It is interesting to follow Rob's work with NPR and my local NCPR and have noted his noting of the success of MLB.com as an example to NPR. I got an email this evening from MLB.com which made me go yea!  •  “Dear MLB.com Gameday Audio Subscriber:  •  LIVE baseball is back for the 2006 regular …

The second exhibit in the gallery of the many moods of Coco Crisp.

Today is really the last day of winter. It is the last day like Labour Day is the last day of summer. The weather is not necessarily going to tell you but its days are numbered even with the sharp spell we face for a few days.  •  The days lengthen. Somewhere in the month that begins tomorrow …

As the new ditigal TV world starts to nudge above the horizon, it is good to see the CTRC do something useful short of the dream of its own extinguishment. As some point before I leave this mortal coil, I may be able to buy cable TV without the 34 channels I never never never watch:  •  “As the …

While the subject matter of the moment is very serious, this description at the BBC of a decision by Taiwan is like something out of the parrot sketch from Monte Python:  •  “The US State Department said on Monday that it would take Mr Chen at his word that his latest move meant no change to the …

The first exhibit in the gallery of the many moods of Coco Crisp.

One of the reasons radio is so good is radio is extremely cheap:  •  “The transmission equipment, costing just over $1, may be the cheapest in the world. But the local people definitely love it. On a balmy morning in India's northern state of Bihar, young Raghav Mahato gets ready to fire up his …

Gorgeous photos from India and the festival celebrating Bahubali.

What to do when your surplus reaches 10 billion? If it is in Federal coffers everyone says it's not government money - give it to me, pay the debt, do this, do that. But when it is in Alberta's hands it is not ours. It doesn't really seem to be Albertans given the lack of public use the windfall …

“"Why are the children dressed as devils, Daddy?"  •  "I don't know, dear."  •  "Why is Satan playing a huge harp that has a dragon head spitting fire?"  •  "I can't tell you, honey. It's Olympic art."”  •  Formaggio.  •  Update: Ricky Martin lip-syncing just tied it all up with a big red bow.

The Rukster has reminded me of my early steps into bluegrass. I wrote a brief summary of my place in my pickin' and grinnin' edjification:  •  “I am following a similar path in bluegrass discovery, Peter, and I can heartily recommend String Fever on NCPR Thursdays 4 to 6 your time. It's a local …

Number 8 is off with Marie Jose as Bunny is off to the desert for a week. Igs is not getting the respect he deserves being made junior to Jack Sprat himself. No props for Slats.

Via Myrick, the Newf of Shanghai, a little toy to play with Einstein and his chalkboard.

How odd:  •  “My own problem with the blogosphere is not that it's selling out to the mainstream, but that most of it is spectacularly boring. The dominant quality is tedium: writers without editors, fact-checkers or paying subscribers to keep them in check. As Butterworth succinctly puts it: "If …

Nice to hear Newfoundland's Brad Gushue say he was acting like a "big sook" when getting all teary in a CBC interview after winning the Olympic gold. John "No Relation" Gushue has more...but I do wonder how you could tell that they had won if you were walking down Water Street in St. John's last …

Now is the day. Now is the hour. Chat!  •  There is no link to it yet but CBC radio is reporting that the Harper government has already unilaterally cancelled the child care funding agreement with Ontario by sending a letter. The letter apparently cites the lack of Parliamentary ratification of …

An appointment ripe for Frank magazine if ever there was one:  •  “Fresh faces to the party were intentionally not assigned critics' roles, according to a party spokeswoman, although rumoured Liberal leadership candidate and Harvard scholar Michael Ignatieff will assume an associate's role under …

The ever excellent John Gushue (no relation) notes today is the 383rd birthday of Samuel Pepys, the diarist and Minister of the English government in the 1660s. He also notes the live blogging of his famous diary. Yesterday, 344 years ago, Sammy had a bad day but one that interestingly illustrates …

Every blogger is a stats nerd. But there are never enough. The other day I reviewed a 133 page monthly stats report at work. There were more stats that I could have seen and thought "that's useful" then never actually used them. Stats I want added include:  •  who visited here yesterday/this month …

Here is my half-baked unified theory essay based largely on idle car driving and long meeting daydreaming. Entire chunks could be rewritten and reversed, deleted even. I am too lazy to edit it any more and I am note convinced myself but, thought I, what the heck. I'm posting it for comment but …

