social commentary | life on planetm

a unique perspective on this crazy world

Archive for the ‘social commentary’ Category

une lettre d’amour á Paris

The city of enlightenment… thank you, CTV. (Way better than Global News who just showed weird photos that were badly edited and had no message). I was on the internet working most of the day yesterday so I saw the breaking news when there was no information and then followed the tragedy through the day to its bitter and senseless end. One feels so helpless and there is nothing an ordinary citizen living in a foreign country can do except hold firm to positive values and lead a life that strives for virtue.

It is arguably my favourite city in the world. It’s like having more than one child. I love Paris, New York, Amsterdam and Berlin equally for different reasons. And Krakow has potential to enlarge my family 🙂 Unlike when the Twin Towers were hit, I don’t have any close friends who live in Paris. I’ve spent so much time in Paris it feels like another home town and the attack feels more personal. And these ridiculous acts are so inhumane, barbaric and stupid it is especially disheartening and really feels like we are moving backwards in our evolution as a species. Friday the 13^th should just be a terrible Hollywood movie, not the date of a major tragedy.

vive la france!!!

There is nothing concrete I can do right now for Paris and I can’t even tell you to get on a plane to support them since Hollande has closed the borders. But I have spent time in Paris this year. I wrote about it a little bit but there was a post still in waiting so I think the best I can do to honour Paris is to talk about the real Paris, not the tragic Paris.

I will be back – and you should visit. I’m a little surprised Colbert – who pronounces his name as though he was French – and boasts a bandleader whose name sounds très français (although he is Jon rather than Jean so I think the name is not really French anymore) – didn’t talk about what went down in Paris but maybe no one told him before the show started… I just checked the internet! I think I need to wait for it… It’s something I have come to expect from him and Jon Stewart. Especially with Mark Ruffalo and his honorary political agenda as a guest.

So… Paris is all about art, fashion, design… I already wrote about the great exhibitions I saw in a more timely way in case you wanted to check them out…

What I didn’t talk about was my ongoing discovery of the right bank into the emerging arrondissements.

One of the great delights of Paris is still gorging myself on macarons from Pierre Hermé. Luckily, Paris is very walkable and, even if you take the métro, you will still log lots of steps and stairs. So, eat, and then exercise it off. It’s very Parisian 🙂

french beauty

I discovered a couple of great new boutique hotels – Hotel Paradis and Hotel Fabric. A great way to explore the gentrifying east without giving up any creature comforts 😉

http://hotelparadisparis.com/

http://www.hotelfabric.com/en/

It put me in a slightly newer neighborhood and I mostly just wandered, somewhat aimlessly, as I know the city well enough I only need to pull out the map if I get seriously lost.

One of the great delights of the visit was meeting friends from Vancouver for dinner in Paris! They are more “in the know” than me so managed to actually find a restaurant in such an obscure location even my map wasn’t really helpful… but I worked out the logic and asked people for directions and eventually got to the right place! It’s marked like one of those places from the 90s where you are supposed to be cool enough to have the intel to know where it is without a sign – a way to keep out the riff-raff – much easier before the public got apps to access the internet 🙂

Anyway, the restaurant is called Au Passage and is highly recommended. Just get clear directions 😉

http://www.restaurant-aupassage.fr/en/

I didn’t spend nearly enough time in Paris in 2015 but my main discovery was a re-discovery and update. Long ago when one acquired cutting edge information from glossy magazines, I read about the 11^th arrondissement and rue Oberkampf. One of my best friends was living in Paris so I suggested we should check it out… she was game and it was kind of interesting but mostly it was just Café Charbon back then. It was obviously emerging… but it was early days!

https://www.facebook.com/cafe.charbon.oberkampf/

I re-visited rue Oberkampf a few years ago listening to some cool young French bands but then was semi-stalked by some Arab guy who wasn’t into subtle “I’m really just hear to listen to the music” so I gave up and went to my hotel. But I knew it was a part of Paris I wanted to explore more. The Hotel Fabric is perfectly situated for such an adventure so I could continue my exploration. As in all of Paris, there is a seriously good patisserie a block or two from the hotel (Maison Landemaine). What was more exciting, though, was the discovery that there are clubs on side streets off the rue Oberkampf that have live bands even on weeknights!

http://www.maisonlandemaine.com/en/shops

I would love to come back for an entire week but had a great time on nights where you don’t expect much. Gibus Café at 127 rue Saint-Maur definitely recommended. I obviously didn’t keep good enough notes of the place I went the second night but had a lovely evening chatting and watching the band with Surya, an Indian transplant. At the time, I had just been in India so the connection was more vibrant.

http://www.gibus.fr/

you gotta eat – and drink – here 🙂

I also checked out a wine bar/restaurant across from the hotel, which was stupendous. The French love food and wine and these indie places in the gentrifying arrondissements are great value. It’s called La Cave de L’Insolite on 30 rue de la Folie Méricourt.

http://www.lacavedelinsolite.fr/

Stephen did come through with genuine emotion for Paris and cute James opened with some heart-felt comments. If only we could convince people black humour is better than suicide bombs. It’s a weapon of mass happiness rather than mass destruction.

