Things French...

 We always try to buy a good Calvados at Christmas and Jim found our favourite brand!

We had a wee taste last night in our wonderful special Calvados glasses Don and Elaine gave us. They have little glass apples in the bottom. Calvados is an apple brandy made in Normandy. We raised a toast to them and all our wonderful travel adventures together.

And we rewatched Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" the other night. Well, anything that takes place in Paris is very special to us and this film is brilliant. Paris, famous authors and artists...wow. I gotta say Woody Allen is a genius.

 

Christmas is cancelled but...

 

Although the pandemic is bringing pretty miserable times to so many people you do have to admire the creativity that people are bringing to Zoom meetings and online parties. A google search brings up amazing stuff. 

Jim is now talking with folks in Spain twice a week about English Literature and improving his Spanish.  I dropped in to say hi to our friend Jesuius in Grenada.

At my Jane Austen meeting Saturday there were people joining us from all over the world. Linda's daughter has invited relatives from the UK to join them on Christmas. And she won't have to make dinner for a whole lot of people. Where was the pandemic when I needed it:)

Locally, our seniors in care facilities have suffered the most in terms of risks and loneliness. I'd like to give a plug for Letters for Better Days started by some young women in Canada. The idea is to have people write letters to these isolated seniors and the group prints off the letter and it gets delivered  by people who provide meal services.

Apparently responses have flooded in from all over the globe despite being mainly a word-of-mouth campaign through personal social media accounts. Now they are getting wider media publicity. I'll be writing a letter.

You can email your letters to:

lettersforbetterdays@gmail.com

From the blog of Seth Godin

 I get his blog in my email everyday and it's always interesting. I tend to mainly read novels and if I didn't belong to two bookclubs I probably wouldn't get out of a very easy comfort zone. I think I'll have to try at least one of these books. I put a hold on the first one.

Here are some books for the end of the year… fifty years of ideas that have helped me understand the world differently:

Gödel, Escher, Bach — Before meta was cool, Douglas Hofstadter won a Pulitzer Prize for this intricately created examination of math, art and music.

Caste — My book of the year. Wilkerson helps us see how persistent and hidden the indoctrination of race and status lie in our culture.

Understanding Comics — Another meta book, and a masterpiece of explanation and insight.

The Red Queen — There are a ton of very cool books on evolutionary theory and this one is particularly good.

Knocking on Heaven’s Door — Lisa Randall’s explanation of physics will change the way you look at the world.

Guns, Germs and Steel — Another classic, it has earned its spot in the canon. An explanation (not without controversy) of how the world ended up as it did. This is what the study of geography is actually about.

The Beginning of Infinity — After you read Randall, this book will take those ideas and expand them. A lot.

Impro — This book transformed the way I saw human interaction, and had a significant impact in the creation of This is Marketing.

What Technology Wants — Kevin Kelly has changed my mind over and over again, and this one is the one I think about the most often.

The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas — A short story from Ursula LeGuin that you will never forget.

Debt — An astonishing look at 5,000 years of human history by the late David Graeber.

The Jazz of Physics — A great book, even (especially) for people who think they don’t like either.

When Things Fall Apart — Each of Pema’s books is special, and the audio books in particular. This is a fine place to start.

Books are an extraordinary device, transitioning through time and space, moving from person to person and leaving behind insight and connection. I’m grateful every single day for the privilege of being able to read (and to write).

And writing doesn’t always have to take the form of books. Check out this prize-winning video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg2rnjZ19PY&feature=emb_title

Latkes

I made latkes last year at this time (Donna's recipe) and we loved them. Just might do that again. 

A friend of Louise Penny sent her this. I thought it was quite clever...looks like it's on a T shirt.

 

Greetings from Germany

It's always great to hear from Maureen, Jim's Scottish cousin, who now lives in Germany. She insisted I must serve neeps (turnips) for our Robbie Burns dinner last year. Jim loves them but usually only gets them for Christmas dinner.  I will be making a big portion for this year's Christmas dinner for his pleasure. I was so glad I had the Robbie Burns evening last year...no chance for it this year! 

Hello Jim and Janice,  really nice to hear from you .  Yes it has been a hard year for us all ( everwhere).  In Germany although we have followed the restrictions,,,,,,,   wear mask, keep distance some shops only allowing two customers to enter i.e. sometimes long queues outside waiting,   especially at the Lotto Shop,  in spite of these restrictions the daily infections are high and  it looks like  we here in Germany have to expect even more tougher restrictions..............     My Xmas celebrations will be at home,  I cancelled my trip to  Eric,  hopefully that in the New Year 2021 we can return back to life before  Corona................  To-day  on the daily news.  I read some of the Royals are expecting babies next Spring,   So I presume they didn`t bake bread????

e.g  Princess Eugeone, G.B......  Princess Sofia (Sweden) ..... Zara Tindell (grand-daughter from Queen Elizabeth.

