Towards Xmas

Tags

Canada., Christmas, Food, French, life, Montreal, Music, Quebec

This week listening to Radio-Canada in the morning I heard some old Christmas favourites from my childhood. One was Mon Beau Sapin, Roi des Forêts known in English as O Tannenbaum. This was the song the second wife of my maternal grandfather, we called Tante Fernande would sing each Christmas at lunch at my grandfather’s house when all his children and spouses and us grandkids would gather for the traditional meal, gifts and benediction. It was an old, I dare say a very old tradition going back several generations, the family patriarch would bless is family for the New Year. Tante Fernande would have cooked a turkey it was always an excellent birds and very juicy, serving peas and mash potatoes and cranberries which she called Atoka, dessert would be a mix of chocolates, Bûche de Noël and other sweets. I always thought that Atoka was the real name for cranberries but it turn out that Atoka is a Quebec recipe for processing cranberries after they are harvested. It gives a much sweeter fruit and has none of the tartness found in canned cranberries. Tante Fernande was a cook who did everything from scratch including her cranberries. You could not buy canned cranberries back then or if you could it was not done on good homes.

The dishes used to serve the Christmas meal was on two dinner sets, one was white with a dark blue and gold rim, the other set was their wedding dinner set which I have now.

There were other songs and my aunts knew one each, a favourite, one was Petit Papa Noël, my Mom use to sing that one. It is not an old song, the melody is taken from an old Ukrainian song and the words written in 1944 were about a child asking Santa to bring his father home for Xmas from the POW camp in Germany. After the war the words were changed erasing any reference to the war to what we hear today. It is a song that you would learn in school and my mother knew it well.  It was part of every Christmas music recital at school in French Canada. Tino Rossi premiered this song in 1946 and it became his Christmas signature song. Radio-Canada played it today as part of their weekend Christmas show it brought back a tidal wave of memories.

On this score the French service Radio-Canada is doing a much better job with their Christmas programming than the CBC who is playing a mix of commercial music. Tomorrow 23 December, the CBC will have an all day Christmas concert as they do every year from the European Union broadcasted live starting at 9am. Radio-Canada will have its programming, vintage shows from the 1940 to 1970. Despite the fact that such programming might be speaking to an older generation, it is still enormously popular.

Maybe it speaks about a time when Christmas was not about shopping and stress. The Media today puts a heavy emphasis on how stressful and unpleasant it is, with those awful relatives. I wonder why it has to be this way, not to mention the trove of bad news. It sounds almost perverse.

Gifts use to be in my mother’s childhood an orange which was a luxury then, books, clothing like a scarf or a sweater. For us it was books, sweets or the dreaded Fentex slippers your gradma knitted for you, some small amount of money like a $5. bill new and crisp or a board game. The adults were not stressed, no one was driving around shopping in malls, it was a nice holiday with a focus in Roman Catholic Quebec on religion and midnight mass recalling the traditions of Old Canada and France.

The other popular song and remains so to this day is J’ai vu maman embrassé le Père Noël sung by Line Renaud who is 90 years old. This 1956 version is one you will hear on the radio. Renaud was and remains one of the great French singer of her time.

Well we avoided the stress of Christmas and it is something I never quite understood why so many people whipped themselves into a frenzy.  I think that a lot of the stress is made up on false notions about gifts and having to please other people, it is somewhat artificial. I hope you all have lots of fun and enjoyment out of the Holiday Season.

My Best Wishes to You!

 

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Have you made your list?

Tags

Canada., Christmas, home, life, Music, Santa, Travel

Have you made your list for Santa?

What do you want for Xmas? I would like a BMW convertible or better still a Bentley Convertible, lots of Bulgari stuff and some nice cases of Bollinger Champagne. like in this photo in Lisbon.

 

Today 87 years ago, on 11 December 1931 Canada became a fully independent Country with the proclamation of the Statute of Westminster, George V was proclaimed King of the Dominion of Canada. These important changes were enshrined into our Constitution and Canada adopted its own Law on Royal Succession.  We were also able to finally make our own Foreign Policy independent from Britain and open our own Canadian Embassies around the world. The first one was in Tokyo, Japan and Sir Herbert Marler was our first Canadian Ambassador to the Empire of Japan.

 

On a rainy day

Tags

beijing, China, congress, Music

Today was a windy and rainy day typical of Autumn on PEI. I had a few things to do like going to the garage to get my oil changed and get the tire pressure checked. Do a bit of work on the campaign which is drawing to a close but much remains to be done. I found this video on YouTube, recorded by CCTV (Central China TV) it shows the dawn raising of the Chinese flag ceremony of on 1 January 2018 on Gate of Heavenly Peace Square or Tian An Men Square which is more rectangular.

