Season's greetings!

Well, I have stalled with the "23 Things" for now. I am eager to get on with it; I've really enjoyed what I've done so far. I can't think of how I lived without Flickr! Congratulations to those who have actually finished!

I haven't posted for awhile, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to say "Happy Holidays" and remember, be kind to yourself during this busy time.

My family and I are off to the Island of Hawaii this Christmas, so I should have some nice tropical pix to post when we get back.

Poetry Corner 2

I am not a huge reader of poetry; however, in one of Alexander McCall's new books (The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday), the main character (Isabel Dalhousie) makes frequent reference to W.H. Auden. So I started looking at Auden's poetry, some of which was long and (to me) indigestible. I did come across one poem I liked very much, titled "Talking To Dogs." The beginning of it (it's fairly long too) is:

From us, of course, you want gristly bones
and to be led through exciting odorscapes
-their colours don't matter - with the chance
of a rabbit to chase or of meeting
a fellow arse-hole to snuzzle at,
but your deepest fury is to be accepted
as junior members of a Salon
suaver in taste and manners than a pack,
to be scratched on the belly and talked to.

(The "polaroid" photo of Auden was done on an image generator, as you can tell by the advertising on the bottom - guess I could have cropped it - getting lazy in my old age!)

Random Books I've Read (created using LibraryThing)

Image Generator

OK, I played around with an image generator (imageGenerator.net) and this is what I came up with. A bit juvenile, I know, but you can always look under there! (ha, ha - made you say underwear!)

Biographies

Another column I wrote for North Shore Outlook "Bookbites" - Biographies

BIOGRAPHY

Biographies, autobiographies, memoirs—they all let you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Take a look at these titles from NVDPL and get ready to immerse yourself in the life of another, be they famous, infamous or just darn intriguing!

Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the King and I Governess by Susan Morgan
Morgan's research yields the details of Anna Leonowens’ full and long life, delving into her roots as a child of the British in India and the power of a personality driven to reinvent itself several times over. In addition to telling the story of Anna’s true life in full for the first time, the book gives an engrossing account of how and why Anna became an icon in The King and I and its many adaptations.

Who Owns Canada Now? Old Money, New Money and the Future of Canadian Business by Diane Francis
Back in 1986, Diane Francis's hard-hitting Controlling Interest revealed the startling fact that one-third of Canada's wealth was in the hands of just 32 families and five conglomerates. Media coverage would have us believe that the last two decades have only increased this concentration of power. Diane Francis disagrees, and she's here to deliver some good news: financial reforms have shifted the balance away from an old boys' network of risk-averse investors towards daring Canadian innovators. Includes interviews with 70 of Canada’s billionaires.

Gaspipe: Confessions of a Mafia Boss by Philip Carlo
Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso is currently serving thirteen consecutive life sentences plus 455 years at a federal prison in Colorado. In this book, Casso gives author Philip Carlo the most intimate, personal look into the world of La Cosa Nostra ever seen. Casso’s story is gripping reading for anyone with a yen for the Mafia, the criminal underworld and a law enforcement system struggling to keep up.


Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher
Hornbacher, who detailed her struggle with bulimia and anorexia in Wasted, now shares the story of her lifelong battle with mental illness. At age twenty-four, Hornbacher was diagnosed with Type 1 rapid-cycle bipolar, the most severe form of bipolar disease there is. She takes us inside her own desperate attempts to control violently careening mood swings by self-starvation, substance abuse, numbing sex, and self-mutilation. How Hornbacher fights her way up from a madness that all but destroys her, and what it is like to live in a difficult and sometimes beautiful life and marriage—where bipolar always beckons—is at the heart of this memoir.
Shattered Dreams : My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer

Spencer grew up in the branch of the Mormon faith that still believes in polygamy. The second of what was ultimately her husband's ten wives, she became the mother of thirteen of his 58 children. She lived in squalor and desolate conditions and struggled to reconcile her religious beliefs against social norms and the deepest desires of her heart.

RSS feeds

This picture has nothing to do with RSS feeds - I just like it.

I have pondered RSS feeds and finally decided not to sign up for any. I already get Unshelved and Nancy Pearl's Book Reviews. There are two blogs I try to look at on a regular basis:
Stephen's Lighthouse - SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation, Stephen Abram:
http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com

and

Kathryn Greenhill, a librarian in Western Australia, who works at Murdoch University Library as Emerging Technologies Specialist:
http://librariansmatter.com/blog

(Why, oh why aren't these Web address turning into Hypertext? - help!)

