Author: Alexandra

Walkabout

AlexandraLeave a comment

Well, if you read yesterday’s post you will know it was a Bank Holiday here and that I went out for a walkabout. A short walkabout given that, by the time I got out, after lunch, when the sun finally broke through the clouds, it was already 32C and 80% humidity.

It was hot.

But, keeping my word, I took the Olympus Pen two-thirds camera for a spin and, here are a few snaps I took downtown.

These first two photos are of where the bus terminates, at Place D’Youville.

As you leave the square through the St. Jean Gate, up the lower rue St. Jean towards City Hall and the Cathedral, there are not one, but two Irish pubs. 

Yes, Quebec City was mostly built by the English, Irish, and Scots. But don’t tell Quebeckers that, okay!

From the pub, which by the way, isn’t air conditioned, I finally made it up the ‘big’ hill to City Hall or, the Ville de Quebec, which stands opposite the Catholic Cathedral.

And that, dear reader, is where I popped out. I walked around the corner to Cafe Smith, sat inside the air-con interior, and drank a raspberry lemonade.

The camera handled a lot better in bright sunlight than I expected, focused easily compared to the Pentax Q-10, and took better shots, imho. These were all taken on an auto setting as I wasn’t about to stand in the heat fiddling with any of the presets. And no, I didn’t edit these in any way, shape, or form. 

Anyway, I’ll be taking the Olympus out more as the weather hopefully improves.

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Canada Day 🇨🇦

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So today is Canada Day, July 1st, a celebration of all things Canadian and, every year since I moved here it usually rains on this day. Well, today may be an exception to the rule as the sun is doing it’s best to fight it’s way through all the heavy thick cloud, and shine.

If it does, I just might take the bus into the old part of town and take photos. 

I have maybe a 2-3 hour window of opportunity before a big storm moves in later this afternoon, because of the humidity out there. It was 70% first thing and it’s only rising. It might be sticky, but it’ll be worth getting out of the apartment, even for just an 1-2 to get some sun and fresh air (maybe) and stretch my legs a bit. 

I have 2 locations in mind. Either the promenade, and a view of the river, up by the Chateau Frontenac, or, at the Jeanne D’arc gardens and the plains of Abraham. Either way, I hope it stays clear enough to take photos, and dry enough to enjoy.

Wish me luck, I may need it. 

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

The Pentax Q-10

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So, as promised, I charged up the batteries and, took the Pentax super small Q10 camera for a spin. And now, posting these pictures, remember why I stopped using it.

I mean, come on, really. That’s where you chose to focus?

Okay, so these next ones are better. Promise.

And …

This is, I have to say, a screen only camera sporting a teeny lightweight 70-200 mm lens. Also, it shoots in RAW and jpeg. I may try again on another day in the park or botanic gardens.

On to the Olympus …

Little Things #7

AlexandraLeave a comment

We can’t start a Little Things without first talking about the weather and come on, it’s been hell on earth for everyone in Europe these last few weeks, while we here, in North America, are being drowned with almost daily rain storms. 

But of course, the naysayers will tell you, there’s no global warming. Not that one of them has the slightest idea of what it entails let alone means. 

Anyway, getting off my soapbox before I start into a rant about idiotic people, let’s talk of mellower things, of sonorous birdsong and mysterious groundhogs (I missed snapping a picture of the elusive creature bumbling about the privacy hedge the other day, sorry) and silly squirrels chasing one another over peanuts. Boy can they move fast when they want too. 

We did have two fairly good days, Wednesday and Thursday, where it didn’t rain all day and it looks, so far at least, like today might stay dry. Well, at least till later this afternoon. I’m down with that. The OH started their holidays this week, so we’ll be trying to squeeze in a few staycation trips in and around the city. If the weather plays ball.

So stayed tune for more photos, as and when. Especially as I broke out the Pentax and the Olympus cameras and, as of writing this, am charging said batteries. I have the mini zoom on the dinky Pentax, and the pancake lens on the equally small Olympus. I might try take both at once when we go walkabout, or maybe, I’ll just alternate. 

And lastly, this week, I’m on a restricted diet due to my up-coming colonoscopy next Friday. No this, that, or the other and then, on Thursday, I have to do a liquid only day prior to my hospital visit. Got to have a clean insides for the doc to be able to see what’s what up there. 

Ah, isn’t life a joy!

𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

In Shadows We Fall by Devin Madson

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This novella may only be 102 pages long, but each and ever page of In Shadows We Fall drips with palace politics, intrigue, and deception. Madson’s Aurealis award-winning prequel to the Vengeance trilogy, rips along at a blistering pace leaving the reader no time to pause and catch their breath. Let alone stop to reflect as, in a pitched battle of wits, the Empress Li plots the downfall of her God-Emperor husband, the Emperor Lan.

Madson literally drops us straight into the heart of this story from the outset, with the Empress plotting against her cheating husband with two of her trusted guards, Cheng and Koto. And before we know what’s really happening, Li has murder two people in the dead of night. I mean, come on, this woman really wants revenge.

“My knife failed to glint dramatically in the light, but it did not fail to pierce the soft skin of the man’s neck. His throat offered resistance like aged meat, but I had no time for finesse. I ripped the blade through it, spraying blood. His eyes opened. He wheezed. Bubbled. Failed. Crimson spilled upon the page before I could snatch it away, though snatch it away I did. Just as wide, fearful eyes found me they began to roll back, though whether he recognised my face I would never know.”

Just as quickly, we begin to understand why—not only has the Emperor found a replacement for his wife in the form of a younger more amenable paramour, one he even flouts in open court to humiliate her. He’s plotting to betray his own country, using mercenaries, thereby plunging Kisia into a prolonged war with their northern neighbour, Chiltae. A war Li knows her country can ill afford to wage, let alone its people.

In Shadows We Fall delivers brilliantly on both world building and plot, and while others have said the weak link is characterisation. I beg to differ. I think the whole concept is one long character study, done at its best, I might add. In which we get to grips with Empress Li, her motives, her pain, the turmoil, and more to the point, just what she’s willing to do and sacrifice in order to bring down Lan. And if that means using her 3 year-old son as an assassin, then so be it.

The writing is effortless and at all times we are fully engaged in events as they move at a brisk pace. Everything unfolds in Li’s last few days in the palace, to quite the unexpected, explosive end, in which fate has the final word.

For me, this novel is a masterful exposition of a moment in time, encapsulated in blood-dripping violence and intrigue that will leave you breathless at the end.