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But don't take it personally
Not sure what to say to this
After our divorce, my first wife, whom I’m calling “Val” in this blog, married the minister who got me into the ministry back in the late ’70s. He and I had been extremely close since my late teens. A mentor, for sure. He was also popular with my friends, and Ian and I would hitch […]
Posted in: Section F: From Real Life
Things
February 23, 2014
I’ve spent about 35 40 years thinking about “things.” I don’t mean thinking about this thing or that thing, but about things in general. What are things? What defines a thing? Things are oddly amorphous. Consider the different kinds of things we’re talking about in these common expressions: “Put that thing over there,” “Singing is […]
Posted in: Section I: Somewhat Philosophical
Chapter One: Serenity will have to wait
February 1, 2014
Originally posted on Adramelech Defects:
Have you ever had the feeling that cartoon physics make more sense than real-life physics? For instance, if you’ve just run off a cliff but haven’t noticed yet, shouldn’t you be able to continue running in a straight line for a while until looking down to see nothing underfoot? Or…
Posted in: • No category
Little Troubleshooters
January 14, 2014
I know I often come across as a grumbling curmudgeon with little sentimentality — the kind of person who misdirects the blind and refuses to clap for Tinkerbell. But I do have a softer side, and one thing that is guaranteed to bring it out is the sight of a little kid offering to help […]
Posted in: Section C: Humour, Section F: From Real Life
Including the kitchen sink
December 7, 2013
Sadly, one of the best comic strips is disappearing. I’ve been enjoying Cow and Boy for some years now, but apparently its fans are a small and disparate group. Admittedly, it’s not your usual comic strip. It’s about a boy and his cow and mostly they sit around pondering life’s imponderables while dodging cat-copters, hate-bots […]
Posted in: Section C: Humour, Section F: From Real Life
An ode to The Straight Man
December 3, 2013
Oh sure, we laughed at Lou Costello, Tommy Smothers and Jerry Lewis in their heyday, but we know they wouldn’t have been half so funny without their other halves: Bud Abbott, Dick Smothers and Dean Martin. And Gracie Allen without George Burns? Forget it. But of course, the famous straight men and women of the […]
Posted in: Section C: Humour, Section F: From Real Life
The raccoon incident
November 18, 2013
This is a piece I wrote while working on that paper that shall remain nameless out west in that province that shall remain equally nameless. It happened last winter and is reported here without embellishment. I guess what I'm saying is: Yes, I'm that stupid.
Posted in: Section C: Humour, Section F: From Real Life
So … that happened.
October 20, 2013
Okay. I think I can finally talk about this thing. When last I wrote we had just committed to a drastic and frightening life change. (Geeze. Isn’t “life change” a bloodless phrase?) Samantha, her 85-year-old father and I were moving halfway across the country where I would take on a steady and significant position on […]
Posted in: Section F: From Real Life
Fred’s Maid: What should we call her?
October 12, 2013
Every actress of lasting note has been bequeathed a special name by her fans. Clara Bow was “The It Girl,” Lauren Bacall was “The Look.” Marilyn Monroe was “The Blonde Bombshell.” Veronica Lake was “The Peek-a-Boo Girl.” You get the idea. So what special name should we give to Fred’s Maid? She was born as […]
Posted in: • No category
Calling all “Fred’s Maid” fans
October 11, 2013
A while back I wrote about the little maid in the 1953 Christmas classic, A Christmas Carol. With only 42 seconds on screen, and no dialogue, this shy little woman has captured the hearts of thousands of fans. Unfortunately, these fans have never had a name to associate with their crush. Well, now we do, […]
Posted in: Section A: Most Recent, Section G: Journalism
V8 Juice and Canadian unity
March 9, 2012
In 1994, during a crisis in Canadian unity, one food manufacturing company quietly stepped in to help ward off an imminent invasion from the United States. In this post we salute V8 Juice for helping to keep Canada a sovereign nation.
Chicken art and Canadian politics
March 5, 2012
At the end of “When Pookas attack,” I intended to link to an article I did back in 1997 called “Chicken art and Canadian unity” — a review on Rob Thompson’s art performance piece in which he protested treatment of commercially-bred chickens by putting two people in a cage for a week. But then I […]
Thy deep and dreamless sleep
December 25, 2013
It’s Christmas time so I’m reposting something I wrote a few years ago (and then borrowed for a Christmas editorial for the newspaper last year.) Merry Christmas everyone. “I remember standing in the old church in Windsor…” These were the words with which I intended to begin this post. They refer to a specific moment […]
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Pop Culture's Kids
Raghead: The fiendly neighbourhood terrorist
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I don't give a damn 
March 2, 2014
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