Nona’s Story: Your Story A Guided Journal About You (Book)
by Rosana Sablic (SanaWorks Publishing $34.99)

When Rosana Sablic realized her nona (Croatian for “grandmother”) was dying, she created this journal to preserve her life story—and now invites you to commemorate the lifetime of someone you love. A detailed list of questions divided into four main sections (“Life Journey, “Family,” “Love and Intimacy,” and “Self”), Nona’s Story guides you through the steps of recording your life, or the life of a loved one, for future generations. There’s a decent amount of space for writing down details, plus pages reserved for photos. Also, chunks of Nona’s own story punctuate the book—in case you need a little inspiration.

—Tamara Letkeman

Dial M for Mantra (CD)
by Jai Uttal (Sounds True, $17.98)

“World music is music from everywhere,” says Jai Uttal. “Music that unites hearts and cultures. Music that brings peace.” Uttal, a true pioneer of world music, blends the sacred music of India with modern elements from the West in his latest offering. Dial M for Mantra takes Uttal’s soulful chanting through a metamorphic trip through the realms of soul, lounge, and even funk. A remixed compilation of his earlier music, Dial M is a radical, uncharted departure from his traditional devotional music of India. We predict that after a couple of listens, you’ll irresistibly be drawn into the vibe, especially track 6: “Ganesha Windmix.”

—Bruce Skipper

THINK PEACE: Portrait of a 21st Century Movement
(DVD, Pumpkinhead Production Company/DreamHouse Cinema, $19.95)

Can the modern-day peace movement put a stop to war? That’s the query put to activists, war resisters, journalists, and people-on-the-street in this homegrown documentary, which shines a light on said movement, while examining what went wrong on Feb. 15, 2003, when millions of people marching in more than 800 cities failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. Featuring interviews with Hans Blix (former chief U.N. Weapons Inspector to Iraq), Rex Weyler (co-founder of Greenpeace), and other figures in the modern peace movement, Think Peace gleans most of its footage from Vancouver’s World Peace Forum in June ’06—an event that, interestingly, received little attention from the mainstream media.

—TL

pomegranate-midwives.com

What’s on your iPod? Annie—Anniemal, M.I.A.—Arular, LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, Stevie Wonder, Fischerspooner, Supreme Beings of Leisure. I have a “book-on-tape” of Stephen Colbert’s I Am America (and So Can You!). [And] I love Ella and Louis—it’s the perfect music to listen to when I’ve been awakened at 4 a.m. to go to a birth.

Cutting-edge or cacophony? Cutting-edge—I used to date a DJ who spun mostly boompty, house, old funk, even a little techno—maybe I liked his vinyl more than I liked him?

What’s the best music to deliver a baby to? People who are birthin’ should listen to Ben Harper or U2 because it’s soft, beautiful music that fills your heart with hope. What better way to come into the world? I had a client who gave birth at home in front of her 52” TV that blasted the Country Music Channel—to each their own.

Guilty pleasure time: If we jacked into your shuffle, we’d be surprised to hear… Ice Cube—The Predator. I love “When Will They Shoot?” Yeah, I know, not your typical white middle-class lady fare. I’m probably not his target audience, but his visceral proclamation of the discrimination and racism he encounters is really poetic. It gets me.

Your favourite song of all time is... It changes. I fell for my husband during a meteor shower on the Skagit River, so for a while it was Coldplay’s “Yellow.” When we got married it was Iron and Wine’s “Naked as We Came.” Now I just love “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s.

You wouldn’t be caught dead listening to… John Tesh or David Hasselhoff. They should have stuck to Entertainment Tonight and Knight Rider, respectively.

If you could hang out with any musician—living or dead—who would it be? Tom Waits in a smoky bar, Bono when I want to feel self-satisfied, Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong because they were the greats. Edith Piaf because I’m a hopeless romantic. Nina Simone just because her voice makes me cry and laugh at once.

