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GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER IN NORTHERN VERMONT? |
 JOHNNY MUSN'T GRUMBLE
Posted 10.11.08
JOHN MAHONEY
One more reason for Yanks to hate Canucks.
CAN SOMEBODY SAY GRACE?
Posted 10.10.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Let us pray: Thanks for the turkey, thanks for the mussels,
Thanks for the sprouts that came from Brussels,
Thanks for the peas, the corn, the spuds,
Thanks for the beer, both Coors and Buds.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
STOP AND GO, OR ROUNDABOUT?
Posted 10.07.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Stoplights are a significant cause of stop-and-start automotive pollution. They cut traffic into chunks, which move down the avenues as blocks, rather than promoting a steady stream of traffic. Why go backwards to this simplistic technology? Because it's simplistic. Nobody gives a set of lights a second thought (bad idea), but a traffic circle does require alertness to other cars and pedestrians. We embrace telephones that download e-mail, but we can't figure out how to drive a traffic circle?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
'THAT' OLD HOUSE
Posted 10.06.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Then there was the matter of what colour to choose. We kept talking about taupe. The problem is no one really knows what taupe is. It's actually just a word people throw out to make it seem like they know something about colour.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
A CLOUD OF SMOKE
Posted 10.01.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
I'm convinced that advertising, especially on television (because the images are so realistic and the medium so invasive), has been a major factor in the current financial crisis. TV has become an addiction for the middle class. It's where they've come to feel "entitled" to the home much larger than they can afford, the cars that scale mountain-tops and go "zoom zoom," the fashions they see on soap operas and awards shows, and the huge engagement rings flaunted by stars on entertainment shows.
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
CENSORSHIP AND/OR MANIPULATION
Posted 09.30.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | A lot of censorship is brazen -- a freedom of information request comes back, whole pages blackened, without apology. But manipulation would be totally ineffective if it is too brazen, as when a US politician says different things to businessmen and evangelicals trying to get their votes. Canada has its censorships and has world records in some types of manipulation. Forget China and Somalia, they're crude. We're in contention for gold in media manipulation.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
STILL PUTTING THE 'WORK' IN 'HOMEWORK'
Posted 09.27.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Put the laptop away, it's time for homework. No, I doubt very much that your homework involves playing N-Game. Sighing doesn't help, you know. Neither does rolling your eyes.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
HONG KONG POW EDDIE CAMPBELTON TURNS 90
Posted 09.24.08
GORDON ALEXANDER
RICHMOND, QC | Edward "Eddie" Campbelton never thought he would get to be 90 -- or even much older than 24 Ð when he was taken prisoner by the Japanese army in Hong Kong on Christmas Day, 1941.
Gordon Alexander is a Vermont-based photojournalist.
CRIMINAL LEADERS, RICH LEADERS, CAUTIOUS LEADERS
Posted 09.23.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | There's news of an international movement to have George Bush's inner circle arrested as war criminals if they venture outside the USA, similar to what happened to the Chilean dictator, General Pinochet. The Americans include VP Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and others. Wouldn't that have interesting effects on future war-making?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
A PEAR A DAY KEEPS THE APPLES AWAY
Posted 09.22.08
GREG DUNCAN
Apples are great of course, but so are our local pears. Friends who have a bumper crop in their established backyard recently gave me a large bag of Pyrus Communis. Of course I had to devise a way to put them to good use beyond the toothy and juicy succulence of eating them au natural.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
EAT, DRINK, HAVE HOT DOG
Posted 09.19.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Take, for example, ads currently running in the US by a group called the Cancer Project. Over images of kids eating hot dogs and other processed meats, you hear a young boy say, "I was dumbfounded when the doctor told me I had late-stage colon cancer." The boy, of course, is an actor, and the shock ad is based on a study indicating that if you eat fifty grams of processed meat a day for several years, your chances of getting colorectal cancer increase by twenty-one percent. That's equal to a hot dog a day every day for something like nineteen years.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
CANADA'S OLD BOYS CLUB HOLDS A 'DEBATE'?
Posted 09.16.08
FRED RYAN
It took two days for the Canadian election campaign to turn, take on water, roll over, and sink to the bottom. The refusal of two party "leaders" to allow the Green Party to participate in the televised debate deserves to be called anti-democratic. And how about petulant, arrogant, unfair, and stupid? They all work.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
CAN Vs US ~ LET'S PUT IT TO A VOTE
Posted 09.15.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Election fever. Can you feel it? It's like most fevers: accompanied by nausea, disorientation, and an overwhelming sense of doom. As happens from time to time, Canada and the United States have election campaigns going on at the same time. So, grab your mug of hot tea and a couple of Advils and let's compare the two, shall we?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WHERE SHOULD I GO NOW THAT I'M GONE?
