Cesaria Evora Retires
The Cap Verdean singer Cesaria Evorá has announced she is retiring at age 70. What a debt we owe to her!
Mary Soderstrom
What Would Jesus Do?
...hold up this placard, I believe.
Needed: Real Car Free Days, Not Just Public Relation Events
Today is Car Free Day in Montreal, an annual event when the center of the city is "shut down" to vehicular traffic from about 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It…
Catcning up on Business, So No Post Today
There are times when you've got to catch up on business (and pleasure.) So today is devorted to banking, lunch with my friend Lorraine and getting a haircut from Wayne…
Some Dinosaur Feathers Had Pigments: An Adaptive Advantage…. or the Danger Theory of Evolution
Great story in The New York Times today about dinosaur feathers preserved in amber that show traces of pigment. Eleven 70-million-year-old specimens examined by scientists at the University of Alberta…
More of Jeanne’s Favourite Videos
"The Cat Came Back" was a favourite around here with the kids were young, particularly in the Fred Penner version. But this one takes the cake--or the bowl of cat…
$800 Million in Budget Cuts: Bleeding Doesn’t Make Anything or Anyone Healthier
If you want to try to lose an unpopular announcement, you make it at the end of the week. That's what the Quebec government did last Friday when $800 million…
Saturday Photo: Trout Fishing in Canada
Well, no, there's readily apparent that links this happy dog with fishing, but therein lies a tale (or tail, if you like.) We got Trout Fishing in Canada shortly after…
Coming up on Monday: Reading: Un Acte d’Amour…
Just a reminder than on Monday I'll be talking about Neil Bissoondath's The Unyielding Clamour of the Night at Reading: Un Acte d'amour (or Lire : An Act of Love,…
Wedding Dresses as an Anti-Poverty Aid: Nicolas Kristof Tells How
One of the things that came back from storage/cleaning after the fire was my wedding dress. Much to small now, of course, and neither my daughter nor daughter-in-law have any…
Fighting Poverty: Why Not Just Provide Better Public Services, Or Getting Down to Basics
First there were the various beefcake calendars put out by firemen to raise funds for burn units and the like. Then came "sex muffins of science," another calendar (which I…
A Good News Story: Making Light with the Sun, Water and Liter Bottles
I was going to write about rising rates of poverty and inequality in Canada and the US today, but I came across this good news story. It's a gray day,…
How to End Poverty and Make Democracy: Educate and Empower Women
This is book review week, when I lead discussions in four Montreal area libraries. In two of them, the book is Shlipi Somaya Gowda's Secret Daughter, a novel about adoption…
Debussy’s The Submerged Cathedral for the Day after the Tenth Anniversary
Debussy's piano prelude is inspired by the idea of a cathedral that was submerged in some magical/mythic/horrible way. Beauty is not a stranger to disaster. I've long thought the shots…
Saturday Photo: More Hints of the Plateau’s Rural Past
Le Jeune street is only a block long, running between boulevards St-Joseph and Laurier in Montreal's Plateau district. It doesn't fit into the usual pattern, being too narrow and not…
Well Done: Sid Ingerman Takes First for Canada at the International Triathalon Competition in Beijing
The wonders of the internet allowed Sid Ingerman's many friends to follow him to victory in his age group at the International Triathalon sprint championships in Beijing Saturday.Sid, 82, took…
Yo Yo Ma Plays Murray Beethoven: Will the OSM Play It in Their New Concert Hall?
Jeanne's been around for the last few days, and I've rediscovered some of the great bits from Seasame Street. This one actually dates from some time after Elin and Lukas…
Changer Your Windows, Not the Reactor: How to Save Energy and Create Jobs
What is more energy effective, renovating a nuclear reactor or insulating houses?A new study by the Quebec group Ecohabitation says that refurbishing Hydro Québec's one reactor to prepare it for…
Nice to See Friends on the Scotia Bank/Giller Prize
The Long List for the Scotia Bank Giller prize has been announced, and I'm pleased to see several friends featured. Genni Gunn, with whom I worked several years on the…
Jimmuy Zoubris and Politics: Citizenship, Hard Work, and Maybe Hope
We've traded at Zoubris since it opened. The stationery store on Park Avenue was where I sent faxes to my mother in her last days before her death in 1999,…