anniversary

Today marks a very special day in my personal history. My dad mentioned to me yesterday that it's the 29th anniversary of my arrival in Canada.

Not long before we made the decision to decamp, my parents were living in the gritty neighbourhood of Brixton, in South London. My dad was making his way as an accountant and my mum was walking me around the markets. I was the first grandchild, so we went up to Lancashire and Yorkshire fairly often to see the grandparents.

Perhaps it was frustration with the Britishness of everything, or the fact that they were some of the first to have a child in their group of friends, or the need for change, but when it was offered that they could move to Vancouver with the company, my parents went for it.

And so, on February 8 twenty-nine years ago, they arrived in Vancouver airport. It was only supposed to be for two years and my mum worked part-time eventually until they were settled. They met friends through a babysitting coop and eventually, when the time came, wrote letters to their mums saying they weren't coming home.

My little sister came along soon after that, making her the first Webster in our family tree to be born in Canada.

Soon after we left London, the riots broke out in Brixton. Who knows what that would have meant if we'd stayed! The song below is a dedication to that turning point. Happy Monday everyone!

re-disc-overy

After a delicious smoothie, I sat down to get some computer work done. I was pretty focused this morning, and my desk faces a second floor balcony window which runs from floor to ceiling. The window is delightful on days like this, when I can see blue sky, chimneytops and white squirrels running across the nearby fence. It's that kind of fresh wintery morning that I love when I'm about to strap on cross-country skis and warm my body up while racing around the track. Winter that tickles the nose.

Work was mainly research, strategy and clean-up today so I needed to have a soundtrack that enhanced the room. I wanted instrumental, but not something like Brian Eno's Music For Airports (which has been a longtime favorite) since I know that disc inside out.... so instead, I picked one I used to enjoy in the car coming home from work, trying to tune out the noise and congestion of the city.

There's an openness to this music - Japanese composer Radicalfashion combines the elements of classical piano preciseness, found noises, with electronic experiments... it's almost as if at times he's building electronic windtunnels using radar fields and whispers. I can't describe how happy I am right now, and I suggest you find this gem of an album (I'm listening to Odori although he has other albums that are just as much appreciated) and add it to your collection.

I found a review of this elsewhere. And a sample, below, to moving images. Have a great week!