I have not put my mind to the question of whether the passing of my cat is related to the pet food poisoning matter. The one ate from the same dish and the late Frobie had symptoms for years. Yet, now learning more as we are about what has been going on, it would not be hard to wonder:  •  “As …

Nothing is more important to any politician - left, right or centre - intent on a little social engineering than creating new myths that bear little resemblance to actual history but which prop up the political needs of the day but this is either funny or unsettling:  •  “"Real nationalists don't …

Even getting money back...one day...if I have calculated right...doing the tax forms sucks the life out of you.

Wasn't it just last Friday? Time is flying. I am making arrangements for an undergrad reunion so I suppose I am a bit sensitive to these things. Yes, 25 years ago I was a seedy weedy sullen yute at the University of Kings College and soon people will be returning there from across the globe. From …

I rarely read fiction any more. And I don't think I can point to a favorite author in that part of literature where there are no references to beer or brewing. Well, this does allow me to read Inspector Morse mysteries as that character is never seen consuming solid food, preferring a quick pint …

I listened to this NPR report on Afghanistan on the drive home. Why do we not hear this stuff in Canada? Oh, maybe you do...I stopped listening to Canadian news media a while ago. Not as many banjo transitional interludes bits between the reports.

3628 posts over four years. That is an average of 3628 posts for every four year period. All the while I have made few observations of note on the war that began weeks before the blog did, on the state of Canadian politics, on me, on blogging. But I did great Friday bullet point chats. Yes! It …

Expressing the results of a statistical survey is a tediuos and difficult thing to do yet it is the stuff of bloggers dreams, rife with the opportunity to point the finger of accusation and scream "BIAS! BIAS!!!" without any recourse to any foothold in reality. Yet this statement leaves me …

Interesting doings across the river in Watertown according to WWNY, though their choice of illustrating the story with a photo of half a Bulgarian nuclear reactor from 1968 is some what curious:  •  “The Town of Watertown's first two domes aren't even off the drawing board yet, and already there …

First sweep of the Yankees at Fenway in 17 years, fifth time in history that any team hits four homers in a row. To be fair, it was also rookie Chase Wright's, the pitcher, second game.  •  Without getting into a blow by blow, it was a bit funny when Wily Mo Pena, the fifth batter, did not hit a …

Steve French  •  Regular readers will know that I take great joy in being able to pop over the border that is 35 minutes from my front door and nose around northern New York state. Today, we primarily went to go to the Thompson Park Zoo at Watertown, sitting on a hill behind the town and it was a …

Christmas colours  •  Was last night's 7-6 defeat of the Yankees by the Red Sox the best game I have ever seen? No, as my only trip to Fenway was when I was ten and I saw the Yankees lose something like 10-9 live from the bleachers. And there was that gutting of the former Highlanders by the …

It has been a week of reflection. Every birthday is a big one but I think the multiples of eleven are more important than the multiples of ten. What we face beyond eleven has much to do with 22 and 33. Each is past the point of return or at least kidding ourselves. It was also a week to consider …

It is over. The emperor has no clothes. Time to get out your old Web 1.0 t-sirts and accept the bitter truth:  •  “Web 2.0, a catchphrase for the latest generation of Web sites where users contribute their own text, pictures and video content, is far less participatory than commonly assumed, a …

As part of Wikiality Week, it is important to note that the rate of cheese punting around here has gotten somewhat embarrassing. My access to baubles and trinkets depends on hefty cheese punting teamwork. Your access to fabulous potential prizes is likewise a matter directly connected to boot …

Now that's what great leadership is made of:  •  “It turns out that taxpayers are picking up the tab for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's personal primper. After two days of ducking media and opposition questions, the Conservatives finally revealed Wednesday that Michelle Muntean is on Harper's …

There are only seven or eight days like this. The day of the stuttering digits. Was there anything special about 1974, 1985 or 1996? I certainly did not have a photo of Sid Smith, Leafs Captain for the 1955-56 season. Now I do.  •  I had no idea Eric James McCormack, the guy from Will and Grace …

Just another failure to throw at the Internet. Can't we just leave the Internet alone. It is trying hard to live up to the hype. You are asking too much. Just because it uses Enron accounting should not be used against it.  •  Note: we are in a new era:  •  “The post Web 2.0 world is best …

US based web radio is about to get a massive hit and it will be interesting to watch how it plays out:  •  “The new fees, which will apply until 2010, will charge a flat fee per-song, per-user in addition to a $500 fee for every channel owned by a station. Fees will increase every year until 2010 …

I don't know what all the fuss is. A suggestion that Quebec join in the constitution - after 25 years wandering in the wilderness with nothing but a far superior Charter of Rights to keep them warm - sparks this sort of reaction:  •  “Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion has rejected suggestions by Quebec …

