The Travelling Bookworm

I have been consuming books at a great rate over the last three months, which accounts for the lack of entries on this ‘travel’ blog. It also reflects the fact that I haven’t been travelling much over the past year – although I did spend five weeks house sitting in Melbourne during January and February. In fact, my Melbourne stay has been responsible in part for my return to reading. The city has some great second hand bookshops, and on my return to Adelaide, I carried with me a carton of 22 books that I just could not ignore as I trawled through my favourite stores.

I used to have a collection of several thousand books, but five or six years ago I sold my house and have been living in a series of rented accommodations ever since. As a result, I got rid of the bulk of my collection, with the rest packed in boxes, which are in turn stacked in my niece’s shed.

The previous collection of books covered everything from folk music to folk tales, history to fantasy, fiction and non-fiction, politics and art, and much more. Sadly, I never seemed to have time to read most of the books I bought. They just took up space on the bookshelves waiting patiently for the day when I would finally find the time to devote to them. Unfortunately, that time never came.

However, now that I am pretty much retired, I have plenty of time to read, and that is what I have been doing. Most of my new, small, but growing collection of books deals with 17th and 18th century history as it relates to the United States and Europe. I have also become interested (in a very general way) with architecture, art, and philosophy. To lighten my reading list, I try to mix non fiction titles in amongst the serious tomes, and I must say, I have found my renewed enthusiasm for reading quite addictive and of course stimulating and educational.

I can’t imagine why you would be interested, but here for the record is a list of the books I have read to date in 2012:

Books Read in January

1.      At The Edge of a Dream: The Story of Jewish Immigration on New York’s Lower East Side 1880–1920

2. Imperial City: The Rise and Rise of New York, Geoffrey Moorhouse
3. The French and Indian War, Walter R. Borneman
4. Will Rogers, by Ben Yogoda
5. Winter’s Bone, Daniel Woodrell
6. To Reach The Clouds, by Phillipe Petit
7. Bird Cloud: A Memoir, by Annie Proulx

Books Read in February

8. City Life, by Witold Rybczynski
9. Architectural Details, by Marcia Reiss
10. Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy’s Guide, By Joseph Epstein
11. Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
12. How The Industrial Revolution Changed The World, by Thomas Crump
13. All That Follows, by Jim Crace

Books Read in March

14. The Way West, by A.B. Guthrie
15. History of Pirates, by Charlotte Montague
16. Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
17. Red Silk: The Life of Elliott Johnston QC, by Penelope Debelle
18. The Potomac, by Frederick Gutheim
19. An Australian in America, David Dale

Roosevelt Dime

“In these troubled times, everyone needs a Roosevelt Dime”

One of the great things about travel is the chance to discover new music and exciting venues in the cities and countries you pass through. I don’t much go for hanging out in bars and clubs, but music venues, yes.

Friday 13, August 2010 turned out to be a lucky day for me. On that day I was wandering through Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park during my New York City stay when my attention was caught by some of the happiest, liveliest music I had heard in more years than I care to recall. It seemed to be a mix of jazz, old timey music, folk, and that modern musical marketing segment known as Americana.

The group turned out to be Roosevelt Dime, an outfit I had never heard of, but which I immediately fell in love with and became a big fan of. They were in fact, indulging in some good old fashioned audience building. That is, they were out where the people were, playing for them live and for free. They were also promoting that evening’s gig at one of my favourite New York venues, The Bitter End.

Of course, I had to see catch their show. As it happens, I already had a ticket to see another one of my favourite American singer-songwriters, Steve Forbert, who was performing at Joe’s Pub on Lafayette Avenue that same night. However, as soon as that show finished I raced around to the Bitter End, and was delighted to find that Roosevelt Dime had only just taken to the stage.

The band is building its support base, one fan at a time. It is slow, hard work, but Roosevelt Dime seem to in it for the long haul, and know that there are no easy fixes on the road to bigger and more appreciative audiences.

If like me, you like what you hear, buy their music, and support their gigs – especially if you live in New York City and near abouts. Their website lists upcoming gigs in the New York area. Foot tapping fun for everyone is pretty much guaranteed.

"A perpetual crowd-pleaser, Roosevelt Dime often has commuters soulfully stomping their feet in the subway and passersby lindy-hopping in the park."

Tze Chun - The New York Times (June 7, 2010)

Monday Movies - High Steel and Spudwrench: Kahnawake Man

High Steel, by Don Owen, 1965, 13 min 47 sec

High Steel is a short documentary offering a dizzying view of the Mohawk Indians of Kahnawake (pron: Gun-na-wa-ga) who work in Manhattan erecting the steel frames of skyscrapers. Famed for their skill in working with steel, the Mohawks demonstrate their nimble abilities in the sky. As a counterbalance, the viewer is also allowed a peek at their quieter community life on the Kahnawake Reserve, in Quebec.

One of the first construction projects the Kahnawake helped build was the Saint Lawrence Bridge (1886-87) linking Kahnawake to Montreal Island. As Kahnawake men employed as ironworkers and bridgemen worked hundreds of feet above the water and ground, a legend began that the Kahnawake men had no fear of heights.

Over the years, Kahnawake men have continued to be employed as ironworkers in Canada, with many also moving to New York City to work on the city’s skyscrapers. Kahnawake men participated in building the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centre, and other major skyscrapers in New York City, as well as many bridges. This short film examines some of the work and lifestyle of these workers. 

High Steel, Don Owen, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man

By Alanis Obomsawin, 1997, 58 min

This documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin introduces us to Randy Horne, another high steel worker from the Mohawk community of Kahnawake, near Montreal. As a defender of his people's culture and traditions, he was known as "Spudwrench" during the 1990 Oka crisis (a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada).

The hour long film presents a unique look behind the barricades at one man's impassioned defence of sacred territory, and is both a portrait of Horne and the generations of daring Mohawk construction workers that have preceded him.

Spudwrench - Kahnawake Man, Alanis Obomsawin, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

Both films are amongst the hundreds of films available via the National Film Board of Canada website. Another wonderful online resource for all to enjoy.