“Becoming Jane” takes a semi-biographical look at Jane Austen’s beginnings as a writer during a time when it was unheard of for a woman to “live by her pen” and women were expected to marry for money rather than love. The bonus features on the DVD reveal that the story depicted in the movie  is an embellishment of Jane’s real life.  However, Jane did actually meet and fall in love with a man with the same name as the male lead. Anne Hathaway plays Jane and as a self-proclaimed Austen fan apparently does an excellent job of capturing the real author’s character. The supporting cast and beautiful sets and costumes also make the film well worth watching. The story gives insight into how Austen gathered the themes for her novels and, well, to say much more would be to say too much.

“The Jane Austen Book Club” is a modern-day film about a book club made up of  a recently separated mother, her close female friends, her daughter and a younger man recently introduced to their circle who previously only read sci-fi/fantasy books. Having just started reading Jane Austen and being a sci-fi/fantasy reader myself, I enjoyed watching the male character’s growing appreciation of Jane Austen’s works over the course of the movie. The underlying relationship plots interwoven with details about the relationship woes of Austen’s characters made it a fun popcorn movie while inspiring viewers to consider reading all six of Austen’s novels and other works.  At least it inspired me.  So, back to reading… oh, Mr. Darcy, how could you?

In Defence of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto

These people, like me, will like this book because it will let them know that they were right all along – - that the longer the list of ingredients on a food product the further it is away from being real food, and, the more likely it will make them or their children still hungry minutes after eating it, or, worse, tired, irritable, or sick.

A journalist who first examined food issues in The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Pollan in this, his latest book, puts the Western diet under a microscope, discovering that “food has been replaced by nutrients and common sense by confusion”. Delving deeper into the history of “nutritionism” and the industrialization of eating, Pollan attempts to explain why Western society, with supposedly the means and knowledge to eat well and thrive, somehow isn’t.

For me, the book makes up for those hurtful comments over the years about my “over mothering” when it comes to food. My quest to whenever possible serve my son actual “food” (although I had been doing so up until then) began in earnest after his first day of nursery school.

The snack provided on that first day by the friendly but at the time nutritionally unaware staff was “juice” concocted from a familiar sugary-flavoured powder packet and sugar cookies. When I went to pick up my son about an hour after snack time, I found him practically keeled over on one of the benches. I was asked whether my son had had breakfast (he had) or whether he had had enough sleep (he had). I soon realized that it was the sudden and unfamiliar high quantity ingestion of sugar, additives and who knows what else that was making my son lethargic and even anxious. Further research confirmed he was suffering from “food” reactive hypoglycemia brought on by “food” that wasn’t really food at all. Or, to put it more plainly, the processed products disguised as food had made him sick. 

I noticed similar symptoms after birthday parties he attended. A little cake, or one hot dog, or a sip or two of pop on their own might not have mattered, but, all three even in modest quantities were an ultimate drain on his energy and left him sick hours later until the sugar high followed by a sugar low could be balanced with small amounts of protein and low glycemic carbs, i.e. real food that could be absorbed more slowly and fully.

My son’s own childhood birthday parties in comparison featured milk or water as the beverage choices and home-made not processed food. His friends didn’t even mind, because they knew, to compensate, the toys in their take-home goody bags, which were uncharacteristically devoid of sugary candy, were the best to be found on the birthday party circuit. And, they always liked the food too.

Even if you, like me, already subscribe to Pollan’s theories about the importance of food over “food products”, In Defence of Food is well worth reading. Pollan points out in a series of well-thought out examples that in a world where our natural, whole food choices keep shrinking, processed options are increasing by the minute. He writes that phrases like “low fat”, “low cholesterol”, “low carb”, “whole grain”, “omega 3”, and “omega 6” have replaced the simpler characteristics of colour, grade and freshness as predictors of the quality of the food we eat.

Far from just a book about the sorry state of the Western diet and the effect on our health, In Defence of Food offers advice about what we as eaters can do about it – - simply take a cue from our grandmothers and in some cases our great grandmothers, to “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.”

Guinness still has to officially verify the record, however, 1,400-1,500 people showed up at the Forks today to participate in the Winnipeg record attempt for the longest ice skating chain in the world. More information here.