There cannot be a more symbolic square in China, fronted by the outer gates of the Forbidden City with its 3 archways, the central one being higher than the other two and reserved exclusively for the Emperor, on the left side of the square is the National museum whose vocation has been changing in the last 20 years and on the right side the Great Hall of the People used for the Chinese People’s Congress and for State functions. At the Southern end of the square is another gate Qian Men (Front Southern Gate), since 2006 the City of Beijing has re-built completely the area in what it must have been liked 100 years ago under the Imperial regime with traditional architecture, opera theatres and old traditional shops, somewhat like Chinese Disneyland. In the middle of the Square is Mao Tse Tung Mausoleum which is only open a couple of days a year and is in need of restoration as it appears frozen in time since his death in 1976.

Every day the flag is raised on Tiananmen Square but New Year’s Day is seen as auspicious. While serving in China, I got to see quite a few of these ceremonies. The one which remains with me is the day I went to the People’s Congress meeting in the Great Hall of the People. Our Embassy was in the area of Dongzhimen Wai (East Straight Gate) in the Chao Yang district, I remember being taken down the third ring road during the time the People’s Congress was sitting in March. The government of China would invite Embassies to send observers.  All along the way two lanes of the four lane ring road were reserved exclusively for official cars and a police officer in full uniform was posted every 100 meters, you need a lot of manpower to do that. Our car then turned unto the avenue of Eternal Peace which leads to Tiananmen Square. Again an honour guard all along the route over several kilometres. Upon entering the square gigantic displays of flowers, honour guards to direct the official cars to the main door of the Great Hall of the People, large red carpets climbing the stairs.  Once inside all the walls are in white marble but in keeping with the Soviet Style of architecture it is all over sized dwarfing people. The walls also had large tapestry showing scenes of happy workers receiving bouquets of flowers from happy children and peasants. Other tapestries had patriotic scenes or nature scene rendered in socialist realist style, high in colour.

1920 Photo of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City is in the background and the gate in the foreground was demolished in 1957 when the square was remodelled as we see it today.

 

In the Great Hall itself where the sessions took place thousands of delegates sat in a large theatre facing the stage where the Head of State, Premier and Ministers including other senior officials of the Chinese ruling bureau sat, each with his or her cup of tea, attendants bring tea continuously. On the large balcony above a 100 piece military orchestra would play patriotic music when signalled to do so. We sat at one end of the balcony observing the ritual of voting on laws or listening to speeches. It was all choreographed. The 56 ethnic minorities living in the People’s Republic of China are also represented in the Assembly and each one is made to wear its ethnic costume so as not to confuse them with the dominant Han Chinese delegates in dark business suits.

The day we attended the Congress a law was passed forbidding Taiwan from seceding from the motherland. Another signal that China is serious about its one China policy. I remember watching the vote, it went like this; In favour 2998 and 2 abstentions, I always wondered who abstained. However another vote was on accepting the final report from the Supreme Court of China on its activities for the year. In this case the vote went this way; 2875 in favour, 110 against and 15 abstentions. After each vote the military band would play. It was all very exciting to see.

 

Canada G7

Tags

Canada., Chabrier, G7, Music, Politics, threath, USA, World

Now that Canada has been declared a National Security Threat to the USA by none other than Prez Trump, let us look at others who have been declared such in the past by other Presidents and see if Canada fits in with this description.

Measures taken to ensure U.S. national security include:

• Using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats.
• Marshaling economic power to elicit cooperation.
• Maintaining effective armed forces.
• Implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness policies (including anti-terrorism legislation)
• Ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure.
• Using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information.
• Tasking counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats.

I am sure being a retired diplomat that President Trump has already directed the US Government to take such action against Canada, it goes well beyond tariffs on steel and aluminium.

As the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael G. Mullen, was fond of saying, US national debt has become perhaps our top national security threat. The United States has been running trillion-dollar deficits, resulting in a huge explosion in the country’s indebtedness. Publicly held debt now equals 70% of gross domestic product, a threshold many economists consider significant and highly worrisome. Making matters worse, half of our current deficit financing is being provided by foreigners.

Others threats to the security of the USA are:  unstable Middle-East with no peace in sight, Climate change, Cyber terrorism, President Putin, the energy future, South Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan), the next space challenge, unstable Africa in the face of epidemics like Ebola. With President Trump’s unpredictable behaviour he may by himself create instability for the USA and create new unnecessary crisis.

This weekend in Charlevoix, Quebec the G7 is meeting and the attitude and tweeting of President Trump and his early departure from the conference simply isolates the USA in the world and angers is most trusted and long term allies. Prime Minister Trudeau is correct is stating that the declaration of Trump is illogical and insulting for Canadians. But the President does not seem to care and believes he can bully Canada and other nations. We will have to bow to his demands, however now Canadians are more united than ever in the face of this aggression by the American administration.

So I chose to listen to music instead by Emmanuel Chabrier 1841-1894. When confronted by fools take the high road, this is what I am doing.

