the pod bay door

.: I’m at the end of a 12-day trip to NYC, the longest trip I’ve ever taken here. I’m surprised at how well I have managed this time. It was a great trip, I was able to visit all of my friends here, saw a few movies, met celebrities, saw a great Broadway play, and ate a few fantastic meals with friends and colleagues.  It was wonderful to see Sekeena and meet her 10-week old daughter, Lila, and to see Jessica and (finally) meet her amazing two-year old son, Leonardo.  Dinner with Leo and Diane Dillon, and Lee and Greg, was a blast, and I was able to catch up Barbara over a coffee with thunderstorms ensued outside the coffe shop.  I do feel a bit displaced from reality out here, having forgotten about most of Edmonton for a few days.  I’ll be back tomorrow, but only briefly.  On Thursday night, I fly the dreaded redeye on Air Canada (aka Annoy Customers) to Toronto, and then on to Boca Raton for a weekend meeting with the CRC Press Library Advisory Board.  Apparently we are being housed in a hotel with a view of the ocean, so I promise to take photos if indeed this is the case. 🙂

.: I am in New York.  I arrived on Wed, 29 April 2009, and spent Thursday in a meeting with a group of librarians and representatives of Begell House, which publishes books and journals in areas of mechanical engineering such as heat transfer and fluid mechanics, as well as titles in biomedical topics and nanotechnology.  We had dinner on Wed night at Remi, a restaurant specializing in Northern Italian cuisine, and the food was delicious.  I was in the Hilton New York hotel for two nights, and then moved over to The Leo House on Friday.

On Friday night, on Taras’s recommendation, I went to see the movie Serious Moonlight at the Tribeca Film Festival.  The movie stars Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell and Justin Long, and is directed by Cheryl Hines from a screenplay by the late, great Adrienne Shelley.  Here are a few photos from the event.  It’s a movie that is both lighthearted and serious, and features compelling performances by Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Kristen Bell and Justin Long.  Here is a clip of Cheryl introducing the movie. While at the theatre, I noticed Cheryl walk in and sit close to where I was sitting.  She was with Rachael Harris; like Cheryl, I have admired her work for many years.  When the movie was over, I approached Rachael and told her how much I admired her work on The Daily Show, gushing like the geek fanboy I am.  It was wonderful to talk to her, and she was warm and friendly and lovely.

Yesterday, I went to see Colin Quinn perform at the Gotham Comedy Club.  While waiting in line, I noticed that Cheryl had walked in with Andy Ostroy, one of the producers of Serious Moonlight, and who was Adrienne Shelly’s husband.   (He also writes The Ostroy Report, a superb political blog.)  On impulse, I called her name, and when she turned to face me, I said, “I saw your movie last night”.  That led to the three of us discussing her movie, and when I had to be shown to my table, Cheryl walked with me to continue the discussion.  Andy joined us shortly thereafter, and we continued to talk about the movie and other things for about 10 minutes.  I explained how the Friday screening was brought to my attention by my friend in Edmonton, Taras, who had emailed me the details.  I would not have know about it otherwise, as the Friday screening was an add-on, and wasn’t listed in the TFF program.  I was blown away by Cheryl’s kindness, that she (and Andy) would take the time to talk to a total stranger for 10-15 minutes.  Never mind that I am and have been a HUGE fan of her work for years – here she was making time for ME!  When people at the table next to me asked if they could have a picture with her, I spoke further with Andy, and then asked the people with the camera if they would mind taking a picture of Cheryl and me, and email it to me afterwards.  They said yes, the picture was taken, Cheryl turned and gave me a hug, and I think I melted on the spot.  She is more charming and beautiful in person than she appears on screen.  I think I floated home after Quinn’s performance, which was good, but he was hard to hear across the room, and the morons next to me on the right wouldn’t stop talking throughout the evening.  (Not the people with the camera, btw.)  I’ll post the picture as soon as I receive it.  Meanwhile, here’s a pic of Rachael and Cheryl.  *sigh*

So when this movie is in general release, please see it, especially if you are fans of the actors, of Cheryl, and of Adrienne.  Following her passing, Andy created the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, in support of women who wish to pursue a career in filmmaking.

