I admit to being way too ticklish. I also apparently have a funny bone embedded too close to the surface. Even in the most dour situations, I seem to be able to find something to giggle about. If that's a sign of immaturity or insensitivity, so be it. If it means you can't risk leaving me alone with people I should be trying to impress or who feel they're deserving of a certain modicum of respect, I understand your trepidations....

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There's a tendency in the media to paint those who hold to a religious faith as being rigid and humorless, dour to the point of fanaticism. And there's a lot about organized religions to give many people pause. As someone tallying the atrocities committed in the name of one God or another once quipped, "The one headline you'll never read is "Atheist Extremists Massacre Agnostic Enclave". All of...

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A couple of nights ago, the AC was blasting, the ball game was over and I still had most of a beer left, so I spun through the remote and found an old Elvis Presley movie, "Harum Scarum". Not one of his best. But then, Elvis wasn't really known for making good movies. Maybe "King Creole"… Still, when I was a kid, Elvis films were considered the ultimate date movie. They mostly preceded my own dating years, but my friends...

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On August 1st, 2011, an enchantingly beautiful tall ship bearing the equally enchanting name "Esmeralda" will enter Canadian waters to begin a two week visit to the cities of Victoria and Vancouver. Her four masts and 21 sails stand almost 160 feet above the water. Longer than a football field and carrying a crew of 390, she is the second largest sailing vessel still plying the oceans of the world. A training ship for the...

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The cardinal rule of advertising is to make the public aware of and interested in purchasing your client's product. By and large that's by making their products appear essential to your well-being and future happiness. We all want to deal with providers of goods and services who purport to respect us, deal in quality and take their business seriously. Oh, sure, from time to time one ad or another will have a little fun at...

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And not a bad film in the bunch...A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vim...

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It was a lovely Summer day here yesterday. So I took my Sheepdog down to the beach. She ran around for a little while. Splashed in the water. Then she started digging at something in the sand. I went to see what had gotten her attention and found what looked like a tiny silver gravy boat. But as I rubbed away some of the dirt, smoke began pouring from its spout. It wasn't a gravy boat at all. It was a tiny magic lamp. The...

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The last Space Shuttle launched this week. There was a time I dreamed of going into space, maybe even making it to the Moon or Mars. That once seemed like a very possible reality. Now it seems a little less likely. And somehow "Space Tourist" doesn't have the same ring to it as "Astronaut". Shortly after the launch, I heard that NASA was letting 3200 people go and that 25,000 will eventually lose...

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Last week, one of the guys who convinced me to start blogging, Denis McGrath, wrote a heartfelt piece on his more-or-less mothballed website, "Dead Things On Sticks" entitled "One More For A Good Cause: Why Censoring Summerworks Means No More Flashpoints". It was a passionate post decrying a recent denial of Federal funding for the Toronto "Summerworks" Theatre Festival. As Denis laid out the scenario, "Summerworks", an...

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Summer brings a lot of big movies to theatres. Movies with big stars and big explosions. And for the most part, Summer movie fare doesn't spend a lot of time telling complex stories or fleshing out multi-dimensional characters. But you still have to pay attention or you'll miss something. And that's a problem. Because Summer movies also attract big crowds. And the basic rule of thumb for big crowds seems to be -- the more...

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It's Canada Day! Our national celebration of being one of the best places on the planet and pretty much the official start of our summer, whether or not it has actually arrived. It's a day for hanging with friends and family, beer, BBQs, music and fireworks. A day we all set aside whatever differences we might have and admit we're pretty damn happy with one another. That's particularly noticeable this Canada Day over at the...

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