The pictures of burning buildings in Britain are extremely disturbing, not least because we know first hand how much damage a fire can do. But the question arises: why? It…
Stephen Harper was in Brazil yesterday, and met with dthat country's former guerilla president Dilma Rousseff. He listened, apparently, while she told reporters about how solide Brazil's economy was and…
" On of the pleasures of being back in an almost-settled house is that we have more time to intersting things. Friends called yesterday to ask if we'd like to…
First special dinner since we've moved back. Jeanne and her parents, paella and fruit salad with Ontario peaches and BC cherries. What a nice prospect!
Just in case you wondered if things were getting better, here's a link to a breaking story in The New York Times. The job figures for July in the US…
The guy in this video is a piker--on 64 boxes. But we had similar surprises as we opened boxes. Perhaps it should be no surprise that I've filled 8 large…
Last week Elin and company spent time in Greater Chicago. She taught at the Viola da Gamba Society of America's annual Conclave, and the rest of the family spent some…
but the stuff hasn't been put away yet. The house is nearly as big a mess as the state of the world.I'll be back with before- and after pix as…
There is not likely to be much here over the next few days. The boxes arrived yesterday--something like 450 of them containing about 5,000 books and the various collections of…
As usual, Paul Krugman today is right on the money. "Republicans have, in effect, taken America hostage," he says. Part of the problem is "the cult of “balance,” the insistence…
As a sidebar to the previous posting about WalMart advertising on classical music stations, check out the interesting article in The New Yorker about WalMart heiress Alice Walton and her…
We've been listening to the commerical classical music station a lot over the last few months. Partly, it's fatigue--there is so much to do just keeping afloat plus taking care…
Shocked, although maybe not too surprised, to hear that Jack Layton is battling another cancer. Here's a link to a place where you can send a message of encouragement to…
Just a quick comment on the day the furniture comes back (the boxes including 5000 books arrive Thursday!): the most emotionally over-the-top posts I've seen on my Facebook network have…
If you ever wondered about the value of street trees, here's an object lesson. The trees across the street from our temporary digs shade the buildings there, which means they…
This is a link from a friend from the storm we had Thursday night. The view from the terrace here was very similar, and I stood and watched the rising…
Got this from a friend this morning. It seems perfect as an antidote for a day that looks blistering:"In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday.…
"The Little Match Girl" is one of those Hans Christian Andersen stories that wrench the heart: the poor little match seller outside a grand residence dies of cold after slowly…
One of the few things I've been able to read lately--too much physical labour, it seems, makes you fall asleep at 9:30 p.m.--was Claire Messud's novel The Emperor's Children from…
