Snowaxe Archives - Paul Yanuziello

Country of Freedom

Country of freedom, be free in thy heart:
Free from the shackles of prisoning pride,
Free from the liar’s contemptible art,
Free from allurements that tempt thee aside,
Free from the crafty and treacherous guide,
Free from the ravening greed of the mart,
Free from the snares that in opulence hide,—
Country of freedom be free in thy heart!

Amos Russel Wells (1862 – 1933)

Hello all and welcome to this weeks journal, where I share with you 5 things that I found to be of interest and I hope you will enjoy it too.

1. This week I worked on my new book trailer for Samba in Brazil.

I also started to plan for the virtual book release party, set for February 14th, the release date of Samba in Brazil and you’re all invited. We’re going to be touring Salvador, Bahia; join us.

This is the start of my new book promotion, timed perfectly for lockdown. Searching for something new to read this year? Look no further! My author friends have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of books, including my book Samba on a Snowy Day. Available for a limited time. “New Year’s Book Giveaway”

2. Our mini – NaNoWriMo of the WCYR writers group that I belong to features some of what was written during the November session.

The featured photo, courtesy of Pixabay was chosen by author M.J. Moores who requested some of our creativity so that she could put together some of her own cool memes.

3. Eye candy for this week; there was plenty, the best one to enjoy with the young ones or even the young at heart, Being Elmo. Do you remember the characters from Sesame Street? Elmo is one of my favourites.

Another interesting and entertaining movie The Trial of the Chicago Seven, very reminiscent of last weeks events in Washington D.C.

4. Audio delights this week were all about the blues, from Howlin’ Wolf to John Lee Hooker and taking in Buddy Guy and Luther Allison too. Joyous blues, “Smokestack Lightning.”

Ontario has declared a state of emergency and it looks like I’ll be working from home instead of a nice video/recording studio.

Back to playing and listening to the blues with one of my favourite harmonica players, Indiara Sfair.

5. My reading interests; The Beloved: Reflections on the Path of the Heart, Kahlil Gibran. This is a wonderful book that is designed to open the heart.

And for what I am writing and rewriting; which is my newest Sci-Fi, comedy-thriller, The Snowaxe Café.

A story about an alien running a coffee shop that caters to the top musicians and artists in the world and provides the best coffee in the universe.

Thank you for reading. If you think someone would enjoy the newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a fun children’s book check out one of my books. Samba on a Snowy Day or my new book, Samba in Brazil.

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

Paul Yanuziello

Hello all!

Some things that interested me this week, and I hope will be of interest to you too.

Here are my five items, links or suggestions that should get you some inspiration and information.

Last week I mentioned that I was inspired by the drumming of Ginger Baker. I started drum lessons when I was ten years old. My mother forced all of us, me and my two brothers, to take some kind of lessons in the arts. I started with accordion, that lasted two lessons, I took Flamenco dance lessons, I liked that, but not dance, the percussion. I took drumming, yes that was for me, I loved banging on things. I was in a few garage/basement bands and then I got invited to sit in with a fantastic guitarist in my neighbourhood, Ed McDonald. I was fourteen years old and along with our bass player of the time, Don Alain, we practiced a lot. When I was fifteen I was playing in clubs with the band, now named, Snowaxe. I was in this band for along time. About eleven years and in that time we went through numerous bass players, and on looking back, I can say there were some good times. To get a good idea of what it was like, check out the movie This Is Spinal Tap, a movie that always makes me laugh.
This week I took in a show entitled, The Paco deLucia Project at the George Weston Recital Hall. A fantastic show with great Flamenco guitar, dance singing and percussion. latinjazznet.com Flamenco Legends. To get a good idea of the inspiration for the group, listen to the master Paco diLucia performing with his septet live in Germany. Paco diLucia Live.
Speaking of shows, the Tony award winning show Hamilton, is on its way to Toronto. Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre will play host to Hamilton this February with tickets going on sale October 28th. HamiltonEdMirvishTheatre
I have some kids in my karate class who have been victims of bullying. They haven’t said anything to me about it. It’s the parents who have mentioned it. We’re talking young kids, seven and eight years old. As a karate teacher you walk a thin line – you can’t promote violence, we teach them to refrain from violent behaviour. You can teach them about self defence, you can give them the guidelines to stand up for themselves. To not be afraid to talk to adults about their problems. Anti bullying in Canada, the policy, the procedures and the problems. What you can do is inform all the students about how to carry yourself, what is good behaviour, and not acceptable behaviour. There are some great guidelines here. Canada Guide To Anti Bullying. Bullying prevention in schools by Prev Net, Promoting Relationships & Eliminating Violence Network – Canada’s authority on research and resources for bullying prevention. A great resource,
prevnet.ca bullying-prevention-facts-and-tools-for-schools
The dance legend Alicia Alonso passed away this week, she was 98. The New York Times has some wonderful information on her outstanding achievements nytimes alicia-alonso . I learned about the inspirational Ms. Alonso from my mother who was a professional ballerina and dance master and like Ms. Alonso, continued teaching and training, well into her 70’s.

Thanks for reading. If you like what you’ve read forward this to someone you think will enjoy it. Check out my blog, follow the link, sign in.