Tuesday, October 25, 2005

PJs sans Winchester


First you need to know that the picture at the left has nothing to do with this post - I just needed a little laugh. Thank you Little Britain.

I just remembered that I didn't give an update on the Vancouver Writers' Festival that I was so excited about last week. I was really looking forward to hearing Simon Winchester because I love his books.

Well, the chain of events was forged against me Saturday. My plane landed a little early - right at noon, but it took almost an hour to get through customs in Vancouver and wait for luggage that didn't arrive (until 10pm that night). And then the shuttle bus to the hotel took almost an hour to get to the hotel. So it was knocking on 2pm when I dragged my butt (but not my luggage) into the Westin Bayshore. Simon Winchester's lecture was scheduled from 2-3:30, so - shoot - I missed it.

The good news is that Garth got down to Granville Island and wormed his way in to hear Winchester, so I can report second-hand on this. Impressions - really smart, approachable - terrific anecdotes, especially one involving the Queen and Friank Rizzo, former mayor of Philadelphia. (Hint: the Queen told Winchester that she knew Rizzo must be a former policeman because he carried his night stick in his pocket!! You figure it out.)

So, no Winchester for me, but I did get to live vicariously through Garth's experience.

Back to the exhibit floor -

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