Hi Brenda Louise!
Sorry I've not replied to your last message sooner but life had been quite a whirlwind, even before we returned to Vancouver, If it's Tuesday it must be Paris!), this past Saturday, after being away for a little more than 13 weeks! More unpacking on Sunday and on her way to church Cora lee dropped me off at home of Sylvia/Ray Banks where I had stored my Trek while away. It was probably fine in the bike storage area in our locker room here at the Islay Inn but I felt more comfortable leaving it with friends as if it disappeared I would know nothing about it for quite some time. Didn't really want to burden anyone with having to check on it over the course of our holiday.
 |
| Love, love, love the Orange vase, wine chiller!! Note the LAB jar to the right. C xx |
Shooting ahead, a tad, at last night's Opening Reception, 4:00- 6:00 pm, I had the chance to talk to Roberta and she was tickled about my having outbid Ken. As well, when I mentioned that Cora Lee's Book Club had read The Midwife of Venice she said she would be delighted to come to a meeting should they decide to read her latest. She and Ken live in North Vancouver when in Canada.
Makes
me feel a tiny, tiny bit like what I'm sure your sister is experiencing
as an extra in Dreams of the Red Chamber. What a truly incredible
story/journey that is! Afraid I don't have her courage. I salute her in
her high heels and heavy headdress but I'd be terrified to be on stage,
two-left footed person that I am, aside from anything else. Still
fascinating to have such a peek into this stunning world, so thanks for providing links. [I think my dear international friends should be able to understand this in spite of Canadian references...dj: With breathless anticipation the crowd awaits the unveiling of the Senator Mike Duffy statue in Cavendish PEI.]
In the critical minutes, saving a life meant CPR
Looking even further ahead to Friday, November 1st, am wondering if you will be at home. As I mentioned, I think a message or two ago, we will be en route to Little Shuswap so thought we might pop by for a quick visit, just to say hello and impose on you for a quick coffee since Wally seems to be off the malt! Not a big deal if you are busy but it would be lovely to see you both, and Picasso as well, of course. Anyway, let me know and we can plan accordingly Coriandre sends her best wishes to you three. Cheers for now, Patrizzio!
P, Mark has suggested we head east tomorrow. Let me know if this works for you. W
Hi Patrick and Corinne. Julia and I are in Berlin where today we did a walk to see the "alternate Berlin", essentially a tour of awesome street art. I saw this figure within a larger work within a much larger assembly of works on a long stretch of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery, and it made me think of Corinne, like it or not. Hope all is well. Ross
Gents, It doesn't look as though I'll be able to make it tomorrow. If it's a day like today, it will be a great ride. Ray
P, sorry I missed your calls. Hope you enjoyed the evening. Look forward to hearing about Nesbo.
Let me know when you might be available to ride. Late morning may work okay for me. W
George, I'm not feeling that sharp at the moment but will try and do a short ride tomorrow with Sylvia and the daughter of a neighbour who is here on holiday. Jake fixed Sylvia's bike so she is more upright and more comfortable. I know about the new bike. One of these days...Ray
Hi Lads:
Gents,
It doesn't look as though I'll be able to make it tomorrow. If it's a day like today, it will be a great ride. Ray
George, I'm not feeling that sharp at the moment but will try and do a short ride tomorrow with Sylvia and the daughter of a neighbour who is here on holiday. Jake fixed Sylvia's bike so she is more upright and more comfortable. I know about the new bike. One of these days...Ray
P,
in confidence.
Thought you might want to know: it looks like Ray may admitting that his
condition is more tenuous than we thought. W
Next year's tour:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/interactive/2013/oct/23/yorkshire-paris-tour-de-france-2014-route-map
Next year's tour:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/interactive/2013/oct/23/yorkshire-paris-tour-de-france-2014-route-map
Jo Nesbø was quite something. A truly interesting individual. Soft spoken, wonderfully self-deprecating, hilarious. Lisa Moore and Scott Turow were very, very good as well so quite an evening. Packed house so delighted we were able to attend.
Now looks like I cannot ride until 2:45 pm on Thursday. That probably doesn't suit but if it does let me know. Friday, I'm free in the morning but need to be back at the Islay Inn by 12:15 pm. Cheers, Il Conduttore!
Hi Chloë!
Maggs is adoring Nana as she reads! She seems to be settling back in so pleased about that. Your place looks terrific. Like the new TV stand. Very chic and elegant! Must to bed as I'm rather sleepy. Love, Dad and Maggs!
