I never planned to have four eyes. I was fine with two, unaided eyeballs, squinting into the distance like an overacting extra in a Clint Eastwood movie. But genetics, as always, had other ideas. By the time I was in junior high, it was absolutely clear my eyesight was perfectly normal. The problem was...
Read More »

For thousands of years, maybe millions even, men have drilled holes in frozen lakes and reeled in the tasty bounty that lies below. Ice fishing, it’s called. It’s a strange pastime practiced by a strange breed of people, and even I from time to time feel its pull. So it was on a recent...
Read More »

The news stings like a fastball in the palm of your hand. The Guelph Royals may hang up their cleats for the 2011 season? Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League has long dropped and added teams like some teenagers go through boyfriends. Teams have come and gone in Cambridge, St. Thomas, Niagara Falls, Waterloo, Windsor, Stratford...
Read More »

Guelph has known growing pains before. But when it comes to our swelling population, it’s remarkable how dense we can still be. Two high-rise projects that will change the character of our neighbourhoods are getting a less than warm welcome from some residents. To some at City Hall, this must be incredibly frustrating. People...
Read More »

When is a dead person not a dead person? Apparently, that can be the case when they’re part of a crime scene investigated by the Guelph Police Service. I’m talking, of course, about this strange story that’s been unfolding in the newspaper over the past few days. Some background. When the police were called...
Read More »

My grandmother could teach a course in living simply. Nothing is wasted at her house. The water from boiled potatoes makes the base for another soup. She doesn’t need a fancy stereo when her 30-year-old clock radio brings the CBC in just fine. And although she could afford to eat whatever she wants, she...
Read More »

You’ve tried horoscopes and gypsies. Financial planners and Harvard economists. And yet none of them have been able to accurately predict the future. My only question is this: Why didn’t you come to me sooner? Columnists have been accurately predicting the future since cavemen first wore mullets. It’s kind of what we do. So,...
Read More »

It’s so crazy, it just might work. The brand-new Guelph Centre for Innovation was announced this month with a lofty goal from the chamber of commerce of creating 250 start-up companies in the next three years. While your first reaction might be that someone has had too much rum and eggnog to make a...
Read More »

Ah, Christmas. Can’t you just hear the sleigh bells ringing and that distinct sound of Visa and MasterCard executives lighting their cigars with $100 bills? Yes. It’s that special time of year when we forget the recent recession, ignore our growing debt loads and head off to the mall to spend like it’s our...
Read More »

When I heard about the hard times facing our beloved Christmas tree industry, I did what any good, patriotic consumer would do. I bought two trees. I just wish I could say it was on purpose. I know, I know, what about global warming and all that – but you could consider this my...
Read More »