Category Society
Merry Christmas!
It seems, then,” said Tirian, smiling himself, “that the Stable seen from within and the Stable seen from without are two different places.” “Yes,” said the Lord Digory. “Its inside is bigger than its outside.” “Yes,” said Queen Lucy. “In our world too, a Stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our […]
Christmas Eve
The Queen’s birthday is a national holiday in Canada. We celebrate it on what is described as the “May 24th long weekend.” May 24 is not the birthday of the reigning queen, Elizabeth II but that of her great-great- grandmother, Victoria, who reigned for most of the 19th century. People got used to the May […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Two Lovers And A Bear
At the Cannes and Toronto film festivals earlier this year it garnered considerable acclaim, so I jumped at the chance to see Two Lovers and a Bear last month before it hit the theatres (it comes out in the US this Friday). It was also chance to see the recently refurbished National Arts Centre. […]
The Renovation
They don’t make them like they used to. Probably because they can’t afford to. Just refurbishing Ottawa’s Wellington Building, opened in 1927 as the headquarters of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, cost $425 million and took seven years. That’s a lot of money; my guess is about $424 million than it cost to build it […]
I’m not a big Facebook user. I’m interested in what my friends are doing, but there are only so many minutes in the day. I try and get caught up at least once a week by scrolling through a large number of posts. Most of the time the posts are pretty interesting. Some I avoid […]
More Mailbox Woes
It seems almost wrong for me to keep taking shots at Canada Post. I’m sure they mean well, it’s just they have a competency issue. Or perhaps that is an incompetency issue. I’ve already written about the frozen locks on community mailboxes in my area, and how I was without mail for a couple of […]
random thoughts from lorne 
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