Charles Dunlevy – By the River

2020-08-192020-09-16

Television During Lockdown 2020

During the lock down, I found myself watching a lot of television when I was not working or studying. This could be good or bad depending on how to view it. I plan to look at things from the good side whenever possible.

I realized that although being locked down was extremely depressing, a few good things came out of it. The ability to work from home was a major plus. Watching television was another plus. Two years after I had purchased a 55″ television, I am finally making good use of it.

Before the pandemic, I pretty much only watched television on Saturday evenings for NHL hockey, or to catch up on the news at the end of a long day. I also watched YouTube Premium via the television. Once a month, I would watch the WWE wrestling pay-per-view event.

Nearly everyone I know has a Netflix subscription. I initially refused to get one because they did not have Korean or Nigerian programs.

During the lockdown, I really wanted to watch the Canadian comedy called Trailer Park Boys. Over the years, I had watched all of their shows prior to them signing on with Netflix. I figured since I was bored and enjoying listening to the Trailer Park Boys podcast, I should sign up with Netflix to gain access to the newer seasons. I finally gave in and ordered Netflix.

Watching the Trailer Park Boys made me laugh out loud. It was the first time I had been able to laugh since the lockdown began. Every single episode had me laughing and sometimes hysterically. I really enjoyed watching the show and found that it really helped me fight the depression I was feeling.

To my pleasant surprise, after setting up my account and looking through the programming, I found several Korean, Japanese, and Nigerian movies and dramas. In fact, Netflix carries programming from around the world!

I also started watching several movies from Korea, Nigeria, and Japan. One day, I stumbled upon an American cartoon called F is for Family. Wow! I was hooked right away and binged-watched an entire season immediately upon discovering the show. This show also makes me laugh a lot! I also found several interesting American movies to watch.

I am able to watch Netflix directly through my television set via the Rogers Ignite TV service which allows me to sign into selected streaming services. I linked my Netflix account to the system. I had already linked my YouTube Premium and Amazon Prime accounts. Rogers has since added a new service, free of charge, called Tubi.

I now have access to all the programming I want. Interesting to note that I hardly watch any of the cable channels. I only watch sports and news channels. For all of my entertainment, I watch the streaming services that I pay for.

2020-07-312020-09-17

Ups and Downs with Music

Photo by **Clovis Cheminot** from **Pexels**

Today was a day of ups and downs. I suppose you can say it is a side-effect of the pandemic. To be honest, I have suffered these effects in the past. I have had a good handle on things over the past few years but the pandemic seems to have messed things up for me again.

Throughout the day I would find myself becoming sad or down for pretty much no reason at all. I would then start feeling happy, again for no reason.

I started to track these mood changes to see if a pattern was developing. It is now 21:42 and I can gladly say that the last down feeling was at 17:00! I have been listening to music since around 18:30 and chatting with a dear friend who lives in Korea.

I spent this evening listening to House music, then Korean ballads, then old skool Funk! I am listening to Funk as I write this.

I turned my Phillips Hue lighting to blue, got dressed up in blue clothing with a blue hat and started to dance. I then changed the lights to red and kept on dancing. I am now sitting here at one of several computers that I own.

Music does wonders for the soul. I love music and am sure music loves me. Here are some songs to enjoy:

Deja Vu – Larry Heard (House)
Apala New Skool – Qdot (Afrobeats, Apala)
Candy – Cameo (Funk)
지금이 아니면 – Taru (Korean Indie)

The above songs are available for your listening pleasure on music.youtube.com. Premium subscription is suggested if you are like me and hate listening to or viewing advertisements when trying to enjoy music.

Feel free to drop by https://www.traxsource.com and purchase your house music. Traxsource is the premier source for house music on the web.

2020-07-112020-09-05

Post-Pandemic Plans (The 3 Ps)

These days I hear a lot of chatter about how we must adapt to this new way of life. It seems as though people are giving up and accepting this as our reality forever. I am holding onto hope that a vaccine will be found. I am looking forward to a day when we may return to living our real lives.

I would like to discuss what I am going to call the Three Ps: Post-Pandemic Plans. I pray and hope that our lives are not compromised for too much longer. Post pandemic, I would love to travel again. This is both a small and large world. There is more to our lovely planet than the place where we currently reside and work.

Paju-Si, South Korea
© 2018 Dunlevy Publishing

I plan to visit South Korea and Japan… no surprise to those who know me personally. I have many deep ties to those nations and have spent a considerable amount of time in each. I also plan to visit London, Paris, and perhaps Berlin. The most important place I plan to visit is West Africa.

Most of my multi-ethnic background can be traced to West Africa. This is a fast-growing region of 400-million people. Although I was born in Canada, my parents came from Jamaica. My ethnic make-up consists of Jewish (Iberian Peninsula), Arab (Syria/Lebanon), and West African (Akan, Igbo, Yoruba, Ewe, Efik).

Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria
Photo by **Dr. Flynn** from **Pexels**

I would also love to visit Spain and Portugal which exist on the Iberian Peninsula. I would also love to visit Syria once that nation stabilizes.

The West African ancestry in Jamaica is comprised of people from several ethnicities, the largest by far being Akan (Ghana) and Igbo (Nigeria). There are also Mandinka, Yoruba, Kongo, Fon, Ibibio, and others. Jamaican patois is comprised of several Akan and Igbo terms.

I love to watch Nollywood movies and have studied West African culture increasingly over the past few years. While I was in high school, I had studied Arab culture upon discovering that my Great-Grandmother was Arab. This past year I also did some research on Iberian Jewish history since my Grandfather was of Iberian Jewish ancestry.

Nigeria and Ghana have bustling entertainment industries. Both countries produce incredible music and entertaining film. The cuisine of West Africa is truly amazing. Jamaican cuisine has a lot in common with West African.

On my West African trip, I plan to spend time in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Warri Nigeria. I also plan to spend time in Accra, Takoradi, and Kumasi Ghana. Future trips will entail visits to Benin and Togo, two smaller nations situated between Ghana and Nigeria. Eventually I would like to visit all the nations in West Africa including Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Gambia, etc.

It would also be quite interesting to visit Sri Lanka in South Asia. I love their cuisine and have had nothing but positive experiences with Sri Lankan people in Toronto. I once went to a Sri Lankan wedding and was treated very warmly. Our group of eleven from work were the only non-Tamil people in a wedding party of 400 people! The bride is a friend from our office. She has taught me a lot about Sri Lanka and the Tamil people. They have a rich culture dating back thousands of years.

Sri Lanka is a lush, green, and beautiful nation which should be a vacation hot-spot. The tourism industry is growing now that political conflict seems to have subsided and the nation is building up its economy.

Speaking of weddings, I attended a wedding in South Korea where I was the only non-Korean person in the entire building! I had a great time and even posed for a photo on stage with the bride and groom and their friends. They took two photos on stage… one consisting of family members and another consiting of friends. I like to refer to the photo that I am in as my Where’s Waldo photo. I am the only non-Korean amongst of throng of 70 Koreans.

I am writing this while sitting on my balcony listening to Afrobeats from Nigeria, drinking Space Invader IPA beer from Toronto’s own Amsterdam Brewery, and looking at the sky wondering when air travel will pick up again. It really does feel strange not seeing airplanes flying overhead.