RIP The Book Room

Awww...The Book Room in downtown Halifax is going out of business. Which is a damned shame, as it is apparently the oldest bookstore in the country, having been in business since 1839.

As one of the few remaining independent, general-interest bookstores in the city, I've tried to patronise The Book Room as much as possible in recent years. But perhaps inevitably, it just couldn't continue to compete with the likes of Chapters and Amazon. For instance, A. used to buy his clinic's book stock through The Book Room. But while prices were favourable, it became a real hassle for him to get downtown during business hours and find parking, in order to pick them up. Reluctantly, he started ordering from Amazon instead, so that the books would be delivered directly to the clinic, by post.

I'll have to drop in to the shop, before it closes.

Doing Our Bit

A. and I have decided that this year, we will be more charitable. We're starting off by sponsoring a child in a developing country. A. has a colleague in the army who has a whole raft of foster children overseas. This guy decided some years ago that every time he got a promotion, he would sponsor another child. A. was quite taken with this idea. So after a bit of research, we decided to support Plan (formerly Foster Parents Plan), since it has a long and reputable history of good work, and isn't affiliated to any religious groups. We signed up a couple of weeks ago, so should receive details of the child we've sponsored soon. We didn't indicate any particular preference as to location, but did ask to sponsor a girl - since I know all too well (through my work) the disadvantages that girl children face in so many developing societies.

Something else I've become really interested in is Kiva. Kiva is basically a microcredit organisation - enabling individuals to make small personal loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. And small is the operative word - the standard loan amount recommended is $25 per entrepreneur, and lenders are encouraged to diversify their loan funds among many businesses, thus keeping risk lower. Not that there is much in the way of risk. To date, on over more than $3 million in ended loans, the default rate has been a mere 0.1%. What's also quite amazing is that the majority of Kiva's businesses seem to be female-run; currently, of 67 "in-need" businesses posted on their website, 57 are run by women.

Anyway, Kiva seem to be doing amazing things for small entrepreneurs around the world. I'm very excited about it, and plan on becoming a lender soon.

Bummed

Well, it's official. My upcoming trip to Asia at the end of February has been cancelled. The director of my project isn't able to make the trip for health reasons - and without him, there's not much point in carrying on with the planned meetings.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Even though the time I was due to spend in the Philippines was work-related, I was still looking forward to seeing a bit of that country. Even worse is the cancellation of the nice little weekend stopover I'd planned for myself in Tokyo, on the way back to Canada. I was so excited about that, and had been ploughing through guidebooks in anticipation.

Would have been a perfect trip, and just the ticket at this lousy time of year. But alas, not to be. Argh. :-(

Atonement

Went to see Atonement at the cinema tonight. It was excellent, though fairly heart-wrenching (I think I'd better go read the novel now). Beautifully acted; although I usually find Keira Knightley a bit annoying, I have to admit she was excellent in this film, and perfect for her part. She and James McAvoy had great chemistry as the doomed lovers. And I had no idea that Vanessa Redgrave was also part of the cast! That was a treat to see.

Of course, as soon as I got home, I Googled to find out more about the wonderful country-house setting for the first half of the film, Stokesay Court in Shropshire. Beyond the pathos of the story, the film was incredibly beautiful to look at. It made me long for summer...and England. I need to go back there soon, I think.

Curtains

This week, I made new curtains for the window in the upstairs hallway landing. Previously, there were just blinds and a plain valance (see here). I put up these tabbed curtains instead - they are ice-blue taffeta with a brown flocked damask pattern on them:


It's amazing how a different window covering can change the look of a space. The landing seems cozier now, with these new curtains.

Although they turned out fairly well, I think I'm going to get a professional to make up new curtains for the living room downstairs (I'm getting a bit tired of the Roman blinds there now). I want them to look nice, and I'm worried I may botch the job. As soon as I can find fabric I like, I'll be ready to go on that project.

