Books to Films

Once again it is time for Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 in memory of Toni Taddeo. Today's subject is books turned into films.

Here we go:

1. What book turned into a film did you enjoy?

I enjoyed The English Patient very much and The Life of Pi as movies. I'm sure I've enjoyed a few more books turned into films, like Out of Africa (more on that later) but I cannot remember them at the moment. 

2. Did you ever find the film version of a book to be better than the book or was the book better than the film and which book was it.

The English Patient was a book that for my taste was a far better film than book.  I guess I watched the film to see if it was any better than the book and it was!

3. If you could decide what book should be a movie, which would it be and who would you get to play the main characters?

I've enjoyed so many books over the years and many of them have been turned into films which I've enjoyed.  Generally I find that books are better than the movies. But sometimes I am surprised.  For example, the movie, Out of Africa is based on bits and pieces of several books by the author Karen Blixen (pen name Isak Dineson) rather than one book.  The movie puts all the relevant pieces of the author's life together for you to enjoy a cohesive story.  After seeing the visually appealing and emotionally touching movie, I read all of Karen Blixen's books about her time in Kenya and also several books by other expats living in Kenya.  They were all very interesting and enlarged my understanding of the nation of Kenya, especially her colonial past.

An interesting book to turn into a film would be  The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's a highly unexpected kind of book from the author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My pick for the main character would be Jenna Coleman, the British actress. She played Queen Victoria in the historical mini-series of the same name. I think she would bring a great depth of character to the female protagonist in The Signature of All Things.  Another book I'd like to see turned into a film is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I don't have suggestions for actors but I think all the roles need to be played by South Asian actors.

4. Have you watched a movie and then had to go read the book or has the opposite occurred and influenced you to see the movie?

Yes indeed. I've both watched movies then read the books and also read the books then watched the movies. Out of Africa is probably the most impactful movie causing me to do a lot more reading of books by expat authors in Kenya and also Kenyan authors and authors from other African nations. Probably the most famous or well known of these is Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I thoroughly enjoyed several of her books especially Half a Yellow Sun which tells the story of the Biafran War.

Well that's it for this week.

Thanks for joining in and come again next week!

Tuesday 4 ~ Bug Out!

 

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

Welcome to October and welcome once again to Tuesday 4 in memory of Toni Taddeo, hosted by her good friend Annie of Cottage by the Sea.

Where I live we are still in summer mode and the autumn hasn't really arrived yet. Perhaps in another week or so. In the eastern part of Canada and USA there have been high winds, tree splitting winds and buckets of rain and several hurricanes. Since the east coast is experiencing hurricanes and tropical storms let us explore the topic.

 1. Expert survivalists and weather experts say it is wise to have a bug out bag handy in case of evacuation, hurricane, earthquake or any emergency. You can see online how to create one. Do you have an emergency kit or bug out bag?

Yes, I have an emergency kit consisting of a small suitcase and a backpack. The backpack has the barest essentials if there is no time to grab both bags.  Where I live we are likely to experience emergencies relating to wild fires, flooding or earthquakes. Hopefully we will never have to deal with any of it but being a bit prepared takes some of the edge off the possibility (just a little anyway).

 2. Do you have plans with your family on where to meet and what to do in case of emergency? 

 

Whatever plans we had need to be revisited and updated because family composition has changed since I last updated the kit.

 3. Do you keep your phone well charged and your gas tank topped off ? Is your flashlight kept fresh with batteries? Do you have a list of what to go where to go? 

 

Yes and I try to keep the power bank charged up. I have so many flashlights and battery operated lamps. I need to invest in more batteries as I seem to be low on what I need.

 4. How about a little stash of emergency goods and foods to last a week or two? They say it pays to do this.. do you?

I have meal bars and water from the emergency packs you buy at the store and I added a bit more. These need to be changed out from time to time as they get old but I don't change them as often as recommended.  I figure that they will still be "good enough" in a pinch even if the taste is not quite as good. I'd like to buy some dried foods but whenever I've looked into it it seems like they only come in very large quantities. It's probably time to look on line again to see what is available. Update:  I found a Canadian company called Good2GoCo that has a wonderful selection of foods and other items in small and large quantities. The foods and water have a very long shelf life so I think this is where I will be purchasing from soon. The food is sourced from Augason Farms which is based in Utah and so you can purchase from a number of retailers (Home Depot, Walmart, Amazon, Winco or from Augason directly).

