The news should have made the bus stop; instead, it was the usual road construction. After an absence of three decades, the real dollar (dollard?) has come back to daze and confuse us all. To the chagrin of industrial barons and closet economists alike, our currency was (for a brief moment) today at par with the almighty dollar. But, as a famous Peggy once sang, “If that’s all there is, my friend, then let’s keep dancing”.
For the second time in the last three years, one of those college dormitory fantasies has been realized. Someone has managed to do a David Copperfield on two trucks full of a particular brand of Canadian beer. Quite apart from the warning given by the corporation to loyal clients, “Stock up, because there may be a shortage until the middle of next week”, this cries out for a cheap summer movie treatment.
posted in economy | Comments Off on When the suds go missing | 313 words
Our world is turning upside down. Proof. Lots. Let’s see: yesterday we had three byelections at the federal level in Quebec and no candidates from the “Natural Leading Party” won the toss. However, veils may be to blame. The loonie has grown chubby from all the cheap job food we’ve been serving, and may close at par with the neighbour’s currency real soon now. The thermometer is down to within a degree of freezing at night, and we’re still technically in summer. Global warming except for us. And on and on.
posted in politics | Comments Off on Reflection without a mirror | 317 words
The Internet. Where only fear reigns supreme. If it sounds like the tagline from an upcoming movie, it’s because I have big plans for the rest of you. That is, if they don’t turn off the lights and hide my share of the world’s plastics first.
posted in environment | Comments Off on Bleak forecasts | 324 words
When someone finds a really polite word for a situation, I’m left tongue-tied. I mean, we all do it, unless we’ve missed the chapter on living with others in society, but once in a while, the skill of locution “jumps the shark”. This afternoon, while listening to Rex (solving the problems of the world), a pedagogue took the stage. In one word, he summed up the whole of any undergraduate class. The word: disengaged.
posted in education, media | Comments Off on There’s a polite word | 303 words
This morning the newspaper box fell off the wall. After two decades of service, I came outside and found it hanging from a single nail, looking like a storm had gone through. Everything has a reason, though. The poor box had been invaded by the journalistic equivalent of a cuckoo’s egg.
posted in economy, media | Comments Off on An invasive species | 356 words
Perhaps it was the music, or the scenery, or the parallel to “my own culture”, but I really enjoyed tonight’s choice on the DVD spindle. Through a combination of luck and perseverence, I managed to find a copy of The Boys Of County Clare starring Colm Meany and Andrea Corr. Trek and eye candy. Don’t look for this one in a video club near me, unfortunately; it seems to have fared better on the other side of the pond than here.
posted in media, music | Comments Off on You can’t take another man’s fiddle | 294 words
Maybe this is it. My luck has to change for the better sometime, right? If only… after reading on the web that a server had crashed when too many people tried to log in at the same time, all that was possible was a commiserative moment. There but for bandwidth go the rest of us; webmasters at large. I read Slashdot; I understand the risks of putting your best face forward.
posted in music | Comments Off on Where’s the bridge? he asked | 314 words
We all do it. We see something newer and immediate add the etiquette “better”. Perhaps it comes from a lifetime of exposure to advertising, but even the “young folk” have the instinct. Could it be genetic, instead of generic?
posted in environment | Comments Off on The new enthusiasm | 248 words
Although those immediately concerned had been surveyed for availability and interest, by the time a long day in the trenches of school or office were over, the head count for a birthday supper was down to three. A magical, intimate supper for three. Parents, love your children well.
posted in travel | Comments Off on Return to a good restaurant | 345 words
