 |
WHY A FUJIFILM AD
IN THE LCC?
PHOTO
ESSAY
BORDER
LINES
MINI-SITE
LAKE MONSTER
MINI-SITE
QNEK THEATRE COMPANY
LIST
OF
CONTRIBUTORS WEBMAIL |
|
© 2009 Dave Lepitre
CANADA DAY 2009 ~
HATLEY, QUEBEC
Highland Sword Dancer from the Black Watch Regiment, Sherbrooke, Quebec. In
Canada, we use hockey sticks instead of steel blades,
eh? |
 HOUND DOGGING
IT
Posted
07.01.09
JOHN MAHONEY
Got
dandelions? Thistles? Hate poison? Too creaky and twisted to get down on your arthritic knees and
grub the suckers out? Sisters and brothers, assemble right over here and pay attention:
STANLEY
FEFFERMAN: CD REVIEW
Posted 06.30.09
STANLEY FEFFERMAN
KRISTY CARDENALI, MY ROMANCE
MY CANADA INCLUDES AMPLE
STORAGE
Posted
06.28.09
ROSSMURRAY
Invariably at
this time of year I think about what it means to be Canadian, just like around Labour Day, I think
about pie... not sure why that is, actually.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
NEWSPAPERS: GOING ELECTRONIC, OR JUST GOING?
Posted 06.25.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Yes, the telephone and
paper have yet to be exceeded by modern technology, although they are certainly being added-to.
They're no longer the only game in the industry. Which is true for the newspaper industry itself. No
new media has co-opted all of newspapers' benefits, but they have certainly added to our industry's
reach and services.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
JOHNNY MUSN'T GRUMBLE
Posted 06.23.09
JOHN MAHONEY
What red-blooded, true-blue American wouldn't want to be a Republican?
GRADS, YOUR FUTURE'S JUST A FLUSH
AWAY
Posted
06.19.09
ROSS MURRAY
Right now, as
you sit there in your cap and gown, pretending to listen but actually playing the opening credits of
"The A Team" over and over in your head, the probability of cleaning a toilet seems remote
and revolting (coincidentally, also adjectives you'll someday use to describe your future
spouse).
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
IN CANADA: NASTY DOES AS NASTY IS
Posted 06.15.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | My wife and I were stunned by our
first view of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attack ads on Canadian TV directed against Liberal
Michael Ignatieff. The ad was sarcastic, personal, and nasty. There was nothing of policy, of
issues, or of priorities. "This is the work of a bully," commented my spouse, and she
captured in that word, "bully", the real message of the ad.
Fred Ryan is the publisher
of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE SLEEPOVER RULES
Posted 06.12.09
ROSS
MURRAY
Please find below the household
guidelines regarding sleepovers. These guidelines establish a protocol for non-resident children and
their parents in order to make the sleepover experience as enjoyable as possible and to avoid
unnecessary tantrums, crying jags and medical intervention.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
FRESH E-MAIL
Posted 06.10.09
LETTER
FROM FLORIDA: DEAR PRESIDENT OBAMA...
THIS IS THE BEAR-FACED TRUTH
Posted 06.08.09
ART GREAVES
NORTHAMPTON, MA | It's Saturday afternoon and I'm sitting in a chair in the
driveway, facing my garage, and reading the instructions on how to operate my new cordless lawn
trimmer. Suddenly, there's something breathing hot air on me and smelling my arm. I look to the left
and I'm looking a very large female black bear straight in the eye.
PASSPORTS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN'
PASSPORTS!
Posted
06.06.09
ROSS MURRAY
On June 1,
U.S. Customs required all Canadians entering the United States to require a passport or special
driver's license. Now don't you just wish Canada had something up its sleeve too...?
Ross Murray
is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WE GET THE LEADERS WE PICK
Posted 06.02.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | During a recent dinner, a visiting sheep farmer assured me
he never reads or watches the news. We were discussing politics and he dismissed his lack of
information about events even in his own country.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer
Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
GENEALOGY: YOUR ANCESTRY
Posted 06.01.09
DAVE LEPITRE
Dave's latest Your Ancestry column and history photographs are posted
regularly on the LCC.