If there were a soundtrack to your life it would be… It would probably just end up a single track, “The Girl from Ipanema,” on a loop.

—Erica Gehrke

author of Ecoholic, a bestselling guide of eco-friendly tips, products, and services in Canada

What’s on your iPod? If I could take the whole globe and shove it in there, I would. Mostly there’s a ton of old roots reggae like Toots and the Maytals, with a good dollop of Brazilian beats, Talib Kweli-style conscious hip hop, ants-in-your-pants, Fela Kuti-type Afro tunes… But the standby for Sunday mornings and mellow afternoons would be gobs of old-school jazz like Jelly Roll Morton. Pretty much everything but rock. Unplug that guitar and you’ve got a chance at getting my attention.
Cutting-edge or cacophony?  I like to think it’s splendid cacophony that’ll take you around the world in an hour. Or 20.
We should listen to your playlist because… it’s kind of like having a little time machine in your ear combined with jumping on a plane without even leaving your seat. My equivalent to clicking ruby slippers and taking me away. Groove along for a bit and you’ll never need Prozac again.
Guilty pleasure time: If we jacked into your shuffle, we’d be surprised to hear… I’m not ashamed of my pop trash playlist! It’s labelled “Pop Tarts” and it’s got lots of booty-shaking Beyoncé/Justin Timberlake-type stuff you can really only handle in limited doses. But it’ll get you on your feet.
 

Your favourite song of all time is… Man, this is like asking me to pick my favourite child (if I had children, anyway). I’m going to have to plead the Fifth!
You wouldn’t be caught dead listening to… anything that thrashes or sounds like Céline. You won’t find me at any ’80s nights, either. 

If you could hang out with any musician—living or dead—who would it be?  Can I pick a few? You know, write a song with Ani DiFranco over lunch, chill with John Lennon and Bob Marley in the afternoon, sing backup for Talib Kweli and Common with Erykah Badu, and maybe Billie Holiday in the evening. That’s in the alternative universe where I can sing, of course.
 

If there were a soundtrack to your life it would be… No question. There’d definitely be a solid mix of quirky singalong Ani DiFranco songs following me along in life. My late teens were more like her early albums: a little angrier, more militant. She seemed to figure out how to stay political and still laugh and love life.
—Erica Gehrke
Catch Adria on the EPIC mainstage April 19 at 3 pm.

MAKING A LIVING WHILE MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
The Expanded Guide to Creating Careers with a Conscience (Book) by Melissa Everett (New Society, $25)

For an increasing number of working people, personal, social, and environmental values are fast becoming the driving forces behind their career decisions. But how do you find a balance between making a living and making a (positive) difference in the world? Professional career counsellor Melissa Everett offers up a 10-step program for career development that emphasizes personal fulfillment, integrity, and contribution. This informative guide to a working life built on principled choices and an entrepreneurial attitude just might help you create a career that is satisfying, sustainable, and financially feasible. —Erica Gehrke

THE JESUS SAYINGS
The Quest for His Authentic Message (Book) by Rex Weyler (Anansi, $29.95)

Greenpeace co-founder and former SharedVISION publisher Rex Weyler now turns his formidable investigative reporter skills to the life of Jesus and the myths built around him. This book is a detailed, excruciatingly investigated, and scholarly account of Jesus’ life, right down to questions of loaves and fishes, the resurrection, and—gasp—messiah status. In the end, whether you consider it heresy or incisive research, Weyler suggests that whatever else, Jesus was a human teacher who encouraged inner self-awareness. —Rebecca Ephraim

WINDS OF DEVOTION (CD) by Nawang Khechog and R. Carlos Nakai (White Swan Music, $17.99)

