Want to Know about FDR? Read a Book
Friends–Old Lefties like us–suggested we take in “Hyde Park on the Hudson,” a film about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a distant cousin and affairs of state. It sounded like a great…
Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: Bolo Rei a Day Early
Tomorrow is Epiphany or the Kings’ Day, when the Magi supposedly showed up with presents for the baby Jesus. We’ve never celebrated it, although many of our friends do a…
More Good Books: A Classic That Says a Lot about Today
I read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fiztgerals for the first time decades ago, and was not much impressed. Too shallow, about people who really don’t matter in the…
More Good Books from Last Year: The Tiger’s Wife
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obrecht can be read as a fable, a memoir or an observation on the wars of belief and self-interest that marked the last several centuries…
Good Books I Read in 2012: The Green House (with Comments about the Icelandic Model for Banks and Books)
Everybody else has done their lists, but as usual I’m a little behind. For the next few days, I think I’ll share my faves of the year, starting with The…
An Anniversary Unremarked, and Happy New Year
Our house was built in 1912–first permits issued in late 1911, and occupation, it would appear, in the fall of the following year. I’d meant to make a little bumph…
Saturday Photo:The Storm of the Century,, Trout and Me
Tha’s me and our dog Trout Fishing in Canada on March 4, 1971. The storm in progress was a big blizzard, called by some The Storm of the Century. It…
Brilliant Sunshine: The Calm that Follows the Storm
When people learn that we came to Montreal from California, they often say what a big, disappointing change it must have been, given the difference in climate. But I’ve always…
And what it’s like with Brazilian soundtrack…
Muito obridgada para a Immigrercom.
Back at Work…But Not Really
Lots and lots of snow today–glad everybody made it home yesterday from the holiday festivities. I was out for a while this morning, and ended up taking buses on a…
Merry Christmas to All
Dear Friends Got to wrap a few presents and make potato sausage before everyone comes over, so there won‘t be much blogging for the next few days. Best wishes from…
Doomsday Prophets Have Got It Wrong: Krugman"s Got It Right Again
Fiscal conservatives and the Mayan calendar nuts: both wrong in their prophecies, Paul Krugman says once again: ” The key thing we need to understand, however, is that the prophets…
Saturday Photo: Christmas Tree 2012
So this is Christmas… or at least the Christmas tree as it looked when the gang finished putting it up last Saturday. There are some presents under it now, to…
Carol of the Bells by Alphabet Photography
And this is cool too:
Holiday Countdown: a Hallelujah Chorus in Flash Mob Mode
Not quite sure where this was made, but it is great
Gagnam Syte Means the World is a Small Place: One Lesson Learned in the Last 60 Years
About ten years ago, I started my travels with a trip to Aisa. My first venture outside of North America was to Singapore, which meant involved taking Korean Airlines from…
The Kids Are All Right: Voter Participation Rates Go Way up among Quebec Youth
Young people in Quebec voted in large numbers in the September provincial elections, according to a study reported today in both Le Devoir and The Gazette. “According to the study,…
Winter Wonderland Department: A Moose on the Roof, No Weapons Please
This photo was doing the rounds of my friends yesterday, with a tagline saying it was taken in Blainville, north of Montreal. Seems that it probably isn‘t, but it’s great…
The New Town Kllings: When the Social Safety Net Protects Everyone:
Why do mass killings in the US happen? Partly because of the culture of violence there, but also because of problems with the social safety net. Having mental problems is…
Saturday Photo: Phantom Doves
Tbere are times when chance tells you more than you expect. This was a busy weekend with the gang coming over on Saturday to decorate the tree, make pickled herring,…