Le Nichoir is a wild bird rehabilitation centre in Hudson, Quebec and is requesting the support and charity of artists. They already have about 260 artists who have committed to donating Wildcards and have received about 50 so far. We have received donations from 10 Canadian RCA members including:

Philippe Beha
Leslie Poole
Gathie Falk
Bruno Bobak
Joseph-Richard Veilleux
George Walker
Robert Bateman
Marcel Braitstein
John A. Schweitzer
Pnina Gagnon

We are doing a final push over the next week or so to find another 40 artists to meet our goal of 300. With the July 1st submission date looming, now is the time to ask if you know of any one else who might be interested.

Even though Fridays make everyone happy because it's finally the end of the week, they can also be totally depressing because 1) you still have to make 'til the end of the work day and 2) it's the end of the week. That's okay, friends. I have two pieces of news that ought to bring you cheer.

1. Sticky
   There is a Canadian goose evading the capture attempts of park authorities in Prospect Park, NYC. Why are they trying to capture Sticky? Because he's got an arrow through his neck. He has had for three weeks now. Apparently an arrow through the neck is no big deal to Sticky, who keeps on running, flying, and swimming away. That's some serious badassery, Sticky. No wonder we love those geese.
2. Tim Riggins and Eric Northman, Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
   Yes, there is going to be a movie based on Battleship, the board game, and that's a real shame. But it stars Taylor Kitsch (a.k.a Tim Riggins) and Alexander Skarsgård (a.k.a. Eric Northman), so how bad could it be, really? Just so you understand, we're talking about these guys:
   

 

 

E.O. Wilson, an 80-year-old Harvard biologist, has just published his first novel, called "Anthill." One section of the work tells, in great detail, of the triumphs, the conflicts, and the downfalls of four separate ant colonies in Alabama. The other parts of the book are more autobiographical, and tell the story of a man who gives up a successful career in law to protect the particular plot of land where he learned, as a boy, to love nature -- the plot of land on which the four ant colonies are based.

Here's an excerpt from "Anthill," recently published in The New Yorker.

And here's the Globe and Mail review.

Following on a previous post mentioning David Grann's "The Lost City of Z," here is some (very old) footage of Theodore Roosevelt, a few years after his presidency, looking for thrills by joining an expedition to map the source of the River of Doubt, in the Amazon rain forest.
Roosevelt went in 1913-14, but much of the footage of the actual river was taken in 1927, by George Dyott, another American explorer who followed the same route.

 

It is with great pleasure that we at the Friends of the Central Experimental Farm ask for artists' submissions to our "For the Love of the Farm" Fine Art Exhibition & Sale.
The exhibit is designed to meet the following goals:

• To raise public awareness of the value, both aesthetic and historic, of the Central Experimental Farm
• To raise funds for the Friends of the Central Experimental Farm in support of their mission "to help protect, maintain, enhance and promote the Central Experimental Farm"
• To marry the disciplines of art with agriculture and horticulture
• To celebrate the beauty of and create excitement about the Central Experimental Farm as a National Historic Site and Cultural Heritage Landscape
• To provide a venue that not only achieves the foregoing goals, but also makes fine art easily accessible to the general public

It would help us greatly if you could inform your members about the following call for submissions as soon as possible:
Call for Artist Submissions
Friends of the Farm Fine Art Exhibition & Sale
Deadline for submission: March 1, 2010, 2:00 p.m.
Opening/Vernisage: October 8, 2010
Exhibit dates: October 8 - 11, 2010
Submission Criteria: info@friendsofthefarm.ca
Tel: (613)230-3276
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call our office, Monday through Thursday, 9AM - 3PM at (613) 230-3276
Your support for this initiative will be greatly appreciated.
Yours truly,
Diana Dakers-Ryan
FCEF Events Coordinator

Mr. Kubus was caught by wildlife officials at Christchurch International Airport on South Island in December, about to board an overseas flight with 44 geckos and skinks in a hand-sewn package concealed in his underwear. That's just amazing. You'd think he'd have heard that underwear is out.