Never stop listening. In a world where many believe that a recording contract, (or a place in the classics listing) defines a musical career, there’s so much more.
posted in history, music | Comments Off on Exposure to new artists | 257 words
Maybe I should put an end to watching “historical biographies” on TV. After all, the chances that what I learn is more factually correct than what I picked up along the way is not important. By the time someone is subject of such effort, their time among us is done. This evening, a movie about Churchill. The famous “Peace sign” guy, who inspired a generation of hippies (I think).
posted in history | Comments Off on The relevance of historical bios | 253 words
Time to study some history, so that I can separate the myth from the man.
Our neighbours adorn their pettiest of change with the profiles of the greatest of their leaders. We put intermarried cousins. Go figure (one cent at a time). While working through supper, and a quick lesson in Island history, the TV paused on Lincoln. Which I hadn’t seen, despite the awards. The story was familiar; Canada tends to soak up the neighbour’s tales of woe in a manner unequaled elsewhere.
posted in history | Comments Off on Separate the myth from the man | 258 words
Apparently, history is written by the winners. Usually. I’m sure that there are a few stories to be found in remote libraries, where we hear about how it was “on the other side”. Not the point. I just watched yet another POW story (in this case, Hart’s War), with lots of plot twists and substandard housing and people wearing incomplete uniforms. And after all was done, I wondered… how many prisoners weren’t American?
posted in history | Comments Off on Behind the wire | 279 words
Proof that my family hasn’t spent enough time in the organized sports world: We need to use an online service to coordinate the annual secret Santa. Six people, not sixteen or sixty. We tried the “throw the names in a hat and trust everyone”, but it now requires too much effort to get everyone in the same time/space. Based on last year, not even the actual date for exchange of gifts is immune to absentees. Hence the email messages (five so far) to try and make it work.
posted in history | Comments Off on Sounds like a rail stop | 263 words
Yes, I remember where I was a half century ago. Just getting out of my Grade V class, via that scary fire escape on the end of the building. No emergency; the door was in our classroom and it was part of our good luck to test the acrophobia on a daily basis. There was, as I recall, a single loudspeaker on the outside of the building, and the head nun announced what sounded like the end of the world, as we knew it.
posted in history | Comments Off on None know, for sure | 256 words
I enjoy good music. I enjoy a good book. When I can find a reason to combine the two, that’s just… good. And today, although neither the book nor the record album are new, I found myself immersed in the two. While on the bus. That’s also good.
posted in history, music | Comments Off on A return to Moonfleet | 296 words
Feeling musically inclined? Hungry for some humble pie” Take a few minutes to read the biographies of some of the famous classical composers.
posted in history, music | Comments Off on Eating humble pie | 270 words
Catching up on the news of people I used to know (the Internet was designed for that, I’ve decided) and I had a vicarious thrill. An old classmate had sold the house, loaded the van and headed off to a new life on the other coast. What a challenge! What fun! And then the memories flooded in. My family did that. Three times.
posted in history | Comments Off on Inspiring others to start all over again | 260 words
I wish I still had that “going to live forever” mentality that blesses the young folk. Not that I want to get careless or fearless or anything less; I just would like some assurance that I’ll have time to do all the things I still want to do. In simple terms, I hadn’t thought about the relevance of a bucket list.
posted in history | Comments Off on Priorities for design of a bucket list | 281 words
