Landschlacht, Switzerland, Monday 6 July 2020 Let there be no doubt: My souvenir book loves Porto. Above from the top left corner clockwise: Clérigos Church and Tower; Avenida dos Aliados; Casa da Música concert hall; Ribeira district; Avenida da Boavista business hub; Luiz I bridge and Porto from Vila Nova de Gaia “The… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Invention of the Clear Day
Canada Slim and the Secret Beauty
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Saturday 2 May 2020 (Lockdown Day #47) Easter, 1916 is a poem by W. B. Yeats describing the poet’s torn emotions regarding the events of the Easter Rising staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday 24 April 1916. The uprising was unsuccessful and most of the Irish republican leaders involved… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Secret Beauty
Canada Slim and the Magical Cactus
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Friday 10 April 2020 (Lockdown Day #24) At present, we live in interesting times, as the Chinese curse intended. Stores are shuttered. Church services suspended. My sources of employment closed. My movements outside of the apartment discouraged and travels outside the country denied. For three weeks this has been normal life across this… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Magical Cactus
Canada Slim and the Lemon Mutants
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Saturday 14 March 2020 From Brescia Today, Friday 6 March 2020 There are 268 cases of corona virus infections confirmed in Italy’s Brescia Province, while deaths there have risen to 18. Fifteen new municipalities have been added to the epidemic network, which previously had not presented any infection: Acquafredda, Borgosatollo, Castenedolo, Darfo Boario… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Lemon Mutants
Canada Slim and the Land of Oblivion
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Monday 17 February 2020 There is only one certainty in life: Nothing is certain in life. I have an ever-growing amount of writing projects that I wish to complete, but they are often delayed and sometimes replaced by other priorities that demand my time and attention. One such unfinished self-assigned task is the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Land of Oblivion
Canada Slim and the Humanitarian Adventure
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 10 December 2019 There are things in Switzerland (and in our existence) that we simply take for granted: And the thing about Swiss stereotypes is that some of them are true. Diplomatic? Yes. Efficient? Absolutely. Boring? Only at first glance. Despite being one of the most visited countries in Europe, Switzerland remains… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Humanitarian Adventure
Canada Slim and the Author’s Apartment 2: Suffering
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Sunday 17 November 2019 I have often believed that you can tell a lot about a person by the manner in which they live. For example, if you, my gentle readers, wanted to comprehend the conundrum that is Canada Slim, yours truly, you would need to visit the apartment I share with the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Author’s Apartment 2: Suffering
Canada Slim and the Harry Potter Fado
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Friday 11 October 2019 As you read what follows…. Download a fado piece. Portugal’s most famous musical form, fado (Portuguese for “fate“) is urban music, of night and bars, of a yearning that is beautiful and melancholic, accompanied by guitarra and viola. Above: Fado, José Malhoa (1910) To the south, fado… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Harry Potter Fado
Canada Slim and the Elastic Novice
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 17 September 2019 Damn that man! One man’s writings has had and continue to have a major effect on my life and this has been reflected in my travels and I have already spoken of the man previously in this blog. Above: Charles Dickens, New York, 1867 (Please see Canada… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Elastic Novice
Canada Slim and the Road to Utopia
Landschlacht, Switzerland, Tuesday 27 August 2019 Sometimes a place defines a person. Sometimes a person defines a place. Take the eminent Canarian author Alberto Vásquez-Figueroa as an example of the first. Alberto’s grandfather was an architect. Alberto’s father was born in Guadalajara while Alberto’s grandmother was there. Alberto’s mother, the daughter… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Road to Utopia