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…
Mary Soderstrom
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,…
Paul Krugman on Jobs This Labour Day
As usual Paul Krugman's column in The New York Times is right on the money and particularly appropriate this Labour Day. As usual what he has to say has implications…
Happy Labour (Or Labour) Day!
Never hurts to remember what led to this holiday of the end of summer. A classic version by Pete Seeger.
Saturday Photo: The Return of the Pink Bicycle
As I make my rounds again in Outremont, I'm pleased to see that gardeners have done fun things again this year. To the left is the 2011 version of the…
A Song from a Tropical Fight for Freedom: Pete Seeger Sings José Martí’s Guantanamero
And further to tropical wars, here's the wonderful Pete Seeger singing the Cuban song Guantanamera. Originally it was about a woman from Guantánamo, but Cuban patriot José Martí used it…
Green Helmets (Not Green Berets) to Fight Strife Due to Climate Change?
The story's apparently been around for a while, but I just came across it today when Le Devoir ran a front page item about how the UN may soon be…
A Season for Endings: Gil Courtemanche Service Today
A writer friend just asked me if I were going to the ceremony for journalist and novelist Gil Courtemanche who died two days before Jack Layton did and whose farewell…
Are Books Dead–and What about Writers?
The Guardian has an interesting piece by Ewan Morrison on the end of publishing, and the rise of "free." Worth reading if you're a "content creator" or a reader.