon.
Brock House has a Thursday morning presentation by local authors called the Esther Birney Series. Esther was married to the poet, Earle Birney, and she loved all things literary. I did go with Maureen to Iona Whishaw reading and talking about her mystery series. All of the presentations seem interesting but I don't like rushing in the morning and it interfered with my morning swim. Well, no swimming and they are on Zoom these days.
Enda Bardell's presentation was amazing and I think I will read this book at some point although I seem to have so much to read at the moment.
"Innocence in a Turbulent World is the heartfelt memoir, with simple illustrations, of a young girl's early childhood in rural Estonia before she was forced to flee her country after the events of WWII. Honest and down-to-earth, the narrative captures a child's perspective of both the simple joy of living off the land and the incomprehensible horror of being torn apart by a conflict she could not understand....}
She is also a pretty amazing artist. Like me, she is fascinated by the English Bay freighters. I love her abstract work too.
We saw Richard in his band, Role Mach, playing here...sad to see the venue go.
A popular live-music venue on Cook Street announced Tuesday that it has closed its doors for good.
In a statement on its Facebook page, Logan’s Pub cited the potential threat of more regulations or closures due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases as one of the reasons for the shutdown. With capacity limited due to provincial health regulations, the live music model is “no longer viable,” the statement said.
Never heard of "synchromism"...
| STANTON MACDONALD-WRIGHT |
| La Gaite, 1958, 50 x 36 in., oil on canvas |
Co-founder of the Synchromism movement with Morgan Russell, Stanton Macdonald-Wright combined abstraction and intense color. He was influenced by ideas that the qualities of color were connected to the qualities of music. |
This was a very interesting "letter to the editor" in the Vancouver Sun recently.
I am rather curious to read the guide and see that is easily availble to download in PDF, eBook, and even audio read by some notable Canadians. However, I am very anxious to read Thomas King's "Indians on Vacation" so that will be first on my list after I finish Linden McIntyre's "The Wake" about the 1929 Tusami in Newfoundland and all the troubles that came after. This is a Brock House Bookclub choice. Mr. Kindle tells me I have read 42%.
The writers of this letter do seem to bring up some valid objections to the current guide.
** Update: Saturday, 7pm. I just finished watching Thomas King on the Writers Fest. Wow...he is so amazing and his big thing is humour for everything and especially addressing Indigenous issues. Yep, humour is what is needed for just about everything.
I really enjoyed this event and very interested in reading more of these poets and possibly the memoires although so much to read...so little time! I was interested because of Lorna Crozier whose poetry I like a lot although since I've stopped teaching I don't seem to be reading poetry. Perhaps time to start again. I arranged for Lorna to come to read at Esquimalt Secondary and she was a tremendous hit. with the students.
In the world of memoir, there is nothing quite like the precision, intimacy and beauty of a poet’s words. In this panel of Governor General Award winners and finalists, masters of their craft join moderator, friend of the Festival and multi-award winning author Aislinn Hunter. Billy-Ray Belcourt reminisces on his kokum and memories of his early life, as well his earliest loves, revelations and grief in A History of My Brief Body; Lorna Crozier discusses her long and devoted marriage to Patrick Lane (and their cats) in Through the Garden; Steven Heighton recounts his time volunteering on the frontlines of the Syrian refugee crisis in Reaching Mithymna. A trifecta of exceptional memoirs bound by the skill of the poets that penned them, this is sure to be a life and love-affirming event with meaningful messages for our modern world.
"Cold Skies" by Thomas King
I'm so glad John and Carol introducted me to Thomas King's "DreadfulWater Mysteries". I haven't read anything else by him although I do have "The Inconvenient Indian" on my Kindle. I think it was a Brock House Bookclub choice but we were probably in Palm Springs. King writes literary novels as well and "The Back of the Turtle" won the Governor General's award. He writes the mysteries for fun and relaxation. They are quirky, funny, and DreadfulWater is a great character. I think he's going to be an author I have to read everything he's written. I've bought a ticket for the Zoom Vancouver Writers Festival with him today at 6pm and really looking forward to it even though it does clash with The World Series:)
We got our favourite table with the best view in the house. We really feel like it's still our "Local". The server who knows us quite well said, "Great to see you guys and I'll turn down the music." We get well treated. Went for a walk on the seawall. I came home and made my Autumn Soup. We won't need much dinner and we won't want to interrupt the first game of the World Series.
