Everyone, I think, has their own list of places they would like to see before they die. Of the many places I have yet to discover I would love to visit Bhutan one day. “Bhutan is a world that you had only hope existed. Vertical prayer flags flutter in the breeze and men dressed in… Continue reading My own private Bhutan
Canada Slim and The Poet´s Path
“Insidious forces are marshalled against the time, space and will to walk and against the version of humanity that act embodies. One force is the filling-up…”the time in between”, the time of walking to or from a place, of meandering, of running errands. That time has been deplored as a waste, reduced and its remainder… Continue reading Canada Slim and The Poet´s Path
For God, Prince and Fatherland: The Principality of Liechtenstein
Today I was truly a stranger in a strange land… I visited, for the purpose of finding work, the Principality of Liechtenstein, only two hours’ distance by train from my own wee village by the Lake of Constance. Liechtenstein is a landlocked German-speaking constitutional microstate monarchy sandwiched between the Rhine River and the Alps, between… Continue reading For God, Prince and Fatherland: The Principality of Liechtenstein
We´ll always have Paris (2): Some thoughts
Since the summer of 2014, ISIS has transformed the politics of the Middle East. These jihad fighters combine fanaticism with military expertise and have won spectacular and unexpected victories against Iraqi, Syrian and Kurdish forces. ISIS has spread from Iraq’s border with Iran to Iraqi Kurdistan and to the outskirts of Aleppo, the largest city… Continue reading We´ll always have Paris (2): Some thoughts
We´ll always have Paris (1): The official record
On 12 November 2015, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, that is inhabited mostly by Shia Muslims and is controlled by Hezbollah. Reports of the number of deaths range from 37 to 41 to 43. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks. Two suicide bombings occurred in commercial… Continue reading We´ll always have Paris (1): The official record
Life among the Winti
Living in the shadows can be a mixed blessing. For example, my cousin is a world class athlete who has qualified for the Olympics, ran in the Commonwealth Games, and is presently raising money for children as he runs and rolls across Canada, so while I proudly boast of my connection to my cousin, I… Continue reading Life among the Winti
Canada Slim and the Briar Patch City
Welcome to “the Writing Room of Europe”, or as I like to call it “the waiting room of Europe”. St. Gallen is the city in which I work both as a ESL teacher and a Starbucks barista. It is a city where I still wait for my professional dreams to come true, yet seem to… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Briar Patch City
Tradition disrespected: James Bond and Peter Parker
When did the marketers take over culture? It seems that every day there is an old idea being repackaged and reinvented to the point that the idea has been corrupted or even eliminated. Take much of today’s music. How often does one hear a cover version of an old classic? How rarely is the cover… Continue reading Tradition disrespected: James Bond and Peter Parker
Biel-Bienne the undecided
There are places in the world and especially in Switzerland that are amazingly easy to fall in love with. Biel-Bienne is not one of them. It is a place that even its residents seem undecided about loving or hating. Biel is the German name for this city of 52,350, located exactly midpoint between Geneva and… Continue reading Biel-Bienne the undecided
Happy Hallowe’en
Hallowe’en (short for hallowed evening or holy evening, because it is the night before All Saints’ Day, November 1) is a strange thing. Children go outdoors into the darkening streets which they are normally not encouraged to do. They go door to door to visit strangers that they are told to normally avoid. They ask… Continue reading Happy Hallowe’en