We are all keeping well, and I really do miss my travelling (Daily Coach >Trips e.g. to Holland) and of course the German Xmas markets,    However we are all on the same boat and what most important is.   we keep safe and well.

My liviing room is brightly decorated with lights and Xmas figures and I have ordered tasty meals for Xmas delivery date  24th December.   and not forgetting wine and a white port wine  from Amazon.

Jim and Janice keep safe and well and all the best wishes for theNew Year 2021,  and  wishing you both that you can travel to paradise PaLm Springs in the New Year 2021,   although you both are  spending paradise in VANCOUVER now.

Love to you both and keep safe and well,.........from  Maureen   xxx

Hello Janice,  I hope you can scroll down,   I ordered from the Deutsche See >Fischmakatur,      Mussels in Herb >Sauce and Mussels in Wine Sauce, delivery date 24.12.2020

It was so much fun last year.!

We loved "Henri"

 Well, in these times, we would love to have our beloved Oscar around but Henri was a lot of fun virtually as well.  Gone now, but we enjoyed him a lot.

With a heavy heart, I have to announce that Henry (you may know him as Henri, le Chat Noir) has passed on at the age of 17. He had developed a problem that was causing a deterioration in his spine and though he was able to be in relative comfort until the end, there was just no path forward since he was only comfortable while immobile. We are grateful that even during this pandemic, we were able to have a doctor safely come to Henry’s home to help him pass peacefully, surrounded by those that loved him.

Henry packed a lot into his years with us. We adopted him from the Seattle Animal Shelter as a kitten, and from day one his regal presence and distinguished personality filled the home. A short film project I made in film school became the first Henri film, and the rest is history. Henry became a best-selling author, a Golden Kitty award winner, and appeared in every year of the Internet Cat Video Festival (now CatVideoFest). It will be tough to make, but I will create a video tribute to Henri (and Henry) for next year’s reel and I will make it available online as well. He also helped to raise tens of thousands of dollars for cats in need around the world. And he did it all from his couch.

I always noted how little Henry had in common with the angst-filled character he portrayed. He was a good natured and happy cat, and as far as I could tell, never suffered a single existential crisis during his life. But as the years went on, I started to realize that it was his imperious stare and the nobility behind his eyes that made Henri work, more than my terrible French and pedestrian piano playing. No one had a problem immediately accepting that this cat was a deep-thinking philosopher. Maybe he actually was. He also liked chin scratches.

Before Henry’s health problems, my mother (and Henry’s actual caretaker) had begun work on a small book of poetry about life with Henry and her other multitude of kitties, including the still living l’Imbecile Blanc. I (ahem, excuse me…Henri) had actually already written the introduction. It will be published soon and we’ve made arrangements for all of the proceeds to benefit animal shelters in our area in his memory. Henry wouldn’t have it any other way.

I know that hearing this sad news will be difficult. But remember that Henri lives on in your memories as well as ours, and in the amusement he brought to all of you. The foremost goal was always to make people laugh! I would encourage all of you to share your favorite Henri video or quote today, because everyone needs a good laugh now more than ever.

Henry, thank you for everything you brought to my life and to the lives of so many people and cats out there. I hope they have Party Mix wherever you are now. So long, brother.

Your Thieving Filmmaker,

Will

More brightness in our living room

 Well, you can't get too many lights these days. I bought this string of lights last year on sale for very cheap but they were all tangled up and I couldn't really figure out a place to put them so was going to throw them out. Then I started shaking them out and put them on the loveseat.  No one is going to be sitting here so no problem.

Heather James Fine Art

This is one of the art galleries in Palm Desert on El Paseo. I enjoy being on their mailing list as they have lots of interesting paintings for sale. They never post the prices. I imagine this one would cost a bomb!  I don't imagine I will be getting it for Christmas:)

CLAUDE MONET

Le Château d'Antibes 1888 oil on canvas 31 7/8 x 45 in.

"What I will bring back from here will be pure, gentle sweetness: some white, some pink, and some blue, and all this surrounded by the fairylike air."  - Claude Monet   Le Château d'Antibes is a defining work of Impressionism that conveys the movement's fascination with natural light. Monet painted several views of these fortress ramparts on the Mediterranean coast during his stay in Antibes in 1888. These works are among the earliest instances of a serial focus on the transient, momentary effects of light that would become the artist’s hallmark. This large-scale canvas is the masterful culmination of the series.

