The Big Pivot
You’ve got to hand it to Doug Ford. He has used the gift horse of the COVID crisis to transform his image from that of ‘angry old guy’ into ‘benevolent Uncle Doug’—a regular sort who just happens to occupy the Premier’s office and who has no special knowledge, but who asks lots of questions of […]
I love the smell of sanitizer in the morning
Looks like another lockdown is just around the corner. Double dang. We, obviously, haven’t learned our pandemic lessons. The lesson to continue social distancing, mask-wearing, hand washing and non-essential contact seems to have flown out of the window for a lot of people. Speaking of lessons, I understand it takes a great teacher to deliver […]
Going to Scarborough Fair
My wife just about jumped out of her chair. She had opened up the weekend paper on Saturday, September 21, and there it was. That day was the 39th anniversary of the famous Simon and Garfunkel reunion concert in New York’s Central Park. By 1981, their partnership had been over for some 11 years, so […]
Porch zen
Are the autumn colours more vivid than ever this year? Perhaps I just have more time to stop and enjoy the fall foliage. But truthfully, I can’t remember ever seeing brighter reds, golds and yellows on trees and bushes in yards, along the roads and beside the Trail. Maybe this stopping and slowing down is […]
The first prescription
One recent afternoon I had tea with Ernie Margetson as he guided me book by book through a collection of old volumes. Ernie is a multi-disciplined professional steeped in the history and lore of the County. As architect engineer, I have come to call him the house whisperer. Set Ernie on an old property with […]
Adieu, Sid
The rock and roll world has lost another icon. Sid Glume, also known as ‘NoHand,” has died at the age of 74. Born Sidney Glumsky to working class parents in the industrial city of Sheffield, England, Glume rose to fame with his backup band, Doomsday, and was briefly the hottest act in the pop world. […]
Susanna Moodie meets Laura Ingalls
So, what is this columnist doing this week? I’m not going to blather on about a lot of what’s going on politically, Stateside or here. I’m not going to rant and rave about people who don’t know how to wear a mask, or even about those who won’t wear a mask. I’m not going to […]
Tiffany in the balance
The coronavirus crisis has attached its tentacles to corporate takeovers. The French luxury goods maker LVMH— owner of elite brands in the world of alcohol (Hennessy, Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon), fashion goods (Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy). and jewellery (Tag Heuer, Bulgari, Hublot) has backed out of a deal to acquire the iconic American […]
Sectioning the pool
If statistics and medical predictions are correct, the next couple of weeks will be telling, as regards COVID-19. Were we too hasty to send everyone back to the classrooms of the province? Are we becoming too comfortable with the foe, aka COVID-19? Because I’m a parent, my biggest concern is for the youngest of the […]
Counting Half a Steamboat
I don’t know about you, but when I am playing a playground game like hide and go seek (this goes back many years), I am used to counting seconds in terms of steamboats—one steamboat, two steamboats, three steamboats, and so on. So the fact that the Toronto Raptors prevailed over the Boston Celtics in last […]