IN SPACE PEOPLE MAY SEE YOU GET AN OSCAR: GRAVITY AND THE BEST OUTER SPACE MOVIES

I hadn't really considered writing another lists post but the gauntlet, as they say, has been thrown down ... and I'm not sure who "they" are but they must be pretty fricking old because who the hell wears gauntlets anymore

Anyway. Ahem.

The movie Gravity has been inspiring many people to compile a new list. I've seen the movie (and more on that later) but if you have not, it gives nothing away to explain that it happens in outer space, in orbit around Earth and in several space craft/space stations. It's inspired lists about the best space movies  .. and therein lays a problem.

Space movie is a term that is open to interpretation. It could include any move where activity takes place in space, Star Wars for instance, where scenes take place on space ships and space stations but also take place on planets. Fair enough, but what distinguishes Gravity is that it is an "outer space" movie, where the action takes place in orbit, on a ship or a station or during a space walk.

So my list is the best Outer Space movies. To make the list the bulk of the movie has to take place on a space ship, or a space station, or anything with a self contained atmosphere, either in orbit or travelling. If the movie has scenes where someone leaves the enclosure in their space suit even better. So Forbidden Planet, one of the greatest sci fi movies ever made, doesn't make the list because only the opening scene takes place on a space ship and, as the title suggests, most of it takes place on a planet. Same with another fave of mine, Pitch Black; a space movie wherein the characters travel through space to reach their destination but their destination is a planet and that's where most of the action takes place

Aliens does not make the list; it is a great sci fi movie but most of the action occurs planetside.

ALIEN however is where we'll start the list (I don't number my lists and the order is not necessarily a ranking though I'll save the best for last)

Alien has many of the fixtures of a horror movie in particular the haunted house movie; people trapped in a limited environment and pursued by some terrible entity. But it really is a science fiction movie and I just don't mean the space ships and alien; with the inclusion of the character of the synthetic human Ash, it examines what it means to be human, one of the quintessential sci fi themes. Also one of the first sci fi movies that didn't look at the space faring future as something shiny and perfect; this is a well worn gritty future where the space men aren't square jawed noble explorers but sweaty lunchbox workers who squabble over profit shares. Most of the action takes place aboard the spaceship Nostrodomos so it qualifies nicely for this list. And it really takes advantage of the locale; the crew is not just in a house out of which they could flee, they are trapped inside the only atmosphere in range that can support their life; a fact that Ripley uses to her advantage to kill the alien

OUTLAND is another sci fi movie that presents us with a grittier, funkier version of the future. I have not seen this movie on any of the lists I mentioned which I find shocking, because not only does it perfectly meet the criteria of a space movie, it's a pretty satisfying film

Outland is essentially High Noon in outerspace, featuring Sean Connery as an unwanted, princalpelled sheriff on an orbiting mining station. Like Alien, much of the film's appeal is its gritty look; this is not a gleaming future filled with exotic worlds and double sunsets, this is a squalid, dirty, dangerous mining station where people go to make a living, not to discover new life. And like Alien, it is quick to point out the danger of working in space, an early scene shows us why, kiddies, we must always make sure our space suits our sealed. There is also a scene later in the movie where Conery's character dons a pressure suit and goes outside the station, in open space, to evade his pursurers

LOCKOUT is another law and order movie that takes place in space. It is a prison movie, and this prison happens to be in orbit around the Earth

Lockout is an action movie and much of it is fairly derivative, Guy Pearce plays a kind of rogue agent sent up to the prison undercover to rescue the president's daughter ... and if that sound a lot like Escape from L.A., you'd be totally correct. But it's a fun move, a fun B movie, not terribly concerned with the science of things but it moves at a good pace and Pearce is bang on as the cynical, goodguyunderneaththeclineastwoodshell. And it does feature a scene where characters leave the space station in suits ... an incredibly unbelievable scene but it's at the end and if you've hung on that long, you really don't care, nor does it matter

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is not an action movie and not technically a horror movie but it's pretty damn scary and I don't just mean Keir Dullea's totally wooden performance

This may be, in a sense, the ultimate out space movie. This is one of the most cerebral sci fi movies ever made ... or one of the most vapid. The cerebral part comes from director Kubrick's use of visuals to depict some fairly deep concepts, like how we time travel as we age yet can never appreciate that until it's too late; the vapid part comes from Keir Dullea's gaze. But it is very much a space movie, with most of the action taking place in and outside of space ships; these scenes still look good today which is amazing because they were created without CGI, but with the remarkable model work of Douglas Trumbull

