I am not exactly a candidate for NRA membership but this bit of news about shutting down a Toronto university shooting range with a perfect track record smacks heavily of something very smelly:  •  “While news of the closing came to light recently, the university made the decision months ago …

Who knew?  •  “The humble office printer can damage lungs in much the same way as smoke particles from cigarettes, according to a team of Australian scientists. An investigation of a range of models showed that almost a third emit potentially dangerous levels of toner into the air. ”  •  Quick …

As discussed in the spring, we have a neighbourhood garden rat feeding off the bounty of various well maintained compost piles. Don't believe the "no meat, no pests" stuff - they are branching out into vegetarianism. Or rather we did have such a beast. Yesterday, the snap of the trap took him from …

Some days it's hard to find a story that will please and inform Hans. For all I know, he's on vacation or in a white painted ward somewhere for people with internet addiction but my role here is clear: make sure Hans gets a story a day. But the dog days of summer can be tough in terms of fodder if …

If last year's trip to the Carrier Dome taught me anything, it is not the best opponent that makes the best game but the best match in an opponent. Which means the one you beat in overtime. So which is the most likely home game to give the best experience?  •  “Fri, Aug 31 - Washington  •  Sat …

So we finally settled on a five day zip around Lake Ontario. I had been thinking Lake Erie but I think the land of the weck and Wegmans needs further examination. I have to do some heavy negotiations to qualify for the garbage plate. Plenty of consideration of ales and lagers, however, with Finger …

A fairly alarming report in the NYT this morning detailing how the Iraqi government appears to have little interest in getting control of the rebuilding being undertaken there:  •  “ In one of the most recent cases, a $90 million project to overhaul two giant turbines at the Dora power plant in …

Just like that it's gone - the thing you wait for all year. No one waits for August. That is like waiting for the weekend to come so you can sit on Sunday afternoon thinking about the workweek to come.  •  Big Toe Update: really - big toe.  •  Update: Ben points out why Hillary is very likely …

So what do you do with cheats? Fix the record says Curt Schilling:  •  “Schilling also had some choice things to say about Jose Canseco, the former Major League All-Star who has freely admitted to using steroids, and who detailed his usage in a 2005 book. "Jose Canseco admitted he cheated his …

For a blogger of some heritage relative to the medium - yes, I am now part of Canada's blogging heritage being well into my fifth year of it - I hope I have no sense of my own importance. Sure, I did once...but that was 2004 when bloggers were going to rule the planet, leading through words alone …

Law suits can be fun and none moreso that over claims that someone who has become wealthy based on an idea or a widget or some such thing stole that thing. The Facebook claims, however, take it to a new level of corporate intrigue:  •  “ In September 2004, the ConnectU trio filed a claim that …

These group projects don't always have to be so stodgy. Why can't we lighten up and just tell each other what is going on this summer. This seems to be what we are up to:  •  Canoeing. I think I am terrified of lakes now. All I want to do is hug the shoreline. There are animals in lakes you know …

The good news is that Boston is up by seven and a half and won their games over the weekend against the White Sox supported by 29 runs. The bad news is that the Yankees woke up against the lowly Tampa Bay hitting 21 in yesterday's games. The Sox face Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Baltimore as well as …

It was a fantastic time except I had to assist a crank (fan) after a keener and later mortified muffin (person of little experience and skill) let a bat fly into the stands. All is well and you can rest assured that the ER at the Samaritan Medical Center is dandy and the Sacketsonians are …

Some neato happening tomorrow as a small group of vehicles will leave Kingston filled with guys who are going to play a game in another country that they have never played before. Heck, even though we've had a batting practice, all nine players have not even been in the same room together yet. But …

Another week is gone. It was a good one except for the Red Sox starting their August collapse a little early. In other sporting news, apparently there was a move to press gang the Chilean U20 soccer team for the Hudson Bay fleet last evening. And I play vintage base ball this weekend in another …

Just kidding.  •  Please provide your ideas for any party to make a change, capture the national imagination, bust out of these doldrums. Maybe the Greens should come right out and promote attacking Yemen. Maybe the Tories should promote a useless infrastructure project in a dumb place like the …

All my big talk about the Sox is just a front. I know that. You know that. Sooner or later the giant awakes and begins the march to October. Did it happen last night?  •  “There was an urgency to last night’s game, the Yankees said, because of the opportunity it presented. They were facing Roy …