My on-going love to Paris and all the people of France who have embraced me over the years – literally and figuratively 🙂 Bisous big time!!!

Category:

life philosophy, social commentary, travel stories

Tagged with:

let’s cross our fingers and hope for the best…

We will soon be in another country but some random thoughts about India before I move on to the next continent.

I believe one in seven people in the world can trace their roots to India. That is a lot of people! With that many people, life is bound to be messy. With China slowing down and an optimistic new Indian Prime Minister, India is in the news a lot these days.

Travelling there it is hard to know what to think. It’s clear there is a lot of work to do and not all the rich people appreciate the daily lifestyle of the poor people. Those kind of illusions exist in the west as well. Why I encourage everyone I can to travel and see the world and meet the people. Listen to what your parents, friends and the media tell you – but don’t believe it without question. Learn to make your own judgements and opinions.

What I have found to be universally true is that there are a lot of good, kind ordinary people in even the most corrupt and screwed up country. The challenge is how to improve their lives in a meaningful way. Troops, assassinations and even charity often do more harm than good. I’m a big believer in the market economy so one thing you can do is travel and do some shopping 🙂

a riot of colour

C did his best to keep me out of the shops (or hurry me along – if he had let me shop longer on our way to Jhansi we wouldn’t have had to spend hours waiting for the train outside the station 😉 but I defied him 🙂 India is a shopping paradise, especially for those who don’t favour black. There is a riot of colour everywhere. There are saris, purses, bangles, shawls, intricately carved furniture, jewelry made of precious gemstones and so much more.

I wish I could provide more shopping tips but it was a tiny part of my Indian experience. What I would say is to be wary of help from guides. Normally in Asia, there is a kickback to guides for bringing in unsuspecting tourists. I didn’t have much choice due to the chock-a-block itinerary so let the guide take me shopping in Agra. You definitely get lots of attention and Indian shopkeepers are skilled salespeople so keep your head about you. It’s also good to not be too enthusiastic as typically prices are not marked.

I’m not much of a bargainer so I enjoyed my time shopping in the hotel much more. It’s entirely possible I was getting ripped off but the gentlemen were charming and the goods were gorgeous so I didn’t care. Compared to my hometown the prices were good and I was hopefully helping the economy a little bit. What I really like is to buy from artisans directly but that isn’t always possible.

I actually had my best shopping experience at the airport. The prices seemed the same and there was a vast array of gorgeous goods – and it was more independent – not all the goods were stacked behind the counter. You could drape the shawl on yourself. I would definitely recommend that you buy at least one shawl on your trip to India. When it’s 40 degrees outside, it can be hard to be enthusiastic about a real pashmina but you will be grateful when you step onto the plane.

I’ve been hauling a black shawl I bought in London onto planes for years now. It’s practical but sometimes seems too dark so I was over the moon to find a multi-coloured shawl made of very fine wool. It livens up the neutrals and is a match to pink, purple, green, yellow, turquoise, orange… pretty much anything. It has become one of my most prized possessions. Worth a trip to India just to get that shawl 🙂

a typical street scene

India is a vast and complicated place. My travels only skimmed the surface of its possibilities. Before, during and after I read some great books about Indian history and culture, which I would recommend, even if a trip isn’t on your agenda:

Indian Summer by Alex Von Tunzelmann – a very readable history about Indian independence

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo – a poignant picture of modern India and people who would love the chance to use a luxury toilet

Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh – one of the many expat Indians looking for her roots and a primer for train travel in India

Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald – an expat outside perspective on India

We ended our visit to India on a high note. The road from Agra to Delhi is sleek and modern and we made the kind of time we spoiled westerners expect every day. No cows on the road to slow us down! Due to the issues we faced at Bandhavgarth, the original Indian tour company representative met us in Delhi and then treated us to a special meal. The setting was fantastic. It looked very western. We were outside in a park covered with fairy lights and the place was packed with well-dressed locals. The new India obviously. Once again the cocktail was fine but the food was hilarious. While we got to have a special meal, we could not choose from the regular menu so the choices were really limited. I love Italian food so thought I would go for the pasta. I have been cooking Italian food for years and won’t reheat it in the microwave because pasta needs to be al dente. A little overcooked I can handle if I must but this was mush…

