This page of my web site describes the Cape Breton mailing lists that I have found useful and enjoyable. If you are aware of other relevant mailing lists not listed here that you think should be, please so notify me using the address in the footer below.
The Cape Breton Music Mailing List (cbmusic)
In the words of its web site, reached by first going to http://cbmusic.com/core.html and clicking on the “cbmusic list” button at the left of the page:
Those with a liking for the Gaelic/Celtic, fiddle, or 'old tyme' sound are already familiar with traditional Cape Breton music. The list deals with all aspects of the past and future of Cape Breton music as well as our exciting current music scene, including Acadian, Mi-kmaq, blues, classical, neo-traditional and everything in between.
The CB-Music list has been active since 1995. Discussions revolve around performers, performances, history, discology/musicology, venues and Cape Breton music as a primary, natural and sustainable economic resource.
The cbmusic mailing list is unmoderated, but its very knowledgeable participants ensure that the posts are factual. This list is essential to those who wish to follow the Cape Breton music scene and contains postings of relevant musical events both on Cape Breton Island and elsewhere in the world. Shows broadcast on TV, radio, and the internet are also announced and discussed on the list.
From this list, I have learnt a great deal about Cape Breton music, its practitioners, its devotees, and the volunteers who are responsible for the success of its festivals and events; I highly recommend it. The amount of traffic varies; it can go for several days with no messages at all and then a flurry of postings will occur. To get a flavour of the postings on this list and the amount of traffic, access its web site using the instructions in the first paragraph (all of the links are the same because the pages are generated and have no fixed URL addresses, so I can’t give direct links here) and click on the line which reads “Click here to subscribe/unsubscribe from the list or to view the list archives” and then click on the link under “Cbmusic List Archives”. If what you see is of interest to you, you can subscribe to the list on the same page; note that you can also unsubscribe on this page as well if, after subscribing, you decide that the list is not for you.
The Sunrise Photo Mailing List
I first became aware of Jim Steele’s awesome Sunrise photo mailing list near the end of January, 2010. Early each morning, from his house high on the western shore of, and overlooking, St. Anns Bay, he takes numerous of photos of the scene below before, during, and after sunrise, from which he selects from six to ten that he includes in his daily mailing (each of which runs from 400KB to 600KB of data). I have become fascinated watching the always changing views he takes each morning. Depending on the month, as the sun appears to slowly sweep back and forth across the horizon, the photos show the sun rising across Kellys Mountain, Cape Dauphin, the Bird Islands, or St. Anns Bay.
The great majority of Jim’s sunrise photos are of days when clouds interfere with the rising sun in some interesting way, producing a tremendous variety of different and often stunning visual effects as the sun pierces through the clouds, lights them from behind, casts shadows onto the waters, gives them spectacular colours, and often all at the same time. These photos are marvellously informative and have become one of the great pleasures I look forward to each morning as I read the e-mail delivered overnight. When the weather is too cloudy for good views, he dips into his voluminous archives to select others of interest, and occasionally includes daytime photos of the scenery in this gorgeous area as well. He has a marvellous eye for the beautiful and intriguing and the photos of flowers, birds, cats, and dogs that he sometimes includes in the mailing are invariably fascinating.
If you would like to be added to Jim’s free Sunrise mailing list, please send an e-mail to jsteele69@sympatico.ca with the text “Please add me to your Sunrise List”. Jim is due many thanks for his dedication and perserverence in documenting and sharing this amazing daily record of often stunning and always intriguing sunrise photos.