This past weekend, we saw hail, snow and rain all leading towards flooding and power outages. Many people are glad they haven't changed their snow tires yet and I had to drag out my snow boots again. Considering this is mid-April, I am more than a little miffed at Mother Nature. I am okay with […]
The world has lost one of the most brilliant modern minds, Stephen Hawking. Hawking was a world renowned theoretical physicist who sought to bring science to the people. He wrote books, appeared on television shows and had a movie made about his life recently. Neil de Grasse Tyson tweeted "His passing has left an intellectual vacuum […]
Winter is still upon us! All the groundhogs, pigs and in the Maritimes a lobster couldn't decide when winter is going to end, so I am assuming it is here for a while. To help me get through the cleaning off my car, shoveling my sidewalk and slower drives to work I find myself listening […]
This time of year, everyone is worrying about sticking to their New Year's resolutions (which with luck, will stick around longer than a few days), but there is something else to be thinking about. January is Alzheimer's Awareness Month here in Canada. This can be an extremely difficult disease to watch a loved one go […]
It has been announced officially that the fifth in line for the Royal throne in the United Kingdom is engaged. I imagine some people the world over are weeping over their lost chance to marry into the royal family. This announcement has also created buzz because the prince's fiancee is a divorcee and an American. […]
Over twenty years ago, readers the world over met Lyra Belacqua, daemons, noble polar bears and Jordan College, a parallel of our own Oxford University. We followed Lyra and her adventures through Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, Lyra's Oxford, Once Upon A Time In The North and The Collectors. Now, Pullman's newest book, La Belle Sauvage, […]
I am not sure when it happened, but it seems the fall season is not marked so much by when the leaves change colour and children go back to school, but when the world is subjected to pumpkin spice in everything. I am not saying that I do not enjoy pumpkin pie and I have […]
It is sad to say that summer is coming to an end again. Signs of this include back to school ads everywhere, Halloween candy in the grocery stores and the signs for the Canadian National Exhibition (August 18 – September 4). However, this is not all sad news as many authors have new books that […]
Warm weather is finally upon us and reading outside in the sun on the beach is summer tradition… or on a patio, or in a backyard, whatever you enjoy. Beach-read booklists are very popular, since many of us love to read while at the beach. This is when we give ourselves permission to read maybe lighter, […]
Last summer it was all about capybaras from High Park and today it's deer trapped in a Scarborough plaza. What makes this story unique is that the family has grown from two to three members with a fawn joining them on Wednesday. This is great reminder that Toronto does include wild animals, including deer, and […]