MISTER PRESIDENT, BRING ON THE CARBON
TAX
Posted
05.29.09
FRANK BERNHEISEL
We need
to have a new energy policy in the United States. The cap and trade approach plus subsidies for
industry of the Waxman-Markey bill is not the solution. W-M is too complicated, too expensive, and
hobbled by picking favorites. Also, it includes a big give-away to coal.
Frank Bernheisel writes
from the Washington DC region.
WHO KNOWS HOW THE FLU FLOWS?
Posted 05.28.09
ROSS MURRAY
Get ready for the feline flu. It makes sense. You can't get much closer
animal-human contact than waking up with a cat on your face. Plus, they're always coughing up
something. And, let's be honest, they secretly hate us.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living
in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
JOHNNY MUSN'T GRUMBLE
Posted 05.20.09
JOHN MAHONEY
Don't ask, don't tell, don't help.
WHEN YOU'RE ALMOST EIGHT, YOUR TRAIN OF THOUGHT
IS AN EXPRESS
Posted
05.20.09
ROSS MURRAY
In May 2007, I
transcribed a conversation I had with Abby, who was just about to turn six. Two years later, the
conversation continues. The scene: The kitchen, Sunday noon. Abby is having lunch before heading off
to a play date. I'm washing dishes. Everyone else is out.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WHAT DO HOLIDAYS MEAN?
Posted 05.19.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The interesting point is about our present day, about how
well our holidays reflect reality. We can make a commercial event out of almost everything. Even
Earth Day will likely become a festival in which many people make money and sell products, whether
or not the Earth benefits. Making money and buying things seem to be our major motivations, as
pathetic as that sounds.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
DID PELOSI KNOW?
Posted 05.18.09
FRANK
BERNHEISEL
Everybody knew and stayed
silent. Nobody did anything because nobody cared. The American people did not care; they were busy
watching Jack Bauer on "24" save the US by torturing bad guys. It was OK, it was right
there on TV.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
THE MOULDIN' AGE OF TELEVISION
Posted 05.12.09
ROSS MURRAY
Westerns were big back then. One of my favourites was "Horsebit,"
which centred around the town of Gulchwood Hollow, a stagecoach stop on the Amarillo-Ptomaine Line.
The hero was Deputy Dex Hoolihan, a widower with three lively daughters who were always getting into
trouble (usually with traveling salesmen).
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead,
QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
SUFFER, THE LITTLE CHILDREN
Posted 05.09.09
JOHN MAHONEY
When the economy goes down the toilet, who suffers most? The little
people.
ADVICE OUR MOTHERS NEVER GAVE US
Posted 05.07.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The old axiom for couples, parents or not, is
that any disagreement in the evening must be worked out before going to sleep, together. This
results in endless, churlish discussions and late nights, leading to a weary next day. You are both
tired, so how are you going to reach any conclusion, agreement, or apology?
Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
IRONICALLY, THERE IS NO SYNONYM FOR "CROSSWORD"
Posted 05.05.09
ROSS
MURRAY
They say that crossword puzzles
are good for the brain. They maintain cerebral elasticity, improve memory, and sustain mental
abilities that decline with age, such as things I can't remember right now.
Ross Murray is a
freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
I SEE YOUR NAME EVERYWHERE
Posted 05.02.09
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
It's every author's dream, to have his or her name mentioned by
columnists, broadcasters, and in print media. The kind of media training that produces this level of
results can cost a great deal, and is usually reserved for politicians, corporate CEOs, and
high-level professionals.
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.
THE (DIGITAL) PRICE ISN'T RIGHT
Posted 04.28.09
FRED RTAB
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | When we convert everything to its electronic
format, we are doing this to pay less -- and we are getting less.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of
Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
HEY, I KNOW IT GOES VROOM
Posted 04.27.09
ROSS MURRAY
I love holes. When I worked at the local newspaper, fewer things gave me more
pleasure than killing time at the edge of a trench cut deep into the pavement as town workers
struggled to patch a problem. There's a certain fascination about what lies beneath, especially
when, with one wrong swing of a shovel, some kind of utility line could be pierced and God knows
what kind of gushage might occur.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He
can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
JUNK THE JUNKERS
Posted 04.26.09
FRANK
BERNHEISEL
I think that the United
States needs some new thinking about the auto industry and the economy. Despite all the talk, I hear
no new ideas.Germany for example, has a program to take older cars, junkers, off the
road.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
POEM: AUTISM (FOR MY LITTLE
THOMAS)
Posted
04.22.09
BERIT LUNDH
Berit Lundh
makes photographs and writes in Oslo, Norway. She was once a caregiver for a boy with autism. April
is Autism Awareness Month, a time of reawakenings and a good time to consider autism.
