Mac

From:Ian Sheldon

To:Guy Wooles

Date:Friday, May 05, 2000

Subject:Mac's excellent adventure

Mac's Excellent Adventure

Mac had a great time. After a cosy flight, he went on a whirlwind tour of the province of Alberta in Canada. Below are scenes from his visit to the badlands in southern Alberta, where early spring weather shone on him. This followed a wildlife watching extravaganza in Elk Island National Park, where he cavorted with the northern likes of moose and bison. Later, a trip to the mountains for skiing, and more wildlife watching, including bald eagles, elk and bighorn sheep. A lengthy drive through the icefields high in the Rockies brought him back to Edmonton where he hung out for a month or so, until another road trip took him to Calgary to visit artist friends visiting from Penticton. I left him in Calgary to continue his journey somewhere. I think he joined Andy and Kindrie on the long trip back to the sunny Okanagan Valley. Perhaps he remains in Calgary. However, I am sure the peaches and wine of the Okanagan were enough of a draw for him to have ended up down there for the time being.

If you would like photos or slides of Mac in the badlands, I can send you some. Just let me know!

Ian - Roger's brother

From:Guy Wooles

To:Ian Sheldon

Date:Sun, 7 May 2000

Subject:Fantastic fotos

Dear Ian
Thanks ever so much for your e-mail and photos updating me on Mac's excellent adventure. It was quite unexpected and a great surprise.
If you have more photos then that would be great. If you want you could send them to me via e-mail in jpeg format, that way I can transfer them directly onto my website. Mac will have his own page documenting his travels and any other things he gets up to.
Could you also send me some details about yourself and what you do so that I can put some information on the website also.
Roger mentioned that you are part of an eco company, am I right? If you have a website there maybe I can put a link to it on my page.
I am about to launch my website on the internet as soon as I can get my head around ftp. When I do I'll let you know my address so you can check out Mac's page.
Again, thanks for the e-mail, it would be great if you and/or your friends could keep me updated on Mac's adventures so that I can make his page an excellent one.
speak to you soon,
Guy

From:Ian Sheldon

To:Guy Wooles

Date:Sun, 07 May 2000

Subject:Re: Fantastic fotos

Hi Guy:
I am glad you liked the photos and Mac-update. I only have one
more picture, which is also from the badlands, and Mac doesnt really
show up that well. Now I wish I had taken more! Anyway, I am an
artist/illustrator/writer, and anything-elser when the contracts come
in. I have my own website, so you can find out more info about me from
my bio etc there, address is www.iansheldon.com.
I do a lot of work, both contract and royalty, for a publishing company
here focussing mostly on nature. And all this allows me to be a painter
too. Keep me posted about the website, I look forward to finding out
more about your activities, and any Mac-clones out there. I got the hang of ftp last year, and just recently my website has started seeing a lot of activity. I dont know how much you know about websites etc. I
basically struggled through it myself. There are a couple of things you
might you want to consider to help yours along the way. On my home page
you will find a webcounter. This is a free service, and allows my to
trace and analyze a certain number of the visits to my site. I find that really interesting. Although at the moment I am discovering that
probably about 80% of visits to my site are people looking for porn. I
guess they use the word "gallery" in the search engines, and then they
visit my gallery, and find something completely unexpected! Also, there
is a linkstoyou icon. This allows you to be discretely linked to
thousands of other people. This boosts your website rankings, and I get
a lot of visits as a result of this. Visit their website to find out how to go about it. Its quite simple, and requires monthly maintenance.
Plus, when you are up and running, I would love to have link on mine to
yours.
Bonne chance mon ami,
ian
ps, to the best of my knowledge (havent had any updates yet), Mac is
currently in Penticton with another artist friend. She also has a
website. If you like the shapes and forms of big wildlife, check it out, some of her work is quite stunning. Its at www3.bc.sympatico.ca/kgroveart/ I also have a link from my links page to hers.

From:Guy Wooles

To:Ian Sheldon

Date:Thu, 11 May 2000

Subject:Online

Dear Ian,
I have finally managed to get online. I haven't managed to set up Mac's page yet but that will be done in the next few days. You can now see what Mac's brothers have been up to recently.
My address is www.khern.freeserve.co.uk
Let me know what you think.
Guy

From:Ian Sheldon

To:Guy Wooles

Date:Thu, 11 May 2000

Subject:website

Way to go, Guy! I love it, and its nice to meet some of Mac's relatives.
I will forward the email on to Mac's current hosts, so that they become
aware of the progress. oh yeh, and I love the apologetically-unapologetic-feel-good-artistic-comment. We can all stand up and be proud!
Adios,
ian
ps it would be nice to have a home page that isnt just about Dennis, but just welcomes you into the penguin fold, if you know what I mean.