So what’s next?  Dinner with my dear friends Leo and Diane Dillon tomorrow, a Yankees/Red Sox game on Tuesday, seeing Sekeena and her newborn (now 10 weeks old) on Tuesday afternoon, seeing Jess and her two-year old on Wednesday in Bloomfield NJ, dinner with Bryan and Kortney on Thursday, and who knows what else.  Maybe a Broadway play.

When I return to Edmonton on the 11th, I’ll have three days before I fly to Boca Raton for a meeting with the CRC Press Library Advisory Board.  I’ll return home on the 18th, and hopefully fly nowhere else until 13 June to DC for the SLA conference.

.: Indeed.  My apologies for not having posted for over two months.  A combination of things has kept me from blogging including in no particular order: more time on Facebook (enjoying that) and Twitter (not so much), trips here and there (San Diego, Boca Raton, Winnipeg), work stuff, and condo board issues up the ying yang.  The trips involved two meetings.  I attended that Standards Publishing Advisory Board meeting in San Diego in late January, and met with senior adminstrative staff at CRC Press in Boca Raton in mid-March.  Each time I left cold and snow weather for moderate-to-warm temperatures and ocean breezes in each city, and loved it, even if I was indoors most of the time.

The so-called jet-setting continues this weekend, when I fly to San Francisco for my 5th Materials Research Society meeting since April 2007.  I sit on three advisory boards or subcommittees, and will attend meetings on Tue and Wed next week there.  But I fly on Saturday, and will see an old friend when I arrive and spend some time with her and her young daughter.  I’ll also spend time with another recently-made acquaintance on Monday, before all the business stuff begins.  I return on 15 April, and then two weeks later fly to NYC for another library advisory group meeting organized by Begell House.  Two days later, on 01 May, I’ll move over to The Leo House again, and stay for until the 11th.  The only snag is that because I booked late with The Leo House, I’ll have to check in and out and in again three times in those 10 days, unless someone cancels in the next couple weeks and I can get a different room.  I’ll return to Edmonton on 11 May, then fly to Boca Raton again on 15 May for a meeting with CRC Press again, but this time it will be as a member of their Library Advisory Board.

I am a member of five library advisory boards/groups/committees at the moment: the aforementioned three organizations or publishers, as well as Knovel and SPIE.  It keeps me busy professionally and results in a few trips to far-away places from time to time.

.: In February I had the honour of travelling to Winnipeg to attend and speak at the memorial service of Chester D Cuthbert.  Chester was a kind and gentle soul, who opened his house in the mid-70s to a bunch of local geekboys eventually known as Decadent Winnipeg Fandom.  We all read and collected science fiction, and published our own fanzines, and Chester’s home became our clubhouse during those years.  Chester was 96 – he lived a long and good life, and touched the lives of hundreds of others along the way.  In a previous post I mentioned that I had been working on creating a Finding Aid for his personal archives.  I was able to complete this project in early January, in time for the appraisal of the sf- and fantasy-content of his extensive book collection, which we at the University of Albert had obtained on donation in October 2007.  I helped spread the word about Chester’s passing to appropriate outlets, such as Mike Glyer’s File 770.  Locus plans to run something about Chester in its upcoming issue.  Chris Rutkowski, a friend and fellow collector from Winnipeg, wrote a fitting tribute to Chester following his passing.  Chester was a friend, a mentor, a guide, an inspiration.  During his last two years, I had the good fortune of reconnecting with his son, Ray, whom I had met in the 1970s, as well as meeting for the first time his other children, and at his memorial service, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Chester will be missed, but his impact on our lives will never be forgotten.  Each of books from his collection will feature a bookplate with his picture and the caption, “The Chester D Cuthbert Collection.”  Thanks for everything, Chester!

.: In case you’ve been wondering what Captain Lee Adama has been doing since the end of BSG, and if you thought you’ve seen every possible spin-off of Law & Order, check this out.  I’ve watched the first six episodes, and the show rocks.  Plus, Freema Agyeman plays the young prosecutor, and I have such a crush on her (ever since Dr Who, you see…)  Thank the Lord for bittorrents.

.: I will try to write again soon.  Meanwhile, please check Bill Janovitz‘s ongoing musical series, Cover of the Week – he’s up to #23 already!  Check out Flickr to see me wearing one of Bill’s “Part Time Man of Rock” t-shirt.  Buy one for the kiddies or your BFF.