BREAKING THE RULES
Posted 04.21.09
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAMA
Breaking the rules seems to start at an early age. Sadly, our schools reinforce
this, by allowing students who plagiarize to face no penalties. Instead, they receive extra time to
turn in work without any loss of marks.
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.
CUTTING A ROSE OR, MAKING BAD SMELLS
Posted 04.19.09
ROSS MURRAY
When you're traveling with kids and a dog for an extended
period, as we were recently, and it's too cold to roll down the windows, you can expect the air to
get a little, well, ripe. Pungent. In a word, farty.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
VERMONT TROUT SEASON 2009
OPENS
Posted
04.14.09
GORDON ALEXANDER
COVENTRY,
VT | "They're biting," one fisherman yelled out ."This morning I caught a perch just
before I got my first trout."
Gordon Alexander is a Vermont-based photojournalist.
WE'RE EITHER GOING GREEN OR WE'RE GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE
Posted 04.11.09
FRED
RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | With climate
change, resource depletion, and the pollution of our environment, we have no choice at all -- either
we change our wasteful ways or the planet will change them for us. The status quo isn't an
option.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the
Pontiac Journal.
SERIOUS INJURIES AT APRIL FOOL'S DAY
FESTIVITIES
Posted
04.06.09
ROSS MURRAY
MONTREAL
(Rooters) | Hundreds were injured and scores more were considerably put out recently during one of
the most violent and discombobulating April Fool's Days in recent memory. While no deaths were
reported, there were countless incidents of people in stitches, and even more cases of split sides.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
ARCHIVES: 9 POEMS BY L. E.
HOGAN
Posted
04.04.09
LINDA HOGAN
L. E. Hogan is
a Vermont-based writer/photographer.
THINK BEFORE LANDFILLS OR INCINERATORS
Posted 04.02.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Landfill or incinerator? Do we put our
garbage into our air supply or into our water table? Should we drink our toxins or breathe them in?
Each partisan of the garbage issue insists on our responses, but how can we answer such
questions?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the
Pontiac Journal.
SCIENCE FAIR: HOME EDITION
Posted 03.31.09
ROSS MURRAY
Hypothesis: Lying will set your pants on fire. This is due to the chemical
effects of stress, friction, volatile untruth, and vicious taunting.
Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WRITERS: IT TAKES SKILL TO HOLD AN AUDIENCE
Posted 03.27.09
BARBARA FLORIO
GRAHAMA
Writers are, by nature,
independent, and solitary. Some are sociable and meet friends frequently to exchange ideas and
banter. But speaking in front of an audience is not usually something we relish. Speaking in public
is at the top of most human fears, and many writers dread an invitation to give a reading or
presentation.
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.
REMOVE THE GUN FROM THE 'INVISIBLE HAND'
Posted 03.26.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The market's enthusiasm for profit will break
down all borders of propriety, and when this expands into open, permissible greed, there's no
stopping the market's embrace of the most outrageous adventures and investments, legalities be
damned.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the
Pontiac Journal.
THE ROTS OF SPRING
Posted 03.24.09
ROSS MURRAY
Spring. Say it with me: it's spring, yes it is.
The sun's beating down, giving winter
the biz.
On lawns are the remnants of past snowstorms' snow forts,
Which people pass by
wearing premature sport shorts.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can
be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
SOMALIA'S PIRATES, COLOMBIA'S DRUG LORDS, WALL STREET'S
SWINDLERS
Posted
03.19.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE,
QUEBEC | When Bernard Madoff, the admitted swindler of 65 billion-plus dollars, a world record in
fraud, walked into court wearing a bullet-proof flack jacket last week, a lot of investors must have
kicked themselves for letting the opportunity pass to plug the bum. He was not previously wearing
this protection.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post,
and the Pontiac Journal.
