Beating the Heat

If you are in the Lower Mainland in and around Vancouver, BC, you will be amply aware that we are going through a heat wave right now. Aside from sweaty public transport, reduced ability to focus, trouble sleeping and general discomfort, the heat can be down right dangerous if you don't get enough fluid and stay in the sun for extended periods of time. In addition, when it is hot, pollution levels tend to rise making it very uncomfortable for people with respiratory troubles.

Many people have air conditioned work places, or hit the air conditioned mall to beat the heat, but what else can be done to manage? The internet can be a great resource of how to beat the heat. Here is my own list of ideas to help you ride that heat wave instead of be bowled over by it! Please feel free to list any of your tips and suggestions in the comments area.

• More Water: Quench that thirst! Suggestions: ice water with lime, iced herbal tea (caffeine is dehydrating), mango lassi, or blend up some frozen berries and yoghurt. Watch the pina coladas and beer consumption as alcohol is dehydrating. Children should especially be watched to prevent dehydration and heat stroke.
  
• Less hot meals: digesting churns out the heat, so eat lighter during hot weather. Try to use the bar-b-q or make cool dishes like sushi or salad to avoid using the stove. Making dishes from hot climates, like Bali or India, especially trying something new, can also be a fun way to make the best of the situation. Try refreshing ingredients like cucumber, cilanto, mint and lime, which also help to give a cooling feeling. Pretend you are on vacation!
  
• Clothing: Dress in fibres that will wick moisture away from your body, avoid layers, wear those hippy sandals, and put on a hat if you have to be out in the sun. Girls, sweeping that hair up in a chignon is elegant off your neck...and cooler! The body's heat regulator is at the back of the head, so keeping this area cool is very important. At night skip the big pjs and just use a light sheet.
  
• In the home: Draw the blinds, and keep windows/doors closed during the day (if it is hotter out than inside) to avoid turning your place into a stifling greenhouse. When it cools down outside, do the opposite. Set up fans to draw in cool air (like from the basement), and blow out the hot air (like from upstairs), or to blow directly on you if it there isn't much difference between inside and out. At night, a fan directly on you can help you sleep, especially if you have a cold wet cloth to wipe your limbs, back of neck, armpits and areas where blood passes close to skin with now and then. The wet cloth trick can be especially helpful to the elderly who can have trouble maintaining a body temperature.
  
• Use evaporation: Evaporation is a very effective cooling mechanism. A wet cloth or a water spritzer on the skin, plus a breeze from a fan will effectively lower skin surface temperature and feel refreshing. If it is dry out, misting will also cool down the temperature in your home or on your deck - in hot regions they actually sell misting systems to cool ambient air. Alternatively, take a quick cold shower now and then, or a dip in a pool. A great trick is to put a bin of ice in front of your fan. While not as effective as air conditioning, the evaporation and water particles will help to cool things down.
• Escape: There are places besides the mall and an air conditioned car to beat the heat.If you work from home, you can trek to an air conditioned free wifi cafe to work in comfort and harmony. I've started up a list of free wifi cafes with air conditioning in the Lower Mainland to do just that! Please check it out and add your own favourites. Many libraries are also air conditioned and have free wifi if you are a member (call in advance to double check). Many restaurants and theatres are also air conditioned and can give you a few hours respite from the heat and a chance to have some fun. Heading to the beach is a fun way to beat the heat such as a lake or the ocean, but just make sure you have a hat, sun lotion and that you or your kids don't get heat exhaustion or sun stroke. If you suspect heat stroke or exhaustion make sure you act quickly as these are serious conditions.
  
• Embrace: Have a tiki hut patio party or host a luau. Put on the tacky tourist clothes, crank up the tunes, get out the little drink umbrellas, get water guns for each guest, put out the slip and slide and have fun. If you are a foodie, prepare some new and interesting dishes, and make it a heat wave to remember!
  

If all else fails, sometimes the simplest things are the best - things even a child could do. Speaking of which, my kids are waiting for me to go and jump through the sprinkler right now, and with the heat this laptop is generating, I can hardly wait myself!


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The Evolution of an Illustration

This post continues from my last post on Storyboarding, as part of documenting my creative process towards making an illustrated children's story.

I recently found what may be one of the first drawings I ever made of what later became my Blue Jackal character. As you can see in the drawing below I drew it as a card for my daughter and I actually called it a fox back then (although the jackal character was in my mind all along too.)

One of the distinctive features of the Blue Jackal is his long ears (the better to hear you with my dear.) There are two main inspirations (aside from dreams and fancies) behind these odd appendages. One is the fennec fox, which has to be one of my favourite animals. If I didn't appreciate them more in the wild, I'd probably want one for a pet!

The photos on this page in particular really show off their incredible ears, which allow them to hunt at night in the desert. Fennec foxes live in northern Africa, which leads me to my other source of inspiration--the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, who is often portrayed with delicate long ears. Anubis is an oft misunderstood god, and is sometimes portrayed as being evil, but he was at different times known as the guardian of the dead, the escort of the soul after death to Osiris, the one who weighed one's heart against the feather of truth at death, the patron of lost souls (and orphans), and the god of funerary practice. Before Osiris took over the role in antiquity, it was Anubis who represented the original god of the dead in ancient Egypt, and sometimes, instead of being portrayed as a man with a jackal head, he is portrayed in full jackal form, even into later years. This particular sculpture is from the tomb of Tutankhamun:


And so, incorporating these and other ideas, Kabou, my main character, finally emerged. Here is Kabou as his more cartoon version self.

Click to zoom in on any picture.

I have also developed a more naturalized version of the Blue Jackal, which is more realistic and less cartoony, similar to the pictures below.

Click to zoom in on any picture.

But, now I have a dilemma! Should I continue with the cartoon character of Kabou, or a more naturalized version for my book???

I'm hoping you can help me. Which do you prefer, the cartoon or the naturalized Blue Jackal? I'd love to hear your opinion! Please let me know in the comments section. If you have some children you can consult with, even better! I'd especially like to know what they think. So far, I have asked around with friends and family, as well as other illustrators, and the consensus seems to be to go with my original cartoon guy. So, this is the last chance to change things around folks!

For Fun:

A fennec fox colouring page for the kids.


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Faces in the Woods

Was hiking in the woods in the Mount Seymour Demonstration Forest the other day, when suddenly I felt like I was being watched...


I just love it when I find stuff like this. Not invasive nor defasive, but creative and sweet. Some day soon I'd like to hike in an old growth forest, where it wont be because of logging notches that I see faces in the old trunks, but because of thousand year old character.

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