…to friends, acquaintances and gentle readers…
…from the Kickass Canada Girl and the Imperceptible Immigrant…
we wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas and a Happy Hogmany!
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Tags: Celebration, Christmas, Photo
There are cultures in which age, experience and seniority are acknowledged and valued. The elders of such societies are, by and large, respected and taken seriously; their advice being much sought after and their wisdom cherished.
In other cultures old geezers are regarded as merely being a nuisance and a ball and chain upon the ankles of the coming generations. These older folk are – often as not – the butt of all manner of jokes, particularly as they grow older and become more forgetful.
Who hasn’t fallen about laughing at the old codger who can’t find his (or her) glasses – only to to be informed by the mocking youths that he (or she) is actually wearing same upon his (or her) head!
Laugh? I nearly didn’t!
So – a few weeks back The Girl and I both had our own experiences of this phenomenon.
One day The Girl could not find her glasses – in spite of having just recently been using them. I helped her to look for them, carefully minimizing the application of such unhelpful queries as “Where did you last have them?“. We looked everywhere – particularly around our drawing room, where she was sure that she had recently been using them. Her glasses were nowhere to be seen… just mine – sitting on one of our coffee tables.
It was I that found them. They were perched on top of my head! I had picked her glasses up, mistaking them for mine – and put them straight onto my head.
No chuckling there at the back, there…!
Scarcely a couple of days later I couldn’t find my glasses – just as I was about to drive into College to lead a class. I could have sworn that I had been using them just a few moments before, but upon preparing to leave I could not find them anywhere. I searched all the obvious places three times, before breaking out a spare pair and heading off to work. When I returned from college and started to disrobe – the glasses – to my surprise – suddenly fell to the floor.
What happened was this… I was wearing a hooded sweat shirt. When I put on the sleeveless jacket that I often wear outside these days, I flipped up the hood to accommodate it. The glasses had clearly been on the top of my head already and when I lowered the hood again the glasses went with it. They had been with me all of the time in College – tucked into the hood. When I reversed the procedure upon returning home they fell out at the appropriate point.
Well – even I had to laugh at this…
Getting older – eh? What’s that all about?
Tags: ageing, incompetence, Loss, Memory
I posted the following today on the Anam Danu website – for those who like to keep up with such things:
Since ‘Euphoria’ hit the digital download and streaming sites a great deal has been going on. The album received its first – and very positive – review on the well respected Music Review World blog. You can find the whole review here – but here are some tasters:
“Every once in a while, in the world of music, you will come across an act that defies all of your current assumptions and thoughts about the flow of today’s music. They will blow you away, for good or for worse, in their own interpretation of what makes art ‘art’ itself. In today’s review, the act that’ll shatter your own preconceived notions shall grace you with a tapestry of music that I frankly have not heard synthesized in this manner before.”
“The whole album is quite strange to comprehend, because it captures the zeitgeist of a lost art scene and musical sensibility very well in this day and age without compromising any ounce of authenticity.”
“It is also very warm and polished in its execution, making me wonder if this was the missing soundtrack to a revivalist 80s/90s heartfelt movie.”
“The two vocalists’ voices also bear a very interesting contrast, as they possess very different vocal ranges and tone too. It’s an interesting mix of voices, that venture from determined to even slight Irish inflections at times.”
“Score/Excellent: Anam Danu returns with their newest release, titled ‘Euphoria’- an album sure to provide you with Euphoria. It is filled to the brim with serenity and character all in one, within a dynamic musical soundscape that stays true to its thematic origins and intent.
In further interesting developments tracks from the album have received a number of plays on Campus Radio stations across Canada and even a couple in the US. Some of these plays came about as a result of Anam Danu having signed up to Earshot.Distro – the digital distribution service set up specifically to help Canadian stations to source new Canadian music. Other plays, however, came about as a result of the radio presenters’ admirable diligence in seeking new material. I asked Johnathan Whitehorn at Western Radio how they came to play ‘Plant a Seed (and Watch it Grow)’ and he told me:
“I go through new Canadian releases on Bandcamp every 3 days. Around 300-600 releases. A few stick out. Like yours.”
Tags: album, Anam Danu, Celebration, Euphoria, Music
We have arrived at the time of year that most self-respecting Canadians are putting the finishing touches to their Christmas decorations (mostly public-facing… unlike us shy and retiring Brits) and settling in to await the feast itself. Mind you, some of our neighbours started constructing their displays the very moment that they had packed away the last of the Halloween decorations; I guess on the principle that the show must… you know… go on!
The Girl nobly puts up with my seasonal cavils and my demands that nothing Christmas related should be addressed before the first of December (with the honourable exception, for obvious reasons, of the purchase of the Advent calendar – for those who go in for such things).
Now, once December is here, the first Christmas related item on my agenda is usually the sending of Christmas cards, the which (given that a fair number of them are headed for Blighty) must needs be tackled as soon as possible after the turn of the month if they are to stand a chance of arriving in time for the big day.
…and that is, of course, where Mr Sod and his eponymous law – comes into play.
Yup! The postal workers at Canada Post went on strike some three weeks ago now and currently show no signs of backing down from their demands.
So – here’s the quandary. If we set about writing, addressing and posting our greetings there is a very good chance that (assuming we can actually post them at all) they will simply join the gazillions of already posted screeds – none of which is likely to make it through until Easter – or thereabouts.
Now, the strike could be resolved at any second, of course, but the worry is that it is already too late to make a difference as far as Christmas is concerned. Should we be wise virgins we should probably resort immediately to online cardage this year – whilst being cognisant of the fact that a number of folks whose addresses we have are an unknown quantity in the online arena.
I guess we just have to do the best we can.
Of course, this all takes no account of those operating in the opposite direction. Since many such will have no idea that Canada Post in on strike they will simply and happily post their festive greetings, unaware that they these will probably simply be tossed onto some huge card mountain – never to be seen again.
What to do? What to do? How will we make it through in the face of all these first-world problems?
Tags: Canada Post, Christmas, Modern life
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