A few weeks ago I posted about the inclusion of words from Arabic in Montreal French. Wallah Wallah has become non-perjorative term for someone of Arabic descent among Grench speaking…
This picture was taken four weeks ago, Saturday June 21, the longest day in the year at Lac Dumesnil in le Parc du Bois de Vincennes. Situated just outside the…
While the world watches the debris of the Malaysia Airlines 737 smolder in the Eastern Urkrainian, I’m reminded of my recent reading. Item: Tolstoy–and I’m three-quarters of the way through…
Growing up in Southern California, the spector of not enough water seemed frequently present. Not enough rain falls to support a population a tenth as big as it was then,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.…
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.…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
