From many threads
The influence of the Age of Enlightenment was but part of the mosaic of wine’s evolution. It all began from the humble—and possibly accidental— discovery of fermented juice from split grapes. Today, the wine industry is enormous. Throughout the ages, various civilizations have endeavoured to perfect and improve wine. Roman patricians took immense pride in […]
The overstayed welcome
George W. Bush has (mercifully, for some) forsaken politics—for painting. Now before you start trying to get him to come up from Texas and do a celebrity repaint of your shed, you should be aware that I’m talking about painting of the artistic type—portraiture, to be precise. Bush has been taking lessons, and has recently […]
Pests in my garden
My mom had a vegetable garden. She wasn’t a hobbyist. It was serious, vegetable business in our backyard. From the end of April, until the last tomato was picked in September, the garden section was off-limits to our shenanigans, unless, of course, one of us was dumb enough to say we were bored. If you […]
Hockey from over ‘ome!
On these hot, steamy, summer days, I like to think about hockey. During the championships in Wellington for the Dudley Hewitt Cup, an avid hockey fan, Ben Houston, slipped me an article about hockey. Following a bit of research, I am pleased to share a tidbit or two about the great game, as it is […]
Union Hill
It’s one of those things we often slide by in our comings and goings; places that spark a hard-to-define reminisce. As in you know the place, but don’t, sorta thing? Like the beacon up ahead along the highway? I’m headed south out of Rossmore on highway 62, cresting the rise of the hill by Victoria […]
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment that began in the late 17th century placed confidence in the rational man who would discover scientific and philosophical truths that had eluded classical man. Despite this new savoir-faire, wine continued to suffer a short shelf life. It lost market share to distilled spirits that would last longer—gin in Holland and […]
The new logo— stage two
Now that the County has settled on a new logo, stage two of the branding exercise can begin in earnest— unless, that is, the Fruit of the Loom underwear people seek an injunction to prevent it. Stage two, of course, is the introduction of County-branded products. Barring legal catastrophe, we will soon be inundated with […]
Triple size this
Size 000 at J. Crew. I wondered what the fuss was. A lot of head and media space has been taken up with the kerfuffle about size triple zero. Seemed like someone was making a molehill out of a mountain, or vice versa. As you know—or maybe you didn’t know—I’m no retail clothing expert, but […]
Ready for some RedBlacks Football?
There will be excitement in Ottawa this coming Friday night. For the first time in several years, there will be professional football in our capital city. The Ottawa RedBlacks will take the field at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, to play the Toronto Argonauts. It is actually the team’s fifth game and the third in […]
Super summer sippers
The process of leaving the wine in contact with the lees has a long history in wine making. Cato the Elder records its use in the Roman region of Campania as far back as the second century B.C. This is the same area that would see Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius […]