All one's life as a young woman one is on show, a focus of attention,
people notice you. You set yourself up to be noticed and admired. And
then, not expecting it, you become middle-aged and anonymous. No one
notices you. You achieve a wonderful freedom. It's
a positive thing. You can move about unnoticed and invisible. -Doris
Lessing, novelist, poet, playwright, Nobel laureate (1919-2013)
 |
| Escape from Tibet |
Nick Gray is a television producer who has been making award-winning documentaries for more than 30 years. His book Escape from Tibet first
existed as a documentary that he filmed on the Nepal-Tibet border. He
wanted to tell the story of the thousands of Tibetan refugees who risk
their lives to escape political oppression. Gray is a Visiting Professor
of Documentary Production at University of Lincoln, England.
Two brothers face cruelty, hardship, and hope, on the ultimate journey in search of freedom.
Eleven-year-old
Tenzin hasn’t seen his older brother, Pasang, in five years, so he is
thrilled when Pasang unexpectedly returns to their Tibetan village late
one night. Now eighteen, Pasang is an educated monk whose return from
India provokes the suspicious and ever-watchful eyes of the Chinese
authorities. Unbeknownst to Tenzin, Pasang has conspired with their
mother to leave again – taking his younger brother with him, this time,
in search of a better life. At first Tenzin is thrilled to embark on
such an adventure with Pasang. But crushing homesickness soon sets in as
the brothers eke out a meagre existence begging in the unfamiliar
streets of Lhasa, often narrowly dodging the police. They finally scrape
together enough money to begin the most harrowing part of their
journey: the physically excruciating, dangerous, and illegal trek to a
new country on the other side of the Himalayan mountains, where they can
be granted refugee status and begin to rebuild their lives. Along the
way they suffer abuse at the hands of border police, meet fellow
Tibetans from whom they draw strength, and have a chance encounter with a
film crew that will change their lives.
Based on the true story of the brothers’ 1994 journey first made into an acclaimed documentary by Nick Gray, Escape from Tibet
is a riveting tale of courage, adventure, and triumph. The outpouring
of support for the boys that resulted after the documentary aired on TV
worldwide led to the brothers moving to London, where they live today.
Only now do they feel that the full story of their daring escape can be
told.
Brummagem:
MEANING:
adjective: Cheap and showy.
noun: Something that is counterfeit or of inferior quality.
ETYMOLOGY:
After Brummagem, a dialectal alteration of
Birmingham, UK, where counterfeit coins were produced in the 17th
century. Brummie is a nickname for someone from Birmingham. Earliest
documented use: 1637.
Well, your
grandchildren have been muling for Poppa since their birth so why should
this holiday be any different???...except for that one time when Pierre
assured the customs officer that “We had NO drugs”
and he got two cases confiscated from the trunk!! Looking forward to your interview and pending stardom!!
Look what you all did!!! Thanks to my friends and family for helping us out and coming to this fun night.
Thanks
to all the donors & volunteers for contributing and supporting Aunt
Leah’s “Trivia Extravaganza” fundraiser. Not only did we have a lot of
fun, but with your help we raised over $10,000! These funds will go
directly to the programs at Aunt Leah’s Place, helping fostered youth
throughout Metro Vancouver.
Hi Tinsel Town! Seasoned mules are best as they won't make the same mistakes twice!
On
the fame front, seems as if "pending stardom" is still pending.
Unfortunately, disturbingly, there has been a shooting, (10:00 am, local
time), in Ottawa, on Parliament Hill, at the National War Memorial. A
young soldier at the Cenotaph was shot grievously and then the gunman,
(double-barreled shotgun, witnesses report), apparently ran into the
Centre Block of Parliament. Lots of gunfire inside. Breaking situation,
obviously. Terribly politically incorrect but many Canadians
might wish that the target was Harper given what his government has done
to dismantle/change so many of our economic, social and political
institutions! That being said, not to diminish what seems to be the
beginning and escalation of terrorist activity on Canadian soil, I
assume the interview clip will not air this morning.
Busy day at
the VWF so have to do plenty of juggling to try to fit everything in
and discharge my volunteer responsibilities. Fondestos and Cheers, Poppa
"Still Waiting for Stardom to Come" San!
Hi Giggster! Great to catch up. Thanks for hootch. I assume someone had cold feet about extra two bottles or else that was muleage fee! Must away as I'm planning to take in Escape from Tibet! Cheers, Patrizzio!
