Media

How I Learned to Love The Walrus, Kindle ebook by Beth Orsoff

How dedicated am I to finding new posts for the World Wide Walrus Web? Dedicated enough to download a self-professed “Chick Lit” eBook to my Kindle, that’s how. And not just download it, but to read it too? In fact, I really enjoyed it. Now, you don’t come across a romantic comedy set in a walrus sanctuary everyday (and if you’re reading this, Jennifer Aniston/Sandra Bullock you may want to contact Ms. Orsoff and option this story right about now…) so I suppose a little information about how the story is in order.

Here’s a synposis from Beth Orsoff’s website:

When Los Angeles publicist Sydney Green convinces her boss to let her produce a documentary for the Save the Walrus Foundation, the only one Sydney Green is interested in saving is herself. The walruses are merely a means to improving her career and her love life, and not necessarily in that order. Sydney would’ve killed the project the second she learned she’d be the one having to spend a month in rural Alaska if it had been for any other client. But for rising star and sometimes boyfriend Blake McKinley, no sacrifice is ever too great.

Yet a funny thing happens on the way to the Arctic. A gregarious walrus pup, a cantankerous scientist, an Australian sex goddess, a Star Wars obsessed six-year-old, and friends and nemeses both past and present rock Sydney Green’s well-ordered world. Soon Sydney must choose between doing what’s easy and doing what’s right

I enjoyed this ebook, it’s a great fun read for your next flight or beach trip when you need some escapist storytelling, and of course, you want your story to include a liberal helping of walrus! I must admit that the main walrus fact I took away from reading this book is that, um, walrus don’t smell very good. Like not good at all. OK, they smell really bad. So bad in fact, that I want to go to a walrus sanctuary like the one in the book and check it out for myself.

Beth Orsoff’s website is at http://www.bethorsoff.com and she has a facebook page as well. I should point out that I emailed Beth about doing this posting, and not only did she link to the World Wide Walrus Web from her Facebook page, but she sent me a very friendly reply. Makes me feel good about spending my three bucks on her book!

Here’s a link to buy the ebook on Amazon.com
How I Learned to Love the Walrus (an Arctic Romantic Comedy)

Here’s a link to a nice interview on ebookhighlights.com: Beth Orsoff on Walruses and love matters

OK, How about a papercraft walrus?

We’ve posted about an Origami Walrus, and now thanks to the Canadian Design Resource Website, we can add a papercraft walrus to the blog!

Note that this link eventually leads to an order form for the pattern/instructions which will run you $6 for the walrus, or $25 for the entire set of 5 animals (black bear, polar bear, buffalo, moose, walrus). The video at the link below is well worth watching.

Here’s a link to the Post.. http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/officialgallery/symbols/canadian-animal-series-paper/

And our post about Donya Quick’s origami walrus gets a lot of traffic, so here’s that link as well: http://www.worldwidewalrusweb.com/2010/11/20/origami-walrus-why-not/

What does a Walrus Sound Like, 2.0

I originally posted on this topic some months ago here (What Does a Walrus Sound Like?) but I just now discovered a great new interview via NOVA Science Now that will really give you a complete picture of the types of sounds a walrus makes. This is from the walruses at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA – where you may be aware they are awaiting the imminent and very rare birth of a walrus calf! This is a great audio/photo feature.

The interactive feature is packed with GORGEOUS walrus photos, lots of info thanks to trainer Leah Coombs of Six Flags and Dr. Colleen Reichmuth of UC Santa Cruz. This is old, it’s from ’09 but it’s new to me, and likely new to you too. Sivuqaq and Uquq, two of the featured walruses, are today’s expectant parents!

Here’s the link to the interview (transcript and audio) over at PBS.com/Nova

And that’s what a Walrus sounds like.

Walrus pic of the day!

Oh man, check this out! I found this on a search engine, and I don’t know who to credit it to – if you know where this picture came from, let me know. According to the caption, this walrus is sleeping on a Russian submarine. Look that the SIZE of this guy!

The Delightful “Where’s Walrus?”

You may have heard of or seen this book, since it’s been plugged quite a bit online. Allow me to introduce you to “Where’s Walrus?” a delightful picture-only book by Stephen Savage. In this brightly-colored book, a walrus escapes from a City zoo to experience life in the big city – he eludes the zookeeper by donning various disguises and hats and inserting himself into scenes you may find familiar – including a subtle shout-out to Edward Hopper which I assume is intentional. I won’t tell you how Walrus’s adventure ends except to say that he returns to the zoo, triumphant! Mr. Savage’s illustrations are fun and simplistic in the best possible way – with bright colors and simple shapes that almost make the book feel like it could have been created with cut paper or on one of those felt boards. It’s a great style and perfect for this short, wordless adventure. This is one of those great books that a small child will pick up over and over and find new things in the illustrations each time. This book deserves all the accolades that it’s been getting.

EDIT: And yes, I bought the book at full price! Proof is above. This ain’t no payola-driven walrus blog!

