Danda Humphreys, one of our talented writers in the neighborhood and a well-known local historian, offers a wonderful new book, Tour Guide Tales, a perfect gift for the globetrotter who’s long on digital photos and short on stories, a happy-faced hospitality industry employee with sore feet, or an armchair traveller living life in the slow lane.

If you have travelled, on your own or with a group, you’ll enjoy this book! “Tour Guide Tales” is a collection of real tales told by real people – tour guides, directors and managers from right across Canada. The stories, edited by Danda Humphreys and illustrated by Elke Hierl-Steinbauer, will make you chuckle, nod in agreement, shake your head in disbelief, maybe even a shed a tear a two.

Read about the "two bad apples" in a busload of tourists who threatened to ruin the group’s trip to Tofino… the European tourist looking for the location of the camp where he once was a prisoner-of-war… and what happened the day a royal duke decided to steer a SeaBus.  Along the way, you’ll share some of the questions people ask, such as (at Lake Louise), "How do they drain the lake so they can paint the bottom blue?", and (pointing to the Undersea Gardens in Victoria’s Inner Harbour), "How often does that ferry sail to Vancouver?"

It’s a fun read and a great gift! Enjoy this unique collection of Canadian tour guide tales!

“Tour Guide Tales” (6” x 9”, 150 pages) is available for $19.95 per copy (including tax) from Danda Humphreys: dandah@shaw.ca or www.dandahumphreys.com.
 

Image Credit: Illustration by Baldinger

My fellow insects, 

"The Booklouse" - A published children’s author and former James Bay resident who now works at Russell Books on Fort Street in Victoria, BC

Image Credit: Illustration by Dean Lewis, (from the front cover of Focus magazine, Volume 21, No. 3, December 2008, and insert for the article, "The Inconvenient Truth About Her Axe and His Tax" by Katherine Gordon) 

What would a "Snippets and Snapshots" gallery be without a few colorful characters?

The Legislative Precinct of James Bay has two prominent politicians, Gordon Campbell (Premier of the Province of British Columbia and Leader of the Liberal Party), and  Carol James (Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the New Democratic Party) who are known to frequent the neighborhood every now and then when the affairs of state demand their presence.

Thanks to the artistic hand of Dean Lewis, (a resident of James Bay who delights visitors to the Inner Harbour every summer with their very own caricatures), we now have some rather pithy portraits of these powerful political potentates.

Over the course of the past summer, a portion of the Ogden Point Breakwater inner wall has been transformed from a dark concrete surface into a series of a colorful hand-painted First Nations’ mural panels.

The Ogden Point Mural project, a collaboration between the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority and aboriginal Coast Salish artists Butch Dick (representing the Songhees First Nation) and Darlene Gait (representing the Esquimalt First Nation), and a team of aboriginal youth is a tribute to the unique artistic traditions of Canada’s first people.

The murals feature a series of undulating wave and sand forms filled with a variety of land and sea creatures common to the Westcoast which can be seen by visiting cruiseship passengers and those who walk the 2km long Ogden Point Breakwater.

The images of the land represented by Darlene Gait’s images of the cougar, the running deer, the raven and the eagle as well as the wolf are symbols of family unity, honesty, generosity, and respect, values which exemplify the dignity and nobility of First Nations people.

The artwork of Butch Dick portrays images of sea life including the salmon, the harbour seal, the devil fish (octopus), and the sea monster.

The "Ogden Point Land & Sea Mural Blessing Ceremony" organized by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority with invited guests and dignitaries will take place in the Ogden Point Pocket Park (at the south end of Ogden Point adjacent to the Pilot Station) on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 4 pm.

Keep your arts calendar clear for the evening of Thursday, September 24th!

Then mosey on over to James Bay Coffee & Books at 143 Menzies Street, to experience the warm hospitality of owner Kim Willoughby as she introduces a talented poet and James Bay resident by the name of Hubert Meeker.

What makes this event special is the fact that Mr. Meeker has more than seven decades of life under his belt, and at this tender age…he’s just published a book entitled, 18 Wheels: Poems that Move (illustrated by artist friend, Alana Kapell).

An American by birth, he spent much of his working life in Ontario and British Columbia. Having earned his M.A. in English Literature in Ohio, this talented renaissance man has penned five unpublished novels, a hundred short stories and plays, not to mention a thousand poems and light verse in between earning a living as a teacher, journalist, school bus driver, psychotherapist, hotel night cleark, counsellor, building superintendent, free-lance writer and janitor.

What makes this collection unique is the theme of "distances and dissonance", more particularly how vehicles have shaped our relationships — be strollers that carried us as children to the three-wheelers, and bikes to the more sophisticated automobiles, trains and planes that offer us the convenience of speed and comfort, and finally to the humble wheel chair which may accompany us out of hospital, or even out of life!

His poems chronicle the milestones, misadventures and memories of life a well led, not to mention the wonder and vision of an elder generation who gathers and sifts through them to glean the wit and wisdom that only time can give us.

So, drop by, and appreciate some poetry from the heart of man who knows how to weave words well! Pip pip hoorah – another contribution to the rich treasury of talent right here in our very own neighborhood! 

Image Credit: Lindedesign at flickr.com

The reason why this column is not called "Bookworms" is as follows:

No single species may properly be called the bookworm because a large number of insects feed upon dry, starchy material or paper amd may damage books.

(The above was extracted from the Encyclopedia.)

Each month I shall be reviewing a couple of books that I think will be of interest to you; if they are not , please do not chew on them in your fury as they will probably taste revolting. Also, a number of the books that I recommend, some of you may well have read, as I shall not necessarily be reviewing NEW books all the time.

If you would like to ask for suggestions in a given genre, please feel free to contact me via the contact form on this website.

Here’s a couple for you to enjoy in the meantime:

The Meaning of Night: A Confession (by Michael Cox)

I love the opening of this book:

‘After killing the red haired man, I took myself off to Quinns for an oyster supper.’

You guessed it, this is a Victorian thriller written in Victorian English. This book is an absolute delight to read and has an excellent plot line as told by a male protagonist (stay with me). This is one of those books where you think you have nailed the plot early on, but there might just be a few twists and turns before you realise that you weren’t quite right. The writing is old fashined enough to be wonderfully descriptive, but not so old fashioned as to be difficult to read or in any way affect your enjoyment of the story. Watch out for the fun historical notes at the bottom of some of the pages, which all end with the letters: Ed (see my final paragraph).

Sadly, Michael Cox died of a rare form of cancer about three months ago, but not before he heard from his publisher that they were going to publish the sequel, The Glass of Time. Let me tell you, there had to be a sequel, you will know what I mean when you finish The Meaning of Night.

The Glass of Time: A Novel (by Michael Cox)

Here is another excellent read, but this time with a female protagonist. It is 22 years later, and again the plot is one of those that seems so simple at the beginning; but just you wait. Whatever you do, be sure to read these in order.

If you are wondering about the late Mr. Cox’s credentials for this type of writing, he was the Editor at Oxford University Press for many years, specializing in Victorian matters, including crime.

Happy chewing till next time,

"The Booklouse" - A published children’s author and former James Bay resident who now works at Russell Books on Fort Street in Victoria, BC