Just a quick one

Tags

Bach, comedy, life, Music, royal wedding

As you probably know by now there is a Royal Wedding happening in May of minor royal prince by now. In all the Official paperwork that needs to be done for this wedding, the Queen as Sovereign has to give her permission and the Great Seal must be fixed to said documents which are then kept by the Privy Council Office. In those documents you can read that the party who is to marry is called H.R.H Prince Henry and Ms. Rachel Markle. You will hear those names pronounced during the wedding service so do not be surprise.

It is quite late and I am listening to piano music on Radio-Canada.  It is J.S. Bach and I love to sit in the dark and just listen to the music. It is so relaxing and enchanting. Bach’s Partita no 4, played by Glenn Gould and recorded in 1963.

Here is a compilation tourism poster of PEI, the Season is just about to start.

It was a French comedian who said:

Speaking of oneself leads to an absolute dead end.  

 

Nostalgia

Tags

Birthday, CBC, Family, Montreal, Music, Peggy Lee, Radio Canada, San Francisco, Tony Bennett

The definition of the word Nostalgia is thus; a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations.

I always get this at this time of the year as my birthday approaches. Lately we have been listening to Radio-Canada the French language national broadcaster whose head office in is Montreal. They have a lot more music than the English service of the CBC in Toronto who appear to be big on talk show, Radio-Canada also has a wider choice of music, I find it more agreeable.

Radio-Canada plays a broad range of classical music and popular music but will do more retro music from the 1930’s to 1970’s, Brazilian, South American, West African, Middle Eastern. I do prefer it to the mostly American/Canadian hipster music played on the CBC which is very limiting and who has developed the unfortunate habit of talking to listeners as if they were 5 years old and on the French service you do not get news every hour.

So here is this song by Tony Bennett, I left my heart in San Francisco which was a favourite of my parents, I heard it last night on the radio programme C’est si bon, I remember this song from the late 1960’s, lots of family memories.  I visited San Francisco in 1982 and stayed at the St-Francis Hotel, the have a very good memory of the city. Another song by Peggy Lee, my favourite being Is that all there is, again it brings back vivid memories of Montreal between 1966-1972 the downtown core.  All this was 50 years ago but it was a far more optimistic period than what we see today.  A lot of the people I knew then are gone now and the City has changed beyond recognition. This is not to say that we did not have a good life afterwards. Like a lot of people the past it seems was less complicated than life today one wonders about all the change and if there is just a little too much of it.

 

 

My father and the Sea

Tags

Dad, Funeral, Music, PEI, Sea, sun

My Dad died 2 years ago on 12 July, it was very sudden a hot Sunday in Montreal. He did not want the usual funeral service, did not like the expense of it all, could not see the point. He had spoken with his doctor who was also affiliated with the Medical School at McGill University in Montreal. He had made all his arrangements ahead of time, so we had no involvement but to honour his commitment.

In June 2017 McGill University notified us that they were releasing his remains and according to their protocol, they had a service of thanks for all those who donated their bodies to the advancement of medical science, very nice service done in one of the grand halls of the University, the funeral parlour then took care of the cremation.

My Dad also had a wish, he wanted to be buried at sea. So I made those arrangements with music, a fiddler, French Champagne Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin and a floral tribute.

So we honoured his wish. My sister and brother-in-law were with us and Will on whom I can always count and have all these years for his support. What was uncertain was the weather, stormy and unpredictable, though today by 2pm the heavens cleared up and the sun appeared, turning the clouds into shiny silver streaks on a blue background.

It was quite beautiful, the captain took the ship out some distance and at a certain point in the open sea his ashes were released and the flowers thrown into the water while the fiddler played. My sister reminded me that today 28 September was the date of the death of our mother 4 years ago. I thought it was Fate who wanted this event to coincide with the date of her death. My parents had been together some 64 years.

The sea was calm and a cool breeze was felt while the sky smiled on us. I just looked at the vast expanse of the sea and became reflective about my parents, time and our place in the universe, there was not a sound except for the wind. The captain and his wife were very kind and thoughtful throughout this journey on the waters.

On our way home going West the sun was very bright as it was setting, the clouds where now golden with a hint of pink and violet. We were quiet in the car, tired from the day and happy it had gone so well. Our duty is done and Dad got his wish and we know, all of us, that he would have been very happy with this day.

Dad on vacation in Greece with the Aegean sea behind him.

Our brother Stephan who lives in Florida could not be with us unfortunately, but here we are Will, Sophie, Andrew and me on the boat.

 

1 May 2016 and today

Tags

art., Charlottetown, life, Music, Neighbourhood, PEI, PEI Symphony

Well it has been one year since we moved to Charlottetown,PEI. Last year when we arrived the weather was sunny and cool like today. We are well settled in our new home, busy with various volunteer jobs. Today I walked in the neighbourhood in late afternoon and took these pictures.

