Canada Slim and the Author’s Apartment 1: Learning

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Thursday 13 June 2019 In everyone’s life there are marker moments that separate who you were from who you are, as significant to the individual as BC and AD are to the Western calendar. I have had my share of such moments in my own life. Some are as obvious as scar tissue… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Author’s Apartment 1: Learning

Canada Slim and the Voices without Echo

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Monday 2 June 2019 Thursday was Ascension Day, a holiday commemorated in both Thurgau Canton (where my wife works) and in St. Gallen Canton (where I work), and, to our mutual surprise, we found ourselves both free from the obligations of employment simultaneously. A miracle almost as spectacular as someone rising to Heaven… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Voices without Echo

Canada Slim and the Mandir of Nose Hill

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 21 May 2019 This Sunday in Switzerland some folks will attend services in either a Reformed Church or a Roman Catholic Church and both groups will call themselves Christian.     And as the Earth spins around the Sun, from the Dark Continent of Africa to the Canadian tundra, Christians will kneel… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Mandir of Nose Hill

Canada Slim and the Pirates of Teguise

Landschlacht, Switzerland, Sunday 5 May 2019 Imagine the perfect holiday. Perhaps it is an active one spent hiking and windsurfing. Perhaps you are a culture vulture mesmerized by museums and attracted to artefacts of days gone by. Or perhaps you long for a lengthy siesta where your hardest decision is how much sunscreen to wear… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Pirates of Teguise

Canada Slim and the Legacy of Left Boy

Landschlacht, Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera) Thursday 24 April 2019   She is susceptible. He is impossible. They have their cross to share. Three of a perfect pair. He has his contradicting views. She has her cyclothymic moods. They make a study in despair. Three of a perfect pair. One, one too many Schizophrenic tendencies Keeps it complicated… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Legacy of Left Boy

Canada Slim and the Swedish Pinot

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 20 April 2019 The Norwegians find them insufferably puffed up. The Danes consider them to be party poopers. The Brits see them as sexy but cold. The Americans think they are Swiss!   Above: Flag of Sweden   Author Sven Linquist summed it up thus: The Swedes look at the world through a… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Swedish Pinot

Canada Slim and the Chocolate Factory of Unhappiness

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 30 January 2019 This is not India, but nonetheless there are a few sacred cows in Switzerland one would be wise to not offend. First, one should never question Switzerland’s superiority…. In anything. Just as the laws of physics decree that the bumblebee cannot possibly fly, so the laws of economics similarly decree… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Chocolate Factory of Unhappiness

Canada Slim and the Man Who Invented the Future

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 21 January 2019 (Continued from Canada Slim and the Visionary & Canada Slim and the Current War) “Imagine a man a century ago, bold enough to design and actually build a huge tower with which to transmit the human voice, music, pictures, press news and even power, through the Earth to any distance… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Man Who Invented the Future

Canada Slim and the Station Sanctuary

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 19 January 2018 “Romance!“, the season tickets mourn, “He never ran to catch his train, But passed with coach and guard and horn – And left the local – late again!” Confound romance and all unseen Romance brought up the nine-fifteen. Rudyard Kipling, “The King” Above: Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936)   Paul… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Station Sanctuary

Canada Slim and the Freudian Slippers

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 15 January 2018 I have spoken of Sigmund Freud before. Above: Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939)   And I must confess to a reluctance to like the man and his theories, for the same reason I am reluctant to embrace Charles Darwin and his theories: Above: Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882)   Admitting… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Freudian Slippers