Speaking of Douglas Trumbull

SILENT RUNNING was a movie not only directed by Trumbull, it was one of the first "green" sci fi movies ever made ... but make no mistake, this is also an out space movie

In this movie, Bruce Dern (in essentially a one man show) strives to protect the last forests on Earth .. well from Earth .. the forests are no longer on our planet, they are in giant domes attached to a typically eloquent Trumbull space ship. The big bad government back on Earth wants the domes to be destroyed but of course Bruce Dern refuses to do so .. hey it's Bruce Dern, counterculture actor supreme. Did that expect total cooperation? The entire movie (as I remember it) takes place aboard the ship

2010 THE YEAR WE MADE CONTACT is another movie I have not seen on many lists and that puzzles me

This sequel to 2001 fits the criteria perfectly; most of the action takes place in space, on space vessels and astronauts spend a good deal of time in their pressure suits out in open space. It's a good movie. It does not have the surreal aspirations nor the pyschadelic style of 2001 but that's not a bad thing. It is a well made, well acted movie that, in my opinion, cleaned up some of the ideas of the earlier movie while providing just as many thrills

SOLARIS, like Space Odyssey, is a space movie with, shall we say, aspirations.

I'm going to talk about the American version of this movie, released in  2002, that was based on a older Russian film that was in turn based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem. I tried reading that novel a long time ago but I didn't get all the way through it and I've seen the Russian movie. This is a psychological thriller but also a space movie, the action taking place on space stations orbiting Earth and orbiting the planet Solaris. This is a Stephen Soderburg movie so it is not an slam bang fast paced affair, but it is a movie with many rewards if you are in the mood for a slower pace. The setting for this film may be space but really, the action takes place as much in the minds of the characters as it does aboard their spacecraft. It also stars George Clooney, in one of his understated perfectly measured performances, and of course he now stars in Gravity, the film that started this whole list thang

SUNSHINE, directed by Danny Boyle, is as much "horror" movie as space movie, with some of that psychological thrillerness (yeh, I said "thrillerness) thrown in for good measure

The film follows a group of astronauts who are sent on a mission to reignite a dying Sun ... our sun, in case the capitalized noun didn't give it away. That in itself makes it a rather unique movie, being in orbit around the Sun rather than a planet. Needless to say the action takes place aboard a space ship. There are similarities to Solaris (which despite the name does not involve a sun) in that mind games are afoot, but whereas Solaris was self contained, Sunshine is more overt ... yeh there's violence. I was not totally satisfied with the ending but it's a good ride up to that point.

APOLLO 13 is very much an outer space movie and while the action is split between the space capsule and Mission Control back on Earth, the fact that is .. well .. based on facts, makes this one a unique outer space movie

This movie is a thriller, I won't go into a dissertation about how accurate it was to the true story and it doesn't really matter, the fact that basic events actually happened makes the thrills that much more effective. Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are two names that, when, associated with a movie makes me begin to nod off before the first scene, but this is a good movie, tightly directed  with some superb performances. And this one is hard to beat for it's outer space credentials

MAROONED is like the fictional version of Apollo 13, though it was released many years before that movie

This is another movie that I did not see on any of the lists I perused and I found that shocking. Released in 1969, this may be the quintessential outer space movie. Like Apollo 13 and Gravity, it tells the story of American astronauts, in orbit, who find themselves in trouble. And like Apollog 13 the action is split between the endangered space craft and Mission Control. There is some period corniness to this movie but it stands up fairly well and the model based special effects hold up fairly well as well

MOON is a move that does, I'll admit, skate a bit with my criteria as it takes place on the Moon (shocker eh) but being on the Moon is very much like being on a space craft; you have reduced gravity and you are dependent upon an artificial environment to survive

Moon is in the same vein as Solaris and Sunshine, this is a psychological thriller and like Solaris, it questions our identity. To enjoy this movie you have to enjoy the work of actor Sam Rockwell as it's virtually a one man show. Let's say that I enjoyed the movie but for me, it's best taken in small portions

That brings us to the last movie on the list .. and stop clapping, you got this far you can't cry poor

GRAVITY clearly meets all my criteria because it is the film that inspired it

Gravity is not a futuristic movie, like Apollo 13 and Marooned, it is based in the present, following astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle as they attempt to repair the Hubble space telescope ( I told them not to have that thing built in Taiwan but did they listen to me ...) Because Gravity deals with present technology and tech that is very well known, like the shuttle and the Hubble and International Space Station, much has been written about inaccurate science and improper behaviour of the astronauts. The science I could  care less about, this is a movie and the science is close enough, many of the events are possible if not probable and that's good enough for me.

