Journal Prompt ~ Safe

What makes you feel safe?

I feel safe when the bills are paid, I have some money in the bank and my pantry is full.

Tanka ~ Pizza in Paris

Pizza in Paris

A wonderful meal to eat

Baked to perfection

And what a joy to behold

If I was in Paris right now

Canadian Novel ~ The Brickworks by Lucy E M Black

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY to 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 by Lucy E.M. Black, published by Now or Never Publications. (@lucyemblack)

Told in Black's signature luminous prose, The Brickworks tells the story of Alistair and Brodie, two ambitious Scottish immigrants to North America at the turn of the century. This is an unforgettable story of hardship and triumph from one of the most fiercely gifted writers of historical fiction in Canada.

"Wonderfully researched and lovingly told, Black again pulls the curtain back on lesser explored moments in history weaving a compassionate tapestry of determination, innovation, and love that fits well into the tradition of beloved national storytellers Michael Ondaatje and Genevieve Graham."—Rachel McMillan, author of, The London Restoration and The Mozart Code

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 is now available wherever books are sold. Congratulations, Lucy! 🧱 📖

@river_street_writes
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Journal Prompt ~ Switching Bodies

If you could swap bodies with someone else, would you do it? And with who?

I would like to swap for any body that works much better than mine. There's not much left working right on the one I've got . . . sigh.

Canadian Music ~ Great Lake Swimmers

 

Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock band from Wainfleet, Ontario, and currently based in Toronto.

The current touring line-up is Tony Dekker on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Erik Arnesen on banjo, electric guitar and harmonium, Ryan Granville-Martin on drums and backing vocals, Bret Higgins on upright bass and Kelsey McNulty on keyboards and backing vocals. Past members included Julie Fader on backing vocals, Sandro Perri on guitar, and Greg Millson and Colin Huebert on drums.

Studio albums

Great Lake Swimmers (weewerk, 2003)
Bodies and Minds (weewerk, 2005)
Ongiara (Nettwerk, 2007)
Lost Channels (Nettwerk, 2009)
New Wild Everywhere (Nettwerk, 2012)
A Forest of Arms (Nettwerk, 2015)
The Waves, the Wake (Nettwerk, 2018)
Uncertain Country (2023)

Acoustic albums

The Waves, the Wake (Acoustic) (Nettwerk, 2019)

Cover albums

When Last We Shook Hands: Cover Songs, Vol. 1 (2020)

EPs

Hands in Dirty Ground (weewerk, 2006)
Swimming Away (2016)
They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore (2017)
Side Effects (2018)

Live albums

Live at the Church of the Redeemer (Nettwerk, 2007)
The Legion Sessions (Nettwerk, 2009)
Live in Ottawa at the 27 Club, October 3, 2019 (2020)
Live at the Redeemer 2007 (Weewerk, 2021)

Singles

2005 "To Leave It Behind"  Bodies and Minds
         "Bodies and Minds"  

2007 "Your Rocky Spine"  Ongiara

         "Backstage with the Modern Dancers" 
2009 "Pulling on a Line"  Lost Channels
2012 "Easy Come Easy Go" New Wild Everywhere
         "The Great Exhale" 

Book Review: A Woman Among Warlords by Malalai Joya

Reading this book was a real shock, forcing me to rethink my position on the role of the UN in Afghanistan.  Do I believe everything this brave woman has written?  I'm not so sure.  BUT . . . I do believe what she has to say about the conditions in Afghanistan.

The short history is that first the West aided the Taliban in Afghanistan to push out the Russians.  Then they aided the Northern Alliance warlords against the Taliban.  Now the UN-backed "democratic" government of Afghanistan is legitimizing the power of the Northern Alliance by seating them in the new government.  When Joya spoke out against these warlords she was removed from her democratically-earned seat in the government and is spending the rest of her life back in a burqua, not because of her religion, but because it is the only way to protect herself from assassination.  She has had to return to living underground and under a false name, something she is used to since her time teaching women in illegal schools during the reign of the Taliban.

