Monthly Archives: June 2015
Taking Centre Stage
She took the evening off from her day job with the geriatric geezers who don’t rock every night anymore. On this night, at the TD Ottawa Jazz Festival she was centre stage, not 20 feet from stardom. Immediately after the show she flew to Pittsburg to rejoin the Rolling Stones, who she has toured with […]
Waiting For A Plane VI – Overbooked
I was traveling for a couple of weeks last month. I spent a lot of time in airports. In each one I had time on my hands. As a result I wrote at least one post in each of the airports, which am posting from time to time, interspersed with some other thoughts. They were […]
Burg Baden
I promised pictures of the ruins of the castle in Badenweiler, Germany, so I’m just going to shut up and let you enjoy the view.
Welcome to Minas Tirith
Climbing to the castle at the top of the hill that dominates the Black Forest town of Badenweiler I had the feeling that this was h sort of place J.R.R. Tolkein was envisaging when he wrote about the walled city of Minas Tirith in The Lord of The Rings: a castle on a hill with […]
The Great Charter
I was too young to really appreciate what the document was. It was 1967 and a copy of the Magna Carta was on display at the British Pavilion at Expo ’67 in Montreal. I know I saw it, but I can’t pretend it made any impact. Fourteen years later I saw another copy (or perhaps […]
St. Paul’s Church, Badenweiler
As you have probably noticed if you have been reading this blog for a while, I am interested in churches. It’s not just the architecture and artwork, but what they say about the community and the people in it. When visiting the Black Forest resort town of Badenweiler I immediately noticed St. Paul’s Church. Architecturally […]
Bathing Roman Style
I was more impressed by the structure built to house the Roman baths in Badenweiler, Germany, than by the baths themselves. The place though has been a spa town for 1700 years or more, which is also impressive. I think the “baden” in the town’s name means “bathing” but that is a guess on my […]
The Arboretum
I’ve never been to California, but I remember even as a child being aware of the giant redwood (Sequoia) trees. I seem to recall pictures of some so large that a road had been cut through and motorists could drive through the trees. I did not expect to see examples of the trees in Badenweiler, […]
Truth and Fiction
It’s a little unsettling when you discover you are looking at the house where a fictional character died. Fictional characters aren’t supposed to have lived, let alone died. Especially not gruesome deaths and a whispered deal with the Devil. In the German town of Staufen, at the edge of the Black Forest, not far from […]
Watching the World Cup II – The Women’s Game
FIFA, the international soccer body, has taken a big hit lately. Corruption, rumored for years, has come home to roost – 14 FIFA executives have been arrested recently and the news seems pretty bad. Except in Canada, where the Women’s World Cup kicked off this week. No charges of corruption or bribery in the awarding […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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