Spare me any more news about Spare

In my last blog, I offered up some suggestions to add to your reading list for 2023. Looking ahead, I can safely say that Spare, the tell-all, woe-is-me book by semi-Prince Harry, will not be on next year’s list.  It is no exaggeration to say that Spare has been a sensation, ensuring that Harry and…

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A few humble reading suggestions …

Looking for something to read to take your mind off this awful world? I have some suggestions, based on my readings of 2022. A word of caution for fiction fans – I read nothing but non-fiction; I just find the real world so much more amazing than anything any writer can create. So, with that…

Those we said goodbye to in 2022

For reasons I don’t understand, I’ve always had a thing for celebrity deaths. Weird, right? And in keeping with that weirdness, here is the most comprehensive list of the famous, near famous and formerly famous who left us in 2022. And there were some big ones, as the Grim Reaper had an especially productive year.…

Do kids still play with toys? Yes, MY toys!

The other day, one of my sons asked a seemingly silly question: do kids still play with toys?  At first, I thought the question was weird, but as he explained, with all the electronic games and online distractions available, do kids still want and use hands-on toys? The teachers in the room assured my son…

The World Cup is over. For me, anyway

There is a silver lining to Canada’s abrupt and rather humbling dismissal from the FIFA World Cup … I won’t have to watch any more soccer. Oh, I might tune in to the odd game, just so I can feel like a member of the human race, since most of the planet is apparently tuned…

Bad days for billionaires

Next time you’re paying $5 for a head of lettuce, consider this – things could be so much worse. You could be a billionaire.  I mean, c’mon. These poor schlubs are losing hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars! Makes your problems seem kinda puny, right? Yep, these are not good days for the one…

How TSN is hurting the Grey Cup, and the CFL

Once upon a time, most of Canada would gather around the ol’ RCA (or Philco, or Dumont, or Electrohome) to watch the Grey Cup game, the championship of the good ol’ Canadian Football League. It was one of the most Canadian things you could do, right up there with ordering a double-double from Tim’s. (Note…

Grounded: one man’s airline hell

My son Scott recently experienced a truly dreadful experience trying to fly out of Ottawa. Here’s his blog … When I was a young man, I visited a friend of mine in Austin, Texas. One of the unpleasant byproducts of visiting The United States is dealing with the American airline industry. The United States has…

The U.S. is on the edge of madness. Can it happen here?

As a political junkie, I find elections fascinating. Unfortunately, we tend to have them only once every four years or so here (depending on the state of the bromance of Justin and Jagmeet), so if you want your fix of politics and elections, we must look to the Formerly-Good Ol’ U.S. of A. And we…

Four future Danielle Smith scandals

I don’t think anyone will disagree that Premier-for-now Danielle Smith has gotten off to a rocky start. If I may mix my metaphors, you might even say she blew up on the launch pad. Many of her problems stem from her work history as a newspaper columnist and, most recently, a radio talk show host.…