Bethlehem, Historic Edmonton, Book Show, and Cloud Atlas

Saturday, January 5, 2013   Sprucewood Library, Edmonton

Hello from another of Edmonton's great  public libraries,

Before I return some compact disks and borrow more, I listen to Bethlehem resident Clare Anastas discuss  Christmas in Occupied Palestine.  Hanna Kawas, the Bethlehem-born host of the internet show "Voice of Palestine," has not been there since 1967.  Here is a link to their January 2, 2013 conversation in Vancouver, where Kawas broadcasts "Voice of Palestine:"

http://www.voiceofpalestine.ca/

"Next year in Al Quds," the ancient Arab place that many now call Jerusalem?

Back in Edmonton, history lives in a house built a century ago of rejected bricks:

http://www.rewedmonton.ca/content_view_rew?CONTENT_ID=2511

The cornerstone that the builders rejected has become the building block of the new house, to recall the Bible quote.

Books can have hard lives, as this local art exhibit shows:

http://www.ninahaggertyart.ca/home.php

Salmon Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses incurred religious wrath from Islamic autocrats, recently wrote the screenplay for his novel Midnight's Children:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight's_Children

A United States Christian recently burned The Koran in public.  Today I walked past a Christian church sporting the sign, "Jesus loves you whether you like it or not."     

Here is a link to another book made into a film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)

I plan to see this film this afternoon, after a leisurely walk across the North Saskatchewan River to pick up my ticket to tomorrow's Edmonton showing of films from the Banff Mountain Film Festival:

 http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainfestival/worldtour/listings/regions.aspx?cat=NA&location=ca

Life abounds in possibilities.  Love is the only real religion, USian folksinger Woody Guthrie said.