Lunar eclipse

Kayakers spend almost as much time watching the sky as they do the water so
it was no surprise the lunar eclipse drew a number of folksout to follow this interesting event.
In St.John's, this past Wednesday night was a clear but cold night perfect for setting up a the tripod.
At it's brightest Saturn can be viewed in the northeast.

Exploring the World's Most Exotic Islands

CBC had an interesting discussion on this afternoon and one of the questions they asked was: how would you describe newfoundland and labrador?

I would have offered up: exotic

The discussion reminded me of the book Island Gods written by Richard Bangs and Pamela Roberson in 1991. Newfoundland received a whole chapter in this book so I think exotic is a deserving word. It is difficult to get a copy now, but I believe there may still a few available at amazon.com. In the credit section Mark Dykeman and Jim Price were recognized for their contribution in assisting Richard with his kayaking experiences. Many of the destinations described will be familiar to kayakers in the province: Ireland's Eye, Witless Bay(Great Island). Newfoundland is listed amidst some extraordinary destinations: Dominica, Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Lombok to name a few.

Consider picking up this book to add to your kayaking book collection.

Death of Mr.Lazerescu

I finally found a copy of this award winning movie. I believe there is only one in the local rental store. I have been looking for it since I first saw a review late in 2006.

For some unknown reason it is labelled as a comedy but this is a movie about a dark and grim ordeal into the Romanian hospital system. Ironically, the old gentleman who gets launched into this medical journey is named Dante Remus Lazarescu. He manages to navigate through various forms of health care delivery hell.

In this day of TV medical programs this film is a slow version but nevertheless intense.

Even though the film takes place in Romania, I suspect that medical professionals might recognize that elements described could be easily transferred elsewhere.

I think it would be a useful resource for graduating health professionals and administrators.

Banff Film Festival

What a festival this year. My favourite this year was Ice Mines - a film about a
unique climbing expedition led by Will Gadd into an abandoned mine in Sweden.













I have been in some caves in Slovakia but who would have thought about ice climbing in an abandoned mine. Gadd and company found an extraordinary icicle formation and a good section of the filmcaptures how they manage to climb this feature they named the Brain.


















Apparently there are thousands of frozen mines in Sweden just waiting for more climbers. One mine they visited dated back more than 600 years.

Another film that was quite extraordinary was 20 Seconds of Joy..











This film follows the career of a Norwegian Base jumper until the event that brings her jumping to a startling impasse.

Lots of other entries that were fun and amazing like King Lines. Check out:

http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/festivals/2007/film/awards/king_lines.asp