Edward Willett's Blog, page 71
July 13, 2010
Up close and personal with Paul J. Hill
With the summer issue of Fine Lifestyles Regina just around the corner, I thought I'd post my cover story from the spring issue, an interview with Regina businessman Paul J. Hill. Enjoy!
***
Paul Hill says he's most known in Regina for three things: his blue 1976 Mercury Marquis, his habit of consuming eight Diet Cokes a day, and his addiction to non-fat frozen yogurt.
Of course, that list leaves out one other minor thing of note: Paul is president and CEO of The Hill Companies and Harvard...
July 11, 2010
The end of an era: no more science columns
Way back in 1989, when I was communications officer of the Saskatchewan Science Centre, I began writing a science column. It appeared in the free-circulation weekend paper published by the Regina LeaderPost, the Sunday Sun, and I also did a version of it on CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition, hosted by Colin Grewar.
At first, the column quite often focused on something related to events at the Science Centre; so, when we had an exhibit on memory, I wrote a column about memory (and also wrote Andy...
July 6, 2010
Cover of yet another magazine I'm editing…
What? You thought since I was already editing Fine Lifestyles Regina and Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Weddings Regina, I was done? Ha! The Fine Lifestyles empire continues to grow. Here's the cover for the latest in its stable of magazines that I'm editing: Fine Homes Regina.
Fortunately for my sanity, Fine Homes and Fine Weddings only come out twice a year…
June 29, 2010
My short story in Space and Time
My short story "Waterlilies" has finally appeared in Space and Time Magazine, which bought it months and months ago (as is obvious by the bio, which refers to my seven-year-old daughter–that would be the one who just turned nine). Anyway, it's nice to see it in print, my name up in lights–well, on the cover, at least.
"Waterlilies" is a humorous apocalyptic nanotech art story. Just so you know.
The cover art at left is by Patrick Thomas. My story is illustrated by Alan Beck.
June 24, 2010
A better way to keep cool
We all have our preferred temperature. Me, I like it cool. My poor college roommate can attest to that, since I just about froze him out of our room, aided by the fact I was tall enough to easily reach the air conditioning controls and he wasn't. But hey, that was in Arkansas, and in Arkansas in late summer, I needed all the air-conditioning I could get.
Humans, despite having originated in hot parts of the world, have long looked for ways to make buildings more comfortable in hot weather...
June 15, 2010
Red means stop, green means go, yellow means…?
I went through a yellow light today. I'd glanced away at the wrong moment, looked up to see the light had gone yellow, and realized I couldn't stop without slamming on the brakes and probably skidding into the intersection.
Later, I was crossing a street downtown when a van went through the yellow in front of me. It looked to me like the driver had plenty of time to stop—but no doubt he had his own excuse.
It's a rare driver who doesn't run through a yellow light on occasion, and in most cases ...
June 11, 2010
Lobster Press Fall/Winter 2010 catalogue released, Song of the Sword gets pride of place
Lobster Press has just made its Fall/Winter 2010 catalogue available, and my new YA fantasy Song of the Sword gets pride of place as the first book listed.
Guess I'd better get busy and write the second book…
June 10, 2010
Premiere issues of Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Weddings Regina now online
The premiere issues of two more magazines I'm now editing, part of the Fine Lifestyles family, are now online: Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon and Fine Weddings Regina.
Fine Lifestyles Saskatoon is the sister publication to Fine Lifestyles Regina, and will be appearing quarterly (the next issue will be out in July, pretty much concurrently with the next Fine Lifestyles Regina), while Fine Weddings Regina will run twice a year.
Coming soon: Fine Homes Regina.
And eventually, I'm told, Fine Weddings...
Things I Found in My Mother-in-Law's House (but I actually put there myself): The Army Song Book
OK, this is a rather odd entry in this series because, although it dates from 1941 (pretty much the same time as the paperbacks I blogged about previously), this book was not actually found in my mother-in-law's house: it was actually found in my mother's house, because it belonged to my father, James Willett (whose signature appears on the front).
It's the official US Army Song Book from the Second World War. It begins, as you'd expect, with the Star Spangled Banner (three verses!), but the c...
June 8, 2010
Things I Found in my Mother-in-Law's House: 1930s paperbacks
From the bookshelves in what is now my office, here are two examples of some of the earliest mass-market paperback books, 1940 printings of The Good Earth and Gulliver's Travels in Pocket Book format.
Cover art has come a long way since then, hasn't it?