.: I am a big fan of Pete Yorn, and think he’s one of the best songwriters and performers working today. Here’s a new video for a song he wrote called American Blues Vol 1. From Pete’s MySpace site:

I wrote American Blues Vol. 1. on the 4th of July after reading the morning paper. It’s unlike any song I’ve ever written. I was moved by how much negativity I was reading about and how even groups were boycotting Independence Day because they were so disgusted with the state of our Nation. I was hoping things would improve…they obviously haven’t yet…but I know they will in time. I sent the song to some friends and one of them (a really old friend of mine who is actually a huge reason I didn’t give up on a musical career back in 1998) was really affected by the message. He always has had an unwavering faith in America and has always been able to laugh when times got tough. The video for American Blues Vol. 1 was made by this friend of mine. He is not a video-director…just a guy from New Jersey who wanted to put images to a song that hit home for him. He wanted me to share it…..so here is American Blues Vol. 1.

.: Those who have known me for years and who are aware of my musical tastes (like my brother Chris and friends Derryl and Taras) also know that one of my favorite bands at any time is Buffalo Tom of Boston.  I first heard Buff Tom when I bought the No Alternative album in the early 90s.  The song “For All To See” is on that record, and when I heard it for the first time, I was hooked on BT for life.  I had to hear more, and have been a loyal fan ever since that first listening.

Bill Janovitz is the guitarist and “El Capitan” of BT.  In addition to the BT catalogue, he has also released two solo albums, an album called Fireworks on TV with his group, Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria, and an album with Chris Toppin under the name Show People.  The entire body of his work to date is a creative and unique mix of sounds and styles and always feels like the real thing – raw, honest music from the heart, tunes that get stuck in your head for days.

I mention all of this because I want to direct your attention to Bill’s blog, The Life and Times of Bill Janovitz, Part Time Man of Rock, and his new and ongoing project, Cover of the Week, in which Bill has been recording some of his favorite cover tunes and posting them to his site for his fans to enjoy and download.  In the first CotW, posted on 29 November 2008, Bill writes:

“I am undertaking an ambitious task, that is to record a cover song every week and offer it up here for your enjoyment, criticism, suggestions, tears, or laughter. I just feel like covering some of my favorite songs. The idea is an informal little pastime. I will not be fussing around with these. I just want to post some songs that I sit around the house playing.”

Whether or not you are aware of Bill and his many musical projects, please take the time to check out his Cover(s) of the Week.  Each tune is downloadable from his site, and as he adds more, he is creating a new and unique set of songs for those his of fans fortunate enough to have found his blog!  This is a rare treat from a creative bandleader and songwriter whose musical talents and work ethic I respect and admire greatly and try to emulate in my own musical life.  What he is doing is also inspring.  As an added bonus, each song is usually accompanied by an articulate and very interesting back story.

So thanks Bill, and to my friends who read this blog, please check Bill’s site and listen to his readings from a very interesting and expanding set of great cover tunes.  Oh, and my favorite CotW so far is #5, Bill’s version of In A Misty Morning, from Gene Clark‘s second solo album, Roadmaster.  Clark was one of the founding members of The Byrds.

.: Heather Gallay and I “met” a couple years ago when she responded to a post I had written about Lost.  I recently reconnected with her via FaceBook, and discovered she is quite an amazing photographer.  Please check out her site, eyeFlashes, and click on “Open Gallery” to see a wide selection of her work.  Spend time with “Cream of the Crop” to see what Heather considers to be her best photos.  Some breathtaking stuff there.

.: I’ve been back at work for a week, and have spent most of the time plowing through the personal archives and papers of Chester D Cuthbert, the legendary Winnipeg book collector.  His archives (letters, notes, booklists, etc) were obtained along with his book, fanzine and pulp magazine collection last October by MPOW, the University of Alberta Libraries.  Chester’s personal archives (and the books, zines, etc.) will be added to the University of Alberta’s collection, and I am creating the Finding Aid for them, to help future researchers who wish to access his papers.  It has been fascinating and a rare privilege to sift through the many letters Chester exchanged with his many contacts over the decades, stretching back to the 1930s.  Among his correspondents were many important names in the sf publishing field, including William F Nolan, August Derleth, Donald A Wollheim, and Forrest J Ackerman.