Apparently Indians love mush! It was so bad I barely ate any and the server was good so we discussed it. He laughed as he knew what I was talking about but he said Indians would send it back if the chef actually cooked it al dente! I related my experiences with foreign cuisine in India and do advise you not to go there. It’s a little boring eating Indian food every day but it’s all they know how to do 🙂

One of the benefits of writing the blog is that I get to relive my travel adventures and I am feeling nostalgic for India as I type this. Without question, it is not a really easy travel destination but you can organize to live in a bubble if you want – or be bold like the Australian lady and take 2^nd class trains. There’s lots going on and it is obvious some progress is being made.

also india an art show in hotel lobby

I would love to see the trickle-down economics turn into a flood but I know that may be delusional. But we can always hope. My Viking ancestors could never have imagined in their wildest dreams the incredible life I would lead a few centuries on as I type my thoughts to the world while glancing out the window at the boats on False Creek enjoying the last summer long weekend. Let’s just cross our fingers and hope the new Prime Minister finds a way to bridge the centuries like a time machine and bring the people I saw walking along the road transporting goods on their heads into the 21^st century.

Category:

artsy stuff, social commentary, travel stories

Tagged with:

reading between the lines

Today was my aunt’s memorial. As regular readers will know, my method of trying to reconcile death is to write about people as if I could talk to them. My mom delivered the news. This was her much older sister who didn’t figure into her life that much as a young child but became a pillar by the time she was an adult. Bizarrely, it was through my aunt’s death that I found out my mother had been wildly excited about her trip to DisneyWorld (you will hear about it in due time, complete with photos 😉

That nugget of information was gleaned because my mom noted that my aunt didn’t express her emotions much in nice clear diction so that the rest of us could be sure what was going on. There is much to be celebrated about northern Europeans but emotional intelligence is not a strength. I realize it might harm art and literature but life would be so much easier if people would just talk – and hug 😉

my aunt smiling!

My aunt did hug… but talk… not so much. Of course, it made her more mysterious. When someone dies, you have to reconcile your emotions and your memories of that person. Death sucks – but at least the pause can force us to think in a more metaphysical way than we might do on a regular day.

My aunt always seemed to be one of those people who wanted to fade into the background. I always wanted to see her bolder, more confident. But everyone has to follow her own path and we all have our own unique DNA.

North American culture celebrates loudmouths and show-offs. I sometimes fear we forget the valuable role that the quiet, unassuming nurturers play in the world. My aunt Shirley was the anti-Kardashian. She never sought the spotlight. She never appreciated how amazing she was.

trying to get my aunt to smile for a photo 😉

But she taught me stuff that Kim and Kayne will likely never figure out…

She cared deeply about people and her house was open at almost any hour to anyone who needed a place to hang out – or a hug.

She didn’t judge and opened her arms and her heart to people who had made mistakes – or who were in a tight spot courtesy of other people’s decisions.

She was one of those sunny, happy people who never yelled or ruined your day.

She did it all in a really quiet way that snuck up on you and, sadly, left her underappreciated.

She was the first adult other than my parents that I really remember hanging out with (she babysat me as a small child). I can still remember every inch of her house. I spent hours playing with dolls or playing doctor in the various bedrooms. I grew up in a trailer park so I realize now it resonated with me so strongly – my aunt was the lady who tried to feed you constantly, made twelve different kinds of yummy treats for Christmas and lived in the same house her whole adult life. She was like a real life Hallmark film.

She – and that house – was a place of stability in my gypsy childhood. And her sole daughter was like the ultimate big sister. She was the coolest teenager I have ever known. She treated my sister and me like we were not just little kids – when we really were. She was one of my first great loves. My sister and I continued the tradition with her daughter, treating her a bit like a living doll 🙂

a living doll!

We all just live. Things happen. There are family events. Mostly we just sleepwalk through them. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more aware of the influences in my life and how people and events shape us.

Shirley definitely inspired me to spend more time in the kitchen. She taught me to be kind and forgiving and to care about others. She kept buying me cool Christmas presents even though the family had declared it not necessary (her husband owned a record shop so she shaped my musical taste). Her children inspired me. The people in your life matter. They help to shape and define you.

Thanks, Shirley.

