Monthly Archives: July 2015
Kurdish Textile Museum II
Today is a day to let the pictures do the talking. The museum was more than just carpets hanging on the wall. Today so me aspects of Kurdish culture.
Kurdish Textile Museum I
I must confess I have little use for fashion or home décor (much to my wife’s dismay occasionally). So a textile museum is not high on my list. In Istanbul I skipped the Turkish carpet museum. In Erbil I went to the Kurdish Textile Museum, not because I was trying to salvage a visit to […]
Falling From The Skies
It was a year ago today that a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet was shot down in the skies over Ukraine, presumably by Russian-backed (and armed) rebels. There will be remembrance ceremonies in many countries today as families and friends continue to mourn. Airline tragedies receive a lot of publicity. When something goes wrong at 35,000 […]
A Tough Act To Be
It must be tough to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and still be on the road bringing the music to your fans every night. There are expectations of you and your show, expectations that you have to meet to keep the paying customers happy. People want to hear the familiar tunes. […]
Judgement Is Coming
He seemed like a relic of a bygone era, a street preacher standing on a park bench in Ottawa’s Major’s Hill Park. No-one was listening, not even me. Okay, I half-listened, but I wasn’t his target audience. The tradition of oral persuasion, of Christians standing on street corners proclaiming their message is over. Has been […]
Bluesfest – When All Choices Are Bad (or Good)
Blue Rodeo are Canadian comfort food, part of the fabric of our national existence. That may be overstating things just a bit, but they are one of Canada’s most beloved musical acts, and can be considered a national treasure. If you are not Canadian you may never have heard of Blue Rodeo despite the band […]
Dead Writers
It seems Badenweiler, Germany, is the town writers go to die. Could that be used in a tourism campaign? Would it make you want to visit? It is a spa town after all, which I presume is what drew them there in the first place. Well, I don’t know that Badenweiler is really a destination […]
Mr. Walker Had A Car
I was running errands with my mother. That means I drive her wherever she needs to go, wait until she is finished, then drive her to the next place she wants to go. I don’t mind doing this. She is 86, and while her mind is still sharp her body has begun to fail her […]
Random Thoughts from Buesfest I
I tend to graze at music festivals, nibble a bit of this act or that performer and move on after a couple of songs. I’ll only stay longer if they manage to grab my attention. The 2015 edition of RBC Ottawa Bluesfest started Wednesday night and I have been grazing the music on offer. Here […]
The Road to Duhok
The turn to Mosul is on the left. It is blocked off, only the military are allowed to use it now since ISIS took the city in June 2014. The journey from Erbil to Duhok takes about two-and-a-half hours, depending on the number of checkpoints. This time I think we went through four. There can […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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