Great sports traditions
From the time that games began, several centuries ago, sport traditions have become an important part of life. Consider soccer without its cheers, and songs, and yes, its hooligans. Cricket goers always assemble on the lawn during a break to consume their cucumber sandwiches. And football without tailgating? That just won’t work. There are a […]
I see a problem here
Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope. Where’s the light sabre when you need it? Enquiring minds want to know. I want to do battle with the overlords of communication. Whenever I’m in Ottawa, Toronto or in Vancouver, I usually stop into the MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-operative) to stock up on “ladies’ fine […]
Topps Baseball Cards
2011 Edition My hands always tremble a little when I open my first pack of cards from a new issue. While checking out of the local Target store, I happened to spot a rack of trading cards near the newsstand. There was the usual mix of sport and non-sport cards. Surprisingly, there were packs of […]
Just around the corner
Continuing our historic perspective of the wine trade, after the fall of the Kingdom of Granada, over the next centuries, Western Europe’s trade with the Orient declined as Constantinople fell to the Turks. In particular, this affected trade in sweet wines from the region, due to diminishing supplies. Supply was further affected when the island […]
A dubious legacy
I looked at my SOCAN statement this week. I didn’t know it would create emotional turmoil. SOCAN is the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. It collects royalties for music composers from performances of their work, at rates established by a federal agency. After I began writing songs a few years ago, […]
I’ll be the judge of that
Well, here I am. On the west coast. I’ve never been here at this time of year. The “not really winter” time and the “not really spring” time of the year. The city I’ve grown to love, and consider my second home, seems dirty, grey and crowded—without promise. On the “correct- change-only #20 bus,” coming […]
Life’s Mysteries from the Twilight Zone
The Minnesota Twins spring training complex is located in the heart of Fort Myers. There are several baseball fields, a main stadium, and other locations for players to ply the trade. You enter the ball park off Six Mile Cypress Expressway, and you can park at any of the crossroads, named after the Twins’ great […]
Pushing and shoving
A good friend of mine said, “If you have a choice between being honest and being nice, be nice.” It’s pretty good advice and goodness knows I try to be nice, but what really works for my conscience is “being nice, with a side of honest.” Sometimes the honest part gets me into a spot […]
The twelfth century
The twelfth century saw the rise of city-states in Italy, which were originally outposts of the eastern Roman Empire of Constantinople. These states came into being by need of Crusaders requiring transportation to the Holy Land. At this time, the Mediterranean was a Saracen lake and the first city-states deployed fleets that preyed upon the […]
Take me out to the hockey game, please!
Forty years ago, I climbed a tower to the top of Big Walker Mountain. They said that you could see five states from that viewpoint. Since then, they have pared that number down to three. Thus I was able to see North Carolina and West Virginia, and I was standing in the state of Virginia. […]