Posted 09.14.08
MARY CAMPISI FERREE
For a long while I thought I would like a burial site in Boulder, Colorado, somewhere beneath a shady tree. I would leave instructions to have my casket specially fitted out: a glass window, a small fan for ventilation, and a shelf I could sit on. My plan was to have my casket put upright in the ground so I could see out and keep an eye on things. I finally dismissed that idea as too macabre, even for Boulder.
WHAT MAKES A GREAT TEACHER?
Posted 09.12.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
Why do you think China has risen so dramatically in economic clout? That country may have awful living and working conditions, but their educational standards are extremely high, and the population understands that a solid education is the key to improving their lives. So how about Canada?
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
VANESSA HERRICK'S LAST POST FROM KOSOVO
She's back in Montreal, healed from the mugging, and ready to rock and roll -- read on...
THE FAILED WAX JOB
Posted 09.10.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | When I arrived back in Montenegro from Kosovo last month I was frazzled, stressed, and exhausted. I had an hour to get ready for a party at the American ambassador's house. I shivered my way through a shower and loved it as it was yet again 44 degrees in Podgorica. I then decided I would quickly wax my legs quickly before heading out.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
CANADA ELECTION CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY
Posted 09.09.08
FRED RYAN
The ship of state is not a high-powered speedboat. It rarely lurches from one direction to its opposite; it's more like an oil tanker changing course inch by inch, starting its turn miles before its new destination. Who controls the helm is important, but looking only at the captain does not guarantee reaching a destination. An Obama is not going to radically change America's trajectory (any more than Kennedy was able to do, despite the world's expectations). A Harper majority will not mean we become the newest ten American states.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
BLAME HOMELAND SECURITY
Posted 09.08.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | When you think about it, it's a bit unusual to encounter more than one armed individual when you're going camping. Normally, we'd expect one: the border guard on our way to Brighton State Park in Island Pond, Vermont. You never know how that encounter's going to go. You could face the dour, rubber-glove-at-the-ready Customs officer or it could be the chatty officer whose easygoing ways lull you into letting it slip about smuggling all that citrus fruit.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
GENEALOGY: YOUR ANCESTRY
Posted 09.08.08
DAVE LEPITRE
Dave's latest Your Ancestry column and history photographs are posted regularly on the LCC.
WHEN WEARING A SUIT IS NOT OK
Posted 09.06.08
GREG DUNCAN
All of the stops were pulled out at the event to entice green-haired, pierced lip, ripped-jean wearing advertising agency kids to consider community newspapers in their campaign planning and advertising placement. The booze and eats flowed and hip hop blared via a DJ.
Greg Duncan, a veteran Quebec community newsie, is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
IN CANADA: THE HARPER-DION E-MAILS
Posted 08.31.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Prime Minister Stephen Harper has purportedly been trying to meet with Liberal leader Stéphane Dion to discuss whether the latter will continue to support the minority government. To date, Dion has declined. Here, for the first time, is a transcript of their e-mailed correspondence:
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
TIME
Posted 08.28.08
FRED RYAN
Last week I was introduced to a bird, a cockatiel, who is 72 years old. He was quite spry. He had all his feathers. I considered that a 72-year-old cockatiel has time to burn, as must those turtles who live to reach biblical ages; but length of life is a small part of the whole equation. What we do with our time is what counts.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
REMEMBERING THE 1968 DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Posted 08.26.08
JOHN MAHONEY
I was 32, a political reporter with Vermont Press Bureau on assignment at the 1968 Democratic Convention. The previous week I had been in Washington, D.C., reporting on the party's platform convention. The ruins in the black neighborhoods had stopped smoking by August, following the riots that broke out across the country when Martin Luther King had been gunned down in the spring. Sorry, the photo links are busted and I'm still looking for the images to fix the links.
MY FAIR MEMORIES
Posted 08.17.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | I still remember my first Ayer's Cliff Fair. It was the height of the Great Depression, 1934, and I was a mere lad of nine...I ate my first deep-fried parsnip that day, saw my first bric-a-brac. Or maybe it was a gewgaw. It's all a blur. All I know is that I went home that night with a head full of memories and a shoe full of cow drool.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
A DARK LOOK AT A FAIR GOER
Posted 08.25.08
JOHN MAHONEY
Caution: This is a dark look (from the LCC archives) with images and ideas that may disturb and offend. And, it's long, very long.
