The Mountain Story by Lori Lansens
On his eighteenth birthday, WolfTruly takes the tramway to the top of the mountain that looms over Palm Springs, intending to jump to his death. But fate intervenes in the form of three women wandering in the mountain wilderness: Nola, Bridget and Vonn Devine.
Through a series of missteps, this unusual group is stranded together on the mountain, in full view of the lights of the city below, with no food and little water – and no way down. As one day without rescue spirals dramatically into the next, these four broken souls begin to form an inextricable bone, realizing that their only defense against the unforgiving wilderness is one another.
Wolf, now a grown man, has never told anyone what really happened on the mountain. In telling the story to his only child, Daniel, he at last explores the nature of the ties that bind and the sacrifices people will make for love.
Book of the Month – May
London Drugs Photolab Prints Fine Art for the 3rd Annual Capture Photography Festival
For the 3rd consecutive year, London Drugs is proud to be a sponsor of the Capture Photography Festival, celebrating local and international lens-based artistic talent in Vancouver. The festival is devoted to exhibiting challenging and thought-provoking photography at over 50 esteemed galleries and public installations.
This year, the London Drugs Photolab printed the works of several high profile Capture exhibits, including LA-based photographer Aline Smithson’s exhibit Self & Others: Portrait as Autobiography, and the News Photographers Association of Canada’s National Pictures of the Year awards exhibit.
Using the best in photofinishing equipment and innovative materials such as our Hahnemühle Fine Art Bamboo Paper, our passionate, experienced Photolab Technicians printed flawless fine art pieces hung in galleries across the city.
These fine art printing services aren’t just reserved for professionals, either. Amateurs, freelancers, and professionals alike can get museum-quality prints, using the London Drugs Photolab’s cutting-edge printing services.
Visit our Photolab in-store or online to find the right print for your photography project!
Photo Month Workshops
If you’re a photographer, whether professional or hobbyist, the holiday season has arrived.
Well, maybe not the holiday season, but definitely a holiday season—because May is Photography Month. Sadly though, there are still a great many people who believe that May is for flowers and Mother’s Day and long weekends…who have absolutely no idea that it’s also about celebrating what is arguably the most influential and transformative art form in human history. This could be because the word is not getting out; it’s not like Photo Month is the lead story on The National or anything. Well, at least the Photolab is doing its part to share the celebration with as many London Drugs customers as possible. In fact, they’ll be doing it in the most meaningful way possible; by becoming a platform for education, helping photographers of all levels improve their skills and understanding of the medium through their ongoing series of informative workshops.
In case you weren’t aware, London Drugs regularly hosts a variety of free workshops for customers at each of their locations throughout Western Canada. These workshops are put on by each department, and the Cameras & Electronics department plus the Photolab will be hosting a number of them over the next few weeks as part of Photo Month. These workshops will include a variety of camera and photo printing subjects; many of them are hosted by subject matter experts in the local area, so the topics covered will vary by location. However, many will be hosted by local LD staff, and will feature topics like making a photo mug and using the child handprint station…in other words, things you’ll definitely need to know with Mother’s Day coming up!
And just to make sure you have no excuse to miss any of them, London Drugs has made it extremely easy to view upcoming workshops in your local area by creating this handy dedicated workshops page. Browse by department, by province, by city…finding the workshops that pique your interest couldn’t be easier, including past ones in case you’re curious. If you want to look up a particular topic, there’s even a very impressive instant search.
Whether you’re looking for creative Mother’s Day gift inspiration, the latest and greatest new camera or smartphone technology, or you’d like to learn more about drone photography, you’ll find workshops in your area that will inform and educate you. From technique to creative output, Photography Month at London Drugs is the best opportunity of the year to become better at what you love.
Happy Holidays!
Celebrate Photography Month by attending workshops. They’re free. They’re plentiful. They’re easy to find. Visit londondrugs.com/WorkshopList.html. And check out the ultra-fast search!
Meet the Amazing Creators of Legendary Worlds
Canadian artists Witek Radomski and Carrie Wong will visit a number of our stores during their Canadian book tour.