SLICING THE CAKE A DIFFERENT WAY
Posted 03.18.09
BARBARA FORIO GRAHAM
The late Dr. Ursula Franklin, Professor Emerita at the University
of Toronto and Senior Fellow at Massey College, once described the world as a giant cake which had,
throughout history, been sliced vertically, by location, nationality, constituency, and community.
The layers were stratified by class, caste, or custom, and individuals seldom moved more than one or
two slices away, to a neighboring country or community.
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.
SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH THE ECONOMY. SERIOUSLY.
Posted 03.17.09
ROSS MURRAY
I went shopping Sunday. Part of me expected a ghost town
-- empty storefronts, tumbleweeds, salespeople skeletons slumped over Subarus, the walking dead at
Wal-Mart. After all, we're living in austere times. We should be shopping only for necessities, like
food, clothing, Sleeman's Silver Creek.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead,
QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
ON BLOWING MY BRAINS OUT,
DAILY
Posted
03.21.09
JOHN MAHONEY
Earlier this
year I tried to reconnect with my inner flute. It felt so good I began to do it every day.
PHILOSOPHER-KINGS
Posted 03.10.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff may even unintentionally have
ambitions of being a philosopher-king, the iconic leader who combines intellect with action for no
self-gain. There have been very few philosopher-kings in history -- more often the opposite.
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC |
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THREE SHORT SNAPPERS
Posted 03.09.09
ROSS MURRAY
I failed in business and I know why: it's because I don't follow sports. If I followed
sports, I'd know the jargon, the lingo, the secret handshakes of sport-speak, the sole purpose of
which is to give the impression you know what you're talking about.
Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
ON
BEING A KLUTZ
Posted
03.06.09
BERIT LUNDH
OSLO,NORWAY |
At 61 I am a klutz and have been for as long as I can remember. My body is covered with dents and
scars, I have deformed feet and wrists, knees and ankles that don't work so well, and I'm more than
a few teeth short. But this past week has been brutal and I have graduated to the top of the
class.
Berit Lundh is a Canadian living in Oslo, Norway.
HI-SPEED INTERNET IN QUEBEC, AS IN: THE LACK OF
Posted 03.04.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | What sense can we make of all today's
talk about "investing in infrastructure," "bringing Canada into the 21st Century," and "building a
knowledge-based economy," when much of the area surrounding our national capital does not even have
hi-speed internet?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post,
and the Pontiac Journal.
REMEMBERING ZHAO ZIYANG
Posted 02.27.09
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
President Obama's recent visit to Ottawa brought back memories of another
visiting dignitary, China's former leader, Zhao Ziyang. When Ziyang visited Ottawa in January, 1984,
Prime Minister Trudeau decided to host an elaborate Gala in his honor at the National Arts
Centre.
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.
STOCK LOSERS 2009
Posted 02.27.09
ROSS
MURRAY
You may recall that during the
Dirty Thirties, when the population was out of work, and prospects looked bleak, and global conflict
appeared imminent, people turned to Hollywood musicals for relief: Anything Goes, The Gay
Divorcé, Gold Diggers of 1935...
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead,
QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
SENIORS, SPEAK UP -- REALLY, SPEAK UP
Posted 02.24.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Listen carefully, for example, at the next
dinner party's conversation. How much of it is repeating the news of the day, which everyone has
already heard. Conversation will detail the step-by-step causes of the latest airliner or bus
disaster. Conversation will complain about the scams of bankers, the avarice of public sector
unions, and the self-centeredness of movie stars, musicians, and national politicians.
Fred Ryan
is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
GETTING WET & ICY COLD FOR THE SPECIAL
OLYMPICS
Posted
02.23.09
GORDON ALEXANDER
NEWPORT,
VT | Some 300 heavily clad spectators watched nearly 200 Penguin plungers from all over New England
and Canada dive into the frigid waters of Lake Memphremagog in mid-February during the 8th annual
Penguin Plunge here.
