Tag: Scott Langley

March 11 . Issue #134

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date March 11, 2022

“To be a well-favoured man is the gift of fortune, but to write and read comes by nature.” Shakespeare

Hello all and welcome to my weekly journal. A place for me to share with you 5 points of interest. Things that motivated me, events that brought me some joy, some happiness or delighted the senses. This week celebrating women and International Women’s Day events, jazz music icons, in-person writing workshops and more…

1. International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th with events from all over the world. Here in the Blue Mountains, I took in a virtual event. 24 Women – 24 Hours, Local Canadian women who achieved great things going back to the 17th century.

Fascinating to discover these incredible women who gave so much of themselves to their communities. Leaders, authors, chefs, artists, journalists, athletes and so much more.

2. Wes Montgomery, the renowned jazz guitarist was born this week, March 6, in 1923 and I listened to his music to celebrate his birthday.

Wes Montgomery – live in 65, this is a classic, delightful performance care of Jazz Icons – Holland, Belgium and England. The DVD movie opens with Wes joined in performance by musicians Pim Jacobs, Ruud Jacobs & Han Bennink.

The Belgium performance sees him joined by musicians he is familiar with, Arthur Harper (Bass), Harold Mabern (Piano) and Jimmy Lovelace (Drums). In England, Wes is joined by Rick Laird (Bass), Stan Tracey (Piano), Jackie Dougan (Drums).

3. Blue Mountain gets more than its fair share of snow and this winter I have done plenty of relocating of this white fluff from a place where it is not wanted to a place of less undesirability. What I look forward to after all this working out in the cold is a big mug of matcha white hot chocolate.

My favorite recipe for matcha white hot chocolate is courtesy of Love and Lemons.

4. Live events are coming back after two years and I am excited to take my creative writing workshop to the library. The East Gwillimbury Public Library has asked me to facilitate a workshop as part of the upcoming children’s March Break on Thursday, March 17th – 6:30 – 7:30 PM.

Write Your Own Story – Facilitated by WCYR and author Paul Yanuziello – For More Information and to register for the event go to Eventbrite.ca.

East Gwillimbury Public Library has always encouraged young writers to imagine and create and once again, students in Grades 3-8 are invited to submit their creative writing for inclusion in the 2022 Write On! Anthology. This year’s theme is Out of This World!

If you are in the area – Holland Landing, East Gwillimbury, sign up for the workshop and join me for a fun evening of creative writing.

5. Write what you want to read and what makes you happy. I am passionate about martial arts and I have trained with many international masters of martial arts, here in Canada, in Europe, Japan and the USA.

Last week I shared Part 1 of a short story entitled Man of the Everglades. Please enjoy Part 2 right here.

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 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.

Tags EGPL, Jazz Icons, Rick Hotton, Scott Langley, WCYR

Environmentalism Photography Reading

August 13 . Issue #104

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date August 13, 2021

“Who holds the world between His bill

And made us strong or weak.

Is an undying moorfowl,

And He lives beyond the sky.

The rains are from His dripping wings,

The moonbeams from His eye.” William Butler Yeats

Hello and welcome to my weekly journal. This week I share an iconic photo, books and thoughts on climate change and more …

1. This week, August 12, back in 1958; A Great Day in Harlem the iconic jazz photograph was taken by Art Kane.

The Guardian has put together a great spread on that photo.

Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, one of the younger members of that assembled jazz group reflects on that day. CBC’s Tom Powers takes us back to that day with a discussion with Rollins and Robert Benton one of the editors at Esquire back in 1958.

There’s a great documentary based on that day, A Great Day in Harlem.

2. A sobering piece of information this week from the UN Council on Climate Change, Code Red For Humanity.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, we made this mess and with some collective coming together of people who care we can overcome these challenges. Meet 36 Organizations helping to Solve the Climate Crisis.

And Women are leading Climate Change, here’s how:

Women are Leading Climate Change Solutions

3. Thursday, August 12 is World Elephant Day and to celebrate I am painting a toenail grey. Learn about the plight of Elephants and offer support if you can at Wildlife SOS.

My travel plans include a trip to India and I certainly want to see Elephants. My itinerary will have to include Rajaji National Park at the foot of the Himalayas.

There is a book about an Elephant Whisperer that I have started to read, “The Elephant Whisperer: My Life With the Herd” it is the inspiration for a short story I wrote about an Elephant.