The Right Way:  •  The Wrong Way:

It is a bit odd to have no idea what is going on. After so much yip-yappery, still silencio. So it is interesting to read this in the Globe this morning:  •  “A week and a half ago, William Stairs, who had just been appointed communications director in the Prime Minister's Office, met Stephen …

There are days when you wake up after a 16 hour day at work and all you want to do is post cut-and-paste chunks from the New York Times and say...LOOK AT THIS! Especially when you have a long soppy essay half written not ready for posting, maybe not ever ready, about the unified theory of the …

I once had a drift summer job at the Law Reform Commission of Canada. Others more diligent worked there, including a lawyer named, if I recall correctly, John Barnes who wrote texts on sports law in Canada. I was immediately jealous. Who'd a thunk of such a thing? Cornering the market in the one …

Pre-season baseball writing is a funny thing. It is about what was as a means to gauge what will be. And there is essentially six weeks of the stuff. Stuff like this from the Boston Herald:  •  “After going 9-1 with a 3.33 ERA during the first three months, Clement went a dismal 4-5 with a 6.05 …

Just back from an international hoodie acquisition jaunt (is there any better word on a hoodie than Oswego?) and I read again of the UK's new found trauma with people keeping their ears cozy:  •  “Kay Parncutt was challenged over the "hoodie" - clothing often linked with thugs - at a Tesco store …

This was one of the greatest sports events I have ever seen live. I have seen Canada blow out the USA in international hockey, various Soviet touring teams, kid Hasek stone kid Gretzky in 1987 in a Canada Cup pre-tourney game. I have seen Lemieux twice. I saw a Red Sox batter put the ball over the …

A moment Heuveltonian.

After that unholy of unholies - the 9:00 am Saturday meeting - we are off to the North Country of New York for a couple of days. Off to see the St. Lawrence v. Yale game in Canton at the Appleton Arena and then off to loverly Oswego to see if we can find some snow. Real snow. The kind of snow that …

Of course it is good. Any competition which has only had two contestants in every championship game since 1990 is not a good competition. So it is good that Sweden has taken down one of those two giants. But Canada's team has already beaten Sweden 8-1 in this tourney, though not against the …

Stumped no more. Shoeless Jones left a very wise if brief comment:  •  “There is more to life than the three Bs; beer, baseball and bullshit!”  •  That is true. Friday has become the highlight of the week chez nous for the inexplicable reason (say that like Daffy Duck) of the mere use of bullets …

Is that what happens? I have sat here in front of this screen and I can't think of anything to write. Is this the sign of a contented person or the end of imagination? I blame the Olympics. I listened to sports radio from NYC yesterday making fun of them. Apparently the ratings are through the …

$2.9 million USD at auction but for you guys...let's just call it even. Just punt the cheese when the mood strikes you now and again maybe.

Not to mention pops, skips and scratches on the record told you whose copy was playing.

I like Roger. I think it is great that he is going to pitch in the World Baseball Classic. There is, of course, the problem that there is only one game that really matters - the US v. the Dominican Republic. There is a very good chance, despite the masses of talent on the powerhouse US team that …

Remember how he was there all the time in the election? Making us feel like he could smile and wave and knew we were out here? I was thinking about how Stevie has gone silent even while his MP roasted a bit in the first week of his mandate and the Globe has been thinking about it as well …

I have a very hard time swallowing this:  •  “..."click fraud" could still prove to be a major challenge for Internet giants such as Google Inc., which make their money through search advertising. The concern that people fraudulently click on sites to drive up a competitor's ad costs or to boost …

I got a great email from Donna in Winnipeg, a fine hyber-blogger, this morning about CKDU, Dalhousie's (of Halifax NS's) radio station where me and my buddy Rob did the show Bob The Dog from 1981 to 1983:  •  “...I wanted to let you know that CKDU is finally going high power tomorrow, Valentine's …

Funny how the yapping classes jump all over the Europeans when news like the UN oil-for-food stuff points fingers in their direction. But why are the same folk not as outraged at the news coming from Australia's oil-for-food inquiry that that great pal of those whose pals are great is mired in the …

