You never called to remind me. You didn't email or knock on my door. And as a result I missed watching Syracuse and Georgetown, leaving me to referee a massive meltdowny tantrum. Thanks. Thanks a lot.  •  “The Syracuse players sprinted off the court just as the fans rushed on. The players didn't …

Medievalists. Bubble market dictators. Heretics.

How can I adopt the intensity principle into my life so that I, too, can be a better Canadian in the new way:  •  At work, I will not promise to be more productive but when I do work, I promise to really really work, focusing on the really.  •  When losing weight, I will not eat less or exercise …

History is interesting stuff - we learn new bits about that truth everyday. I was after a bit of history the other day on my way back from Hamilton Friday when I thought I would see if I could find Britannia United, my father's first church after he got his collar when I was six or so, the year …

Here is a rare thing - Fernando Martinez, an 18 year old baseball player already established as one to watch out for:  •  “Martinez grew up in Rio San Juan, a fishing village on the Dominican’s north-central coast, where his father, Odalio Fernando Martinez, was a cattle farmer. He has three …

I haven't written something about not getting something internet related for a while...days at least. And, of all the things I do not get, I really do not get the Web 2.0 bubble:  •  “Deep-pocketed companies are now angling for a piece of the Web 2.0 action - a quest that already has yielded a …

I write this Thursday with no idea when I will be able to click the toggle from hide to unhide. One of my favorite things about my personal blog interface is the use of physical toggles and the other sorts of knobs and buttons one might see on a ship's console in a rerun of the 1970s episodes of …

Again, just short posts,  •  How can I bitch about stuff?  •  Somewhere a child cries.  •  I and the server masters still have no idea why there is a limit to the posting size. So I can only build this post a sentence at a time noting, for example, the interesting use - and decision to trigger …

It is odd these days to witness ethics and sport and perhaps crime collide when you are not talking about the NFL or Italian soccer. But that is why we  •  have Barry Bonds:  •  “"Let them investigate," he said. "Let 'em."  •  So began the San Francisco Giants' 2007 baseball season. This could be …

Maybe it is just that the Internet has filled up. I will check back later.

test  •  can i edit a test post?  •  yes, but not the other text I want to post.  •  Is it because it is about Barry Bonds?

Tom gave me one of my favorite moments in 2006: I walk into a bar/restaurant in another country and as I do the guy playing piano turns around and shouts "Hey! It's Al!". Tome sent out an email to let me know that he's on the 88's tomorrow night. Go wouldja:  •  “Hey! Those of you who didn't go …

This is great. I haven't bothered one moment worrying about whether Manny wants to be with the Red Sox this spring as the Yankees continue to be the best soap opera going. In addition to the Bernie Williams thing, we now have A-Rod v. Jeter II, the follow-up to last year's Sports Illustrated …

This Heritage Day is looking like 2004 with less snoozing:  •  2004 2005 2006  •  This year other public agencies like hospitals seem to be jumping on the bandwagon. Pray harder, ye who toil.

The fans go wild  •  Morton has re-established a ten point lead in the gripping Scottish League Second Division race after they win and Stranraer smokes second place Stirling Albion 0-2. Attentive readers will know that it has been four seasons now since they won the Third Division where they …

Would it have been too much to ask to have this published on one of the other six days of the week?  •  “Senior leaders of Al Qaeda operating from Pakistan have re-established significant control over their once-battered worldwide terror network and over the past year have set up a band of …

A boy can dream. A boy can dream a dream of skittles reinventing the lives of Canadians from coast to coast, becoming a new bond amongst our fractured regions, gathering families in new stadia and around the TV for Tuesday Night Northamptonshire Skittles in Canada broadcast on One, the TV network …

What did this week bring? Bitter cold and a real blizzard. Pitchers and catchers reported. I dreamed of spring. I thought of starting running after seeing me at 21. I still have not ordered my seeds even though I am four weeks away from mid-March when I could be planting them in the garden. I have …

They've even rented the bus according to The Globe. Maybe more than one bus. Wow. A fleet of bus and bus-like objects spreading over the land again to coax 2% to 5% of us to shift our vote. Mine is very shifty. What are the issues?  •  Is Harper really that good of a leader or do we live in a time …

The beginning of constitutional democracy as we know it - invented by a judge:  •  “That the people have an original right to establish, for their future government, such principles as, in their opinion, shall most conduce to their own happiness, is the basis on which the whole American fabric has …

I love it:  •  “With the apparent departure of Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera has become the senior Yankee in length of service. At the Yankees’ spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., he seemed to display a sense of mortality yesterday about his own playing career. Rivera, 37, regarded by many …

A = storm track. B = me.  •  The US says of a sort around eleven miles from here:  •  “Tonight...Cloudy with snow developing later this evening. Accumulation 2 to 4 inches. Not as cold with lows around zero. Northeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow near 100 percent. Wind chill values as low as …

...or at least the Edmonton Sun:  •  “If all this were simply continuing the Liberal tradition of troughing for the party faithful, the worst that could be said of the Conservatives is they're breaking their election promise to "do government better" than the Grits.  •  But in media interviews …

Red Sox pitchers and catchers report in  •  4 days 4 hr 3 min 11 sec...10...9...8...7...  •  Summer begins this weekend.

