Danno's dead, we'll miss

And now we bid a fond aloha to James MacArthur who played Danno on the original Hawaii Five-O TV show for 11 years. Just before the new series aired, he didn't rule out the possibility of making a guest appearance. He won't have that chance now, but he'll live on in my heart and mind whenever I hear the phrase "Book 'em, Danno."

Uploaded "Halloween Acoustic Mix Ending Excerpt" to the Internet Archive

I've been working on a lengthy piece of music mixed with sound effects inspired by that spookiest of all days in North America, Halloween. I've uploaded the ending of part of the piece to the Internet Archive under the title
Halloween Acoustic Mix Ending Excerpt. I hope to have an hour-long CD that might be called Birch Street Sound Bites for sale next year.

Uploaded "Sweet the River That Carries Our Dreams" excerpt to the Internet Archive

I've uploaded an excerpt from a new, ambient piece I call "Sweet the River That Carries Our Dreams" to the Internet Archive. I've been working on several other pieces as well and will upload excerpts from those over the coming days and weeks.

Friends of the BC Archives talk on early BC photographers from Great Britain

Yesterday (October 17, 2010) I gave a talk to the Friends of the BC Archives called "Wild and Picturesque: The British Contribution to Early British Columbia Photography." Much of my time over the past couple of months has been devoted to that project. Thanks in part to a wonderful editorial by Times-Colonist journalist and BC historical research booster Dave Obee on October 15, 2010, Old Photographs Help Us Explore B.C.'s Past, the Newcombe Conference Hall in the Royal BC Museum was filled to capacity. I knew many people in the audience from my years working on the reference desk at the BC Archives, so that made it easier and a more pleasant experience to share some of research into the lives of BC's 19th century photographers from the British isles. If you were there, thank you very much for turning out on a beautiful fall day!

Royal BC Museum launches new collections database

The Royal BC Museum has launched its new collections database. As of October 12, 2010, you can access new databases for Ethnology, Archaeology and Modern History. Databases that utilize existing search engines and have yet to be transitioned to the new system are the natural history collections and the BC Archives.

Guess the Giller contest from Scotiabank

If you're psychic and love a good read, have a go at the Guess the Giller contest sponsored by Scotiabank. It must be a popular contest as when I tried to cast my vote I got the error message "We are experiencing technical problems. Please try again later."

And the nominees are:


The Matter With Morris by David Bergen

Light Lifting by Alexander Macleod

This Cake is for the Party by Sarah Selecky

The Sentimentalists by Johanna Skibsrud

Annabel by Kathleen Winter