Life is filled with Crossroads. Choosing those which fire the imagination — As we move through life we are met with choices. If you move slowly, the choices are bountiful, and sometimes too many. So you speed up a bit, travelling past successive crossroads at a pace where a decision isn’t an option. Then, you find you’re moving faster and faster, and…

At least, my family thinks I am — The play on words aside, a better fiction writer is what I aspire to be, and reading better writers like Liam Ireland and Britni Pepper inspire me to pick up my game. Finding these terrific writers on ILLUMINATION-Curated and ILLUMINATION has somehow lit a fire in my brain. Their inspiration…

How to get more from your viewing experience — Movies of the past still hold magical powers of imagery and symbolism that resonate today. If you appreciate the artistry and detail that goes into filmmaking and you would like to explore cinema’s rich and diverse history with a discerning eye, please join me on a journey of rediscovery. …

For another shining star from the Golden Age — Recently, Canada lost its second music icon in less than four months with the passing of Robbie Robertson. What’s more striking, though, is the difference in coverage of his passing by Canadian media. There is no question that Gordon Lightfoot was a storytelling laureate who will be deeply missed. …

Begins and ends within — Thunderous slashes Disrupt moonlit stillness Infernos alight Restlessness evolves Into familiar refrains The madness returns Rise humanity Quell the fire’s thirsty lustings Fellowship renewed Open wounds swallow Wielders of the burning torch Cauterizing pain Peace torch glows once more Counters the fury for control Darkness bathed in light Lessons never…

Across unknown terrains — Our conversation Continues through endless mist Self’s inner battle What secret draws me So close yet never reaching Will turmoil give way? Answers must reside At the foot of horizons Only imagined Does a steady gait Bring the goal ever nearer Or perhaps gallop? Quickening paces Lessen a sharper view of The…

With Smaller Bites — An enormous feast Spread out before untrained eyes Bewilders minds Where does one begin Choosing from delights of phrase To fashion a tale? Overwhelming awe Reveals inadequacies Of a mere novice. A writer by any Other names appropriate Judge only ourselves Learning to discern The nuances of rhythm Forcing muse to dance…

But never forgotten — I woke in the early morning rain to find we lost a global icon today. Gordon Lightfoot was so much more than a Canadian national treasure. He was and always will be a minstrel for the ages. A musical icon, a friend and mentor to many of the industry’s greatest…

But the person will be sorrowly missed — During the mid-nineteen sixties, the British band The Yardbirds produced three of the greatest rock guitarists in history in the early to mid-sixties. Jimmy Paige and Eric Clapton went on to enjoy enormous commercial success during their careers. The other was guided by another path, creating a log of golden…