April 1 . Issue #137 - Paul Yanuziello

“The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.” Will Rogers 1879 – 1935

The featured image, Ideal Balance – Yin and Yang by Sharon Cummings speaks to me about the way and balance, something I’ve been working on this week.

Hello all and welcome to my weekly journal, a place for me to share with you 5 points of interest. The things that got me some joy, inspired me, motivated me and kept me going. This week a look at the Oscar winners, my ear and eye candy, and more…

1. Two films I picked as Oscar winners came out on top. Summer of Soul and Encanto. Summer of Soul winning best documentary, all about a music festival that coincided with Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969.

Encanto won for the best-animated feature film for Disney Animation Studios. I haven’t watched this film yet, hopefully, this weekend I’ll fix that.

2. The composer Vangelis had a birthday this week, March 29th, his 79th. Naturally, I had to help celebrate and listening to his Oscar-winning soundtrack for Chariots of Fire was just the ticket. The soundtrack from the film 1492 – Conquest of Paradise is inspirational as well.

Speaking of Oscar-winning soundtracks I had to check out Hans Zimmer and his Oscar-winning score for the film Dune.

3. I watched a wonderful movie about bringing people together through family and music, the Pixar animated feature film, Coco.

The actor Gael Garcia Bernal is the voice of one of the lead characters, Hector. I wonder if he would consider doing an audible book? His voice is great, he would make a magnificent Latin American Scratchy the Squirrel.

4. This week I’m reading another McCall Smith book, he has so many, this one from The Sunday Philosophy Club Series, The Careful Use of Compliments. Also known as the Isabel Dalhousie series of books of which there are sixteen in this series.

5. Outdoor training: the weather is starting to warm up and I have taken my training outdoors. This week I practised many of my karate forms on my deck.

I took some videos and shared them with my karate group on Facebook. It’s a private group so I can’t share it with you.

But I have a clip here that I can share, this is Seipai. A form I like a lot because of its flowing nature.

Thanks for reading, if you think someone you know would like to read my newsletter please share it with them.

If you are looking for a great children’s book check out one of my books, including my new children’s early reader chapter book, now available at Indigo/Chapters Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time for Friends. Paperback version, on sale for a limited time.

Or one of my other children’s picture books, Samba on a Snowy Day or the Brazilian/ Portuguese version Samba em um Dia de Neve. Or you may enjoy Samba in Brazil or the Brazilian/Portuguese version Samba no Brasil.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.