In the Boston Herald today:  •  “Sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m. today, the Sox’ equipment truck departs Fenway Park for Fort Myers, for the start of spring training. The 18-wheeler is expected to arrive at City Of Palms Park at midweek, a couple of days before pitchers and catchers report on …

Rob, who drew me into this gig of his as a volunteer, points out a very interesting phenomena: NPR is expanding:  •  “While many newsrooms are shedding reporters—from the New York Times to the Dallas Morning News—NPR is one of the few places an experienced journalist can hope to get a job.  •  "I …

When I was in undergrad, one friends always remarked how February flew by like a bat outta hell (forgive - it was the Meatloaf era) and should be taken as a harbinger that essays would soon be late, exams taken and the term over. It was an oddly uncheery wee thought then when, for some unknown …

I haven't been posting as many photos as I used to of Kingston so I was happy to fine these three in the files of the new outdoor rink behind City Hall in Kingston.

Thinking about the children. It's all about the children:  •  “The Class A Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League say that if youth baseball leagues across New England change the name of a team from the Yankees to the Spinners, Lowell would pay for new uniforms. In a message on the Spinners …

I went to Kings like him and went when his son did but I also went to Kings with the NDP leader who ran the bar, too, and one of the move-y and shake-y NDP members mom's went to school with my mom...in Scotland...and me and him later, too. So I pay attention to NS politics even though I moved away …

Even though I use Gmail, I write nothing of any real consequence so I don't really care about how Lord Goog churns what is there. But like I would let the ultimate "mega-it-thing" get its hands on my hard drive. But apparently I am worrying my silly little head:  •  “"We think this will be a very …

Apparently the Great Sulk has begun in the new PMO and the small circle of others it acknowledges:  •  “Former Tory cabinet minister Garth Turner (Halton) - who was defeated in 1993 and returned to the House of Commons last month - wrote on his website he "came face-to-face with the party machine …

It's here again. Why does this work? Why do you demand bullet points on Friday but separate posts the rest of the week?  •  Update: New Canadian hero!  •  Update #2: BTW, if anyone suggests that the economy was not strong at the end of 2005, before the Tories, think again. High dollar and exports …

A bridge in Turin...apparently.  •  I will get sucked up. I will watch too much TV. I will care a bit about short-track speed skating as I do for three days ever four years. Luge, too, even if the doubles still make me uncomfortable.  •  Athletes may be uncomfortable, too. Because in Italy if you …

I have mentioned Brian before. Our sometime commentator, has served in Iraq fighting the paralegal fight and receiving the borscht he more than deserved.  •  Brian is now in training as a military journalist and is blogging that, too.

It was particularly fine today.

...but, boy oh boy, do people love finding fault with the new guys:  •  “By contrast, Mr. Harper struck the correct image in the campaign. It appeared he had gained a genuine sense of the country and its people. But with one foul stroke -- his cabinet choices -- he abandoned that good sense. Power …

The New York Times has a good article this morning re-evaluating the concept of Moneyball:  •  “"Moneyball" extolled the talents of Beane, portraying him as superior to other teams' general managers. Lewis celebrated Beane for his ability to produce winning teams with small payrolls, but Terry …

Up too late watching the Grammy broadcast, listening to Christine Aguilera's voice writhe through a song-like thing and wondering how many degrees of separation there was between that voice that never really touches on a note and that of Mary Margaret O'Hara's. The high school marching band with …

This is what I like about playing sports and probably just about playing generally. There are moments. The moment just before the ball gets to your head and you are beyond conviction that it will drill into the back of the net and make the highlight reel even though it never does for you. Like the …

Are these really the guys who were running the country?

Ok - not mayhem but sorta like that feeling when Elmer Fudd get wacked on the head and goes yuddily-yuddily-yuddily-yuddily... as the little stars float around his head. To review:  •  Jean Charest says don't be touching my deal, Stevie.Don says - but there's no real deal past March 2006.David …

Good Lord. At least they are honest about not really being...shall we say...on point:  •  “So Stompin' Tom is gone, and so are the old grainy family photos. Instead of looking back at the fond memories, this year's P.E.I. tourism campaign will look at how spending time on the Island can be a …

Further to last year's discussions of the communications crimes of treason and sedition, it is nice to see the English Courts using the larger gauge stick in relation to the crime of incitement:  •  “A British jury Tuesday convicted firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri of inciting followers …

