Saturday Photo: The Burning Bush
Don't know the name of this shrub, but it has been spectacular over the last week or so. The leaves are falling now, but for a while they blazed.Gorgeous, and…
Mary Soderstrom
US–Finally, Perhaps–Becomes More Secular, But What Does That Mean for Science?
The results of Tuesday's election seem to show that the appeal and influence of the Christian right wing, both Catholic and Protestant, is waning. Maybe not a lot, but enough…
Small World Dept: The Walter Art Museum Shows a Portrait of Africans in Europe Long Ago
One of the things that fascinated me in my research for Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese Adventure was the evidence of contact on a nearly-equal basis between some Europeans and…
Getting Things to Work: It’s up to the Republicans
First question of the day: how will Obama convince the Republican majority House to sign on to his plans? Probably the only way that will happen is if the Republicans…
Google Annoys Me with Birthday Greetings
How does Google know when my birthday is? I have very deliberately avoided listing it on Facebook (although apparently you can find it: a friend did yesterday) and in replying…
Krugman Speaks from the Other Side of the World: Obama Won’t Do Anything Stupid
Seems that Paul Krugman was in Singapore yesterday (must have voted in an advance poll or by mail.) He had some most interesting things to say, as quoted in the…
Work on the Ground Wins Election for Obama
Mitt Romney helped Obama a bit with his stupid comment about Big Bird, but what really won the election was slogging in the trenches, that is work on the ground.You…
Politics in November 2012: Now in the Autumn of Our Discontent…
Shakespeare was has Richard III say "winter" but the sentiment is appropriate this season. Not only has a liar got a chance at winning the White House, Gerald Tremblay, the…
Hello There, Are You Listenting? Obama for President
Four years ago I spent the three days before the US presidential election telephoning to prospective voters in a several states, particularly Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Nevada. The message was…
A Milestone Passed for 2012
Snow flakes this morning! Reprieve from the worst? My birthday is Nov. 8, and ever since we’ve been in Montreal, the first snow flakes have fallen before then. Lee was…
Saturday Photo: Leaves Almost All Gone…
Frost forecast for tomorrow. The season is finally changing…
Come Talk about Richler’s Best–Barney’s Version–in French and English
I’m nearly to the end of Barney’s Version, Mordecai Richler’s last novel. It’s not the first time I’ve read it, but next Tuesday I’ll be leading a causerie littéraire at…
Go Figure Department: Gas Shortages in New York/New Jersey But Rises Low in Montreal
If you ever wondered why or how gasoline prices are determined, your questions should get deeper this week. We’ve been told that spikes in prices comes from shortages: shutting down…
Pumpkin Pie Coming Up, One of These Days
No, I haven’t made the pie yet. The pumpkin with the face that Jeanne and I carved last weekend is still on the front porch. But never fear, it will…
Halloween 2012: Pretty Scary Time
The photo shows the kind of low level Halloween decorations I like. Seems that the holiday has overtaken Christmas when it comes to expenses for store bought goodies. That’s a…
La Folia–Great New Music Coming Your Way from Elin, Cléo and Tawnie
Attention all of you in Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria and Gabriola Island: you have a crazy treat in store! New music for flute, hyper-flute, viola da gamba and harpsichord is coming…
Romney on Diaster Relief: Preferably Privatize It
I didn’t think this was for real when I first saw reference to it, but here’s the clip. According to the Huffington Post, his staff today, as Sandy raged, reaffirmed…
Waiting for Sandy: Storm Surf
Well, actually it’s not supposed to be so bad here. But I couldn’t resist.
Saturday Photo: Woodside Cottage on a Busy Street
I must have walked by this house on Chemin de la Côte Ste-Catherine thousands of times, literally, but always on the other side of the street. This week I took…
Silliness Because the US Election Is So Close and So Scary: Wintergreen for President
The first time I heard this was in 1960 when George and Ira Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing was performed at UC Berkeley with the Kennedy-Nixon presidential campaign in the…