Sunday, February 27, 2011
Three More Travellers
Three books were left at the Kaffa Coffee and Salsa House located in the Marda Loop area Calgary Alberta. The time was about 2:30 pm today Sunday Feb. 29, 2011. Let me know if you decide to adopt any of our wayward wanderers.
Friday, February 25, 2011
It's all about the noise
I have changed the look of the blog again. The list of books has been moved into the page titled "Where are they now". This page will list all the books that are out roaming the world and where they were last seen. I will update their locations as I get that information. In the near future I'm hoping to include a map showing where all the books are currently located. The second page I've added is the "Quotations" in which you will find inspirational quotes about reading. Feel free to send me any quotes you would like to include on that page. Send your contributions to the Hobo Tomes e-mail address HoboTomes@shaw.ca.
In my Feb. 15th, 2011 blog I spoke about how we live in an environment in which we are constantly being distracted by images and sounds vying for our attention. Our social milieu is one of endless interruptions limiting us to short bursts of concentration followed by long periods of sensory stimulation geared to have us engage in some form of consumption and making us feel inadequate if we don't. This became all to apparent one day as I stopped to take notice of all the "noise" that was surrounding me while I engaged in my daily workout at the local gym. I arrived as I usually do at about 7:45 am proceeded to change and head up to the exercise area. On my way I stop to fill my water bottle and put my headphones from my ipod into my ears. I was also carrying a book since it was Tuesday and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I spend an hour on the elliptical machine and with nothing else to do but move my legs and arms back and forth I set my book in front of me on the shelf designed for this and read for an hour to escape the monotony of the situation. An activity which is supposed to make me healthy, energetic and by recent newspaper accounts slow the aging process. Funny how although I have been doing this now for over six years my age still increases with every passing year and now the government has got into the act by reminding me just how old I am by insisting that I register for the Canada Pension Plan. You would think that they would knock off a couple of years for good exercising behaviour like they do for the criminals housed in our hotels of detention. So as I mount the elliptical apparatus ipod at the ready to drown out the ever present local radio station playing over the loud speakers, book clutched to my bosom I resign my self to the fact that for the next hour I will joyfully immerse my intellect in the well of words, soak my psyche with literary largess while the guy on my left loudly grunts with every stride and the lady on my right moves so fast that when I look over her way I see nothing but a human blur so fast I almost swoon. Did I mention that these machines have televisions which I immediately turn on to the business channel to watch the stock quotes as they move by at the bottom of the screen in an endless loop. Now I'm ready ipod on music playing, television set to business the channel grunty guy grunting blur lady blurring local radio station coming through during the quiet moments between songs I set the elliptical to sixty minutes open my book move my arms and legs back and forth and start reading taking my hand off the apparatus only to turn pages. The cacophony of sound and images constantly competing for my consideration unstoppable for the entire sixty minutes but yet I continue to read until the end. I finally extricate my self from from my false sense of isolation clean the machine congratulate my self for reading thirty or so pages only to realize when I get home that I don't remember a thing from the book and I'll have to read them all over again. But, hey the stock market was up, I watched the highlights from the previous nights hockey games, over heard numerous conversations, got some exercise so not all was lost especially since I stopped on the way home to pick some things I really needed.
In my Feb. 15th, 2011 blog I spoke about how we live in an environment in which we are constantly being distracted by images and sounds vying for our attention. Our social milieu is one of endless interruptions limiting us to short bursts of concentration followed by long periods of sensory stimulation geared to have us engage in some form of consumption and making us feel inadequate if we don't. This became all to apparent one day as I stopped to take notice of all the "noise" that was surrounding me while I engaged in my daily workout at the local gym. I arrived as I usually do at about 7:45 am proceeded to change and head up to the exercise area. On my way I stop to fill my water bottle and put my headphones from my ipod into my ears. I was also carrying a book since it was Tuesday and on Tuesdays and Thursdays I spend an hour on the elliptical machine and with nothing else to do but move my legs and arms back and forth I set my book in front of me on the shelf designed for this and read for an hour to escape the monotony of the situation. An activity which is supposed to make me healthy, energetic and by recent newspaper accounts slow the aging process. Funny how although I have been doing this now for over six years my age still increases with every passing year and now the government has got into the act by reminding me just how old I am by insisting that I register for the Canada Pension Plan. You would think that they would knock off a couple of years for good exercising behaviour like they do for the criminals housed in our hotels of detention. So as I mount the elliptical apparatus ipod at the ready to drown out the ever present local radio station playing over the loud speakers, book clutched to my bosom I resign my self to the fact that for the next hour I will joyfully immerse my intellect in the well of words, soak my psyche with literary largess while the guy on my left loudly grunts with every stride and the lady on my right moves so fast that when I look over her way I see nothing but a human blur so fast I almost swoon. Did I mention that these machines have televisions which I immediately turn on to the business channel to watch the stock quotes as they move by at the bottom of the screen in an endless loop. Now I'm ready ipod on music playing, television set to business the channel grunty guy grunting blur lady blurring local radio station coming through during the quiet moments between songs I set the elliptical to sixty minutes open my book move my arms and legs back and forth and start reading taking my hand off the apparatus only to turn pages. The cacophony of sound and images constantly competing for my consideration unstoppable for the entire sixty minutes but yet I continue to read until the end. I finally extricate my self from from my false sense of isolation clean the machine congratulate my self for reading thirty or so pages only to realize when I get home that I don't remember a thing from the book and I'll have to read them all over again. But, hey the stock market was up, I watched the highlights from the previous nights hockey games, over heard numerous conversations, got some exercise so not all was lost especially since I stopped on the way home to pick some things I really needed.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Atlantic Canada welcomes some wayward books
Two tomes have found their way to Nova Scotia. The Natural by Bernard Malamud can be found lounging around the T.A.N. Coffee Shop in Wolfville and The Authenticity Hoax by Andrew Potter is enjoying the scenery at Just Us Coffee Shop also in Wolfville Nova Scotia. Idiot Proof by Francis Wheen was seen waiting for a flight at the Ottawa International Airport in the Air Canada lounge.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
More Hobo Tomes about to hit the streets
Yesterday, The Confession by John Grisham was left at the Good Earth Cafe on 11th Street SW in Calgary Alberta. Two more books will be set free tomorrow at the Purple Perk on 4th Street SW in Calgary at about noon and two more will be released in Vancouver within the next couple of days. These will most likely be left in the student union building on the campus of the University of British Columbia. Don't forget to e-mail me the details if you happen to find one of our wandering tomes. I will update the list shortly.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Our first adoption
I'm pleased to announce that The Reversal by Michael Connelly was adopted from the Oolong Tea House in Calgary Canada on Feb. 9, 2011. I'm looking forward to hearing about its adventures.
