Le Devoir Turns Green
Fascinating weekend edition of the influential daily Le Devoir: nearly all the news and features are about environmental topics. Sure. there’s the latest about the Stanley Cup–no Montreal newspaper could…
Mary Soderstrom
A Little Context for Boko Haram: Two Novels
The news yesterday was full of images from Nigeria, where people were marking the sad anniversary of the kidnapping of 132 girls and young women by Boko Haram a year…
Saturday Photo, Several Days Late
Computer problems: that’s my excuse for not posting for the last few days. Think they may be solved, so I’ll have no reason not to rant…. And here is the…
Saturday Photo: What We Don’t Need
Appparently there was a big baseball game in Montreal yesterday when you actually could have imagine it was spring, and another one today, when it is snowing, again. The Cincinnati…
This is Not a Poisson d’avril: The Rivers May Not Run Much Longer
Thinking about contact between humans and nature, particularly with the world’s big rivers. Kept coming across the important role they played in the peopling of the world, as highways for…
Death of a Philosopher King: Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore
The founding father of Singapore died ten days ago, and the event passed me by even though I’ve been one of his fans ever since my first trip to the…
Saturday Photo: It’s the End of March, for Goodness Sake!
Got up this morning to a light dusting of snow, again! But even though the temperature is well below freezing, the sun has been out most of the day, makin…
I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar Department
Le Devoir this morning carried a front page story in which a group of feminist medical types warn that new omnibus legislation restructuring the health care system in Quebec might…
Signing Back on after a Couple of Productive Months
This morning I sent off a draft of my new non-fiction book Road through Time to a publisher who seems interested in it. What a great feeling! Reading it over…
In the Meantime, River Music is on Its Way…
Very little action on the blog front, as you can see, because current projects have got in the way. But here’s a bit of news about a project that’s coming…
Happy Holidays to Everyone
The year is drawing to an end, and I find myself running ever faster–but in circles. But I did have a chance to finish this year’s version of our holiday…
Too Busy to Post
The world swirls on, and there are many event that beg to be commented on, but I’ve been just too busy lately. Once the dust settles from this inense period…
Saturday Photo: Remembering Brazil
All right, I’ve been back from South America for a year now, but I keep returning to it mentally. Not only am I getting to the part of writing Road…
Edward Snowden and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
Went to see Citizenfour, about Edward Snowden, last night. Definitely worth the detour. Snowden, you’ll remember, is the young US cyber whiz who was employed by the National Security Agency…
Saturday (or Tuesday) Photo: Brasília
A year ago I was in South America, doing the last bit of on-the-spot research for Road through Time. The photo is of the cathedral designed by Oscar Niemeyer in…
Saturday Photo: Springtime in the Andes
Just a year ago I was on a plane on my way to my excellent South American adventure. That’s the view as we neared the crest of a 4200 meter…
Red Poppies: Wars Are Eternal
Today is Remembrance Day, but I’ll not be wearing a red poppy. It’s fine to honour the dead, but not to glorify war. So I’m posting here a picture I…
Saturday Photo: Champlain’s Asters
After much back and forth, it looks like the new bridge across the St. Lawrence is not going to be named after a hockey hero. There’s even a chance that…
School Boards: Do They Respond to Educational Reality?
Voter turn-out for school board elections in Quebec yesterday was abysmal, particularly in Francophone boards. While about 20 per cent of English school board electors voted, province-wide it appears that…