Some of the behaviour did kind of raise my eyebrows, the movie opens as scientist Sandra Bullock is working on the Hubble and we see George Clooney (guess he didn't get enough of space in Solaris) in his jet pack, just winging around for the hell of it .. I doubt that would ever happen but the scene does a great deal to very quickly establish the personalities of the characters and that's enough for me

This is a good movie, a very very good movie. It is visually stunning and is one of the few movies that uses 3D properly, and the film does something not used enough; as Sandra Bullock finds herself in trouble, we see events through her POV and in those scenes, I found myself ducking

But for all it's visual power and for the many genuine thrills it provides, Gravity has an emotional core that, while the plot barrels along and we careen from thrill to thrill, is allowed to take its time in order to develop.

The best space movie, like any good movie, understands that no matter how much razzle dazzle you put on the screen, no matter how eye popping are your visuals, it means nothing without that human character, without a woman is kind of an accidental astronaut, trapped in her space suit, gasping for breath, clinging to a tiny handhold as the world wheels below her, and space yawns behind her, empty and cold and lifeless; it makes her life more important and it gives her something to fight for

TOP TEN WAYS TO KNOW YOUR MAYOR IS A CRACK HEAD

NUMBER TEN: First name Marion, last name Berry

NUMBER NINE: The mayor's personal security detail has been replaced by a pair of pit bulls called Stink Eye and Pinky

NUMBER EIGHT: The mayor suddenly has a lot of energy, like a lot of energy ... a lot .. like so much energy not only does he call all night sessions of council in his own city, but he jumps in his Escalade and goes to other cities to convene council there .. at three in the morning ... pressed against a councilman's window yelling "You gonna come? Huh? Are you? We can have a meeting, let's have a meeting, you wanna have a meeting, you gonna come?"

NUMBER SEVEN: You know your mayor may be a crack head because strange smells are coming out of City Hall, the new deputy mayor is referred to only as "The Cook" and his worship advices a visitor "Oh I wouldn't light up that cigarette here"

NUMBER SIX: The mayor makes an announcement that from now on he must be referred to as His Worship Snoop Dog

NUMBER FIVE: He replaces the city seal with something he refers to as The Great Pipe

NUMBER FOUR: From this time on City Hall will be known as "my crib"

NUMBER THREE: The mayor has been spotted trying to pawn a city bus because all he needs is "a little taste"

NUMBER TWO: When a reporter enquires where the mayor's secretary is His Worship Snoop Dog replies: "Ho is out earning me some of that sweet sweet smoke, what's a dude to do"

NUMBER ONE: And the number one way you know your mayor may be a crack head: First name Rob, last name Ford

BOB BARKER: ELEPHANT POACHER

A BOLO is a term that police officers use when looking for someone associated with some crime; it means Be On The Lookout.

Well I'd like to issue a BOLO for Bob Barker, TV game show host and weak minded animal rights advocate turned poacher. He stole from the Toronto zoo three elephants Toka, Thika and Iringa. He came up with some of his poaching minions, loaded the elephants into crates and took them by truck to California.

Bob was successful in his escapade but he is still fuming. He is saying that the Toronto Zoo has been uncooperative as he stole our elephants. When zoo staff, including a couple of veterinarians volunteered  to accompany the elephants, I guess that was an example of not cooperating. After all, Bob Barker, a man who's resume is filled with hosting TV shows, knows more about elephants than an entire zoo filled with trained and dedicated animal experts .. doesn't he?

It was Bob's expertise that identified the horrible conditions under which the elephants lived in our zoo. He came up here from his land of sauna's and imported palm trees and said Gosh! Canada is cold! These elephants are from Africa! They can't live here!

Actually Bob most of elephants were born right here but you're from Hollywood, facts are something with which you light your cigars

Our zoo officials kindly disagreed with Bob's expert assessment (I think he say the temp the day he was here and was beseeching the audience to yell "Higher! Higher!") and pointed out new enclosures, a knowledge base that grows every year and the expertise (yeh like actual medical expertise) of the zoo vets

Well Bob would have none of that! He's a star damnit! A star! His instructions on how to spin a prize wheel were so eleoquent ...