The most popular reference books in my school library are the Guinness World Records annual books showcasing photos and information about a variety of world records established or surpassed in the years leading up to the book’s publication. The 2008 book, with a shiny red foil cover and glow-in-the-dark features, examined sports records, epic endeavours, incredible stunts, environmental records, inspirational people, consumer technology and entertainment, animal records, and, perhaps the most fun and easily participated in types of records, those for mass participation.    

If you live within driving or skating distance of Winnipeg and have a free afternoon Moday February 18 (our province’s first official Louis Riel Day), you’ll have your own chance to be part of such a record – - The World’s Longest Ice Skating Chain. 

The record is currently held by a group of 200 school children in Mexico City, who seen here, achieved the feat in January of this year. With promotion from Winnipeg’s Hot 103 radio station, organizer of Winnipeg’s attempt, Dean Koshelanyk, hopes to secure the record for our city. It only seems fitting as Winnipeg’s skating trail at the Forks recently beat out Ottawa’s Rideau Canal for if not the biggest, at least the longest outdoor rink.

To participate and be counted as part of the record, you need to register between 12:30 and 2:10. Registration forms can be downloaded here but you still need to present them on-site. The line up on the ice starts at 2 p.m. with the event starting promptly at 2:30. You must have skates, be able to skate forward and stop and hold onto the person in front of you while skating for a full 3 minutes.  Find more information here.

At a crossroads in my life on a number of issues, I was thinking today that getting older doesn’t necessarily coincide with getting wiser. How do you determine if you’re on the right track after years of pursuing, as Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series author Douglas Adams aptly put it, the “ultimate answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything”? And, do you really want or need to know the answer at all?   I guess I’m not that old, but, I’m not that young any more either. In fact, in two days my age will reach a certain number, which, if you are an Adams fan, you will recognize as the actual answer to “the great question of life, the universe and everything”, at least as calculated by super computer Deep Thought.

After spending seven and a half million years calculating the ultimate answer, Deep Thought muses that perhaps the question was a little too broad.

I guess in the pursuit of the ultimate answer to “life, the universe and everything” I agree with Slartibartfast, who tells Hitchhiker anti-hero Arthur Dent:

 “I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied… What does it matter? Science has achieved some wonderful things of course, but I’d far rather be happy than right any day… [But I am not,] that’s where it all falls down of course.” 

I too understand how being right doesn’t necessarily make one happy. And, there are lots of activities out there to keep one occupied, writing inane ramblings in blogs being only one of them. Maybe our lives are that much richer by not being able to predict the future and base our decisions on any kind of certain future outcome. Perhaps we are not supposed to know both the ultimate answer and ultimate question – it might make life too predictable and boring. Or, would it make it dangerous? 

As I remember from listening to the Hitchhiker’s Guide radio play long ago:  

“There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable.

There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

There is a third theory which suggests that both of the first two theories were concocted by a wily editor of The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in order to increase the universal level of uncertainty and paranoia and so boost the sales of the Guide. This last theory is of course the most convincing as The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is the only book in the whole of the known universe to have the words DON’T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on the cover.^”

I guess in the end that’s the most important thing, whether you’re 42 or 92 – not to panic.

“Brisingr is an Old Norse word for “fire.” As you may remember, in Eragon, Brom uses the word brisingr to start a fire. This is the first time Eragon hears an ancient language word, a word of magic. Later, when Eragon is cornered by Urgals in Yazuac, he shouts “Brisingr!” to great effect (see Eragon—chapters “Revelation at Yazuac” and “Admonishments”).”

Despite the announcement of the title, anxious readers still have to wait until Sept. 2008 for the next installment in the series and even longer for the recently announced fourth book. For more information visit Alagaesia.com.

The best part about being a school librarian is having school holidays. You don’t get paid for them, of course, but, it gives you some nice time at home with your kid(s), who, if they get bored with you trying to pretend you’re a rock star while accompanying them on the new X-Box 360 Rockband game, might actually give you a half hour here or there to yourself to read.

