by Diana Filer
1. Canada and the United States celebrate Labour Day on the first Monday in September, while many countries observe it in May.
2. Yannick Nézet-Séguin is the much celebrated Quebecois music director and conductor: of New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestre Metropolitain de Montreal. Also a concert pianist, he has been called ”the greatest generator of energy on the international podium”.
3. Libreville is the capital of Gabon, a West African republic rich in oil, timber and manganese. Its government of President Ali Bongo has just undergone a military coup, one of many in several West African countries in the last 3 years.
4. A winklepicker is a shoe with a very pointed toe, so named for periwinkles, small, edible shellfish gathered on the beaches of Britain, the meat of which was extracted from the shells with a pin or other very pointed tool. The shoes were/are popular with rock and rollers and their fans.
5. “God for Harry, England and St George” was the rallying cry of Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt, according to Shakespeare’s play Henry V.