Was up at 5:45 am to enjoy a cup of java and try to work through the plethora of unanswered messages that clog my Inbox. Just after 8:00 am Cora Lee appeared and we busied ourselves getting ready for The Millionaires, Grogg/Lurchesca, who were coming for breakfast, (en route to Hawaii for a month, later that afternoon), at 9:00 am. Coriandre did a wonderfully tasty frittata along with back-bacon and fried potatoes. We enjoyed a pleasant catch-up chat as we ate, making some plans for next January when we will house/cat sit for them for two weeks, starting around the 10th/11th.
They had to return to the GI Hotel to check out before 11:00 am so we wished them Bon Voyage around 10:30 am and then we went over to Chloë's loft to bring Maggie back to the Island Inn. ON the way over was a bit worried that she might have hidden herself away somewhere as she has been doing this, on and off, according to Chloë. Anyway, she was on Chloë's bed when we arrived and seemed happy enough to see us. I brought her downstairs and Corinne talked to her while I readied her carrying cage. In the past it has been a real "wild, rabid animal" issue to get her into the travel box as she resists, tooth and slashing claws, to the full extent of her devastating ability. Now, however, due to her poor health she gave but a pitiful squeak as we placed her in the open container and quickly put the top on.
More sad, pitiable cries as we drove home but once at our place she sniffed around a bit and then hid herself under our bed. Knowing this was likely, I had placed a thick beach towel there for her to sleep upon. Since she has had more company, am very pleased to report that she is doing much, much better now and really seems back to her former self although she is certainly showing her age, 16 years, but that is to be expected, of course.
Managed all this with just enough time to spare to head over to GI, Cora Lee to Performance Works, I to Studio 1398, (our bar venue in the evening), to take in Stories in Good Company with Dan Bar-El, Ashley Spires and Eric Walters, all children's authors/illustrators, (both, in Spires' case), aimed at grades K-3. All three were simply wonderful and knew their audience. It was so heartening to see them relate to the students in such a supportive, encouraging, non-patronizing way . Dan is a truly marvellous story teller and he "told" his story about a dragon who can't even light his own birthday candles before showing slides of the book itself. Ashley spent much of her time showing us where her ideas came from and how they eventually materialized into characters in her published works. Binky the cat, I believe, started out as a tiny plastercine model, little bigger than one of our discontinued pennies, fashioned when she was roughly six herself, saying to all the young minds that you too can do this if you wish to do so.
Although I don't know his work, I gather Eric uses a lot of animals in his books so his slides juxtaposed shots of real animals and their realization in published form. He is also heavily involved with an orphanage in Kenya and did the same thing with the actual orphans and their surroundings and the work based on their lives. His commitment to this on-going project is all consuming and he admitted, when we chatted briefly, after the session, that he spends more time on it than on his writing. Nevertheless, what a wonderful, wonderful message to convey, without being at all heavy handed, to give and care for those less fortunate.
Taken together with yesterday's session for grades 4-7, it struck me what a fine job the Festival is attempting to do, and has always sought to do, to reach out and include children. How else are we to nurture our future readers and authors and illustrators? And this is not to say that the adults present at these events are short changed. Far from it. I, for one, was immersed in the innocence and vitality and boundless curiosity and enthusiasm of youth and was able to share it, to revel in it, and be reminded, (for we often/usually need, as adults, to be reminded, I think, to remain child-like), to look upon the world with openness and excitement and unbridled laughter.
Saying these things, reading these things, thinking such thoughts brings tears to my eyes as perhaps you can well intuit/see. Tears shed, not for lost innocence, but out of gratefulness, out of thankfulness, for being reminded and reassured that there are ways to recapture, if but for an instant, a fleeting moment perhaps, the magic and wonder of freshness. Books, of course, for me and I suspect, many, certainly all here, play a central role in this process of reinvigorating our imaginations. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you to The Festival, for allowing me to share, once again, in this marvellous endeavour, in the wonder of seeing and feeling anew. Here Endeth the Lesson!
Back home to take another ride. Spectacular effects of sun burning through fog as I neared Stanley Park. Couldn't see but the shore of English Bay right next to the Seawall as rest of expanse of water was completely obliterated. When I rounded Brockton Point most of the North Shore Mountains were visible, unlike the day before when they had been completely shrouded. However, a huge fog bank had settled under the Lions Gate Bridge and as I rode past Lumberman's Arch a ghostly container ship, passing under the bridge, emerged from the thick, thick cotton wool whiteness, its fog horn blaring, ominously announcing its leviathan presence. I, for one, was certainly glad I was on dry land and not bobbing about in the harbour, on anything, a sailboat, a tug, the SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay or even another freighter, as one simply would not be able to see a thing until a collision was inevitable. I know radar is in use but even that technology must bring but cold psychological comfort, under such harrowing circumstances, when one is virtually blind, blinded by a smothering blanket that one cannot throw off as it melts away before one's flailing arms to re-cloak itself around one's senses, immediately, suffocatingly, maliciously and completely.