From:Ian Sheldon

To:guy

Date:Sun, 14 May 2000

Subject:relatives

Hi Guy: a friend who met Mac was just in Victoria, British Columbia, and met some possible and distant relatives of Mac. i thought you might
enjoy these images of Picatso and Salvador Dogi. I know nothing else
about them, except that they made me laugh when i saw them.
ian

From: "Guy"
To: "Ian Sheldon"
Subject: Howdy
Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2000

Dear Ian,

Well, I have finally finished and become a BA (Hons)-what an anticlimax! Now it's back to the real world of living. Anyway, I just thought I'd write and see how you are and find out whether you had any idea where Mac was. I haven't heard from him at all and his brothers and sisters are getting worried. So if you see him can you tell him to get in contact.

At the moment I'm trying to get funding or sponsorship to continue with my penguins but so far nothing has come about. This sudden spell of fine weather doesn't help with the motivation either!

I have been asked to exhibit my penguins at an exhibition in September which could be quite beneficial but the problem is that the penguins on show will be penguins that have not been anywhere, so I have to find a way of explaining the work without the air miles!

I am at the moment trying to get together some paperwork to send to David Attenborough via a contact I have at the BBC. While I think of it, do you have any contacts near the North Pole or know of any way I can contact, directly, a Polar Research Station?

Speak to you soon,
Guy

From: "Ian Sheldon"
To: "Guy"
Subject: Re: Howdy
Date: Wednesday, July 19, 2000

Wooooah! Hi guy.

That's disturbing about Mac. I will get onto it ASAP. Congratulations on the degree thing. I have done it a couple of times now, and it gets even more anticlimactic the next time round - so be warned if you decide to do another one. I didn't even bother with the ceremony! Interesting developments regarding your penguins, shows etc. If you need the slides of Mac to get large nice prints done for the show, then let me know, I am sure I can dig them up from some dark recess somewhere and send them to you. Maybe some of these images can substitute for the real thing, in absentia and all that. I am racking my brain for contacts up north. My girlfriend is presently ensconced (don't know how to spell it but I like the word) on an island a stones throw from there, but that isn't any help I doubt. You might try the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. They are the leaders in all things polar, and from what I remember are a decent bunch, but then its been 7 years since I had any remote connection to do with them, via lecturers and stuff at Cambridge.

Right now I a trying to get some new art done for my Cambridge gallery. I would like to get 6 new watercolours done, and I have done 3, and I leave for London in 6 weeks or so, so I think 6 might be pushing it. I will be hanging around England during this time, and hopefully visiting roger for a spell too. Which makes me wonder if your show will be on then, as it would be great to check it out.... I just took part in an annual artwalk event here - lots of artists sitting on the sidewalk painting their lives away and trying to sell their wares. The first day was a complete disaster - winds pushing 70kmh, paintings flying through the sky, easels crashing down on fragile watercolours, and so on. However day 2 was better and for once people spent some money on me!

Finally! Time for me to slurp coffee and work..... Ian

From: "Andy Bezener"
To: "Guy Wooles"
Subject: Re: [Fwd: Howdy]
Date: Thursday, July 20, 2000

Dear Guy,

Sorry it has taken so long for us to get in touch with you. Mac is still with us. After Ian gave him to us, he hung out with our parents in the spring for a while in Calgary, and then drove west with us to the Okanagan Valley where we live near Penticton BC. We live in a tiny cabin in the woods next to a small creek, and Mac has been sitting looking out of the window at the trees. We are hoping to give him to a good friend who is doing an open ocean voyage from Victoria BC to San Francisco CA. He'll have to get some water proof clothes before he goes though, so we'll see.

It was very nice to meet him and we've enjoyed his stay.

Kindrie Grove & Andy Bezener

From: "Guy"
To: "Ian Sheldon"
Subject: Andy & Kindrie
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2000 14:17:12

Ian,
How're you doing mate.
Just a quick note to say that I tried to e-mail Andy and Kindrie yesterday but it came back as undeliverable.
Do they have a new address?
Speak to you soon.
Guy

Date: Sat, 02 Sep 2000 08:48:09
From: Ian Sheldon
To: Guy
Subject: Re: Andy & Kindrie

Hi Guy: Try this one: ******************
They did change it a while ago, and I am quite sure this is the one I usually use.
I hope they ended up updating you on mac's antics....