“Hot black elixer.  •  Canadian Tire machine.  •  Monday morning dawns.”

Interesting theological news this week about certain goings on at something called something like the Miracle Channel:  •  “At the heart of the debate are statements by on-air hosts during past fundraising drives. In one of the most controversial examples, a host told viewers in 2004 to cash in …

Spare a thought for our friend and sometimes commentator Andrew of Bound by Gravity who is looking at his website today and seeing this:  •  Looking at his source code it all seems to be from some place called "oxfordmoment.com" which has the following DNS registrant information:  •  “Capture the …

Good to see the Supreme Court of Canada confirming what has really been the case all along - failing to follow an order of the court is contempt of that court which can lead to jail time:  •  “Ex-spouses who cheat on their support payments could swiftly find themselves behind bars, the Supreme …

Not even in the middle of February yet and the excuses and perhaps the long knives are being taken out for an airing:  •  “Welcome to Toronto John Thomson, Tomo Ohka and Victor Zambrano — three unheralded free-agent pitchers who are all coming off various arm injuries from last season, but have …

In the '80s I had no problem supporting the position the then Conservative leaders Mulroney and Clark took in lecturing and pushing aggressively for change in places like South Korea and South Africa. It is nice then, even if with his wobbly understanding of constitutionality at home, to see Mr …

That is what we were told before - all these rules and stuff are just some constitutional thing or another. Now we learn this:  •  “"They can’t (ignore it)," Rodriguez said. "It’s almost launching a coup d’état — to say: 'I don’t care what the Commons says; I don’t care what the Senate says; I …

What can I say? It is mid-February which ought to be named something else. Like bleaksville or un-summer. Nearby Oswego - where we go - is getting hammered with snow this week (over 80 inches so far this week) and we sit north of them hoping the snow band doesn't flick north again.  •  I have …

The Globe is all a flutter this morning that we may be days or weeks away from an early Federal election call. Seeing as I love elections of any sort this would be a great thing. Sure we would only have another minority government of some kind but apparently that is all Canadians are still …

Message for Hans. The Heuvleton Bulldogs won last night. Woot.  •  It's that kind of sports day. There is a gap between the end of football season and the beginning of baseball season. Sure there are seasons for European soccer, NHL and NBA but they are not doing it for me. I had to drop the …

[Ed.: At least that is what the little voices tell me when I dance.]  •  But this is more like it - no BB guns to be seen anywhere in this story:  •  “The vast machine, which covers the area of five football pitches, generates intense light beams to probe matter down to the molecular and atomic …

This puts a real dent in my hopes for peace through space travel:  •  “Ms. Nowak, a married mother of three who police believe was in a love triangle with a fellow astronaut, was charged with trying to abduct a woman she saw as her romantic rival, authorities said. Ms. Nowak faces charges …

Deep Thoughts On A Dull Game.  •  “Bearhead Guy: I'm just happy to be here.  •  Not Bearhead Guy: Me, too.  •  Bearhead Guy: I'll feel worse when it becomes clear that Grossman hasn't got a clue.  •  Not Bearhead Guy: Yea, the Colts are here for a championship ring. He's here to see if he can …

Tyrannies are not great hot beds of the giggles. Sure there were those in the dictatorships of, say, South American junta, Nazi Germany and South Africa under apartheid who got the best seats and access to champaign but overall they were not really known as fun houses. That is the problem facing …

OK, I see it playing out as a mud bowl and Chicago winning. I see Manning holds his head in his hands by the end and we are unclear as to whether it is the rain or tears. Likely this now assures a Colts win.

It's Brewfest Day - CNY brewfest that is. Brewfestia. I trust you got all the Brewfestia presents you wanted and that you'll be singing all your favorite Brewfestia carols. Back for Superbowl Sunday.  •  Update: The results are in.

Another gentle dawn. Another month.  •  Friday this week finds us in a full fledged debate on who is most green. I have no idea why as I have resigned myself to ecological disaster a few short centuries after I am gone, sometime after the Venusians get us all and align themselves with our cats …

What a pleasant week it has been without the refer logs leading me to the reviews of the whacked complaining of rudeness and telling lies about lying, with strangers making unwelcome accusations against each other of no interest to anyone. How nice to have the conviviality of sport and group work …

I think I care less today. After all it is February and next month is March and that is the month spring begings. Isn't it just too late in the season to determine the season's winner? That is one respect where the CFL makes sense. It and baseball are played within the year. There isn't much left …