Acclaimed Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and Tibetan flute virtuoso Nawang Khechog have joined musical forces in a cross-continental acoustic delight. These Grammy-nominated artists offer four peaceful and uplifting compositions guaranteed to drop your monkey-mind deep into a space of stillness and meditation. This is a powerful album: rich, lush, and nary a synthesizer in sight. The hypnotic blending of their flutes layered with Native American and Tibetan instruments and chants is a perfect accompaniment for yoga, bodywork, massage, tai chi, or your next power walk on the seawall. —Bruce Skipper

 

 

founder, happyfrog.ca, an online resource of all things green

by ERICA GEHRKE

What’s on your iPod? Amy Winehouse, the Raconteurs, Angelique Kidjo, the Velvet Underground, Burning Spear. In podcasts: MacBreak Weekly, Democracy Now!, Engadget Podcast, Great Speeches in History.

Cutting-edge or cacophony? Both and more. Music and spoken word.

Guilty pleasure time. What type of ear candy do you sometimes listen to? That song from the film Titanic by Céline Dion. In podcasts: Real Time with Bill Maher.

If we jacked into your shuffle, we’d be surprised to hear an amateur bootleg of the Dalai Lama chanting.

You wouldn’t be caught dead listening to anybody out of that Disney kid-rock-star-making machine and its tragicomic spawn like Britney and Hilary and Hannah, but of course I am quite a few decades away from their target demographic.

If there were a soundtrack to your life it would be... Depends on my mood, the weather, the time of season… I created a new playlist recently to help me through this interminably cold, wet, dark Vancouver winter of some of my favourite jazz artists, which includes Eric Dolphy, Pharoah Sanders, Stan Getz, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane…

Who’s your favourite Canadian band? I’ve always had a strong connection to Neil Young’s work. Lately I have fallen in love with a song called “Four Strong Winds.” It’s an old Ian Tyson song Young first covered on Comes a Time and reprises on his great recent live DVD Heart of Gold with Emmylou Harris and his wife Pegi on vocals: “Four strong winds that blow lonely/Seven seas that run high/All these things that don’t change/Come what may.”

What was the last live music event you attended? Kirtan with Krishna Das at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church. Sort of a new-age sing-along. As the hours went by it just got better and better.

If you could hang out with any musician—living or dead—who would it be? Bob Dylan has always intrigued me. Only because he has made a career out of being an enigma, wrapped up in a riddle, with a smirk and a wink. I would bring every bit of my reportorial skills to discover what is really behind that public mask that he never lets down. How can someone who has written such important and moving songs be such an apparently clueless jerk?

—Erica Gehrke

Sunfood Living: Resource Guide for Global Health (Book) by John McCabe (North Atlantic Books, $30)	This encyclopedia-style guide offers practical tips from around the world for leading a healthy and sustainable lifestyle in our industrialized, consumer-driven society. The author illuminates the essential role of food choices and presents concise information on the food shortage myth, pollution caused by farm animals, plant-based food and health, fair trade, heart disease, hunger, and homelessness. The bulk of the book comprises a directory of organizations, publications, and other resources readers can turn to for in-depth information on each topic. This book is a catalyst for action and responsible living—for you and the planet. —Erica Gehrke
Sadhana (CD) by Maneesh de Moor (Sounds True, $16.98)	Master keyboardist, composer, producer, and former Deva Premal collaborator Maneesh de Moor has created his first solo recording. Sadhana is an ethereal, ambient-ethnic journey into the sensual and the senses. Dutch-born de Moor blends Tibetan chanting, didgeridoo, tamboura, and numerous other instruments with nature sounds wrapped around his masterful sound-sculpting and layering. Inspired by the rituals of the Indian, Tibetan, Yoruba, Native American, and Sufi worlds, this lush aphrodisiac for the soul is easy on the ears and catchy enough to have you humming along even after you’ve unplugged your iPod. —Bruce Skipper
The Real Dirt on Farmer John (DVD) directed by Taggart Siegel (Gaiam, $19.99)	This detailed documentary follows the tumultuous life of John Peterson, a Midwest American farmer whose conviction to hold onto the family farm herds him through tough times. With a remarkable amount of back footage that really gives the film legs (Peterson’s mom got a Super-8 in the 1950s and was an avid camerawoman), meet Farmer John as a child on a traditional farm, as a college student who turns the farm into a hippie commune, and as a grown man who, after many near-misses of losing everything, transforms the land and crops into an organic Community Supported Agriculture farm. Al Gore calls this film “unbelievably special.” —Tamara Letkeman

