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12-year-old Gregory Hyman really is a one-man band!

Gregory Hyman

By BERNIE BELLAN
At the beginning of May I posted to Facebook that anyone who had an interesting story about how someone was coping during this period of self-isolation could contact me and I would consider writing a story about that person.

That led to the following response from Rishona Hyman, who herself is well-known as the owner of Aqua Essence Swim Academy: “My 12 year old son is releasing his debut album next week called Basement. It will be available on all streaming platforms May 12th and presale starts May 5. On the album Gregory plays all the instruments and mixes all the music on his own. He does this all with no help from his non musical parents – who can’t even carry a tune.”
I contacted Rishona and asked her to have Gregory call me so that I could talk with him about his interesting solo project.
 
On Friday, May 1st, I talked with Gregory about what led to his interest in music – and how he went about acquiring the skills needed to produce his own digital recording.
Gregory told me that he is a student at St. Johns Ravenscourt. It turns out he discovered early on that he has a precocious ability to learn different musical instruments.
Gregory has not only taught himself how to play an assortment of different instruments, he also writes his own songs, and sings them as well, he proceeded to explain to me during the course of our conversation.
And, as Rishona noted in her email to me, Gregory was just about to release his first digital album – on May 12.

Gregory explained that “I’ve always been into music, but it really started when I started playing guitar (at age five). I started off by taking classical guitar lessons.”
Because of his classical guitar training, Gregory said, “I was able to teach myself acoustic guitar and electric guitar.”
“I started to get into rock and metal music,” he added, when his father (Hartley) began to introduce him to heavy metal bands, “such as Black Sabbath and Guns ‘n Roses”.
“I really wanted to be in a band – and be a musician,” Gregory noted, “and singing, at the time, came naturally for me because I would just sing along to music. I started taking voice lessons last year – which has also helped me as a musician.”

Gregory on drums

Because of his classical music training, Gregory observed, he was able to learn other instruments by going on Youtube and watching teach-yourself videos how to play those other instruments.
“One day,” he related, “we were out of town, at a friend of my father’s house, and the dad had a set of electric drums. I just went over and started playing them. He gave me a basic lesson how to play them – I fell in love with drums.
“Then, a few years ago,” Gregory explained, he got a drum set of his own and he’s been able to add drums to the musical instruments he had already learned to play.
I asked Gregory whether he’s learned any other instruments, in addition to three different types of guitar and drums. He answered that he’s been also able to teach himself “a little bit of piano – some basic chords.”
He added that “I don’t really play bass, but with the guitar training I’ve had I am able to play some things on the bass as well.” (Later during our conversation Gregory noted that “I also play tuba for band class.” I asked him, tongue in cheek, whether he plays tuba on the album that he was working on – and which has been released by now. His answer was “no”.)

We talked about his album (which will be available by the time this is read) “on all the major streaming platforms” (including “iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play, Tik Tok”, Gregory added later during our conversation).
He explained that “during this time of self-isolation I decided I would record this entire album because I’ve been writing my own songs, I have all the equipment to record – I have a mixer, I have all the instruments…I’ve watched a lot of videos, so I learned how to put out my own album.”
“So, what I did is I spent the last four weeks tracking different instruments, finishing writing some songs (that he hadn’t quite completed when I spoke with him but which, he said, will be done by May 12).
“I was able to record 11 songs,” Gregory said. “I was able to record the entire album by myself – in my basement.

album cover“The album is called ‘Basement’ ” (for self-evident reasons). “The album is under the name ‘GMH Rocks’ because that’s my stage name that I chose years ago.”
Gregory noted though that, even though he is currently a “one-man band, I am looking for a bassist and a drummer to help me in the future.”
I asked him how he would describe the type of music on his album.
“I don’t know whether I would classify it as a certain style of music,” Gregory answered. “To me it’s a mixture of rock, indie music, and a little bit of punk, but it’s really just a chance for me to show what I can do.”
If you would like to see samples of Gregory’s music, go to
https://linktr.ee/gmhrocks

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ESports Meets Casinos: Overview of Bet Sport Gaming

ESports has become part of the interactive entertainment of online casinos. In fact, many fans already have the opportunity to use Dragonia Casino Bet Sport options while watching the matches of their favorite teams. The hybrid entertainment model opens up many possibilities and increases audience engagement. When video games intersect with betting, it creates a unique collaboration where participants have the opportunity to get a completely new experience right in their own home. At the same time, you can continue to enjoy the usual viewing of familiar tournaments and competitions.