Actions speak louder than words. That’s how I know she loved me. And I loved her. You don’t need to say it out loud for it to be true…

Category:

shining examples, social commentary

Tagged with:

the playthings of superpowers…

london on a glorious day

I’m not sure I would want to live in London as it is so crowded and expensive but it is a fantastic place to spend a few days imagining other lives and wandering through history. I’ve been to the city enough times now that I feel like a local and I have to remember to pay attention.

One of the ways I have found to make familiar places interesting is to change up my accommodation. ME London put me in a new location from previous visits.

I’ve been to London so many times it often feels like I am just a local in an alternate location. Regular life amped up a bit. Lots of walking. Power shopping. Dinner with friends.

I normally don’t spend the big bucks required to stay in a location that doesn’t involve flashing an Oyster card. But my sexy cave was walking distance to Bond Street – and the cashmere luxuries of the Burlington Arcade.

I had brought the sun with me from Oslo so a long walk seemed an ideal way to start the day. Since I was the official photographer for my mom’s inaugural tour of London I have more tourist photos of the city than I have of Paris but there are definite holes in the collection.

So I stopped to read the plaques 😉 Having just come from Norway and its history as a bargaining chip, passing from Denmark to Sweden and struggling to establish an identity independent of the bigger powers, some of the plaques and statues spoke to me a little more loudly.

Reading between the lines in Westminster, you see the sacrifices made by Canadians and Australians at the hands of a condescending Great Britain. They don’t teach it in school but apparently at one point Queen Victoria wanted to trade Canada for Barbados – at the time, sugar was a lot more compelling than beavers…

It’s surprising Canada hasn’t turned republican 😉 Lots of Australians have. They have been mishandled by the Crown in a more flagrant way.

On Sunday I wandered the Thames – and some of the most important historical buildings in London – with an Irishman. This visit really illuminated the elusive nature of history.

wandering the thames…

So many countries are the playthings of superpowers. Superpowers are the bullies of the global schoolyard. What travel teaches us, though, is that often the individual citizens of superpowers are lovely and charming. One has to keep an open mind and not hold someone’s flag against them.

Strangely it’s likely easier to be a tourist when you come from a plaything country. The expectations on you are pretty low. You don’t have to defend yourself from generalizations about your culture that might not reflect your own point of view.

Visit the superpowers. Learn about history. A lot of it won’t be pretty. But, despite their roles as the playthings of superpowers, Norway, Australia and Canada emerged fairly unscathed. And all worth your tourist dollars! All tough places to make a go of it in the 19^th century – but the kind of places where you innovate to stay alive. And the landscape is rugged enough to discourage newcomers. The world without man is an incredible place… and there aren’t a lot of places on the planet where you can experience it in the 21^st century.

But 21^st century London is pretty benign. And while it’s hard to get behind some of the historical choices, you just don’t see that kind of architecture unless you go to a superpower with a questionable past 😉

Category:

social commentary, travel stories

Tagged with:

a hotel for narcissists ;)

I didn’t realize when I booked it that it was actually pronounced “ME”! It’s the latest spot for urban trendsetters. ME London – a new outpost of the über-stylish arm of the Melia chain. I read about it on a recent airplane and was intrigued.

http://www.melia.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/london/me-london/index.html

Five years ago I stayed at the first ME in Madrid. How I met Javier and got a tour of Madrid with a local guide and one of my all-time greatest travel stories 😉 The rooftop bar at the ME in Madrid is more exciting than the rooftop bar at the ME London but I mostly stayed there so that I didn’t have to get past the velvet rope.

http://www.melia.com/en/hotels/spain/madrid/me-madrid-reina-victoria/index.html

my room in the sexy cave

It worked! And ME hotels apparently inspire memorable travel experiences. There is an impressive view over the Thames from the top of the hotel. I can’t show you a photo though because, as I was discretely trying to sneak a tourist snap, a very attractive gentleman in a suit caught me.

“Don’t do it. You’ll spoil it. Just drink it in so you can remember it.”

I put my phone in my purse and looked at him. “Fair enough.” I was intrigued…

a snap before I met Patrick…

It’s hard to resist an Irish accent 😉 So I let Patrick call the shots for the rest of the evening. I learned about the real current state of the economy of Ireland and what it was like to grow up in Belfast. Belfast is already on the list – and he just convinced me it likely needs to move up!

To date, I’ve only been to Dublin – and never with a really fun-loving companion. So I have this sense of it as a place where a love of music and a talent for words combines with an irresistible accent in utero, such that the Irish really give the Latinos some serious competition 🙂

Perhaps it is the Irish in me that reveres music so much. When someone introduces himself as a musician who dabbles in the law as a sideline, I need to know more. And am happy to engage in a debate as to whether music is the most important art form.

