Columnists

Just hanging out

Posted: October 24, 2014 at 10:37 am   /   Columnists

It can’t just be me who has noticed it. I sense—call it the Drake Effect—that there are more people than ever before poking around downtown Wellington, looking to be entertained. “Looking to be entertained” means there is a certain onus on our visitor to seek out his or her entertainment. But it also implies that […]

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Lava floor

Posted: October 24, 2014 at 10:36 am   /   Columnists

So, tell me, what have I missed? Is it a cultural thing? Is it a new trend? Is it even a thing? I just don’t get it. LOML and I took the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to the Sunshine Coast this week. The trip usually takes about 40 minutes, which means we can sit in […]

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Exciting Stuff for Young Bulls

Posted: October 17, 2014 at 9:23 am   /   Columnists

Last Wednesday night, Matt Luff walked into a local restaurant and dropped a puck on the table in front of his mother. Not just any puck, mind you, but a most significant puck. It was his first goal as a Belleville Bull in the Ontario Hockey League. Details of the event are always marked on […]

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Nouveau for November

Posted: October 17, 2014 at 9:21 am   /   Columnists

The annual release of new wine from Beaujolais, aptly named Beaujolais Nouveau, will soon be upon us. This fresh young wine is celebrated as a harbinger of the vintage, while the balance of the year’s crop gently ages in cellars, awaiting release to the market. At one time, the frenzy caused by its release was […]

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They call the wind…?

Posted: October 17, 2014 at 9:14 am   /   Columnists

I read an article a few months back, bemoaning the sparse lexicon of names to describe wind. We’ve all heard of the warming chinook that blows in southern and central Alberta. And I suppose you could say, thanks to Gordon Lightfoot, the Witch of November over Lake Superior has also made the national list. After […]

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Tales of Despereaux and GOM

Posted: October 17, 2014 at 8:59 am   /   Columnists

In case you didn’t know, I’m at my home-away- from-home in Vancouver with LOML. It’s been two years since we were last here. Not much has changed in the neighbourhood. However, the volume of toys inhabiting the apartment has been drastically reduced. Granddaughter of mine is no longer a baby and doesn’t need baby toys […]

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Jeter hangs ’em up

Posted: October 12, 2014 at 9:12 am   /   Columnists

It took a little while for Derek Jeter to hang up his spikes. An entire season, in fact. It has become a tradition for the very best players in professional sports to play their final games in stadia throughout the year, and receive gifts and accolades from the fans. I call it the victory lap. […]

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All about stout

Posted: October 10, 2014 at 9:10 am   /   Columnists

Stout is a dark beer made with the simple ingredients of malt, hops, water and yeast. Beer made with roasted malts was called “porter”, and when it began to be made in greater alcoholic strengths to cater to the whims of the public, it was called “stout”. A dark beer or porter with an alcohol […]

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Yodel ay ee-oh oh

Posted: October 10, 2014 at 9:02 am   /   Columnists

I was killing time in a reception room the other day. After having exhausted all the news of the big George Clooney wedding, I turned to the Wall Street Journal, hoping to pick up the latest lively bit of scandal about interest rate setting at the Federal Reserve Board. Instead, I read a front page […]

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Where there’s a will

Posted: October 10, 2014 at 9:00 am   /   Columnists

What’s that expression? Where there’s a will, there’s a relative. Having a will is something LOML and I got shamed into many, many years ago. The lawyer we had chosen to close our first home purchase suggested that if we were old enough to buy a house, we should be wise and protect our family. […]

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