THE ACADEMY AWARDS, BROUGHT TO YOU BY MILK
BONES
Posted
02.20.09
ROSS MURRAY
Two years ago,
my daughter Abby took over this column in order to predict the major Oscar winners. It was a bit of
a washout, not least because her pick for Best Picture was Barbie in the Twelve Dancing
Princesses.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
THERE OUGHT TO BE A (NEW)
LAW
Posted
02.16.09
FRANK BERNHEISEL
I suggest
that we pass a law that says that no executive of any publicly traded company can earn more than
three times the salary of the President of the United States. Can anyone make the case that their
job is harder?
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
MUSICAL QUESTIONS ANSWERED: LOVE EDITION
Posted 02.15.09
ROSS MURRAY
Over the years, various legislations have been introduced to
discourage fools from falling in love. Britain's Moron Matrimony Act of 1873, for example, imposed a
five-year waiting period on fools seeking marriage licenses, the idea being that in the interim the
fools would become distracted by other matters, such as mumbling to themselves, walking around in
oversized shoes, and entering politics.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead,
QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
THE FOOD ON OUR TABLES
Posted 02.12.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | Poor eating yields poor health which yields loss of wealth. And,
eventually, even wisdom and happiness. We may lose it all anyway, but why rush the loss by eating
as if it doesn't matter what we put in our mouths?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer
Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
THE JOYS OF CANADIAN WINTER SLIDING OR,
REMEMBERING MY FROZENNUTTERIZER
Posted 02.10.09
ROSS MURRAY
I'm old enough to remember the transition from the traditional wooden toboggan to the
ultimate sliding innovation: the Krazy Karpet. Whoever invented the Krazy Karpet was a mad
genius.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
GET IT DONE
Posted 02.06.09
FRANK BERNHEISEL
The Republicans, based upon the statements of the members
of the House, are singing the same old song -- tax cuts and especially to the rich. And when
they didn't get their way, the decided not to play.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington
DC region.
GET A FIRM GRIP ON YOUR POCKETBOOKS, CANADA
Posted 02.04.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | It may be that, living across the
river from the nation's capital, we here in Aylmer, Quebec, receive more than we wish about all
things political. The famous warm air, apparently, blows off in another direction, but all the
analysis, pronouncements, and sound bites spread out like ripples in a pond, and, since we're
nearest to the sinking stone, the sound-bite ripples are higher and faster here than elsewhere in
the country.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.
LOOK AT THE HEAD ON THAT ONE!
Posted 02.02.09
ROSS MURRAY
"I spent the weekend fathoming the underlying constructs of Kierkegaard's
theories on the subjectivity of faith and truth and inadvertently discovered who put the bomp in the
bomp-shu-bomp-shu-bomp."
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can
be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
ANOTHER FLASHY PARTY, ON OUR CREDIT CARDS
Posted 01.28.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | The Genie Awards are coming to town!
And although this glitzy soirée takes place in Ottawa on April 4, we citizens of Gatineau and
West Quebec will be expected to participate. "Participate" means to contribute. Contribute
cash. We'll be hit up to fund a huge, flashy party for an elite group -- in Ottawa!
Fred Ryan is
the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
RUNNING WITH EMPTIES, OR 100 BOTTLES OF BEER IN THE VAN
Posted 01.27.09
ROSS
MURRAY
Now, here's a parental rite of passage I never thought I'd experience: carting
my teenage daughter's empties back to the grocery store. And not just a case or two but a full
shopping cart. "They're not even mine," she said as we loaded up the van outside her
apartment. "My friends brought them over."
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at Ross_murray@sympatico.ca
STANLEY FEFFERMAN: CD REVIEW
Posted 01.25.09
STANLEY FEFFERMAN
New LCC columnist debuts today. Check him out.
PICKING IT UP
Posted 01.20.09
FRANK
BERNHEISEL
Martin Luther King day, a
national holiday celebrated in all fifty states, is becoming recognized as a day for community
service. In that spirit, Kathy and I started on our morning walk with two plastic grocery bags each,
in which to store litter picked up along the bike path.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the
Washington DC region.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The opinions
expressed by LCC columnists are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editor
or any other LCC writer. They are, however, entitled to express their point of view and the LCC
supports their right to do so. Other points of view -- in support of or taking issue with -- are
invited.
