books, art, music

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Back in the day, I spent half my time in libraries. Pre-Internet, there was nowhere to research those school term papers except for the local library. Even today, you could plop me blindfolded in the middle of a library and I’d know where I was, simply by the smell.

Fortunately for all those students, writers, and bargain hunters out there, libraries are shifting more and more material to the Internet; getting sound advice and accurate information is as close as a few mouse clicks - - particularly at an online library I recently discovered - - The Heart Health Library.

Whether you’re interesting in just getting a little anatomical education, or whether your best friend has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart, the Heart Health Library can provide accurate medical informatio.

Sponsored by St. Jude Medical, the library contains audios and videos of everything you want to know about the heart, including patient stories, heart diseases, and FAQs that answer questions about risk factors for sudden cardiac arrest or patient concerns about pacemaker implants.

If you have heart health concerns, pop over to the library - it may just save your life.

Note: This is a sponsored post by the Heart Library 

Today, mystery novelist Nicola Furlong introduced the Quillr, a revolutionary multimedia storytelling environment, as the publishing conduit for her latest novel, Here Ends the Beginning. The novel is a multimedia buffet of book, movie and soundtrack.

In her press release, Glynne Turner, Quillr’s creator said, “With the advent of the Quillr, books will no longer just be read; they will be experienced.” Here Ends the Beginning is much more than a conventional e-book. The text is punctuated throughout with video clips and photographs of actors recreating the characters and scenes. Music and sound effects further enhance this novel experience.

The story is about the devastating consequences of manipulating science and desecrating the laws of God and nature. The first five sensory-enhanced chapters are offered for free, with the full forty-three-chapter entertainment package available for $12.95 Canadian.

As anyone who’s read this blog over the years knows, I’m a fanatic for the frontier west. I love reading books on western history (there are several reviewed on this blog) as well as writing about the artists who captured the frontier before the major influx of Europeans to America.

Among my favorite artists are George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Albert Bierstadt, and Frederic Remington. While Bodmer and Catlin captured the frontier of the early 19th century, later artists like Bierstadt and Remington painted (and sculpted) the iconic west of cowboys, Indians, and the grand western landscape.

Once in awhile, I’m lucky enough to run across museums that focus on western art and American Indian art. One is the museum in Roswell, New Mexico (surprised?); the other is the Stark Museum of Art in Orange, Texas. The Stark Museum of Art is part of the Stark Foundation, an organization developed to improve the quality of life in Southeast Texas by encouraging, promoting and assisting education, the arts, and health and human services. Continue reading »

I’m so ready for this.

Great River Journey Inc. announced their inaugural season trips on the Yukon River, open to adventurers who will be the first to experience this totally unique journey through history and nature and who will become ambassadors for the experience in coming years.

“This is the most significant initiative in Northern Tourism in a generation” says George Asquith, President of Great River Journey. Guests will travel the Yukon River following the path of long ago gold rush pioneers, through First Nations’ lands from Whitehorse to the Klondike claims of Dawson City.

Dates range from the beginning of June to the end of September and are limited to a maximum of 10 people for each departure. For this patron’s season, guests will pay reduced rates; build lasting relationships and retain their Patron’s status receiving special consideration for their lifetimes.

Can you just imagine yourself writing, while traveling by riverboat and floatplane, with frequent stops to hike, kayak, bird watch and visit geological and historic sites related to the First Nations people and the Klondike Gold Rush Stampede?

Great River Journey travels through the traditional First Nations’ lands offering guests a authentic glimpse into their lifestyle. Partners in this venture are the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Selkirk First Nation. They are involved as owners, represented on the board of directors and their people will be among those hosting and guiding guests.

After working together for years Yukon’s first nations and private sector partners are coming out with their shared vision. Great River Journey provides the premier, high-end, low-impact river tour experience in North America with the adventure of a unique, world-class riverboat safari into the wilderness, history and culture of the Yukon. For more information, please visit them on their website, book your trip, then get out that pen and journal and let’s write!

As the author of four books and hundreds of magazine and Web-based articles, I’ve always enjoyed the opportunity to write reviews about news, products, and opportunities outside my normal area of expertise. For example, I typically write about history, genealogy, books, music, and technology - - but with a wonderful service called PayPerPost blog network, I now have the chance to broaden my professional experience.

In case all you authors out there haven’t heard about PayPerPost - it’s a service that pays bloggers to blog about certain topics, items, opportunities, or services. Payment ranges from a few bucks to more than 100 bucks - with payments depending on the popularity of your blog; for example, the higher payment posts go to blogs with high Google Page Rank. Since Page Rank usually reflects traffic, it makes a lot of sense for high ranking blogs to demand higher payment.