BYE-BYE PARENTS
Posted 08.22.08
GREG DUNCAN
Dropped the first born off at her college dorm last weekend amidst a flurry of worried parents and their own offloading (or is that freeloading?) offspring. I observed more than one commonality as we navigated the throng on moving day. Dads with grey hair and Moms with teary cheeks was just one. Which of the aging sexes worried most was not entirely discernable. Fathers furrowed their brows and gave the evil eye to frosh football player types while Mothers eyed the same, but employed a different mannerism. More like the up and down eye scan all women of a certain age use when checking out the opposite sex.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
CANADA ISN'T WINNING? STOP BITCHING
Posted 08.17.08
FRED RYAN
Allow me my two cents on the Beijing Olympics. These Games have probably created the largest group of armchair quarterbacks since the term was coined.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
ARCHIVED PHOTO GALLERIES
Posted 04.01.08
LCC PHOTOGRAPHERS
Are we behind? Yes, and we get behinder daily. But we're playing catch-up. Meanwhile, more archived monthly galleries below.
FEB. 2008 GALLERY | JAN. 2008 GALLERY | SEPT. 2005 GALLERY | OCT. 2005 GALLERY
HOME BUILDERS ARE MISSING SOMETHING
Posted 08.17.08
FRED RYAN
More homes and more people do not mean, for the general public, better services or other advantages. More people means more traffic, more congestion all over, more kids for classroom space, more people seeking doctors and dentists, and so on. The fact that more houses bring big-box stores is hardly attractive.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
AND IT WASN'T THAT GOOD
Posted 08.17.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Many clichés about Canada are a bit of a stretch. Take the one about a Canadian being someone who can make love in a canoe. Don't think so. More like someone who can make lunch in a canoe.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
MUNICIPAL POLITICAL PARTIES: THE WAY TO GO?
Posted 08.13.08
FRED RYAN
Before we rush into accepting political parties as a possible solution for our dissatisfaction with municipal government, we ought to look more carefully at both the results of political parties elsewhere and also look at the problem itself: inadequate funding from the higher governments combined with a tight restriction on what city governments can do to expand their revenue base.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
ARE YOU IN THE ZONE?
Posted 08.11.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | The comfort zone is a natural state -- like Idaho. Look around you. Look at the trees. Trees are trees. You don't see trees deciding to play the violin, right? They stay in their comfort zone. You know what happens to animals that step outside their comfort zone? They get eaten.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
CANADA'S POSTAL SERVICE
Posted 08.09.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
It costs me 93 cents to send a letter to my sister in the US, but only 79 cents for her to reply. Furthermore, the US still has a lower rate for postcards, as well as Saturday delivery in most urban areas. US Post Offices are still open to the public, so you can have a parcel weighed by someone who actually knows what they're doing, unlike here, where minimally-trained clerks in drug stores usually only know how to handle standard-sized packages.
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX? WHO? US?
Posted 08.07.08
FRED RYAN
We discovered this summer that Truro, Nova Scotia, has a 1000-acre forest right in the middle of the city...Are Nova Scotians a bunch of spendthrifts? Can't they recognize the value of a dollar? Don't they realize that streets have to be repaired, buses provided, water purified?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION
Posted 08.05.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | The air at 4000 metres apparently tastes like the ocean. Or at least it does when you're hurtling through it at 200 km/h and you've got your mouth open, even though the instructor advised you to keep it closed.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
JOHNNY MUSN'T GRUMBLE
Posted 08.02.08
JOHN MAHONEY
Just trying to keep the wolf away from the door.
WITHER MODERN MEDICINE IN THE DAYS OF PEAK OIL?
Posted 08.01.08
JAMES BARSON, MD
I think that medicine is going to have to abandon its fixation with the latest and the best and move from the constant search for the newest cutting edge technology and instead start to think about rehabilitating viable trailing edge technologies that have been shown to deliver good enough results at lower levels of waste and energy consumption.
Former Canadian James Barson, MD writes from Australia.
AN UNEXPECTED TIRADE
Posted 07.30.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | I have a good friend, someone I adore, someone who has helped me enormously since I have been here who explained to me recently that Karadzic is not really a bad guy. I was speechless.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
WANNA SEE SOMETHING REALLY SCARY?
Posted 07.29.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Are you as excited as I am? A slasher flick shooting right here in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. And it's called Bikini Girls on Ice. With a title like that, who wouldn't be excited? I mean, who doesn't like ice?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
SO, HOW DO WE SAVE ON ENERGY COSTS?
Posted 07.28.08
FRANK BERNHEISEL
Here is the problem: George Bush and Company took Iraq's oil off the world market just at the time that demand was rising. (Law: when demand rises and supply does not, prices do.) To make matters worse, they introduced a lot of uncertainty into the market. (Law: uncertainty in market equals risk and risk equals rising prices.) So, what is the solution for the US of A?
