The next cup winner
You’ve got to hand it to those elite soccer players showing off their talents during the FIFA World Cup. They take home salaries in excess of half a million dollars a week; and their transfer value—the cost to a team to buy the player’s contract from his current team—is usually in the tens of millions. […]
Bitter or sweet
Goodbyes really are bittersweet. Saturday, the first full day of summer, dawned bright and beautiful, as if to make a goodbye picnic easier for all of us to handle. Of course, if you’re going to a picnic, it’s always sweet to have good weather. This Saturday, our youngest daughter and her wife hosted their goodbye […]
Summer’s coming
They’ve turned out the lights in San Antonio and Los Angeles. The Spurs and the Kings have risen to the top and are now on euphoric holidays. The Miami Heat and the New York Rangers will have to regroup this summer, to prepare for next season. In a surprising finish, the Spurs trounced the Heat […]
In his cups
Throughout the ages, man has constantly strived to create the perfect beverage container. The centuries-long search has led to materials as diverse as leather, horn, precious metals or pottery. Some of these supping vessels have stood the test of time; others are merely memories hinted at by exotic names. Wooden tankards were commonly used for […]
Good luck, Google!
Did you see the pictures of Google’s new driverless car? According to recent reports, Google—the juggernaut that controls everything we do these days—is about to test a fleet of 100 driverless cars without steering wheels, accelerators or brake pedals. The cars will have a top speed of 40 kilometres per hour, which I guess will […]
My kingdom for a pillow. And a good cup of coffee
LOML and I decided we should go camping. I’m not sure who actually decided to go camping and who fell for it, but it happened. We decided to go to camping. You know, sleeping in a tent—with sleeping bags—food in a cooler, cooking on a Coleman stove, flashlights to find your way to the toilets, […]
Triple Crown
For a large contingent of North American sports fans, the possibility of a Triple Crown winner on the racetrack in New YorkState brings pure excitement. Such was the case last Saturday, as California Chrome sauntered toward the starting gate in the Belmont Stakes. More than 120 000 fans gathered at the track, hoping to witness […]
Elevated flavour
Last week we discussed the effect of the cold ocean currents on the growing cycle of vineyards. This week we look at the impact of altitude. Higher altitude vineyards in Europe are in the Alps, the Pyrenees and the upper reaches of Duero river Portugal. Usually no higher than 800 metres, the effect of altitude […]
After the rains
It would be like any other morning, except when the rains come: at dawn; drenching bouquet, opening sour earth and sweet-water sky. I saw it over there yesterday, the anvilhead cloud, large flat-top cloud: Cumulonimbus incus; thunderstorm cloud; king of all clouds, rising high out of nowhere like the pillars of the earth of Utah; […]
Uncage the grammar police, again
A few weeks ago, I wrote about setting the grammar police on the prowl against the use of the inadvertent expression known as the malapropism. Today, I’m uncaging the grammar police again, and writing about the pleonasm. What the heck is a pleonasm? It’s the use of more words than necessary to convey a point. […]