Test pattern

 

Aren't we lucky to have all this stuff to amuse ourselves during this pandemic.  I remember getting our first TV in 1954. We were all pretty excited by it. Jim's family didn't get a TV right away and so he used to go over to a neighbour's house and watch it. One day he went over before programming began and was told there was just "test pattern". He replied that he loved test pattern so they let him sit and watch it.  

Our before dinner routine...

We sit in our recliners in our nook in the dining room and watch the sun go down over the mountains and ocean usually enjoying some wine and we sometimes ask Alexa to play some music or listen to an old Rich Conaty program. We're now seeing quite a few planes come in as well. We only have candlelight on along with the tree.

It's even cosy watching the rain snd really fun watching the snow come down. The odd seagull comes round....almost no crows and never see any Canada Geese around here. 

I get the chair where I can also view our Christmas tree and was especially enjoying that the other night when Jim made dinner...spaghetti bolangnaise, of course.

Jim's view isn't too shabby...he gets to see the ferries all lit up coming and going. And sometimes we switch. 

I got a memory on FB and it was snowing Dec. 6, 2016. Now, to go on my blog to see where we were.

Well,  we were in  Palm Springs but came home Dec. 28 and there was some snow New Year's Eve. We were in the Laguna Vista apartment then. My blog says we had to locate scarves, gloves, etc. since we hadn't come home for any part of winter for three years.

Looking out over our balcony at the Laguna Vista.

https://janicesextonart.blogspot.com/2016/12/a-swim-bit-of-sauna-then-watching-snow.html

Lots of correspondence from Italy these past weeks

Jim is researching something which relates to something to do with someone in Italy so he's been having fun writing emails to people in Italian with the help of Google Translate. He did take first year Italian over 50 years ago at UBC and Italian is probably the language he likes the best but he doesn't really have that much knowledge of it. He got some practice in when we spent three weeks in 2002 driving around Italy for three weeks. I do have quite a few photos of that trip. It was fun to look at the album the other day. 

He's getting lots of responses and people are willing to contact libraries and people to get more information.

These people speak English so they replied in English and Jim wrote to them in English.

 Dear James,

What a pleasure your e-mail as well as speak with you about AH! You and your books have been very important for me and my studies!

So, I'm happy you and your wife are fine, my wife and I have avoided Covid too, at least up now...

This message is just to say I've received your e-mail, very interesting. Let me hear any colleague who works on the intellectual Italian history between the wars and who can help us, directly or indirectly with any bibliographical indication. I know some people to call for that.

Let me time, and I'll give you an answer, and one consideration about it too, if you agree.  

Alessandro 

Dear Dr.Sexton,

I'm deeply impressed by your extraordinary knowledge of Huxlian things.

My contribution to your researches can only be minimal and insignificant.

I don't know who "Miss Chistin" might be.

I find it possible that the "Monsieur Corradini" of the Gonnelli letter was

Enrico Corradini...

I started my blog in 2002 after we came home from our time in France and Italy. It was Jim's first time teaching at the University of Toulon and then we did the driving trip around Italy. I did post photos from France but these are the only two I posted from Italy. I was quite fascinated by the old bicycles we saw. 

In France we mainly saw the fancy bikes like you would see in the Tour de France. One year we were in Paris when the cyclists came in on their last leg of the Tour de France. It was quite exciting! No photos of that, of course. I'm not sure what year that was but it was when I took very few photos (and usually didn't even have my camera with me) as I didn't want to be like the Japanese tourists who seemed to mainly take photos and not really look at anything except through the camera lens. Well, they got the last laugh. I bet they have been enjoying all their wonderful photos all these years and even more so in these times.

One photo I did take and it is in the album was of Michelangelo's "David" when we were in Florence. The statue is in a room of its own and there are "No Photography" warnings in many languages. All of a sudden a lot of people started taking photos. So I thought I guess it's ok so I dug my camera out and took one. A guard admonished me. About 10 minutes later, there was a flurry of photos being taken. The  deal was the guard left the room for a minute or two probably on purpose so people could take photos. Well, I'll never know for sure or if it was just this one guard and just this one time. Maybe he was retiring the next day.

My illegal photo of "David". (it's a photo of a photo)

There are lots of images on the Internet as you would expect.