The Author, Stephen Savage, follows us on Twitter (@walrusweb) – you can check him out on Twitter here @savageartist. A promotional “trailer” made the rounds on the Web when the book was released – it’s worth watching, so check it out right here!

I love this book. I grew up in New Jersey, and since my Dad was a student and later a professor at Columbia University we spent a great deal of time in the City. Of the things that I still strongly associate with New York City, the books of Ezra Jack Keats, particularly “Hi, Cat!” “Where’s Walrus?” reminds me of this book.

Pick up a copy of this delightful book for the small child in your life. They will love it. Here’s the link on Amazon, and for good measure – here’s a link to The Cat as well.

Buy Where’s Walrus? on Amazon.com
Buy Hi, Cat (Picture Books) on Amazon.com

Great painting of a walrus being created – check this video out!

I got an email today from a guy asking me to check out this video of his brother’s walrus art, ’cause he thought it would go great on the blog. OK, I’ll check it out… And he was right. Thanks for the tip! Great painting and amazing process. Seriously, stay with this video ’til the end because you’ll be amazed. I guarantee you’ll be saying to yourself, OK – where’s the walrus? But just wait….

Nice work!

Another Great Walrus Photo from National Geographic Prints Store

(C) Pete Barrett, National Geographic Image Collection

Check out this great photo available from the National Geographic Prints Store. I have another walrus print from this store hanging on my office wall, but I may have to order this one too. Prints from the store range in price from $24.95 up to a 50″ print for $199. Think my girlfriend will let me get THAT one into the house? Yeah, me neither.

Here’s the link to this photo. Such a thoughtful walrus, and a great photo – please support this photographer by buying a print, if you feel like your home or office needs a little extra walrus!

http://gallery.pictopia.com/natgeo/photo/9448943/

Wipeout Canada: The Walrus Connection!

One of my Twitter followers, friend of the blog @Walruswhisperer (Phil Demers) WON the first running of the course on the Canadian version of Wipeout which aired in Canada last night! Big bucks and serious bragging rights!

Here’s where this post is going to get kind of long… First of all, Phil had contacted me on Twitter (@walrusweb) to make me aware of his incredible walrus story (details below and in a future post), so I was extra-amused when he tweeted that he’d be on Wipeout – since aside from Walruses, Wipeout is one of my favorite things-that-no-one-understands-my-love-of. I can NOT get enough of people doing amazing faceplants and flying through the air while trying to get through that course. Don’t get me started.

This is not the only time in my recent life that walruses and Wipeout have come together. Since it’s my blog, I’ll tell this brief story. But first I have to make a confession. I’m a TV talker. I cannot watch a TV show such as Wipeout without talking to the screen, or in the case of Wipeout, loudly saying “OOOOF!” or “Right in the FACE!” while watching the show. I can’t help it, it’s reflex. I am the laughing stock of the house, and certain of the family will not watch TV with me because of this. So anyway, my girlfriend and I recently got involved in a contest (as in the Seinfeld episode, but not related to, well… you know) with the various kids of the house. The contest went like this: each person would have one thing selected for them that they would have to give up. Things like Justin Beiber, texting, or talking during TV shows. All the kids assumed I’d be the first one out, and they came up with a plan to break me immediately. Yes – I got home to find YouTube via the PS3 hooked up to the big TV with Wipeout’s funniest wipeouts and other clips cued up. They though they had me, but I was strong. I managed to watch several clips without uttering an OOF or so much as an “oh MAN!” when someone got clocked in the FACE by that one obstacle, or flew off of the red balls flailing into the water… I was cold as ice. Nothing. I had won. Then I mentioned that there was this one walrus video they should check out and we ended up watch random Youtube walrus videos. There was with one video where this guy was talking about the HUGE walrus! Wow! Look at that WALRUS! and I immediately broke down. “That’s a sea lion you idiot!” I yelled at the screen. And just like that I was out. Like Phil – I had survived Wipeout, only to be brought down by some hodad who doesn’t know his pinnipeds.

Congrats Phil! Especially if you held on long enough to read this entire post!

Here’s a link to the brief piece about Phil’s win in the Niagra Falls Review.

Here’s Phil’s Wipeout audition tape from YouTube:

Here’s a link to Wipeout Canada’s website, but be warned – I don’t think anyone outside Canada can see this video. I can’t anyway – I’ve tried on a few browsers, so I suspect it’s Canada only..

I will be posting more about Phil shortly – if you think his story sounds familiar, it’s likely you’ve heard of his unusual relationship with Smooshi the Walrus! If you haven’t – watch this next vid and prepare to be amazed.

All the Walruses that are fit to print

This doesn’t count as a “real” post – but I just did a search for “Walrus” on www.nytimes.com, just out of curiosity, and got this great results page.

See the results yourself, at this link to the search…

Lots of good reading here, and some post material as well, I’m sure. As some of you may know, it was an article in the New York Times that essentially inspired me to create this site. I posted about that one, here.