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
THIS STORY HAS A STORY OF ITS OWN
Posted 07.26.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
I was standing in the aisle of the moving vehicle, holding on with one hand, the other clutching my purchases. There was no way I could write down the ideas that came tumbling, unbidden, into my head. As I came in the back door, my mother was startled to see me drop my coat and my parcels, race up the stairs to my bedroom, shouting, "I have to write something down."
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
POEM: SUMMER READING -- PABLO NERUDA
Posted 07.23.08
FRED RYAN
Fred Ryan is West Quebec newspaperman.
EVERYBODY'S GOTTA HAVE A LAUGH
Posted 07.20.08
RICKY BLUE
MONTREAL | Kris Kristofferson once said about the folksinger Ramblin' Jack Elliot that he wasn't called Ramblin' Jack because he traveled a lot; he was called Ramblin' Jack because of the way he talked. So to take a page out of Ramblin' Jack's book, I'd like to ramble some thoughts about comedy.
Ricky Blue is a Montreal-based humorist, singer, and writer.
GIVE SIR PAUL, PEACE, AND MARGARINE A CHANCE, EH?
Posted 07.20.08
GREG DUNCAN
Where there was gate crashing and line-ups was in Quebec City as Sir Paul McCartney played a free concert on the Plains of Abraham to celebrate Quebec's 400th anniversary.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
THERE WAS BURNIN', BURNIN', TO SATISFY MY YEARIN'
Posted 07.19.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Among our many modern quirks is our longing for vast backyards that we never actually set foot on. We build decks off our homes overlooking the grass, or we tear up a chunk of lawn and build small platforms to put our chairs on. We like to be with nature, just not touch it. One thing you can't do on your deck (or at very least it's ill-advised) is have a campfire. For a campfire, you need to venture onto the lawn. It's a case where our aversion to cooties is overwhelmed by our desire to burn stuff.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
NEW DIGS, OLD FOLKS, AND STITCHES
Posted 07.11.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | When my eldest daughter signed her apartment lease this past spring, the idea of her actually moving out was still an abstract concept. After all, she wasn't yet 17, and 16 years old just seemed too young to hold a lease. You shouldn't be allowed to sign a legal document if you have angst.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca<
DEATH BY POLICE SHOOTING
Posted 07.10.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | The death of anyone by shooting is shocking. When the person with the gun is a police officer, our shock is magnified, and when the person shot turns out to have been unarmed, blinded by pepper spray, and was shot three times at close range, our shock turns to mortification.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
A CHURCH, DARK AND LOOMING
Posted 07.08.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | In my neighborhood there is what appears to be a burnt-out shell of a church, perhaps partially re-built, with bricks jutting out at odd angles, no windows, barbed wire at the entrance and surrounding the perimeter. It is an ominous looking place, untouched by the signs of ruin, no graffiti, no loiterers, no litter. People speed up as they walk by and no one stops to look.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
DIG THAT WEED -- IF YOU CAN
Posted 07.07.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | A common curse from 16th century Spain went as follows: "May your salads be nothing but goutweed and be served by a loose woman of Toledo with hairy arms and the breath of anchovies." Naturally, it sounds better in the original Spanish.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
THINKING OF SUMMER
Posted 07.04.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
I just read that only seven percent of Canadians own a vacation property of any type. Meanwhile, the Ottawa Citizen's annual section describing summer camps for kids contains a huge assortment of day camps and more than a dozen overnight ones, offering experiences ranging from zoo-keeper, science, circus, radio, and leadership, to international languages, art, dance, theatre, and every sport a kid could want, from golf to soccer.
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
YOU WANT CHEAP BEER, BUY IN QUEBEC
Posted 07.02.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Labatt is clearly still making a profit in Quebec, otherwise why would they bother? It's not like "cheap beer" is in the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms (though the right to buy it in grocery stores is). Labatt must therefore be making a huge profit in Ontario.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
TIME FOR THE GAS BUBBLE TO BURST
Posted 06.30.08
RICKY BLUE
MONTREAL | The Leno joke goes like this. Scientists have discovered the largest number in the Universe. And they did it without using a computer. They did it by using a gas pump and a Cadillac Escalade.
Ricky Blue is a Montreal-based humorist, singer, and writer.
IN VERMONT: NUDITY SHOULDN'T GENERATE A BIG FUSS, BUT IT HAS
Posted 06.27.08
BETHANY DUNBAR
Bethany Dunbar writes for the Barton Chronicle in northern Vermont.