My manuscript on martial arts-loving forest animals also features an Elephant, Sifu Ensho who is very good at Tai Chi Chaun Push-Hands.

4. Injuries, age, and fascia; any connections? This week, based on an interesting idea from my friend and karate sensei Scott Langley “Fascia” and how it affects movement. I watched some informative interviews with Dr. Robert Schleip, a 4 part series.

5. What I’m reading this week, actually I just finished, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King: About a 9-year-old girl lost in the woods.

I am not a big fan of the horror genre but real horror, the fear of the unknown, now that is something I can bite into.

Thank you for reading. If you think someone you know would enjoy my newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a great children’s book check out my new book, Samba in Brazil; Paperback version, on sale for a limited time.

Or one of my other books, Samba on a Snowy Day or the Brazilian/ Portuguese version Samba em um Dia de Neve.

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

Tags Dr. Robert Schleip, Scott Langley, Sonny Rollins, Tai Chi Chaun

Self-Isolating

Newsletter 31

Newsletter 31

Hello all and welcome. The world as we know it has changed and most of us are living in a state of emergency. At times like this everyone must come together and help where ever they can. In many cases that means social distancing, self isolation or staying in quarantine and in so doing you may save a life. There are many people who are called to action, the front line workers, they are the hero’s and heroines of this global pandemic. Thank you – to all of you front line workers – you are all awesome.

1. Reading books to your children at this time of social distancing and self isolation is very important. If you want to know how it’s done or pass the job on to others, check out actor Chris O’Dowd reading Arnie the Doughnut, a fun kids book. You can also have a look at me reading my book, Samba on a Snowy Day.

2. I love sailing and sometimes I check out youtube for information on sailing around the world, a dream of mine, something at the bottom of the bucket list. In one of the videos, I watched as the vessel sailed into the Chagos Archipelago, a group of islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The skipper provided a little history on the island chain and a recommendation to watch the educational documentary, “Stealing A Nation” (John Pilger, 2004). I highly recommend the documentary.

For anyone interested in home schooling, some specials by my favourite documentary movie theatre, Hot Docs. Some wonderful children’s documentary’s a dynamic lineup of free films to help inform, engage and soothe the anxieties of the present moment. Curated by the popular “Docs for Schools” program, these family-friendly, education picks cover multiple subject areas and age levels.

3. Some great musicians passed away this week. Kenny Rogers (1938 – 2020) left us at the age of 81, he was an award winning pop/country music singer, songwriter, musician and actor. I liked some of his songs, especially The Gambler. Rest In Peace Kenny Rogers. Also late this week, Manu Dibango (1933-2020), Afro-funk saxophonist based in France, a victim of Covid-19 – age 86. RIP Manu. One of my favourite percussionist’s, Ray Mantilla passed on March 21, he was 86, read what my friends at Latin Jazz Network had to say about Ray’s accomplishments.

There are lots of free concerts available from artists self isolating, I particularly like following Chick Corea as he practices or workshops during his self-isolation.

4. Let’s face it, most kids want to be active. For the younger ones try to set up some fun scavenger hunts. There are lots of ideas online for indoor and outdoor treasure hunts. If your kids are into martial arts make sure they practice. No excuses – many great martial arts teachers are offering free classes online, including my friend and teacher Scott Langley sensei. This is especially for my students, continuing to learn Heian Shodan, there are many free videos here, phenomenal karate value. And for some cool agility ladder drills, check out Seamus O’Dowd sensei.

5. “But people of the deepest understanding look within, distracted by nothing. Since a clear mind is the Budha, they attain the understanding of a Budha without using the mind.” — Bodhidharma

Stay safe, stay well, stay home if you can and stay strong. Don’t take chances with your health or the health of loved ones. Remember to stay connected through social media, telephone folks, face time, be with the ones you love but can’t be with. Write letters, find pen and paper and try some old fashioned style of communication. We will get through this together.

Love and Light

Thanks for reading, if you think someone you know would like my newsletter please share it with them. If you’re looking for a great children’s book, Samba on a Snowy Day is available at Amazon.ca. Check out my blog, follow the link, sign in. Get the weekly newsletter in your inbox, no spam I promise.

Tags Bodhidharma, Chick Correa, Chris O’Dowd, Hakuin Ekaku, John Pilger, Kenny Rogers, Latin Jazz Network, Manu Dibango, Ray Mantilla, Scott Langley, Seamus O'Dowd