What do a visit to my podiatrist, photography, and Blue Jays baseball pitchers have in common? I love to visit my podiatrist. Following treatment my feet feel cushioned by angels. Walking becomes pleasurable again. I love walking into the waiting area of Gerber and Associates in Kelowna for a lively visit with a Toronto Blue... Continue Reading →
An economy of place โ The Fogo Island story
How one of Canadaโs richest women transformed the island of her birth Highlights from Deirdre McQuillan in The Irish Times Sun Aug 24 2025 Having made a fortune in fibre optics, the โculturally responsibleโ entrepreneur Zita Cobb helped reverse the fortunes of Fogo island, Newfoundland At the age of 13, in 1971, Zita Cobb, an... Continue Reading →
One camera lens โ Two very different photographers
Bill Cunningham at work (and play) Two photographers, one living, one no longer with us, documenting our world, brilliantly. It has been some time since I have blogged on photography. It has been however one of my priorities since launching takenote.ca. Today however, I return to photography. Two recent news articles highlight the work of... Continue Reading →
Kicking back on western maple โ A celebration of fine furniture program graduates
Now fifty years since I graduated from Victoriaโs Oak Bay High School I have fond memories of wood shop class. Lacking an eye for detail coupled with insufficient powers of concentration I particularly loved making bowls on the wood lathe. I likely created more shavings than bowls, but it was wonderful fun. When invited by... Continue Reading →
Canon โ A picture of resilience and innovation
[Ken Gray] It has been some time since I featured a blog on photography. Today I seek to correct that imbalance. I have owned Canon equipment in the past but that predated my serious interest in digital photography. In 2005 I purchased my first set of Nikon gear, a D50 body with two lenses and... Continue Reading →
Hobbies and side-hustles
I am looking forward to visiting with others who graduated from Victoriaโs Oak Bay High School fifty years ago, the Class of 1975. As interest spreads my guess is that around fifty of us will show up at a Victoria hotel in early June, hoping that we are recognizable and we will recognize others. I... Continue Reading →
Everyone is grumpy right now, except me
More from Juno, your favourite dog-blogger Folks are testy right now, really tense, short-tempered, on edge, anxious at least, frantic at worst. Everywhere I look, strain creases almost every human face in conversations about people, places, and of course, politics. There are so many events and challenges before us as Canadians, Americans, and global citizens... Continue Reading →
The show must go on โ But how?
Sitting with a group of elder(ly) actors the other day was eye-opening for me. The workshopยญโpart of Summerlandโs amazing little Ryga Arts Festivalโtitled โAging in the Artsโ sought to brainstorm ways to assist and mitigate issues for actors and others in their older years. To a person, participants have been active in the craft or... Continue Reading →
Kodak — Get the picture?
Dear reader, I am honestly trying to do something different here; I promise. I am struggling to put aside my obsession with US presidential race memes (go here if you have not seen my growing collection). While thinking to myself recently, lo and behold, almost immediately, the image above landed in my social media feed.... Continue Reading →
Photography, a catalyst for exploration โ A blind photographer pictures the Paris Paralympics
By Samantha Hurley, a photographer and a journalism student at the University of Georgia โ Sept. 13, 2024 in the New York Times [Visit the link to view images] [With thanks to Peggy Wilmot for the share, I am pleased to learn of Samantha Hurleyโs considerable talent and determination as a budding โblind photographer.โ Rather... Continue Reading →