Columnists

Remembering them

Posted: November 7, 2014 at 8:55 am   /   Columnists

Our last week away from the County is being spent on a military base in Manitoba. Yep, we’re at CFB Shiloh. It’s not exactly a vacation mecca. In true Canadian military fashion, it’s almost indistinguishable from most other CFBs in Canada. This is where MCOM (Military Children of Mine), aka The Girlies, live. This is […]

No Comments read more

Back on the ice

Posted: October 31, 2014 at 9:26 am   /   Columnists

The Florida Everblades played their third game of the season last Saturday night at home in the Germain Arena. The arena is located on I-75, between Fort Myers and Naples, close to the municipality of Estero. More than 7,000 seats fill the barn, and tickets are most reasonable, starting at $16. The Blades faced their […]

No Comments read more

Tanks for the wine

Posted: October 31, 2014 at 9:20 am   /   Columnists

During the production of white wine, it is paramount that contact between the juice and oxygen be kept to a minimum, to preserve the fruit characteristics. Before crushing, stems are normally taken off white grapes, since they can add a note of unwanted astringency. Sometimes, stems are added to allow a more freeflowing juice. This […]

No Comments read more

Passing the smell test

Posted: October 31, 2014 at 9:16 am   /   Columnists

Scientists are sniffing around smell, traditionally the neglected sibling among the five senses. And they are smelling some interesting results. One study examined some 3,000 people and found that if they were unable to identify smells like fish and peppermint, they were much more likely to die within five years, compared with those who were […]

No Comments read more

A day in the life

Posted: October 31, 2014 at 9:09 am   /   Columnists

There are times when my day has a theme song. More often than not it has been It’s Good News Week. Some of you know the song, the rest of you can Google it. Most of us have music in our heads. Youngest COM calls it ear worms. When the story of Cpl Nathan Cirillo’s […]

No Comments read more

Play ball!

Posted: October 24, 2014 at 10:57 am   /   Columnists

The 2014 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals opened on Tuesday night in Kansas City. The teams will play three games in Kansas City, fly out to the West Coast to play one game, potentially two, then fly back to KC for the final games. Both of these teams […]

No Comments read more

Spiders and the tarantula

Posted: October 24, 2014 at 10:49 am   /   Columnists

This is the time in winemaking when all-or-nothing wagers are placed on the best moment to harvest grapes and transform the fruit into wine. Will the good weather last long enough to assure sugar and acid levels as well as the appearance and general health of the winemaker’s grapes? Think of the weather over the […]

No Comments read more

Timing is everything

Posted: October 24, 2014 at 10:39 am   /   Columnists

This is the time in winemaking when all-or-nothing wagers are placed on the best moment to harvest grapes and transform the fruit into wine. Will the good weather last long enough to assure sugar and acid levels as well as the appearance and general health of the winemaker’s grapes? Think of the weather over the […]

No Comments read more

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 […]

No Comments read more

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 […]

No Comments read more