Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Update on Anna McNuff BAREFOOT through BRITAIN

You might remember that I introduced you to Anna McNuff last June just as she was starting her barefoot run, 2620 miles, 100 marathons, through Britain. Here's the link in case you haven't seen it: Anna McNuff: Barefoot through Britain.

Anna ran up and down, though fields, forests, mud and worse, along tracks and tarmac-ed roads, over foot-friendly and -unfriendly surfaces and she has completed her self-imposed challenge. Along the way she spoke to Girl Guides everywhere, inspiring girls and young women to embrace difficulty, to be courageous and adventurous. 

Here's a very short recent interview.


Anna seems like a person who doesn't sit still for long, so it will be interesting to see what her next adventure is. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

CanLit: Globe Book Club

Canadian literature - CanLit - got a lovely boost last spring when the Globe and Mail newspaper launched the Globe Book Club. The idea is that a Canadian author suggests a Canadian-authored book for us to read and then has an in-depth discussion with the author of the suggested book in which both authors give the reasons for suggesting/writing the book as well as discussing the content of the selection. Others chip in with their view and we all benefit - books' lives are rejuvenated, authors find their way back into the spotlight and the readers are reminded not only of fiction they may have missed a few years ago but also of what great minds we have in Canada. 

Last May Margaret Atwood led the way, choosing Barbara Gowdy's 2000 novel, The White Bone for reading/study. 



The White Bone, set in Africa, is told from the perspective of elephants. We share their innermost thoughts in a really creative and unique way and are challenged with ideas about the distressing fates of elephants in the wild, the effects of climate change, the rights or wrongs of anthropomorphism and other fascinating points of discussion. Find the wrap-up with video and other links to discussion topics here: Globe Book Club Spring.

At the beginning of November, the Globe Book Club asked for Canadian author Esi Edugyan's recommendation. Her choice, Jacqueline Baker's The Broken Hours, is a 2014 novel with another unique way of telling a story, fictionalizing the end of H.P. Lovecraft's life. 




Lovecraft, a real-life US horror fiction writer, is holed up in his 1936 Rhode Island mansion, still a young-ish man, but dying of cancer. Lovecraft hires a personal assistant, Arthor Crandle, who arrives at what seems a very creepy house and ghostly weird things start occurring that send shivers up his and our backbones. 

I anticipate fascinating discussions between readers and authors, don't you?

A link: Globe Book Club Fall 


I remember reading The Broken Hours a few years ago and even posted a review. Here it is! 



Thursday, April 16, 2015


The Broken Hours

The Broken Hours
Jacqueline Baker

The horror genre is not one I'm familiar with so, before picking up this book, I'd never heard of the early 20th century American writer H.P. Lovecraft.

Jacqueline Baker's The Broken Hours mirrors Lovecraft's style while relating the story of Arthor (this is his actual first name, not a spelling mistake) Crandle, a fictional live-in personal assistant hired by Lovecraft in 1936, just a year or so before the famous author's death from cancer at age 46.

Crandle moves into the eerily dark, quiet dingy, etc. etc. mansion in Providence, Rhode Island and becomes immersed in the ghostly quality of the house: locked rooms, people appearing, disappearing, reappearing, odd lights, debris, lack of comfort or warmth and so on. He and his reclusive employer do not meet until several days later, communicating instead through letters left on a table. Creepiness abounds and discomfort crescendos. 

Good ghost stories depend on a writer setting the scene using descriptive language, innuendos, and suggestion. Characters falter, making poor decisions, becoming delusional. Crandle is no exception and his first lie leads to so many more afterwards, he cannot find his way out of them. Then the end of the story comes along and is so appropriately weird, the reader no longer understands what is a lie and who is being lied to.

I enjoyed reading The Broken Hours. It was fun to have a brief sojourn into horror. I looked up information about H.P. Lovecraft and was impressed with how well his actual life details were integrated into Baker's story. What an interesting man he was! And what an interesting way Jacqueline Baker has of bringing him to our attention.


I recommend both of these novels. Following along with the Globe Book Club will only enhance the experience.

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Remembrance Day 2019




This sculpture, erected in 2018 to commemorate the end of WW1 is a tribute to not only the human loss of life but also to the over 8 million horses and donkeys that also died. The war horse was placed in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral in Kent, a county through which many of the horses passed on their way to the continent. 

Poppy falls for Remembrance are enormously popular community projects in the UK. I've featured them on this blog before - they are masses of handmade poppies joined together and cascading down buildings, castles, towers, bridges etc., forming a magnificent display and allowing people to remember in a tangible way. 


These hand-knit poppies are joined together in a massive blanket in Hertfordshire. 

One of the issues in Canada about a project such as this is the permission needed by the Royal Canadian Legion, which keeps firm control over the poppy and how it's made, used and portrayed. A group in Winnipeg, led by Sheilah Lee Restall who was inspired by projects in the UK, managed to get the Legion's permission and has been hard at work to bring a poppy fall to Manitoba.

       

Poppies can be knit, crocheted or woven - there's even a loom which will make quick work of a little poppy, though apparently some trial and error is involved, so if you are interested in taking on a project like this, I would advise you to visit the Poppy Blanket Facebook Page for tips. Also, there are many YouTube videos on creating poppies.


  

Details of the Winnipeg Poppy Blanket project can be found at PoppyBlanket.ca, including instructions on making the poppies and getting the community involved. Working right up until the last moment, the project revealed the blanket publicly at the Winnipeg Jets Game, Nov. 10. 

8000 poppies. 
Outstanding!



In the course of preparing this post, I found that there was a similar project at Calgary's Church of the Redeemer last year. 





UPDATE: The Winnipeg Poppy Blanket made an impact in the Manitoba Legislature after Remembrance Day.


Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Celebrating a Life


This little guy is a Wooly Bear Caterpillar. You probably won't see many around today, but a month ago they were all over the place.

In the fall these little 13-segmented beasties are all over roads and sidewalks, from North Carolina to the Arctic, each making steady progress to a cozy spot under a piece of tree bark or in a niche in a log or rock, somewhere out of the way where they won’t be stepped on, driven over or snatched up for a bird’s meal. As temperatures start to fall, they become lethargic- sluggish 😁- and eventually, they freeze from tip to toe. How amazing is that! In another miracle of spring, they come back to life, spin themselves a cocoon and eventually emerge as Isabella Tiger Moths


 



According to the Farmer’s Almanac, Wooly Bear Caterpillars can be used to predict the severity of the coming winter – the longer the brownish segment, the less severe the winter.  

Another life to celebrate is this blog's. 

Today is post #1000!


Some Favourite Things started up in March of 2011 and is still puttering along thanks to the encouragement of my family and friends and in spite of minimal blog promotion since it's mainly for my own benefit that I keep it up. 

I've noticed that in the last 8+ years some of the videos have disappeared. The videos here have been shared from YouTube and if a video is deleted from there it will no longer show up on here. 

There's also the annoyance that nobody can leave a comment, something I regret but seem unable to fix, at least not in any way that lasts.  Family and friends know they can email me their comments and others can find me on Facebook or Twitter. Comments are appreciated but rare and I'm ok with that.

Twitter: @JeanHeys