My Favorite Scene - Powers of Ten

Welcome to the last video of the year, and possibly the last My Favorite Scene video, period.

Because this is a longer video than I normally make, it exceeded Blogger's video size limit of 100mb (it's 108.9mb), so I had to upload to YouTube and give you a link to it here instead.

I hadn't realized the banana tree behind me was trying to attack me while I was recording - it did an amazing job of messing up my hair - but maybe it'll give you a good laugh, like it did me when I watched it.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to watch me babbling my way through another My Favorite Scene segment. Please join me next week when I have a recipe post next week...and no banana trees!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - a Chinese poem

I've been on a "get in touch with my heritage" kick lately. It's too bad my mom isn't alive to appreciate it. Some Chinese poems that I used to recite have been running through my head. And then for the #inktober sketching challenge, I chose to run with a Chinese theme. Like so:

Because I've got my heritage on my mind, I decided to do a reading of one of my favorite poems (and I have many) for the My Favorite Scene segment.

Okay, I had typed and uploaded everything above, but then....

You ever have one of those days where one minute, you're done with grade four and you have all summer to just sit around and read and you're just champing at the bit to head to the library and the summer is stretching endlessly ahead of you, and then the next minute, you are fifty years old and have over-committed yourself and for some strange reason, the earth seems to be rotating faster because time seems to be flying by, breaking the sound barrier?

*taking deep breath after longest run-on sentence ever*

I have. I'm having one of those days. Soooo, I did not get to translating the poem like I promised above. I will just tell you that it says something about the setting moon, calling crows, and frost filling the sky. And also something about the freezing weather outside of city of Gouzhou and the ringing of the midnight bell reaching the guest boat. Trust me, it's beautiful in Chinese.

Next week, a recipe!

Do you speak another language? Do you read poetry in a different language? Want to share one with me?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat

Good gravy; is it really October? May I panic?

This month’s video is on “In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat” by John Gribbin. Enjoy (my rambling)! :)

Have you read anything by John Gribbin before? Or, do you have a favorite science writer you can recommend?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - You Want Proof? I'll Give You Proof!

Slacker and flake that I am, I still haven't bought a microphone yet, so I hope I spoke loudly enough to be audible this time.

The book I featured today is You Want Proof? I'll Give You Proof! by Sidney Harris. It is such a hilarious book that even re-reading the one page that I show you in the video was enough to make me giggle. See if you can tell that I'm suppressing laughter during the clip. :)

Have you read any of Mr. Harris's cartoons in The New Yorker?

----edited to add----
Since it was hard to see the cartoon in the video, I'm putting the image below:

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - A Home For Bird

Good gravy! Is it June already? If it's My Favorite Scene, it must be Belgium...or the start of a new month. (Anyone know the movie I referred to?)

I really must find a microphone to attach to me so that the sound comes out better. Right now, I'm using the built-in microphone on the laptop and it doesn't capture my voice very well (since I stopped singing 20 or so years ago, I've stopped practicing projecting my voice). But I didn't want to get any closer to the computer to spare you the pain of seeing my face up close and personal. Instead, I've included the transcript (below) of the video so you can actually read it instead of watching me! :) Yes, you may thank me; and, yes, you may thank me in the form of gelato or fried chicken.

Transcript:

Hi, this is June’s My Favorite Scene, and I’m going to talk about a book called A Home for Bird, by the same author of “A Sick Day for Amos McGee” which I happened to be really fond of too; I just think that this book is just a little bit better. And you can tell me what you think!

One of my favorite scenes is actually the opening scene, and I’ll read it to you:

Vernon was out foraging for interesting things when he found bird.

“Are you okay?” asked Vernon.

Bird said nothing.

“Are you lost?”

Bird said nothing.

“You are welcome to join me,” said Vernon.

Vernon introduced Bird to his friends.

“Bird,” said Vernon, “meet Skunk and Porcupine.”

Bird said nothing.

“Bird is shy,” said Vernon, “but also a very good listener.”

Isn’t this a great start to the story? I hope you’ll borrow it from the library or find it at a bookstore, and check out the rest of it. Thanks! 

So there ya have it. Happy Monday and happy June...go forth and fill it with a good book or forty!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene

Hey, guess what?! It's almost winter. Yeah, I'm thrilled too. And in honor of the impending cold and cloudy days and snow (at least in the parts of the continent where we get those things), I'm presenting the book, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats.

