In the rush to find a vaccine, let’s not forget the rush to find whatever your curiosity leads you to. It’s easy to think one rush is urgent, while the other seems trivial, almost insultingly so these days. But the fact is, basic research (“I wonder where this takes me…?”) and applied research (“Find the […]
The Plague-Ground – In Defence of Curiosity Read More »
This week, William Shakespeare will be 456 years old. We should care because the temple to his genius, the Stratford Festival, is in dire straits. Stratford’s problem is shared by most every arena, concert hall and auditorium in the world. It’s in the fixed seat business. Until the pandemic, Stratford thrived or stumbled by the number
The Plague-Ground – Would you buy the middle seat? Read More »
Imagine you tune in to the Prime Minister’s daily pandemic briefing today and hear him say this: “We are now ready to open the American border. As of Monday, Canadians — and our goods and services — will be able to cross into the United States unhindered.” Really? You might wonder what Canadian would want
The Plague-Ground – Who’s in your basement? Read More »
On Monday night, I logged into my online bank account. I keyed in my Username and my Password, just as I’d done a thousand times in the last years – and a hundred times in the last month. “Invalid Username/Password. Please try again.” So I keyed them in again, being careful to get all the letters,
The Plague-Ground – Quick, what’s your postal code? Read More »
Today’s blog post is a list. It’s one I’ll be sending every week until we’re back at work and have less time to enjoy the feast of FREE concerts, films, museums and even zoos and aquariums it offers. This first edition comes via my friend Dr. Sandy Scotnicki and its treasures all come from beyond
The Plague-Ground – How to play in the Plague-Ground. Read More »
One April 1st morning long ago, my clock radio awakened me to the CBC host announcing that since Canada was shifting to metric for measuring distance and temperature and weight, it was now time to adopt metric time. As of that morning, there would be 10 hours in a day and 100 minutes in an
Feeling a vague need to lead a better life? Time hangs heavy on most of us. We’re feeling under threat and floundering for a new and better way to……not quite sure what? Well, a world of online learning is a click away. In other words, this is the perfect time not just to dig deep
The Plague-Ground – A Masterclass in The School of Life Read More »
The past week has seen a sharp rise in the number of cases of punditry. It’s especially harrowing in countries with large numbers of columnists, intellectuals and prophets-for-hire. Hand-washing has had little effect because hand-wringing is the soap and water of pundits, the people who comment with great authority on the future. But the sad truth
The Plague-Ground – The pundits pile on. Read More »
A month into the greatest cataclysm since World War II, its effects on us are beginning to become clear. Aside from a lot more baking and binge-viewing, here’s what I’ve noticed is shifting in my life and likely yours. 1.Time. I asked a hyper-busy friend who does crisis management how hard he’s working these days.
The Plague-Ground – WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR, DADDY? MOMMY? Read More »
Remember the final scene from A Streetcar Named Desire? Blanche DuBbois (played by Vivien Leigh) famously says to the doctor leading her away to an asylum: “Whoever you are, I will always depend on the kindness of strangers.” Canada is not an alcoholic nymphomanic. But it does share with Blanche the same trait that last
The Plague-Ground – The Cruelty of Strangers Read More »
I’ve not written about Donald Trump because bashing my head against the wall is not one of my top self-care activities. Besides, reading about Donald Trump is crazy-making enough, in the way a bad drug or an old flame can be. But ages ago (i.e. in mid-March), a preposterous, impossible idea broke into my brain
The Plague-Ground – Will how you voted determine if you live or die? Read More »
GO TO YOUR PORCH OR BALCONY. Like you, I’ve sung O Canada hundreds of times. Like you, I can remember nearly none of them. But there are two that have stuck with me over the years, both joyous, chest-thumping occasions when our voices choked as we belted out a national anthem that ranks, like its
The Plague-Ground – What are you doing at 12 noon on Sunday? Read More »
