April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

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38 Glebe Report April 16, 2010 WHAT YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE READING Here is a list of some titles read and discussed in various local book clubs: TITLE (for adults) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly 1 The Book of Negroes 2 Happiness 3 Prisionnière à Téhéran 4 Honeymoon in Tehran 5 Supreme Courtship 6 The Cart before the Corpse 7 Look Me in the Eye 8 The Samurai’s Garden! 9 A Recipe for Bees 10 The Elegance of the Hedgehog 11 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society 12 TITLE (for children & teens) I How I Live Now 13 On Beale Street 14 You Are Here Hamish X and the Cheese Pirates 15 Eye of the Crow 16 AUTHOR Jean-Dominique Bauby Lawrence Hill Will Ferguson Marina Nemat Azadeh Moaveni Christopher Buckley Carolyn McSparren John Elder Robison Gail Tsukiyama Gail Anderson-Dalgatz Muriel Barbery Mary Ann Shaffer AUTHOR Meg Rosoff Ronald Kidd Jennifer E. Smith Seán Cullen Shane Peacock 1 Abbotsford Book Club 2 Broadway Book Club 3 Can’ Litterers 4 Cercle de lecture de l’Amicale francophone d’Ottawa 5 OnLine Audio Book Club: www.DearReader.com 6 OnLine Fiction Book Club: www.DearReader.com 7 OnLine Mystery Book Club: www.DearReader.com 8 OnLine Nonfiction Book Club: www.DearReader.com 9 Seriously No-Name Book Club 10 OPL Sunnyside Branch Sunny Reads 11 The Book Club 12 Anonymous 13 Kaleidoscope Book Club for Adults who Like Kids Books 14 OnLine Teen Book Club: www.DearReader.com 15 OPL Sunnyside Branch Mother-Daughter Book Club (7-9 years) 16 OPL Sunnyside Branch Mother-Daughter Book Club (10-12 years) If your book club would like to share its reading list, please e-mail Micheline Boyle at glebe.report@mac.com. wag presents the original BOOKS Desperately seeking Fido By Andrea Ross Almost every child dreams of having a dog. Today, we look at three books that treat us to the thrill of making that dream come true any time we like. Our first child was a dog – a spunky border collie/black lab named Pepper – and we loved her. A child and a half later, though, and me eight months pregnant, Mark suddenly found himself “between jobs,” major home renovations underway and an energetic twenty month old to chase – something had to give and that something, unfortunately, was Pepper. There were tears all around when we said good-bye to our beloved pooch, but our twenty-monthold daughter rebounded beautifully. And that, we thought, was the end of that. We thought wrong. Somewhere around the age of four, this daughter, deprived of a pet she couldn’t remember enjoying, caught a severe and unshakable case of I-Want- A-Dog. The pining and whining, wheeling and dealing became relentless. Since we couldn’t grant her wish in reality, we chose to grant her wish in books. Luckily, there are many books that deal with the wishing for, pining for, sublimating the desire for and, sometimes even getting, a dog. Today we look at three books that treat us to the thrill of making that dream come true any time we like. I Want a Dog (Dayal Kaur Khalsa; 1994 Tundra Books) describes the 24/7 yearning of young May who eats, breathes and sleeps her longing for a dog. All that stands between May and the dog she desires is time, but May finds the waiting unbearable and devises a steady stream of elaborate schemes to eliminate the wait. What I love about this version of the dog-longing story is that it presents, in generous and humorous detail, both sides of the dog debate and leaves readers, young and old, feeling understood and with the refreshing taste of a win-win solution. Amigo (Byrd Baylor Illustrated by Garth Williams; 1989 Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing) presents an original, distracting and wholly satisfying approach to the I-Want-A-Dog debate. What stands between Francisco and the dog he desires is the reality of financial hardship. Francisco eventually chooses to sublimate his dog longing by working to tame a wild (and extremely adorable) prairie dog. The charm of this tale is that — unbeknownst to Francisco — the prairie dog is also working to tame him! This magical, if unrealistic, story treats us to the giddy thrill of success while momentarily opening up the possibility of “dog-free” joy. The Outside Dog (Charlotte Pomerantz Illustrated by Jennifer Plecas; 1995 Harper Collins) recounts the gentle give and take between the hopeful Marisol and her resistant abuelito (grandfather) as a skinny, brown mutt inches his way into their lives. The loving and gradual erosion of the grandfather’s resistance is a reminder that we adults do want our children to be happy. Meanwhile, Marisol’s willingness to meet her grandfather halfway reminds us that there may be more than one way to solve to the dog-longing debate. This deceptively