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Celebration

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Huzzah!

February 7, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Image by <a href=" https://www.vectorportal.com" >Vectorportal.com</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" >CC BY</a>It is not often that one gets to celebrate happy occurrences two days running. This just happens to be one of those occasions.

In my last post I announced the long-awaited arrival last Friday of my shiny new Canadian passport.

“Hurrah” – says I!…

Then – on the very next day – Scotland triumphed at Twickenham over the auld enemy in the Calcutta Cup.

“Hurrah and twice hurrah” – I cry!…

Yes – it is that splendid weekend at the start of an otherwise gloomy February when the Northern Hemisphere’s greatest sporting event – the Six Nations Rugby tournament – kicks off. This year – being a Rugby World Cup year – promises to be particularly exciting, with the current top two sides in world Rugby – the Irish and the French – taking part. Both sides started with an away win – the Irish convincingly at the Principality in Cardiff – the latter rather more tenuously in Rome against the Azzuri.

The final match was the aforementioned Calcutta Cup clash between Scotland and England at Twickenham. There was a time – not so long ago – that the Scots routinely took a drubbing at the Cabbage Patch. Indeed, one had to look back a long way to find any Scots wins at all. Of late and for the moment, however, the worm has turned. Scotland have won the last three such encounters – including consecutive wins away from home. This is splendid stuff! Over the last six years the English have won once – there was a magnificent 38-38 draw at Twickers – and the remaining four wins have gone north of the border.

So far, so good. However, the Scots are all too aware that they have not, of late, been able to follow up these excellent wins with consistent results elsewhere. Now – no-one is expecting them to beat either the Irish or the French this year, but wins against the struggling Welsh and the greatly improved Italians would be most welcome.

Fingers – etc – firmly crossed and many pious invocations to the rugby gods duly rendered…

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Perfect

January 27, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

In my recent ‘review of 2022‘ post I mentioned – amongst other worthy achievements – that Anam Danu (the musical vehicle created in conjunction with The Chanteuse) had had a good year – in that we released our third album, Soul Making, to general approbation and contrived to hold a rather splendid reception to celebrate the fact.

What I didn’t mention was that we shortly had a new single coming out…

Well – ‘shortly’ has morphed into ‘now’ and our newest composition – ‘Perfect‘ – hit the major streaming and download sites just today.

Reaction thus far from those who have heard the song has been exceedingly positive and I urge all music fans out there to give it a listen. If you don’t have a preferred music site please allow me to recommend Bandcamp to you. ‘Perfect‘ can be found here:

We thought we might take the opportunity to create a video to accompany the single, using nothing but freely available stock clips. Doing so proved a fascinating experience and we will certainly repeat the exercise. You can view the results here:

As ever, should you find yourself enjoying what you see and hear – please do share it…

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A little late…

December 26, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

…this year – for which my humble apologies:

…to friends, acquaintances and gentle readers…

…from the Kickass Canada Girl and the Imperceptible Immigrant…

we wish you a safe and peaceful Christmas and a Happy Hogmany!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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On the other hand…

December 8, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

In complete contrast to the experience described in my last post – “Every exit“…

Regular ingesters of these random(ish) gobbets will no doubt feel completely familiar by now with Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express – that charitable roadshow of assorted musicians and other performers that makes a three night pitstop at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney each November – raising much needed cash for the Sidney Lions Food Bank. We have been in Canada for over seven years now… we have traveled on the Cariboo Express at least six times since we arrived… I have written posts about it at least five times!

I was not intending to pen another post this year, in the wake of our annual pilgrimage a couple of weeks back. I thought that I had pretty much covered the subject in previous years and the last thing I would want to do is to bore you – the gentle reader…

However…

…each time we surrender ourselves to the oncoming Express – regardless of how tired we may be or how weighed down we are with the burden of the world’s (and our own) problems upon our shoulders – a couple of hours spent in the company of this exuberant assemblage of musicians of all ages… and we find ourselves once again rejuvenated by the spirit of bonhomie and love.

