I came from a time and place where children played with toys. Not a large variety, because the economy didn’t allow excess, but the toy was the driving force behind hundreds of hours of play. In retrospect, my toys wouldn’t pass the “politically correct” checklists in use today, and my choice was influenced by the media and marketing. Still, I had fun.
posted in history | Comments Off on Stand at attention | 262 words
Heard about it; couldn’t hear it. The mosquito. Actually, this story has been around for a while, but there’s a local flavour, according to the news. Store owners who have camp followers, in the sense of kids that hang around outside (waiting for Godot) and drive more monied customers into the arms of the competition have been testing a repellant that uses high frequency sound to annoy the young, more than the young annoy them. Simply feed the sound into your outdoor speakers and the triage is done.
posted in economy, technology | Comments Off on Noise that annoys | 296 words
One should always be prepared, in case you happen to cross paths with a celebrity. Facial recognition is one skill that can be learned, simply by reading as many trashy magazines as possible (the rich and famous often wear disguises, or so I’ve been told). Another training exercise is taking the time to watch award shows, because there you can see the rare among the rare. Tonight, however, we had too much to concentrate.
posted in media, music | Comments Off on Too many famous faces for one evening | 291 words
This year’s Earth Hour has ended. Or, it has been passed along to the neighbours, barely tested. We could easily have foregone candles here; simply drawn back the shades and let the light from across the street bathe our living room in the extra lumens. But, any symbolic act remains just that, and my family now realizes how difficult it is to interrupt the daily train of activities, even for a simple sixty minutes on the hourglass.
posted in environment | Comments Off on Not quite darkness | 285 words
If you ever wonder whether you are proficient enough in another language, forget the simple tests. Ordering breakfast, or checking the alternate route to the subway don’t count in the real world. Instead, try discussing pharmaceutical interactions, or the alternatives to invasive surgery while referring to your own eyeball. Keeps you on task, believe me. It also proves just how much of a second language world is dependent on synonyms and analogies.
posted in health | Comments Off on My version of the witch’s brew | 453 words
The simple plan would have been the old, tried and true VHS recording, but I had a better idea. Why not jump straight to digital format, and record the requested program using my laptop. It had worked before. Famous last words in the technical world.
posted in computing | Comments Off on Sorry, I should have used tape | 337 words
If you are of a certain age, and only mildly deaf, then you can identify with strapping on your air guitar. You strike the pose, you strike the chord, you start up the vocal generator and begin your best ever performance of the power ballad. Are you with me? On stage? Good.
posted in Idol, music | Comments Off on The power ballad as an anthem for my time | 287 words
Hardly a day goes by, without that some newspaper or magazine or talk show urges me to improve my nutritional habits. Out with the old and in with the new, in smaller quantities, preferably cooked in some non-fat manner (steam, microwaves). A siren song, meant to avoid a siren call from one of those yellow vans that seem to be parked outside the local donut dispensary. Well, after a long hard winter, and with Mi-Carême happening sometime soon (yesterday, today, tomorrow?), the other side has struck back.
posted in health, humour | Comments Off on Only for the nutritionally challenged | 313 words
And another day’s useless energies spent; but at least there was some humour along the way. I’ve just watched the new Will Ferrell tribute to the latest former president, along with son #3 who can laugh with the best of them. Political humour (is there any other kind?) To be fair, the show drags in a few places, but then again, so did the last eight years.
posted in media | Comments Off on Hail to the chief | 272 words
Some things age well. Certain wines and cheeses, certain works of art, certain music. Tonight, the program Tout Le Monde En Parle opened with the complete membership of Beau Dommage, along with some of their music. Thirty years already! Bear in mind that their material dovetails nicely with my baby steps as a second language learner, so the aural memory is even stronger than if the stuff had simply been heard on the radio from time to time.
posted in music | Comments Off on No complaint about their Complainte | 272 words
