Odds and Ends

In conclusion...

Here are my final comments for this particular blog. I've been far from a prolific writer: 280 posts in five and a half years. I don't promise to be more frequent in the future, but the next effort should see a different perspective, less about me and more about one or two concerns that I think are important. I also aim to have figured out the whole comma, colon, semi-colon thing, next time around.

Halloween Hoot

Last Sunday Alex and I participated in the annual Halloween run/walk of W.R.A.C.E. (Walkers and Runners Around the County of Essex.) It was a cool, cloudy morning, perfect running weather, and the course ran along the Windsor side of the Detroit River.

My youngest nephew, now 13 and an inch taller than me, came close to beating his personal best for the 5K run. I turned in my worst time ever, for the 5K walk. I plead extenuating circumstances.

Posted at 02:40 PM Read More

Tue - September 9, 2008

Attention Surplus Disorder

Here's a novel for our times, Neal Stephenson's Anathem. As I count down the minutes (117...) until Steve Jobs unveils what I hope will be my new ebook reader, the next generation iPod Touch, I'm trying to resist the temptation to order the hardcover of a story that mocks my machine dependency.

Posted at 11:19 AM Read More

Mon - July 28, 2008

Cool and breezy

It snowed yesterday in Sydney, Australia, for the first time in 172 years. Last week it snowed in Grimsby, on the south shore of Lake Ontario, not far from Niagara Falls and Toronto.

Posted at 03:25 PM Read More

Fri - July 25, 2008

At the Movies

Joseph (grand-nephew, won't answer to anything else, 8 years of age) and I saw Wall-E yesterday afternoon. When I asked him if he was sure he wanted to see it, "It's about two robots who fall in love," he suggested we find something else. But then I said it's also a space adventure and he re-considered.

Posted at 09:40 PM Read More

Sat - June 14, 2008

Annual Lakeshore Orgy Commences

The fish flies are back, aka Mayflies. My windows were covered the other day. Not so much now.

Posted at 11:27 AM Read More

Wed - April 23, 2008

The Butterfly Effect

The father of Chaos Theory, Dr. Edward Lorenz, died last week. Among his many contributions to science was the Butterfly Effect. He gave a talk about predictability entitled "Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?"

The correct answer is no, but that's not what a lot of people believe, even though their common sense tells them otherwise.

Posted at 03:29 PM Read More

Sun - March 23, 2008

Two Photo Blogs

Dave sent me one of those viral emails this morning, almost entirely of recipient headers, dozens of names nested five levels deep. Although the subject was Windsor Back Then the only content I could see was two comments: "I think Bill was driving that yellow SW&A bus? Enjoy." and "These sure bring back a lot of memories..."

Posted at 02:36 PM Read More

Wed - February 27, 2008

It's cold outside, again

So, for the past year the world has been cooling, rather dramatically. And global warming seems to have stopped nine years ago.

It's too soon of course, to start burning all those IPCC reports that were printed last year. They convinced me that man made carbon dioxide and methane emissions probably played a significant role in warming the planet during the past century.

Posted at 04:16 PM Read More

Sun - January 27, 2008

Philosophy and Science Fiction

Much as I like Christopher Hitchens he does have a few blind spots. His impatience with the working classes is one. (That socialism thing, we're still working on it. Might take a few more generations.) His non-appreciation of science-fiction is another.

That's an opinion shared by other intellectuals who revere fine literature. My one conversation with CLR James was an argument over fantasy and SF. He thought the writers I adored were without talent and right wing. I said they provided me an escape from my family's religious fundamentalism. We did find agreement in our mutual enjoyment of the movie Dog Day Afternoon.

Posted at 01:19 PM Read More

Sun - January 6, 2008

Vacations

Had a checkup with my dentist Wednesday morning. No problems, just the usual struggle to answer Ian's questions while he scraped and probed at my teeth.

Posted at 03:27 PM Read More

Sun - December 16, 2007

Wind and Snow

It looks like the storm is just about over.

I don't think we got the predicted 30 to 40 cms of snow, but the wind has made some very deep drifts here and there.

Posted at 05:14 PM Read More

Sun - December 9, 2007

Early morning sky

My career as a part-time newspaper carrier has two weeks left to run. Dan and Luc are calling it quits after Christmas. Which means Alex and I will be out of a job as well, since we sub-contracted delivering the Thursday and Friday Star Reviews, an ad package that goes to non-subscribers.

And this week I will be concluding my last performance as Luc's stand-in. He's gone hunting, so I'm once again getting up at 4 a.m. and driving Dan around to his almost 400 customers, bagging the papers in the warmth of the van as he dashes along Lakeshore's snow covered streets.

Posted at 12:41 PM Read More

Sun - November 25, 2007

Jeremy on the Shim

"There seems to be no limit to the shim's miraculous power:"

Posted at 12:44 PM Read More

Tue - November 20, 2007

Jingle Bell Walk

Spent Sunday morning in the Town of Essex, joining brother David and family at the 13th Annual Jingle Bell Walk, Run & Wheel. Dan and Alex ran the 5K while Patti, Dave and I took our time, allowing most of the more than 500 participants to pass us by.

Posted at 01:04 PM Read More