My 1,000 days with Duolingo
This past Sunday, I reached a milestone. Or, as we say in French, Dimanche dernier, j’ai franchi une étape importante. On Sunday, I hit the 1,000 consecutive day streak learning…
Maurice Tougas
How could Trump win? Just ask the guys
In a famous Saturday Night Live sketch from 1988, George Bush (played by Dana Carvey) faced Michael Dukakis (Jon Lovitz) in a debate. When Carvey (who is now killing it…
October really sucks, historically
October is the worst month of the year. Sure, it can be pretty, with the change of seasons turning green leaves to gold. But in Alberta, that beautiful period lasts…
Reflections on having a 40-year-old son
Some birthdays are more significant than others. Turning 12 is no big deal, but 13 is huge. Seventeen is just another year, but 18 is cause for legal celebration. Twenty-five…
Behind closed doors with Danielle Smith
Premier Danielle Smith has made major policy announcements at closed-door meetings with UCP members in select communities. There will be plenty more to come … At a private meeting with…
Dispatches from Gens A to Z
This week, let’s take a peek into the confusing and sometimes disturbing world of the pre-teens and teens as seen through the prism of social media, and the legacy media…
Remembering when comedy was, well, funny
The tributes to Bob Newhart last week were universal in tone. A great comic, a great sitcom star, and a great guy. If there was anyone who had a bad…
Two old men meet, and the world weeps
On Thursday night, the first United States presidential debate will air on CNN (for those of you who do not subscribe to CNN, you can see it on CTV News…
This is the blog we need right now
We all have little things that irk us, things that other, more normal people would never notice or care about. In my case, it’s lazy and/or stupid media blather. I…
Wide world of … sports?
There’s a little sports spectacle, something about a cup that belongs to some guy named Stanley, that has been taking up most of the oxygen in the sports universe lately.…
Happy birthday, Annette and Cecile. Some have not forgotten you
On May 28, two Quebec sisters will celebrate their 90th birthdays. The event may or may not go unnoticed. But when they were born, the whole world knew it. The…
Cap’n, my Cap’n, what happened to you?
On one of my infrequent trips to the grocery store, I found myself scanning the cereal aisle, looking for an age-appropriate cereal that wouldn’t set me back seven dollars. Unfortunately,…
Boy names for 2023, from Aabnay to Zyre
Last week, I took a look at the interesting names given to children-assigned-female-at-birth, formerly known as girls. This week, let us peruse the 6,630 different boy names of 2023. The…
The baby girl’s name list 2023, from A to Zrylie
Every year, the government of Alberta does something that even Danielle Smith can’t ruin: the baby name list. I love this list, not only because it is vastly amusing and…
Upcoming policies from future Alberta Prime Minster Danielle Smith
Premier Danielle Smith has announced changes to how Alberta educational institutions may accept research money from the federal government. “For too long, the Trudeau government has given research money based…
Saving the world one bag at a time
Before the federal government and The People’s Republic of Edmonton declared war on paper or plastic bags, stores would provide customers with bags, gratis, to tote away their purchases. Hey,…
I am now a grandfather. Congratulate me.
As of March 15th at about 1:45p.m. – the Ides of March, whatever that means – I crossed the last threshold into senior citizenship. I am now a grandfather, and,…
Why Brian Mulroney looks so good today
Have I ever told you about the time I met Brian Mulroney? It was 1984, and Mulroney was running to replace the exhausted and deeply unpopular Pierre Trudeau/John Turner government.…
In search of valuable cardboard
Hockey cards are having a moment, aren’t they? Recently, an entire carton of unopened 1979-80 hockey cards, found in a Saskatoon basement (could this story be any more Canadian?) sold…
Oscar predictions from a guy who hasn’t seen most of the nominees
If Barbie wins the best picture Oscar on Monday, it will mark two years in a row that I didn’t finish the best picture winner. I stopped watching last year’s…