July 14

I know today is Bastille Day, Vive La France !
However, the date is an auspicious one in my young life - 48 years ago today, I landed at JFK for the first time. An almost penniless student, I had saved (from the previous summer's job) enough for a student charter flight. It cost 60 pounds return.
I landed in the middle of a heat wave; I was awe-struck by Manhattan. The fabulous sunsets everyone is talking about in the news this week ("Manhattanhenge") was on display that week way back then.

A major milestone in my growing up: I spent 14 days alone in the big apple.

Witches and the Law

Do you  sometimes wonder why the newspapers stopped reporting about witches and their "evil" acts? Well, long ago, the thought crossed my mind.

Nowadays, I think about witches when I see articles referring to a person 'coming out of the closet'  or referring to an actor or news-worthy personality as being 'a black actor' or 'a black cab driver in Halifax'

The main reasons we get few articles about witches is simply that no-one cares about witches anymore. The laws against witches remain on the statute books in a couple of countries (you  can check Google for yourself,) but mostly the Acts refer to "pretending to be a witch"; nonetheless, we have moved on from the Seventeenth Century, and concentrate on other matters. We do not talk about witches  in our daily lives any longer.

I believe a person's sexuality or skin colour is irrelevant to the discussion that is being reported. Why raise it. Why are we obsessing about these elements of an individual's make up.

I would hope that we focus on a person's interesting traits and what motivates them, rather than what goes on in their bedrooms or how they define themselves on the census forms.

Of course, there will be times when these factors are relevant in the news - especially as they relate to hate crimes or spiteful acts, but the "news" of someone saying they are Gay should not be newsworthy of itself. I simply want people to be happy with their chosen partner, and to be able to marry them if they wish. As well, to only describe their skin colour if it relates to them being picked on  because of it.

Queen Elizabeth II 's birthday

The Queen turned 88 years old today. In addition, I am reading Anthony Wedgewood Benn's Diaries and came across an entry for 1964 when he was Post Master General (PMG) and had to get her OK on the design of new postage stamps. Benn (who died just a month ago) was an unrepentant anti-monarchist and dedicated socialist. Ironic because he was Lord Stansgate. He had to fight for the right to dis-inherit his title. ... which he successfully did.

In line with his beliefs he wanted to issue stamps without the Queen's head on them. He does not clarify in his diaries but - one of the curious oddities about  Britain and stamps is the fact that the IPU (International Postal Union) decades ago agreed that all stamps must indicated their country of origin save for the U.K. This was in honour of Sir Robert Peel who thought up  the concept of postal stamps for a simple mail delivery system in 1844. When the first "Penny Black" was issued with a young Queen Victoria's profile on it. (Obviously, it was a black and white stamp - hence the name.) There was no country name on it. The IPU was organised to regulate international postal handling and agreed that the U.K. could continue issuing stamps with no country name, just a portrait of its monarch on it.

Shortly after Benn left as PMG, Sir Winston Churchill died in 1965 and later that year, the British Post Office issued its first stamp without the monarch's head. As a show of respect  for the immense admiration and esteem that was felt for Churchill, not just by Britain but much of the world, the stamp had nothing but Churchill's head on it and the denomination of the stamp; 6p, 1 shilling, etc.

No Queen's head: that way there was no tussle about whose profile should be bigger more prominent or brighter colours. Just Churchill; no country name, no Queen.

Catcher In the (it's a small world) Rye

Don't know why, but J.D.Salinger's book appealed to a young adult male Brit in early & mid-sixties London. My mother had told me about its notoriety in the U.S. but didn't tell me anything about it.
of course, talking about it with friends, I learnt that it was "shocking" because it featured a young teenage boy using the 'F' word... however, that was lost on us -  as our British edition was censored; must not corrupt young minds... I mean, everyone knows how chaste & unsullied teenage boys are.
In the next few years, I read the rest of Salinger's, albeit limited, published output. I carried the paperbacks everywhere with me, and re-read them many times.

Well, last month, PBS had a  special on him and the story regarding his relationship with Joyce Maynard. I did know about the affair and her subsequent silence about him... then her sudden writing about the relationship. (I think that this is all about to be covered in a forthcoming film as well.)
The program was very interesting and prompted me to re-read his books again. I had one in my hand this week when I went to a doctor's appointment at our main hospital. My doctor saw Salinger's book and asked me if I knew about his relationship with Ms. Maynard. I said, yes, and told about the recent PBS show, whereupon my doctor revealed that she knew Maynard, indeed, grew up with her. They are both from the same small New England town; even went to school together.
Present circumstances means that their relationship is one of shared emails nowadays, not visits, but nonetheless, they had a childhood in common.

It never fails to amaze me how  simple little things in our everyday being turn out to have links to some new acquaintance or friend. Life is indeed full of serendipity.

st.patricks's day

never fully understood the north American craze for extravagant St. Paddy's day celebrations... except to say, if you are young;  nothing like a non-weekend excuse for drinking. It  seems fairly supportable I would warrant !
as for all the other greenery we used to string around the office, it was definitely just another case of consumer exploitation. certainly, growing up in London in the '60's it was not acknowledged in every drinking establishment... save the Irish pubs !! yes, we did make a special pilgrimage to them on march 17th.. I recall one particular pub in Kilburn at the end of Mart's street that was wild.
(But then that pub was wild every Saturday night, too..)
I could not face putting green dye in my 12 yr old Johnny Walker now, so I guess I will give it a miss this year too.

story of a new life

march 15, 2014

44 years ago to day I arrived in Toronto at the old Malton airport.  Immigrating with two friends - who were already here,  Paul was illegally stopped in his bright red Lotus Plus 2.
He came running into the terminal looking for me.
It was a crazy start to a crazy few years... with many memorable moments.

I loved Toronto in the early seventies. My friends did not settle down as eagerly. They left in 1974 for a decade of wandering. I pretty much settled down by 1973.
I was definitely a Canadian at heart.  Remained so for the rest of my life.... but never gave up also being a Brit at heart and an absentee American.

Thank you Canada - especially Ontario & Nova Scotia... and 33 million people.
... and Kingsbury and Oxford... and St. Petersburg , New York, I-75 & I-95...
... a million other highways.

Ten Years After

So sad to hear of the death of Alvin Lee, Ten Years After's great  guitarist and singer.
They were a highlight of the Woodstock movie. He blazed his way through solos that were the equal of Hendricks & Clapton.
When I emigrated to Canada 40+ years ago and was living in a small bachelor apartment in Toronto, I could not afford a TV, nor a record player. For 3 years my trusty little Sony tape player was my music provider of choice.
I bought TYA's "Watt" from Sam the Tape Man on Yonge Street and played it again and again.
(Yes, Sam had a tape store separate from "The Record Man" store on Yonge in those days; right by his Chinese food shop!)
Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end...

or so the song said.