And snowy and bleary and no fun because no sun. But here’s Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel singing (and dancing) the song that titles this blog. Can 50 million viewers be wrong? Speaking of cold, did you hear about the Finnish Olympic skier who, according to the BBC, froze a crucial body part during the […]
Baby, it’s cold outside. Read More »
During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, many New Orleanians fled to the Louisiana Superdome which was high and dry. They waited for help to come, and waited, and waited, and waited for the police, EMS, the National Guard. “When’s the cavalry coming?” they asked. The sad, tragic truth is, the cavalry never came.
Ottawans could be forgiven for feeling the same way. It’s not that the cavalry doesn’t exist. It’s that it doesn’t do anything, or hasn’t yet. Time will tell us why the police in so many cities across Canada didn’t act.
For now, I’ll rely on Samuel Johnson’s letter to Lord Chesterfield who had refused to help Johnson finance his Dictionary of the English Language, until it was nearly finished and Johnson didn’t need support: “Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached ground encumbers him with help?”
So now…this weekend’s Omnium-Gatherum.
Is the cavalry coming? Read More »
Of the hundreds of millions of dollars lost by merchants who can’t open their stores, or the billions more lost in trade because the world’s longest undefended border is upended, or the thousands of Ottawans deprived of sleep, the homeless who had their food stolen, the hundred-plus kids living in their parents’ trucks, the indifference of truckers in expelling the racists and anti-Semites among them, of the millions of words and images spent in explaining this nonsense to ourselves and the world, this says it all.
The truck stops here. Read More »
Unless, of course, you’re getting old: you feel cold more no matter what you’re wearing. But there are other defences against the snowy blast. The “seven-day forecast” is one. Another is Vitamin D, especially if it’s cold and dark. Here’s a third: Yuma, Arizona, which is the only place on earth that has more than 4,000 hours of sunshine a year.
So, to brighten up your weekend, here’s the week’s Omnium-Gatherum blog.
There’s no such thing as bad weather; there’s only bad gear. Read More »
Here we were all complaining that winters aren’t what they used to be. Gray and dark, with an odd sprinkling of indifferent snow, white winters are now like glaciers, a victim of global warming. But as we all (and especially the people of BC) have learned, climate change simply means perpetual extremes. So naturally Toronto gets more snow than it’s had in 28 years. Naturally, too, Canada is now ranked as the sixth most miserable place on earth, though not just because of our weather.
But here’s a long lovely essay on what winter meant and is coming to mean for northern hemispheric earthlings everywhere.
The Most Snow Since 1994 Read More »
Shakespeare’s words from Richard III express “the idea that we have reached the depth of our unhappiness and that better times are ahead.” That sums up what our health experts and politicians have been telling us about COVID. I just hope the next line – “Made glorious summer by this sun of York” comes true in New York and here in the County of York too. Bring us the sun, please, in great shiny gobs.
Meanwhile……
Now is the winter of our discontent. Read More »
Well, it’s always darkest before the dawn, even if it takes the sun three years to rise.
“Cold and closed” sums up things nicely right now. But at least the pandemic isn’t spreading with the speed of Omicron and the lethality of Delta. My view is, let’s hunker down for a few weeks more, and get in line for the fourth vaccine, and another one every year from now on. Meanwhile, read on…
One week into the New Year and… Read More »
This last collection of oddities from 2021 is awash with lists because, as one psychiatrist believes, lists satisfy four needs: catch-up, containment, crafting and creating ritual. That may be a little over-analytical, especially on this sleepy New Year’s Day when, for the second time, we’re locked down when we don’t want to be.
But what better way to pass the day than to dig deep into the first Omnium-Gatherum blog of the year?
The best of times. The worst of times. The list of times. Read More »
Even though we’re late risers on Christmas Day, Santa still hasn’t arrived. We hear there were long delays since he has to show his vaccination certificate at every chimney he climbs down. Then there’s the gifting pandemic which is so bad this year that Jesus is asking God if he can shift his birthday to July to avoid the clash with Christmas.
Oiye and Oh Well…….here’s the Christmas Omnium-Gatherum blog post to bring comfort and joy to your day and your life.
Happy Birthday Jesus Read More »
That’s not how the snow’s lain round so far this year. Where are the snows of yesteryear? I remember growing up in Edmonton, we would walk 20 miles to school in December – in our bare feet. Okay, maybe not. But you can still plug in your car battery to a heater if you’re outside,
Deep and Crisp and Even Read More »
Here I was, so proud of my three jabs, and going out to a concert, and dining with friends, and getting on a plane and not feeling it was a flight into danger, and looking forward to Christmas. Very looking forward to that part.
Maybe they were right when they said the virus will always be with us, ever-mutating, one step ahead of science, faith and hope.
Oh well, at least we can still read at home on weekends.
5th Wave, 4th Vaccine? Read More »
Electrically-heated parkas, socks and gloves are all the rage this winter. But so are parkas with onboard Wifi Hot Spots and heated battery packs. Which begs two questions: Will our grandkids hear in disbelief that our winter outerwear wasn’t electrified? And, why go south for the winter?
Meanwhile…here are some things to warm your soul indoors.