We should not forget that they too came with us and are now also well settled in their new home.

The Haviland Club on Dundas Esplanade which until 1919 was the US Consulate in Charlottetown.

The Government Bog in front of the Gates of Fanningbank, the Residence of the Lieutenant Governor.

Low tide in the bay at the entrance into the Strait of Northumberland.

The houses on West avenue

Today we are invited to Fanningbank (Government House) for the reception given by the Lieutenant Governor and PEI Symphony Board welcoming the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Maestro Alexander Shelley and violinist James Ehnes who came to Charlottetown for a concert to start the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Canada. I just hope they don’t ask me to do a tour of the house, since I volunteer as a docent.

Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra
Colin Davis conducting. Mozart, Magic Flute, the march of the Priests.

 

 

Islander Day!

Tags

Ian sherwood, Islander day, moving, Music, PEI, Pub, winter

Today is Islander Day,  what is this public holiday about, no one seems to know for sure, though everything is closed and it’s a day to spend at home relaxing or doing some fun activity. Since everything is closed you cannot shop or do much which would involve a consumer activity, so reading, a craft activity, sports of all kinds is what most people will do.

In Canada each Province has what is called a public holiday or Family day, the concept being to give people a day off in February which is also Carnaval time in cities like Quebec, Ottawa, Charlottetown, etc. We are in that calendar period after the Christmas Holiday period and not yet at Easter which is the next big holiday. So in February you get a break.

Last year for Islander day, we were here in Charlottetown. We had decided to come to PEI to see what life was like in Winter on the Island, we were still living in Ottawa at this time last year. We were seriously thinking of moving to PEI but wanted to make sure that this is what we wanted to do and there was enough activity on the Island to make it worth our while.

Well it was a busy February one year ago, we started looking for somewhere to rent in Old Charlottetown, not at easy as one might think, lots of rent and at very reasonable prices but if you want something more like the big city style apartments, it is not so easy to find. Also real estate agents are not that helpful, most will try to sell you a house in the process, but we were not in a buying mood. With the help of friends we did find exactly what we wanted and moving in in May, some 10 months ago.

So last year Islander day was wet, foggy and with next to no snow at all. It made for a dreary day, so we went to the Pub to drink, because that is what you do on such days.

Speaking of which, many pubs have live music with some pretty good if not professional musicians like Richard Wood or in this case Ian Sherwood, with this song, The short end of the stick.

 

Sunday afternoon

Tags

Anglican, Architecture, Atlantic, Bee hive, Bees, Canada., Charlottetown, choir, Harris, Music, PEI, St-Paul, W.C.Harris, weekend

Despite being small, the Capital Charlottetown does not lack for things to do. This weekend we went to the Island Craft Show, one of the first Christmas event where you can shop for Xmas gift ideas. Everyone displaying items are artisans and most are well known to everyone. It’s 2 blocks away from our house so we walked down, it was not crowded, we looked around, we bought a few books on PEI and one on Acadian Christmas Traditions on PEI, we bought a small clock shaped like the Lighthouse at Point Prim for our guest bedroom, it is made of carved maple wood and is rather handsome piece.

Today we went to a concert at St-Paul’s Anglican Church, the Atlantic String Machine was playing all Russian music, they are a small ensemble of professional musicians. St-Paul’s is an old stone church built of red flagstones typical of the Island. The architect was William Critchlow Harris, the brother of the famous Canadian painter Robert Harris. You know its a Harris building simply by looking at the inside, all in red Oak. This is the Whose Who Church in Charlottetown, so many famous people, Fathers of Confederation, Governors etc and first families have been part of this parish, plaques everywhere on the walls. The stain glass windows are old and very nice, all done in that Pre-Raphaelite English style of the late 19th century. The city is very quiet now, next to no traffic and few people about, but you still manage to run into people you know anyway and always have a nice conversation.

The weather is still warm in the teens and with bright sunshine it can be very pleasant to walk. However once the sun sets the temperature drop to 5C and that is a bit more chilly. We have also had strong winds at night which is to be expected.

Province House around 04:30pm today. It is next to St-Paul’s Anglican Church where we were at the concert.

The back of St-Paul’s in Charlottetown.

Inside the wood ceiling, the acoustics are wonderful, no microphones needed.

Details of the columns, wonderful wood work.

This is a mural on Prince Street, I do not know the background to this Bee theme, but it is fun.

The Bishop’s Palace on Great George Street, it is quite imposing and built in an Italianate Style.

Another building by W.C. Harris, he was quite the busy architect in his time.

Will reading the new books we bought at the Xmas Craft Fair.

Our Street, early morning around 07:00am, the Sun rising in the East on the other side of our house.

From our kitchen window, look at the fog over the Hillsborough River in the early morning.