The biggest shock for me is the treatment of women and children in Afghanistan.  I always argued for UN involvement in Afghanistan because it would lead to the end of terrorists' and warlords' power in the country and to protect and improve the lot of women and children.  From what I've read in Joya's book and what I have since read from other sources, this isn't happening.  The warlords have the power and women and children have none. 

Joya's book is compelling and heart-breaking and shocking.  Her writing style resembles a person giving an impassioned speech that lasts for a very long time.  She often repeats herself.  She is dogmatic. 

Was this book a good read?  As far as style, no.  Because it gives insight into the life of the Afghan people, yes.

Journal Prompt ~ Things To Do

 Tell us about the things you would like to do if you were in your favourite foreign country.

160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ Eldorado, Ontario

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eldorado is community in Madoc Township, in Ontario, Canada, with a 2019 population of 50.

In 1866, it was the location of Ontario's first gold rush after Marcus Herbert Powell, municipal employee and part-time prospector, found gold on John Richardson's farm on August 15, 1866.

The town of Eldorado was founded in 1867. The same year, the Richardson Mine went into operation. Despite higher expectations, Powell extracted about 100 ounces of gold, worth $1,500 to $2,000 at the time, but no further gold was found. Various other mines that had quickly opened, quickly closed.

In 2019 the population of Eldorado was 50, down from 4,000 during the gold rush. In contemporary times, it is considered to be a ghost town.

Check out the Eldorado Experience http://www.eldoradoexperience.ca/products-and-services.html

I found this very interesting article in the online Financial Post https://financialpost.com/commodities/mining/an-historic-gold-mine-in-a-tiny-ontario-town-could-be-the-epicentre-of-canadas-next-great-gold-rush

Journal Prompt ~ Favourite time of day

What is your favourite time of day?

I think mine is 11 pm . . . hopefully it has been a good day, I've accomplished something, and had some fun . . . and that's when I like to curl up with a good book.

Movie Review ~ Gandhi (1982)

This was the movie where I first fell in love with Ben Kingsley . . . an amazing amazing actor.  (Yes I meant to write amazing twice.)



The movie is about Mahatma Gandhi, the leader of the Indian Independence Movement when Britain ruled India.  He is most famously known for his use of non-violent civil disobedience to further the Indian cause.  

An amazing movie about a venerated man starring the perfect actor.  A must watch.  

Academy Awards, USA 1983

Won Oscar	Best Picture Richard Attenborough
	Best Actor in a Leading Role Ben Kingsley
	Best Director Richard Attenborough
	Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen John Briley
	Best Cinematography Billy Williams Ronnie Taylor
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Stuart Craig Robert W. Laing Michael Seirton
	Best Costume Design John Mollo Bhanu Athaiya
	Best Film Editing John Bloom
Nominated Oscar	Best Sound Gerry Humphreys Robin O'Donoghue Jonathan Bates Simon Kaye
	Best Music, Original Score Ravi Shankar George Fenton
	Best Makeup Tom Smith

Journal Prompt ~ One Thing You Do Really Well

Name one thing you do really well . . . 

One thing I do really well is solve crossword puzzles.

Journal Prompt ~ The Voice

The Voice

There you are, walking down the street, minding your own business, when you clearly hear a voice yell, "Help! Let me out of here!"

Believe it or not, we actually had one of these boxes at one time.  We would turn it on and hide it in a cupboard and think we were truly hilarious.  Yep . . . 

Tanka for Autumn

Autumn is the best 

time of the year with milder

temperatures and

colourful leaves fluttering

down from trees sweater weather 

Canadian Book Review ~ Rush Home Road by Lori Lansens

An excellent read.  I was enthralled from beginning to end.  And its Canadian.

The main character, Addy, is easy to emotionally connect with.

This is the second book I've read by Lori Lansens.  I will be reading more in the future.

