Embrace the changes in your life. Release what you no longer need and welcome the seeds of new experiences.
Hello all and welcome to my weekly journal. This is the place to check-in and check out what I’ve been up to during the week. This week it’s mostly music with a dash of animated feature films and documentaries.
The featured photo is a collage of some of the fantastic illustrations created by Joshua Miller for my new children’s book Scratchy the Squirrel: A Time For Friends.
1. The Grammy Awards – the biggest music awards show took place on Sunday. Jon Batiste, one of my favourite New Orleans jazz musicians came away loaded down with awards.
Other musicians who came out with Grammy hardware, are Esmeralda Spalding, Chick Corea, Christian McBride and Jazmine Sullivan to name but a few.
2. I have inherited a chromatic harmonica from one of my students. He can’t play it anymore and apparently never played it that much. I spent 2 hours taking it apart and cleaning it up with a quality disinfectant, it’s in great shape.
I have purchased a songbook, The Easy Jazz Standards Fake Book: 100 Songs in the Key of C.
3. The acclaimed Canadian conductor Boris Brott died tragically on Tuesday, the victim of a hit and run in Hamilton, Ontario. Rest in Power Maestro Brott.
All-day Wednesday tributes for Maestro Brott poured in to my radio station, the radio station I listen to in my Grey Highlands location Classical.Fm broadcasting out of Collingwood. On, on 102.9, the FM dial.
4. I’m back to teaching, in class and in the park. Great fun! My in class session was with a private student and we worked on Jo-do and Iai-do, short staff and Japanese sword.
The park training was for children, mother nature intervened and we ended up in a small studio/dojo managed by one of the participant’s parents. Basic martial arts training, mostly Shotokan karate techniques.
5. I watched the animated feature film Encanto this week and I thought it was awesome. Incredible animation, vibrant colours, wonderful characterization and an excellent soundtrack. Check out the behind the scenes video I share in the link above.
The show reminds me of a Broadway play, the timing, the staging and the singing are all reminiscent of something you might see on Broadway.
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.
All of my books are now available and on sale at BookShop.org, (only U.S. shipping) plus you will support local bookstores with your online purchase.
I am hard at work on the next children’s book and would be eternally grateful if you could buy me a coffee. All donations are gladly accepted at my Kofi.com/pauly page.
Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.
Copyright © 2022 Paul Yanuziello, PNJ Services, All rights reserved.