No man's credit is as good as his money. -John Dewey, philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer (20 Oct 1859-1952)
Dubbed the “Queen of Crime” in Denmark, Sara Blaedel is one of that country’s most successful crime writers and the author of seven bestselling novels featuring police detective Louise Rick. Her novels are published in 17 countries and appear in 15 languages, and the rights for the Louise Rick series have been optioned for film. Her new novel is The Forgotten Girls. She lives north of Copenhagen with her family. sarahlaedel.hbgusa.com, @sarablaedel
In an attempt to reduce waste and promote re-use, the number of available disposable cups will be minimal in the Volunteer Lounge this year. So if you're on the run and can't stay and enjoy a cuppa in the Lounge using one of our ceramic cups, please bring your own reusable coffee or tea mug to fill. Help us keep Green in the Vollie Lounge! The Lounge opens at 9:30 Tuesday morning. See you there! Kathryn
Lazy sleep-in until just before 9:00 am when I stumbled upstairs to find Elaine already in the kitchen. She offered me a delicious bowl of hot porridge which was more than nicely complemented with Theodore's fabulous latte. We visited over breakfast and when Lady Mary surfaced I went downstairs to pack as we were moving camp back to Harbour Terrace. Jo-Anne had very kindly offered us her place as she was off to Arizona, early Wednesday morning. Very, very convenient for us as our volunteer venue, Studio 1398, is right across the way from the building. As most of the VWF events take place on GI, also terrific to be so close to many of the events we wish to see over the course of the fest.
I had packed all of my possessions by 11:00 am so I scampered upstairs to suggest that Mme Coriandre needed to ready herself and her possessions if we were to be at JT's by noon. While she bathed and packed I loaded the car and we waved goodbye to Theodorakis just after 12:30 pm. We called Jo-Anne once we were in the parking lot and she came to meet us, bringing a number of catrs and a dolly. I pulled car inside and we unloaded next to the elevator. I stored my Trek in the storage locker while The Babes muled the baggage up to the 4th floor. Once in her apartment, we set about doing a bit of unpacking and ordering our piles of stuff!
Since the day was dry I decided I'd go for a ride so was ready to hit the road by just after 1:00 pm. We were to attend the Opening Reception at Performance Works at 4:00 pm so I knew I would have to be focused if I wanted to get in my "minimum" distance in the time I had. This being the case, I decided I'd do a "flatlander" so I made for Science World, dipsy-doodling/looping along 2nd and back to Spyglass Place/Moberly Road/Millyard/Sawyers Lane until I had about 12-13 km on the clock. Wanted to register at least 20 km by the time I was at Stanley Park as I intended to do at least three loops of Lost Lagoon before returning. I estimated that this would give me my goal for the ride as well as allowing me to keep the AVG around 22 kph so that I could keep to my allotted time.
Enjoyed the Seawall which was busier than I had expected. So was Stanley Park, filled with pesky tourists and sightseers, but I managed to steer clear of both. On my first lap of Lost Lagoon I encountered some road construction and the roadway narrowed to one lane here, controlled by a flag-person. On second lap of LL, knowing what was ahead, I moved over into the lane that was open, riding down the middle for a very short stretch, past the construction work and the the flag-woman holding a SLOW sign high. No sooner had I moved over I heard a series of loud, angry honks form the car behind me so I turned around and gestured to the idiot that there really was nowhere to go and not at any speed so why all the fuss and bother. Another cyclist came by me while all this was happening and after passing the construction vehicles he stayed to the left while I moved back into the right lane. The Mad Honker roared by me, a woamn in a Mini, as it turned out, and rode on the other cyclist's tail, honking all the while. A second vehicle came along, doing the same. While the other rider should, out of courtesy, moved into the right lane there really was no need, at all, for the ridiculous, mindless behaviour on the car drivers' part, at least in me 'umble opinion.
At any rate, the rest of the ride was a delight so I was really pleased that I'd decided to make the effort to get out and about as I'm not sure how much riding I will be able to do over the coming days. Bit more dipsy-doodling once back on same stretch where I'd looped earlier and then it was Harbour Terrace and home. Stats fro ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/933713728#.ViciMPonXZA.email
Found The Sisterhood chatting in the living room when I walked in. Quick shower and change. To my dismay I discovered that I'd not packed my white shirts! (We are supposed to wear white shirts and dark pants while volunteering) I remember folding them when packing my suitcase but must have left them somewhere and not noticed I hadn't included them. I hope to borrow one from Sarge for tonight or else buy one to wear for rest of festival. Cora Lee picked out a coloured one for the evening so I wore it in flagrant violation of the dress code! Bumped into Kathryn, Volunteer Coordinator, at Opening Reception and she didn't reprimand me so I guess I'm not going to be clapped in irons just yet!