As Severn Cullis-Suzuki (daughter of the famous David) points out in book forward: 

“This book is not a blueprint for saving the world… Its point is to show the plethora of ways to create positive change in the world. Its mandate is to get you thinking. It’s not so much a calendar of things to do each day — some of the individual activities could take a whole year to execute – but rather a resource of ideas and examples… to get us out of following the patterns of consuming, working and living in a thoughtless way. The 365-day format is a way to get us to think about things that matter each day.”   

The book is broken down into themes including: Community and Neighbourhood, Culture and Creativity, Democracy and Human Rights, Discrimination, Employment and Enterprise, Environment, Globalization and Consumerism, Health, International Development, Peace, Volunteering and Citizenship, and Young People. 

Far from a preachy read, the book sometimes dramatically and sometimes humourously presents opportunities for change while at the same time giving a global view of injustices happening every day around the world. Suggested activities range from writing to companies whose policies you disagree with to making your own composting toilet. 

The best advice in the book comes from “the folks at the Otesha Project”, Otesha being a Swahili word that means “reason to dream”:

“Remember that you already are changing the world. Every day, the decisions you make about what you eat, what you buy, how you get to school or work and how you spend your time all have effect on the rest of the world. Just go for the options that have positive effects, and, voilà, you’ve already made the world a better place!”
 

For my son’s part, he saves gas by playing Rockband digitally online with his friends, some of them on the other side of the world.  And, in the spirit of saving energy, and contributing more to the world than his guitar-playing abilities, doesn’t play as often as he would like, making sure he turns off the TV and X-Box, of course, when not in use. For my part, all the energy I put into trying to be a rockstar as I sing along makes me not even notice that we’ve turned the thermostat down two degrees.

A quote by L.M. Montgomery I have posted both at my school library and in my home library proclaims:

“Life would be to me in all respects a terrible thing without books.” – L.M. Montgomery

If you have been following this blog since its inception, you already know that the L.M. Montgomery series of Anne and Emily books are my favourite books from my childhood, and, books that I have re-read many times as an adult. 2008 marks the 100^th year since the publication of Anne of Green Gables. There will, of course, be a number of events to celebrate this milestone. One of the most interesting I have seen advertised so far is an event presented by the L.M. Montgomery Institute of the University of Prince Edward Island.  Entitled “L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables & The Idea of Classic”, the event is billed as an “international celebration of imagination and creativity” and takes place June 25-29 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. More information here about the week filled with all things Anne including scholarly discussion, special themed dinners, theatrical productions, guided tours, musical productions, a book launch and more.

I am apparently related to L.M. Montgomery through some Scottish-based ancestral link which includes being related to the Duke of Argyle. However, even without that connection, I have always felt drawn to Maude’s work since I first read her Anne and Emily series of books, especially after seeing her fair isle for myself when I was a teen. I have often dreamed of retiring to Prince Edward Island to write (as it seems there are seldom jobs there for journalists or librarians). With retirement a long way off, at the very least I will be saving my pennies to make the trip to this conference centred around one of my favourite books. After all, I agree, “life would be a terrible thing without books”, especially this one.

Pine trees, their boughs laden with snow,
are our Christmas trees.

Overwintering birds twittering in branches
are our Christmas carolers.

Handmade quilts, sweaters and wooden toys
are our Christmas gifts.

Farm animals nestled in straw in the barn
form our nativity scene.

One bright star shining in the night
is our Christmas star.

Heather Leask Armstrong

The move to 274 Garry Street (the former Kam Kong Restaurant) is planned for March 2008. The 8,400 square foot two-storey building will include a 1,200 square foot space for events, the restaurant, called EAT! bistro, and, of course, books. The store’s popular ideaExchange, Free Your Mind, and the Stone Soup Storysellers series will continue. New events, enough to require an events coordinator, are also planned including a reading series inspired by the recently announced Aqua Books Landsdowne Prize for Poetry. With the ultimate departure of McNally’s Portage Place location from downtown, Aqua Books is poised to become an even more prominent literary and cultural fixture in downtown Winnipeg.  The best part – - abundant parking allowing lots of time to browse even more books.  Speaking of which, I’ve already done a lot of my Christmas shopping at Aqua - great t-shirts and great books.  It will be business as usual as far as buying goes until the move, so, check out the lovely soon-to-be-old location while you still can.  Find out more, including ongoing updates on what customers can expect at the new location here.