simple story is hugely satisfying. WIN AN POD TOUCH! ..and a docking station, and i-tunes cards!! SATURDAY, APRIL 24 BETWEEN 10:30 AND 4:00 Have your contest portrait shot by Winners to be announced May 8, 2010. Now you have three ways to virtually satisfy that I-Want-A-Dog craving; and not a poop-and-scoop in sight. For more wonderful books on dog readings, go to Just One More Book.com Andrea Ross is co-creator of the children’s literature and literacy radio program JustOneMoreBook.com She lives in the Glebe with her husband, two daughters and a ridiculously large number of children’s books. You can read more from Andrea at WeCanRebuildHer.com – A Breast Cancer Journey. Recipient of the Ministers Award for Outstanding Achievement Proudly serving the neighbourhood since 1984 Professional Painting Service • Interior / Exterior • Quality Workmanship • Fully Insured • Two Year Guarantee DETAILS AND CONTEST RULES AVAILABLE AT WAGPETSHOP.CA WAG / DOGGIN' IT CAFE - 1071 Bank Street - 613-730-4647- wagpetshop.ca For your FREE estimate call: James Cleary 722-3375
BOOKS Egg on Mao, the story of a not-so-ordinary man By JC Sulzenko Where were you when tanks moved on Tiananmen Square? I have to admit that June 4, 1989, was not as large a defining moment in my personal history as the assassination of JFK or 9/11. After reading Glebe author Denise Chong’s Egg on Mao, I think it should be. I admire Chong’s choice to mark the 20th anniversary of that time of extraordinary hope and then of repression by focusing on the defiance of three young men, who threw paint-filled eggs at Mao’s portrait at an entrance to the Square on May 23. She tells the story from the point of view of Lu Decheng, the ‘ordinary man’ in the subtitle. Decheng, a bus mechanic from Mao’s own Hunan province, leaped on a train to Beijing with his friends, not only to show solidarity with protesters occupying the Square but, more importantly, because he believed China and its power elite had to change. How he came to this point, committed the act of vandalism and survived its aftermath provides the arc of the story. At the core of the narrative is Decheng’s own transformation. We see him growing up, abused by his father and living in the cast-iron shadow of a government that insinuates itself into even the most intimate aspects of its citizens’ lives. We watch his emotional and sexual awakening, and root for him and his underage, first love, Qiuping, as they cope with an ‘illegal’ pregnancy and the birth and death of their infant son. We cheer him on as commitment to a better future develops and leads him to Tiananmen Square. We fear for him through his betrayal by student leaders, his trial and imprisonment and ultimately, his flight to freedom in the West. What surprises the reader is how Decheng evolves inside the fortress walls. A prisoner, certainly in the physical sense, he reads to educate himself, becomes a teacher and gains strength while defining his own philosophy. That he overcomes and almost thrives in a set of circumstances that deprived another member of the original trio of his sanity shows that Lu Decheng is no ordinary man. What he suffers and how he survives earn him the preeminent place in the slice of history served by this book. As explained in the “Author’s Note” at the end of Egg on Mao, Decheng escaped from China and entered Canada as a refugee in 2006, where he “took on the life of a democracy activist in exile.” Now more or less ‘local,’ Chong was able to interview him for days-on-end over an 18-month period. He embraced her project wholeheartedly. Before I bought a copy, I listened to Denise Chong and her editor, Craig Pyette, discuss how she wrote the book. This provided an exciting exposé: the ‘cloak and dagger’ nature of Chong’s travels in China; the complexity of finding out what really happened and safeguarding sources of intelligence, both human and written; and the barriers caused by language and dialect. I suggested to her that a book about writing Egg on Mao could be a huge hit in its own right, much as Kate Grenville‘s Searching for the Secret River revealed the story behind her award-winning novel. In spite of its strengths, Egg on Mao was disappointing in one particular respect for this reader: its structure. The book begins and ends with the defacement of Mao’s portrait. In between, however, it ricochets in time and place between Beijing and Decheng’s childhood, from life in prison to the loss of his first child and often back to the Square. Even when the book captures an exquisite moment, such as when Qiuping professes her love and refuses to divorce inmate Decheng, the very next chapter deprives the reader of any chance to savour this as it jumps back in time. This pattern of going back-and-forth felt frustrating and interfered with my enjoyment of and investment in both the characters and the ‘plot.’ Is this book worth reading? Yes, of course! Lu Decheng’s story as portrayed in Egg on Mao is an eloquent paean to individual courage in the face of repression. We would each do well to remember what happened more than 20 years ago in the “largest public space in the world,” as The Cutting Edge series so aptly labeled Tiananmen Square. Glebe Report April 16, 2010 39 Popcorn and beer, the Writers Festival in the hood! Coming to a cinema near you BY neil wilson The Ottawa International Writers Festival prides itself as one of the most innovative literary celebrations on the planet. Over its fourteen year history, it has hosted more than its fair share of literary luminaries and prize winners, including two Nobel laureates. More importantly, the festival prides itself as a truly community based initiative with deep roots in the fertile soil of our great city, where it continues to be blessed with dedicated volunteers and world class writing. So, when the invitation came from our friends at the Mayfair to set up shop in one of the oldest surviving independent movie houses in all of Canada, ‘‘home of stuff you won’t see anywhere else,’’ well it was like Vampire Girl meets Douglas Coupland! As well as fifty of the finest writers, the Mayfair will feature a ‘Page to Screen’ series of movies adapted from novels by some of the most adventurous screenwriters including Charlie Kaufman’s Adaptation, David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch and Wes Craven’s Serpent and the Rainbow. The Writers Festival is really an extended five course meal over six days, featuring mostly organic delicacies of big ideas, global perspectives, writing for young readers, Next Sessions Start: May 10, June 7, July 5 Other Locations: Sandy Hill: Strathcona Park Nepean: Celebration Park Gloucester: Walter Meier Dows Lake New Members: $225, Repeaters: $175, Couples $300 get results • gain muscle • have fun Optimal Full Body Work Out - All Outdoors For Men and Women of all Fitness Levels You bring mat, weights and water we supply the motivation PLUS eNew to our program: Heavy Training Ropes, Medicine Balls, Elastic Steel, Gym Rings, and an Action Packed Hour of Military, CrossFit and Football Influenced Exercise the writing life, and poetry cabarets with each day’s menu specially themed by Canada’s premiere literary chef, Sean Wilson. Beginning on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, the menu features Sustainable Capitalism. We clear the table on Tuesday, April 27 with a menu of Living History in the Present Tense, with a very special dessert of Extraordinary Canadians. The menus for the weekend and Monday include Imagining Truth and Finding Fact, Invention, Investigation and Authentic Voice, Lost and Found in the Global Village and Where Are We And How Did We Get Here? Needless to say, all diners must pace themselves and be prepared to make some difficult choices. And as far as wine and beer pairings are concerned, please consult our onsite sommelier! For me I prefer my beer local, my white wine spicy, and there’s nothing like a full-bodied red to go with Andrew Potter and Dan Gardner. See you at the festival. Pick up a program at a local bookstore or coffee shop, at the Mayfair Theatre or go online at www.writersfestival.org. O yes, Yann Martel, Scott Turow and Ayaan Hirsi Ali are just three world class vintages coming to the Mayfair Post Festival! SPRING BOOTCAMP AT PATTERSON CREEK April 12 • 6 am, 7 am • 3 days/week MWF • 4 weeks workout with your collegues SAVE 10 - 15% on corporate bootcamps REGISTER ONLINE TODAY bring a buddy SAVE $25 Register REGISTER Online mybootcamp.ca ONLINE TODAY info@mybootcamp.ca 613-899-7974
Page 1 and 2: April 16, 2010 Vol. 38 rvn No. 4 Se
Page 3 and 4: EVENTS 25 th anniversary for the Gr
Page 5 and 6: LETTERS Glebe Report April 16, 2010
Page 7 and 8: NEWS Glebe fires: déjà vu by Juli
Page 9 and 10: FOOTBRIDGE UPDATE Midtown footbridg
Page 11 and 12: CITIZENS INITIATIVES Hands off our
Page 13 and 14: BIA Glebe BIA protecting our villag
Page 15 and 16: GLEBE HISTORY Heritage spaces, not
Page 17 and 18: BUSINESS BUZZ Alana leads one of he
Page 19 and 20: NEWS The Glebe: A healthy neighbour
Page 21 and 22: HEALTH Keeping drugs out of our dri
Page 23 and 24: Community parks of the Glebe by Car
Page 25 and 26: MUSIC St. Matthew’s spring concer
Page 27 and 28: FOOD By Karen Wallace-Graner Apple,
Page 29 and 30: ENVIRONMENT Keeping the Glebe green
Page 31 and 32: SCHOOLS Some updates from the board
Page 33 and 34: SCHOOLS Sustainability initiatives
Page 35 and 36: TRAVEL Glebe artist explores South-
Page 37: COMMUNITY Winners of Awesome Author
Page 41 and 42: RELIGION Tiptoe through the tulips
Page 43 and 44: Glebe Report April 16, 2010 43 BEST

April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

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