Gifted Typist

Have you noticed that many health authorities are calling Swine Flu the H1N12009 virus? Last night my lovely Significant Other and I were discussing this. Here is how the conversation went: GT: H1N12009, it’s so bureaucratic sounding. Boring. SO: Mmmmmm GT: If I get Swine Flu and die I want my tombstone to say Swine [...]

I was invited, last minute, to see Il Divo last night. For free. Il Divo is the male quartet envisaged and assembled by American Idol judge Simon Cowell. They tour the world thrilling audiences – mostly female and” of a certain age.” I went in with an open mind. I was expecting a “three tenors” [...]

So. Last week I was fretting over whether to change my snow tires. A few days later, I was caught in a little hail dump. Good, I thought. I’ll wait till May to make the change. Today they’re predicting temperatures of 28C (82F). Hmmmm. May isn’t until Friday. And where I live, a snow storm [...]

I saw a chickadee. There were BTUs in the sunshine. The streets were all buzzy with the sound of motorbikes. The crocuses are in flower and the tulips are looking hopeful for a bloom. I saw a bumble bee. There is hope in the air after a long, ice-encrusted, miserable winter.

Go to my Herald column here. I watched her three times singing I Dreamed a Dream on YouTube. The first time I was moved close to tears. She sang like an angel. The second time my toes curled under with embarrassment. The scorn heaped upon her was sickening. The third time I felt sad for [...]

The singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith was playing at a local restaurant the other night and I was lucky enough to be in the audience. Just before the show, I decided to ring the little typists at home to check on them. I walked into a back room and started dialing my mobile. There were a few [...]

My daughter’s wearing green to school today. Yesterday she brought home all of the garbage she generated in the day. This recognizes Earth Day. It’s great to see that the kids “get it.” Some adults get it too, but most don’t, especially in Canada. And the politicians we elect definitely don’t get it. They have [...]

That is the question. It is a week and a half until May. The chances of a snowstorm grow less with each passing day. But it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility if we did have enough snow to warrant snow tires. I am a snow tire Nazi – my days as a newspaper [...]

I admired – though didn’t always like – Clement Freud and JG Ballard. Both died over the past few days. Freud was a renaissance man: writer, broadcaster, British MP, humourist and all-round grouch. He was the grandson of Sigmund Freud and brother of painter Lucien Freud, from whom he was estranged. I used to listen [...]

Here! It’s my Herald column for this week. I re-wrote the thing because it never re-appeared. It’s about my man-against-nature biblical battle with goutweed. This stuff is taking over my garden, my backyward, my life. It’s evil. If this battle were a movie it would be Fatal Attractions with the goutweed as Glen Close and [...]

Because it’s no where to be found on my computer. And that’s were I write ‘em and file ‘em away – on my computer. And I only have one computer. So come on, people. Fess up. Now. Who took it? It was a column – about 600 words worth. I  wrote it last week and [...]

Don’t let anyone tell you that it’s cute or funny. Don’t be lulled into going to this flick because you liked Monsters Inc. Don’t drag your family to this see this badly-made flick. I’m telling you this because I did all these things on Easter Sunday. And I regretted seeing Monsters vs Aliens almost from [...]

My Herald column is over here. I’m fascinated by the one-upmanship in the mega-family reality TV. First there was Jon and Kate Plus 8 with their set of twins and set of sextuplets. That seemed a lot at the time. Then we had the Hayes family in Table for Twelve. They have two sets of [...]

>erbium-doped fiber amplifierfollowing quotations are allegedly published by court reporters. They supposedly from a book called Disorder in the American  Courts. I could no find such  book on Amazon or elsewhere. They do show up on a lot of blogs though (ergo they must be true!) Whether or not they’re true, they are funny. Thanks [...]

Doing my personal and business taxes these past few days. It’s my duty, and being a rule-follower to fault, I will perform my duty in a timely and law-abiding manner. And I will pay up in a timely and law-abiding manner, too. Because, let’s face it, all those unelected Canadian Senators deserve my money, don’t [...]