We are so excited to have Witek Radomski and Carrie Wong, the creators of both Legendary Landscapes & Legendary Worlds Adult Colouring Books, coming to our stores to meet with our customers.
“At some point I thought of the idea: why don’t we make an adult colouring book that features the beautiful landscapes and cityscapes of Canada and have all sorts of imaginary landscapes,” Wong said.
“Most of the other colouring books are more abstract, but there weren’t really any colouring books that featured landscapes,” Radomski added. “You never see Canada. We love hiking together, and we always see all these awesome landscapes. It was a really cool opportunity to make a book.”
Wong & Radomski will be signing books and offering live drawing sessions at all locations listed below. Come on by and say hi!
April
April 16: 1-4pm
Coquitlam Centre – 2929 Barnet Hwy
April 17: 1-4pm
Langley – 20202 66th Ave
April 18: 1-4pm
Vancouver – Granville & Georgia, 710 Granville St
April 19: 1-4pm
Vancouver – 525 West Broadway
April 27: 3-6pm
Lethbridge – Lethbridge Town Square, 905 First Ave. South
April 28: 3-6pm
Medicine Hat – 3201 13th Ave SE
June
June 9: 3-6pm
Calgary – First Calgary SE
June 14: 3-6pm
Prince George – Parkwood Place, 1600 15th Ave.
Local Inspirations Artist Gallery
Yes indeed, May is officially Photography Month—and one of its main objectives is to broaden the appreciation and appeal of photography worldwide. It’s also one of the key themes of London Drugs #LDFotoCon 2016. One of the main reasons Fotocon was created was to share the joy of photography with as many people as possible at the community level. Beyond the short term however, its greatest goal is to help local photographers prosper, which is why the Local Inspirations Artist Gallery (LIAG) was created.
Actually, the creator and driving force behind the LIAG was Meghan Shewchuk, Manager of the Ladner Photolab. It all started when a local artist (who also happened to be a co-worker) used the Photolab to print a 12×18” Remembrance Day image he’d created in Photoshop, and he asked her if she’d display it on the store wall. Meghan immediately envisioned the big picture (pardon the pun) and reached out to another local photographer to see if she would be interested in displaying a collection of her prints as well.
Meghan’s initial goal was to use the wall to showcase the various kinds of art prints available from the Photolab, to give customers an idea of how they might look on their own walls at home. However, she soon realized that the true value of such a gallery would be the platform it gives local photographers and artists—to showcase their work to others in the community, and help them gain new clients and grow their business.
Meghan’s next step was to get approval from head office. Her proposal went over so well that not only did she get the OK for her LIAG in Ladner, but they decided to roll it out to every London Drugs location that has the space necessary to create a proper display. And that’s how one creative Photolab manager’s idea to give local photographers a leg up in the community became an ongoing company-wide celebration of photography.
If you’ve never noticed it before, or if you simply haven’t been to your local Photolab in a while, be sure to stop by and appreciate some of the finest photography your community has to offer. Better yet, if you happen to be a professional photographer, digital artist, or even a member of a local photography club—speak to your local Photolab Manager for details about showcasing your work and becoming a local inspiration to others.
Selected images from photographer Karen Maires, whose prints have been featured in the Local Inspirations Artist Gallery at the Ladner Photolab. See more of her work at http://www.mairesimages.com
LD Picks: 4 Unexpected Uses for Everyday Items
We all love a good home hack. But these ones are special – they all find another use for standard household items. They’re so simple, we felt a little dumbstruck: “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Label electrical cords with washi tape
Photo via The Chic Site
Power cables. Necessary? Definitely. Annoying? Absolutely. How to keep them all straight? Untangled? Organized? How many of us have crawled under a desk to unplug a laptop, only to wonder which cord is which?
Here’s an easy and clever solution: Washi tape. We carry an array of sizes and patterns from Scotch, so you can colour-code and label to your heart’s content.