Stats for today's ride:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/394829175#.UmkmNPiFVlg.email
Stats for ride from Bontrager:
55.9 km over 2:37:35, AVG 21.2, MAX 51.9 km/h
Three loops later and I was headed home for a quick shower and bite to eat and then we were off to Studio 1398 to set up the bar. Doubled our sales from night before so pleased about that. Would have liked to stay for Beyond Queer particularly since Amber Dawn, (How Poetry Saved My Life), was on the panel. She had been the author sitting at Corinne's table, the night of the Literati Gala Cabaret and Cora Lee was much taken with her. However, we had much sought after tickets to Up All Night, at Performance Works at 9:00 pm, so we closed up shop once the session started at 8:00 pm, at our venue, and strolled to PW through the foggy night, sounds muffled, seemingly distant and coming from who knew where!
Main reason for wanting to attend was the fact that programming details had changed since the Festival Program was set and the organizers were pleased to announce that Jo Nesbø, (Norway), was now going to appear at this one event. Lisa Moore, (a Newfoundland author I'd first discovered two Festivals ago with her February, the account of how one ordinary Newfoundland family carries on after the Ocean Ranger disaster, the infamous sinking of the offshore oil rig on Valentine's Day, 1982, that killed all 84 men aboard.), and Scott Turow, (author of legal thrillers such as Presumed Innocent and The Burden of Proof, as you probably know, Dear Reader), were also on the panel.
a
portrait of Helen, a woman shattered by the drowning death of her
husband, Cal, in the historically true sinking of the Ocean Ranger off
the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1980s. - See more at:
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6556#sthash.RhEWtZuU.dpuf
a
portrait of Helen, a woman shattered by the drowning death of her
husband, Cal, in the historically true sinking of the Ocean Ranger off
the coast of Newfoundland in the early 1980s. - See more at:
http://www.quillandquire.com/reviews/review.cfm?review_id=6556#sthash.RhEWtZuU.dpuf
Jo Nesbø was quite something. A truly, truly interesting individual. Soft spoken, wonderfully self-deprecating, hilarious. He read, in English, from his latest Harry Hole novel, Police, and he had the audience in stitches as he'd interrupt his reading, from time to time, saying, "I didn't understand those last three words!" In fact, for "leviathan", he admitted beforehand that he couldn't pronounce, never mind understand, the word, so he'd asked Scott to say it for him when he came to it in the passage. (Funnily enough, in spite of the fact that English is obviously not his native tongue, his reading was far more effective and dramatic than was Scott's, his delivery being rather halting, awkward, stilted even. However, in conversation he was wonderfully articulate and spontaneous. Lisa has a rich, mellifluous voice and her reading was animated, character driven with different speech patterns.
The whole question of "lost in translation" was an interesting topic as well. Jo and Lisa just leave their works in the hands of their translators and hope for the best while Scott enjoys answering his translators' questions and felt it gave him fascinating cross-cultural insights.
Although Jo really stole the show, so to speak, both Lisa and Scott were very, very good as well so it was quite an evening. Packed, sold out house so delighted we were able to attend.
Look forward to seeing you two on the first! How fortunate to meet Boyden. The starkness of his book "Three Day
Road" and the following "Thru Black Spruce"haunts you for a long
time..
Anyway not much news here but life is good!
Patrick,
This is just a friendly reminder about your volunteer shift TOMORROW, Thurs Oct 24, for the Vancouver Writers Fest. Please check your Assignments tab on My Volunteer Page for details about your shift, i.e. what you are doing, where, when and who to report to....Many thanks! We are so looking forward to your help and are so very grateful! We could not do this festival without you!Volunteers don't just do the work ~ they make it work. -Carol Pettit Kathryn Fowler, Volunteer Manager
Hi Patrick and Corinne. Julia and I are in Berlin where today we did a walk to see the "alternate Berlin", essentially a tour of awesome street art. I saw this figure within a larger work within a much larger assembly of works on a long stretch of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery, and it made me think of Corinne, like it or not. Hope all is well. Ross
This is just a friendly reminder about your volunteer shift TOMORROW, Thurs Oct 24, for the Vancouver Writers Fest. Please check your Assignments tab on My Volunteer Page for details about your shift, i.e. what you are doing, where, when and who to report to....Many thanks! We are so looking forward to your help and are so very grateful! We could not do this festival without you!Volunteers don't just do the work ~ they make it work. -Carol Pettit Kathryn Fowler, Volunteer Manager
Hi Patrick and Corinne. Julia and I are in Berlin where today we did a walk to see the "alternate Berlin", essentially a tour of awesome street art. I saw this figure within a larger work within a much larger assembly of works on a long stretch of the Berlin Wall known as the East Side Gallery, and it made me think of Corinne, like it or not. Hope all is well. Ross
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