Friday 18 April 2025 (Good Friday) Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Switzerland On this day in the predominantly Christian nation of Switzerland there is little that anyone can do today. Above: Flag of Switzerland Shops and businesses and cinemas are all closed to commemorate the execution of Christ by crucifixion on Golgotha (Calvary) outside the walls of… Continue reading Candle in the wind
Tag: USA
Seeing red
Part Three of Peace of Mind / Part Two of The Road to Rorschach Sunday 6 April 2025 Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Schweiz Above: St. Leonhard’s Chapel, Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Schweiz I returned yesterday evening from a five-day mini-vacation in Bologna, Italy. Memory, at least mine, is much like a pot of tea. It needs time… Continue reading Seeing red
Shadows on the sea
“O call back yesterday, bid time return.“ William Shakespeare, Richard II Tuesday 11 March 2025 Landschlacht, Canton Thurgau, Schweiz The fog drifts over the Bodensee (Lake Constance) like a whispered secret, delicate as breath on glass. It moves with the hush of something ancient, curling in tendrils over the water’s surface, dissolving as it meets… Continue reading Shadows on the sea
Enemy at the gates
Above: The Scream, Edvard Munch (1893) Saturday 15 February 2025 Eskişehir, Türkiye My friends have a new hobby: Adam baiting. They know that I don’t follow the news, except as an afterthought for my calendar day blog posting. So, they will ask my opinions about world events. Above: The Thinker, August Rodin (1904) And what,… Continue reading Enemy at the gates
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