Ian

From: "Guy"
To: "Andy Bezener"
Subject: Big Mac
Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2000 20:15:09

Dear Andy & Kindrie
Thanks for your e-mail, sorry it's taken so long for me to reply but I've been rather busy lately (thankfully).
Amongst other things I've been trying to find more penguin hosts around the world. Unfortunately it's been going rather slowly.
What's the latest on Mac? Do you know? Did he manage to go on his voyage to San Francisco or did he lose his water-wings?
I had an e-mail from a woman in Montreal in response to an article about my penguins in the Bristol evening Post would you believe! She wrote offering Mac a bed (or nest) for a few days with her and her school kids. I wrote back saying that I didn't know where he was or what his plans were but I would be more than happy to send one of his brothers or sisters to visit.
I'm also trying to get one into the Montreal Biodome depending on whether I can convince them I'm not raving mad and that this is a serious conservation project. Anyway I hope that you're both fine and not missing Mac too much.
Thanks a lot for putting him up for a few weeks and I hope to hear from you soon.
Stay in touch take care
Luv
Guy
XX

From: "Ian Sheldon"
To: "guy"
Subject: hi
Date: Friday, November 03, 2000 2:30 AM

Hi Guy
I just heard this tune on the radio, with lyrics that made my ears prick up (canid fashion). I thought of you as I heard it, and figured you might be interested.
Its by Lyle Lovett, and titled (I think) "Penguins are sensitive to my needs". That's about all Iknow, but I guess if you need some music at a show or something, this could be the tune to play!
Back to my illustrating
Ian

From: "Guy"
To: "Ian Sheldon"
Subject: Re: hi
Date: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 4:57 PM

Ian,
Thanks for the e-mail. I looked the song up on the internet and managed to get the lyrics, so I will put them on the website at some stage even though I have no idea how the song goes.
The latest news is that one of my penguins will be assisting an expedition to the north pole in late March. I managed to get hold of one of the top boys at the Uni of Washington who is responsible for all the research at the pole and, luckily, he seems to have a good sense of humour.
I still haven't heard from Andy and Kindrie, maybe they've lost Mac and don't want to tell me!!
Anyway, speak to you soon
Guy

From: "Guy"
To: "Ian Sheldon"
Subject: Howdy
Date: Sunday, February 04, 2001 11:26 PM

Ian,
How are you doing? I haven't heard from you for ages. I hope everything is going ok for you over there.
I've decided to make the Penguins more global so I'm spending about 6 months travelling round Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands and maybe a bit of west coast USA.
My girlfriend has already started her travelling as of last October so I decided to catch her up in Oz and do some penguin stuff out there. Should be fun! I'm booked to leave on the 2nd of April.
It's worked out quite well because Roger's selling the flat so when I move out a new owner moves in.
Have you heard from Andy about Mac, lately?
I've heard absolutely nothing.
Mac's probably shredded and he doesn't want to tell me. If that's true then that's ok. If they've got photos of the corpse then that's even better. We could put an obituary on the website!
Anyway, I'll speak to you later. Keep smiling even though your b**ls are probably freezing off right now.
They'll thaw out come springtime!
Take care
Guy

From: "Ian Sheldon"
To: "Guy"
Subject: Re: Howdy
Date: Monday, February 05, 2001 1:47 AM

Oh, bummer.
Suddenly my glorified trip to France seems really tame and boring. I just heard some news about penguins - apparently they dont fall over when they watch planes fly over. Some group of scientists spent five weeks observing them and came to this conclusion...
So, Andy still hasnt done anything with Mac... jeez, I knew they were slow acting people, and they said so when I saw them at Christmas, but this is crazy! I am going to be in Hawaii next month and will be meeting up with them. I will ask them to bring him out with them, and so I can rendezvous with Mac (provided they actually remember to bring him), and then I will leave him at Nita's who owns a b'n'b. Mac can eat lots of breakfast there until maybe he has had enough, and meets some people from who knows where who might take him who knows where.
How does that sound.
Of course this extravagant plan can only happen if they remember to bring him.
More later - hopefully some scans of slides of Mac in Hawaii (the Big Island), where I will be sure to give him a tour of volcanoes etc. I am sure he will appreciate the change of scene.
Gotta go eat,
Ian
PS If your travels in west US bring you up this way, feel free to stop by/stay, although I admit, Edmonton isnt on many tourist maps.

From: "Ian Sheldon"
To: "guy"
Subject: mac
Date: Sunday, February 11, 2001 5:32 PM

Guy News!
Andy and Kindrie say that they will bring Mac out to the Big Island, Hawaii, next month. I will take pix and scan them to you, and update after his exciting newly fired up travels kick up a little.

Ian

From: "Nita Isherwood"
To: "Guy"
Subject: Mac
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2001 12:17 AM

Hi,
Ian Sheldon brought Mac to the B&B from Edmonton Canada. Kaya, who is 10 years, really likes him and wants to send you a message.
Do you have a web site?
Best alohas,
Nita

I really like mac.I think he is cute. He currenty in hawaii,HI. he is in a smalll town. How long did it take to mack mac. my sisster thinks it is just a wad of newspapper, but i think he is nice and cute. i would like to know where he is from.
mac said"hi".
aloha,
kaya

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