 

In other news, I haven't blogged about the Kenyan missions.  While Jonah and I have been busy getting organized we have also tried to continue with some missions efforts from afar. I hope to provide a short update in the not too distant future.  If anyone would like to contribute to the work the donate button on the right hand side of this blog is always open. If you should experience any problems/issues with it, please let me know and I can try to resolve it. Thank you and God bless!

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

 

Skywatch Friday ~ September 30, 2022

Friday September 30, 2022 is first  National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, colloquially known as Orange Shirt Day.  It is a new Canadian statutory holiday to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system. You can read more about it here to understand how the statutory holiday came to be.

Yesterday I had lunch with an old and very dear friend of mine. She is now 87 years old and I haven't seen her for a few years. I cannot believe that much time has passed since we had lunch on my street. In the meantime her long time husband has passed on and she has moved from the house they shared to a beautiful apartment not too far from where they lived. She invited me to come and see her new home.

Her apartment has two small balconies with the most stunning views of the city. She lives on the 11th floor so I snapped photos to the north and to the east.  It clouded over while I visited her and was raining by the time I took these photos and eventually made my way home.

View to the northeast. The buildings in background are in the city's west end neighbourhood.

Same scene as above but  bit earlier in the afternoon before the rain came.

The green in the center of the photo is Stanley Park and the mountains shrouded in mist is West Vancouver.

Many ships and barges were in the water. The number kept changing.

A view to the east includes parts of Kitsilano neighbourhood and the high rises in back are downtown.

My friend made a great choice in a new place to live. The building has an outdoor pool, a fitness center, lovely garden and everything you could need is a short distance away. The best part of all is the comfortable surroundings and the fabulous views.

Perhaps you can see in the last photo how dry the lawns are. Normally they would be green but we had hardly any rainfall for many months after getting so much rain last fall, winter and even into the spring. We had a late arriving heat wave it we are expecting warm, summer-like conditions again though it rained on Wednesday and was overcast on Thursday.

Joining in with Skywatch Friday. Thanks for stopping by and visiting today.

Tuesday 4 - Autumn This & That

 It's time again for Tuesday 4 held in memory of Toni Taddeo it's founder and previous host.  

It's Autumn and temperatures in many places will be going down, days will be shorter and leaves will be tumbling down. 

Let's discuss these things.

1. Do lower temperatures bother you or make you uncomfortable and are you more of a warm climate person?

Lower temperatures in Winter bother me now that I'm older but I absolutely love the crisp, cool air that Autumn brings.

2.  Do you like the colors associated with Autumn. Clothing wise do they look good on you?

I love the natural, earthy colours of Autumn.  For most of my adult life I never wore them because I thought I was a "Winter" colour in the seasonal colour personality. These days there are so many colour analysts and they all seem to have their own system for determining what colours look best on you. 

A few years ago I did a colour 'test' through Linda Waldon, personal stylist.  Her system concluded I had a "Copper" pallette which  has all the colours of Autumn. Since then I've slowly been transitioning my clothing purchases to these colours and trying to simplify my wardrobe to make do with less. I'm still working on the less part. I think the Copper colour options make me feel more comfortable and I'm getting some compliments when I dress in these colours.

3. Would you rather:… 

•  .… get lost in a corn maze or go on a hayride?
•  …. visit an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch ?
•  …. eat a caramel apple or  a candy apple?
•   …. Cinnamon buns or Pumpkin muffins? 

All of the above sound good to me!

4. There are 7,500 varieties  of apple.  What is your favorite and do you like apple pie?

 I love crispy, crunchy apples. My favourite varieties that I can buy where I live are: Fuji, Honey Crisp, Gala, Ambrosia Gold & Pink Lady (Cripps Pink). I do love apple pie too; especially the kind made with Granny Smith apples which are now a little too rough against my gums for me to eat raw.

Skywatch Friday ~ At Spanish Banks

Hello friends and fellow bloggers.

