Category Archives: Media

On the road with Sweet Bobby

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I left Tsawwassen close to 7 this morning and now, 7 in the evening, I’ve got my legs stretched out on a bed in a room at the Shimmerhorn Inn in Creston. Nothing luxurious but it’s a bed and the place is rather pretty in blue and white, and I’m very grateful indeed to have the first day of my road trip to Winnipeg behind me. I plan to attend a Mennonite history conference, visit some friends and relatives, and then double back through Saskatchewan for a week’s writing retreat at St. Peter’s Abbey in Muenster. More about all that later if I find time and energy to keep up a bit of a blog-diary.

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I decided to take the #3 out of B.C. On the map that highway  looks like an earthworm wiggling along the border. No end of curves, that’s for sure, and no end either of up and down, but it’s magnificent country in so many ways, the mountains and trees and valleys and rivers, and in Keremeos and Osoyoos, vineyards and orchards and bustling fruit markets. Traffic was relatively light and road conditions were good.

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Before setting out, I downloaded several books and podcasts to help the hours along. Today I listened to the last four episodes of a six-episode podcast I’d started at home called Sweet Bobby. It’s a harrowing true tale about some complicated catfishing, which is not, I learned, the action of catching catfish but “a deceptive activity in which a person creates a fictional persona or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim.”

Here’s the description of the series.

Kirat is a successful radio presenter. On Facebook she meets Bobby, a handsome cardiologist. He’s a catch. Soon, they get tangled up in a love affair full of lies and manipulation. Then… Kirat discovers a deception of almost unimaginable proportions.

I like podcasts that tell a true story, and are journalistic in style. (Recommendations welcome.) I also listened to an hour of Writers & Co. Although Eleanor Wachtel, one of the best interviewers ever, has just retired after 33 years of doing the show, some of her favourites are being aired throughout the summer.

Day one nearly done then. My body still feels like it’s in motion, but I’ll go for a walk and then, hopefully sleep well, and be ready to drive again tomorrow. A few more mountains to get over or around.

Besa: The Promise

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H. and I saw a remarkable documentary at Canadian Mennonite University last evening. Besa: The Promise told a story I’d not known, of Muslims in Albania taking in and saving Jews during World War II. It seemed unexpected, surprising actually, that this would have happened–Muslims and Jews are enemies, aren’t they?–and the more inspiring because of it.

BessaRescreenBesa refers to an Albanian honor code: one opens the door to a knock, one offers safety to refugees, one keeps one’s word. Several stories played within the larger story: the narrative of the German invasion and hunt for Jews with commentary from elderly survivors and their Muslim hosts; a Jewish photographer’s quest to honor via portraits the Albanians who’d responded so nobly and at great danger to themselves in those evil times; and most compellingly, a Muslim man’s attempt to fulfill a promise made between his late father and his wartime Jewish guest. Since I hope others will see the film, I won’t say more about that particular promise. Continue reading →

My “Serial” Binge

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Last weekend, I binged on the wildly popular podcast series, “Serial”, in which Sarah Koenig and other producers and staff of “This American Life” investigate the case of Adnan Syed, who was convicted of the murder of Hae Min Lee in Baltimore in 1999 and who continues to claim his innocence.

I say “wildly popular” as if I’d been in the loop about the series while it unfolded last year, like some five million others anxiously waiting for the next installment (there are 12), but that’s not true. I’m aware of its reach after the fact. But even this much later, I’ll admit I feel a strange satisfaction in having participated in this phenomenal thing, to be in the know about it. Aren’t we just funny that way? There’s so much that I’m completely clued out about, which is inevitable and quite fine actually, and a great deal else on the “cultural” front that I access only tangentially. I’ve watched only half an episode of “Mad Men,” for example, one episode of “Downton Abbey,” none of “Orange is the New Black” or “Transparent” and on and on, which is not to discredit the accomplishments of these programs, nor to discredit people who are faithful fans of these series, but just to say that it’s possible to be aware of things, even know quite a bit about them, without actually listening to or watching or reading them.

But I digress. Continue reading →