Dozing off at the end of the evening, I dreamed that there was something flitting in the blue glow of the TV light. Then I realized there was no dream as I wasn't sleeping. We had a bat trapped in the house and it was down here in the basement. So here are my bat removal tips gleaned from seven …

There is a funny thing about the word ridiculous. Anyone that uses it in serious discussion makes me think of Don Rickles. Nothing in a serious discussion is "ridiculous"...yet...  •  “Prime Minister Stephen Harper defended his government's decision to pursue free-trade talks with Colombia despite …

The thing I find strange about this is not that it happens but that it doesn't happen all the time...or that we do not recognize it happening:  •  “...John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market...used a fictional identity on the Yahoo message boards for nearly eight years to assail …

This, of course, is the real question, the real angle on the Conrad Black trial - the Mrs.:  •  “As the judge in Conrad M. Black’s fraud trial began reading through the verdict in the criminal fraud prosecution against him last Friday — finding Mr. Black guilty on four counts — Mr. Black’s wife …

Another three games in the books and the Red Sox are still holding on to twenty games over .500 and a double digits lead in the AL East. Last night's game was very entertaining as have been the last two against the Jays. It was good to see Wakefield beat Halladay on Tuesday and even though …

What is it about the internet that brings out the prophets and the blind? There is some much that is so hard to swallow that you are amazed by the smallest acknowledgment of how things really are:  •  “Social networks are enjoying their moment of ubiquity right now. A couple of years ago, it …

Can there be 100 comments without ry? That was the question I asked myself last night. We have settled into a kind rapport even with our differences. Is this middle age? Yesterday at the beer blog, I cited a post that I wrote in October 2003. That's a long time ago. When do blogs hit middle age …

This never happened with a Sony Walkman:  •  “Wearing the device that is said to put “1,000 songs in your pocket” during a thunderstorm may have sent millions of volts surging through the head of an unlucky Vancouver jogger. The man, who played in a church orchestra and was listening to religious …

Humid night. Bad sleep. What to write about. I write this to write every morning, you know. That is about it. Waking up habit. Things could be worse. If what the not-convicted two in Britain are right, the face another trial while they try to explain how they were tricked by the others into being …

I wonder what the real risk is? If I was in Afghanistan, would I be pleased with the huge outlay for military stuff that will never be used?  •  “"Canada has a choice when it comes to defending our sovereignty in the Arctic; either we use it or we lose it," Harper said. "And make no mistake this …

Benny's just doing a great job to reach out and make the world a better place:  •  “The Vatican said Tuesday that Christian denominations outside the Roman Catholic Church are not full churches of Jesus Christ. A 16-page document, prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which …

There's that reference to the flying of the Red Ensign that I might have been thinking about last Friday - the Harper government decided to fly it at Vimy year round despite that being against the rules of protocol:  •  “Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after lobbying by some veterans groups …

Well this is interesting. Sometime ago I signed up for ReviewMe, a paid review service over at A Good Beer Blog and once in a while have received a small but useful amount for a short and somewhat useful review of a web site. I got an email last night for this web site called Sports Picks and I …

How will I remember this week? How will it sit in the past? I loaded and unloaded a canoe by myself this week. I bottled a hefeweizen. I ate well-roundedly and got a decent amount of sleep. If a nuclear holocaust were to come and I survive like those few in A Boy and His Dog or even Mad Max this …

This is cool. My buddy Dave went to see them in the Yukon in a park. But that was sort of dullsville on this trip:  •  “Any rock star who won't get out of bed for less than 10,000 people should ponder the counter-example of the White Stripes. The duo from Detroit has played free shows for small …

...and not teaching them to kill us? Sure we need a better statement of purpose being enunciated by the government (a point well made by Ben here) but this makes it very difficult to see how I could vote Jack in the near future:  •  “NDP Leader Jack Layton told a news conference today that Canada …

Interesting discussion in the NYT this morning about sentencing triggered by the commuting of Libby's sentence. It appears that people are treating it not like a one-off for a political hack but an act of governance which actually has some substantive value in a broader context:  •  “The Libby …

Via the Flea, meet John Smeaton.

My favorite blog these days is one from London about beer. Stonch has only been writing for a few months but his style is cheery and knowledgeable. Like me, he brews and hunts out new styles but unlike me he is much more in the centre of things beery. He also has a great eye for the photographic …