In short – the music and dancing weaves its magic spell and we are once again recharged with a joyous zest for life and all that is good about it.

Those who know me well would never have expected me to be so taken with this particular genre of music (sort of country-ish) and yet I take great delight each year in attending the show and having my faith in live music emphatically restored.

It helps, of course, that the Cariboo Express crew so clearly love doing the whole tour themselves. The ensemble seems to grow larger each year. This time round the cavalcade winding its way around BC comprised some nineteen performers who – at various points – assembled together on the Charlie White Theatre stage.

Good thing it is a particularly wide stage!

To Barney and to the whole crew – thank you again for this year’s fabulous show. See you next year!

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A pat on the head

October 24, 2022 in Moving to Canada | Permalink

“Certification from one source or another seems to be the most important thing to people all over the world. A piece of paper from a school that says you’re smart, a pat on the head from your parents that says you’re good or some reinforcement from your peers that makes you think what you’re doing is worthwhile. People are just waiting around to get certified.” 

Frank Zappa

Well – Frank may be right in general, but in my case at least I am no longer ‘waiting around’.

A couple of posts ago I detailed my online Citizenship Ceremony, the which I ‘attended’ on Zoom about a week and a half back. It was a delight to finally have achieved Canadian citizenship and to be welcomed into the community.

As I explained in that post: as part of the ceremony I was obliged to cut up the Permanent Resident card which until then had enabled me to return to the country should I have to leave it for any reason. I now need to apply for a Canadian passport, so that I can once again come and go without let nor hindrance.

Before that could be done, however, there was one more occurrence for which to wait – the arrival of the all important Citizenship Certificate. Prior to the pandemic – when the Citizenship ceremonies had been conducted face to face – the certificates were presented as soon as the oath had been taken. Now that the ceremony is carried out online the certificate is send via Canada Post subsequent to the event – and one is warned that it may take two to four weeks to arrive.

Considering how long the whole process had taken to that point you can imagine my surprise when last Wednesday – just six days after the ceremony – my certificate and other documentation popped into our post box.

This has been by far the quickest part of the whole process which – considering that Canada Post are involved – is nothing short of a miracle!

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A momentous day

October 15, 2022 in Moving to Canada | Permalink

Yesterday was a momentous day – and not just because the tory government that has afflicted the UK for longer than I have been keeping this journal appears finally to have plunged itself into a death spiral… though that is indeed a very splendid thing!

Should – incidentally – you want chapter and verse on just how momentously this epochal event will undoubtedly go down in the annals of history once the dust settles, I commend to you Jonathan Freedland’s excellent piece in the Guardian, the which can be found here. Freedland draws the connection all the way from the Suez crisis in 1956, through the joining of the Common Market, the decline of Britain through the 70s, 80s and 90s, to Brexit and on to the current attempts by the free-market zealots from the right wing who have taken over the nasty party… to buck the very markets that they espouse!

I did but a single unit in economics at college way back in the very early 70s – but even I could see that this was never going to work.

Anyway – exciting as this all undoubtedly is, for The Girl and I (yes – I know… ‘me’!) the day had a different import. Finally – at the end of a process that has taken nearly as long as the unraveling of the tory project in the UK – I have become a Citizen of Canada (as trailed in this previous posting)… the which I proudly add to my treasured British citizenship.

Hooray indeed!

The citizenship Oath Taking ceremony itself was carried out – as in the way in these frangible times – on Zoom. This naturally lent proceedings a slightly strange atmosphere though – as with most things Zoom related – it all seemed work out reasonably well without ever coming close to that which a proper face to face ceremony would have afforded. The slightly unreal symbolic cutting up of my Permanent Residency card (rendering me temporarily unable to return to Canada should I have to leave it for any reason) and the strange twist of having to swear allegiance to the monarch (something that as a Brit I have never been called upon to do – as is also the case for native Canadians) was followed by the somewhat forced singing by the massed Zoom ranks of ‘O Canada‘ in a mixture of English and French.

