Category Archives: Europe

Train Songs

What would Pachebel’s Canon sound like if played by a series of cacophonous train horns? To find out, watch this video by Pavel Jirásek, who edited short bits from ACETrainsUK’s horn 7m50s compilation of trains in the United Kingdom with other clips of train horns to … Continue reading

Posted in Europe, Music, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Encounters with French culture

Last week, the American Library in Paris announced the winner of their 2024 Book Award, which recognizes titles originally published in English “that best realizes new and intellectually significant ideas about France, the French people, or encounters with French culture.” … Continue reading

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Things Fall Apart

  Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is … Continue reading

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Twenty Lessons

In 2016, Yale history professor Timothy Snyder took to Facebook to share some lessons from 20th century about how to protect our liberal democracy from fascism and authoritarianism. In response to this week’s catastrophic election, I’ve reproduced it in its entirety here. … Continue reading

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The fight against Fascism is never ending

His Millennium trilogy was a worldwide hit. But to the Swedish author, it was only ever a sideshow to his true life’s work: fighting fascism, racism and rightwing extremism. Today marks the 20th anniversary of the untimely death of Stieg … Continue reading

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After London, or Wild England

During the Pandemic, I oddly began reading dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. I recently ran across Richard Jefferies’ 1885 novel After London which likely is one of the first post-apocalypse English language novels. The tale is set in a future England … Continue reading

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It’s a small world

The older that I get, the more often I stumble on snippets of information online that immediately triggers personal memory links to my own experience. In this category, I recently saw a reference to the innovative science-fiction short La Jetée by the … Continue reading

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Happy Halloween

A few years ago, I spent a very happy Halloween in Taupo, New Zealand. The charming lakeside town is sadly overlooked by many foreign visitors to the country. Along with stunning natural beauty, the community is surprisingly welcoming to tourists. … Continue reading

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A history of witches and wizards

London’s Wellcome Collection is featuring a very timely book from 1720 on witchcraft and wizardry. The history of witches and wizards: giving a true account of all their tryals in England, Scotland, Swedeland, France, and New England; with their confession … Continue reading

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The true home of Halloween ?

Did you know that Halloween began on the island of Ireland? 🎃 The spooky season began as an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “sow-in”), celebrated over 2,000 years ago. Marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of … Continue reading

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