Travel vignettes from Norman J. Olson

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a trip to Ostend

by:  Norman J. Olson

 

I love 19th century art…  of the few artists who survived into the 20th century who interest me, James Ensor (1860-1949) is my favorite and I urge anyone who is interested in art to make the trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to see Ensor’s wonderful large painting, The Entry of Christ into Brussels… 

 

Ensor lived in his parents’ house in Ostend Belgium, a small resort city on the ocean until 1917 when he inherited his uncles house nearby where he lived until his death…  I have seen the famous photo of him playing his harmonium in this house…  the harmonium is against the wall on which his very large (ap. 8×14 feet) masterpiece is hung…  so playing the harmonium, Ensor’s nose is maybe two or three  feet from the painting… 

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Chimezie Ihekuna’s drama The Success Story – fourth installment

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Please feel welcome to read the previous installments of The Success Story here, here, and here.

Chimezie Ihekuna

At Home…Greg’s Residence

 

It is a full house. The family—Mr and Mrs Smith, together with Andrew, Jane and Greg—are all in the living room watching a family program on TV, ‘Keeping Your Family Healthy’. a thirty-minute program on Sirius TV. Their eyes are glued to the TV until the program is over.  Mr Smith stares at Mrs Smith, who stares back. Greg, Jane and Andrew sitting together on the long sofa, the last of all furniture in the living room, are reacting differently. Greg has his hands rested on his laps, Jane tries to get the citing remote control sensor to search for other exciting programs on TV while Andrew is checking is phone he picked from his pocket—if there were missed calls. Mr and Mrs Smith, both sitting on their seats, reserved for them to sit when they are around, are excited, having the notion that Greg is reaching the end of his career…He instructs Jane to momentarily switch off the TV. Jane does it reluctantly.

Mr Smith (full of life): Greg, it’s been three days you’ve been at home with us. Since you came back, you’ve only greeted us, nothing more, and nothing less. I know there have been a lot that has happened in the just-concluded semester.

Mrs Smith (Agrees): Yes, your dad is right, Greg. You’ve not opened up to us as to how the semester all went. Are you telling me you didn’t have fun? Didn’t you experience the ups, downs, enjoy the fun and bitterness in school? There are bound to be those! So, what we’re interested in is for you to tell us. We know your academic pursuit is a certainty—Your first-class grade points are evidence. But, I chose to put it this way, ‘There are different sides to a coin’. The long and short of what I’m saying is for you to tell us your experience this semester.

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Poetry from Mahbub

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Mahbub

A Dubious Question

 

We are increasing, we are thinking

We are demanding more and more our services

We are fawning, we are chattering

We make more for ourselves

We take sit for survival

We hang heavy for removal

We show the path to go ahead

To free from the constipation

But not a role nor a solution

We face to the hitting back again and again

Free to move, free to speak

From the clutch of others’ aggression

But we are always to the unknown borders

For our promised destination

There a question always burns the sky

Who am I and who are you, my friend?

 

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Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope

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Out of Uganda In 90 Days by Urmila Patel

outofuganda

Out of Uganda in 90 Days is the gripping memoir of Urmila Patel. She and her family lived in Uganda from the time she was very young. There were many families who lived there who were of Indian descent. They went to school, had friends and led a full life in Uganda. She did not remember India and her younger siblings had never been to India.

Then one day in 1971, Idi Amin came to power. He was a cruel and ruthless dictator. He would order his soldiers to go through and rob, torture and murder people. He ordered all people from India to leave Uganda and go back to India. They could not take their money, jewels, anything of value. If they did not hand over their valuables they would be beaten, tortured and murdered.

Urmila and her family were able to board a train just a few days before the deadline by which they had to be out. From the train they all boarded a ship for the remainder of the trip. Despite their fear, Urmila Patel describes the beauty of seeing lions, elephants and other animals on their journey.

This book will definitely keep you reading to the very end.  Urmila has a gift for writing and you are able to picture her descriptions all the way through. I highly recommend this book. It is a very interesting account of a young teen’s harrowing journey out of a country she called home.