P, I have to blame Carlos for short shipping. He has lost his edge. We actually had four other bottles from tourney to mule - so left five bottles with Ann & Bill. Including two of yours. We can retrieve next week or mule back in January from PCO.
Thanks for the update on the W Fest. Sounds like you have some signed copies to share with the island reading group. Let me know if there is other planning required for the big drive. W
Hi again TC Mule!
Understand about Carlos the Edgeless! Thanks, nonetheless, to both of
you, for the wonderful product. Much appreciated. Think planning, as we talked about it, will be fine. I'll be in touch if something comes up, with any luck by Saturday so you can have time to react/adjust. Nothing big, I would imagine.
As I mentioned in an earlier message, I was off, yesterday morning, to take in
Escape from Tibet. Event was listed as being sold out but I knew, from
past experience, that I might still be able to get in. This is what
turned out and I am certainly glad I was able to do so. What an
incredible story: "Each year, thousands of Tibetan refugees, many of them children, risk
death from exposure and frostbite to escape political oppression by
climbing over the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. Nick Gray,
an author and television producer who has been making award-winning
documentaries for more than 30 years, captured this journey in his risky
1997 film Escape from Tibet. Among the group of refugees he
followed were Pasang and Tenzin, young brothers who became the focus of
the film that Gray has now turned into a book: an “astonishing true
record of endurance, of the triumph of the human spirit, told as a
real-life adventure story.” Tenzin joins Gray to talk about their collaboration, their journey and where the brothers are today."
Their
story, really is unbelievable. Furthermore, it has a very happy ending.
However, the journey was anything but a walk in the park, so to speak,
as you can well imagine. Next session, at 1:00 pm was Playing for Gold: "Turn on your computer. Pick up your cellphone. Do you know where they
were made, what went into them and who got hurt along the way? Cory Doctorow and Elizabeth Stewart make us think about these questions through their new novels.In Doctorow’s graphic novel In Real Life,
Anda spends most of her free time playing multi-player games online.
Things become complicated when she befriends a “gold farmer”—a poor
Chinese kid whose avatar illegally collects and sells objects to other
players living in developed countries. In Stewart’s Blue Gold,
the lives of three teenage girls on three different continents are
linked, and damaged, by the rare mineral coltan, or “blue gold,” used in
cellphones. Today’s technology has pluses and minuses for us all."
In part, I wanted to attend, as back in 2011, at VIFF, I'd seen Blood in the Mobile, a powerful documentary "which
addresses the issue of conflict minerals by examining illegal
cassiterite mining in the North-Kivu province in eastern DR Congo." At
any rate, it was yet another remarkable session, in large part due to
Corey, [Not to diminish Elizabeth's contributions, however.], "a science fiction author, activist, journalist and blogger, (craphound.com), as well as the co-editor of the influential website Boing Boing. He is the author of several young adult novels such as Homeland, Pirate Cinema, Little Brother and In Real Life, as well as novels for adults, including Rapture of the Nerds and Makers.
Doctorow is the former European director of the Electronic Frontier
Foundation and co-founder of the UK Open Rights Group. He lives in
London."
When asked, (I was very
impressed with all of the insightful questions raised by the students
who made their way to the public microphones.), why he started to write
he replied that he had been "bitten by a radioactive William Gibson!"
This gives a sense of his crackling wit and rather awe-inspiring
intellect. When asked by moderator, Susan Nielsen, what were some
concrete steps that could be taken to effect change, in this case with
respect to software licensing agreements, (Apple's restrictions on what
apps one can use on the iPhone, for example.), he literally bowled over
the audience with a concrete, do-able list, today, right now, delivered
at Gatling-gun speed, humourously. Cannot imagine a more powerful, ultra
intelligent, informed voice against Big Brother's, (i.e.
governments, multinational corporations and the like), omnipresent,
ever-increasing computer/smart phone/social media surveillance.
