Musings on My Father
That rather handsome, 17-year-old young man to the left was Watts William Chadwick. My father, although he wouldn’t become that for many more years. So serious, so formal looking. A…
Ian Chadwick
Musings on Downsizing, No. 2
In the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, there’s a memorable, somewhat spooky scene towards the end where astronaut Dave is pulling the chips from the memory banks of HAL, the…
Quidnuncs on Council
A quidnunc is “a small-minded person, focused on petty things.” That’s how Gord Hume describes them in chapter five of his book, Taking Back Our Cities (Municipal World, 2011). Hume…
Bones of Contention: Saunderson’s Campaign Emails
In his latest email to potential supporters (dated Mar. 18 at 10:12 a.m.), Mayor Brian Saunderson again tries to leverage his role as mayor and Simcoe County councillor to get…
Collingwood’s Version of QAnon: the SVJI
A story in CollingwoodToday titled, Council orders CAO to sift through old COLLUS documents kept by EPCOR shows just how far into the conspiracy pit they have dug themselves. They…
Why Won’t Council Answer Megarry?
Collingwood resident John Megarry is asking of council the tough questions our lackadaisical local media should be asking. But he’s not getting any replies. In fact, he’s being stonewalled. (You…
Floccinaucinihilipilification in Collingwood
Floccinaucinihilipilification*, the longest non-technical word in the English language, is when you consider something to be unimportant, worthless, useless, or generally valueless. Basically, it means it’s rubbish. As Robert Heinlein…
Musings on Downsizing, No. 1
Downsizing seems to be all the rage among people our age. It’s so popular, it might be classified as a sport or a game for seniors. Assuming someone could codify…
Musings on Pizza No. 2
Pizza was one of those things I thought about when my hot flashes from my ongoing hormone treatment awoke me in the middle of the night this past week. Several…
Saunderson Still Won’t Do the Right Thing
Mayor Brian Saunderson swore an oath at the council inauguration in 2018 that included the promise to “truly, faithfully and impartially exercise this office to the best of my knowledge…
Finding a Breakfast Cereal With No Added Sugar
Why is it so difficult to find a breakfast cereal without added sugar? Even your basic, unadorned bran flakes have added sugar in them! And not just a small amount.…
Musings on Making Pizza
I have to admit that I like pizza a lot. Well, I guess most of us do. I like cheese, and I liked cooked cheese even more, and I like…
The Cancer Diaries, Part 26
Cancer changes everything — and nothing at all. Rabbi Skillman That’s a profound comment, coming from a TV character. The “rabbi” in question is a fictional patient in hospital, played…
Let’s Play “Spread the Virus!”
I see Collingwood Council wants the province to end the lockdown, but hasn’t said anything about improving public safety if that happens. That suggests to me they are okay if…
Musings on Making Pasta, No. 5
I was back at making pasta this week, trying a slightly different recipe, and working on honing my skills with the pasta machine. As well, I was hoping to get…
Berman’s Cowardly Comment
Late last month, Collingwood council heard from the town’s inquiry legal team* justifying the cost of the Saunderson Vindictive Judicial Inquiry (aka the SVJI), which many residents feel was an…
The Inquiry Cost $250,000 More? Were We Lied To?
Former councillor Tim Fryer is back on the agenda this coming week, making another delegation to the Strategic Initiatives Standing Committee about the true costs of the judicial inquiry (aka…
More Musings on Tea
Back in 1946, while England was still recovering from the deprivations of WWII and under rationing, the prolific George Orwell wrote his essay “A Nice Cup of Tea” with his…
Still Can’t Escape the B.S. (Brian Saunderson)
It’s late February as I write this and still our mayor, Brian Saunderson, refuses to do the ethical, the moral, and the RIGHT thing for the town and resign his…
Musings on Making Bread and Chili, No. 1
Longtime readers here know that before my surgery last summer, along with my pasta making I was an avid, if not always entirely competent, baker. I mostly made bread from…