In the tutorial, it said:

"RSS feeds offer a simplified view of Web content down to just text, pictures and videos--minus the site's style and formatting, which can sometimes hinder or befuddle casual reading"
The above two sites I visit are clean and well formatted, no advertising or things flashing in your face. I can understand if you were a frequent visitor to news sites or sites that had a lot of extraneous stuff on them, RSS would be useful. But I'm going to pass on it for now.

Baby Beluga has a name

The Baby Beluga's Name is... TIQA!

Tiqa (pronounced TEE-ka) stands for:

“T” is for Tuesday (the day of the week on which the beluga calf was born)
“I” is for Imaq (pronounced: EE-mak), Tiqa’s father
“Q” is for Qila (pronounced: KEE-lah), Tiqa’s mother
“A” is for Aurora, Tiqa’s grandmother

The picture above is an origami of a beluga mother and calf by Joseph Wu, an internationally renowned origami artist. His site is :
www.origami.as (go to "Gallery" to see his work)
(I don't know why these web addresses I put in my blog entries are not "clickable". Anyone have the answer? In the meantime, you'll have to access them the "long way" - cut & paste - sorry about that!

Dig this guy's crazy private library!!

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker?currentPage=all

Guess Who??!!

Guess who this is??!! *hint - the photo was taken in 1969!

North Shore Outlook "Book Bite" column

My "Book Bite" column for September was Mysteries. Here it is:

MYSTERIES
It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that mysteries are popular! Simply put, a mystery is a puzzle. The reader is drawn into the story and competes with the fictional detective to unravel the mystery. Also appealing to readers is the strong plotline – a crime is committed, an investigation pursued and a guilty party denounced.
Because of the large numbers of mysteries published, they are usually defined by genre (category). For example, there are police procedurals, female sleuths, historical mysteries and mysteries known for use of locales or incorporating knowledge of a specific subject. There are “cosies” (genteel, no blood & gore), “hard boiled” (tough & gritty) and suspense/thrillers (will the killer be found before s/he strikes again?)
With so many choices, there’s bound to be a mystery for you out there! Come to NVDPL to find the following mystery titles and many, many more.

The Good Thief’s Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan
Charlie Howard is a writer and a thief, supplementing his literary income with a small heist now and then. He's living in Amsterdam working on his latest book, when an American approaches him with a request for what seems like a simple theft. While Charlie is off breaking and entering, the American gets killed, and Charlie is arrested for murder.

The Grenadillo Box by Janet Gleeson
Nathaniel Hopson, an 18th century journeyman cabinetmaker to London’s Thomas Chippendale, is ordered to the bleak fens of Cambridgeshire to oversee the installation of Lord Montfort's new library. Nathaniel discovers Montfort's body in the library and, the next day, his friend and fellow journeyman John Partridge's corpse frozen in the garden's ornamental pond. Plunged unwillingly into the ensuing investigation, Nathaniel follows confusing clues and conflicting stories from Cambridgeshire to the bedrooms and ballrooms of London.

Kill All the Judges by William Deverell
(Sequel to April Fool) Is someone systematically killing all the judges in B.C., or is this just coincidence at work? Several have disappeared, some under suspicious circumstances, and at least two have been murdered. Retired Arthur Beauchamp, legend of the B.C. bar, once again has to leave his beloved Garibaldi Island to take the case.

All the Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
Robinson has been crafting these award-winning Inspector Alan Banks mysteries for more than two decades now. (First in the series: Gallows View) Former London policeman Banks relocated to Yorkshire seeking some small measure of peace. But depravity and violence are unfortunately not unique to large cities. His new venue, the quaint village of Eastvale, has more than its fair share of malefactors.

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Set in London in 1930, the heroine, Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, is thirty-fourth in line for the English throne. Georgie has been educated to curtsey, host lavish fetes and marry well. When her brother cuts off her pitiful allowance, Georgie leaves the family home in Scotland for London, determined to become a liberated woman. Georgie starts a maid service, but turns detective after finding a drowned man in her bathtub.

Library Thing & Baby Beluga

Wow, it's been a while since I blogged!

