Another wonderful day at Toronto Pursuits! Tonight we had a great dinner (after an amazing Indian lunch). We spent some time looking at all of the places you can go with Classical Pursuits and heard from travelers and tour leaders about the unique experiences offered by these one-of-a-kind trips. Previous attendees […]
Ann’s Musings
Ventanas in Concert at Toronto Pursuits
We had an amazing concert from Ventanas tonight. Ventanas incorporates upbeat Bulgarian dance tunes, Greek, Lebanese, Turkish, Ukrainian and Sephardic love songs with heart-wrenching Flamenco palos, giving the rapt audience a glimpse into other lands and cultures. The performance offered moving dance and no shortage of passion. It was a real treat. See for yourself. Post by […]
Thoughts from the First Day of Toronto Pursuits 2014
The first full day of Toronto Pursuits was a great success. It was great to see and meet some of the new people and find out about how they discovered Toronto Pursuits. Some people said they were here for their love of discussions and great ideas. Others were from Toronto […]
ANN’S MUSINGS – Summer in the City
Over the years, friends, family and folk have expressed nodding interest in and a measure of admiration for Toronto Pursuits – without, for a moment, thinking that it would be suitable for them. If you are such a person, this post is for you. I have tried to address some common […]
CLASSICAL TRIVIA! Will the real May Day please stand up?
We shall grow old apace, and die Before we know our liberty. Our life is short; and our dayes run As fast away as do’s the Sunne: And as a vapour, or a drop of raine Once lost, can ne’r be found againe: So when or you or I are […]
ANN’S MUSINGS — Why Diversity Matters to Me
“Recognize yourself in he and she who are not like you and me.” ― Carlos Fuentes A personal note about why, for Toronto Pursuits 2014, I chose to depart from our annual mashup of literature, art, music and film from around the world, but, to be honest, mostly from the […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Dubai’s Cultural Metamorphosis (Part 2)
THE PLACE In just a few short decades Dubai has been transformed from a sleepy trading village into a regional powerhouse for commerce and finance — and it has the skyscraper-filled skyline to show for it. It boasts the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, which handily surpassed the CN […]
ANN’S MUSINGS – a favourite poem to kick off Poetry Month, 2014
Musee des Beaux Arts -W. H. Auden About suffering they were never wrong, The old Masters: how well they understood Its human position: how it takes place While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along; How, when […]
ON THE ROAD WITH ANN – Dubai’s Cultural Metamorphosis (Part 1)
It has been a long and brutal winter in Toronto. So when I was invited to the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in early March, I took only a few minutes to respond with an eager yes. It’s not that I knew much about Dubai or had harboured a desire […]
TORONTO PURSUITS — Come to the Global Party in July 2014
The movement of people and the exchange of ideas are more fluid than ever, and our easy access to the food, movies, news, music, and products of other countries can make our planet feel small, and give us the sense that we’re in tune with all of it. But when […]