naturopathic physician - drjuliebowman.com

Whatcha’ readin’? I often recommend health-promoting books to my patients, and I’m currently re-reading this gem: Consciously Female: How to Listen to Your Body and Your Soul for a Lifetime of Healthier Living by Tracy Gaudet, MD (Random House).

What’s it about? It’s an owner’s manual for the physically, emotionally, and spiritually aware woman. Dr. Gaudet reminds us that following our intuition is just as important as using rational discernment when making choices involving our health. She offers step-by-step instructions on how to “reframe and reclaim” what it means to live in the female body. It’s empowering!

Desert island material or doorstop? Knowing how to optimize menstrual cycles and fertility could certainly come in handy on a desert island if repopulation is a concern!

Your favourite book of all time is… That would have to be the first book written by my budding novelist mom, Patricia Corbett-Bowman.

If we looked at your bookshelf we’d be surprised to see… several books about surfing all over the world. I try to go on local and faraway surf trips every chance I get.

Given the choice, would you be Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, or Nancy Drew? Definitely Nancy Drew. I often feel like Nancy at home after my fiancé has done the tidying up and I can’t find anything in his newly reorganized system. I am also always up for a challenge, which is why I became a naturopathic physician.  

Guilty pleasure time. What kind of mind candy do you sometimes read? Not the juiciest of disclosures, but I love Yoga Journal magazine. 

If you could spend 30 minutes with any author—alive or dead—who would it be? Rudolph Steiner. He founded anthroposophical medicine in the 19th century in Berlin. His philosophy is that a system of medicine must emphasize health and use therapies that enhance a person’s capacity to heal.

What would you want to do with said author in that time? I’d love to hear his insights on the creation of a truly integrated system of health care.

They say that everyone has one great novel in them. What would yours be? A wonderful adventure about superheroine healers who travel the globe teaching women how to listen to their bodies, cook healthful food, heal their relationships, and live their wildest dreams.

—Erica Gehrke

The Homeopathic
Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy (Book) by Dana Ullman (North Atlantic Books, $26)

What do Gandhi, David Beckham, Cher, and Emily Dickinson have in common? All have been enthusiastic fans of homeopathy, the medical tradition that treats “like with like.” Dana Ullman—author, homeopath, and physician to Queen Elizabeth II—offers a new definition of homeopathy as “nanopharmacology” and highlights its remarkable capacity as a therapeutic art and science of unique potential. After explaining some of the reasons why conventional medicine is inadequate and why homeopathy works, the author references important scientific studies in user-friendly language that verify the value of this widely used but still misunderstood tradition of health.

The Story of Stuff (Streaming video)
by Annie Leonard (storyofstuff.com, free)

TVs, laptops, iPods, shoes, cellphones, blenders—ever wonder about where it all comes from or where it ends up? Activist Annie Leonard spent 10 years travelling the world tracking “stuff”—from when it’s first dreamed up to when we eventually discard it—and offers her insights into our consumer-driven culture, while exposing the real costs of our “use-it-and-lose-it” approach, in 20 precious minutes. The fast-paced, fact-filled film provides the missing links in our understanding of how consumerism works, and why it is causing such damage to our planet and to the people involved in producing our stuff.

UNSTOPPABLE GLOBAL WARMING: Every 1,500 Years (Book)
by S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. Avery (Rowman and Littlefield, $24.95)

In this updated and expanded edition of the New York Times bestseller, authors Singer and Avery argue that global warming is the result of a natural cycle that occurs every—you guessed it—1,500 years. Drawing from data obtained from ice core and seabed sediments, Unstoppable posits there have been roughly 600 warming periods in the last million years. And—as the title would also suggest—there’s nothing we can do to stop them. While the majority of scientists working on climate change seem to agree that global warming is man-made, it pays to understand both sides of the argument before taking a stand.

