BOOK REVIEW: I Was Saved by the Bell

4 / 5 / 17

What’s on my reading table right now? Besides my life-loving succulents, which I got at Ikea, of all places, and have been thriving ever since leaving the Swedish big box?

“I Was Saved by the Bell – Stories of Life, Love and Dreams that Do Come True.”

I am the only person I know who didn’t watch Saved by the Bell growing up. Somehow I missed out on America’s favorite teen sitcom — all 86 episodes and 2 TV films, which author Peter Engel executive produced.

It doesn’t matter, though. Even without the thrill of recognition of characters watched pre-cable-proliferation, I loved this book. I’m normally not a bio imbiber – more of a fiction fanatic. But Engel’s life is so interesting, and the way he tells his story is so charming, that I was captivated from the first page. Also, as someone who’s produced a bit of film and television myself, I can identify.

He got his start as a page at NBC in the Fifties, working on shows like The Tonight Show and The Perry Como Show. He detoured into political activism, campaigning for John F. Kennedy. He even had a brief marriage to a Canadian Ice Capades skater.

However, his heart never strayed from his main passion: making a hit TV show that he could believe in.

As the page-turning stories intensified, I began to realize that Engel’s reason for writing his book is beyond autobiographical. He has a message to everyone pursuing a dream: never, never, never, never quit. It’s a good one to take to heart.

BOOK REVIEW: In the Name of Gucci

6 / 19 / 166 / 19 / 16

I’ve always loved Gucci, as my many of my shoes, clothes and four handbags will attest. It actually used to be five, until one was stolen from checked luggage somewhere between Maui and Vancouver. But that’s another story.

On to the Gucci legend, and the first book written by a direct descendant of company founder Guccio Gucci: his granddaughter, Patricia Gucci.

I vaguely recall Gucci’s sale to a faceless corporation, which resulted in diluted brand, and the subsequent clawing back up to the luxury level reserved for but a few designers in the 1000-threadcount receptors of our brains. However, I never knew the back story in detail.

So when I was approached to be one of the first to read Patricia Gucci’s memoir, I couldn’t resist. And it seems only fitting to post my review on Fathers Day. The love child of Aldo Gucci, she weaves a masterful tale of her father, from the perspective of a person who had to live in the shadows for years — a child born out of wedlock used to be illegal in Italy. Discovery would mean certain scandal, possible ruination and potential imprisonment.

Patricia traces her parents’ love story, Aldo’s battle for the business, and touches on her own rise as Gucci’s spokesperson, although I would have liked to hear more about her career. Maybe another book is coming.

Besides the gripping interpersonal drama, I discovered (not really a spoiler alert, don’t worry!) the stirrup style elements did not come from a saddle-making background — Aldo just wanted an elevated equestrian association for the brand. And, looking at Louis V, who wouldn’t?

It’s hard to resist the combination of Made in Italy and superb story-telling. Bottom line for the interlocking G, as told by Patricia? I normally don’t do memoir, but I couldn’t put In the Name of Gucci down! Two G’s up.

BOOK REVIEW: The Photographing Tourist

3 / 17 / 163 / 17 / 16

Which new book is gracing my old coffee table now? The Photographing Tourist – a Storyteller’s Guide to Travel and Photography.Besides being chock full of gorgeous travel photos from around the globe, author David Noyes’ book is peppered with tips on how to capture that priceless Kodak moment during your own travels.As a shutterbug-slash-travel addict myself, I found it interesting to see some of the things I do while taking photos are actual techniques. But Noyes, an award-winning pro photog, has plenty of other suggestions to help me up my game. But, in case you’re wondering, not a single selfie instruction. Thank goodness.

As someone who self-publishes regularly right here on Blue Besos, I was also intrigued to discover that The Photographing Tourist was self-published. Buy it directly from the author here and a donation will be made to the Innocent Eyes Project. Shipping it to the True North? Use CANADA to get a $10 discount.

BOOK REVIEW: Berberry

2 / 19 / 162 / 19 / 16

A new book is currently occupying a proud place on my coffee table: Berberry. And that’s not a spelling error.

The sly pictorial is a commentary on the world’s obsession with a certain plaid. British artist Toby Leigh spent a decade obsessively trawling the streets, documenting everything from birthday cakes to tattoos, wheelchairs, even toilet seats.

Toby-Leigh-Folio-Art-Pirates-Penzance-Opera-Gilbert-Sullivan-L

An award-winning illustrator based in Britain, Toby Leigh is not known for being a conformist. People are still talking about his anarchic tote bags during the London 2012 Olympics. Not to mention his Shite Britain Souvenir Tea Towels and Crap Christmas Cards.

Toby’s obsession with this tartan symbol of pseudo-luxury began with (what else?) a blog… which could explain why he became enamored with Blue Besos.While Toby took most of the photos himself, he was taken with this pic I snapped in Calgary. I was delighted when Toby asked if he could use publish it. Does that make me a professional art photographer?

Go mad with plaid and get Berberry yoursel f. It will give you a giggle.

[all photos submitted except for mine up top]

BOOK REVIEW: Horses Never Lie

12 / 14 / 1512 / 14 / 15

If you have a horse lover in your life, get them this book for Christmas.

When I was 12, I went to horse camp in Lac La Hache, BC. Growing up in urban Vancouver, I didn’t know the first thing about horses or the people who devoted their lives to them. Walking through the barn in the cowboy boots my mom had bought me from Sears, a grizzled cowboy looked up and told me I have one leg that’s longer than the other. It’s true, but the difference is minimal. He had noticed by the sounds my boots made on the floorboards. We didn’t dwell on it — he mentioned it in just a few words — but it was the beginning of my respect for cowboys and their less-is-more way of detailed observation.

A cowboy in Horses Don’t Lie, who is simply called ‘the Old Man,’ brought that memory back. He rarely speaks, but when he does, it is honed wisdom, there for the taking. Author Mark Rashid chose to take it, and build on it, with a theory of passive leadership, developed from a life lived around horses.

Rashid’s quiet, thoughtful prose is an example of passive leadership in itself. In conversational, homey style, he explains how a happy horse will try its hardest to work for you. He believes in watching for a horse’s tries, versus forcing the issue in alpha leader style.

Now that I’ve owned horses for three years, I know enough to know that I still have a lot to learn. This winter, my ponies Gabby and Simon are on vacation, out in the pasture with their friends at the Calgary Polo Club. We’ve been having an unusually warm fall, so I’ve gone out every few weeks for a casual ride. When you enter a pasture of thirty shaggy, fat horses who are all too happy to be on holiday, it’s a huge compliment when your horses mosey over to say hello.

It makes me hope I’m doing something right! But still, I found Horses Don’t Lie is not only full of ideas how to do things better with horses, it suggests how to observe things better, before the doing. In that cowboy way.