We are the World Blogfest ... # 12 - 'Levidrome' - a Canadian lad's word ...

At just SIX Levi Budd, from Victoria here on Vancouver Island, has a fascination with words ... and devised 'Levidrome' ... as an equivalent to Palindrome ...  yet different!  With me?

Levi Budd
c/o Times Colonist

 I think I need to be six again ... but here goes:  Levidromes are different - they are always paired with their levidromic word and both words are valid dictionary words - each with a different meaning.

Also Levi noted that there was no name for words that are words when spelt backwards ... eg spit makes tips spelt in reverse ... though if you spat I'm not sure you'd get tipped ... but that's another story ...

Want some examples?!

Wolf = Flow

Stressed v Desserts:

 .... very appropriate for us all - stressed writers mostly need desserts ... not sure that will be a Levidromic sentence though ...

Any others ... anyone?!

As an extra back up, in Latin ... 'Lev' means "light in weight" ...

... while 'drome' comes from Palindrome ... because of the backward spelling bit: it fits as it comes from a Latin origin ... as well as being a brilliant idea from a six year old - Levi - he is definitely not the light one ...

c/o End Paper:
The Paper Blank Blog

 He's gained a following and a determination from peoples around the world and from Star Trek - 'that be in space me thinks' - the Capt James T (William Shatner) Kirk has used it, Canadian musicians too, Beer companies in Sweden and Chicago have put it on their labels - young Levi Budd is learning about branding early in his life ...

William Shatner has petitioned Oxford Dictionaries to get the word into their dictionaries ... young Levi has advocates all over the world promoting his word for inclusion as an entry into various dictionaries.

Words to love - Levidrome Movement

To top it off ... Budd's levidrome happens to be a portmanteau word ... and eponym ... I'm learning - but hey don't tell anyone?! ...  check it out here at OxfordDictionaries' blog ... Ben Jonson features in 1637 ( a mere 380 yearsago) ... when Ben's collection of poems "Underwoods" first came to the fore ...

It's everyone's word, anyone can get behind it and make a difference ... it just needs to make its way into ordinary usage ... I think we could do our bit here in our blogging fraternity ...

Schools are doing it ... I think we can join up too and spread the word around ... use it often and regularly ... we can add to 'levidrome's' organic growth into the world of dictionary land ...

Simple n'est pas?!!  Let's use Levidrome in our blogs occasionally ...

Great I can promote a six year old from Vancouver Island ... so thank you Levi for being so enamoured with words ... I guess my spelling here might befuddle you ... being an English woman amongst the internet and its readers ... American spelling taking over ... but perhaps we could bring English back in ... it'd make my life easier?!

Bringing Light into others' worlds

Here's to Levi and his word ... let's go advertise 'levidrome' for him ... if schools can do it ... surely we can too?!

Yeah ... it might even feature in my A-Z ... how cool is that ... my lingo is changing!

Here's to LEVIDROME ... and Levi Budd ...

Oxford Dictionaries: Weekly Word Watch ... 

Times Colonist newspaper - Let's all say 'Levidrome' ...

Welcome to the Levidrome list - here's Levi with his parents explaining his idea - great short video to watch ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters International Stories

Loving Vincent: A film of immersive beauty ...

I went to see this film about Vincent van Gogh at a local out-of-town 'public gathering space for arts, culture and recreation' - "The Hub" - which is being refurbished in an historic former school ...

I'm so glad I went ... it was full to the gunwales!  Anyone interested in the process of art, film, documentary, animation, murder, art history or simply van Gogh - please try to see this film - and marvel ...

... at the creative inventiveness of the Artist, Writer, Director - Dorota Kobiela - who originally conceived the film and co-Writer, co-Director and Producer - Hugh Welchman - who joined her in bringing to life this animated biographical drama film.

It is extraordinary ...

6 years of creative development

125 oil painters painted 65,000 frames

853 oil paintings on canvas appeared in the film, and

90 design paintings, made in the year before the shoot -

over 1,345 discarded paintings ...

these defined the style in which the team re-imagined van Gogh's paintings into the world of film ...

a number of these paintings were made available for sale before the film's release

Auberge Ravoux
(now known as the House of Van Gogh)

The film was made in Poland ... the Polish Film Institute is a state-run cultural institution and is highly regarded.

It was nominated at this year's Academy Awards as the best animated feature film ...' Coco' won ...(which I'll be seeing on Sunday! - for info: but I didn't enjoy it!)

Map of the world created using van Gogh's colours
and style of painting ... 

In the link ... you can see more of their work in categories - landscape, 'noir Vincent', black and white, design paintings, characters, prints and more ...

Church of Auvers-sur-Oise
painted by van Gogh

... also about the team and crew - with their résumés - fascinating to read up ... and how they went about their work ... there are images for us to see ...

Loving Vincent tells the mysterious story of how he came to be shot and develops that theme to resolution (probably/ perhaps!) ...

Dr Gachet - by van Gogh

... we see the character actors transformed into art, then onto screen for this animated film ... as too his landscapes, and his final days after he was shot, and the interpretation as to what might have happened ... making this a murder mystery.

Adeline Ravoux - painted by van Gogh
1890

I loved this film ... and it has taught me more about art, film, creative development ... and Vincent van Gogh ... it is a delight ... and I do hope you will get to see it ... to me it sparkles oil paint!

Lady Bird and Poldark are both in the film as characters in Vincent's life ... Saoirse Ronan as Marguerite Gachet, while Aidan Turner is a boatman.  Totally useless extra bit of information!