Somehow – in these strange and perplexing times – this ceremony felt not only appropriate but also unexpectedly touching. I am most happy now to add being a citizen of ‘here’ to my armoury.

The Girl is and has always been – of course – the entire reason and rationale for this long and unforeseeable journey. To her – as ever – my endless gratitude and thanks.

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All good things…

September 22, 2022 in Moving to Canada | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid…come to he who waits!

Well, well, well! That is certainly the case in this instance.

Just this morning – as I sipped an almond milk latte in the company of some of the other members of our regular Thursday torture fitness class – an email popped into my inbox (yes,  I check my emails all the time – particularly during term-time).

This particular email hailed from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and it contained an invitation to attend – in about three weeks time – an Oath of Citizenship Ceremony. This is effectively the final step on the road to Canadian citizenship, the which can be reasonably rapidly followed by an application for a Canadian passport.

Hoorah for that!

Having documented the Permanent Residency (PR) application process through which I went back in 2014/2015 so thoroughly, my efforts during this application for Citizenship have been lacklustre to say the least. I see from the only post on the subject to this forum – the which dates back to early October last year – that I actually submitted my application in July 2021. That October post was prompted by the acknowledgement of my application that I received from IRCC some three months subsequent to its submission.

In January of this year I received a further correspondence to the effect that I would need to make and to attend an appointment with the Commissionaires here in Victoria – for the purpose of having my fingerprints taken and certified. This I duly did, before the previous communication blackout was resumed. Today’s communique was the only other contact that I have had. The IRCC does like to keep one in the dark.

Oh well! I can’t really complain at the fifteen month wait. There has been a pandemic on. Of course, I have no idea how long it will now take to get a passport – and as I have to cut up my hard-earned PR card as part of the Oath of Citizenship ceremony (truly!) I clearly won’t be planning any overseas travel for a while.

Anyway, some celebrating will be in order pretty shortly – and I will doubtless report thereon in a future missive.

By the way – to any Brits concerned that I am selling out and abandoning my heritage by taking a Canadian passport, do rest assured that – just like The Girl – I will enjoy dual-citizenship.

I will still be a Brit – whatever that may yet be worth!

 

 

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Taking care of busy!

September 12, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Those who have been tuning in to these ‘broadcasts’ for any length of time will doubtless be familiar with certain themes that re-surface time and again with the regularity of the phases of the moon. One such is that of the writer’s (and his delightful spouse’s) state of engagement; to be specific, how busy we find ourselves at any given moment.

A quick glance through the archives shows that ‘state of busyness’ messages are posted pretty regularly and especially at two times of the year – just as August fades into September and the Fall – and then, slightly more desperately, as Christmas approaches.

This is in part, of course, due to our ongoing connections with the world of education. After the indolence of the summer months (should they indeed prove so to have been) the commencement of the new academic year and the return to a fresh term can be quite a shock. Trust me – it doesn’t get any easier the longer that one has been doing it.

So – the term has begun, I have a fresh faced group of students and I have been rushing around getting everything ready for the fray. Come Christmas-time I have no doubt that I will once again be running on fumes and anticipating complete collapse just as soon as the term has ended.

The Girl’s employ is not related to education but, for some reason, this seems to be a busy period for her as well. The end result is that we both feel somewhat weary. An element of this malaise arises from our having used up a considerable fund of energy (though delightfully so) on our our foreign travels during July and – of course – in fighting off the nasty bout of COVID that we picked in the process.

Once home again at the start of August we struggled to recharge the batteries in time for the launch of the new Anam Danu album – ‘Soul Making‘. Having been restricted by the pandemic lock-down at the time of our previous album release (‘Winter Blue and Evergreen‘) to merely raising a glass during a Zoom call we wanted to celebrate properly this time. It was decided that we should have a small reception, inviting close friends and supporters to help us with the festivities.

