If you hand out candy for Halloween, this information is probably too late for you. (And you ought not feel guilty about that!) But if you eat candy, it’s worth knowing that like so many things before it, candy can be made from ethically and unethically sourced ingredients. …
It’s funny how little things from our childhood stick with us into adulthood. For example, the way your Mom or Dad (or you) prepared an orange. Did they peel it or cut it? And was it cut into slices or sections? How thick or thin were they? …
My latest column for Our London considers the cynic and why I think it’s a bad thing to become. …
Aislin aka Terry Mosher, based in Montreal, is one of Canada’s best-known and most respected political cartoonists. And I was fortunate enough to work with him years ago, although “with” is a relative term. …
We all want to be good people. We want to help when we’re asked and for people to think well of us. So we often say yes to a request when we’d really rather say no. …
Of all of the contentious and debatable things making headlines right now – apart from Sir Orange Head of US-land – there’s one thing that should have us all taking up pitchforks and torches and raiding Queen’s Park.* …
Radio co-hosts in Sydney, Australia are getting a lot of attention because the woman discovered she made a lot less money than the man, and he did something about it. Dave and Kate were a team, equal in their contribution to the show and he decided it wasn’t right that she was paid less, which it wasn’t. …
Traffic experts in many cities and now mine, claim that the so-called zipper method of merging traffic from two lanes into one is the best way to keep traffic flowing in construction zones. …
The tweet from The Tragically Hip announcing the news of frontman Gord Downie’s death in a statement, was published just as a newscast was ending. …
I have the reputation of being a Grammar Nazi. However, I’m not a grammar expert. I double-check myself before I post anything publicly and I still make mistakes. I learned a lot by having my first book edited by a bulldog of an editor (that’s a compliment) who was relentless in her pursuit of perfection. When I got my first draft back it looked like someone had coloured on the pages with markers. Those were the changes she insisted on making. It was at first depressing and then illuminating. …
Late last week, live on our show, Ken experienced what it’s like to eat when you can’t see. We set this up to highlight the upcoming fundraiser for Deaf/Blind Ontario, Dining in the Dark. Guests are served a formal meal and have to eat it while blindfolded. …
If, as I do, you prefer hard truth over comfortable fiction, buy this book or borrow it and digest it thoroughly. This is coming from someone who’s not big on the self-help book market but this page-turner is a best-seller for a reason. It’s not a typical self-help book. …
Something didn’t sit right in my news-junkie tummy last week when a Canadian-American family was freed from Taliban custody after five years. …
In smaller cities in a less glitzy industry with a tinier career and projects at stake, I went through some of what Harvey Weinstein’s victims experienced. That doesn’t make me special; it’s ordinary. We women share these stories like soldiers reminiscing about being in battle. It’s everywhere and I’m willing to bet that there’s one powerful predator at every big company whose behavior is being covered up or ignored. People in Hollywood knew about Weinstein’s predatory ways. He had the Midas touch and veto power and no one wanted to piss him off, as horrible as he was. …
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been to Las Vegas. I went to the old Vegas three times, before the mega-resorts and resort fees and insanely-sized hotels were erected. I vividly remember waiting in the limo with my Dad before we left for the airport. We were watching the cranes and other signs of construction that would eventually completely change The Strip and the city as we knew it. Dad said, “We won’t recognize this place next time we come back”. He didn’t go back, as far as I know, but I did and he was right. It was unrecognizable. …
Of all the things that have come along with the campaign and Presidency of Donald Trump – gah, every time I say President Trump I feel my blood pressure rise – the most egregious in my opinion is the proliferation of fake news. …
My face feels like butter. On Friday morning, it felt more like 10 miles of gravel road. My heart feels like it swelled up to pumpkin size and then shrivelled back down to the face of an apple doll before settling at about half-full. My tummy – well, let’s not even go there. …
Looking for something compelling to read over the Thanksgiving weekend? I’m a couple of years late getting to Where I Belong by Alan Doyle, lead singer of east coast band, Great Big Sea, but better late than never. It’s so good, so warmly and well-written with self-deprecation and laugh-out-loud moments, that I can’t wait to get into his new one out later this month, A Newfoundlander in Canada: Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home. …