What a difference a day makes. It's like 1992 all over again with conservative unhappy with conservative and lots of lashing out here and there about what it all means and what is going to happen.  •  So what is the up side? We'll more than taking nerve, Harper's cabinet displays some guts. Me, I …

Following up on last week, funny how a pledge to honour the first year of an agreement now works out to honouring it for about seven weeks:  •  “He said he will end the current national child-care funding deal with the provinces effective March 31.”  •  Don has pointed out that this is in the fine …

The days events are best summed up by Bob at Let It Bleed:  •  “IF ...in May 2005 you were OPPOSED to Belinda Stronach crossing the floor to the Liberals  •  THEN ...in February 2006 you should be OPPOSED to David Emerson crossing the floor to the Conservatives...”  •  There is of course more so …

Once again, a study of the obvious is released:  •  “The study found that in young adults, activity in the area of the brain associated with tasks that require concentration (memory, for instance) goes up when called upon, while activity in other regions linked to a resting state (such as thinking …

The Phantom Observer has done a masterful job with the latest issue of the Red Ensign Standard, a group of which I am proud to be a early adopting member though only an editor once. Go have a read of some interesting writers many of which are, admittedly, to the right of where I stand but who try …

I enjoyed the game. I usually don't. But I might have enjoyed it for improper reasons.  •  I like a punting duel which the first quarter of the game basically was. Holding position until the quarterbacks figure out what was going on. It was like a CFL game between Hamilton and Winnipeg in early …

I wasn't paying attention and I've already missed the pre-pre-game show for Super Bowl Extra Large. I hope the pre-warm-up-show is still on the other channel.  •  Predictions? The team I pick will lose. That makes it Pittsburg. Jerome Bettis, however, will win MVP for guys with guts everywhere. My …

This is how this world ends. [Don't worry that I am thinking like this this Sunday morning - blame the halfcaff.] But how nice of the free market to solve the problem I am having with spam virus free emailing. See, it must be a problem because it lacks something...payment to the overlords who rule …

We watched The Return of the Pink Panther last night and I was quite interested to not that, being a 70s comedy, the setting was in part a Middle Eastern military dictatorship. A right giggle ensued everytime the murderous secret police and their henchment piled in and out of the tiny Fiat. They …

8:30 pm on rainy February and I am in the last weeks of my forty-second year. What better time to participate in a me-me.  •  “  •  A. Four Jobs I have Had:  •  1. Logging Road Logpile Repiler in NS backwoods  •  2. Bouncer in London, Ontario  •  3. English Teacher in Poland  •  4. Wholesale Cut …

Not quite the crack of noon but Saturday sleep-in is a valuable part of my 40s. A brief glimpse back to the days of singlehood, childlessness as Tom Waits described:  •  “I've been sleeping until the crack of noon  •  Midnight howling at the moon  •  And I've been going out when I wanna coming …

Oh goodie. Another Friday chat. Doesn't make the week go fast knowing there will be Friday chat every Friday. Don't you sit around on Tuesday daydreaming half the workday away thinking...three days to Friday chat. Doesn't make it seem that your life is slipping away far too fast like sand through …

Hah! The new newest planet is also bigger than the old newest planet:  •  “An icy, rocky world reported last year to be orbiting the Sun in the distant reaches of the Solar System really is bigger than Pluto, scientists say. New observations of the object, which goes by the designation 2003 UB313 …

We have become so used to these warnings about computer viruses, this one set to strike tonight at midnight has not really met with the hysteria it might have just a few years ago despite its promise of mayhem:  •  “Computer security firms are bracing themselves as the moment approaches when the …

During the recent election, I asked a few times about the existing Federal child care funding and thought I was told that it would remain in place, though conservative voices were pretty quiet on the point. It now seems will not remain in place and certain folk are already unhappy:  •  “Quebec …

For an old school radio nerd like me, getting the chance to join other listeners to give feed back to the staff at NCPR yesterday was quite the thing. Well loved by its fan base, the station is apparently one of the best rural stations in the NPR system. It was interesting having come across the …

Here is a bit of good news following the Tory win:  •  “Support for sovereignty dropped in Quebec in the immediate aftermath of the Conservative election victory that included a breakthrough in the province, according to a new poll. The poll by the Montreal-based CROP firm for Montreal La Presse …