How ESports and Casinos Interconnect

ESports has become a multi-billion-dollar industry that attracts spectators. Traditional casinos are focused on luck. But now they are introducing additional methods of encouraging their customers. Among such options, eSports events deserve special attention. Such bet sport offers combine the usual excitement with an element of competition. The structure of the casino entertainment provides participants with the opportunity to test their skills and reveal their own hidden talents. There are several forms of integration of eSports mechanics into the structure of a classic online casino:

  • Competitive betting. Online casinos provide the opportunity to bet on eSports tournaments, which is similar to the usual sports betting. In addition, the possibilities are significantly expanded compared to simple viewing platforms.
  • Skill-based casino games. Games inspired by eSports encourage players to actively participate in what is happening on the screen. The games reward the player’s results with certain prizes.
  • Interactive arenas. Some casinos broadcast eSports events in real time. This allows players to follow the games directly online, which creates a feeling of real participation in familiar entertainment.
  • Cross-platform interaction. Online casinos are introducing eSports-style leaderboards and achievements to attract more participants.

Such innovations appeal to new participants. Cultural changes are part of the development of the infrastructure of the classic casino, and eSports fans find a new environment for entertainment and communication.

Growth of ESports Betting

Global eSports revenue in 2025 exceeded $1.5 billion. Each bet sport option has made a significant contribution to the development. Surveys show that over 60% of players will express interest in betting on eSports, which reflects the demand and the need to develop an updated infrastructure for participation.

ESports events attract 15-20% more new participants compared to conventional casinos. The eSports betting market will exceed $20 billion by 2027, according to analysts’ forecasts, which encourages new participants to more actively watch tournaments and participate in various types of activity.

Why Fans Choose ESports

Bet sport gambling is gaining popularity. This is due to several reasons. For example, large casinos in Las Vegas and Macau now host full-fledged eSports tournaments alongside traditional entertainment. Venues are also experimenting with separate fan zones where sports betting and classic gambling are available.

Some of the most popular eSports disciplines are League of Legends and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Some online casinos even introduce eSports mechanics into slots so that players can try something new.

In short, the intersection of eSports and casinos is a natural development of the industry. Competitive play and an optimized betting system create a comfortable environment for true fans who want to diversify their leisure time.

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Card Game Traditions: Complete Review from Casino Online Lolajack Experts

Card games have been around for centuries. They are constantly evolving and improving. For example, there are now many different formats of online games available. On sites like casino online Lolajack https://Lolajack.com/ca/, you can choose a title according to your preferences and skills. The traditions of card games date back to ancient times. To better show yourself, it is worth familiarizing yourself with these features. This way, you will gain experience, have a good time, and get acquainted with something completely new.

Roots of Card Games

Card games directly reflect cultural identity. They have a unique mathematical structure and thoughtful moves that make even professionals think. Depending on the tradition, the rules differ, but the basic principles always remain similar. Each game has a unique origin:

  • Poker. It originated in the USA back in the 19th century. During its existence, many variations of gameplay have appeared. It combines risk, strategy, and psychology; therefore, it requires high skill from each player.
  • Baccarat. This game has ancient origins. It appeared in the 15th century in Italy, after which it spread throughout Europe. Now it is the basis of any operator like casino online Lolajack.
  • Rimmy and bridge. Card games require the cooperation of participants, so coordinated communication is important here.
  • Blackjack. This is the perfect combination of skill and chance. The player needs to learn to make decisions quickly and monitor the circumstances.

Card games have their own origins and characteristics. Currently, they are an integral part of any online casino, offering a wide range of opportunities for participants.

Why Card Games Are So Popular

Experts from casino online Lolajack emphasize the importance of card games in many cultures. For example, poker remains the leader for a reason. There are more than 100 million active players worldwide who compete and work on their skills. Blackjack also does not lag behind the trends. The level of participation exceeds 40% of regular online casino users.

Every year, the level of online card games grows by 10%. This is possible due to digitalization and increased player awareness. In addition, seasonal events also increase the involvement of participants during peak periods.

Traditions of Card Games

Unique events attract the attention of fans. For example, the World Series of Poker attracts not only participants but also millions of viewers around the world. Sites such as casino online Lolajack also give participants the opportunity to try their hand and compete with professionals.

Baccarat is associated with high stakes. This is especially noticeable among the Asian audience, who like to put probability theory into practice. Blackjack also has an appeal among math lovers. The probabilities of the model and observations directly affect the decisions of players. Online casinos strive to ensure that participants have the opportunity to communicate and find an activity option according to their own preferences.

As a result, card games remain the true leaders of the gambling market. They not only entertain, but also develop attention, perseverance, and social skills. A large selection of various variations of classic games allows you to choose the version that suits your preferences. Developers do not lag behind trends and do everything possible to surprise fans.

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“Lessons from the Holocaust for Today”

By HENRY SREBRNIK On April 12, I spoke at our annual Yom Hashoah memorial ceremony in Charlottetown. The last time I did so was in April 1976, in Montreal. It was, for Canadian Jews, a completely different time. Montreal was still the first city of Canadian Jewry, with Toronto a distant second. Israel seemed a secure country, having won a hard-fought victory three years earlier in the Yom Kippur War. 

There were clouds gathering, true – after all the UN General Assembly had passed the “Zionism is a form of racism” the previous December, and a powerful Communist bloc led by the Soviet Union was still a formidable enemy.