Happy Friday to all of you and best wishes for a wonderful weekend wherever you are. 

Today I want to share a few photos taken in late August, 2019.  These sky photos were taken at a lovely beach area called Spanish Banks located in the western part of the City of Vancouver. I don't get out there very often but always enjoy it when I do.

 

The weather here has been lovely this week. It's sunny and warmish during the day though I have noticed a distinct bit of chill by early evening. It's supposed to rain on Friday before getting warmer again.

 

Joining in with Skywatch Friday.

Thank you for stopping by!

Tuesday 4 - Autumn Trip

Welcome back to Tuesday 4 in memory of Toni Taddeo. Thank you for stopping by to visit and for (hopefully) leaving a comment. Enjoy your week ahead!

Today we're planning a lovely vacation through New England to see the Autumn leaves.  Money is no object and we have all the time we would like or need for the trip.

1. How many days and  nights would you like to be away?

For my trip to New England I would love to have at least 2 weeks to enjoy the lovely countryside, spectacular autumn leaves, historic sites and beaches. For accommodations we would prefer to stay at some of the lovely historic B & B's but at the ocean front we would love a beach house, preferably a bungalow all to ourselves so we can relax, unwind and come and go as we like to the beach front.

2. What kind of car would you like to take on this trip? Maybe you would enjoy the train? Would you sail up the coast in a yacht?

Most likely we would take a car or rent one after flying to the airport at our first stop. It is so nice to be able to have the freedom to come and go as one wishes to either see the sites or take in dinner and events. If we had a friend who owned a yacht and lived on the east coast, we would most certainly love to spend some time sailing with them up the coast.  Alas we don't know anyone who fits the description so we'll stick to the land by car.

3. Would side trips be on your agenda? Perhaps to Mystic, Connecticut, Salem, Massachusetts, Plimouth, (yes, they spelled it with an "i" ) Massachusetts, Walden Pond, Lizzie Borden's home or maybe the home of  Emily Dickinson, etc.

Side trips are most definitely on the agenda. I absolutely love the autumn season and would love to see as many places as possible. I've spent a short amount of time travelling through some of New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts & Connecticut) on the way to New York City several years ago.  However it was a real drive through trip travelling back to the Province of Quebec in order to board our flight back to the west cost of Canada. It was late spring or early summer and the leaves hadn't yet turned colour. On this trip I would love to spend time and visit Walden Pond and the home of Emily Dickinson as well as visit some of the historic sites like the Freedom Trail. I would also love to spend several days enjoying the Cape Cod seashore and stay at a lodging along the seashore. Last but not least it would be fun to see Yale and Harvard up close as I've heard so much about these institutions of higher learning. However, all in all, the main purpose would be to enjoy the autumn leaves which I find are more plentiful and vibrant in the eastern part of Canada and the USA.

 4. Lobster roll, chowders, boiled dinners, brown bread, baked beans,  pancakes with real maple syrup, blueberry muffins, Parker House Rolls (well loved by Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,  the Kennedy clan.), Toll House Cookies, Red Flannel Hash, Tourtiere  pork pie, (Recipe here)— what native foods catch your attention?

Any and all the food sounds wonderful. I like to sample the local foods wherever I travel. I think the Tourtiere Pie would be so tasty and lobster rolls, chowders and baked beans sound just right for the season.

Skywatch Friday - Downtown Sky

Hi friends and fellow bloggers,

I hope this weekend find you well and in good spirits. 

I'm joining in with Skywatch Friday today.  The photos I'm sharing were taken downtown earlier this week.

The sky was mostly hazy from wild fires that have been burning all around.  But late in the afternoon the sun broke through.  Enjoy and thank you for stopping by.

The hub of financial and business district near Burrard Street and Pender

High rise on the way to the waterfront.

Promenade around the Pan Pacific Hotel.

Side view of the new Vancouver Trade & Convention Center.

The back view of Christ Church Cathedral with green top of Hotel Vancouver peeping through.

The side of the newish Trade & Convention Center and North Vancouver in background.

Goods stored for shipping. The pile of whitish yellow substance is sulphur.

A small float plane is landing.

The Lions Gate Bridge in background.

The area where trees are jutting out is Stanley Park with North Vancouver in background.