That year we lucked in to someone who was retiring who worked at our bank in France. For Jim to get paid for his teaching in France he had to have a French bank account. The University of Toulon hadn't done the proper paperwork for Jim to do that. I think part of that was the folks in the south of France get fed up with Paris and all its paperwork. We weren't too concerned as we were having a great experience and so "volunteering" wasn't a big deal. But then, "Suzy" said she was retiring and so just stamped the papers for the account. She heard us talking about a long distance call we needed to make. She insisted we used the phone in her office. Long distance was expensive in those days. It was all quite funny!

LEGO

 I often buy Richard a small bit of LEGO for Christmas just for fun and this year I saw this Advent Calendar LEGO so thought that would be perfect since our advent calendar has these little pockets for goodies. My idea was to give it to Richard last month when they were coming over for dinner. Well, that didn't happen and won't be happening anytime soon I guess. So, I opened it up and thought I would try to do this. The package does say 6 + for age.

Well, it doesn't look very obvious to me how you put these pieces together but I'll see what I can do. I don't have much else to do :)

And now I think that the finished pieces will go back into the foam tray and the lid (purplish photo) sit above it and you open the little doors. I don't think I've completely ruined it.

I did manage to get one piece sort of together but there is still a little black piece leftover. 

Jim had a great time yesterday lecturing and talking to students in Spain

 Things went really well and there were some very intelligent questions from the  students. Their English is excellent. They are graduate students in English Literature.  Jim would like to improve his Spanish so Jesuius and he and one of his best students are going to talk once a week in Spanish and English about English Literature via Zoom or perhaps on the platform they used yesterday.

It looks like the Huxley Symposium in Toulon will be postponed again or perhaps they'll do it virtually. I don't think things will be normal by October but you never know.  We have an invitation from Jesuius to stay in his new villa. These Spaniards seem to have lots of places  He also has an apartment in Almeria where he teaches and shares another villa with his sister in the mountains. 

We did a lot of stuff in the couple of weeks we were in mainly Spain in November 2010. Here's my blog from that time. It begins with Mary's 60th birthday and we saw their brand new grandson, Eliot!

https://janicesextonart.blogspot.com/2010/11/

If you click on "Older Posts" at the end you will see the time we spent in London and all the Chrsitmas lights and our London and Oxford friends and also Susan from Yorkshire came down to visit ut. We had our one bedroom apartment in Vancouver then so it was great to leave and arrive from there and not have to do the Van-Victoria flight which was alway very tiring after the trans-Atlantic ordeal.

This is a nice invitaion but I think our days of going to Europe are over. 

If you are coming to Europe the following year, it depends on the pandemic, obviously, you are invited to Granada and to my house with your wife. I will be happy to host you and show you around.

 

I got a new villa, nearby Granada, only 5 kilometres away, surrounded by the Sierra Nevada mountains with beautiful views and good natural landscapes. 

 

Well, let's talk a little bit this afternoon.

We'll be talking to folks in Almeria, Spain this morning

 Jim is lecturing to students of his colleague in Spain this morning and there will be a discussion afterwards. Jesuias wants to have a chat first with us. It will be great to talk to him. 

We had a great time with him when Jim was at a Huxley conference many years ago.

Almería is a city in southeast Spain. The Alcazaba is an imposing Moorish fortress overlooking the city. The fortified, 16th-century Almería Cathedral has a Gothic ribbed ceiling. The Museum of Almería displays archaeological finds from across the region. Underground lies a network of tunnels, the Civil War Shelters of Almería. The English Cable is a huge iron pier and symbol of the city’s former mining industry.

Update: Great to talk to him today. His students are arriving online and Jim will begin shortly.

Christmas displays from Vancouver's "The Daily Hive"

 We'll definitely have to get out to see Christmas lights this year. Good on all the people who bring this joy to others!

Lots of Reindeer buses this year...good on them!

 TransLink announced today that it is ramping up its annual Reindeer tradition, and passengers will find nine of the beloved Reindeer Buses on the streets. 

Starting Dec. 1, the transportation agency aims to spread much-needed holiday cheer all over Metro Vancouver with its festive fleet. Reindeer Buses Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph will roll into service and brighten a street near you.

“We can all agree that it’s been a pretty tough year,” says TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond.

“If there was ever a time to boost our Reindeer Bus fleet, it’s certainly now. We want to spread smiles and holiday cheer to street corners all over the region, and this is a fun way to do it.”

Rich Conaty

 We really enjoyed listening to him Sunday nights. We would often listen for an hour or two. Old programs are available to stream and we listened to some of one the other night. If you're looking for things to do you might give this a try.

Streaming info here:

https://news.fordham.edu/fordham-magazine/rich-conatys-big-broadcast-lives-on-in-new-digital-archive/

This photo was taken not long before he died.