[More at The Chic Site]
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Protect the iPad from kitchen messes with a Ziploc bag
Photo via CNET
Who, while preparing food and glancing at an Epicurious recipe, hasn’t leaned an iPad awkwardly against the knife block or cutting board? Right in the spill zone, in other words. Cooking a new recipe can be stressful enough—there’s no need to worry about ruining an expensive device. Protect it with a handy kitchen essential: Slip your iPad into a large Ziploc bag. Sealed, it’ll protect the tablet from any unanticipated messes—and the touch screen works, as normal. (Use the same technique to protect beloved family recipe cards.)
[More at CNET]
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Control unruly wrapping paper with a binder clip
Photo via Good Housekeeping.
These ubiquitous binder clips have a million uses, but we’re especially fond of this one. Use them to clip wrapping paper right to the roll, one at each end. They were designed for clipping stacks of paper, so it’s a natural extension. You can even devise a hanging system, gaining real space savings from what is usually an unwieldy item.
[More at Good Housekeeping]
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Take control of messy power cords with Command strips
Photo via Jen Thousand Words
If you’re an appliance junkie, you know how uncooperative these pesky cords can be. Rather than attempting to wrap the toaster cord around the base—it never stays put—before stowing it away, try this: attach the plug to the side of the machine, using a Command Picture Hanging Strip.
No muss, no fuss.
[More at Jen Thousand Words]
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LD Picks: The Best Articles We Read This Week
Nobody has time to read the whole Internet, so our editors have summarized the best of it for you. Read on for smart advice on personal emails, the perils of ‘parachuting,’ pancake science, and more—our favourite articles of the week.
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11 Things A Massage Therapist Knows About You After An Hour
Smartphone neck: To your massage therapist, it means you should cut down time spent online.
- You love big purses. Your body will be tighter on one side, since you’re likely to weight-bear on a primary leg. A therapist will detect tight glutes, hamstrings, and quads, as well as an unnatural pelvic tilt.
[Perhaps you’ve been packing an earthquake prep kit in that ginormous satchel?] - You’re dehydrated. Haven’t drunk your recommended eight glasses of water a day? You’ll feel pain on certain trigger points in your upper back.
[But wait—could 8 glasses a day be a myth?] - You’re cold all the time. People reflexively hunch their shoulders when they’re cold. It’s common for massage therapists to see additional neck and shoulder stress in the winter months.
[Perhaps you don’t spend long enough warming up your car. Nope, that’s impossible.] - You have a desk job. It’s not for nothing they call sitting the next public health crisis. Working at a computer weakens the lower back, puts your hips out of alignment, and leads to tight glutes and legs.
[Forget good posture—this is way more important at work.] - You sleep on your stomach. The parachuting position puts stress on the neck, leading to abnormal tightness.
[These 6 surprising foods help you sleep all night long—in any position.] - You’re constipated. Much easier to detect than you might think. The dead giveaway is an abdomen that’s firm to the touch.
[Not sure what to suggest… Bran Buds?] - You have a long commute. Hours spent behind the wheel promotes a posture of leaning forward. You can tell a frequent driver by his hunched shoulders.
[Apparently, the more you burp, the worse you drive, says Dr. Art Hister.] - You’re hurt. Acute injuries radiate heat and inflammation. An experienced massage therapist can distinguish between chronic injuries (muscles feel tight, dehydrated) and repetitive motion injuries (tendons and muscles feel wiry, like guitar strings).
[Pain sucks. We’ve got a host of services—from pharmacy to health library—to help you through it.] - You’re on your smartphone too much. Chronic texters will find it unusually painful when a massage therapist rubs their shoulders. The cause? The downward position of your head as you look at the screen.
[That said, we, ahem, have some excellent deals on smartphones.] - You’re a runner. Hips and lower back are tight to the touch, foot arches are tense.
[Two words: Icy Hot. Dr. Scholls. Okay, four.] - Your allergies are flaring up. Hay fever got you on the ropes? Tissue around your eyes, forehead, cheeks, and jaw will feel tender and inflamed. Lymph nodes, too, in the chest, neck, and underarms.
[We’ve got more allergy remedies than you can blast a sneeze at.]