Directors of film, together with the actor
who voiced the part of Armand Roulin.
in the French version of the film

Here's the link to all the parts ... the cast, crew, screenings and events, news, blogs etc ... enjoy the scroll around ...

As van Gogh said "we cannot speak other than by our paintings" ... 

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Theme Reveal ... Aspects of a British 'girl' in Canada ...

I couldn't really do anything else could I?  So I'll endeavour to make it interesting and informative ...

I am very glad to know the master list will be back ... as I find that the most satisfactory way to meet new participants ...

Cowichan Bay view from the quayside

Now for some recent pics from around here ... and some news ... I'm going to be joining a square-dancing group: 1) I don't dance ... and 2) this will be the first time the 'new' hip (circa 2014) will be put to good use!  Trial by squaring up to the caller - the grand-daughter!

Another view from where I had a delicious
'Made from Scratch' ice-cream ... so far mango,
then the next one was raspberry ... they are delicious!

I've joined a gym and swimming pool ... these are the views?!  I have to say that I'm delighted that the seagulls don't squawk and rush anyone for a stolen lunch, ice-cream or fight amongst themselves ... as they do back home in England ...

Transplanted crocuses ... now on the field
edge, rather than in the garden

Then I'm going to a book-club - never done one of those before ... but have been invited to go along - a well-travelled lady invited me, and with her husband ... they'll help me learn about birds and no doubt lots of other things ... which I'm looking forward to ... 

Pacific Silver Fir

I'm beefing up my knowledge of Canada and British Columbia - this A-Z will be general ... next year will be more local - which will show life on the beef farm, food, trips, the locality  and generally around ...

I have a couple more posts to go up before Easter Sunday ... April Fool's Day or the "we're off it's the start of the 2018 A-Z" ...

So see you all on the A-Z circuit ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories

Trumpeters, Trombones and Tadpoles ...

Life here is eclectic and I live in a pull-me -push-me life-style ... not at all sure what will happen next ... but it makes for interesting memoir (in due course).

Collage of sights in Victoria

I've seen a few films ... they pop up in venues I'd expect as well as well as put on by various societies or organisations.  I do recommend Three Bill Boards in Ebbing, Missouri - it kept me engaged ... yet has still got me thinking about various aspects of life - well worth seeing.  I have another I want to write about.

Thank goodness I haven't been on the freezing east coast, or for that matter over in Siberian Europe - though I suspect the vagaries of weather will catch me next year!  Spring is springing ...

Victoria waterfront by
Edward Richardson (1864)

Things are sorting themselves out - I finally have a desk ... and so can sort my life out a little ... and hope to get a better computer sometime soon - I'm surviving, but it's not that easy.  A strong compartmentalising character resides here ... and even I am battling!

Life on 'our' farm - clearing the trees

I was briefly in Victoria last week and saw the cherry trees blossoming and must get back to spend time down there: the waterfront, which we only drove past, looks stunning ... and to see an Emily Carr exhibition at the Art Gallery.  Little Smart car and I will set out next week sometime!!

I hope also to get up the island a little way purely for research purposes ... so that's on my list for next week.

Trumpeters in full flight -
winter time

So to my 'T's ... Trumpeters - these large migratory swans, re-introduced to increase the near extinct populations of the 1930s, have been trumpeting away - they love the Comox Valley here on the Island and over on the lower mainland.

Seeing various skeins of Swans trumpeting over the farm is a delight ... perhaps not so for the farmers ... though I haven't heard ours complain - I must check.

As stated!

Trombones - bet you don't know what those are?  Took me by surprise ... as I sat looking at some paperclips I'd bought ... they were labelled 'trombones' - which is the French word.  I rather like that ... and if I find more ... I'll be increasing my French a telescopic (slide mechanism) bit ...

Frogs various

Now to Tadpoles ... the swimming pool cover is full of rain-water ... which is fine ... but now I'm told and have already heard the tadpoles come out to play ... and turn into froggies ... I can see I'll be hearing a croaking cacophony for a few weeks!

...  I hope those Tailless amphibians will enjoy lots of tasty little 'itos' - in other words mosquitoes! - and I won't get too bitten: some hope!

Some of the farming family ... 

Things are starting to come to life in the garden ... the trees are being pruned - with the hope for some better fruit, as they are fairly ancient ... some of the big trees, which died, are being dug out - so there's always activity up here ...

... the cows, I hear 'talking' occasionally - but  they enjoy their farmland in the valley below.  Suppers are delicious ... and the bar-b-qs are tantalising near!

FIL to the farmer!  My 'willing' helper!

Thankfully ... the FIL from the farm is fairly handy and helps me sort some fairly irritating challenges out ... and will fix up some mosquito screens for me ... 

... actually he's a handy-man par excellence ... has spent his life working with machinery et al.  His grand-daughter is following in her father's and grandfathers' (both) footsteps.

Chowder at the Bay

Grandson has just gone off to Swaziland with the school on an educational charity volunteer trip ... so it's been good to see their itinerary ... and though he's of an age of not saying much ... I hope to get some Africa feed-back on his return!

Down the road - Cowichan Bay

Well that's me for now ... life has its moments here ... but there's lots of opportunities - so I just need to absorb when I need to, and come back to life shortly after ... so now to get on with a few things and prepare fully for the A-Z ...

Couldn't resist these guys - now I
can see why paperclips so easily
'translate' to trombones - even
plastic ones ... good practice tools

Thanks for visiting and being so supportive ... I'm away from the Tadpoling, Trumpeting Trombones ... which I won't even attempt to translate into French in this bi-lingual country ...

Hilary Melton-Butcher

Positive Letters Inspirational Stories