what the....

When did Ontario become a bastion of republicanism? While I feel for the troops serving in Afghanistan, fighting in a war that they didn't sign up for. When did Canada sign up to serve in the US created war in the Middle East/Afghanistan? I thought Jean Chretien said no to deploying our troops to aid the US (because the Canadian public was against it, and, unlike in Britain, our PM listened to his constituents), and I don't remember Stephen Harper ever saying yes (at least not blatantly). That's besides the point. I really don't support renaming the 401 between Trenton and Toronto as "Highway of Heroes."

best news of the new TV season

Kristen Bell is joining the cast of Heroes (for a 13-episode arc, but that's good enough for me)! Maybe viewers will discover her talents here and then go back and view the excellent, excellent, excellent, Veronica Mars!

The end is nigh...

So long Karl Rove. Soon, it will be so long Dubya! It can't happen soon enough. But, I will definitely be reading his memoirs of his years in the White House!

death, death, death

Last week it was the deaths of the European greats, and this week it is one of the great singer-songwriters of all time, Lee Hazlewood. His classic songs with Nancy Sinatra, Some Velvet Morning and Summer Wine, were highlights of his career, but not his only work. I first became aware of Hazlewood after hearing a cover of Summer Wine by Bono and Andrea Corr while was travelling in Ireland. Since then, both versions of the song have been part of my music "canon".

Books that changed our lives, vol I

Everyone has that one book that changed the way they thought about things forever. Well, for me that book was On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. Cliched, maybe, but true. Why write about it now, 15 years after I read it for the first time. Well, it is the 50th anniversary of the publication of this Beat masterpiece.

I reread this book two years ago as a book club pick, and didn't find it as revolutionary as it was when I was 18. I still enjoyed the book, and only one of my fellow book club members (who also read the book as a teenager) actually finished the book (out of a group of 8).

As a teenager, this book profoundly affected me and it moved me to reevaluate my life up to that point. It may have had this effect on my because I was a naive 18-year old living in a small city, who up to that point had lived a fairly mundane, normal existence. I may not now be living life of Kerouac and his band of merry men, but I definitely look at the world through different eyes.

The Floating Library

Another day, another story of alternative ways of spreading reading material to those with limited access. To celebrate the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand, the Library Ship of the King will spend the next two months calling in at seven ports of call around Thailand. The ship will stay docked in each place for about a week at a time, and will give both adults and children access to books about the King and his reign, many of which are not available in their local libraries because of cost and space constraints. Yes, the library is limited in scope, but it is still a way to get people excited about books and reading, no matter the purpose.

Bibliomulas

What a great idea and a novel (pardon the pun) way to transport books to remote areas of the world. Mules have been employed to transport both books and electronic equipment (projectors, movies, etc) to users in even the remotes parts of the Andean foothills of Venezuela.

Hottest days of the year!

Well, summer finally arrived during this last week of July/first week of August. Yesterday would probably take the prize as the hottest day of the year. The high was 34, and the humidex made it feel well into the 40's!

Stay cool! Eat lots of Gelato! I have discovered an excellent gelatiere in my neighbourhood called, Il Gelatiere. Every time I drove or walked by there was, inevitably, a line-up snaking around the store no matter the time, and it has only been open for one month. Hmmm....I knew I had to investigate. The owners are from Italy, so the gelato tastes very authentic (caveat - I have never visited Italy). The flare with which the servers present their product add to this authenticity. Instead of using regular run of the mill ice cream scoops, the servers use a spatula-like contraption to effortlessly scoop up the gelato from the tub, and then swirl it onto the cone with such flare. This whole process reminded me of a bricklayer using his/her trowel to take the mortar and spread into onto the brick. And last but not least, the gelato is fantastic. I have dreams about the liquirizia gelato! It is to die for. It will keep me going back again and again and again. I have visited twice already!