Okay, so I am still sick. But because I love you, here is a wee taste of something that travels WAY beyond Steampunk Cool, and well into the land of Awesome:
More soon…
~kc
Pee Ess…
As a bonus, I’ve been meaning to link to this site ever since I saw it on the gorgeous Ev Bishop’s blog — a little dose of daily S/F for you…!
Hey. How are you doing?
Me? Slammed with allergies, thank you. I’ll get through it, but man…this Sudafed haze is No Fun. I feel sure that I have a number of things to discuss with you, but each time I reach out to touch one…poof. Gone.
Okay, so I’ll start with something easy…
This shot is the definition of pure joy. Silas Ermineskin, not a paw touching the ground, frolicking in the snow. His brother Seamus preferred to dig himself a nest and roll in it, his thick fur coat nestled deep in a drift — dog ecstasy. 
Happy boys.
I, on the other hand, had the third most harrowing drive of my life home the other night, as a result of the same snowstorm. However, all is well now, snow safely abated, at least for now.
But the world keeps turning, and since I last posted here, there’s been an increase to the chaos in Libya and many of the buildings of Christchurch have been shaken to the ground. An interesting world we live in, yes?
Let’s go to a little link-love…
To begin, if you’d like to donate to help the people of New Zealand in this latest crisis, follow this link to donate to the NZ Red Cross. [Have patience — the site is getting a lot of hits these days…] And via @CaliBC, you can see some of the devastation up close and personal HERE.
Have you seen this send-up of the LuluLemon bag? Priceless. [4000 years of yoga and we’ve finally figured out how to cash in…]
Are you following Darren Barefoot’s ‘One Year, One Canadian’ blog? If not, perhaps this contest will entice you.
Via Sean Cranbury’s Books on the Radio blog, have a peek at the endeavour to replace the ‘n-word’ in Huckleberry Finn with the word ‘robot’. Mechanically correct?
And to finish in the same vein as we began, for those who like their big dogs with a taste of sweet fawn on the side, I give you this: http://www.dogwork.com/ddsff4/
Sweet dreams! And, as always, more soon…
~kc
Sweet Panic! at the Disco steampunkification of Victorian death practices. Nice song, too — and I want one of those hats! [Cool hat-tip to Tor.com]
Also, there’s this:
It’s called a ‘Scold’s Bridle’ and was used to punish a gossiping or recalcitrant woman, beginning in the 1500s. This one, from the Wellcome Collection in the UK, is of German make, but the regular use of this particular torture implement actually began in England, before spreading to the continent. Apparently, usage continued well into the 1800s, particularly in workhouses. [via boingboing and the Science Museum of London] .
I always view torture devices with a sceptical eye, as so many supposed medieval devices of this sort have proved to emerge from the vivid Victorian imagination, but the sources citing the use of this one look to be pretty legit.
I just received a whack of absolutely wonderful thank you letters from some of the kids I spoke to in Whistler a couple of weeks ago, which has inspired me to scan and put a few pieces of these and other fan mail up on my blog. Also plan to answer some of the questions they’ve posited. Keep watching this space!
As always, more soon…
~kc
So, it’s a stormy Saturday, and I have two big jobs ahead of me this weekend — soon as I get out of bed.
[What? You don’t sleep with your computer?]
Instead, I think I’ll begin by sharing a Zombie Valentine, in time for you to link to it Monday — especially for those for whom a commercial day celebrating the love [of spending???] does not resonate as deeply as…
BRAINZZZZZZZZZZ…….!!!!!!!
[tweeted to me by my friend in all things zombiepocolypse James McCann]
Sending some steampunk cool your way shortly.
More soon….
~kc
…in this beautiful place where — somehow — the fates have granted leave for me to stay.
The evening murder began to gather just as the sky turned pink tonight, and I was stuck in traffic, giving me plenty of time to get a bunch of shots.
A bit hard to see with the size of this photo, but many thousands of crows began to collect in preparation for their evening fly-by — a Vancouver staple that has to be seen to be believed.
Then, just as I was crossing the Second Narrows Bridge, the sun began to set, bathing the city in sky-fire…
Another iPhone shot…not the greatest quality, but at least a taste of the beauty painted on the sky.
By the time I got to Ambleside, the sun had set, and Gracie’s pearls reflected in the water below the Lions Gate.
A beautiful night in the city…
More soon….
~kc
PS — Know a reluctant reader? A new site has just sprung up aimed squarely at those who struggle with reading, and those who would help them find their way. It’s called KEEN READERS and it is the brainchild of CWILL author Pam Withers and a few others. Check it out HERE.
… and the writer is behind in all things. Loads of interesting goings-on lately, though some ,of which I tried to document on my camera with the wonky memory card.
But perhaps this is like the whole books vs movies argument — some things remain better unphotographed, clearer and more resonant in the mind’s eye.
And yet — take a look at this:
From What Would Jack Do?, via James Bow.
Okay, so maybe my week hasn’t been quite as interesting as that experinced in Egypt, but I still have a few things to report.
Attended the first-ever west coast Writers Trust event the other night, where David Suzuki received the George Woodcock prize for outstanding literary achievement, and a performance of AFTER THE FLOOD took place, with its author [one Margaret Atwood] standing in as narrator. CBC’s Shelagh Rogers was there as emcee, wearing a pair of terribly fetching tights. I tweeted most of the event, so those of you who follow my twitter feed got an up-close and personal view. If you’d like to hear an excerpt of David Suzuki’s marvellous accpetance speech [the bit where he slags Stockwell Day’s ability to make an informed decision when the man “doesn’t even believe in evolution!” deserves to be heard in its entirety, believe me!] you can find it HERE on Sean Cranbury’s BOOKS ON THE RADIO page.
I was the only person in attendance wearing army boots, but still managed to find a few of my own kind in attendance — friends and past attendees from the Surrey International Writers Conference included Timothy Taylor [who is also apparently a Board Member of the Writers’ Trust], the Book Broads, Stephen Galloway, George McWhirter, agents Carolyn Swayze and Barry Jones, film-makers Maureen Palmer and Helen Slinger of Bountiful Films, and of course the redoubtable Sean Cranbury. It was an interesting evening, and a jewel in the Writers Trust crown to hold such a successful event in gorgeous Vancouver instead of snow-locked Toronto for a change!
Just about to leap into the planning stages of a tour to the Canadian Maritimes this spring, so spread the word. If you know someone who’d like to have their school or library or book group added to the tour, please contact me at the address below, and we’ll make it work. In the short meantime, I have a bunch of other events to add to my appearance itinerary, so perhaps I’ll see you somewhere nearby!
Okay, back to movie-making — something special for my creative writing class this week.
More soon…
~kc
Okay, since we are still experiencing some technical difficulties, here, for you my pretties, I present a little link love…
First, may I direct you to BOOKS ON THE RADIO, the site run by the renowned and widely respected Sean Cranbury. In this latest post, Sean is making the case for turntable-to-digital technology, but for me, also pretty succinctly addressing head-on the fears that traditional publishing hold for anything new. Of digital technology he says [in part]:
It is what it is. Produce a quality physical product and people will buy it.
Set the digital file free (as in libre, not gratis, though this is a bit of a Moebius Strip), respect your customers choices and stay out of their way.
Read the rest HERE. [AND see a shot of a very cool Ion turntable-to-mp3 player, too…]
Now, normally for this next bit, I’d embed the video, but instead I’ll just direct you to the boingboing link HERE, which announces Google’s new international science fair project for teens 13-18. CHECK IT OUT!
And finally, in the next week I’ll be sending out a New Year’s edition of my newsletter. If you haven’t signed up for it yet, email me [at the address below] and I’ll add your name to the list. A way to keep you updated with all the crazy going down in the kc dyer universe.
More [hopefully pictorially!] soon…
~kc
After extensive discussion at yet another birthday celebration last night [this one catered by the generous Lee Edward Fodi, in one final blow-out for kc and James January], I’ve decided to attempt this again.
And…I think it worked!
This made-from scratch [well, except the bb gun] emergency zombie protection station brought to you by Peter T. Dyer, zombie expert.
Want details of how to build your own? Email me, or leave a comment.
And hooray for my blog accepting photos again!
More soon…
~kc
Yikes…I miss a couple of days blogging and suddenly I have a tonne of stuff to talk about. Ah, well…will get to it over the next few days.
Complicating this is that Firefox is crashing like mad on me tonight. Not sure my zombie shot will make it into this post. Coincidence…?
I think not.
However, I will try again, for the edification of my Geek posse…
Yes, it’s true. A certain whiff of geekiness can be detected around this blog. In fact, today on twitter I outed my favourite group of movie-going friends as The Geek Collective [our motto: We Are the Nerd…], and tomorrow we are all heading out to see Tron. Collecting five geeks [plus a couple of non-geek hangers-on] together for an event like this is an endeavour. The origin of this event is the fact that James McCann, Lee Edward Fodi and I all have our birthdays within a month of each other, so in January, we celebrate in as geeky a fashion as is possible. It turns out that Jacqueline Pearce, another intrepid novelist [though arguably FAR less geeky] has a birthday this month, too, so she’s coming along.
But, as Firefox is denying me, looks like they’ll have to wait. Will try another zombie protection post shortly.
More [as always] soon,
~kc
…has been pretty darned blissful, thank you very much.
Lots of love from special people in my life. And as I type this, I find myself on one of the more beautiful of the Gulf Islands, enjoying a new adventure. Huge thanks to all who have shared the love with me this week…it’s the start of an auspicious year, and many adventures to come.
Now, I’d like to share with you the fundraising efforts of the amazing Baba Brinkman, who is AFAIK, the rap king of Canada. He’s on a final surge to gain the funding needed to complete his epic Rap Guide to Evolution, a brilliant resource for schools and kids everywhere. He’s a BC boy making good abroad and he could use your help.
Check it out:
You can find out more at his site HERE, too. You can listen to the Rap Guide to Evolution for free, or pay something to support the download there, too.
Send this rapconteur a little love, if you dare!
More soon…
~kc
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