ZIONAZIS
Posted 01.20.09
JIM AUSTIN
PUTNEY, VT | At this writing, on Martin Luther King Day, I am elated that a black American
is about to be inaugurated as my President. Obama's approval ratings have skyrocketed due to the
appalling mess left behind by the Bush administration. That said, it is a testament to Americans
that they can look past color and vote for the man. Martin Luther King would have been pleased that
we indeed voted for "the content of his character" rather than "the color of his
skin."
Jim Austin locks and loads in Putney, Vermont.
FOCUSED LIVES, DIFFUSED LIVES
Posted 01.19.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | I've heard a radio skit in which Socrates is berated by his
wife for not bringing in a decent living, for ignoring his family, for spending his time in the town
agora "talking." Painters, writers, poets, the martial arts, every sport imaginable, they
all require concentration for success, and although it doesn't guarantee success, hard work seems
indispensable to it.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec
Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
PUCK IN THE HEAD? THAT EXPLAINS A LOT.
Posted 01.16.09
ROSS MURRAY
The thing is, when
you're looking through the lens of a camera, especially a zoom lens, distance is distorted. By the
time my brain registered "Hey, what's that object heading towards my camera," it was
already inches away. Sadly, I didn't press the shutter at that moment, which would have made a
pretty cool picture.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached
at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
FAMILY GAME NIGHT: THE RULES
Posted 01.09.09
ROSS MURRAY
The object is to play a board game together as a family without losing one's
temper or sanity. There are two ways to set up the game. The first is to remove all the pieces from
the box and begin play immediately based on an approximate knowledge of the rules. The second way is
to delay play while a player insists on reading the rules for everyone to hear.
Ross Murray is a
freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
DAUGHTER
Posted 01.08.09
FRED RYAN
SHAWVILLE, QUEBEC | I'm older now and this morning my youngest daughter called from
Honduras, on a line full of static and breaks. She is on the first stage of a great journey, she
says, and adds that it is also one of many stages on the only journey there is.
Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
The NECESSITY OF ART
Posted 10.01.08
BARBARA FLORIO GRAHAM
I can't get the image out of my mind. A piece of ivory, function unknown,
covered with finely detailed carving, that was part of an exhibit at the Museum of Civilization
showing the daily life of the Copper Eskimos who populated the Bering Strait around 250
A.D.
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.
JOHNNY, I'LL SEE YOU WHEN I SEE YOU
Posted 01.01.09
JOHN MAHONEY
Johnny and I go way back. We started this journey together in the
Great Depression, in the autumn of 1935. Our mothers used to walk us in our prams, most likely to
keep us quiet, and to keep their sanity.
John Mahoney edits the LCC from Cobden, Ontario.
THE US NEEDS A SERIOUS CARBON
TAX
Posted
01.02.09
FRANK BERNHEISEL
The
country is now experiencing cheap gasoline again and the pain of last summer is fading. The U.S.
needs an energy policy that will stabilize price at a level that will make alternative forms of
energy competitive. This can be best done with a carbon tax.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the
Washington DC region.
A CONTAGION ON THE LAND
Posted 12.30.08
JIM
AUSTIN
PUTNEY, VT | Eight years of the
Bush administration has promulgated a contagion on our land that won't soon be excised. Thanks to
the voters the Republican right wing has been, by virtue of self-interest and manifest corruption,
forced to crawl back under the stinking rock from whence it came. It will no doubt fester in the
darkness, gathering simpleton adherents until their numbers once again tip the scales in favor of
evil. Other than that, they have done pretty well.
Jim Austin locks and loads in Putney,
Vermont.
NEW POEM: GEOLOGY LESSON
Posted 12.29.08
ELISHA PORAT
Elisha Porat writes on a kibbutz in Israel.
WE ARE BEING SO SCREWED, OR 'WITH NEXT YEAR'S FIRST CUP OF
COFFEE...
Posted
12.29.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC |
Here's a sobering thought for all of Canada's wage earners to begin the new year with: by the time
we each have our first coffee on the first working day of the new year, Canada's 100 top-earning
CEOs will have already banked what it will take each of us a full year to earn.
Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
EAT LIKE OBAMA IN 2009
Posted 12.26.08
GREG DUNCAN
I'm happy to see a decline in a trend that I never quite understood. Nouveau Beaujolais is
on the way out and Quebecers have finally realized that it tastes just like it sounds.
Greg
Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
SANTA'S BAD NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Posted 12.24.08
ROSS MURRAY
The snow that had fallen from noon until now
Was piled on my
Oldsmobile, thanks to the plow.
When, what to my wondering eyes did appear But Santa Claus
casually swilling a beer.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be
reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
A JEWISH CHRISTMAS
Posted 12.23.08
ROBERT GERVAIS
Salt of the earth, that's what they were -- Laurie and Shirley Gonich and their
daughter Gerry. They operated a little hole-in-the wall diner on Russell Street, in downtown
Toronto, not far from the Island on Spadina where the Connaught Laboratories were isolated. Their
diner dispensed coffee, bagels, knish, assorted sandwiches, advice and lessons in how to lose at
cribbage.
Bob Gervais writes in London, Ontario.
FROM THE LCC CHRISTMAS
ARCHIVES
THE NIGHT HORATIO SAVED
CHRISTMAS
Posted
12.18.06
JOHN MAHONEY
An original
Children's Story for Christmas. Please feel free to download, print out, and share with others. Read
it to your children.
IN HADRIAN'S CAMP ON CHRISTMAS EVE A HALF CENTURY AGO
Full Version Re-posted 12.22.06
MIKE
CROSSLING
We were all lying in the
long grass, not minding the cold, dank earth; in fact, we were all trying to wriggle their bodies
deeper. I swear to this day, I actually smelled where General Hadrian had been -- by the scent of
his horse in that earth.
ARMY BRAT: REMEMBERING CHRISTMASES PAST
Posted 12.22.06
FRANK BERNHEISEL
There were a couple of Christmases, during World War II, when my
father was not with us in Washington, DC. He left for a two-week inspection trip to Iceland and
Greenland to inspect air fields for the Eighth Air Force and came home two years later.
REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS 1953
Posted 12.21.06
JOHN MAHONEY
There came a year when I hated Christmas but I was a young soldier then, and a
long way from home.
REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS ~ KOREA, 1968
Posted 12.20.06
ARTHUR GREAVES
On Christmas day, with the outside temp hovering around 20 below
and feeling sorry for myself at being separated from my own family who remained in Montana, I made
my way to the mess hall for the usual Christmas dinner.
REMEMBERING CHRISTMAS ~ GERMANY, 1949
Posted 12.19.06
MARY CAMPISI FERREE
There I was, thirteen years old, far from my Illinois home, living
in a foreign country with my family. I was eating hard rolls and cheese for breakfast, decorating
our Christmas tree with hand-carved wooden ornaments, smelling stollenM fresh from the
baker's oven, eating sauerbraten with juniper berries, and hearing German Christmas carols.
A CHRISTMAS FOR MOTHER
Posted 12.12.06
RAYMOND GOYETTE
A half century ago there was a war on in Korea. He was a young GI trying to get
home Christmas before shipping out. It was snowing. Time was running out...
CHRISTMAS IS COMING: REMAIN
CALM
Posted
12.19.08
ROSS MURRAY
As you read
this, Christmas is a week away. In other words: "AAAAAGH!!!"
Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
HOW CAN SMALL POLITICAL PARTIES DO BETTER?
Posted 12.18.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | The edges as sources of new things
applies to biology and history, to cosmology as well as to mathematics. No surprise it applies to
politics. But it doesn't mean that every off-centre party has new and positive ideas. Some have
rotten ideas, like the neo-Nazis in Europe.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer
Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
TENS OF THOUSANDS SEE VIDEO 'CAPTURE' OF BABY LAKE MONSTER
Posted 12.16.08
JOHN
MAHONEY
More than 107,000 fans have
logged on to YouTube and LogCabinTV.com to watch Baby Lake Monster Captured, a short video
that purportedly documents the netting and examination of a baby Memphre.
John Mahoney edits the
Log Cabin Chronicles.
WHAT'S THE LOGIC
HERE?