Back home to put up my
feet and read a few more chapters of The Cold Cold Ground before Cora
Lee and returned to Festival House to set up the bar at Studio 1398. Tim
Winton was speaking at the venue and there is a small staff room, with a
bar fridge, where authors wait before the event starts. I needed to
retrieve some of the hootch we had chilling in the fridge so I
reintroduced myself to Tim. I'd chatted with him, briefly, at the
Opening Reception, the day before, and had mentioned that we'd visited
Exemouth, about 1,400 km north of Perth, in 2006. Tim leaves just
outside Exemouth, so I told him we'd like to stay with him on next
visit. Very informal, friendly individual so was a most pleasant
exchange. At any rate, he remembered me, (Unlike many of the other
authors who have been at venue, he was pleased to have a glass of white
wine before speaking!), and we exchanged a few words while I was
emptying the fridge. Packing a case of beer and two bottles of wine, he
called after me, as I left, "Bit of a thirsty bastard aren't you!"
[P, thanks for the update on the Fest. Sounds wonderful. Tim Winton is a favourite author of mine. Does he have a new book? Nice day shaping up here. Jane is still snoozing. W]
Once everything was in
place, I abandoned my fellow bar keep and returned to the Islay Inn to
have a quick shower and changed into a suit, (Yes, a suit, Dear
Reader!), and made my way to the Consul General of the Netherlands in
Shaughnessy. Must say it was a lovely reception and I had loads of fun
meeting various members of the Dutch community along with other VWF
volunteers and authors.
Had Hermann Koch sign my book but had to borrow
the Consul's pen to do so. When I asked if I he had a pen I could use he
wondered if I would return it and I said not if it was an expensive
one! After Hermann had signed my book, The Dinner, in another room, I
returned the pen and mentioned to the Consul that Hermann had really
wanted to keep it! I noticed, later in the evening, that Hermann was
using it again, so perhaps I had been right!
Thanking the Consul's wife, Dienske
Heijkoop, (A lovely, lovely woman and I'd had a chance to chat with her for a
few minute before she had to dash off to the kitchen. She had prepared
all the delicious hors d'oeuvres and was needed for one dish in
particular, scrumptious ricotta stuffed, deep fried rice balls), and her
husband, I made my way home.
Quick change for bar work and then back to
Studio 1398, stopping at the Waterfront Theatre to put our names down
on Volunteer List for An Evening with James Ellroy. Tim's event
was sold out and we knew we probably wouldn't get into the smaller
venue. Wanted to see Ellroy in person, anyway, so hoped we'd manage
seats there. Vittorino was just heading into theatre when I arrived so I
asked him to save seats for us. I had just been given two tickets as
by this time there were still plenty of places available, surprisingly enough.
Didn't have much to do
once back at Studio 1398 as another volunteer, Simone, had been assigned
to help Cora Lee. We close bar about 10 minutes before the start of
event so I began to collect all the unopened booze and soda and took it
to the secure storage room, leaving a few open bottles of wine, a few
bottles of beer and soda, for late comers. Left Cora Lee and Simone to
close up and then I returned to Waterfront. Once there, had about 15
minutes to chat with Vittorio and Steve Savitt, (He was in row
immediately behind us.), a prof I knew from UBC, so time passed quickly
until Cora Lee arrived, shortly before Paul Whitney introduced James.
I
have been a fan of his for many years so I knew a little bit about what
to expect. He is really quite a showman, some would say grandiose
self-promoter: "James Ellroy comes
to the Festival to reveal his up-close and personal knowledge of the
world of crime. Author of 14 novels, including L.A. Confidential,
with a career spanning more than three decades, Ellroy has adopted an
outsized public persona in which he bills himself as “the greatest crime
novelist who ever lived.” But before his rise to fame and success,
Ellroy roughed up the edges of his psyche as a thief, an alcoholic, a
drug abuser, a peeping tom and a prison inmate. Ellroy’s is a life lived
large, harrowed by hurt, and he’s not afraid to speak his mind. His new
novel, Perfidia, is set in rough, racist Los Angeles—a city he’s
explored so successfully in the past."
At
any rate, he certainly did not disappoint and it was a scintillating
session. His delivery is nothing if not dramatic so most entertaining
and enlightening. He read two excerpts from Perfidia and then the rest
of the evening was spent answering questions from the audience. These
and his responses were equally entertaining and informative. Not
everyone's author or crime writer but my estimation of him only went up.
Chance of a lifetime and I'm glad I had the opportunity to actually
meet him.
Had him sign Perfidia and
Paul was able to snap a few pictures so was pleased to capture James in
the flesh. Back home to brush and floss as I was tired after full day
but wanted to read more about Sean Duffy and The Troubles before my
eyelids closed! Cheers, Patrizzio!
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