A couple of pieces of information I wanted to pass on. This first bit is more directed at those people who take a more spiritual path to reading. Although I not inclined to do so I found this book of particular interest in its approach to reading and engaging the written word. The book is "In Bed with the Word: Reading, Spirituality, and Cultural Politics." by Daniel Coleman. The major theme as I see it centres around our concern for living in a social milieu of constant distractions and that we need some special "quiet time" in order to reconnect with ourselves in a more meaningful way. Since reading requires time and is reflective and also requires the reader to be an active participant with the words reading can be seen as antithetical to modern consumerist society where we live in constant distraction impatiently consuming while the bombardment of media images surrounds us most of our waking hours. Reading takes us away from this struggle to have us engage in the material world so it has become as Coleman describes as "counter-cultural" to the society that is evolving today. I find this notion interesting in that it clashes with the idea that we read simply to escape from the outside and slip into a fantasy world for a few hours in order to shut out the pressures of our daily lives. Reading when seen as "counter-cultural" implies an act of rebellion against the accepted norm of corporate sponsored consumption. An active as opposed to a passive activity. If you have any thoughts on this please post them.
The second thing I wanted to bring up was the Bibliotherapy movement which apparently has been around for some time. Basically, the premise is that reading can assist us to repair and rejuvenate our bodies as well as our minds. Prescribed reading of specific texts in response to certain conditions or situations has become popular among physicians, teachers, and psychologists. "Reading, writing and revelation: How the written word helps refresh body mind and soul." by Ursula Sautter was published in the October 2010 edition of Ode magazine. Bibliotherapy has many forms from reading to block out pain to guided self-help therapy for people suffering from mind depression, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. You can read the article if you go to odemagazine.com look in the archives for this edition.
It's interesting to explore the many facets of reading which I hope will generate dialogue in the future.
A couple of pieces of information I wanted to pass on. This first bit is more directed at those people who take a more spiritual path to reading. Although I not inclined to do so I found this book of particular interest in its approach to reading and engaging the written word. The book is "In Bed with the Word: Reading, Spirituality, and Cultural Politics." by Daniel Coleman. The major theme as I see it centres around our concern for living in a social milieu of constant distractions and that we need some special "quiet time" in order to reconnect with ourselves in a more meaningful way. Since reading requires time and is reflective and also requires the reader to be an active participant with the words reading can be seen as antithetical to modern consumerist society where we live in constant distraction impatiently consuming while the bombardment of media images surrounds us most of our waking hours. Reading takes us away from this struggle to have us engage in the material world so it has become as Coleman describes as "counter-cultural" to the society that is evolving today. I find this notion interesting in that it clashes with the idea that we read simply to escape from the outside and slip into a fantasy world for a few hours in order to shut out the pressures of our daily lives. Reading when seen as "counter-cultural" implies an act of rebellion against the accepted norm of corporate sponsored consumption. An active as opposed to a passive activity. If you have any thoughts on this please post them.
The second thing I wanted to bring up was the Bibliotherapy movement which apparently has been around for some time. Basically, the premise is that reading can assist us to repair and rejuvenate our bodies as well as our minds. Prescribed reading of specific texts in response to certain conditions or situations has become popular among physicians, teachers, and psychologists. "Reading, writing and revelation: How the written word helps refresh body mind and soul." by Ursula Sautter was published in the October 2010 edition of Ode magazine. Bibliotherapy has many forms from reading to block out pain to guided self-help therapy for people suffering from mind depression, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. You can read the article if you go to odemagazine.com look in the archives for this edition.
It's interesting to explore the many facets of reading which I hope will generate dialogue in the future.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Simplexity on the fly
I heard from one of my emissaries that Simplexity by Jeffrey Kluger was left near the Jacksonville Florida airport. It was adopted a couple of hours later. The Upside of Irrationality by Dan Ariely was orphaned at Higher Grounds coffee shop in the Kensington area of Calgary on Sat. Feb. 5. No word as to its whereabouts as of yet. One month into the project and there are a total of 14 books out for adoption in Calgary and three cities in the USA. So far no one has contacted me to update the whereabouts of these orphaned texts.
I have started to put together a Facebook page for the project. You can look for it at The Hobo Tomes Project on Facebook.
I have started to put together a Facebook page for the project. You can look for it at The Hobo Tomes Project on Facebook.
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