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, […]
Grapes . . .
How shall we corral this healthy berry into a simple framework? They can be eaten raw or used for making preserves, wine, juice, jellies, raisins, vinegars and grape seed extracts. They come in a wide range of colours (“white” grapes are actually green). Their clusters can have as few as 15 grapes to as many […]
Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb
Ok, ok, already! I’ll not rush into spring planting! I’ll hang on ‘til the conventional 2-4 weekend. Keep a watch on the rhubarb as long as the weather doesn’t throttle it. Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb: In Shakespeare’s time and beyond, the muttering of the word was given to the extras on stage to represent a grumble. […]
The case of the Peterborough puppy
Sometimes, you can’t beat an Ontario court case for old-fashioned drama—and value for money. Take this excerpt from the Reasons for Judgment of Justice Charles H. Vaillancourt in the case of Her Majesty The Queen and Michael Dennis Duffy. (Text in square brackets ([…]) has been added for context. The excerpt has been edited down.) […]
The pits
Taxes. Yep, the deadline for filing your personal income tax is just about here. May 2 at midnight is the magic line drawn in time (since April 30 falls on a Saturday). Federal income tax is something that boils away inside my head year-round. Even though I don’t think LOML and I have anything to […]
Augusta James
The official title of the golf tournament I attended last week is “Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial Tournament”. It is a combination tournament that includes golfers from the Symetra Tour and others from the Legends Tour. The ladies from the Symetra Tour played a four-day, 72-hole tournament, whereas the Legends group played a 36-hole, Saturday and […]
Blame
It would be difficult to believe that Ezekiel Stephan’s parents didn’t love and care for their child. In fact, from accounts of their testimony, the horror of losing a young son is palpable. Ezekiel died in 2012 from bacterial meningitis, a disease usually treatable by a round of antibiotics. He was only 19 months old. […]