Certain novels recall fairy tales. Their heroes are banished, repeatedly challenged, until finally, foes vanquished, they make their triumphant homecoming. Though it opens in 1978 in a Chatham, Ontario, trailer park, Lansens's poignant debut is just such a novel. At its heart is Adelaide Shadd, a 70-year-old black woman who takes in five-year-old Sharla Cody when Sharla's "white trash" mother abandons her. As Addy turns Sharla from a malnourished, heedless child into a healthy, thoughtful girl, she recollects her own past. Addy grew up in Rusholme, a fictional cousin to the many Ontario communities founded by fugitive slaves brought north by the Underground Railroad. By 1908, when Addy is born, Rusholme is settled almost entirely by black farmers and is close to idyllic. But a rape and subsequent pregnancy force Addy to run away from Rusholme (she thinks of it as a command: "Rush home"), not to return for many years. Addy's life—her marriage, her children, her journey to Detroit and back to Canada—is the rich core of a novel also laden with history: Lansens manages to work in not only the Railroad, but also Prohibition and the Pullman porter movement. This is artfully done, but Lansens doesn't handle the novel's smaller scenes quite as well: she tends to drop narrative threads and confuse chronology. Some readers will resent the repeated plucking of their heartstrings, too, given how much Addy and Sharla suffer. Nonetheless, Lansens has created in Addy a truly noble character, not for what she suffered in the past but for what she does in the novel's present.  --  http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-316-06902-1

Journal Prompt ~ Six Words

Describe your life or current situation using exactly six words.

In pyjamas; working to do list.

Canadian Music ~ Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scottish, and Cornish heritage. The band was very successful in Canada, with eleven of their albums being certified Gold in the country, including four being certified Platinum and two achieving multi-platinum certifications. Between 1996 and 2016, Great Big Sea was the sixteenth best-selling Canadian artist in Canada and the sixth best-selling Canadian band in Canada.

The band played its first official concert on March 11, 1993, opening for the Irish Descendants at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Newfoundland. The founding band members included Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin), Séan McCann (vocals, bodhrán, guitar, tin whistle), Darrell Power (vocals, bass, guitar, bones), and Bob Hallett (vocals, fiddle, accordion, mandolin, concertina, bouzouki, whistles, bagpipes).

While it has been confirmed that the band officially retired in 2013, former members Alan Doyle and Séan McCann have continued performing in their own solo careers typically including music from Great Big Sea in their setlists.

Journal Prompt ~ Pride

 What is something you are proud of achieving or doing?

A Very Quick Book Review: All Hell Let Lose by Max Hastings

This sounds like an amazing book, doesn't it?  

I usually curl up in bed with a good book at night.  That hasn't worked with this book.  Its too heavy to hold on to.  So today I parked myself in my favourite chair with a cup of tea, a sandwich and this book.  It was still too heavy to manage.  I'm only 40 pages in after 3 days because every time the book slipped I'd end up adjusting it and then rereading entire sections all over again.  I'm finally giving up.  I think it is going to be a great read when I find it in paperback or as an ebook.

I bet you've never read a review like this before.

160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ Marmora Pit

For a history of the Marmora Pit click on this link ~ https://www.marmorahistory.ca/the-mighty-marmoraton-mine.

The Marmora Pumped Storage Project
From a long inactive, open-pit iron ore mine to an innovative clean energy asset.

“The proposed project offers an alternative clean energy storage option to diversify Ontario’s supply resources,” said Scott Nelms, OPG’s Vice President of Corporate Business Development and Strategy. “It would also support growing electrification demands in the province, while strengthening the local economy.”

The project is expected to create up to 3,500 jobs (direct and indirect) over the facility’s lifespan and potentially displace between 70,000 and 140,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.

A look at the inactive open-pit mine at Marmora today.

The pumped storage solution also offers many of the same long-term advantages as conventional hydro generating stations, including a long lifespan of more than 90 years of expected service, significantly lower operating costs compared to other technologies, and lower construction-related environmental impacts. The project also supports Canadian investment with more than 70 per cent of the construction costs expected from within the Canadian supply chain.

