Red Notice

Browder, W. (2015). Red Notice. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Bill was reading Red Notice when Dr Anne visited Canada recently.  He snuck away into a corner and stayed up until 01.30 to finish it.   

This is a terrifying read of high finance, murder and one man's fight for justice.  Bill Browder didn't want to be an academic, he wanted to be a capitalist in the east of Europe.  His grandfather had been a communist leader in the US original from Eastern Europe.  His father and brother were academics.  Bill went to Poland, Hungary and eventually found his fortune in Russia in the 90s and 00s. Everything went sour...

The story of Russia's oligarchs, corruption, lies, torture strikes home as this is happening in our lifetime.  

This was a compulsive read earning a 8.5/10.  

Making the town a museum

On her recent travels Dr Anne was in the small towns near Lake Huron.  She saw murals and paintings, photos and sculptures.

She liked the idea of siting sepia photos around town showin the history in pictorial form.

The Big Wall, Port Carling

B&S took Dr Anne to Port Carling to view the big wall.  

It was photos of people and events in Port Carling over 100 years. 

The colouring allowed the big picture of a famous boat on the lake.

Murals in Midland, Ontario

There were amazing murals painted on the walls in the town of Midland.  B&S drove Dr Anne around town to let her take the photos.  Ideas for Portsoy?

 

 

Reykjavik

Dr Anne spent some time in Reykjavik.  She viewed the town from the tower of the Hallgrímskirkja.  She walked the streets and visited the Concert Hall, the Museum of Iceland and the sculptures of the Enar Jónsson Sculpture Museum.  She ate at a couple of Icelandic restaurants.

From the church tower

The concert hall

The Enar Joónsson Scultures

Smoked trout on Icelandic flatbread

Rye bread ice cream

A restaurant with a grass roof.  Had cheese with honey and almonds.

The National Park

Dr Anne visited the biggest lake in Iceland situated in the Pingvellir National Parliament, a UNESCO world heritage site and arguably the most important place in Iceland in terms of history, culture and geology.  In the Almannagjá gorge you see where the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia split and drift apart. You also see where the first parliament was held in the 12th century.

Geysir

Dr Anne drove to Geysir, the home of Geysirs.  It took her five hours to get there.