World Championships
The World Under-19 Women’s Floorball Championships concluded last Sunday in Belleville. The Canadian team played its way successfully into the Gold medal game in the “B” division. They had to play Germany once again, certainly their nemesis in the sport. Trailing 5-3 in the final period, the Canadians tied the score in the dying minutes […]
Elevating
Did you get the census thing stuck in your door the other day? The envelope from Stats Canada, I mean. Gotta fill it out and send it in cuz it’s the law, right? Count yourself in. Last count, back in 2011, we were 25,258 souls. Hard to believe, but with a few of us coming […]
A study to prove it
Are you one of those old fossils who thinks it’s terrible that cursive handwriting is increasingly not being taught in primary schools? Do you feel there is a undue emphasis being put on the need to teach coding to children, when the only code they really need is the postal code to put on an […]
2016 World Championship
On Wednesday, the world will arrive at the doorstep of the Quinte region for the Under-19 Women’s World Floorball Championships. Actually, the opening ceremonies took place last night. Elizabeth Manley, Canadian figure skater, was on hand to help open the games. As a matter of historical note, both she and Brian Orser were born in […]
A bunch of grapes
Worldwide, almost 80,000 square kilometres are currently devoted to the production of grapes. Seventy-five percent of this is used to make wine, while the balance turns up as table fruit, juice or dried fruit. We all are familiar with the very small selection of grape varietals used to produce wine: cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, chardonnay […]
The $100 million experiment
Did you see where the NBA is undertaking a three-year “experiment” to allow teams to sell a sponsorship spot on the team jersey? It’s just a tiny oval patch on the left-hand side above the heart, legible if you’re a courtside fan with a telescope, or a home fan with an 84-inch, ultra-high-definition television. But […]
Sidewalk cycling season
It wouldn’t be the beginning of the merry month of May if I weren’t “greetin” about something. For me, it usually starts with a sighting of the first sidewalk cyclist. With all of the congestion in downtown Picton, you’d think that cyclists would dismount and walk their bikes on the sidewalks. But no. I’ve said […]
Burden
The pressure keeps mounting. At the pumps, despite the continued drop in the price of oil, gasoline has returned to its three-digit cents-per-litre figures. Visits to the grocery store are increasingly stressful. Food costs more every year. According to Statistics Canada, produce costs increased by an average of 15.9 per cent over last year. For […]
2016 – Year of the Cubs?
The Chicago Cubs have indicated that they mean business this year. No more fooling around. No more Mister Nice Guys. This is the year. Last Thursday, one of their pitchers, Jake Arrieta, sent a signal to the rest of the teams in the National League. He threw his second no-hitter, with some run support. The […]
The business of colour
Any reasonable Hollywood executive would tell you the decision to cast Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi—the lead character in the live-action adaptation of the popular Japanese manga series Ghost in the Shell—was purely a business decision. Johansson is probably the most marketable actress in Hollywood today. And the character she plays, despite her name, […]