Currently progressing through a gated approvals process managed by the Independent Electricity System Operator, the Marmora Project is one of several initiatives identified by the Ontario Ministry of Energy as potentially helping meet the province’s emerging future energy needs. Marmora is located midway between Ottawa and Toronto, regions with high electrical demand.

This is a cool spot to drive into and take a look at. Understandably, you're not allowed to enter into the premises. It is amazing how deep it is.

Journal Prompt ~ Karaoke

What songs might you sing at karaoke if no one would judge you?

 

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

What can I say that I didn't say in the last two Lord of the Rings reviews?  The costumes and backgrounds and CGI and scenery and imagination . . . all epic . . . as befits an epic movie like The Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers.

Academy Awards, USA 2003

Won Oscar	Best Sound Editing Ethan Van der Ryn Mike Hopkins
	Best Visual Effects Jim Rygiel Joe Letteri Randall William Cook Alex Funke
Nominated Oscar	Best Picture Barrie M. Osborne Fran Walsh Peter Jackson
	Best Art Direction-Set Decoration Grant Major (art director) Dan Hennah (set decorator) Alan Lee (set decorator)
	Best Film Editing Michael Horton
	Best Sound Christopher Boyes Michael Semanick Michael Hedges Hammond Peek

Journal Prompt ~ More

What do you need more of in your life?

 more

/môr/

determiner

1. a greater or additional amount or degree of.

   "she poured herself more coffee"

   Similar:

   additional

   further

   added

   extra

   increased

   fresh

   new

   other

   supplementary

   supplemental

   spare

   alternative

   Opposite:

   less

   fewer

pronoun

1. a greater or additional amount of something.

   "tell me more"

Tanka Tuesday ~ 100 Tankas

 

Canadian Book Review ~ The Cunning Man by Robertson Davies

I think this may be the first book I've read by Robertson Davies. 

The Cunning Man tells the story of Dr. Hullah and the remarkably eccentric denizens of St. Aiden's Parish in Toronto.  

I liked it.  It wasn't an easy read, full of big words and mysteries and satire.  But I do think it is worth the read.

Journal Prompt ~ Yourself

 What is your favorite thing about yourself?  Why?

Canadian Book ~ 18: Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages

 

You can get your copy of 18 anywhere books are sold! 📕@river_street_writes

@noraannruth

@academicstudiespress

#translation #shortstories #fiction #shortfiction #jewishstories #jewishliterature #yiddish #hebrew #spanish #literature #jewishlife #jewishculture #bookstagram #bookish #bookcover 

Journal Prompt ~ Favourite Movie

Name a movie you can quote by heart . . .

In our family, that movie is Princess Bride . . .

An Excellent Youth Acting Program

 

Please check it out!

Canadian Music ~ Gordon Lightfoot

 

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC Ont (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. He has been referred to as Canada's greatest songwriter and his songs have been recorded by some of the world's most renowned musical artists. Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings said, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."

Lightfoot's songs, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Ribbon of Darkness"—a number one hit on the U.S. country chart with Marty Robbins's cover in 1965—and "Black Day in July", about the 1967 Detroit riot, brought him wide recognition in the 1960s. Canadian chart success with his own recordings began in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One", followed by recognition and charting abroad in the 1970s. He topped the US Hot 100 or Adult Contemporary (AC) chart with the hits "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976), and had many other hits that appeared in the top 40.

Several of Lightfoot's albums achieved gold and multi-platinum status internationally. His songs have been recorded by many notable artists. The Guess Who recorded a song called "Lightfoot" on their 1968 album Wheatfield Soul; the lyrics contain many Lightfoot song titles.

Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure". Bob Dylan, also a Lightfoot fan, called him one of his favourite songwriters and said, "I can't think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don't like. Every time I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever.... ". Lightfoot was a featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary, Alberta and has received numerous honours and awards.