Author, speaker, and UBC law professor

by ERICA GEHRKE

Whatcha readin’?

Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness by Marc Ian Barasch (Rodale Press).

What’s it about?

It’s about whether and how we extend the compassion we show to family and friends to strangers—local and far away—and the planet.

Desert-island material or doorstop?

Desert-island, but not if I could only take a dozen books.

You’ve holed up in your bedroom—cellphone ringer off—to slog through this book because

I am intrigued with the question he asks and attempts to answer. He does a good job of weaving in some “new” science about emotions, intuition, and non-verbal communication beneath our conscious awareness.

It is imperative that people who

are discouraged about the state of the world read this book because it provides evidence from multiple sources about compassion for strangers, altruism, and plain kindness among human beings. It is a good antidote to the news that surrounds us.

If we looked at your bookshelf we’d be surprised to see

a huge collection of books about religion—pro, anti, and exploratory. I am convinced that religion and spirituality are the fulcrums on which much contemporary conflict balance, and that it is important for us to increase religious literacy.

Given the choice, would you be Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, or Nancy Drew?

Though I initiated a spy network among my Grade 6 friends modelled on Nancy Drew, I am more drawn to Elizabeth Bennett for her courageous spirit and the clarity that led her to act in accordance with her conscience, even when that meant admitting error.

If you could spend 30 minutes with any author—alive or dead—who would it be?

My grandmother, Luella LeBaron. She was a homesteader in Southern Alberta who worked very hard on the farm and had a passion for writing that found its form in a local newspaper. Before she passed away, when I was a teenager, she breathed her love of creating the printed word into me.

They say that everyone has one great novel in them. What would yours be?

I am superstitious enough to believe that I can only write it once, and need to write it fresh. So I don’t disclose that! I’m in the process, and hope there is more than one!

BODY BREAKDOWNS:
Tales of Illness and Recovery edited by Janis Harper (Anvil Press, $18)

Twenty-one B.C. writers take up the pen to entertain and enlighten readers with stories about brushes with mortality and dealings with the medical establishment. Some are hair-raising. Others are hilarious. All are true. If you’re one of those people who thinks she’s going to sail gracefully into old age—heart, head, and limbs intact—this book is a humble reminder that, at some point, our physical selves will begin to break down and betray us—and that the journey to the end of life is ultimately undertaken alone.

WHALES AND DOLPHINS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN PACIFIC: INCLUDING SEALS AND OTHER MARINE MAMMALS
by Graeme Cresswell, Dylan Walker, and Todd Pusser (Harbour Publishing, $22

Before you head to Tofino this spring to see your favourite cetaceans, be sure to grab a copy of this easy-to-use whale-watching guide. Filled with extensive information on each species’ key identification features, behaviour, and status—as well as the distribution of marine mammals from Baja California to Alaska including dolphins, seals, and sea otters—this comprehensive book is teeming with beautiful illustrations that capture the magic of these fascinating creatures. Take note: proceeds from the sale of each book are donated to the American Cetacean Society.

THINK OF AN ELEPHANT:
Combining Science and Spirituality for a Better Life by Paul Bailey (Sterling, $15)

If the questions “What is reality?”, “Is there such a thing as free will?”, and “Does karma really exist?” keep you up at night, this book will soon make its way to your bedside table. Australian author Paul Bailey sets out to explain how science and spirituality are intertwined and how life evolves as an integrated whole through the mind-body connection. Offering new insight into some of the most challenging questions that face scientists and lay people alike, Elephant posits that understanding the true nature of the universe is key to personal responsibility for change and, ultimately, for finding lasting happiness and fulfillment.