Today, Jewish life has become far more precarious. Two things are essential for an anti-democratic political movement to succeed: ideological justification by academics and intellectuals, and control of the streets by violent mobs. Since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas invaded Israel, we have seen both.

At McGill University in Montreal, a March 21 referendum by the Law Students’ Association (LSA) supported amending the group’s constitution to boycott Israeli academic bodies, though it was deemed illegitimate by the university’s president. Similar actions are taking place across Canada. Indeed, at Vanier College, a Montreal CEGEP,  it abruptly cancelled its Holocaust commemoration on March 25 because it didn’t think it could keep guests and the college community safe. 

Unfortunately, we know a terrible precedent for this union of the intellectuals and the mob. Nazi ideology, too, was not formulated by street thugs. Historian Max Weinreich published his book Hitler’s Professors in 1946, noting that German scholarship provided the ideas and techniques that led to and justified unparalleled slaughter. All too many Nazi war criminals were holders of PhDs. 

As historian Niall Ferguson reminds us, in an article published in the New York Free Press of Dec. 11, 2023, “Anyone who has a naive belief in the power of higher education to instill morality has not studied the history of German universities in the Third Reich.” The “final solution of the Jewish question” began, he has written, with words — “to be precise, it began as lectures and monographs and scholarly articles.”

The American writer Vivian Gornick, reviewing a book, “Turning a Blind Eye, A memoir of daily accommodation to fascism,” by the German historian Joachim Fest, about Hitler’s Germany in the 1930s (before the Holocaust), quotes this passage:

“Everyone sees that life for the Jews is gradually shutting down. Take their neighbor and good friend, Dr. Meyer: one day he can no longer subscribe to newspapers and magazines; another, he has to hand in his bicycle and typewriter; another, he can no longer keep a pet or buy flowers. Then all the Jews simply start disappearing from the neighborhood.” The Nazi march to power literally begins with shutting Jews out of public life while using academia as the heavy hand of indoctrination. 

 Is this slowly happening to Jews in Canada today, as they are pushed out of or refused admittance to cultural events, colleges, universities, and graduate schools, academic university positions, publishing, music, theatre, and so on?  In “Canada’s Polite Pogrom, By Jesse Brown, Atlantic, March 24, 2026, he writes: “Is a national tolerance for zealotry purging Jews from public life?”  Jewish life in Canada may have “forever changed,” he argues. “I can no longer take for granted that people like me are represented in Canada’s hospitals, schools, newsrooms, and legislatures.” 

We may see the quiet withdrawal of Jews from Canadian society “without any glass or bones being broken,” simply because the evidence that they are no longer welcome has become overwhelming. Another writer calls it the social and academic “shtetelization” of Western Jewry.

We even face obstruction from the Canadian government. In just the last two years, eight explicitly Jewish non-profit charities, including the Jewish National Fund, have been stripped of their ability to collect tax-deductible donations by the Canada Revenue Agency — often amid pressure campaigns from anti-Israel activists. The delisting was also celebrated by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), the union representing CRA workers.

We now witness continuous large “pro-Palestinian” rallies through our cities, invasions of shopping malls and thoroughfares, including intimidating behaviour against Jewish passersby. Today, police stand and watch mobs chant for Israel’s destruction, call for the genocide of its people, harass visibly Jewish citizens, and drive antisemitic intimidation deep into urban life. They now believe their job is to enforce the law only if it does not risk upsetting violent constituencies. This makes Jews expendable, because defending them risks confrontation. 

And these events are not just “political protests.” At an al-Quds rally in Toronto March 14, protesters held signs that showed rats crawling out of a Star of David, depicting a Jewish man as a goblin-like creature emerging from a cave, and showing a Jewish man as a hook-nosed caricature.

Three Jewish synagogues in Toronto were hit with gunfire in one week in March. After every such incident, we hear that “antisemitism has no place in Canada.” But if that were true, synagogues would not require concrete barriers. Jewish schools would not need armed security. Community institutions would not conduct threat assessments before hosting events. Yet big city mayors like Toronto’s Olivia Chow don’t seem, to put it diplomatically, be losing much sleep over what’s going on in their cities.

The attacks on Jews, including physical assaults and social media campaigns, are part of a purposive campaign designed to make Jews think twice about gathering with other Jews, entering a synagogue, going to kosher restaurants, putting a mezuzah on the doorpost of their apartments or dorm rooms, or wearing a Jewish star around their necks. In fact people have been attacked on the street for speaking Hebrew.  

If each Jewish holiday will now be seen by antisemites as an opportunity for terror, then the prognosis for diaspora Jewry is bleak. Unless things change, Jewish life in the diaspora will become more sealed off from the larger society. 

We may be returning to a time that we thought was long behind us. And we are less prepared for it than our forebearers were, because they were used to living in a semi-segregated world, and expected less from the larger society. As large swaths of the Jewish community are beginning to retreat inward, the greater long-term fear is the collapse of Jewish life here altogether. 

Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.

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