Reception was wonderful. Fabulous food, prepared and donated by the Dockside Restaurant at the GI Hotel. I enjoyed two Gin and Tonics from Pemberton Distillery, chatting to Gloria, one of the owners. I'd met her and her husband, Tyler, at a number of Dram Come True events. They just had their first child, a son, about 18 months ago and she said that as Tyler was readying the shipment intended for the VWF he had their son in the warehouse. He turned his back for a moment and when he next spied the tyke he was beetling across the floor with a bottle of whiskey clutched in his arms! Anyway, a lovely, lovely person and pleased that their distillery seems to be doing so well. Spent about an hour or so visiting with friends, as well as chatting with numerous authors who were there, identified by the gorgeous orchid boutonnieres they were wearing.
Our shift at Studio 1398 started at 5:00 pm but Cora Lee had left at 4:45 pm to meet our "shadow", close friend Julia Spaulding, assigned to learn what is involved with setting up the bar there. Kathryn wanted to do this knowing that having moved to Penticton we may well not be in a position to volunteer in the future. Anyway, I tore myself away around 5:30 am, (doors to event didn't open until 6:00 pm), to head back to venue and met Julia on her way to PW. The liquor license was nowhere to be found and until it was posted no hootch could be sold! Haideh, the Food and Beverage Co-ordinator was at PW and Julia was hoping to see her about it. I continued on to Studio 1398 to find everything else in order.
First event was George Bowering in Conversation with Colin Browne and it was a sheer delight. What a dynamo, literary and otherwise, and he is still recovering from major heart surgery after collapsing in front of Point Grey Library and being in an induced coma for two weeks. I knew that he grown up in the Okanagan, born in Penticton but lived in Oliver, and it was quite an intoxicating feeling to know, from fist-hand experience, mainly from cycling, many of the places he referred to. His feelings and opinions about language and writing were wonderfully articulated and it was a sheer delight, and a very real honour, to be in the presence of such a vital, vibrant, prolific and deservedly respected Canadian literary giant.
Bit of shuffling to ready bar for next event and Julia scurried downstairs to put our names on the list for complimentary tickets for Icelandic Incantations: Hannah Kent and Yrsa Sigurdardóttir with moderator Anne Giardini. Another riveting session. Anne did a terrific job of asking intelligent, pertinent questions and both authors responded, without exception, in kind, usually with infectious humour, in spite of, or indeed, perhaps due to, their exploration of the grim lives of their protagonists, played out in such an inhospitable landscape. Although Australian, Hannah Kent’s debut novel, set in 1829, is based on the true story of the last woman executed in Iceland. For her part, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir is a celebrated Icelandic author. All of her adult novels have been European bestsellers and are translated into more than 30 languages. Amid all those hours of darkness, “what we have to offer,” she says, “are crimes that result from the evil in ordinary people.”
While Julia and Mme Coriandre balanced the night's cash, I waited to have my books signed. As I was the last in line, I took the opportunity to ask both of the authors a few questions, ones I'd not been able to pose during the session. As well, I chatted with Yrsa about Sjon, the Icelandic poet who'd been at the festival last year. Given the circles they both move in she knew him and I asked her to bring greetings from me as we'd visited a fair bit over the course of his stay. Enjoyed sharing some of our Australian connections with Hannah so that was fun as well. Hope to hear both of them again over the coming week. All in all a simply terrific start to the Festival. Quick walk home, popping in to say hello to Flamin' and Sarge but both were already asleep so I headed upstairs. Jo-Anne was in bed herself, the better to be ready for her early flight the next morning. Cora Lee was still up, reading, so I brushed and flossed quickly and hopped into bed to read but a chapter or two. I was driving JT to the airport at 5:30 am so I wanted to be asleep pretty quickly myself.
hi pat, i just wanted you to know that i found out that the fridge is a 2007 so you got a good fridge at a good price, enjoy your trip, stay safe and hope to see you back on the trail or at our christmas bush party in dec. take care
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