I have looked at Library Thing, made an account and added to it a whole pile of titles. Although I haven't had a chance to explore the site thoroughly, I think my main use of it will be keeping track of what I've read. I have always done this for myself, using Word and cutting and pasting reviews, but this is a lot faster! It's also interesting to see the "overlap" in other people's lists (Members with your books). I have 57 titles on my list, and the largest overlap with someone else is
13 titles. I'm not sure if that's a significant overlap or not. I like to think my reading tastes are unique!

Update on the beluga calf born in June at the Vancouver Aquarium - the Aquarium is now having a "Name the Baby Beluga" contest. Here's the link:
http://www.vanaqua.org/namethebaby/index.php
The picture is of calf, her mother Qila and her grandmother (Qila's mother) Aurora.

Ok, now that I've got the hang of this slideshow stuff, here's another one.

Also, the updated link to all our photos on Flickr is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29354499@N06/


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Slideshow

Hornby Island
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Quebec

Still working on that slideshow - I'm getting there. In the meantime, here's two photos from last summer, taken on our trip to Quebec. In the bottom one, I'm standing beside the entryway to a church building that's been converted into a library! (Perhaps you can see "Bibliotheque" on the sign) There's a number of old and ornate church buildings that cannot support congregations anymore, so they have been turned to other uses. As you can see from the top photo, a lot of the church accoutrements have been retained, which makes for a lovely (but I'm not sure how functional) interior.

Snakes

If you refer back to my June 19 post, you'll see I stated that I like snakes. Well, here is the picture that proves it! I'm holding a little garter snake I caught on Hornby Island.

I had hoped by now to master making a slideshow in order to show some of the beauty of Hornby, but you'll just have to make do with a snake for now!

Sleeveface

Well, I am trying to make progress with the NVDPL Playground, but I keep getting distracted! I have looked over all the staff blogs and I'm very impressed. I love the magazine covers, slideshows, and other clever things people have done.

I was just looking at a very amusing website called "Sleeveface", which is defined as: one or more persons obscuring or augmenting any part of their body or bodies with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion: http://www.sleeveface.com/ It's hilarious, but honestly, I think some people have WAY too much time on their hands!

playing

I decided I had better get with it and start looking at some of the things other staff have been putting on their blogs - great job, everyone. So above is my blogname from the Graphics Generator Cool Text. Whoopee!

Beluga calf update

My family & I are back from two weeks vacation on Hornby Island. (I hope to be posting some of our holiday pix soon)

In the meantime, here is an update from the Vancouver Aquarium on the beluga calf:

The Aquarium’s marine mammal & veterinary teams are reporting continued positive developments in the baby beluga.

She’s becoming more curious with her surroundings. The calf will now at times approach the glass which is part of the Aquarium’s underwater viewing gallery and have a look at the Aquarium visitors who are fortunate enough to spend a few minutes observing this amazing creature.

Upon surfacing, the baby beluga is now making her vocalizations in the open air. Some squeaking and rattling can be heard from her at the surface of the water. She’s even sounding “raspberries”, which is similar to the human behaviour of sticking out your tongue and blowing out air!

The baby beluga continues to develop in physical size, too. She is now nearly double the size compared to her appearance at birth. Her length has increased by a considerable amount and her girth has also expanded in a very noticeable way.

She is just completing her moult (a shedding of her skin) with her appearance smoothing out once again. Occasionally you may still observe her on the Aquarium’s beluga cam rubbing her exterior alongside a ledge in her habitat. That behaviour is a natural part of her moulting process as she attempts to finish this phase of her development.

The baby’s mom, Qila, often finds her little one swimming alongside her now. The baby is staying close and often mimicking or repeating some of Qila’s swimming patterns and characteristics.

Grand Canyon

Ok, here are some pix from Flickr of us at the Grand Canyon. If you want to look at more pictures, go to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28504163@N07/

Most of the photos are from our trip last March to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

Beach Reads

Another column for the North Shore Outlook! This one is titled "Beach Reads"

BEACH READS

It’s a beautiful summer day - warm and sunny with a few gentle breezes. You’ve set up your umbrella, spread out your towel, donned your sunglasses and hat and applied your sunscreen. Now you reach into your bag and pull out …the perfect beach read! Here are some suggestions from the North Vancouver District Public Library:

NON-FICTION:
Wonderful Tonight : George Harrison, Eric Clapton and me by Patti Boyd
Losing It : and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time by Valerie Bertinelli
It’s not easy being married to rock gods – they’re egotistical, demanding, unfaithful, drug and alcohol abusing workaholics. But these two women write about their relationships and lives with amazingly little bitterness and regret, and a lot of sweetness and honesty.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Run : True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide by Peter Allison
In this fun, fearless memoir, Allison shares his experiences taking "guests" through the African wilderness, trips that often don't go quite as planned, due especially to the unpredictability of the animals around them.