Urmila Patel’s Out of Uganda in 90 Days is available here. 

 

Dr. Ramon Pinon’s Friction and Fantasy

Friction and Fantasy is a very informative and interesting book about sex: its history and how it affects us. He talks about how opinions of women and their sexuality has evolved through history. He goes in depth about the role fantasy plays in the sexual experience. He touches on a variety of topics. The research and quotes make this book very informative concerning topics many won’t ask about openly.  I highly recommend this book.
To Keep A Butterfly from Flying by Cynthia Snyder
In To Keep A Butterfly From Flying, Cynthia gets a job on a cruise ship as a hairdresser in the ship’s salon. She is getting out of a rough relationship and wants to work on a cruise ship to try to put her life back in perspective. She finds out that the work requires long hours with hardly any time off. The people who come to work on the ship come from all different countries. She learns about their varied cultures and finds out how different, yet alike, everyone is. This is a quick yet interesting read. I loved the story and recommend it very much.

Essay from Doug Hawley

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Californication

Oregonian Special Californication Issue February 10, 2045

 

Over the last few years, the trickle of people moving north into the greater northwest has gone from a trickle to a torrent.  The population table tells the story:

 

State/Province                        Population (000 omitted)

                       2010 census  2044 estimated              2055 projected

California            37,253            44,367                       42,500

Washington            6,721            11,839                      14,675

Oregon                   3,831              9,845                      11,438

Idaho                      1,567              4,382                        6,891

Montana                    989               2,010                       4,236

British Columbia    4,221             10,546                     10,856

 

U.S. Census demographer Hal Lelen was blunt in analyzing the numbers.  His interview with the Oregonian has been edited for length and clarity:

 

Oregonian:  Give us a short version of what’s happening.

Lelen:  People don’t want to live in California anymore.

 

Oregonian:  That was definitely short.  Could you expand on that?

Lelen:  Well, you got the climate and the water situation.  The lack of rain and snowfall, except for the occasional monsoon, has caused the state agriculture to plummet, and for people to rely on very expensive desalinated water.  Then you have the hot spells that regularly kill thousands of the very young and very old.

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Announcement and excerpts from Chimezie Ihekuna/Mr. Ben’s upcoming book The Poured-Out Thoughts

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Chimezie Ihekuna’s new book The Poured-Out Thoughts will be released soon, so he has sent us a collection of reviews and excerpts from his work. Please enjoy!

Published Excerpts

https://drawneartochrist.com/2016/11/23/meet-the-poet/ (Mr Ben, my pen name and one of the contributors of the anthology, ”Draw Near To Christ)

 

Below are some publications of my poems (i own the rights to them, however)

 

http://www.rewardpublishing.info/october-.html (Aside the fact that my poem, ‘My Capability’ won Reward Publishing Poet of the month. Reward Publishing is currently holding the first right to the poem i ‘replaced’ it with the poem, ‘The Tri-angles of being; Me, Myself and )

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Tony Nightwalker LeTigre reviews Doug Cook’s Tae Kwon Do: A Path to Excellence

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Review of Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence (Doug Cook)

By Tony Nightwalker LeTigre

 

American practitioner Doug Cook trained in Taekwondo under Grandmaster Richard Chun and reached 5th dan level by 2009 when he published Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence, with its subtitle, “Achieving Physical and Spiritual Enrichment Through Disciplined Practice.” The author places great emphasis on learning about Korean culture and the historical genesis of Taekwondo, and his preference for the traditional, self-defense oriented style over the more Americanized, sportive Olympic style of taekwondo, known popularly as “the world’s most popular martial art form.”

 

Cook takes us behind the scenes of his pilgrimages to Korea, “Land of the Morning Calm,” from a languorous and lengthy airplane flight to vigorous training sessions to meetings with illustrious personages like Dr. Yong Kim, president of the World Taekwondo Federation (“someone who is clearly at home in the halls of power”), in the Kukkiwon, the central training facility and world headquarters of Taekwondo, located in Kangnam, Seoul.

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