Lightfoot was born in Orillia, Ontario, on November 17, 1938, to Jessie Vick Trill Lightfoot and Gordon Lightfoot Sr., who owned a local dry cleaning business. He was of Scottish descent. He had an older sister, Beverley (1935–2017). His mother recognized Lightfoot's musical talent early on and schooled him to become a successful child performer. He first performed publicly in grade four, singing the Irish-American lullaby "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ral", which was broadcast over his school's public address system during a parents' day event.

As a youth, he sang in the choir of Orillia's St. Paul's United Church under the direction of choirmaster Ray Williams. According to Lightfoot, Williams taught him how to sing with emotion and how to have confidence in his voice. Lightfoot was a boy soprano; he appeared periodically on local Orillia radio, performed in local operettas and oratorios, and gained exposure through various Kiwanis music festivals. At the age of twelve, after winning a competition for boys whose voices had not yet changed, he made his first appearance at Massey Hall in Toronto, a venue he would ultimately play over 170 more times throughout his career.

As a teenager, Lightfoot learned piano and taught himself to play drums and percussion. He held concerts in Muskoka, a resort area north of Orillia, singing "for a couple of beers". Lightfoot performed extensively throughout high school, Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute (ODCVI), and taught himself to play folk guitar. A formative influence on his music at this time was 19th-century master American songwriter Stephen Foster. He was also an accomplished high school track-and-field competitor, setting school records for shot-put and pole vault.

Lightfoot moved to Los Angeles in 1958 to study jazz composition and orchestration for two years at Westlake College of Music.

To support himself while in California, Lightfoot sang on demonstration records and wrote, arranged, and produced commercial jingles. Among his influences were the folk music of Pete Seeger, Bob Gibson, Ian & Sylvia Tyson, and The Weavers. He lived in Los Angeles for a time, but he missed Toronto and returned there in 1960, living in Canada thereafter, though he did much work in the United States, under an H-1B visa.

For more information https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Lightfoot 

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Back in 2012 I received an email from Kobo offering an 85% discount on The Hunger Games with discount code hungergamesdeal. I'd been hearing so much about this book and movie and decided to check it out. I was hoping to use the code to buy the trilogy but Kobo wouldn't let me. I was able to purchase the first book . . .

Thank you


Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent purchase from Kobo! Please find your purchase confirmation details below.

We hope you enjoy your reading experience with us.

Sincerely,
Kobo Customer Care
help@kobobooks.com


ORDER SUMMARY

Your order was received on March 24, 2012 at 04:33:52 GMT.


ITEM DATE PRICE



1. The Hunger Games
By Suzanne Collins 2012-03-23 $1.12



ITEM $7.49
PROMO CODE $6.37
GST $0.06
PST $0.09
GRAND TOTAL $1.27

PAYMENT METHOD:
Grand Total: $1.27
Billed To: Mastercard ...
Receipt Number: 10644718
St. Thomas, ON

I had a free Kobo reader on my laptop. I also had a free Kindle and a free Adobe reader on my laptop. I was set for anything . . . LOL . . .

So the download was seamless and I began reading . . . just a few chapters . . . and next thing I knew a couple of hours had passed. I stopped reading to get some chores done. But I kept coming back to the computer and reading a few more chapters. At 11 that night I gave up pretending I didn't really want to read the book and settled in with a cup of tea. At 2:30 in the morning I could no longer see the screen but I was almost done.  That evening I settled into my office with supper and finished off the book in very short order.

I think this book is very simply and clearly written, perfect for the teen audience this book is meant for and yet it remains mature enough to keep an adult's interest. While the characters were not particularly easy to connect with, I was happy when I learned who the winners of the Hunger Games were. And I have to say I was kind of impressed that the author didn't end with the perfect happy ending. Well, of course, there are two more books. Perhaps the happy ending is in one of them. If I could get the promo code to work again I would have ordered the other two books. Just sad, isn't it.

Since that time I did purchase and read the second and third book and, of course, reread the trilogy at least once or twice more.  And yes I did see the movies . . . once or twice.  The books were excellent and the movies were also pretty good.

Perfect read for anyone!