The Book Broads

And a grand time was had by all. Here are Peggy’s top three reasons why she loved Northern Voice 2010.

Reason Number 1) The Incredible Job Done by Volunteers

Anybody who can wrangle a team of hardworking people like this deserves double applause. I met only a couple of the volunteers, including the friendly and clever Travis Smith, and the thoughtful and well-spoken Lauren Wood. This is still a shockingly small group for the amount of work that they all do to get this ball rolling. The conference was well-organized, and with only a couple of hiccups (need larger/more visible signage and bigger rooms and bigger shirt sizes), any disasters that may have happened behind the scenes were totally invisible to speakers and attendees. Venue worked pretty well, and parking was great. All sessions were recorded to view online later. Everyone appeared relaxed and the tone was really laid-back. Nice job.

Reason Number 2) Darren Barefoot

Darren, one of the organizers of the conference, and one of those hip next-gen marketing dudes, is *the best* panel moderator, EVAH. When’s he writing another book, huh? Huh? (When he does, he’s absolutely got to include his definition of a question - funny, clear, and it set the tone for all the sessions.)

Reason Number 3) Focus on Personal Blogging

All of the other conferences I go to are heavily focused on marketing, even Blog World Expo, where delegates are often business bloggers, or at least, very clear about wanting to make money from their blogs, which is pretty darn difficile. This conference’s focus on personal blogging was so refreshing. Being unashamed to focus on content, the very soul and driver of blogging in the first place, reminded me of what is really important. If you shift focus to think of blogging as a business, you run a serious risk of shooting yourself in the foot. Canadian content flourishes here, independent, true north strong and free. Breathe slowly.

Other great things about the conference;

Of the minor improvements that could be made, bigger rooms would have made the greatest difference. I felt bad for all the people squatting and sitting on floors to hear a great speaker. I was one of them at one point, and although it worked fine for me, I realize that this is not the case for all. The venue of the Life Sciences building was still very lovely, and the auditoriums didn’t seem to have a problem accommodating any of the sessions. However, being able to book sessions in advance might help plan for the use of larger rooms for higher-demand topics. This would be an uncommon approach, but I can’t see how else you could manage the numbers. Perhaps one of them could be large enough to accomodate the keynote, as the echo chamber / atriums were less than optimum for this purpose.

I’m really looking forward to returning next year. Thanks to all who attended our talk “Flog Your Blog” on Saturday afternoon, about turning your blog into a book. It’s impossible to teach someone how to create a book out of their blog in just 45 minutes, but I think we scratched an itch for a few people, judging by the emails I’ve received this week. We had such a great time!

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(Kim here) Today, I had the great pleasure to hear Sir Ken Robinson speak at a conference in Nanaimo, BC. The tickets were HARD to get. Sold out and it was like a mosh pit with people rushing to find the best seat. I am a keener and was there early and got a fantastic seat. I had seen Sir Ken Robinson talk on TED.com and I knew I could not miss his insight, his humour and his passion in person! I was not disappointed, nor were close to 800 others. (Another treat for the day, we also got to hear Shane Koyczan perform some of his poetry. I wept – he is so good).

I also had a chance to have a quick chat with Sir Ken Robinson when he was signing his books – The Element and Out of Our Minds:Learning to be Creative. I had heard that Out of Our Minds:Learning to be Creative was going to be revised and asked him about it. Check out http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/read for more info on the books. Here is the video. I was more wrapped up on hearing him, that my questions cannot be heard, sorry!

I was giddy to have met him and to actually have talked to him – well, this is a day for me to treasure. I am so pleased he is getting people to honour creativity – music, dance, art and WRITING!

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In honour of Earth Day, we are talking gardening.  Grace, aged 8, is one of our Little Book Broads and she talks a bit about gardening. Recently as part of a Brownie unit she got to enjoy planting her own sunflowers with the help of the Budding Gardener kit (www.forkids.ca/TheBuddingGardener). That got us thinking about container gardening and thought we should also talk about a recent book from New Society Publishers (www.newsociety.com) called From Container to Kitchen. Nothing like getting the kidlets interested in gardening. Here’s Grace telling us her thoughts.

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(Kim here) had the great pleasure to chat with Thora Howell. Thora is one of the people who is part of Nanaimo’s Bookfest. This great, fun kid’s book festival happens on May 1st. Check out www.bookfest.ca.

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The Murrayville Library presents Dr. John Sloan, author of A Bitter Pill: How The Medical System Is Failing The Elderly. It will be at The W.C. Blair Recreation Centre at the corner of Fraser Highway and 221 Street (Langley) at 7 pm on Wednesday, April 14th. (Please note the talk is NOT at the library itself)

Dr. Sloan will be covering:

	Are you one of the "FRAGILE ELDERLY"?
	What does the healthcare system really do for us?
	What do we WANT from the system?
	Is there a way to get what we want?

Below is some information about the book and Dr. Sloan. He is knowledgeable and passionate about our elderly and brings insight to their needs.

As the baby boomers grow older, health care for the elderly has become an increasing concern. Advocating a shift from invasive treatment and hospitalization to palliative care, Dr. John Sloan provides clear solutions to a problematic system.

Medical treatment of elderly people, says Sloan, is not working. Worse, it is often harmful. In A Bitter Pill, he examines why medical treatment—from modern medicine’s one-size-fits-all prevention strategy to hospital stays that don’t benefit anyone—is failing them.

