A dozen eggs and a black chicken
In the mid 19th century, the Californian wine industry was fledging. In 1857, Charles Lefranc—a French pioneer— established his vineyards by planting Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Malbec and Semillon. His wines were reputedly excellent and, with the assistance of his son-in-law, Paul Masson, their names remain synonymous with the industry today. Interestingly, during this time, Sonoma […]
Not a sports story
Peter Newman told the near-capacity audience at the Belleville Club last Thursday that the archives of the Hudson’s Bay Company weighed 68 tonnes. They were shipped from London, England, to Winnipeg. He is a bit of an authority on those manuscripts. He spent 10 years with those files, as he was composing the history of […]
So I survived my brain surgery
I know the man who was the first Canadian to have this kind of operation—a very brave soul. He tells the story of how the surgeon rushed out to Canadian Tire in mid-operation to replace the drill bit. The helpful clerk asked the surgeon what he needed to drill. The clerk was eventually revived. My […]
Sporting women
I love to read. My favourite time of day is early morning with the newspaper, LOML and a cup of coffee. It doesn’t make any difference where I am, morning isn’t morning without the essentials. And, while I don’t usually spend a lot of quality time in the Business or Sports sections of any newspaper, […]
No sweep
They have put away their brooms in Vancouver.Those on Canada’s West Coast who thought their Canucks would cruise to a sweep of the Bruins got a rude awakening Monday night.After a scoreless first period, the Bostonians stormed out of the gate, and hammered the Canucks. The final score was 8-1. The first two games in […]
California dreamin’
The history of the grape vine in California supersedes the arrival of the European settlers. The indigenous people were hunter-gatherers and as such would harvest the native grapes when in season. When the Spanish settled in the Americas, they ventured north along the Pacific coast establishing settlements and missions. The missions planted orchards, grain crops […]
My weekend
So this morning a friend asked me how my weekend went. She was asking about my Ride for Heart in Toronto. What could I say but, “it was a weekend I won’t soon forget.” It was awesome. The weather was terrific.With a lot of help from our friends and family we raised scads of money […]
2006 Top 35 under 35 – Horst Shnicktauber
Once again, an enterprising Canadian has shown that you don’t need to have a deal with a major record label to make a commercial success of your music. Horst Shnicktauber, of Fenelon Falls, Ontario, will sometime this month sell his millionth recording as he releases his first retrospective collection. And the remarkable thing is—he’s only […]
Roller coaster ride
The 2011 baseball season is well underway.The Jays have played 54 games and are currently hovering around the .500 mark.They have won 28 games, and have lost 26 games. They are a couple of games behind the Yankees and the Red Sox. What else is new? That has been the case for many years.The parts […]
Adaptation
In the late 18th century, following North American colonization, the lack of success of the initial plantings of European vines did not spell the end of viniculture in the new world. John Adlum, surveyor and viticulturalist, enjoyed great success with a varietal, which is a cross between vitus lambrusca and possibly a vitus vinifera. The […]