Libraries and Inspiration

One day I wondered what happened to Martyn Godfrey; Google told me he passed away more than fifteen years ago. It was one of those weird, uncomfortable moments the Internet makes possible. I felt surprised, saddened, and irrationally guilty I hadn't found out earlier. I hadn't thought much about him for more than twenty years, but he made a big difference to me as a child.

Some context is needed, for those who may not know who Godfrey was. Martyn Godfrey was born in Birmingham, England in 1949. He moved to Canada at the age of eight, worked as a teacher, and had a successful career writing childrens' books, largely fantasy and science fiction. In 1989, he was the Edmonton Public Library’s writer-in-residence.

Old Strathcona branch of the Edmonton Public Library.
Source: Wikipedia

Godfrey passed away in 2000. He was only fifty-one years old; he would be sixty-six now. He left us tragically young, but he gave joy and inspiration to a great many people. A copy of his eulogy is here.

The eulogy mentions the dedication in Godfrey's book The Last War, and just that dedication line brought a lot of the story back to me. Most of all though, I remember Godfrey not for anything he wrote, but for something he did.

Cute Cat Friday 2016-01-01: The Year of Four Cats

Ancient Rome had the Year of Four Emperors; this was our Year of Four Cats.

Only Belle was with us at both start and end of 2015; but fervently knocking wood, we hope Joni will be a keeper. The other two of course were the late and much missed Dexter, who passed away in May; and Freddie, who we adopted and kept for two months, but had to send back when he proved too aggressive towards Belle.

Top row: Dexter, Belle. Bottom row: Freddie, Joni. Click for larger versions.

Belle and Joni are gradually growing more tolerant of each other; not yet hanging out in the same room, but we have high hopes of getting there soon.

Incidentally, my new favourite Wikipedia disclaimer is, "not to be confused with the Year of Five Emperors or the Year of Six Emperors".

Cinema Year in Review: 2015

As predicted, looking after a new baby has drastically reduced my cinema-going. I saw ten films in the cinema this year, and thought I was doing well to manage that.

The Plaza Cinema, Skipton. A great little place we discovered this year.

Given the limited opportunity, I did my best to choose films carefully, and there have been some excellent releases this year. So, I'm going to do my usual breakdown anyway. For the sake of completeness, I'll do a top seven instead of a top five, so everything I saw gets a mention.

The Pride of Chicken Soup

It's odd that I've never blogged much about food, because I really like cooking. It's enjoyable and satisfying. I find it relaxing, given that my day job in software engineering is very abstract; it's a pleasant change of pace to work with something I can touch and taste. Last but not least, cooking for others has a primal importance. We all need food to live. Preparing food for others is giving a tiny bit of life.

After a lot of practice, I'm a pretty competent amateur cook. I can confidently make Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings for eight or ten people, and it's very tasty if I say so myself. Boxing Day was the most proud I've ever been of my cooking skills, and all I made was a simple pot of chicken soup.

Chicken noodle soup: Not mine, but similar.
Source: Wikipedia

My son Zach had his first birthday on Christmas Eve. He's a wonderful, happy, active baby, but unfortunately he's got his first major cold right now. It's just a cold, nothing unusual, but he doesn't understand what's happening. He's uncomfortable, unhappy, and his nose is blocked up, which interferes with smelling, chewing and swallowing.

Zach was refusing all food aside from fruit purée, which was something but not what I'd call a balanced diet. Normally he loves baby oatmeal porridge, but not then, and processed baby food from jars was rejected on sight.

So I spent a couple of hours making soup out of the leftover roast chicken we had on Christmas Eve, with some leeks, carrots, herbs and thin pasta noodles, and zapped it in the blender until it was smooth. Our uncomfortable, cranky baby ate up a huge bowl of it, by his standards. Afterwards he snuggled in my arms with his head on my shoulder, tired but contented.

It's only a cold, and I expect he would have eaten something else when he got hungry enough, but it didn't come to that. It was a beautiful warm feeling to help Zach in this way. (It has occurred to me that maybe breastfeeding mothers feel something like this, all the time.).

The next day, because the gods have a sense of humour (and so does Zach), he was refusing chicken soup and back onto porridge. But at the time, it was just exactly what he needed. He still has a cold but he's looking better now.

Happy birthday, young man. I don't know what you will do when you grow up, but I believe you'll never be too old for your dad to make you a bowl of chicken soup.

Cute Cat Christmas: 2015-12-25

Belle posing by the tree. Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas Day, wherever and however you spend it.

Star Wars, Social Media, and Hiding the Shiny Thing

I went to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Saturday. It was great fun.

The last time a Star Wars movie lived up to my expectations, I was five years old and watching Return of the Jedi on its first release. It was such a huge relief to simply enjoy a Star Wars film, instead of cringing at leaden dialogue, incoherent plots and implausible character motivation.

I might do a full review later. Meanwhile, I agree with the SF author John Scalzi's verdict: It's not great art, but it's very enjoyable and entertaining. That's not too surprising, because it's what Disney does best.

I'd add that Star Wars inspired a whole generation of science fiction fans. For the most part, we aren't blind to its flaws, but view it with enormous affection. Even after the appalling prequels, there was a huge reservoir of goodwill and creative talent available to make Episode VII -- not to mention a lot of cold, hard cash. JJ Abrams' job was to marshal those resources and produce something with the same sense of fun and adventure as the original films.

Abrams has done all of the fans proud, and I'm looking forward to the next instalment. This time, the anticipation is uncomplicated: Hey wow, that was great! I want to see more! (Last time, it was more like: Oh, please let Lucas learn from his mistakes and not f**k up the next one so badly.)

The keen of eye might have noticed I didn't see the film until three days after its release. This was forced on me by babysitting logistics, but it presented a dilemma. Did I take the risk of viewing spoilers, or deprive myself of Facebook and Twitter for a few days? I chose the second option, and I'm really glad I did.

It's a Star Wars spoiler. (Sorry.)
Source: imgur

Cute Cat Friday 2015-12-18: Joni

Did you want this desk chair? Too bad, it's mine now.

Introductions continue, slowly and cautiously. The cats are at least able to eat breakfast on either side of a barrier grating. The main thing is to build up Belle's confidence so she doesn't see Joni as a threat; it's a slow process but we think we are seeing signs of progress.