Thinking of traveling to China anytime soon? Whether for business or pleasure, this culturally rich country of over 1.4 billion people has a lot of amazing attractions on offer. Not in the least of which are the various spectacular festivals the country hosts throughout the year. Each festival is steeped in historically rich traditions and draws large crowds from locals and tourists alike.
Music for shifting times: that's the title we came up with for this series of stories which I've been writing since the summer of 2016. Wherever you find yourself, things do seem to be in continual shift and at times and at an accelerating pace. Finding one's way through that sort of circumstance is an aspect musicians have often thought about.
Here are several musical ideas for you to consider, some practical, some mystical, all thought provoking.
“Josh Recommends” for the Week of October 18, 2019 By Josh Garrick
Think of songs you may know: Where Have All the Flowers Gone, We Shall Overcome, The Coming of the Roads, Plane Wreck at Los Gatos. The first frames questions about war and sacrifice in terms both gentle and direct, the second is a gospel song adapted to civil rights and other causes, the third is a story about greed displacing people and landscape, the fourth a ballad which frames questions about identity and compassion in a news story about migrant farm workers.
When in Stratford, Ontario, be sure to go on the Ghosts of Stratford Theatrical Walking Tours' summer tours and haunted pub tours, which meander through Stratford's streets and parks by one or two spirits in full costume and makeup...but for Halloween, they go all out!
Photo: Nicholas Russon
“Josh Recommends” for the Week of October 11, 2019 By Josh Garrick
Picture this: Grand Rapids Comic Con, where we are always impressed by the cosplays, intrigued by the artists, and absolutely stunned by the authors. So there’s a high bar there, and we’ve interviewed several authors we’ve seen talk, in our Write This series.
When we listened to author Mindee Arnett speak about writing, we were dazzled.
Alaska–we finally made it to our 50th state this past July. When we landed at 11pm, it was still bright light outside, and the pilots who delivered us to the last frontier even took a picture with us to mark the epic journey. It was official– the ground of Alaska was actually beneath our feet. Goal achieved. This was not one of those goals that popped up overnight– it took years to flourish, more to facilitate, and, oddly enough, it was heaps of time before we even knew it was ever a goal.