Miscellany

Some stories in yesterday's Globe that piqued my interest:

• Honestly, I cringe now everytime I hear about this 'campaign' to bring David Letterman to Nova Scotia (in the wake of Ellen Page's appearance on his show earlier this month). Though we keep hearing that it's "all a bit of fun", I'm not so sure. For God's sake, people...the man was just being polite.
• A federal government employee takes a photo of her boss asleep on the job, and gets suspended for "humiliating management". Proof positive that you really can get away with just about anything if you work in the public service.
  
• And on the front page, a fascinating story (by a woman I went to college with) of a troupe of Inuit performers who travelled to Timbuktu to take part in a desert arts festival put on by the nomadic indigenous people of the Malian Sahara. Turns out that the Inuit and the Tuareg have more in common than we might think.
  

Graham Norton

Hooray! Graham Norton is back on my TV screen! Just found out yesterday that after several years of floating around various projects, he has returned to the innuendo-laden, late-night chat show format that made him a star. His new programme - cleverly titled The Graham Norton Show - debuted this time last year in the UK, and has just started running on cable in Canada. I watched the first episode today and it was hilarious, with a format very much like his previous shows So Graham Norton and V Graham Norton.

Can't wait for the upcoming episodes. Though I'd love it if someone could explain how a show like this ends up on a cable channel like BBC Kids (?!). I can't imagine a more inappropriate show for children (though admittedly, it's broadcast only at night). Then again, this is the same channel that screened Little Britain with abandon, so....

A Little Close to Home

Some of the people we holidayed with in Venezuela this past summer sent me a news report this morning, indicating that there has been a plane crash off the coast of Venezuela. The plane was flying from the airstrip at Los Roques (where we spent an idyllic three days on the beach) back to Caracas.

A sad event...which turned very disconcerting when the Venezuelan press released the details of the plane itself. Its registration number matched that of the very same plane aboard which our group flew back to Caracas - this one:


Searchers are still trying to find the plane, apparently - and there were 14 people on board.

Even though logic tells us that flying is far and away the safest form of travel, things like this are still a little bit scary. :-/

Ellen Page

Well isn't Miss Ellen Page just a little star? I've been largely impervious to the breathless excitement surrounding the stratospheric rise her career has taken this past year. But she was on Letterman last night, and blabbered on and on about Nova Scotia during the interview in a very endearing and fun way. She even gave Dave a history lesson about the Halifax Explosion, bless her.

I really oughta go see Juno, I guess, and see what all the fuss is about.

New Year, New Podcasts

I've been amping up my podcast listening over the past few months. With my daily commute, there's over an hour every day during which there's not much for me to do except listen to my iPod. Music's a wonderful thing, of course, as are audiobooks - but I've been getting into podcasts more and more recently. There's a lot of great content out there - and all for free!

So far, I've subscribed to the following - check 'em out:

CBC Radio: Dispatches (global current events - lots of fun and fascinating stories)
CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas (occasionally a bit too highbrow, but generally a great in-depth series on contemporary thought)

BBC History Magazine (pop history, obviously - though reasonably well-done; sometimes a little too heavy on militaria for my taste)

Guardian Unlimited Music Weekly (UK content: perfect for music pseuds like me, delivering just enough info to enable me to pass myself off as a hipster)
New York Times Music Popcast (as above; US content)

New Yorker: Out Loud (since I don't always have time for the print version)
New Yorker: Comment (ditto)

The British Library (a little esoteric at times, but pretty solid nonetheless)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (great introductions to past and current exhibitions)
Victoria & Albert Museum (wonderful podcast series from my favourite museum, which sadly seems to have been discontinued for the time being)

New York Times Essential Knowledge Podcast (for my inner trivia geek)

What a Croc

So I finally gave in and bought a pair of those wretched Crocs today. But at least the company is putting out some more attractive styles now, in addition to the trademark clumpy clogs. I got these 'Alice' ones:

Cute, no? And damn, are they ever comfy for wearing around the house.