Category Society
Do You Find This As Strange As I Did?
In my youth smoking was not seen as the social scourge it has become. You could smoke anywhere. Everyone had ashtrays in the house, because if you didn’t smoke your guests did. Athletes smoked. Doctors smoked. Politicians smoked. Entertainers smoked. Even some pastors smoked, but only in those “liberal” churches. Or perhaps Christian Reformed. The […]
And The Oscar Goes To…
They hand out the Oscars on Sunday. For the 50th straight year or so I will forego the pleasure of watching the telecast. I didn’t bother watching most of the movies either. However I did recently see Toni Erdmann, which has been nominated for Best Foreign Film. It’s the only nominee in that category that […]
Hot Dog!
French Canadians jealously guard their language from Anglo inclusions. Their French cousins have a more laissez-faire attitude towards English. Or maybe they are just lazy. I grew up in Quebec, where a weekend was fin de semaine, parking was stationnement, stop was arret and a hot dog was a chien chaud. Even new words, like […]
Drinking At The Eagle
I was in Cambridge and reading a history of Christianity in England that was part of a display in The Round Church (more on that place at a future date). The panel on the 18th and 19th centuries mentioned William Wilberforce and his accomplishments. When he was a student at Cambridge, in 1777, Wilberforce it […]
Politically Incorrect
Sweden’s royal family has its armour and weapons on display, but there isn’t all that much to see. Sweden has been officially neutral for a couple of centuries, and kings and princes don’t go into battle anymore anyway. Except perhaps for the British. So I guess it is not surprising there is a children’s clothing […]
Thoughts on Martin Scorsese’s “Silence”
It bombed at the box office, which didn’t surprise me. I saw it a couple of weeks ago at the tail-end of its theatre run, and have thought for a while about what I want to say about it. It is not your usual Hollywood fare, far too serious at a time when America is […]
It’s Flag Day!
I remember the day, February 15, 1965. I was a student at Thorndale Elementary School in Montreal. The entire school was mustered outside as Canada’s new flag was raised for the first time on the school flagpole. It was the culmination of a national debate, first over whether Canada needed a new flag, then what […]
Valentine’s Day 2017
Suppose they create an artificial holiday. Do I have to participate? Today is Valentine’s Day, and I admit I struggle with the observance of it. It seems so artificial somehow, one day out of 365 in the year set aside to celebrate love. Shouldn’t we be celebrating love every day? I’m not sure how historically […]
Presto Woes
I’m finally getting my money’s worth on my daily commute. I am riding for free. My schedule this month has me not going into the office as much as usual. It didn’t make financial sense to purchase my usual monthly transit pass. I decided to “pay as you go.” Ottawa, like many cities, offers a […]
Riverdale
I read in the newspaper that Netflix was adding a new television series, based on the Archie comic characters beloved by millions. I also read that it was an updated version, a reflection of 21st century social conditions. Forewarned, I watched the first episode of Riverdale anyway. The characters names are the same as in […]
Recent Comments