Columns

From Where I Sit – Listen Up

Before my time, and before the first television sets found their ways into our homes in the 1950s, radio was king. Guglielmo Marconi’s invention of the radio in Italy in 1895 led to more advances in the use of the technology. By 1906, Canadian inventor, Reginald Fessenden did the first public broadcast. Canada’s first national… Read more »

The Mindful Bard – Showdown!

Book: Showdown! Authors: Rob Kristofferson and Simon Orpana (Graphic Novel) “Workers in there are still afraid.” “What they’re afraid of losing we’d all stand a better chance of gaining if we stood together.” -from Showdown! Showdown! is a small piece of a huge puzzle. It distills the story of the North American labour movement by… Read more »

The Creative Spark! – Foil Fear with Fun

Do you get spooked with public speaking? Then add color with comedy. Why? A smiling audience fends off fear. Given 24 hours, you can make a one-minute comedy act, according to David Nihill in his book Do You Talk Funny? That one minute can slingshot you into public-speaker stardom. And what other prizes come with… Read more »

Music Review – Jas Patrick

Musician: Jas Patrick EP: Inky Ovine Inky Ovine is the third EP from Nashville singer/songwriter Jas Patrick, and every music lover needs to check out this hidden gem. Although Jas’s music is typically considered rock, soul, blues, and Americana, he also tosses in elements of alternative, gypsy-punk, reggae, flamenco, folk, country, and even jazz. Jass… Read more »

Dear Barb – Ch-ch-ch-Changes

Dear Barb: My mother and I have not always gotten along and now that we are both getting older I really wish things were different between us. I love her, but I’ve been so involved in my own life that I never think about what she is going through. As my kids are growing up… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Hug a Farmer

Harvest 2016 is now officially a shit-show. A couple of weeks ago we got one and a half inches of rain. That in itself is not a good thing when the ideal condition for combining fields of grain is hot, dry weather. An extended run of several days of sunny, frost-free, dew-free weather allows farmers… Read more »

Dear Barb – Uncomfortable Circumstances

Dear Barb: My girlfriend and I have been together two years. We get along great and have a lot of fun together. I thought I wanted to spend my life with her, but I’m having second thoughts. we’re in our late twenties and, I get we both have a past, but I thought we’d discussed… Read more »

The Creative Spark! – Audition for an A

Would you wear a shirt that said, “I Eat Kraft”? I wouldn’t, but I would audition for a No-Name commercial. Even more disturbing, I tapped into a book called How to Audition for TV Commercials by W. L. Jenkins to give you, yes, study ideas. You see, the mission of The Creative Spark! is to… Read more »

The Study Dude – Genius Genes

There is nothing more that The Study Dude wants for you than to know that no gene for genius exists. You’ve got the same green-light for egg-headedness as Galileo. Well, in these articles, as The Study Dude, I’ll try to give you the study tips you need to help make your learning easier. I’ll also… Read more »