I think it likely is. It has always been my substitute for therapy. And you can engage in the music of a foreign culture without understanding the language. It’s a true lingua franca.

I live in a beautiful city – but it’s full of jocks. If you want to debate the best mountain bike, the best run at Whistler or whether yoga is better than Pilates, no problem finding tons of candidates. But a philosophical discussion with an intelligent man sporting a sexy accent…

Why do you think I run to Europe every chance I get? 😉 Patrick and I spent hours in fascinating conversation but the most memorable concept was the important discussion everyone should be having in the 21^st century. Am I paying attention? Am I experiencing the moment? Is it more important to me to experience the moment than to capture it on an Instagram filter?

I love technology and have been an early adopter of all the stages. I see how it can enhance our lives. But I have also seen how it can disengage us from any proper version of life.

“the Patrick moment” was a great 21^st century life lesson for me. Will I choose to engage in conversation with the gorgeous Irishman – or will I blow him off so I can get a great shot of the Thames on my smartphone?

I made the right choice 😉

When you are in the senior’s home, you will remember listening to “One” (U2) on a balcony in East London with a boy from Belfast drinking Jamaican beer. After you’ve already sampled Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. Hey, I know One Direction has a lot of fans. But I still get a lump in my throat when I hear “Biko” – or “Sunday, Bloody Sunday”. Like when you meet a boy and spot books about poetry and philosophy on his nightstand…

There is no guarantee you will end up in a fascinating conversation with a charming Irishman (wearing green might help – it worked for me 😉 It’s also good to look up and make eye contact with strangers 😉

Even if the hotel doesn’t provide any unexpected benefits, it is in a great location. You will be able to wander

the sexy cave 🙂

through English history on foot. There is an Italian restaurant and a steakhouse in addition to the rooftop bar. The rooms are gigantic by London standards.

And wandering the halls will make you feel like you have wandered onto a movie set. Bring heels or a good suit and soak up the atmosphere of the sexy Spanish cave you have meandered into 😉

Category:

social commentary, travel stories

Tagged with:

re-inventing your past ;)

I am pretty sure I have blood on my hands. I am at least half Viking – and given the mayhem the Vikings allegedly caused in my other homelands, I may well be a little more…

I have now finished Colin Thubron’s excellent book, “Shadow of the Silk Road” and questions of ancestry, tribe and history are subjects he addresses over the course of many nation states, ethnic groups and shared versions of history (accurate or not). Reinvention is not a modern concept.

We have always lived in half-truths, in perceptions, in mythology. History is an imperfect science so we never know exactly what happened in the past – although it is getting a lot harder in the age of social media.

But, luckily for the Vikings, there were no selfies or embarrassing posts on Facebook of the pillage you were hoping to forget… so Vikings can do a little rearranging of history without anyone being able to know for sure if it is just wishful thinking.

My knowledge of ancient history is improving but it is still shaky so I keep an open mind when it comes to the Vikings. No society is composed of only bad guys – and you need to understand the context in which people behave before you can even consider passing judgement of any kind.

norwegians like boats!

This is the right mindset in which to enter Trondheim (the next stop on Hurtigruten). It used to be called Nidaros and was Norway’s first capital city. It was a port of departure for Viking expeditions. Apparently Leif Eriksson is Leiv Eiriksson in Norway, the dude who discovered Canada – Viking no matter what direction I turn 🙂

I take a little issue with the Hurtigruten info that says the first export of American goods to Europe took place in Trondheim in 1100 AD. That stuff came from CANADA, dude 🙂 At the time, I think it just came from Newfoundland. But not America…

The really big thing to see in Trondheim is the Cathedral. I have

cathedral of many genres

seen a lot of churches! This is country 48… but I was impressed! It is something new. A little Viking, a little Gothic, a little Baroque… a piece of history, which is always more messy than people seem to remember.

you decide if he was really a saint…

It’s not too often a Viking becomes a saint and is the centrepiece of the market square. It’s not clear if he was a great guy – or just a great politician. But it does seem Vikings elected leaders so it’s nice to see some non-royal on display. Someone who had to do something for that sainthood beyond just be born into the right family…

Category:

social commentary, travel stories

Tagged with:

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
						1
2	3	4	5	6	7	8
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28

a unique perspective on this crazy world

Archive for the ‘social commentary’ Category

Categories

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Meta

Tag Cloud