FICTION:
Well Bred and Dead by Catherine O'Connell
Meet Pauline Cook, who, despite being close to running out of money, shops when the going gets tough. Cook, a widowed Chicago socialite, is devastated by the apparent suicide of her friend, gay society columnist Ethan Campbell. The police turn up a stash of birth certificates in Ethan's apartment, and Pauline begins to wonder if her boon companion—always a bit cagey about his past—was who he claimed to be.

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
This story of notorious East London criminal Sid Malone and crusading woman doctor India Selwyn Jones takes many melodramatic turns between their first antagonistic meeting in 1900 and their final passionate rendezvous in 1907. Donnelly leads the reader through turn-of-the-century England from the Houses of Parliament to ale houses and whore houses, and from London to Africa and beyond.

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly
Representing some unsavory characters in his work as a defense lawyer, Mickey Haller (a so-called "Lincoln lawyer" who works out of his car) takes on his first high-paying and possibly innocent client in years, but finds the case complicated by events that suggest a particularly evil perpetrator.

Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews
After years of hard work, Gina Foxton hosts her own local Georgia cooking show, Fresh Start, and she's dating the show's producer. When her show gets cancelled and she catches her boyfriend cheating, Gina decides to try out for a show on the Cooking Channel. Trouble is, the execs also have their eyes on Mr. "Kill It and Grill It" Tate Moody, the star of a hunting, fishing, and cooking show named Vittles. The competition between Gina and Tate ramps up when the network decides to turn their competition into a reality show.

HOT OFF THE PRESS:
This Charming Man by Marian Keyes
Keye’s latest traces the intertwined stories of stylist Lola, journalist Grace,
Grace’s sister Marnie, an old friend Alicia and a man that binds all their lives.

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger
The author of The Devil Wears Prada tells the story of three best friends
who vow to change their entire lives...and change them fast.

Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming
James Bond returns! Agent 007 is called back into action to track a
power-crazed pharmaceutical magnate who proves to be his most dangerous
adversary yet.

Unshelved

Ok, first I'll talk about what I've accomplished in the "Playground". I've been through Parts 1 & 2 (attaching those meeting minutes is a bit of a pain, all right!) and am currently looking at Flickr. I've used Flickr before, just to look at other people's photos of travel, weddings, etc. I've asked my son to download the pix on our home computer to Flickr so I can practice downloading some of them onto this blog. That's the idea, anyway.

In the meantime, probably most of you have heard of "Unshelved", the comic strip featuring the librarian Dewey. He and the rest of the staff at the Smallville Library are always facing dilemmas than any library worker can relate to! If you go to www.unshelved.com, and sign up, you can receive the strip daily (Sundays' strips are full page colour reviews of a childrens' or YA book)

More videos on Youtube

Some of you may remember the above - my "famous" BCLA report that made it into the Staff blog! In the second panel of it, Mary Worth's companion refers to "Peter DeGroot's staff training videos you can see on YouTube." For those of you who haven't seen them, you're in for a treat!

This one's called "The Security Gate Strikes Back" Others are : Revenge of the HSIT, No Hope and (my personal favourite) The Phantom Manass

"Commoncraft" videos on Youtube

There's a number of useful videos on Youtube by a company called Commoncraft. Their series is called "In Plain English" and they deal with a number of the things we're looking at: blogs, wikis, social networking, rss, etc.



Here's a link to the video "RSS In Plain English"

Update on baby beluga

Some of you have heard that on Monday, a "possible abscess" was found on the beluga calf and antiobiotics were started. As of Weds, June 25, "she is showing strong signs of regaining all of her energy and alertness and continues to show the health improvements observed throughout yesterday."

