27th
April
2013
Call me easily distracted. Put it down to flights of fancy. After reading a short article in the daily newspaper, I want to visit a museum. Several museums. The only defining point is that they must be in Newfoundland. To any avid readers, and you know who you are, it’s time to head back. This time around, we’ll offload the camping gear (which we won’t use) and the extra space will be donated to the dog, or the boy, or both. Just a thought, given that we’re now down to less than three months before vacation.
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posted in history, travel |
28th
February
2013
Some jobs are just so good that you can’t imagine anyone giving one up. Lodging, salary, transportation, a good pension plan. Fixed for life, as they used to say. In the case of the Canadian senate, it used to be for life. A textbook example of a sinecure. Go ahead, look it up. And today, someone with one of those top jobs in the world did quit, climbed into a helicopter and flew away. The man with almost no name. The Pope.
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posted in history, humour |
23rd
February
2013
When there isn’t a movie worth the watch, seek out the music. And we did. From time to time, the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame awards are available for view, or review. At least, music doesn’t come packaged with a “best before” date. Heard it before? Doesn’t matter. If I sing along, (again), it doesn’t matter. With enough practice, I will get the right words in the right order.
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posted in history, music |
17th
February
2013
At our house, there’s an intonation exam. Simple. Tell the dog to “Go ’round the tree”. Either he does or he doesn’t. Pass/fail. The dog is a born weaver. With enough of a lead, he can find a way to combine three different combinations of shrubbery and linden into something quite beautiful. Painful to undo, but that’s why the exam takes on special importance.
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posted in food, history, pets |
11th
January
2013
When I was younger, I didn’t even know where the Rock was. Now I watch their weather stories. And boy, ob boy, do they get weather! Summer, fall, winter with a vengeance. Blizzard today with half a metre of snow moving at speeds not legal on the highway. I’m glad we dodged that bullet, although the freezing rain warning we’ve received as a compromise gives pause.
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posted in history, media |
10th
January
2013
While looking through some old photos this afternoon, I spotted a former neighbour. Little matter that I hadn’t seen the man in four decades, because in the photo, he looked just the way I remembered him. Maybe that’s how memory works; a frozen gallery, not subject to the rigours of changing morphology. In case science hasn’t got this one figured out, I’ll claim credit in advance.
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posted in computing, history |
30th
December
2012
With a Steve Earle song as earworm, I’m several hours into one of those documentary marathons that give reason to my paying a cable TV bill. This time around, Moonshiners; seven episodes back to back to back. With this particular crime in the eye of the beholder, the ongoing rivalry between ‘shiners and revenuers is an interesting tale.
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posted in education, history |
20th
December
2012
What to do? On one hand, an impending snow storm. On the other, an impending end of time. With my luck, choice #3 will kick in, and I’ll be at work with a really long ride home on the bus because of one of the other two possibilities. Or both…
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posted in history, politics |
9th
September
2012
This afternoon, the cycle racing was out of Montreal. Not exactly Tour de France, although some of the same players were in the saddle. What caught my eye was the wonderful way that a flat tire gets changed in under a minute. If we could extend that service to “the rest of us”, cycling would take off!. Do the math: how many bicycles are sidelined for weeks, after a flat, in the average household? Now, you understand.
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posted in history |
2nd
September
2012
After watching a documentary on PBS this afternoon, I’m trying to accept that my life will never include restoring a steam locomotive. And I’m saddened. There was a set of skills required to keep the big iron running that is lost on the current generations. The simple act of aligning the drive wheels…
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posted in history, technology |
