Landschlacht, Switzerland, 23 August 2016 Perhaps it is a bad idea to watch Cyrano de Bergerac and Bridget Jones’ Diary while drinking copious amounts of alcohol, for the mind may take a funny turn down dark paths that it shouldn`t. I think of Cyrano… Hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet (nobleman serving as a soldier)… Continue reading No sex, please. I’m online!
Category: Literature
The Name Game
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 16 August 2016 Recent events have made me aware of the importance that humanity gives to names. A colleague and her husband, both good friends of mine, brought a new soul, a baby boy, into the world at 12:27 pm today. This past weekend the mother was honoured with a baby shower – a party… Continue reading The Name Game
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
The Battle Electronic
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 23 July 2016 It´s 5 am and my wife is still asleep in her bed while I stare at an electronic screen willing it to magically put scattered thoughts into sensible prose for public digestion and edification. I think of the number of topics and events I have yet to write about and… Continue reading The Battle Electronic
Canada Slim behind bars 5b: Time served
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 22 July 2016 In the past five posts I spoke of prisons – how prisons inspire literature, prisons as tourist attractions, prisons as tourist accommodation, my work and life in a youth hostel/former jail, and the road that lead to me being imprisoned for a short time in America. In this sixth and… Continue reading Canada Slim behind bars 5b: Time served
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
When the last Luddites walk away…
Nottingham, England, 1811 They move about in bands at night, masked and sworn to secrecy, smashing up the new machinery which is taking over the textile industry. Their leader is a mysterious man named Ned Ludd of Sherwood Forest, who has been likened to the legendary Robin Hood as a friend of the poor and… Continue reading When the last Luddites walk away…
Shakespeare in the original Klingon
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 20 June 2016 “All the world´s a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts.” (William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7) “You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the… Continue reading Shakespeare in the original Klingon
Shame denied
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 16 June 2016 “You can judge a nation by the way it treats its most vulnerable members.” (Aristotle) “…the best test of a nation´s righteousness is how it treats the poorest and most vulnerable in its midst.” (Jim Wallis) In St. Gallen stands a man, a beggar named Bruno, who hangs around outside… Continue reading Shame denied
Once upon a time, once upon an Alp
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 14 June 2016 “Once upon a time, high upon a Swiss Alp… It is a placid existence, this Alpine life. There are no neuroses, no anxiety, just flowers and sunshine. Most people know that there are a lot of mountains in Switzerland. In point of fact, there is at least one peak for each… Continue reading Once upon a time, once upon an Alp