Mary Poppins to the Rescue

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Stampeding Turkeys Thwart Mail Delivery

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Morning Edition, January 28, 2009 · In one section of Rockport, Mass., mail delivery has stopped. About 10 turkey have been terrorizing the mailman for the last several months. The turkeys chase down the truck. The big birds won't leave because residents have been feeding them. Perhaps the mailman should arm himself with a November calendar — with one date in particular circled in red.

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Tulik said turkeys exercise dominance over their area and the only way to deal with them is to be more dominant. Tulik suggested arming the postal worker with an umbrella. When a turkey begins to charge, the carrier should open the umbrella toward the turkey, which in turn should trick the bird into thinking it's facing another dominant male flaring its tail feathers.

The Graveyard Book

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'The Graveyard Book' Wins Newbery Medal

by Euan Kerr

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Morning Edition, January 27, 2009 · The American Library Association has given the prestigious Newbery Medal for children's literature to Neil Gaiman for his novel The Graveyard Book. It's the story of a boy raised by the ghostly inhabitants of a cemetery.

Euan Kerr reports for Minnesota Public Radio.

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Oh, the horror: Neil Gaiman has received the top prize for children's literature: The John Newbery Medal.

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"I am so wonderfully befuddled," the best-selling author said Monday after winning the 88th annual Newbery for "The Graveyard Book," a spooky, but (he says) family friendly story about a boy raised by a vampire, a werewolf and a witch.

"I never really thought of myself as a Newbery winner. It's such a very establishment kind of award, in the right kind of way, with the world of librarians pointing at the book saying, `This is worthy of the ages.' And I'm so very used to working in, and enjoying working in, essentially the gutter."

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Neil Gaiman, author of "The Graveyard Book,

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Gaiman, known for his "Sandman" comic-book series, had worked on the "Graveyard Book" off and on for more than 20 years, an understandable delay for the author of more than 20 books and the winner of prizes for science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Gaiman is a beloved writer for adults and children, but "The Graveyard Book" isn't the coziest read, at least at the beginning, with its image of a knife so sharp that "if it sliced you, you might not even know you had been cut, not immediately."

He says "The Graveyard Book" was inspired in part by "The Jungle Book," Rudyard Kipling's classic about a boy raised by animals. Gaiman's book opens with a baby boy escaping an assassin who kills his parents and older sister. The boy totters to a decrepit cemetery, where he's adopted by ghosts, christened Nobody Owens (Bod for short) and given the Freedom of the Graveyard.

On Gaiman's blog, he writes that "The Graveyard Book" is not a children's book. It's "a book for pretty much for all ages, although I'm not sure how far down that actually starts. I think I would have loved it when I was eight, but I don't think that all eight-year olds were like me."

On Monday, Gaiman said he has been following the debate about the Newbery, never imagining he would become part of it. Beloved by readers and book-sellers, he is certainly far more popular than the past few Newbery winners, and he doesn't think his novel, beyond a little death and darkness, is upsetting.

"Apart from the first few pages, it doesn't exist to frighten people or trouble people," he said. "I've written my share of disturbing stuff, but this book is really a way of trying to think about the process of growing up, and, of course, the fundamentally joyous tragedy of being a parent, that if you do your job properly, your kids will grow up and leave you."

Gaiman, 48, has three children. Two have grown and moved away.

Mosaics on Display in the Pearl

A number of mosaics by this NW artist are on display at Boyds Coffee in the Pearl at NW 11th and Flanders.

clipped from tomsroyalart.com

Toms Royal Mosaic Art

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Toms Royal is an artist and designer from the Pacific Northwest. Since opening his business in 1995 he has created a range of designs and works of art. These include mosaic tile art, furniture, sculpture, textile design and paintings. His mosaic art has been featured in Oprah At Home Magazine, Wallpaper Magazine, The Washington Post and The Oregonian.




The foundation for his art comes from three primary sources. The first is Nature and the interdependency of all living things. The second is his long term study of Tai Chi Chuan, the ancient Chinese martial art that uses movement stillness and balance to integrate the practitioner with the natural way. Finally Toms believes in the power of art as a catalyst for positive social change.

What makes Toms unique is his creative process. He abstracts universal elements such as fire, water and wind into primary organic shapes. Circles, foils, and curves to name a few become the aesthetic building blocks of life and the vocabulary of his art. The shapes are then modulated, multiplied and arranged into dynamic patterns that express form and systems of movement. This process gives Toms Royal's art a sense of natural beauty expressed with modern simplicity.

Adam LaMotte

Violinist Adam LaMotte, a Portlander for a number of years, has created and launched his own website http://adamlamotte.com. Check it out and listen to some of his music.


From the website:

Adam LaMotte is becoming well known to audiences throughout the country as a leader of both period and modern ensembles. He has appeared as soloist, concertmaster, and conductor of numerous orchestras, including the Northwest Sinfonietta in Seattle, String Orchestra of the Rockies, Astoria Festival Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Maggini String Orchestra in Houston. Mr. LaMotte recently returned from studying under Maestro Dumitru Goia in Bucharest, Romania, and continues his study of conducting with Gregory Vajda, Resident Conductor of the Oregon Symphony.