My whining about winter aside, I loooove this book. I love the magical words; I love the comforting art. I love Keats for featuring a little African American boy at a time when it was rarely done. This was one of the first books I read in English (after immigrating to Vancouver when I was 8) and it will always bring me back to those simpler times when I actually liked snow and I didn't have to think about things like paying the mortgage.

Granted, overall, I prefer to be an adult than a child, but despite the feeling of a lack of control and a general helplessness of being young and powerless, I still miss my youth sometimes (if only for the fact that my joints didn't ache then).

But I digress...here's the video for November!

Have you ever read The Snowy Day? If so, is it as magical for you too?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene

Do I keep starting the My Favorite Scene segments with "holy cow, how did another month fly by?" Why does that keep taking me by surprise?

Today's video is my, slightly cranky, response to the buzz phrase de l'année: narrative arc. The book is "No, David!" by David Shannon.

For those of you who write, especially picture books, what is your view on this narrative arc thing?

Happy October...man, it is really October?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene

Again?! Fear not. I kept it really short this time. Partly so that no one has to listen to me for too long and partly because I totally flaked doing it and had to make it short and sweet the day before. Heck, I didn't even have time to put on a face before doing this. Sorry! Hope nobody turns to stone...

Happy Labor (Labour to my Canadian and Common Wealth friends) Day!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene

I know you've been waiting in breathless anticipation for this month's installment of "My favorite scene"...well, if you have absolutely nothing else going on in your life except de-linting sweaters and cleaning the laundry tub.

There have been audio problems in the past, and I've done some adjustments to the computer settings so hopefully you can hear me this time. If not, turn up your hearing aid! Sorry...projecting again.

The wonderful book I'm presenting today is Not Yet, Rose by the lovely Susanna Leonard Hill. Susanna, as I mention in the video, teaches an excellent course on how to write picture books called "Making Picture Book Magic" which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to write one but doesn't know how. No, I don't get any commission for recommending it, but I think it is the best money and one month I ever spent on a course. :)

Yes, that is a Maxfield Parrish print in the back. ;)

Hope you'll read the rest of Not Yet, Rose; it is one of the cutest and sweetest books, and anyone who is expecting a second child will relate to it!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - Chowder by Peter Brown

Please note that I did this video before I got feedback for my previous, and inaugural "My Favorite Scene" segment, so the sound is still awful and soft. SORRY!! I will try and get a new microphone and/or yell for my next segment.

So, I was going to make this a first Monday of the month segment, but as I mentioned last week, I had to pre-empt this one to entering Susanna Hill's fun Fourth of July contest. :)

But, really, has it been a month already?? Where did the time go? Wasn't it just yesterday I subjected you to my video?

The amazing Peter Brown (I feel like "amazing" should be capitalized) was one of the speakers at the Wild, Wild Midwest conference back in May. He gave one of the best keynote speeches, as well as regular presentations, I have ever attended. I went from sort of knowing some of his titles to being a rabid fan. Eh, what's up with that, Doc? Oh, rabid...not rabbit. Sorry.

So, today, I'm presenting you with a scene from his book Chowder, about a very human and droll bulldog. Take it away, me!

Have you read any of Peter Brown's books?

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

My Favorite Scene - a new blog segment

Well, I'm going to try something new, something that will make me uncomfortable because I hate looking at, and listening to, myself. But it's good to push one's boundaries...or so I've been told. Hey, I'm perfectly fine with the same old, same old.

Here's the premise: My Favorite Scene will be short videos of me talking about my favorite scene in a book. Short is the operative word. And, yes, the irony of the fact that I, Ms. Constant Bandwidth Downgrade No Thanks To Our Horrible Satellite Internet Company, who cannot load videos at home, am going to present videos on my blog did not escape me.

So, here goes. For my inauguration post, I am featuring a scene from Giddy-up, Daddy! by Troy Cummings, one of my new-found IN-SCBWI buddies from the Wild, Wild Midwest Conference back in early May. If you get a chance to meet Troy in person, don't miss it! He is crazy funny, no emphasis on crazy, but it's not like it's a bad thing to be crazy either, and just the nicest guy you'd want to be friends with.

I hope you enjoyed this first My Favorite Scene segment. I'd love your feedback: yay, nay, just stick to baking and post your recipes, etc. :)

What are your plans for June? Mine are to be very busy and try not to crash by the middle of the month, as I mentioned last time. Thanks for stopping by!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams