Tag: USA

Fearless?

Sunday 9 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye “The thing I fear most is fear.“ Michel de Montaigne, Essais Above: French writer Michel de Montaigne (1533 – 1592) Picture him in a tunic, a linen or woolen garment that fell to his knees, dyed in earthy tones like brown, gray, or deep green, reflecting his philosophical practicality. Over… Continue reading Fearless?

The Academy of Joy

Thursday 6 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye The former head teacher, dismissed and disillusioned, lay in his restless bed, his limbs heavy with exhaustion, his thoughts a storm of injustice and regret. Losing your job can be a hideous blow, both to the pocket and to the ego. The best way to deal with it is… Continue reading The Academy of Joy

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 Visionary

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 7 October 2018 “I caution you. Expect much!” (Hugo Gernsback, Electrical Experimenter, January 1919) Above: Hugo Gernsback (1884 – 1967)   In my apartment we have many things. These things seem so commonplace that we have taken this electrical world in which we live in for granted. Amongst the flotsam and jetsam and… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Visionary

Canada Slim and the Family of Mann

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 12 August 2018 Perhaps I should have been recovering from yesterday’s Street Parade in Zürich, at present the most attended techno-parade in the world. Officially it is a demonstration for freedom, love and tolerance attended by up to one million people. In reality it has all the character of a popular festival, despite… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Family of Mann

How to Train a Dragon: Canadians in China

Landschlacht, Switzerland, 23 March 2017 The further away a country is, the harder it is to know and understand that country. China is such a country. So it is with caution that I express my opinion of the events that have so far transpired with China and its relations with the rest of the world.… Continue reading How to Train a Dragon: Canadians in China

Canada Slim and the Promised Land

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 21 January 1858 “I am astonished more and more at the stupid extravagance… Fashion rules so absolutely… The people in the house would lend me any amount of flower garden bonnets if I would but go out in them. This is so like the Americans… They are generous and kind but… Continue reading Canada Slim and the Promised Land

Oil and Blood in the Heartland 2: Home and Native Land

Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Summer 1992 I embarrassed myself. West of Hamilton and surrounded for the most part by farmland, Brantford is known for several things: It lays claim to the invention of the telephone, the birthplace of “The Great One” hockey player Wayne Gretzky, entertainer Phil Hartman, Group of Seven painter Lawren Harris, and a… Continue reading Oil and Blood in the Heartland 2: Home and Native Land

Walking with the President

“Dear Mr. President Come take a walk with me. Let´s pretend we´re just two people and You´re no better than me.” (Pink, “Dear Mr. President”) Landschlacht, Switzerland, 30 May 2016 What if the unthinkable actually happened? What if Donald “Duck!” Trump became the President of the United States? New York City, New York, USA, 1… Continue reading Walking with the President