MUGGED AND BLOODIED IN KOSOVO
Posted 06.26.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | I turned, assuming it was a neighbor, and there was a young guy standing about three feet from me. He grabbed my arms and shoved me, hard. As I fell, he took off running with my bag. Unfortunately, I was standing on a concrete walkway and I landed on my face.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
PERSONAL FOOD CRISIS
Posted 06.25.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | I have triumphed over the food crisis. Not the global one. My personal food crisis.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
REAL COSTS, REAL LIFE
Posted 06.24.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Last week, CBC radio in Ottawa reported that Canadians are spending 18 percent more for their daily purchases than are Americans. There's a positive note here because in the last quarter of last year, we spent 24 percent more than did Americans.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
COPY THAT. NOT.
Posted 06.23.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | I agree and accept that the Canadian government should willfully interfere with its citizens' consumer purchases in its unabashed efforts to pander to the American entertainment mega-industry. I am ready and willing to accept whatever invasion of privacy or fines come my way."
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
PLANT IT AND THEY WILL COME
Posted 06.22.08
PHIL NORTON/The Country Photographer
Outstanding slide show on creating a deep-mulch, minimal maintenance organic garden. Off-site presentation. You should have a fast 'Net connection for maximum enjoyment.
ENGLISH LIKE ME
Posted 06.20.08
RICKY BLUE
MONTREAL | Even though the English language is a key to open the door into the international business community and the rest of North America, Law 101 doggedly insists that the English language is the enemy of Quebec, and by definition those who practice it -- Quebec's unilingual anglophones.
MEETING SPIDERMAN IN MITROVICA, KOSOVO
Posted 06.19.08
VANESSA HERRICK
MITORVICA, KOSOVO | Mitrovica is much less wealthy than Pristina. It reminds me of Bolivia, an odd mix of half-finished buildings and lively bustling sidewalks. Bolivia however, for all it's madness, was free of tanks full of French troops, and there were no convoys of American jeeps...and the guns...the guns in Kosovo outside of the city...guns everywhere. I have never seen so many guns.
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
UPDATE: REPORT FROM KOSOVO
Posted 06.17.08
VANESSA HERRICK
PRISTINA, KOSOVO | Did you know that if you drink four litres of Diet Coke, eat four blueberry muffins and a tomato sandwich, and do not move from your desk for more than a total of eight hours out of forty-eight, you can more or less produce a newspaper by yourself?
Vanessa Herrick, a Canadian journalist, reports from Pristina, Kosovo.
CYCLIST IN TRAINING
Posted 06.16.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | The bicycle is life's first major leap of faith. Walking doesn't count because you're too young to think "Holy smokes! I'm going to fall on my adorable face!" But to believe that you can actually balance and move forward on two wheels, that's something. Even though you see others doing it, a tiny logical part of your five-year-old self says, "Come on, it's gotta be some kind of trick."
THIS LITTLE STEAM TRAIN IS OUR BUSINESS
Posted 06.11.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | The "p'tit train" to Wakefield, Quebec -- the steam train running from Gatineau through Chelsea to Wakefield -- appears to be on the road to disappearing. If it is sold, as the owner says he intends to do, and if it is moved, as two potential buyers say they intend to do, its loss will hurt us all.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE CRISIS CRISIS
Posted 06.10.08
RICKY BLUE
MONTREAL | A neighbor of mine believes that global warming is caused by the absence of pirates. Since there are not many pirates left in the world and pirates are cool, the world is warming.
Ricky Blue is a Montreal-based humorist, singer, and writer.
YOUR 2008 SUMMER VACATION
Posted 06.09.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | With the cost of gasoline almost as expensive as a baby on eBay, the smart vacationer should consider sticking close to home this summer. Thankfully, Quebec's Eastern Townships are chock-a-block full of festivals and fairs to make your summer truly summer-ific!
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
IT'S TIME FOR THE STUPIDITY TAX
Posted 06.06.08
CHRIS BRAITHWAITE
"Ford Stumble Signals Rising Risks" warned a recent headline in the Wall Street Journal. Then in the second line of the "stacked" headline the Businessman's Bible still favors: "Pickup, SUV Sales Take Surprisingly Steep Fall." Now who, we wonder, could possibly be surprised? Nobody around here has talked about anything but the price of gas for months. Hillary and old John have made it a major part of the presidential debate.
Chris Braithwaite publishes the Barton Chronicle
in Vermont.
I'D PUT MY FOOT DOWN BUT I MIGHT SQUASH A CAT
Posted 06.03.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | As I enjoyed those bark-free, pawprint-less, non-poop-pickup days, I did my best to persuade my family that getting another dog at this time wouldn't be the best idea. My argument went something like this: "Please, God, no!"
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
CAN'T BEAT 'EM? EAT 'EM.
