I was listening to CBC's Words at Large podcast this past evening and learned about a little website named Bookshorts. It is a website involved in the creation of "book trailers".

What is a BookShort?

Short films based on books -- averaging 3 to 5 minutes, released with a suite of behind-the-scenes screen features about the book, author, and filmmakers. They are broadcast on television, the Internet, in bookstores, festivals, live events.

I love movie trailers and they are quite easy to digest (after a lifetime of television and movies, how could they not be) but book trailers? Are we ready for these? How could they not succeed? How are they going to get people reading? I question whether or not they work - but maybe I will check out some and see what they are all about.

Thoughts?

Tags: bookshorts, reading, books, short films

I happened across a story this morning about "shadow people".  The article talks about the brain's ability to identify "self" vs. "others" and how this part of the brain may cause feelings of "others" within close proximity to us even when no one else may be present.

The paper, published in the British journal Nature, describes the case of a 22-year-old woman with no history of psychiatric problems who was being evaluated for treatment of epilepsy. When a region of her brain called the left temporoparietal junction was electrically stimulated, the woman described encounters with a ‘shadow person’ who mimicked her bodily movements.

“Electrical stimulation repeatedly produced a feeling of the presence of another person in her extra-personal space,” said Olaf Blanke, co-author of the study conducted by a team of researchers from University Hospital in Geneva, Switzerland.

When the patient was lying down, stimulation of this brain region caused her to feel that someone was behind her. She described the person as young, of indeterminate sex, “a shadow who did not speak or move, and whose position beneath her back was identical to her own”, according to the researchers.

I think this is fascinating stuff but disappointed also.  It isn't flattering to know that people may be scaring the crap out of ourselves.  But why am I disappointed?  I will never be able to build my army of shadow people to take over the world - that is, if shadow people don't exist.

I have always wondered about the existence of shadow individuals.  I was once addicted to Art Bell's radio program - and, yes, that is not such a good idea because one starts to believe in a whole lot of things without a whole lot of scientific elaboration (...they become susceptible to, suggestion).  Art Bell's program spoke of shadow people on several occasions.

According to Wikipedia:

Shadow people (also known as shadow men or shadow beings) are a supernatural phenomenon reported by some individuals. Most accounts of shadow people describe them as black humanoid silhouettes, lacking mouths or eyes, although they are sometimes reported to have red or yellow eyes. They are generally described as lacking mass, although their specific nature varies from two-dimensional (like a shadow) to vaporous or distorted. Their movement is often reported as being very quick and disjointed, or "jiggly", in the sense that they first may move slowly like a fluid (similar to jello rather than water), then rapidly "hop" to another part of a witness' surroundings. Some witnesses describe this movement as though the shadow entities they have seen "danced" from one wall to the next.

Which shadow people do you think are more fun to believe in?  The concept of how our brains determine ourselves and who other people are - or - the world dominating shadow force?

Tags: shadow people, brain, perception, art bell, coast to coast am

Ah, yes, more of my addiction to Firefly and Serenity shining through.  Late last night, I was showing off the coolness that is Flickr when I stumbled across this set.

It appears that Andrew B. of The Brothers Brick did some great customizations (and has many others) for the main characters of Firefly and has been doing this kind of work for some time.  I am a new reader on this blog - so, please - don't take my word for it. 

Check out the site.  It has some great tidbits for surfers to check out - especially, the mecha figures.

Tags: serenity, firefly, lego

I am on the board of the Karen L. Colussi Foundation.  The foundation supports the Selkirk Montessori School in Victoria, British Columbia.  I received this e-mail from Penny Barner, one of the coolest people in the world.  I thought I would help her spread the word:

Hello!  On October 6th, something will happen that I never expected to have happen.  My head will be shaved to raise money for Cops for Cancer.  If you are planning to make a donation to a cancer fundraiser this year, may I ask that you consider this one?  We have placed a high price on my head - $4,000.00.  If we reach that number, my hair will go!  If not...well, frankly, I'll still get my head shaved, but it would be better if we had pots of money to give to the Tour de Rock riders when they come to the school that day!!

You can give the money to me in person cheques should be made out to the Pacific Montessori Society, mail it to 795 Del Monte Place, Victoria, BC, V8Y 2W3 or make a donation online at www.cancer.ca.  Just follow the links to the BC website and make the donation.  Then please email me and let me know, so that I can include your contribution in the overall fundraising total.

Why am I doing this, you ask??  I am doing this for my mother, who died from cancer when I was 29.  I'm doing it for the wonderful lady who hired me when I first moved to Victoria, Maureen Kleyn; our own Karen Colussi, who founded Selkirk Montessori School and set me on my current path; and my dear friend from Yorkshire, Inga.  All these amazing ladies died of complications from cancer.   Finally, I am doing this for my dear friend and colleague Ken Scorey, who died from cancer only a few short years ago. 

Will there be some tears when I get my head shaved?  You bet there will, but I won't be sad to lose my hair.  I'll be thinking of my mother and my friends and how lucky I am that I will live to see my hair grow back and what wonderful things the money we raised will do for children and their families living with cancer.

Thanks for your consideration and your donations.

Penny

Tags: cops for cancer, fundraising, karen colussi

A couple of Middle Earth related finds in the past couple of days.  The first is the city of Bend, Oregon where a small housing development called The Shire is recreating environments and buildings based upon the Lord of the Rings films.

The second tidbit is Davis, California where a small community named Village Homes was founded in 1975.  Village Homes named their streets after Lord of the Rings locations and characters.  The village looks great too with a community focus at its core.

I was out last night celebrating the birthday of several people and one of the conversations attempted to discuss the best pub or bar in Vancouver.  Apparently, Vancouver's bar scene has fallen on hard times in the last ten years or so and a majority of the "great places" have closed down. I suppose closure still indicates an establishment's success.

Thus, we determined a new pub was the solution for the overwhelming disgust towards the Vancouver pub world.  But no one seemed to have any idea for a name.  I request some additional names from anyone out there - just post them in the comments. 

Here are a few of the lame suggestions I made:

• The Laughing Dragon
• The David Carradine Experience
• The Bloody Sabre
• The George & Dragon (the location in Victoria closed this year, I consider it available.)
• A Place To Eat & Get Drunk
• The Fox and Hound
• The Cat & Litter
• The Rancid Garden

I did a quick Google search for pub names and found an interesting article on Wikipedia about the origin of public houses and another site with a few chuckle ready names. 

Tags: pub names, pubs, beer

Egad!  If playing the waiting game and being stressed about it wasn't enough.  The pet hospital called us to postpone tomorrow's operation.  Another small animal was brought in with a serious problem and Serendipity was bumped!

I am somewhat relieved because I don't really want our young puppy to go through surgery to her spine.  The recovery from such a procedure will immobilize her for some time before she allowed to use her neck again.  Our surgeon has also informed us Serendipity may need physiotherapy!  I wonder if MSP will cover that - we could always hope.

The 27th of September is the new "operation day" for our little pug.  Keep those good vibes coming as they keep her healthy.  I thank all those people whom have taken the time to send us greetings and wishes of good health.

Tags: serendipity the pug, pug, pet, hospital, stress, surgery