So Bob went to Toronto City Council. Ah, Toronto public officials. A group of underqualified individuals who spend most of their time figuring out how to distract us from the fact that they really have no right to our money; one of the  methods they use is to create out of thin air some "Facebook" crisis to distract us. So as they bungle public transit and pad their expense accounts, Hell yes! The elephants! The elephants! Let's help the elephants!

Even though before Bob showed up, no one thought the elephants needed help

So Bob did his magic with the council (and part of that magic may have a price tag on it who knows) and voila, we had an elephant crisis and the only way to solve it was to have a game show host poach the animals and take them to a sanctuary in California

That sanctuary by the way, is PAWS, a place of refuge for former performing elephants, that is the expertise of the keepers there. Um Bob, you do know the difference between a zoo and a circus ... don't you?

Well what Bob knows is that his vaunted stature as a guy who made his living out of mispronouncing people's names means his will must not be denied. When the zoo, in its methodical way, began to question the decision then once the decision was made try to figure out the very best way to do things, Bob stamped his feet crossed his arms and used his face on TV to defame Toronto and our zoo at every opportunity

Even now, after his poaching is a fait accompli, Bob is on TV every five seconds trashing the Toronto zoo. Damnit, they didn't fall to their knees and pee their pants in subjugation at his every utterance, what is wrong with them!

To be fair, the elephant's journey to California seemed to have gone very smoothly. The staff at PAWS relates that they've never seen elephants so relaxed and cooperative and they attributed that to the care and knowledge of the Toronto keepers. Yeh, the ones Bob is still slagging

As time has gone on I've become more critical of animals in captivity; there is a lot of evidence that tells us that overall it may not be the best thing. I've been to Seaworld in Niagra Falls and Florida and have never been totally comfortable with the whole performance aspect of it; intelligent animals like killer whales and dolphins have exhibited symptoms of psychosis that could be attributed to that very captivity

And elephants of course are very intelligent. There have been rough patches for the elephants at the Toronto zoo. These are huge animals whose nature is satisfied by large spaces in which to roam and graze; as good as the new elephant enclosure is, in Toronto, it ain't no savannah

But I daresay that the PAWS ain't no savannah either. What their future there will be I can't say. It is a private sanctuary, largely funded by our erstwhile, well meaning but completely noob-like poachers in Hollywood. It will be warmer than the Toronto zoo, no doubt but will it be better for the elephants?

The fact that our zoo is a public institution hurt it; decisions were made for these elephants by people, namely city council, who know nothing about elephants and nothing about common sense. But it also makes the zoo and its workers accountable. PAWS is a private sanctuary, to whom is it accountable?

I really do hope that the elephants will have a happy life there. They've been torn away from their family units, something terribly important to elephants, but they have each other and I hope they don't have to live the rest of their lives with just themselves and they can find a new family

Their elephant family here will miss them. Elephants mourn, we know this, they place powerful importance on their family, both as a unit and as individuals. And the elephants here have a large extended family, the thousands of people who have to the zoo over the years to marvel at these intelligent, emotional, beautiful animals

Will the elephants miss us? I know that we shall miss them

THANKS TO GIVE, GIVEN TO THANKS

What were you thankful for this past weekend, this past Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada

Were you thankful for the holiday itself? It's a day off and there is turkey. Seriously, do we need to search for something better than that?

Do you use this holiday, here in Canada an extension of the harvest tradition, as an opportunity to reflect, perhaps on this past year or even years previous, thinking of the benefits from that time or perhaps you even pause to thank to be alive, to breathe, to just be here ... Well if you're thankful for being here and eating turkey then you and I are on the same page

Actually this year, this Thanksgiving, I did not eat turkey. Don't worry, I intend to make up for that shortly. So I actually did do a bit of interspection but being me, it really extended to just that day, that moment, that occasion

Yeh, I'm thankful for Thanksgiving.