Posted 06.02.08
GREG DUNCAN
I just have to mention our dreaded dandelions (dents de lion, jagged leaves resembling a lions tooth), otherwise known as Pissenlits au Quebec. Translation? Piss-in-the-beds in English, or Piss-a-beds in Newfoundland, on account of their diuretic effect when eaten by French and English alike.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
CANADA'S MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS QUITS. SO? THERE'S MUCH MORE GOING ON, EH?
Posted 06.01.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | We've heard a lot of alarmism about the bill that will open the door to censorship of movies, but that is only one of almost a dozen Conservative measures that will fundamentally alter our federal-provincial system and our social framework.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE PQ'S SO-CALLED "NATIONAL CONVERSATION"
Posted 05.26.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Every minority out of power in the world dreams of independence in some form or another. Thus, riding her wave of by-election victories, and getting a kick at Mario Dumont while he's down, Pauline Marois, head of the PQ, has announced she intends to bring all Quebec independence forces together for a "national conversation" with the goal of creating some sort of United Front. It would be led, of course, by the PQ, "comme formation politique majeure," in Ms. Marois' lovely words.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
SPRING FERNS ARE TO EAT, EH?
Posted 05.27.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | "Health Canada warns that fiddleheads may contain toxins and are all-around nasty little vegetables that you'd be a fool to ingest. They've been known to cause gastroenteritis, bleeding of the gums, sterility in mice, and the bitter collapse of your most cherished dreams."
IN CANADA, GAS PRICES AREN'T ALL BAD NEWS, EH?
Posted 05.21.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | With sky-rocketing gasoline prices here in Canada, everyone is predicting the worst: $2 a litre this summer, and so on. We all want to know why, and the explanations include the war in Iraq, disturbances in Nigeria, a strike here, a storm there, and, the big reason, the oil-hungry economies of China, India, and Brazil.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
BARBEQUE CHOICES
Posted 05.19.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Once again, I find myself in the market for a new barbecue. And what a market. So many grills, so much shiny metal. If you're a barbecue lover, it's like being a kid in a candy store, except instead of candy there's charred animal parts.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
RADIATION 'THREAT' SETS OFF US BORDER ALARMS AT DERBY LINE, VERMONT
Posted 05.14.08
ROBIN SMITH
Caledonian Record
Orleans County freelance photographer Gordon Alexander recently found out what happens when someone who underwent a cardiac nuclear medicine scan crosses the border before the radioisotope has completely decayed.
Robin Smith is a veteran journalist from northern Vermont.
THE GLORIES OF RHUBARB MARINADE
Posted 05.13.08
GREG DUNCAN
As humans, we spend a lot of time filling up. Long gone are the days of foraging for wood and chasing wild antelope on the plains for daily sustenance and warmth. Homo Sapiens ancient giant leap from hunter-gatherer to agriculturist has proven that while we might walk upright, we have learned little. Oh, we gather and hunt for survival all right, but now we gather and hunt for money most days. We grow corn and soy and rice and beef -- all for money and fuel. Farmers do it and governments subsidize it. It's a sad state we're in with a real global food and fuel crisis looming, causing civil unrest in many food- producing countries.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
RUGBY EXPLAINED
Posted 05.12.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | Rugby is an unfamiliar game to many North Americans. That's because it was invented in 732 A.D. by the Picts who were wiped out as result of major head trauma before they could chisel the rules into the side of a cliff.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
CANADA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
Posted 05.09.08
RICKY BLUE
MONTREAL | The other day I was listening to an ad on a station beamed across the border from Vermont. It was the country music station from Malone, New York. The ad, for the Mohawk Casino, was completely bilingual. It started in French and finished in English. I realized that even though I live in Montreal, a supposed bilingual city, hearing this mix of the two tongues on the air was a shock.
Ricky Blue is a Montreal-based humorist, singer, and writer.
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN -- AGAIN?
Posted 05.08.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | For example, the condemnation of six big homes in Gatineau sector because they were built on an unstable clay base. The question isn;t why were they built there, but why was the builder given permission to cut down the trees and build there? Who issued the building permits, and why?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
BLANKETY-BLANK CITIZENS
Posted 04.30.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Decisions made in secrecy or "at a professional level" are the most open for manipulation and corruption. Most scandals in other levels of government are the result of secrecy that blew up, as it usually does. Secrecy can't succeed -- there are too many people in government, in residents' associations, and in the media. And the media still means a local newspaper.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
YOU DON'T KNOW DOODLY, EH?
Posted 04.29.08
ROSS MURRAY
YAAAAAH! Can you feel it? Can you smell it? That's the smell of victory! And burning rubber! I am so excited that my team is so close to ultimate triumph. This week's series win puts us that much closer. And now we've got the momentum. The Doodly Cup is within our grasp!
