H E double….
During a recent excursion to a local grocery store, I was asked why I didn’t use the phrase, “what the H E double hockey sticks” in my columns anymore. I said perhaps I hadn’t had a really good rant brewing. Don’t get me wrong, there have been a few times when I’ve blown a gasket […]
Vintage virtuosos
The present position of a sommelier dates back to the wine stewards of the Pharaoh’s court, who documented the quality of vintages for their masters. It’s been a long road since. During the Middle Ages, wine buyers and cellar masters ensured that the yearly wine requirements of European courts were purchased and laid down. Prior […]
Hitting the bullseye
A passel of investors from Manitoba are hoping they have hit a bullseye with their latest project. “We figured it out pretty quickly, over a beer at the local curling rink,” says Wilf Germondsey, a Winnipeg insurance broker. “We were shooting the breeze about new ideas for franchises, retail stores, fast food joints and such […]
A place at the table
Food Security. Food Insecurity. Either way you chop and sauté it, many people do not have access to healthy, nutritious food. And I’m not talking about people who live elsewhere. I’m talking about people who live in the County. Proof that food insecurity exists in our community is that we have two food banks in […]
Champions tour in Naples
There were typical, somewhat nasty, breezes pushing golf balls around the fairways at TwinEagles Golf Course in Naples throughout the weekend. They did not affect Colin Montgomerie significantly, as he carded a five-under-par 67 to lead the field after the first round. I spent the day following Rod Spittle, Marco Dawson and Gene Sauers. Dawson […]
Liquor laws
Much like the United States, Canada has unique laws governing interprovincial commerce in wine that can be directly attributed to prohibition efforts of the early 20th century. There is less bureaucracy for a wine merchant in California to export to Alberta than to ship from state to state. It can be even worse in Canada. […]
Crows
It was just the other day, when Jack was arriving, that I was watching the southern sky. Like a slate-shingled barn roof yes, but more like the silver screen of a drive-in theatre. I watched as crow after crow after a hundred more crows moved through the dusk of February. A rookery, I think that’s […]
A mature product
Does any one of these images of chewing gum stick with you? How about the prototypical American GI from the second war era, with the confident swagger and the can-do attitude and the gum chewed rather nonchalantly? Or the 1959 Lonnie Donegan skiffle music song, Does your chewing gum lose its flavour, on the bedpost […]
Family day with Dick and Jane
Ah, Family Day. I know, every day should be family day when you’re part of a family. Or so I’ve heard. But Family Day makes me think about how much I need to have one day to focus on embracing the fun side of having a family. Since 2007, LOML and I have made a […]
Preparing for the ACE Group Classic
It’s a little overcast here in Naples, Florida, on Monday morning. Corey Pavin has half a dozen golf balls on the putting green, and is trying to coax them into the cup. A light shower turns into a serious downpour, and Pavin takes refuge under an umbrella. For the most part, the putting area and […]