Landschlacht, Switzerland, 4 November 2017 Three thoughts come to my mind when associated with the words “sealed train”: Easter Monday, 9 April 1917, when Lenin boarded a sealed train in Zürich bound for Petrograd (today´s St. Petersburg), which Winston Churchill described: “The Germans transported Lenin in a sealed train like a plague bacillus from Switzerland into… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Sealed Train
Canada Slim and the Street Walked Too Often
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 1 November 2017 Within a week, last week, spent in London we crossed Praed Street at least a dozen times, a street “not at any time one of London´s brighter thoroughfares”. (John Rhode, The Murders in Praed Street) Above: Praed Street, Paddington district, London “I´ve walked this street in far too many towns…. Same scraps… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Street Walked Too Often
Canada Slim and the Paddington Arrival
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 30 October 2017 Yesterday evening I returned home after spending an intense week in London with my wife, aka She Who Must Be Obeyed. It is important that my wife is mentioned, for it must be admitted that travelling as a pair is significantly different than travelling by oneself. And if one of… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Paddington Arrival
Canada Slim and the Danger Zone
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 22 October 2017 Tomorrow, we fly to London. My wife is concerned. 2017 has been a bad year for London. 22 March: Attack on Westminster Bridge – 6 dead, 40 injured 3 June: Attack on London Bridge – 11 dead, 48 injured 19 June: Attack on Finsbury Park Mosque – 1 dead, 11 injured Above: The… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Danger Zone
Canada Slim and the Distant Bench
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 21 October 2017 There are two distinct types of citizens in many countries: those who are native-born and those who are not. As formerly the former and of late the last two decades the latter, this change of status as a Canadian living in Canada and then as a Canadian living in Asia and… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Distant Bench
Canada Slim and the Undiscovered Country
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 20 October 2017 Captain Spock: Nature abhors a vacuum. I intend for you to replace me. Lt. Valerus: I could never replace you. I could only succeed you. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Above: Poster for Star Trek VI It is a legitimate question. When we are gone, who replaces us? I know… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Undiscovered Country
Canada Slim and the Life Electric
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 17 October 2017 We live in such modern times that sometimes it is hard to imagine that there were times before that weren´t so modern. Perhaps in a thousand years, folks will think that the manner of measuring time using the abbreviations BC and AD (before Christ and Anno Domini – in the… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Life Electric
Canada Slim and the Coming of the Fall
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 13 October 2017 There are some things that I don´t enjoy about working at Starbucks: shift work, impolite customers, how horribly messy the customers can be, how terrible things can become when things get insanely busy, especially with the arrival of autumn and the annual St. Gallen OLMA fair on now. No job is perfect. As… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Coming of the Fall
Canada Slim and the Inappropriate Statues
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 11 October 2017 Watching American politics these days is like being witness to a horrific traffic accident: You want to look away but somehow…. You just can´t. So much every day exploding or threatening to explode in the overly Excited States of America. And yet it is this constant turmoil of emotion and endless,… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Inappropriate Statues
Canada Slim and the Birth of a Nation
Landschlacht, Switzerland, 9 October 2017 I was 24 and living in Ottawa, Canada, in 1989, when I read the news about the fall of the Berlin Wall that had separated West Germany from East Germany for a generation. Above: Centre Block, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Canada I would see remnants of this wall in subsequent visits to… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Birth of a Nation