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5 Things You Should NEVER Do in the Shower
You’ll never look at an innocent shower the same way again. (Janet Leigh, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, 1960.)
Believe it or not, your safety is on the line every time you hop in and steam up the bathroom. To avoid embarrassment, injury, or worse, the experts at Prevention say you should stay away from…
- Showering during an electrical storm: Think about it—water conducts electricity. If lightning hit a power line or the ground it can come up your pipes. (Even at a distance from your home, the jolt can be significant.) Activities to avoid in a thunderstorm: showers, baths, dishwashing by hand, playing hard-wired video games or computers, and talking on hard-wired phones.
- Using an old showerhead: Over time, potentially dangerous bacteria accrete in the nooks and crannies, providing microbes. Even worse, modern showerheads can aerosolize water particles, allowing bad bacteria deep into your airways. Use a rain-type showerhead or remove it altogether and go with a single stream of water.
- Showering without a mat: In North America in 2011, more than 250,000 accidental injuries occurred in the bathroom or shower—20 percent due to slipping. Put non-slip strips or a mat in your tub and consider adding grab bars inside and outside the shower to reduce falls.
- Overusing your loofah: They’re great for removing off dead skin, but loofahs can become loaded with germs. Wash yours once a week. Either soak it in diluted vinegar, or run it through the dishwasher.
- Showering before bed: An evening shower is a delightful thing, but don’t hop in within two hours of bedtime. The temperature change messes with your body’s natural triggers for restful sleep.
[More at Prevention]
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The Science Behind Making the Perfect Pancake
Impress your family with a nugget of trivia: That delicious pancake aroma comes from a reaction named for the French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard.
Everyone loves pancakes. But it takes more than luck to work out how much batter you need or how to ensure the perfect flip. Here’s a great recipe, along with secret scientific underpinnings that contribute to perfect pancakes. Good luck!
THE RECIPE
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
- 1-1/3 cups milk
- butter for frying
THE SCIENCE
- Cooking is chemistry: Flour supplies protein and starch, both of which make simple sugar molecules join in chains. Much of flour’s protein comes from gluten. When you mix flour with milk and eggs, its gluten molecules get more flexible and can bind. The mixing causes carbon dioxide gas from the air to be trapped within these networks, which causes the pancake to rise.
- If you want thick pancakes, use a raising agent: This produces the carbon dioxide. Use baking soda or baking powder, or a mixture of sodium bicarbonate with a weak acid, like cream of tartar.
- Let batter stand for at least 30 minutes: Three hours is better. Why? You want to beat the mixture hard, to form the gluten—but allow the starches time to swell. With insufficient time, the pancake structure will be weak and full of air bubbles.
- Go easy with the batter: Rookie cooks always use too much.
- Use moderate heat: The pan should be hot enough for the pancake to brown in less than a minute, but not so hot that the batter sets when you put it on the pan. The pan matters, too. The best are heavy and flat, and hold heat well.
- The colour and flavour come from “browning off”: This process—a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction—is caused by hot sugars reacting with amino-acids, generating a wide range of small molecules that escape from the mixture and carry their wonderful smells to your nose.
Happy pancaking!
[More at Time Science]
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How to Write Emails If You Want People to Actually Respond
The sweet spot of email writing. (Image courtesy of Boomerang.)
Having trouble getting people to reply to your emails? The solution, say the experts behind a popular Gmail plugin, is to write as if you’re 9 years old. Short, declarative sentences carry the day. But beware: Excessive simplicity and complexity both diminish your chances of a reply. Messages written at a kindergarten reading level get replies 46 percent of the time; those written at a university level, 39 percent.
Here’s a full list of Boomerang’s email tips:
- Use short sentences with simpler words. A 3rd grade reading level works best.
- Include one to three questions in your email.
- Make sure you include a subject line! Aim for 3-4 words.
- Use a slightly positive or slightly negative tone. Both outperform a completely neutral tone.
- Take a stand! Opinionated messages see higher response rates than objective ones.
- Write enough, but not too much. Try to keep messages between 50-125 words.
[More at The Washington Post]
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