Anas al-Sharif with his daughter, Sham, and son, Salah. Photograph: Facebook ‘If these words reach you … Israel has succeeded in killing me’: the last words of a journalist killed in Gaza Anas al-Sharif, an Al Jazeera reporter, was killed along with four other journalists by an Israeli airstrike last Sunday night. This is the... Continue Reading →
Maple, an English springer spaniel, has been trained to detect harmful bacteria in bee hives. (Nick Schrader/Michigan State University) Another dog blog by Juno Almost six-year old Labradoodle, Juno is a dog blogger based in Summerland in the BC interior. She publishes regularly at takenote.ca. Today she introduces us to her new-found hero, Maple, an... Continue Reading →
Thanks Geoff Strong for sharing the Facebook post Ralph Keeling is a distinguished professor at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and president of the Keeling Curve Foundation Even a policy of “drill, baby, drill” would imply more climate research, not its evisceration, says Ralph Keeling. If you have seen one graph on the subject of climate... Continue Reading →
Thanks Barbara Liotscos for the shareThe following information DOES NOT constitute legal advice in either the US or Canada. The message below is “heads up” only. A warning from DIANA BUTLER BASS AUG 07, 2025 There’s a letter making the rounds on social media from my friends in the UCC (United Church of Christ in... Continue Reading →
Eleanor Farjeon The story of the song Morning Has Broken With thanks to Nostalgic Memories Before Cat Stevens ever sang a note of it, Morning Has Broken was a quiet offering from a woman who saw the sacred in the ordinary. Eleanor Farjeon, born in 1881 London, grew up surrounded by music and poetry. Her... Continue Reading →
I share three things in common with the newly elected Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev. Cherry Vann. We were both born in 1958, she in Leicester, England, and me in Victoria BC, Canada. We were also students at the Royal College of Music in London in the late 1970s where, as a colleague reminds... Continue Reading →
I often wonder how I can assist the victims of the Gaza genocide. Sure, I make information available to my blog followers. What more can I, and you actually do? Well we can pray, in particular with Palestinian residents throughout the Middle East. We can join the Sabeel Wave of Prayer. Sabeel is an ecumenical... Continue Reading →
Adolph Hitler congratulates Albert Speer Albert Speer was Hitler’s architect. His designs embodied Hitler’s racist vision of a perfect and dominant society, efficient, powerful, and white. Speer’s ghost now lurks in the corridors of Trump’s White House, itself built as a mansion for a president and never a palace like Hampton Court or Versailles. Trump’s... Continue Reading →
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 →
UPDATE: No decision yet on some Western Canada concerts including West Kelowna. TYEE article here. Thanks friends from Summerland United Church for the share below. With the support and encouragment of "Christian" churches who should know better, steadily far right ideology is now creeping into Canadian public spaces. Kelowna, BC - Advocacy Canada is expressing... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 