I was thankful for being in Pointe Au Baril Ontario at Nares Inlet, thankful for the water and the sky and the ancient powerful rocks and the trees twisted and shaped by the wind

I was thankful for a crazy border collie who looks upon the north as her own personal playground and why not, it's the world's largest dog park, not to mention the world's largest water bowl

I was also thankful for family and friends and a sunny day on a rock island in the middle of the day where no one had anything better to do than eat, play together and enjoy a warm autumn day

What are you thankful for

NUIT BLANCHE TORONTO 2013

Saturday night I became a street walker (yes it's come to that) Mind you, I wasn't alone. There were tens of thousands of us wandering the streets of Toronto, along many streets closed to traffic, the giant buildings empty and dark. But there was light and motion; a queen of the parade who was not a queen of a parade that never was.

A skyscraper built from bicycles that no one rides yet still move

An alley way was transformed into the mythical place where socks lost in the dryer go to hang out .. yes, that horrible pun but what else would you expect

The skyscapers of steel and glass were replaced by a tower made of wooden chairs, one person's version I suppose of a furnished lodging

This city is always lit at night but this night there were new lights, colored and moving and somewhat mysterious in their purpose

A city at night. A city filled with light and mystery and strangers wandering the street unite by a sense of "what is that" as as "what the fuck" A city transformed

Nuit Blanche 2013

JOHN CLEESE: OUR EVENING WITH A NOT QUITE DEAD GUY

John Cleese is dying. So he's doing a series of shows, to give all of us an opportunity to see him before his demise. The show is entitled Last Chance To See Me Before I Die

Not that he has some fatal disease, he's not dying right away ... but he is dying. Eventually. Some day. And perhaps there will be another chance to see him. He may do another show some day. Eventually. But still, he will die .. eventually .. so we went to see him

For someone who is dying (eventually) he looked, as he may say say "rather splendid". Alone on the stage with a projection screen hanging behind him, Cleese spent two hours regaling us with stories of his remarkable life in that concise, precise, perfectly modulated deliver that makes him One of the Funniest People on Earth

Cleese, as he informed us several times, is a writer. His entrance into show business was through his writing for comedy reviews while studying "maths" at Cambridge university. He wrote for David Frost's early comedy shows in Britain, he wrote of great deal of the Python stuff, he co-wrote Fawlty Towers, he wrote A Fish Called Wanda ...

All very impressive indeed. But none of that allays the fact that John Cleese walking through a door can make me fall down on my face giggling like an idiot .. which he once did on a British skit show from the 80's; the actors were doing some kind of Elizabethan sketch and Cleese walked on to the set, stood there in a door way, ate most of an apple then turned and walked away. To this day, one of the funniest things I've ever seen

OK maybe I have issues, like this should be a shock to anyone

Cleese's writing skills are certainly of an extremely high level. He talked extensively about "black humour" and humour that breaks taboos and crosses boundries. His experiences of 1950's England was that of an extremely conservative society whose focus was to never be seen to be controversial. He recalls seeing the Beyond the Fringe comedy troupe with Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan and feeling the liberation of satire, something Cleese would himself come to master.

He searched for the origins of his own fondness for dark humour. His mother was a self obsessed, perpetually depressed person who would list her fears and worries and go through them with her son point by point. Cleese noted that his mother lived through the entire 20th century and has witnessed both world wars, the Great Depression, the arms race, the space age ... and really didn't note any of it.

One of the times his mom was intoning her oft heard phrase "Maybe I should just die" Cleese suggested that he would call a "little man" in Fulton who he knew and the chap would come and kill his mom ... upon hearing this his mom paused for a long moment then broke out in laughter. From that point on when his mom got carried away with her moaning he would simply intone the the Little Man in Fulton and they would both break out laughing. He learned, from this, that making fun of the serious was the best way to survive it

Cleese liked to downplay his abilities as an actor. He talked about meeting Peter Sellers, who Cleese claimed to be the greatest comic actor he'd ever known, and described Seller's ability to mimic, not just mimic to become someone else. Cleese stated that when he tried to mimic someone it always sounded as if "that person was actually mimicing me"

But there is not doubt that Cleese not only possesses a talent for accents but has some of the best comic timing of anyone I've ever said. Coupled with his precise, clipped way of speaking, it makes him able to evoke laughter without seeming to try at all.

He also talked about the importance of luck in his career. He told the story about how Monty Python got to have their TV series. All of them had worked together in Cambridge then gone their separate ways. Graham Chapman and Cleese were working for David Frost along with Marty Feldman. Feldman was a writer on the show and Cleese told Frost that Marty should be on the show, as an actor. Frost's reply was "Put Marty on TV? Have you seen the way he looks?"

