You remember when I was making fun of the headline: “Another prisoner mistakenly released in N.S.“? Well, today’s top stories includes this choice headline “Halifax police mistakenly release man before court appearance”. Handsome devil, isn’t he?
Apparently I am living in Keystone.
Infected via Wheeler and Gwenda, I find that: Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test… Traditional, Vibrant, and Tasteful 19 Islamic, 16 Impressionist, 11 Ukiyo-e, -29 Cubist, -30 Abstract and 14 Renaissance! Islamic art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the architecture and… Read more →
I got into a huge debate today about the distinction between religion and spirituality, and the relative worth of the two concepts. Instead of boring you with more of my cocky atheism, I’ll just quote a Zen story that I think captures the whole thing: The Real Miracle When Bankei was preaching at Ryumon temple, a Shinshu priest, who believed… Read more →
Very regularly since the American presidential race was set, and with more and more frequency over the last month, I’ve found myself astonished by how McCain seems ready to throw away every vestige of honour in what seems to be a “do anything to win” campaign of sleaze. It makes me think of Campbell. And the more I see pieces… Read more →
Man, I like Scott Morse‘s work. I have mentioned that I have several pieces of his original art in the house. The stuff I have hanging, though, are Morse’s black and white ink style work (I have some originals of some of his more recent stuff not yet framed). Here’s one of his recent colour pieces. If I could find… Read more →
In an attempt to somewhat balance the “what a terrible parent” image I presented earlier this week, here’s a short account of some of what we’ve done over the last couple of weekends. This past weekend featured a family trip to the movies to see one of the two HRM showings of the new(ish) Cirque de Soleil film, Delirium. Sarah… Read more →
Since 2001 I’ve had less use for Christopher Hitchens than I used to. But hey, I’ve got even less use for Pope Inquisitor and his attempts to pull the Roman Catholic Church backwards in time. So if Hitchens wants to get snarky on the practice of indulgences, as he does in the latest Free Inquiry, I’m going to enjoy it… Read more →
There are things I miss, but not enough to pay the price for having them. “The Old Man Dreams” Oh for one hour of youthful joy! Give back my twentieth spring! I’d rather laugh, a bright-haired boy, Than reign, a gray-beard king. Off with the spoils of wrinkled age! Away with Learning’s crown! Tear out life’s Wisdom-written page, And dash… Read more →
Part 1: Apparently we’re raising a racist. So, apparently Sarah has joined the Klan. Imagine the scene: we’re out for lunch on Saturday, having our usual meal at Tarek’s, which is very busy at lunch, with a very ethnically diverse crowd. It’s a Turkish place, and it’s great–we’ve been there most Saturdays for the last couple of months. Sarah walks… Read more →
While we’re talking about reviews… You may recall me mentioning how much I was enjoying Tom Disch‘s Word Of God. I noted this weekend that Paul Witcover–himself a gifted novelist–has written a particularly good review. Until I get off my butt and write my thoughts on the book out, allow me to point you to Paul’s.
Hey, remember back in June when I wrote a bit about how much I was digging The Explainers? Well, it appears the mainstream media has caught up with me…he said arrogantly.. The Sunday Book Review in the New York Times reviewed the book this weekend. It was the cover review. Here’s an excerpt: Of course, representing any Feiffer strip with… Read more →
So, low voter turnout has got people talking electoral reform again. Sadly this discussion seems to always focus on proportional representation. I say sadly because while I like the idea of every vote counting, I hate the idea of the parties deciding who sits in Parliament, not the voters. I haven’t yet seen a proposal for a system that lets… Read more →
So, I guess we’re going to have to go through that whole Canadian DMCA thing again, aren’t we? Sigh.
And now, a few observations about things completely unrelated to either North American election: That Wisdom book showed up today. Totally worth the money. It’s been a long time since I bought a “coffee table book”, but if I had a coffee table I’d be proud to leave this out on it. You know where I’m find more interesting reading… Read more →
What may end up disgusting me the most is actually the turnout number. Here’s some background from an article, “Voter turnout: democracy’s dirty little secret“, that ran during the campaign: In 1988, a healthy 75 per cent of the voters cast their ballots, but no turnout since then has come close to that level. — 1993: 70.9 per cent. —… Read more →