In clear, accessible language, Sloan argues that we must understand what people in poor health at the end of their lives really need: comfort, dignity, and quality of life. He also argues that caregivers, sons, daughters, nurses, doctors, and social workers—all of us—must assume responsibility for what happens to the elderly and give these loved ones the kind of care we hope, one day, someone will give us.

John Sloan, MD  is a senior academic physician in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia and has spent most of his thirty years of practice caring for the frail elderly in Vancouver. He has lectured throughout Canada and in Europe and the United States, and is sought after as an inspirational speaker on geriatrics. He lives in Vancouver and Roberts Creek, B.C.

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The lovable Margaret Atwood fans her eyes delightfully from under the brim of a sunny hat, in the photo attached to the article March 24th on the Vancouver Sun’s website.

Atwood won the prize because judges recognized that she is …”a versatile and prolific writer who in her novels has explored both Canadian and transnational issues of the 20th century, such as colonization, feminism, structures of political power and oppression, and the violation and exploitation of nature.”

Atwood shares the prize with Indian-American novelist Amitav Ghosh. Both winners must share at least 10% of their award with academic scholarships.

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The Book Broads love to work… and we love to play… and we love to eat. We decided to combine the three with a visit to Little Qualicum Cheeseworks on Vancouver Island.  Peggy and I were able to get our kidlets together, eat cheese and talk about Anne Lindsay’s new compilation cookbook, Lighthearted at Home. Over 500 recipes. Yum!

I have personally cooked three of the recipes – and tried a couple more when I met Anne last week  (That video will be available Friday). As we were at a farm that features cheese (and fruit wine) we thought we would give you a tasty recipe from Anne’s book where cheese is a main ingredient – Smoked Salmon Spread with Capers.

Here is the video featuring the lovely and talented, Peggy Richardson, talking about the new cookbook, cheese and of course, wine. Below that is the recipe. Enjoy and eat cheese… well, except if you are lactose intolerant.

Smoked Salmon Spread with Capers recipe from Lighthearted at Home by Anne Lindsay. Published by John Wiley and Sons and in support of Heart & Stroke Foundation.

(recipe on pg 9 of the book)

Sometime you can use lox, cold smoked salmon or hot smoked salmon in this spread. I usually use a hot smoked salmon when I am in British Columbia, where it is readily available. I use at least 4 oz (125 g) of the hot smoked salmon (sold in chunks), cut into pieces or 2 oz of lox. Sometimes I use hot pepper sauce instead of horseradish, and I add extra dill to taste.

1 cup     light ricotta or light cream cheese

2 oz        smoked salmon, chopped (about 1/3 cup/75 ml)

2 tbsp    chopped fresh dill

2 tbsp     drained capers

2 tsp         fresh lemon juice

2 tsp          ketchup

1 tsp           prepared horseradish

1/4 tsp      salt and freshly ground pepper

In blender or food processor, puree ricotta cheese until smooth. Add smoked salmon, dill, capers, lemon juice, ketchup and horseradish; using on/off motion; process until lightly mixed. Season with salt and pepper.

Makes 1 1/3 cups (325 mil)

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Random House Canada sent The Book Broads an advance copy of Paris In The Spring With Picasso written by Joan Yolleck and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman. The Broads love children’s books… and so do our kids. My daughter, Ella Rose, aged 5, currently takes art classes, is learning to read and dreams of Paris (she is the Fancy Nancy of B.C.), so we thought she would be the perfect wee one to give us some thoughts on this new book.

Paris In The Spring With Picasso is based in Joan’s imagining of what Gertrude Stein’s friends did during the day, before they went to her house for a soiree. In this colourful book we get to meet some great characters from the beginning of the twentieth century – people like Guillaume Apollinaire, Marie Laurencin, Alice B. Toklas, Pablo Picasso and more. We learn about art, poems, some french and more about some interesting people from our past – the ones who certainly have influenced us today.

Here are some things Ella Rose says about the book – please note she goes to a fantastic art class and has learned a lot about artists, hence she has an art knowledge that astounds me:

“It looks like Jackson Pollock when I open the book”. (Indeed it does).

“The Eiffel Tower is the same as Mark Chagill’s” (She did a Mark Chagill painting  at her art class last month – I know I am her mom, but, holy doodle, she is good).

“Can we have a soiree like Gertrude Stein?” (I think we will, but an earlier one that is appropriate for her age group).

“Mommy what colour is Zinzolin?” (Max Jacobs favourite colour – and it is stunning and now we want dresses of that colour).

Paris In The Spring With Picasso is available now at your favourite bookstore. It is a juvenile fiction hardcover from Schwartz & Wade (Random House of Canada Ltd). 978-0-375-83756-2.

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When iTunes first started offering eBooks in December of 2008, we all felt a little deflated when we realized that each book was a standalone app – not one book in a huge library. But there’s one publisher who is going to take advantage of that for the iPad: Penguin USA.

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Last weekend Peggy, Angela and moi, Kim, had a work retreat on Gabriola Island. We talked books, drank booze, ate great food and met with children’s book illustrator and author, Dianna Bonder. We had the great pleasure to hang out at her abode, peruse her studio and check out some of her new art work – we LOVED the pirate theme. Arrrrr!

Check out Dianna’s website at www.diannabonder.com. She does do some book store visits and she is a popular author for schools around Canada – she is heading to the Kelowna area soon… lucky kids who get to hear her talk about her work.  She is also a featured author/illustrator at Nanaimo’s Bookfest this Spring. More info to come on that.

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