All clear
By the time this edition hits the streets, the election will be over and done. Some folks will be smiling. Some folks will be scratching their heads. The others will go back to the drawing board and tell themselves, “the world just isn’t ready for a real change, maybe next time.” And, so it goes […]
The season begins
The Chicago Blackhawks opened the 2015-2016 regular season last Wednesday night in Chicago. Due to the fact that they were celebrating their third Stanley Cup win in six years that evening, they did it with style. The United Center, also known as the Madhouse on Madison Avenue, was filled to the brim. It was a […]
Excesses of excess
In the early days of the new Republic of the United States, citizens began drinking corn whiskey at an unprecedented rate—drawing down the fury of several Founding Fathers. Even though Europeans were used to the excesses of alcohol consumption at home, they marvelled at the free flow of alcohol in America. By 1820, the average […]
A small step to cupid
The big banks are expected to show weak results due to the slowdown in the Canadian economy. So here’s a growth opportunity for them that arrives at a particularly good time. First, some background. The U.S. Federal Reserve Board has, according to Bloomberg News, just published a study showing that credit ratings have a strong […]
Rule of the people
We’ve got a quirky political system. Coupled with national media attempting to distill information from sea to sea to sea in one of the largest and most diverse countries in the world, it can easily confuse the issue of who or what Canadians are choosing when they head to the polls. When we cast our […]
Pass the pie
When I started to write this column, I was sitting with LOML, my brother and his wife in Toronto, after the second leg of our trip from CFB Shilo to our home in the County. On Sunday morning, we were drinking coffee and feeling a bit travel weary with another two and a half hour […]
Yogi
I was severely chastised a couple of times this past week for not taking the time to reflect upon the life of Yogi Berra. We lost Yogi about a week ago. He left an indelible mark on the game of baseball, and also on the lives of all baseball fans. Berra grew up in St. […]
Three from chianti
The Chianti region is today subdivided into several overlapping zones, each reflecting a unique style of wine. The Chianti Classico sub-region runs north from Siena almost to the city of Florence. The Colli Senesi wraps around the southern base of the Classico region. The sub-region closer to Florence is called Colli Fiorentini. And to the […]
Closing time
As sure as the cold bite of recent mornings and the turning of the maples in the sunlit afternoons, it is a shift of season. In the Ottawa neighbourhood where my father has enjoyed his home of 50 years, there is sea-change of another kind happening. In many ways it’s a microcosm of a demographic […]
Big sustainable Mac
Things are sure changing out there in fast food land. Just the other day, McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited announced that it was going to spend about $200,000 per restaurant on upgrades, and enlarge its work force by about 30 per cent. Says John Betts, the company president, “We want our guests to walk in […]