Book Reviews & Travel Descriptions
Saturday, October 12, 2024
The Age of Insecurity by Astra Taylor - Non-fiction
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin: Fiction
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow
Personal Commentary: This novel outlines the relationship between two friends as they create and develop a video game. It describes the emotional connection between them. Apart from being in love with each other this couple is determined to succeed in this venture.
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
The Wayfinders by Wade Davis - The CBC Massey Lecture Series
Every culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? In The Wayfinders, renowned anthropologist, winner of the prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize, and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis leads us on a thrilling journey to celebrate the wisdom of the world's indigenous cultures.
In Polynesia, we set sail with navigators whose ancestors settled the Pacific ten centuries before Christ. In the Amazon we meet the descendants of a true lost civilization, the Peoples of the Anaconda. In the Andes, we discover that the earth is alive, while in Australia we experience Dreamtime, the all-embracing philosophy of the first humans to walk out of Africa. We then travel to Nepal, where we encounter a wisdom hero, a Bodhisattva, who emerges from forty-five years of Buddhist retreat and solitude. And finally, we settle in Borneo, where the last rainforest nomads struggle to survive.
Understanding the lessons of this journey will be our mission for the next century. For at risk is the human legacy -- a vast archive of knowledge and expertise, a catalogue of the imagination. Rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit, as expressed by culture, is among the central challenges of our time.
Friday, August 30, 2024
Sherlock Holmes and The Mystery of the Human Heart: Play at Shaw Festival
Festival Theatre, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Date: Wednesday, August 28, 2024
Play Title: Sherlock Holmes and The Mystery of the Human Heart
Director's Note:
Dark business, unhappy coincidences, suspicious circumstances - these are the things that seem to intrigue Sherlock Holmes and occupy his great mind. In truth, however, there is only one mystery that consistently compels Sherlock into action, and that is the mystery of the human condition. Perhaps this is because not even the master of deduction can step outside of his existence and analyze it, as his direct involvement is an essential precondition.
Holmes has a set of techniques he uses to reduce mysteries into a series of solvable problems. When attempting to utilize these methods to demystify, quantify and categorize a mystery as complex as human nature, however, he is inevitably left with much that is inexplicable.
Perhaps one day an author or playwright will write a Sherlock adventure that sees Holmes recognize and accept that mystery is a vital part of human existence. Until then we will continue to enjoy seeing our hero vanquishing the bad guys, even as he battles.
Personal Commentary: It was a play that brought many insightful thoughts about human behaviour and the varied interactions with each other. It was a very good learning experience that was beautifully portrayed by the cast of the play.
Dark business, unhappy coincidences, suspicious circumstances - these are the things that seem to intrigue Sherlock Holmes and occupy his great mind. In truth, however, there is only one mystery that consistently compels Sherlock into action, and that is the mystery of the human condition. Perhaps this is because not even the master of deduction can step outside of his existence and analyze it, as his direct involvement is an essential precondition.
Holmes has a set of techniques he uses to reduce mysteries into a series of solvable problems. When attempting to utilize these methods to demystify, quantify and categorize a mystery as complex as human nature, however, he is inevitably left with much that is inexplicable.
Perhaps one day an author or playwright will write a Sherlock adventure that sees Holmes recognize and accept that mystery is a vital part of human existence. Until then we will continue to enjoy seeing our hero vanquishing the bad guys, even as he battles.
Personal Commentary: It was a play that brought many insightful thoughts about human behaviour and the varied interactions with each other. It was a very good learning experience that was beautifully portrayed by the cast of the play.
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Most Famous Socrates' Quotes
2. “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
3. “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”
4. “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
5. “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
6. “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
7. “Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
8. “To find yourself, think for yourself.”
9. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
10. "He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have."
Source: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/275648.Socrates