Sorry, Ernest, but I just don’t get you

While scrolling through the TV listings last week (I spent almost as much time looking for something to watch as actually watching), I came upon a new Ken Burns documentary on PBS. (Insert nerd joke here.)  I love documentaries, and a Ken Burns doc is an event. Burns is arguably the world’s best, and best…

What to keep, and what to trash: an old man’s dilemma

As regular readers (yeah, that’s you … admit it) know, your humble scribe turned 65 in February.  In the course of three score and five years, I have accumulated a fair pile of stuff. As a lifelong newspaper junkie and de facto family archivist (both of my birth family and the family I helped birth),…

Hey, COVID protesters. Here’s a lesson in tyranny.

It has become an almost weekly event here in Alberta, and in other parts of the Mediocre White North, for a small group of malcontents to gather in protest of COVID-19 restrictions.  They carry crudely-made signs, and listen intently while someone rants into a bullhorn about the injustices inflicted upon the people. Invariably, someone carries…

Ancient Rome: What every Grade 2 kid should know

The Alberta government has introduced a new social studies curriculum for Grades 1-6 that puts an emphasis on ancient and medieval civilizations and the history of religions. Here is a preview of a Grade 2 class in the not-too distant future. “OK, class, settle down, settle down. Today, we are going to continue our studies…

A logophile’s lament …

After many, many decades as a journalist and writer, I have developed a rare condition: I am a logophile, which is someone who loves words. You’ve likely never encountered the word ‘logophile’ before and, to be honest, neither had I. I just looked it up, and it works perfectly.  As a logophile, I take exception…

A cautionary tale about Twitter

Last week, I got a notice from Twitter that I was ‘celebrating’ 12 years on the social media platform. What an accomplishment.  Here are my Twitter stats after 12 years. As of March 2021, I have sent out 3,475 tweets. I am following 50 accounts, one of whom claims to be a graduate of ‘Bovine…

Winners and losers of the first COVID-19 year

So here we are, a full year into the Coronapocalypse. It has been (choose your favourite hackneyed phrase) a year like no other, unlike anything we’ve ever seen, a year of the new normal, etc. It will be years before we know the full impact of the COVID-19 catastrophe, but after a year we can…

Up next for the cancel cops: St. Patrick’s Day (a parody)

With ‘cancel culture’ taking hold across the world, it’s just a matter of time before St. Patrick’s Day comes under attack. By this time next year, we may be reading stories like this…  There is a growing backlash against St. Patrick’s Day, with many organizations advocating for the termination of the day set aside to…

Bombshells! Bombshells! Bombshells!

So, did you hear the explosions going off on Sunday night? According to news reports, a number of ‘bombshells’ went off that night. I slept through them, but I sure heard about them on Monday. And Tuesday. And Wednesday. Turns out, bombshells tend to echo for days. Unless you live in a cave (or, for…

Happy Coronaversary!

Happy Coronaversary, everyone! Yes, it has been one full year since the Coronavirus – eventually renamed the much catchier COVID-19 – first landed in Alberta. The Edmonton Sun welcomed our new disease overlord with the headline: IT’S HERE! Oh, it’s here, alright. And there. And everywhere. The relentless progress of COVID-19 would almost be admirable,…