The image of Death playing a game of chess with a human being, as a symbol of mortality, is a very old one in art and literature, dating at least as far back as the Middle Ages. Perhaps most famously of all, this motif appears in the Swedish cinema director Ingmar Bergman’s masterful 1957 film… Read more »
As we all found out last week when a person not long out of high school decided to climb a shed and take a few pot-shots at the US ex-President, the hazards of mentally disturbed people “going postal” are perpetually with us. And we ought to not be too politically correct to say so. Instead,… Read more »
Years ago, I was taking semi-regular waitering shifts at a flash-in-the-pan brasserie in Vancouver. There was this one memorable customer, Mr. E., who bore a striking resemblance to the old Hollywood actor Omar Sharif. He would dine there once or twice a week, always taking the same booth near the window, and invariably ordering an… Read more »
From my early beginnings as a young introvert, the public library has always been a bit of a refuge. Years later, not much has changed, albeit with an additional affinity for endless hours spent scouring second-hand bookstores to add to my ever-growing “to-read” pile. From one bookworm to another, this column will be underscoring and… Read more »
Toronto is the capital of the province of Ontario, and it is Canada’s most populous city (and North America’s fourth-most populous, after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles.) The city hugs the western end of Lake Ontario. The area was frequently used by Indigenous peoples and, in a controversial purchase by the British,… Read more »
The meat of a matter, any matter, lies in what we decide truly counts. Values adjust to the times, are updated, and we find ourselves living perpetually in a changing society. Our inner psychological realm likewise morphs and evolves as we learn and grow; our brains are as permeable a membrane as an apple skin. … Read more »
Canada’s divorce rates are higher today than ever before. All of it is to the delight of the creators of Tinder and Bumble, who are laughing their way to the bank. Close behind them in line are the creators of Christian Mingle, Seeking Arrangements, and even Ashley Madison. Albeit, seeing Ashley Madison on that list… Read more »
From my early beginnings as a young introvert, the public library has always been a bit of a refuge. Years later, not much has changed, albeit with an additional affinity for endless hours spent scouring second-hand bookstores to add to my ever-growing “to-read” pile. From one bookworm to another, this column will be underscoring and… Read more »
Kathleen Hanna, of the post-punk dance band Le Tigre, in a song once sang (or, rather, spoke) “we favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape, because it has the impact of the unequivocal.” To paint with broad strokes, like mapping one’s identity onto this or that spectrum, is… Read more »
From my early beginnings as a young introvert, the public library has always been a bit of a refuge. Years later, not much has changed, albeit with an additional affinity for endless hours spent scouring second-hand bookstores to add to my ever-growing “to-read” pile. From one bookworm to another, this column will be underscoring and… Read more »