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
FISHING WITH SHORTY OR, THE REALLY BIG ONE THAT GOT AWAY
Posted 04.28.08
JIM AUSTIN
PUTNEY, VT | While you Vermonters were cursing the day you ever moved to, or originated in, Vermont I was traveling to Nicaragua in search of the mighty tarpon. My son Shorty, the fruit of the sainted union between myself and my tempestuous flower Ruth, had been spending the past three months in Ocatal, Nicaragua. The lad had decided that Spanish fluency was the key to landing an ambassadorship in some espanolish country. He found a total immersion outfit on the net and off he went.
Jim Austin writes in Putney, Vermont.
FRESH E-MAIL
Posted 04.24.08
US ANTI-CUBAN LAWS NOW ENFORCED IN CANADA
PRIVACY VS SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Posted 04.23.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
I was pressured into joining Facebook last fall. I was careful to post minimal information, no photo, and no comments. Still, I'm sorry I did this.
Barbara Florio Graham is the author of Five Fast Steps to Better Writing, Five Fast Steps to Low-Cost Publicity, and Mewsings/Musings
www.SimonTeaKettle.com.
FLUORIDE IN OUR WATER
Posted 04.22.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | At the last Gatineau city council meeting several citizens, including representatives from the Lakeview Terrace Residents' Association, raised the question of the city putting fluoride in our drinking water. Council is considering a city-wide fluoridation program for all municipal water.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
PROTECT OUR CANINTERNET
Posted 04.21.08
ROSS MURRAY
Congratulations on blocking the sale of one of Canada's aerospace companies to a US firm. No really, I mean it. I know we've had our differences in the past (admittedly, I went too far with my musical, Stephen Harper Hates Everyone, Even His Mother, and Has Stubby Fingers to Boot). But putting Canada's sovereignty ahead of global market pressures was fantastic, positively protectionist. Why, it was almost liberal of you!
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
FOLLOW THE (LOBBYING) MONEY
Posted 04.17.08
FRANK BERNHEISEL
It's probably just a coincidence that since George Bush became President, lobbying expenditures have almost doubled from $1.5 billion to $2.8 billion last year.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
CLIMATE REFUGEES AND WATER HOSTAGES
Posted 04.15.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | As Europe finds itself struggling with a continual flood of migrants, the EU has released a study that predicts an entirely new form of refugee: climate migrants. These are people forced from their homes due to climate change. Where we might once have imagined "climate refugees" as the bleached Canadians on the southern beaches, that image has been pulled inside out.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
SIGH ME A RIVER
Posted 04.14.08
ROSS MURRAY
As a barometer of inner peace and contentment, it probably doesn't bode well that I've become a sigher. Sighing has become my preferred reaction to the world as it unfolds around me. Or at me.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
JUST A BIG, LOUD, INTRUSIVE, OBNOXIOUS, UNCONSTITUTIONAL TAXI
Posted 04.11.08
CHRIS BRAITHWAITE
Beyond the cloying clichés, there are some realities that really do make Vermont a better place to live. One of them is our state Supreme Court which, through close reading of the Vermont Constitution, seems determined to preserve civil liberties that the US Supreme Court seems no less determined to deny us.
Chris Braithwaite publishes the Barton Chronicle in Vermont.
BAD NEWS AT THE MALL'S BACK DOORS
Posted 04.08.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | It only takes a PD day and a sunny afternoon to bring the kids out to Aylmer's main mall. There are always a few hanging around the back doors, and I had assumed they were waiting for the cinema to open. It's just been pointed out to me that there's more going on there than that.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE SILENCE OF MY LAMB
Posted 04.07.08
ROSS MURRAY
One of the perks of having athletic children is that other parents automatically assume that I'm at least partly responsible. If the subject comes up, I'll usually say something like, "Yup, taught them everything they know." In my head, I'm saying it sarcastically. Just because it sounds to the listener like I'm serious, well, that's their problem, not mine. Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
BLOWJOB BILL, MISSION-ACCOMPLISHED GEORGE, AND THEIR MISERABLE, EMBARRASSING, CONTINUING FAILURES
Posted 04.05.08
JOHN MAHONEY
Oh, that's so harsh, Johnny boy. Whatever are you saying?
John Mahoney edits the LCC.