The Girl volunteered bravely and selflessly as prime organiser and she and the Chanteuse and I – with gratefully received assistance from old and dear friends – put together a rather splendid little shindig (if we say so ourselves). The highlight (should one discount the excellent finger food and beverages – which I certainly don’t) was a short performance of a few of the songs from the album. It was not entirely live – since we were obliged to use some backing tracks – but it was our first appearance in person in front of anyone and we were well aware of the significance thereof.

Come the end of the day, of course, we were even more exhausted than before. Ah well – doubtless we will once again get into the swing of things.

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The release

August 24, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

There are really three parts to the creative process. First there is inspiration, then there is the execution, and finally there is the release.

Eddie Van Halen

It takes, it would seem, somewhere around a year and a half to create and to release what I will persist in calling an album. That, at least, is our experience in Anam Danu.

The Chanteuse and I started working on our third album – ‘Soul Making‘ (to be released this Friday, August 26th) – shortly after finishing our last offering – ‘ Winter Blue and Evergreen‘.

As I have observed before in these jottings, it seems that I am able to write and record basic tracks at the rate of about one a month – and in the case of ‘Soul Making’ I wrote half as many songs again as appear on the finished product.

Once the basic tracks are complete The Chanteuse gets to work on the vocal tracks, which can take some time to record depending on the complexity of the arrangements. We then mix the tracks and carry out any final snagging before all is ready to be sent for mastering.

In this instance the release date of the finished product would undoubtedly have been earlier had The girl and I not gone on our trip to the UK and Europe in July. We decided to wait for the end of August for the release itself so that there would be enough time on our return to mount a campaign to try to draw attention to the release in advance of the event.

Anyway – the time is finally upon us. As of Friday ‘Soul Making‘ will be available on the usual streaming and download services (including Spotify, Amazon Music, Youtube, Apple Music, iTunes and Bandcamp). The best way to locate these links is to browse to the music section of the Anam Danu website.

We hope that you enjoy our music. If you do so, please recommend it to others.

We thank you!

 

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Out and about

August 2, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

My last post – written in the shadow of the frustrating discovery that we had not, after all, contrived to visit parts of the world in which COVID appears now to be endemic and is yet, ‘irregardless’, largely ignored by the local inhabitants – we had not contrived by our diligence and native cunning to avoid succumbing to the same! In short – we got caught!

Now – the wording of that post might perhaps have given the impression that this regrettable lapse had inevitably taken the shine off the trip. Not so! Not so! We had a wonderful time and – could we but turn the clock back – we would do very little differently.

To any sensitive readers with whom we met in the UK and who might perhaps be fearful that they may inadvertently have played a part (so to speak) in our infection, we say: “Unlikely, chum!“. We suspect that a two hour delay in the Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras – where we were reluctantly obliged to share the space for an extended period with the teeming mask-less hoards who comprised the passenger compliments of four (or more) different trains – may have proved the straw that landed the camel with a hefty physiotherapy bill.

Over the next few posts I am going to share some images and impressions of our joyous travels, but first I just want to say a little about the nature of the expedition itself, because – for all sorts of reasons – this trip was very different to that upon which we ventured back in 2019. For a start regular readers will be well aware that we were extremely nervous of traveling abroad at all, in the light of the events of the last few years. That we were eventually persuaded so to do was in part because we had had encouraging conversations with those who had already done so, but also because of the invitation that we received to a celebration of good friends that we did not want to miss. The nature of our trip was inevitably defined by both of these considerations.

We rapidly abandoned initial thoughts to tour extensively because, at the time that we would have needed to make the necessary bookings, so much was yet up in the air and we would have created too many hostages to fortune. As a result the trip that we eventually planned was good deal shorter than one that we first had in mind. The celebration itself was to take place a considerable distance away from the capital – the which would inevitably skew our physical presence throughout our stay.

As a result we had sadly to accept that we would not get to see all of the good friends that we would have liked to have seen. We are most grateful to those with whom we were able to spend a little time; to those with whom we could not – our humble apologies and we hope that you understand.

Anyway – enough with the words… Next time – photos!

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