Jul 29 2010
Part of growing old is getting perspective of how things change over time. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not.
Take the mundane ritual of filling our vehicles with gas. Time was, and this is within my memory, a team of people in uniform would hustle out of the gas station as the tire crossed the hose in the parking lot, setting off the then-familiar sound of the “ding ding” inside the building. Continue Reading »
Jul 26 2010
Once again, the effects of downsizing came screaming at me. This time, from the pages (on my computer) of the London Free Press.
It used to be that there were many editors and reporters who specialized in many disciplines. Naturally, the person who had some knowledge of and/or interest in fashion, sports, or political reporting would attend and report on same. You wouldn’t send a food critic to cover a Liberal convention, unless we were about to learn which lame duck a l’orange the party was sending out to be eaten.
Jun 29 2010
“Vito Valela and David Longo are each suing the Greater Toronto Hockey League, the president of the team and four coaches, for $25,000, claiming their children experienced psychological damages and had their self esteem ruined when they were cut from their midget hockey team.”
Are you kidding me? Sadly, no.
Jun 20 2010
I understand backing one’s favorite team with cheers and whistles. I have participated in the wearing of team colours at a game in a show of support. I get that sports marketing is worth hundreds of billions of dollars as fans pledge allegiance to one brand or another. But someone ought to fold vuvuzelas twice and stick them into the body cavities of those who insist on contributing to that distracting and monotonous mosquito-like drone that pervades World Cup soccer matches.
Jun 14 2010
I was helping my sister out by taking her vehicle in for service. The dealership had kindly offered her a loaner car because the repairs were going to take a couple of days. It turned out that the loaner car was an older Buick Park Avenue.
In its day, this was a luxury car. Leather seats, all the options. Buick has spent years tailoring cars to their target market – older drivers. These aren’t sporty cars. They aren’t flashy. The seating is comfortable and lacks nothing (except perhaps self canceling turn signals or a louder ‘clicker’ so seniors would know when they are driving straight with a light flashing).
Jun 13 2010
Seems to me that my new toilet oughtta have a name. It is where I
perform my most private function of the day. I thought a name that
reflected its purpose and the envoirnment in which it lives would
suit it. I call him “Shitty”.
Jun 12 2010
I couldn’t care less who won the Stanley Cup. I don’t say that with any malice. I like the game. I used to play it, as a lad. Despite the fact that it’s one of the best ways to demonstrate the vivid ability of HDTV, I just don’t watch any more. In fact, television is a medium that I have grown bored with. Millions of dollars are spent on producing what passes as “entertainment for the masses”. The ‘masses’ must be thought of by the poobahs of television as a herd of glazed over, mindless drones who don’t realize that they have the power to sample hundreds of other choices with a flick of the thumb. But, I digress. Continue Reading »
Jun 05 2010
This travesty isn’t happening in my backyard. It’s happening in ALL of our backyards.
Since April, nearly 3 million litres of crude oil has been spouted into the Gulf of Mexico. Some expert said that’s about 190 million litres so far.
To put that in some sort of perspective, that’s about the same as every toilet in Canada flushing a tankful of oil into the sewers (so far).
Forget containing it, the oil has left the building at this point. How long do you suppose this is going to take to clean up from the beaches, marshes, depths of the gulf and the wildlife and sea life that are being smothered right now?
An astute comment posted to one of the CBC discussion sites:
America needs to pull the soldiers out of Iraq and dispatch them in the gulf. Afterall, why fight for oil when you got more than you can deal with in your own backyard.
Lets put more energy into finding a solution than wasting energy on who’s to blame. From the most humble source comes one of the most simple, workable and envoirnmentally friendly solutions:
http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/
Hay? And a batallion or two of manpower to do the work? Sheesh! What am I missing? Why isn’t this being done?
I don’t get it!
Jun 01 2010
After a hot, humid day, it’s typical that the forecast would call for thunderstorms. Looking at the radar, it appeared that there were some intense cells approaching. But when chunks of ice started to fall…….
Apr 18 2010
Pictures, not words have a more universal appeal. Look at writer James Lileks site . (http://www.lileks.com/index.html) Part of the appeal of his work, to me, is that he simply guides me to look at things without telling me about everything I see. Continue Reading »