Why would a blogger want to blog for PayPerPost? Unless you’re prolific, I’m not sure you’ll get rich blogging (prove me wrong, please!) - - but for me, it’s really the chance to learn about new products and services, hone my writing skills, and introducing my blog readers to really cool stuff - stuff they otherwise wouldn’t have known about. Since this site is all about introducing readers to new books, ideas, music, entertainment, opportunities, PayPerPost is a win-win for this author - and her readers.

Whether heading out on vacation or recalling trips of the past, readers will find “The Traveler’s Advisory” amusing and entertaining, as it covers domestic and international journeys and the challenges that often go along with them. Featuring brief commentary side-by-side with clever and distinctive imagery, this new book provides much-needed advice for the inevitable confrontations with language, food, unexpected turns of events and much more.

Written by Jessica Lehrer, Rick Lightstone and Alice Murray, “Traveler’s Advisory”proves that laughter is indeed a universal language, and the tidbits of advice they dispense on international travel would come in handy for any traveler. Those who have ever missed a bus, received a completely different meal than the one ordered at a restaurant, attempted to get medical attention without knowing the language of the local physicians, or (whether by design or compromise) brought the kids along on a lengthy, complicated trip, will find catharsis in laughter-or perhaps some important preventative tips-in the 144-page “Traveler’s Advisory.”

“The effective combination of modern graphic design, witty adages and engaging photography makes for a book that is certain to resonate with anyone that has ever taken a trip, anywhere, anytime, and with any degree of success or failure,” said Buzz Poole, managing editor at Mark Batty Publisher. “Every scenario illustrated in words and photos in this colorful book is inspired by the human urge, for better or worse, to experience something new and different,” Poole said. “Sometimes the experiences work out. Sometimes they don’t. This book covers all of it-mostly those that don’t.”

Back in the day, I listened to Piaf incessantly. Of course then, I was enrolled in a high school French course, and Piaf’s tales of abusive lovers and heroin addiction were heady stuff for a kid coming of age in the 60s.

Not long ago, I rolled into the bookstore and picked up a CD of Piaf’s best - -The Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Edith Piaf - - as my vinyls were long-gone. Listening to her tunes was magic - not only did it take me back to my own coming of age days, it reminded me of how much I loved her gritty, no-holds barred music.

If you haven’t listened to Piaf, get yourself over to Amazon or your local bookseller and pick up this CD. You don’t even need to know any French to recognize the pain and suffering of France’s legendary Little Sparrow.

Maybe I’m confusing myself with Jackie Collins . . . but doesn’t it seem like a cool idea to splurge on an upscale Fendi as a book bag? I can’t be the first one with this idea, can I? Or is Jackie Collins already walking around New York City, toting her latest manuscript in a Fendi Hobo Bag? I’d be crushed if this wasn’t my original idea.

So I did a little research. I couldn’t discover if Jackie carries a Fendi as her book bag, but I did find a Fendi reference in her book, Lovers & Players. “Dangerous sex, family secrets, irrestible power, mega-money, and two murders equal one reckless week in New York.” In the book, Jackie has her character packing up her brushes and makeup equipment into her large Fendi carry-all. Okay, so not a book bag . . . but close enough. Knowing Jackie’s books, I’m betting that carry-all was a Fendi Spy Bag. Whadda ya think?

“So it was that in early 327 B.C. one-half of Alexander’s army marched through the Khyber Pass . . . at the narrow confine by Ali Masjid, where the Khyber closes to just feet in width, the army would have squeezed through, two or three abreast, looking up warily at the steep heights immediately above them; unknown creatures might inhabit these mountains, for assuredly Indian was full of wonders.”

The Khyber Pass - the name alone is filled with a palpable sense of danger. This steep gorge separating Afghanistan from Pakistan and the northern states of Indian, the pass extends 30 miles through the White Mountains from Afghanistan to the plains of Peshawar in the east. This new book, The Khyber Pass: A History of Empire & Invasion, by Paddy Docherty (who traveled extensively through the pass in 2003) combines the close observations of the sympathetic traveler with the analysis of the engaged historian.

Using historic documents, Docherty traces the history of the pass from the campaigns of the Persian emperors Cyrus and Darius to Alexander the Great, to the days of the British Raj, and modern Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Highly recommended.

It’s war on the Finnish front for Porta, Tiny, Barcelona and The Legionnaire - and it’s hellish, with ice, blood, cold and wolves (in addition to the enemy)! At this point in the war, it hardly matters who wins - as long as you survive.

But even survival can be dangerous in this army where Hitler’s fanatics are running wild. To endure the Russian tanks, the machine guns and flame throwers could mean getting shipped to the infamous and brutal Torgau Prison where conditions are even more savage than the battlefield.

To stay alive now means arrest, court martial, and in the end - - a cold grey day facing the execution squad!