Browsed by
Author: Colin Rowland

Praise for the people who keep the world going

Praise for the people who keep the world going

Monday is Labor Day in Canada and the US. It’s a federal holiday that celebrates the contributions of workers, whether or not union, to the country’s development. The three-day weekend it falls on is called Labor Day Weekend. Alternative accounts of the event’s origin exist. Descendants of two men with similar last names claim their great-grandfather was the true father of the holiday. One early history of Labor Day suggests it started in 1882 during a Knights of Labor meeting…

Read More Read More

A Glimmer of Gold for a Holiday Monday

A Glimmer of Gold for a Holiday Monday

Today is Heritage Day here in sunny Alberta, Canada. Although this is not a national holiday, the first Monday in August is a provincial holiday in most of Canada’s ten provinces. The name of the day varies from one province to another, but the day off is a welcome diversion as we pass through the end of the dog days of summer. We had some hot days between 38 and 43 Celsius (100 to 110 Fahrenheit), but it’s cooler now….

Read More Read More

Funny Friday—The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Funny Friday—The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Today I want to talk about Douglas Adams’ science fiction masterpiece, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I discovered the novel a few years after its publication and fell in love with his irreverent and quirky sense of humor. I cannot remember where or when I found this book, but what I do remember is the strange looks my wife gave me as I giggled and chortled my way through it. Yes, it is classed as science fiction, but the plot is…

Read More Read More

Tuesday Tunes – The Music Man: A Masterpiece of Music and Theatre

Tuesday Tunes – The Music Man: A Masterpiece of Music and Theatre

I am not a big fan of film musicals. I love music, but when it comes to throwing songs into a film, I’m of the mind that 99% of them should stay far away from each other. In my opinion, they rarely achieve an amiable collaboration; either the music overpowers what the actors are doing, or vice versa. Of all the films I have seen that attempted this marriage, I consider no more than three or four watchable and of…

Read More Read More

Trivia Thursday: Carving a mountain in South Dakota’s Black Hills- A labor of dedication and love

Trivia Thursday: Carving a mountain in South Dakota’s Black Hills- A labor of dedication and love

As I have stated in previous posts, I love the Black Hills of South Dakota, especially the world famous memorial to democracy on Mount Rushmore. Although we haven’t visited in more than a decade, past trips to the area are still some of my favorite memories. The four presidents are not unique in South Dakota, however. Less than an hour away is the site of the world’s largest mountain carving currently in progress, the Crazy Horse Memorial. The facts surrounding…

Read More Read More

A Glimmer of Gold – Victoria Day in Canada

A Glimmer of Gold – Victoria Day in Canada

Today was Victoria Day here in Canada, or as I and my high school friends always called it, May Two-Four. It was named in honor of England’s Queen Victoria and has been observed in this country since 1845, originally on her birthday, which was May 24, hence the nickname, although now it is always on the Monday immediately preceding May 25. The holiday is a federal statutory holiday, as well as a holiday in six of the country’s 10 provinces…

Read More Read More

What’s Up Wednesday? An excerpt, of course

What’s Up Wednesday? An excerpt, of course

I don’t have much today, other than a blow by blow description of the trouble I have run into preparing my home for the installation of new windows next week. It is doubtful that is of interest to anybody except for me. What I have instead is an early excerpt from my latest WIP, If Not for the Entail. The story revolves around the fate of Elizabeth and her family following the unanticipated passing of Mr. Bennet, and a despicable villain’s…

Read More Read More

Funny Friday—The comic genius of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman

Funny Friday—The comic genius of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman

Rather than lament the paucity of true comedy these days, I decided to treat myself, and everyone reading this, to the comedy gold of Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, two of the funniest actors of the seventies. They were regulars on the Carol Burnett show, a program I watched every week without fail. The entire program was full of laughs, but in my opinion the best sketches were the ones featuring the two of them. When the segment began, I…

Read More Read More

A Glimmer of Gold—To write? Or not to write?

A Glimmer of Gold—To write? Or not to write?

I began my writing career, such as it is, in 2017. My brother, Jann Rowland, was doing well as an author, so why couldn’t I? How hard could it be? I had always been an avid reader, so why not treat the world to my unique humor and sarcastic wit? I won’t describe the rude awakening I had upon publishing my first literary masterpiece, but the reviews were unflattering, to put it mildly. Almost every part of my storytelling was…

Read More Read More

The thrilling conclusion to series!

The thrilling conclusion to series!

Book six of the Elizabeth Said, Darcy Said series is now available on Amazon.   An argument with Miss Elizabeth convinces Darcy to end his courtship and that it is time for him to return to his Pemberley estate where his sister misses him terribly. When he arrives, however, Georgiana wants to know all the details about the woman he described in his letters and does not believe his claims that she no longer holds any attraction for him. She…

Read More Read More