The Intelligence of the Body...

... was the title of a lecture I caught yesterday. The discussion was divergent and engaged. Thoughts of Aldous Huxley's concept of getting out of one's own way. Of Wayne Gretzky being able to skate, in sports writer's terms, not where the puck was, but where it was going to be. Of Steve Carel's character in Little Miss Sunshine, who, racing to the aid of his beloved niece, runs (Roger Ebert writes) like a man who has read about running, has seen the diagrams of people running, does understand that human beings run - but has never actually run before in his life. (See it - it's hilarious; the whole movie is wonderful.) The lecturer - Gabor Csepregi - who, I have to say, was also an Olympic-level athlete, qualifying for Canada's water polo teams in 1972 and 1976, and about which, I also have to say, it was pointed out that water polo was the first group sport admitted to the Olympic Games (1900) and was invented by bored British officers posted to warm climes who played on underwater wooden horses - amidst all this came the name of writer Stefan Zweig , whose popularity and readership has ebbed and flowed, but whose Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of A Woman remains on the literary radar.

(Image: S. Zweig in 1930, davidbolduwork.com.)

New Portrait Exhibit Opens Tonight

Portraits are a genre unto themselves. Some visual artists, ie. Mr Warhol here, are primarily associated with it. Closer to home, Sheilagh O'Leary excels at portraiture, as anyone who has seen her Twinning Lines or Island Maid, among other shows, will know. Her latest is More Than Meets The Eye, 28 black and white photographs of models, mostly children, with Down Syndrome. The opening reception is 7-9pm tonight, the third floor gallery at the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre, free admission and all welcome.

(Image: sf.moma.org.)

Ever hear tell of the semantic web? The goal is to create a language machines can read. Funny how that usually turns out very badly in science fiction movies...and it definitely added to the dearth of lucidity in Eagle Eye...but the end product here is not a scary Terminator-type guy but an Internet that can make its own connections and inferences.

(Image: murdoch.edu.au.)

Why You Won't See Me At The Glacier

It's Craft Fair season, and we're gearing up for three. We'll have booths at the NLCDA events in St. John's (at the Convention Centre) and Corner Brook (at the Pepsi Centre). We'll also be at the Anna Templeton Centre in mid-December (this is a smaller-scale market, and quite lovely). But we won't be at The Glacier. Why not? You might be wondering. Well, here's the story of my book signing at The Glacier.
I had a book published two years ago, and as every author knows that means book signings. There you are at the Avalon Mall/Village Mall/Costco, at a fold-out table with a stack of your books fetchingly arranged, while shoppers flow past maybe vaguely registering your presence and wondering if you're selling Girl Guide cookies. I don't drive so I learned lots and lots about our Metrobus system; even so getting to The Glacier was a transportation challenge.
Eventually I found myself embarked on the first of two 45-minute rides, surrounded by some...interesting characters. One woman I remember was enthralled in a vicious and convoluted fight with her landlord about something weird, not like the hot water heater or furnace but about a shower curtain or something. Anyway, the bus driver got me as close to The Glacier as he could, pointed out where it was and where I could cross the road, and said he would see me in two hours.
The Glacier, as its name implies, is a rink. The floor was composed of boards - plywood I think - laid over the icy surface. The crowded booths were arranged on top of this. I found my small table and spread out a fan of books. In the background, a looped tape played the same six Elvis Presley Christmas music covers, over and over.
A shadow fell across the table. I looked up. There stood a Very Big Woman.
VBW: Is that a Newfoundland book?
Me: Why, ah, yes. (It was a collection of obituaries about Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that I'd had published in the Globe and Mail.)
VBW: Doesn't look like it.
(I have no idea what she meant. Should it have been shaped like Newfoundland? Had 'Newfoundland Book' stamped on its cover? She picked up a copy, took out her cellphone, and dialled.)
VBW: Is Bernice there? Well get her...Bernice. I'll looking at a book. I think it might do for Poppy. It's about nondescript people.
(I really have no idea what she meant by that. However Bernice must have said something like, Yes, you know Poppy is all about nondescript people, get it for him.)
VBW: OK. I'll buy it.
Me: Great! Would you like me to sign it?
VBW: Whatever. OK. Say, 'To Poppy from Zachary."
So I did.
I did laugh all the way home. But I will never go back to The Glacier.

(Image: lealawatson.co.uk.)

C2C New Season

Was part of a 'do last night - 4Play5, the season launch and fundraiser for C2C Theatre. Their motto is Good Theatre Done Well, and that's pretty much what they accomplish, except you could add With Great Style, and their next show is The Leisure Society.

(image: americaslibrary.com.)

Spring Ahead, Fall Ahead, Look Ahead -

- Look out - it's something like that, right? Daylight Savings Time I mean. Which stops (or starts?) soon. (And which is the real time?) Said to have been initiated by one William Willett who was dismayed to see so many of his fellow Londoners snoozing away a dulcet summer morning. Newfoundland has it's own connection to DSL, too, of course, being the kind of well-connected place we are. The time shift is not kicking in this year until the first Sunday of November, so a few more dark fall mornings ahead...let's focus instead on that beautiful slanting silver sunlight so calibrated to late autumn.

(Image: einsteinslock.com.)

ultrabionova @ A1C Gallery

This solo exhibit opens tomorrow night at AIC - big striking works as fundamental as cells and as ephemeral as snowflakes. The big 'do includes a performance by the artist, Ingrid Mary Percy - she'll compose a work of string art, scheduled for around 8:30pm if you find yourself downtown, Friday night, having a few drinks, having a few laughs, add a shot of culture...
(Image: Ingrid Mary Percy)