We like both teams so happy with any result although according to Alexa, the Dodgers haven't won the World Series since 1988 even though they have had a lof of great teams. Mookie Betts is so much fun to watch. He does it all. Mookie is definitely the last piece of the puzzle for LA to win the World Series. He didn't come cheap.
"Mookie Betts made history. The 12-year, $365-million contract extension he signed with the Dodgers gave him the second-richest total deal —13 years for $392 million if his original $27-million salary for 2020 is included — in Major League Baseball history."
Update: The Dodgers took the first game 8-3.
Love it when the The Sylvia gets its Autumn wardrobe.
From The Desert Sun:
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert announced Thursday it will host the first-ever International Desert Conservation Summit next month, with a dozen conservation experts from around the world lined up to take part.
The Nov. 14 virtual gathering will hone in on conservation efforts afoot in deserts around the world, featuring experts from the United States, Mexico, Kenya, South Africa and several other countries. Highlighted efforts will comprise not just the conservation of animal populations, but local plants and other crucial aspects of global desert environments.
"As a leader in desert conservation efforts, The Living Desert is excited to host this inaugural event to bring some of the brightest conservation minds together," said Allen Monroe, the zoo's president and CEO.
"Although we had originally planned to host this event on-grounds at The Living Desert, we are thrilled to welcome even more attendees from all over the world with its new virtual format.''
It was warm and no wind and we saw some cool older cars. You can usually count on seeing the occasional cool car but nothing like Palm Springs. Well, the desert really is good for vintage cars as long as they are garaged. The blowing sand can do damage.
I usually buy sunflowers quite often but as with so many things in these times, good examples haven't been available at least where I've been. I bought these at IGA...not great, but I'm enjoying them and liking their rather goofy aspect. They make me smile...
And, of course, I always put the vase on the sunflower trivet that Fern game me knowing how much I love sunflowers.
Donna uses this product in baking (she is a Master Baker) and gave me a package to try. I made cookies yesterday and it folded in wonderfully. I'm hooked on this product now. Thanks, Donna!
Ready to go in the oven.
I just love these!
Good Morning. I am new to this site and wanted to let you know that we have put up a ‘little library’ outside our house on the 4100 block of West 12th. Feel free to take or give a book. Also, check out my mask making website -maiseymasks.weebly.com - fundraiser for local causes.
I almost never take photos of the sun rising but liked the colours when I got up.
It will be a quiet Thanksgiving today. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Richard and Grace last weekend and will be celebrating with Donna later today at her place. We're doing mainly a catered dinner. Donna is a wonderful hostess and we always enjoy our time together.
Just for fun I thought I would look at my blog and see what we were doing in 2014. We celebrated Thanksgiving late that year as Ray and Naomi were travelling in Quebec but wanted to have us all over. That was the first time we met them and it was a very fun evening and a wonderful dinner. Since then we have always celebrated Thanksgiving together. We have many wonderful memories of those evenings.
I always loved the otters at the zoo in Stanley Park. I won't mention feeding them fudgicles. Terry wouldn't approve but we were just kids and they loved licking them off the stick. We never thought they might bite the hand that fed them. But we did see a documentary a while ago that painted a rather nasty profile of otters and what vicious things they are capable in the "name of love"...like dragging a dog into the water and raping it). This is a much nicer story.
Also there is a great film called "Tarka the Otter" which is available on YouTube. I think it just might be time to watch it again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-2d3Dp0Xh0
From CNN's "The Good Stuff"
How does an otter find love? The same way a human does: Online dating! Harris, a 10-year-old Asian short-clawed otter at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in Cornwall, England, has been feeling lonely the last few years after his 16-year-old mate Apricot passed away. Although the otter dating scene is admittedly sparse, otters work best in pairs, so Harris' handlers wanted to set him up with someone new. They created an online dating profile for their little buddy to showcase his best qualities. "I am very attentive, I love a cuddle, and I am a very good listener," the profile said. "I will love you like no otter." Who could resist that? Harris' smooth words caught the attention of an otter named Pumpkin at Sea Life Scarborough sanctuary, who had recently lost her own elderly partner. Sure enough, Harris and Pumpkin hit it off, proving there truly is an otter out there for everyone.
A photo of Harris and his first mate, Apricot, in 2019. She died a few weeks ago, leaving one lonely otter.
I'm now always hoping that Margaret Atwood will win. She is always under consideration but didn't make it this year. The writer does have to be living to win it and she is getting older. I was thrilled that Alice Munro got it but Atwood is deserving as well.
I did like this poem by the Louise Gluck who was this year's winner.
Hyacinth
