Monthly Archives: December 2016
Christmas Tree Decorations
You wouldn’t believe my day yesterday. Or maybe you would. Anyway, I didn’t have a chance to finish the post I had planned for today. It is the first day of winter after all. So instead I’m repeating the most popular post of last year’s Christmas season. I still immensely dislike this cat, but at […]
Transit Blues
When the fare inspector steps onto the bus you can feel the tension mounting. Ottawa’s transit system works on the honour system, at least for the articulated buses that allow rear-door entry. You are supposed to swipe you payment card and a record is made of your trip. The key words in that sentence are […]
Electoral Reform I
I wrote this a couple of weeks back, then decided not to post it. Today I’m reconsidering. For Canadians I’m just retelling something they already know. But it occurs to me that not everyone has had a chance to join the conversation – and it is not limited to Canadians. So today a lesson in […]
A Christmas Carol
It is a timeless biblical story of redemption and grace without reference to any scripture. But watching a production of A Christmas Carol you somehow feel that Charles Dickens knew what he was doing. A version of the stage play is at Canada’s National Arts Centre until December 31. I was there Friday night and […]
Ethically Challenged
Cash for access. It was a major issue in the US presidential election this year, when it was revealed that more than half of the people who had meetings with Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State also made donations to the Clinton Foundation. There may have been nothing illegal about that, but it […]
Star Wars: Rogue One
The new Star Wars film opens today. Advance reviews have been very positive. I thought about being excited, then decided against it. I don’t know if Rogue One will be any good. The trailer looked like more of the same to me, another Star Wars movie, with a different cast. The film is about the […]
Basilica of the Holy Blood
I know there are rules. I don’t know exactly what they are. I have been told that every Roman Catholic church has a relic of a saint in it somewhere. No need to go into great details, you can look it up if you like. I would think, as the number of churches grow, […]
Santa Revisited
I first posted this a couple of years ago. Well, technically, I first published it in 1991 – but there wasn’t much Internet back then. I don’t know of the word “blog” had even been invented then. (I know, now that I have said hat someone will look it up and let me know.) What […]
Buying A Carpet
I attended a workshop where the speaker recounted how she bought a carpet on a trip to Istanbul. She talked about the process, recounted how much she had paid, then displayed her purchase. She spent several hundred dollars on what was essentially a placemat. I don’t remember why she was telling the story, probably an […]
Advent Reflections
As Christmas approaches, society seems to jack up the Santa imagery, probably to help people with their shopping, but I still run across the occasional nativity scene. It is good to be reminded that Jesus is the reason for the season. I’ve come across this image in several places in the past, and today seemed […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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