What! Is there some kind of weird thing happening here? Just one year ago - one thin year - I asked the question whether we should turn off the internet [...well, not "we" as in this bunch around here but the "we" that we are all part of, a small bit of which "we" has actually the power to turn …

My people - my pale, pale people.  •  It is all coming together. For those in the pool, the answer is 6(a). See, the Morton lost today but so did Stirling. So that leaves Morton top of the league with two games to go. Automatic promotion. Respect: Stirling's the town where I learned about ska in …

While the story is interesting in its own right, the summation is the business:  •  “The objection that reform would mean that rural interests would be ignored is a canard. The change would require candidates to present positions that galvanized all Americans. This is the truer and more certain …

This week. This was a short week. Short weeks are good in that Friday comes faster but it also has the air of less than a full week off as much as less than a full week of work. But was another week in your life. And it has passed.  •  Later Update: man's only trump card soon to be lost thanks to …

It was a pitchers' duel last night between the Sox and the Mariners. Dice K was really good but Seattle's Felix Hernandez was an entire class better. It was quite the thing to see screw ball action pitches in the top of an inning being followed by 99 mile an hour fastballs in the bottom …

This story reminded me of an idea I had years ago:  •  “Google is using its popular online mapping service to call attention to atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a project with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, inaugurated Tuesday, the Internet search company has updated its …

Marvel Comics had a comic series in the 1970's called "What If..." or maybe it was "What If???" I actually have a box of comics within reach that likely has a copy but I am too lazy to reach out my arm to answer the punctuation question. Which goes to show I have my priorities and values right on …

I woke up this morning too early. I was thinking, as The Smiths played in my mind, "why am I running a sports pool that there is a 50-50 chance I won't see out, won't tally up the points, have lost interest in?" Is it because I have not watched one NHL game this whole season? Maybe it's because it …

Once again, I was right in the right way as in intensely correct. I saw it coming...but I had no idea it would be in such a wave as the impending sweep of the galloping consulting gurus. Run away! Run away!!!  •  First, there was the statement. We are told:  •  “The code states: "We are committed …

The only time I have ever had the Don Imus show on was when I left the radio WFAN on all night. It is a weird show and that essentially because it is unfunny. And not just in its current embarrassment for using a racial slur so much as the second year undergrad quality of the slur and all the …

Easter Monday is the weirdest of holidays. A civic holiday in lieu of a religious holiday. No other religious holiday recognized in law is fixed to a day of the week so, appropriately for my present purposes, we still get the Monday off.  •  I have failed in my past Easter Monday plans. Since 2005 …

There is an essay in the Toronto Star this morning that provides a very intelligent consideration of the lack of the demise of the newspaper despite the rise of the Internet and the promise that adaption will bring. When you think about it, few media actually die off. I can thing of eight-tracks …

Four points up on top of the standings and the mighty Morton have the fate in their own hands over the next few remaining games of the 2006-2007 season. First place at the end of the year gets them automatic promotion. Today they play lowly Forfar who are only 54 points back in tenth place. These …

Is this the first Easter weekend in years that I have not headed to Portland Maine, home of the greatest gang of hosts and the Chocolate Boston? There has been a primordial urge to see the sea in America that has had to be acted upon. This year, however, the call is that of the shingling roofer to …

Styling. That is what it was all about. Not the need to protect Iranian waters. Not the pressure coming from the UN. It was the need to get a higher profile for the Iranian men's suit industry and I have to say Mr. Ahmadinejad has a point. Those are some manly shades of grey and choosing the …

Maybe it's just yesterday's fifteen hour day in a tie and black shoes but the impeding battle of the D-graders against the C-graders is already looking really messy. Not only do we have the embarrassing specter of the "Tory war room" which is just a communications center slash celebration of the …

Should the Red Sox pick up A-Rod for 2008? Yes, he will likely be a Cub but it would be nice to have three years of him back to playing shortstop, pounding them out of Yankee Stadium to cheers from the visitor's bench chalking them up for the side of the angels. He might enjoy it, too.  •  In …

This is quite bizzare:  •  “Argentina has renewed its claim over the Falkland Islands on the 25th anniversary of invading them - and losing a subsequent war with Britain. "The Malvinas are Argentine, they always were, they always will be," said Argentine Vice-President Daniel Scioli, using the …

Exciting times at Wikipedia: "ex-citing"...get it?  •  “The Web site has seen rapid growth in recent years - there were 38 million users in the United States in December - and it was cited too often in academic essays for the history department at Middlebury College, a small liberal arts school in …

Good to see Moises Alou in the Mets uniform tonight. He has cemented my satisfaction that one should have both a favorite American League team and a National League team. Why? Better chance of having former Expos to root for. Also usually provides you with something to watch when Boston is playing …

I set about picking the seeds for the garden this morning. Seeds and even fruiting bushes and trees are the perfect e-commerce product. Neat, compact and modest in price. One of the nice things about some sites is the ability to spend about 50% more - three bucks instead of two - and get the small …