Regular updates on Qila and her calf are posted by the Aquarium at: http://www.vanaqua.org/home/BelugaUpdates.html

Poetry Corner

Here is a poem that I like:

A narrow Fellow in the Grass

Occasionally rides

You may have met him? Did you not

His notice instant is -

The Grass divides as with a Comb -

A spotted Shaft is seen,

And then it closes at your Feet

And opens further on -

He likes a Boggy Acre -

A Floor too cool for Corn -

But when a Boy and Barefoot

I more than once at Noon

Have passed I thought a Whip Lash

Unbraiding in the Sun

When stooping to secure it

It wrinkled And was gone -

Several of Nature's People

I know and they know me

I feel for them a transport

Of Cordiality

But never met this Fellow

Attended or alone

Without a tighter Breathing

And Zero at the Bone

Emily Dickinson

For someone who apparently rarely left her house, Emily could sure write about nature. I love that last line "Zero at the Bone". It so perfectly describes the feeling you get when you see a snake. (And I like snakes!)

cookbooks

This blogging stuff is highly addictive!

A book review column I wrote for NVDPL appeared in the Thursday, May 22 issue of the North Shore Outlook newspaper. Buried at the back (p 32 of 40 pages), it sank without a trace. So, if you're interested in cookbooks and want to see the six titles I picked out of the many thousands held by NVDPL, here it is:

Whether you’re a gourmet cook who loves to entertain, a parent who caters to fussy eaters or someone who would like to start eating more healthily, cookbooks can be wonderful sources of inspiration and new ideas. Nowadays, there are so many cookbooks being published, there’s sure to be one that will help you no matter what your eating habits or cooking talents may be. Here’s some of the latest picks from the North Vancouver District Public Libraries’ collection.

The Dinner Fix : Cooking for the Rushed by Sandi Richard
The perfect guide for busy parents to plan, prepare and cook healthy, delicious meals for the entire family. The author is a mom of seven children; she’s passionate about the happiness and health of families everywhere. The book boasts 10 weeks of balanced recipes and meal plans that include grocery and equipment lists. Each meal has its own colour photograph.

The South Beach Diet Supercharged by Arthur Agatson
Follows the proven healthy eating principles of the original diet set out by Miami cardiologist Agatston: choose good carbs, good fats, lean protein, and low-fat dairy. Includes dozens of easy-to-prepare new recipes, including Eggs Frijoles, Chock-Full-of-Veggi Chili, Roasted Tomato Soup and South Beach Diet Tiramisu.

Balls! Round the World Fare for All Occasions by Angela Murrills
Reasons to love meatballs? Let’s see: they're simple, they're economical; you can feed four to six with a pound of meat. They taste good hot, cold or at room temperature, with or without sauce. A Vancouver food and travel writer, Murrills has eaten meatballs in France, Italy, Spain, Thailand and Greece. Colour photos accompany such recipes as Lamb and Feta Meatballs with Cucumber Yogurt and Oven Baked Curried Salmon Balls.



EverydayFavourites : Canadian Living Cookbook
This book is the 30th anniversary collection from the test kitchens of Canadian Living magazine, where the editors have put their years of experience into the art of creating quick, healthy, and affordable meals. While old favourites such as Caesar Salad and Tuna Casserole can be found here, so can more sophisticated dishes as Roasted Double-Salmon Fillet with Spinach Mushroom Filling and Carrot and Red Lentil Soup with Parsley Cream.

Fresh : Seasonal Recipes Made With Local Ingredients by John Bishop
Bishop’s Restaurant is famous for its use of organic, locally grown foods. This cookbook features Bishop’s philosophy in recipes divided by the seasons, thus making use of the freshest ingredients. For example, “Spring & Early Summer” recipes make use of early crops in dishes such as Smoked Sockeye Salmon and Leek Tart, Spinach and Nettle Soup and Strawberry Rhubarb Fool.

dish entertains : Everyday Simple to Special Occasions by Trish Magwood
Torontonian Trish Magwood is building an empire with a hit TV show party dish, a catering business, a cooking school, a retail business and now her first book. Not bad for a woman in her thirties with young children! dish entertains is divided into six sections: hors d'oeuvres, soups, salads, mains, sides, and desserts.
Each section is also divided into "everyday simple" recipes and "special occasions" recipes. Some samples: Sweet Potato Chipotle Soup, Herb-Crusted Beef Tenderloin and Chocolate Pots.

baby beluga

Many of you know I volunteer at the Vancouver Aquarium. Usually I work with marine invertebrates, but lately the focus there has been on the newly born beluga whale calf. She was born at 4:28 PM Tuesday, June 10, 2008. She's 1.35 metres long and weighs about 50 kilograms. For more info and pictures, go to the Vancouver Aquarium's website: http://www.vanaqua.org/

my dog Mollie

How cute is this? I know it's a total cliche to post a picture of your dog, but I couldn't resist!