Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: The Results of the Natural Easter Egg Challenge
Mrs. Ikvilds’ eggs are the best. I couldn’t believe how lovely the mottled red colour was. She says she sometimes puts celery leaves on hers, so the dye doesn’t enter…
Making Easter Eggs Today with Natural Dyes
One of the pleasant memories of my childhood is dying Easter eggs. When the kids were small, we did it too, frequently with friends who’d share an Easter dinner with…
April Used to Be the Smelliest Month in Montreal…
Sometimes things improve, believe it or not. One of them is the way that people here, at least, pick up their dog poo now. It used to be that when…
Hot off the Presses: Bulletin of NPD Outremont
As some of you may know, I’ve been involved in the New Democratic Party for years. The Outremont riding association has been around for almost as long, but until the…
ERDC Maybe Settling with the Last Defendants!
Not much of a post today as I have to go to court in the Electronic Rights Defence Committee’s 15 year old (almost to the day: we filed April 7,…
Raising Eyebrows: How Much Time to Look Beautifull…
And what constitutes beauty? Maybe it’s the slightly warmer weather, which means that girls and women aren’t so muffled up, but I’ve lately been struck by the care that nearly…
Saturday Photo: More Signs of Spring
When I was in Brazil a few years ago, I was told that the bougainvillea was called “primavera”, or spring. Haven’t been able to track that down–most of the translation…
More Thoughts on the Novel Versus Cable Series: Four Writers and The Hunger Games
The Globe and Mail’s television guy John Doyle, as noted earlier, claims that cable series (he particularly mentions Mad Men, have surpassed novels in story telling excellence and in fidelity…
Protest against Fee Hikes in Montreal, and Jeanne Was There
Because I was in Toronto a week ago I missed the amazing demonstration against tuition fee hikes. Elin, Lukas, Sophie and various friends were there, though. So was Jeanne who…
Back to Short Stories: The Dubliners Is the Best
Now that the NDP convention is over and the manuscript for River Music has been delivered, I’m back working on the collection of short stories I got a grant to…
Cable Series Tell Stories Better Than Novels? A Mad Idea
John Doyle had a column on Monday that should interest anyone who cares about fiction. As he points out, he’s not one of your TV critics who never read a…
Muito Obrigada! Lovely Welcome in Toronto for My Presentation
Muito obrigada to all who came to my presentation in Toronto last week on my book about the Portuguese and their descendants around the world, Making Waves: The Continuing Portuguese…
Saturday Photo: Tom Mulcair in 24 Sussex Drive, Not Stornoway
It was quite a weekend. After the delays in voting due to a cyberattack, our man Thomas Mulcair was elected to the NDP leadership. But the ever-creative youth team spent…
Signing Off for Few Days: Going to Politic and Promote in Toronto
Thursday morning very early I’m taking the train to Toronto for several very good reasons. 1. I’m giving a presentation on Making Waves: The Continuing Portoguese Adventure at 5:30 pm.…
ERDC Annual General Meeting: Maybe the Last One?
All right, boys and girls of the print media: next Tuesday the Electronic Rights Defence Committee will holds its annual general meeting to elect officers and to review progress in…
Spring Will Not Be A Little Late This Year, and Hasn’t Been For Some Time
Snow drops again! They’re out in front, which is in contrast to the date the ones in the photo appeared. The pix was taken April 22, 2008, and the snow…
Reading Solar When the Weather’s Gone Wacky
The weather is exceptional, spookily so. Ian McEwean’s novel Solar is excellent reading for such a time. The hero (and I use the term advisedly) is a physicist Michael Beard…
The Country Needs Mulcair, and Ed Broadbent Once Realized That
Manon Corneiller in today’s Le Devoir is excellent on Ed Broadbent and Tom Mulcair. The NDP’s grand old man was one of those (along with Brian Topp) who wanted to…
Saturday Photo: Sunny Day in a Spring That Is Coming on Fast
This is a weekend of demonstrations and parades. Not only is it St. Patrick’s weekend--and Montreal is the home to the second oldest St. Pat’s parade in North America and…