Category: History

Canada Slim and the Genius of Glarus

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 12 August 2016 In my last blog post, Yesterday’s Children, I wrote of boarding a train to parts unknown in an attempt to restore my composure after attending a memorial service in Benken, Canton St. Gallen. The day then was much like today’s weather: chilly, dark, unpleasant… Glarus, Canton Glarus, 21 March 2016 Glarus, the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Genius of Glarus

Hongwon style: Canada Slim in Korea

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 9 August 2016 Thirteen months of time remembered sixteen years later…prompted by a recent edition of The Economist and another “old” article found whilst searching for conversation ideas for my Friday classes: First, the articles: “Watching a new film on the big screen could soon be consigned to the dustbin of history. Sean Parker,… Continue reading Hongwon style: Canada Slim in Korea

The economics of love vs freedom

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 7 August 2016 Single people, aged 25 to 29 in eight rich countries – the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Spain, Italy, France and Germany – have become poorer over the last 20 years compared with the average population. People aged 25 to 29 who live by themselves have less post-tax income in… Continue reading The economics of love vs freedom

Artistic differences, dogs and cats, earth and sky

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 7 August 2016 One of the dangers of spending “quality time” with a significant other, especially if much time has passed since the last period of “quality time”, is the need to “discuss the relationship”. Spend any significant amount of time with a member of the opposite gender and you quickly come to… Continue reading Artistic differences, dogs and cats, earth and sky

Canada Slim behind bars 5a: Arrested development

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 18 July 2016 Somehow it feels like it’s time. After decades of silence and sifting of memory, as more years lie behind me than ahead… When the headlines of the moment evoke so much emotion and recollection within me… I read of the injustice of America and its treatment of its minority populations by those who… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 5a: Arrested development

Canada Slim behind bars 4: Me and D´Arcy McGee

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 7 July 2016 I have some bad habits. I am essentially a man who prefers leisure to work. As each and every person who has ever existed, exists or will ever exist is defined by how he/she decides to use the 24 hours each day provided us indiscriminately, so it can be said… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 4: Me and D´Arcy McGee

Canada Slim behind bars 3: Prisoners of choice

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 5 July 2016 Why do people travel? For each person there are personal, individual reasons for venturing outside our personal comfort zones into the Great Unknown. But essentially I think it is a quest to learn something new, something previously undiscovered, not yet experienced before. Travellers seek to challenge themselves by discovering who they themselves… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 3: Prisoners of choice

Canada Slim behind bars 2: Punishment preserved

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 2 July 2016 Brexit and the European Championship seem all anyone can talk about these days, whether in the classes where I teach or at the Starbucks stores where I work as a barista. As I don´t have a stake in either event, my thoughts are more preoccupied with my duties at hand, plans… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 2: Punishment preserved

Canada Slim behind bars 1: Voyeurs of tragedy

Dorchester Prison, Dorset, England, Saturday 9 August 1856 A day of drizzle, a crowd of 4, 000 people of all ages gathered to watch a woman swing from a prison scaffold. Before the gallows, Martha was counselled by the Reverend Clementson, the prison chaplain, so she faced her death composed. Elizabeth Martha Brown had been… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 1: Voyeurs of tragedy