OUR GALLIVANTING GOURMAND RETURNS FROM DOWN THERE, TANNED AND PLUMP AS A BEER BUTT CHICKEN
Posted 04.04.08
GREG DUNCAN
Heck, in Florida they are almost giving away fast food, I kid you not. In fact, if you are a resident, the US postal service delivers an appetizing array of culinary offers each morning, thereby eliminating the need to cook real food.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
A SMALL TOWN NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER SPEAKS OUT
Posted 04.02.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Why is't it bigger? Why doesn't it have more from my area? These are the two most common questions we hear about the West Quebec Post. We also hear complaints that the Post doesn't arrive on time, or that it regularly ignores some events.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
WATERCOLOR EXHIBIT: ROSEMARY MILLER
Reposted 03.08.08
ROSEMARY MILLER
Rosemary Miller was a talented artist who, in her later years, made her home in Stanstead, in the Quebec-Vermont border. These are some of her watercolors of her adopted community.
POEM: OH, ANDALUSIA
Posted 02.28.08
ELISHA PORAT
Elisha Porat
writes on a kibbutz in Israel.
AND THE OSCAR FOR WORST JOKES GOES TO...
Posted 02.22.08
ROSS MURRAY
With the US writers' strike over, this weekend's Academy Awards broadcast will go ahead. Another domestic crisis averted. Unfortunately, this mean's I'm out of a gig. I'd volunteered to scab for the event as head writer and (the deal-clincher) as host. Now the world will never know the full splendour of my show. I can only give you a brief glimpse of what might have been...
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WATERCOLOR EXHIBIT: LUIGI TIENGO
Reposted 02.16.08
LUIGI TIENGO
A native of Italy, Luigi Tiengo makes his home part-time in Quebec's Eastern Townships. He is an industrial designer, a self-taught builder/pilot of an experimental aircraft, and an avid cylist. These paintings were inspired by his many journeys along the Tomifobia River Bike Path.
BORDER HISTORY PHOTO
Posted 02.11.08
DAVE LEPITRE
Dave's latest Your Ancestry column and history photoraphs are posted regularly on the LCC.
LOG CABIN TV WEBSITE REVAMPED
Posted 02.06.08
JOHN MAHONEY
Rapid access to my LCTV video clips posted on You Tube. More to come...
PHOTO STORY: SEARCH & RESCUE TRAINING MISSION
Posted 01.31.08
TIM DOHERTY
Canadian troopers from a Search and Rescue Team out of CFB Trenton (Ontario) make a snowy landing at Fairview Farms in Lennoxville, QC on Tuesday, January 29. The low-level SAR training mission was conducted with a Canadian Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft. Fairview Farms is operated by Brian Herring, who is a licensed general aviation pilot and maintains a small personal airstrip on the family farm.
THE LCC ARCHIVES
The links on the Archives page will take you to the various index pages or to the listings of many of the LCC's numerous contributors. There are beaucoup files and it's still in development. If you note that something of import is missing -- or if you catch a '404' -- please let me know.
QUILTS FROM THE 'STITCH IN TIME' EXHIBIT
Posted 10.02.07
PHOTOS: KEVIN CHAMP
There were some 200 quilts from North America and Europe in this exhibit held Sept. 29-30 in Rankin, Ontario. Organized by quilter Val Champ, the colorful exhibit of historic and contemporary quilts was part of the Rural Ramble held each year in Ontario's Ottawa Valley to celebrate rural living.
JUNK ART #3 - THE 'WAY THINGS TURNED OUT
Posted 04.28.07
BOB GERVAIS
LONDON, ONTARIO | "I am bowled over by the talent exhibitedhere by the students. The creativity on display is exactly the kind of thing thatthis city needs to attract new people, new blood, and new business." Look at how they have used smaller pieces of metal to reflect the toughness of the rhinohide -- this judging is not going to be a cakewalk."
JUNK ART #2 - THE 'WHY' OF IT
Posted 04.21.07
BOB GERVAIS
LONDON, ONTARIO | "I suppose we could figure it out but suppose it's between $50,000 and $100,000. That's not what it's about -- what makes it all worthwhile is the look on the faces of the students as people and as artists, after the judging. They have been recognized for what and who they are; they are no longer simply number, or streams of ciphers in the educational mill. They are real."
JUNK ART #1 - BEAUTY LIES WITH THE BEHOLDER
Posted 04.14.07
BOB GERVAIS
LONDON, ONTARIO | When you drive by the front of John Zubick Ltd.Scrap Metals on Clarke Road here, just a bit north of Gore Road, you can't help but notice the pedestals silhouetted against the Western sky. On each pedestal is astark, angular figure made from scrap metal.
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JANE DOES THE LAUNDRY
GALLERIES
BAGBALM WEBSITE
WINTER SOLSTICE
This is one of 30 short poems in the chapbook Placing No Markers by Jason Krpan. You can download the book for free at Bookfellows. |
