Back from Holiday, Tired but Pleased with It All
The photo was taken at one of the high points of our three weeks in Paris and Portugal–the countryside around Conínbriga in the center of that country. I’ll have more…
Mary Soderstrom
Walla Walla and Wallah-wallah: The Way That Languages Change
Attention particularly to my friends in South-Eastern Washington state: wallah-wallah has entered French in Montreal! I’m the third generation of my family to be born in the small city of…
Notice of Motion: The ERDC Plods Slowly Forward
The Electronic Rights Defence Committee has been fighting since 1996 to get recompense for free lance writers whose work was stolen and published electronically by The Gazette, Montreal’s English language…
Sex, Marketing, and Boys’ Business
The Stephen Harper government has just brought out its new bill on prostitution which is getting criticsm from many quarters. A compromise between all-out legalisation and complete outlawing, the Conservative…
Saturday Photo: Chestnuts in Blossom
April in Paris, Chestnuts in blossom: right? Well, no, it’s June and the chestnuts are in blossom in Montreal. That’s about par for the course–or a little later this year,…
Okay, Hockey’s over (for Habs Fans,) Now It’s World Bup
Living in Montreal is great fun this year: when your team washes out of the Stanley Cup finals, there’s the World Cup to follow. Not that I’m so big on…
Thanks to Laurie, Mik and the Turks and Caicos Islands: Glad the Latter Weren’t Annexed 40 Years Ago
Apparently the door is still open for Canada to annex the Turks and Caicos Islands, but it doesn’t look all that likely. The idea is just as intriguing as it…
Saturday (or Monday) Photo: Late Spring Rain
Rain is falling right now, but the more spectacular thing falling to earth around here right now are the tiny flowers of various street trees. The regular flowering trees are…
Austerity Doesn’t Work, Even Though Quebec Liberals Give It a New Name
Quebec’s Premier Philippe Couillard has introduced a new era of “fiscal rigor,” the new code word for austerity. His inaugaral address when the legislative session opened this week was full…
Arthur Porter, the McGill University Mega Hospital and Philippe Couillard
Okay, it’s past the time to un-elect Philippe Couillard premier of Quebec, but some serious questions should be asked about his relationship with Arthur Porter, the disgraced former head of…
Nice Weather, Friends Visiting, No Time to Think about Heavy Stuff
Rekha Bitta and her family, whom I met nine years ago when I was doing research for Green City in Kochi, Kerala State India, was in town over the weekend.…
What’s Wrong with This Picture: Fast Food Workers Demonstrate for Better Wages While Canadian Chains Bring in Foreign Workers
It’s a no brainer, isn’t it? Pay people decently and they’ll work. I’d like the think that Stephen Harper and his friends are beginning to see the wisdom in this.…
Explaining irrationality: Téa Obreht’s Take
This week I’ve been rereading Téa Obreht’s fascinating The Tiger’s Wife in preparation for the Atwater Library’s book discussion. The book, which take place in the aftermath of a war…
Saturday Photo: Daffodils, a Week Late
This was taken four years and a week ago, when the daffodils were at their best. This year everything is late, and the daffodils are just coming into their own.…
Another Can Lit Giant Falls: Farley Mowat Dead at 92
The past few months have been tough for Can Lit: Alistair MacLoed and Mavis Gallant both dead, and now Farley Mowat falls. The Globe and Mail’s obituary quotes him as…
Dancing Is Important in the Grand Scheme of Things
Jeanne spent part of the dinner hour dancing around the dining room (with Thomas cheering her on from his highchair) to a variety of jazz pieces. Her dance technique veers…
Thomas Piketty and Inequality: The Video
French economist Thomas Piketty’s best selling Capital in the Twenty-first Century is sold out–not bad for a 1000 page treatise on what’s wrong with current economic thinking. But if you…
The End of Mirabel, Or Another Mistake That Shouldn’t Have Happened
While I’ve been revelling in postive health things (new eyes!) and negative ones (shingles!) I have been somewhat insulated from reacting to the increasing number of things that are going…
Report from the Front: Full Binocular Vision
And the patch was removed this morning so I can see in the world in full binocular mode, with colours gorgeously clear and all the details vibrant. A little discomfort…
Getting the Other Eye Done Today…
The kitchen is just about clean, after my new eagle (left) eye uncovered all the grime. Today is the day the right eye (formerly my better eye) gets done. Back…