Vampires as pathogens.  Who would have thought? Writer John Buhler returns to us this week looking at a book by Nick Groom, that takes a different look at the history of the Vampire: how this undead monster came to be, and what’s become of it since. The idea that the vampire came to be as… Read more »

“Rapine, avarice, expense, This is idolatry; and these we adore; Plain living and high thinking are no more.” – William Wordsworth “Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one idolized.” – Albert Einstein   If you’re taking business courses to manage your musical career, studying literature to inform your writing skills, poring over… Read more »

Early in the eighteenth century, on the fringes of the Hapsburg domain, folklore about vampires came into contact with the Enlightenment and its rational outlook.  In effect, according to Nick Groom’s book, The Vampire: A New History, the vampire was “discovered” through medical examination and philosophical thought when imperial physicians and officials on the eastern… Read more »

The two main political parties on the federal scene in Canada are obviously the Liberals and Conservatives.  With a federal election on the horizon, everything and everything can become a campaign issue.  Including the Canada Food Guide.  You know what that is, it’s that thing you saw posters of when you were in Grade School,… Read more »

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – American Declaration of Independence “When we allow freedom to ring—when we let it ring from every city and every… Read more »

(Note: This poem was conceived shortly after a move, when my husband couldn’t understand why the first piece of furniture I needed was a desk. I found one I loved on Kijiji but the mister didn’t want to travel to that part of the city to pick it up, and so the seller very kindly… Read more »

As summer starts and a lot of people are taking time away from work or school to enjoy the outdoors, it is easy to have the “school’s out!” attitude.  We all know what that attitude is like.  It’s telling us to go have fun and not care.  Having fun by eating a lot, drinking, staying… Read more »