Indeed

At that time the other Pythons, Eric Idle and Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones were all working on a kids' TV show. Graham and Cleese decided they should all reunite and pitch their own skit comedy show to the BBC. Everyone agreed and off they went to see the man Cleese describes as the "god of BBC Light Entertainment" They all knew they were funny, they all had some idea of the kind of show they wanted to make but what they did not know was what the show would be about.

They were asked: "Will the show have sketches"
"Oh yes, sketches, lovely idea, we'll have sketches"
"Will there be music?"
"Music? Oh yes, well certainly, yes there will be music .. of some kind"
Cleese thought they were done for. They couldn't even describe what kind of show they would make or give one salient idea of what would be in it. But the "god" waved his hand and told them "Fine, we'll give you 13 episodes" And with the wave of a hand, the first show about nothing, and something completely different, was born

A good deal of the show was dedicated to discussing A Fish Called Wanda, a movie that Cleese not only wrote but starred in and, in my opinion, one of the funniest movies ever made. One thing I never knew about Cleese is besides doing "math" in college he also read for law at Cambridge, which probably explains his character in Wanda, a solicitor.

He explained that when he decided to make the movie he approached old school Brit film director Charles Crichton (Cleese also has co director credit on the film). When Crichton asked him what the film would be about, Cleese admitted that the only thing he had in mind was a scene that someone with a terrible stutter would have to tell someone else, something terribly important. Crichton said "Fine, as long as we have a scene where someone is squashed by a steamroller" And that was how one of the funniest movies of all time was born

He used Wanda as an example of his black humour. As they were making the movie a few concerns were raised: Would people rebel against using someone with a stutter as a focus of laughter (he explained that Michael Palin based his character's stutter on his own father) and the killing of the little dogs. After a test screening which Cleese was not allowed to be in the theatre, an old woman marched up to him and announced "The stuttering was bloody funny. And you should have killed more dogs"

Cleese told his stories, with the aid of clips from TV and movies,  for two hours which was quite shocking to us, it barely seemed half that time. When I first read that Cleese was appearing in Toronto as part of a six city tour my first reaction was "I wonder why he's doing this." No, that's a total lie, my first reaction was "Holy crap, I'm going to get to see the funniest man alive!" But I still wondered why he was doing the tour. Cleese provided the answer with one word "Alimony. My ex wife got a settlement of 22 million dollars. I have two million left to go" And he glowered at us. I damn near threw money up on to the stage

So we sat through two hours, laughing to the verge of tears, as a dead man told us his life story. Thank you John Cleese. Long may you die

WORD ON THE STREET TORONTO: WHICH WORD DO WE WANT

The book or the reading of the book.

The word or the discussion of the book.

The book fair or the literary event

Collette and I have attended the Toronto version of Word on the Street for may years, many years. I remember when it was held on Queen St W, down by Much Music. It's been held at Queen's Park Circle for several years now and generally the location suits it well

There is more space in the Circle (a park basically) to accomadate tents for readings, author signings, presentations etc. And therein is a bit of a problem. I appreciate that Word is a place for all things literary, you can probably find an author you like and hear them read, there are many performances aimed at kids, from books for said kids. There have always been booths where authors give you the chance to talk to them and discuss their work

That is the Literary Event part of Word on the Street and even if  don't always participate, I appreciate it. And I have been able to connect with authors and their work who otherwise may have remained a mystery to me

But there is another part to the festival; the book fair part of it. Collette and I used to pack several bags with us and pack them up, stuffing them with dozens of books got for extremely low prices. Big book stores and publishers would come and offer up hardcovers for a few bucks a pop; a great way to try books and authors unknown to you with very little risk

That part of Word on the Street has almost vanished. None of the big books stores bring their wares or if they do, they bring very little. Only one publisher brought deeply discounted books and not surprisingly, it was the most popular booth there

Word has always had a focus on kids, Collette used to stock her classroom with books for the year. Well, now it's hard to find a good selection of adult books and for all the kids books, most of them were only 10 or 20 % off .. which Collette can often find on Amazon

This year we barely filled one pack with books. I got some good deals on some graphic novels, Collette found a few things for her nieces and nephews but not much for her classroom; the prices matched what she could order through the Board with no need to transport. I ventured into the one cheap publisher book and came away with a few 3 dollar books but I swear I have bruises from the experiences

So the Literary Event lives and that's great. But the Book Fair is dying, so our annual fall trip to Word may well be expiring as well

At any rate, here's a little video