As violinist and violist, Adam has been hailed by critics as an "especially compelling" and "superb violinist" with "exceptional talent," whose performances are "energetic and exquisite." This past season he performed as soloist in the Beethoven Violin Concerto, as well as both of Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerti. He has co-founded two critically-acclaimed ensembles, in Portland and in Houston, and continues to produce many chamber music and chamber orchestra performances. As Artistic Director of the Montana Baroque Festival, Adam brings fine period performance to rural Montana. Adam can be heard on the Cinnabar, Naxos, and Warner Classics labels. In collaboration with ensembles such as American Bach Soloists, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Trinity Consort, Mr. LaMotte performs on period instruments, using a fine Italian instrument made in 1730 by Bernardo Calcagni, for which he is indebted to his generous patrons who made the purchase possible.

Rock

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Ohio, Kentucky Feuding Over Rock In A Hard Place

by Fred Kight

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Morning Edition, January 26, 2009 · The states of Ohio and Kentucky are battling over a most unlikely object: a graffiti-covered rock.

From a distance, Indian Head Rock isn't much to look at, an unremarkable, brownish boulder about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. But a closer look reveals what makes the rock — first written about in an archeological publication in 1847 — more than just an ordinary boulder.

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As the custody dispute rages, the 8-ton sandstone boulder known as Indian Head Rock sits in a municipal garage in Portsmouth, Ohio. AP

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The surface is etched with names, some scratched and difficult to read and others chiseled more clearly. There's also a face that "some have said looks like Charlie Brown," according to Randy Nichols, a local history buff in Portsmouth, Ohio.

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Chiseled onto the surface is a face that "looks like Charlie Brown," according to a local history buff. AP

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"In early days, it was called the Portsmouth Indians' head rock. It's a life-sized depiction of a smiley face," Nichols says.

The trouble started last year when the 8-ton, sandstone boulder was hauled out of the Ohio River. On one side of the river is Portsmouth and on the other is South Shore, Ky. Indian Head Rock was submerged 60 feet from the Kentucky shore until it was fished out.

Click Image to enlarge.

Finding the rock wasn't easy. Once partially submerged, it hadn't been seen since the 1920s after navigational dams raised the river level and hid the boulder for decades.

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Initials and names are carved on Indian Head Rock, which had sat partially submerged in the Ohio River until the 1920s, when dam work left it hidden from view for decades. AP

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But historian Steve Shaffer, the central character in this ongoing fight, had read stories about Indian Head Rock when he was a kid and vowed to find it. After many diving excursions, Shaffer and some buddies located the relic, pulled it out of the river and donated it to Portsmouth.

The mayor of Portsmouth, recognizing that the Ohio River is actually in Kentucky, offered it to the town of South Shore, Ky. Officials there weren't interested, so the plan was to display the boulder in Portsmouth.

That's when Kentucky state officials got involved; they say the rock belongs to them. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway wrote a letter demanding its return.

"This was a registered antiquity in Kentucky and it was taken, and that's theft of an antiquity under the statute," Conway says.

But Ohio officials said the Indian Head Rock belonged to them. To further complicate the matter, the Army Corps of Engineers claims it has jurisdiction over the boulder.

Shaffer isn't talking to the media because taking the boulder from the Ohio River bottom put him in legal jeopardy. He and one of his helpers were indicted this summer on felony charges.

It's not clear what will happen to Indian Head Rock. For now, this piece of American history sits a most inauspicious place — in a corner of a municipal garage in Portsmouth.

Fred Kight reports for member station WOUB.

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Fishing

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Fishing

by Kate Scott

Sam was a galunky kind of guy,
my cousin says. He walked like this.
He takes on a bow-legged swagger
that makes us laugh. And boy,
could he drink beer. He lifts his hand,
tipping imaginary cans in quick succession.
He talked real fast too. Back then we laughed,
asked what was the rush? Never slowed him any.
Girls loved him. He was such a big guy,
think they figured he must have a big heart.

My cousin slows a little in his walk,
tugs on his ear to remember more.

We hung out a lot and unless he was excited,
talking fast, he was real quiet, would just sit,
stare out to space like he was someplace else.
Maybe he was thinking about the girl he loved
who died one winter, fell through the ice
as she was skating towards him.
She was only twenty feet away, her arms out wide.

They say he was there all night,
smashed the ice in a hundred places to find her.
They pulled her out in the Spring.
I think when he talked so fast
he was trying to forget,
like the words would fill up the space she left.


My cousin stops in the road,

brushes imaginary hair from his eyes.

I lost touch for some time, years went by.
I didn't hear from Sam, neither of us
were much use at letter writing.
Then one summer I came home to visit,
bumped right into him in a store downtown.
He talked real slow, like he was a clock
that had wound down. He said he'd taken up fishing.
He said he didn't much care for fish
but when he flung the line out hard,
heard the whir as it spun out over the water,
saw the river winking and glinting at him,
he felt he could catch anything.

"Fishing" by Kate Scott, from Stitches. © Peterloo Poets, 2003.

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Windows is Shutting Down

Windows is Shutting Down

by Clive James

Windows is shutting down, and grammar are
On their last leg. So what am we to do?
A letter of complaint go just so far,
Proving the only one in step are you.

















Better, perhaps, to simply let it goes.
A sentence have to be screwed pretty bad
Before they gets to where you doesnt knows
The meaning what it must be meant to had.

The meteor have hit. Extinction spread,
But evolution do not stop for that.
A mutant languages rise from the dead
And all them rules is suddenly old hat.

Too bad for we, us what has had so long
The best seat from the only game in town.
But there it am, and whom can say its wrong?
Those are the break. Windows is shutting down.

"Windows Is Shutting Down"
by Clive James from Opal Sunset: Selected poems, 1958–2008. ©
W.W. Norton & Company, 2008.

From Writer's Almanac