Posted
12.15.08
FRANK BERNHEISEL
Let me
see if I have this right -- The Senate Republicans want guys on the assembly line making less than
$60,000 per year to agree to wage cuts before the government will loan the companies they work for
some $14 billion.
Frank Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
BEERAMAX PICTURES PRESENTS...
Posted 12.12.08
ROSS MURRAY
I read last week that certain Cineplex Theatres will start selling beer and wine
during screenings. Traditionally, the home-video industry has tried to emulate the thrills of the
theatre experience -- wide-screen TVs, stereo sound, high-test lubricant on popcorn. Now it seems
theatres are trying to copy the swills of the home-viewing experience. Admit it: who doesn't enjoy a
glass of wine or a beer with their DVD (or, in the case of a Steven Segal feature, a six pack or
two)?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
ross_murray@sympatico.ca
LOOK TO THE SKIES, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!
Posted 12.07.08
ROSS MURRAY
You know what's more exciting than geometry? Space geometry! It
really is, especially if you say it out loud in a deep, sonorous voice: "SPACE GEOMETRY!"
Go ahead, try it, I'll wait...fun, eh?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC.
He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
DOES THE ENGLISH COMMUNITY IN QUEBEC EXIST: AN
INQUIRY
Posted
12.01.08
ROSS MURRAY
The English
Community Search Party first met on October 16 to facilitate an action plan that would foment
a thorough understanding of the Eastern Townships English community -- who were they, what were they
and, most important, where were they? And if the English community did in fact exist, would they be
able to explain to us what "foment" means?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in
Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
SLEEPLESS IN MONTREAL
Posted 11.24.08
GREG DUNCAN
My internal clock is way off kilter and I wake suddenly each night at precisely 3:18 AM.
Not 3:19 or 3:17, but at 3:18 exactly and repeatedly three nights (or mornings) in a row. This
should be a movie, I think blurrily.
Greg Duncan is the LCC's Gallivanting Gourmand.
OH MY DARLING, OH MY DARLING...
Posted 11.21.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | I do believe in the Citrus Fairy. I do! I do! Wait.
Let me start that again, from the beginning: I pack my youngest daughter's lunch every morning. At
the end of the school day, I check the lunchbox to see what's been eaten, what's salvageable, and
what's unrecognizable. About two weeks ago, a clementine appeared in Abby's lunchbox. The only thing
is, I didn't put it there.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be
reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
A NATIONAL MOTHER'S SALARY
Posted 11.19.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Isn't this the time to introduce a national salary for mothers?
Mothers are creating our next generation. Our kids deserve help. How better to get help to kids than
through mothers? As income, it would be taxed back from wealthier families, and as income on the
family level it will stimulate spending on the basics: food, shelter, clothing.
Fred Ryan is the
publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
WHITHER DETROIT: TO BAIL OR NOT TO BAIL,
THAT IS THE QUESTION
Posted 11.18.08
FRANK BERNHEISEL
Everyone seems to be down on the American car industry. The industry is to blame for making
cars that no one wants to buy, etc. etc. Until last spring, everyone seemed to want large pickups
and SUVs (categorized as Light Trucks). Yes, I know about the Prius, which sold about 45,000 units
in the first quarter of 2008. However, light trucks sold 7.8 million units during that time. The
first quarter also saw sales of five million domestic and 2.4 million imported automobiles.
Frank
Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
IN QUEBEC, I DO
DECLARE!
Posted
11.14.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC
| In keeping with the Quebec government's new policy requiring immigrants to sign a mandatory
declaration stating they will commit to learning French and respecting the province's common values,
we, the people of Quebec, hereby request that political candidates sign the following mandatory
declaration...
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at
ross_murray@sympatico.ca
YOU DISAGREE WITH US, EH?
Posted 11.13.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | If you, dear reader, don't disagree with us at least once in a
while, we aren't doing a good job. News is news, you might say, but is "news" that
simple?
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and the
Pontiac Journal.
WHAT'S IN A NAME? FOUR MORE YEARS OF FUN!
Posted 11.09.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | I am misty-eyed with pride and admiration
for our American neighbours. Many thought we'd never see this day, the day when the United States
would show true resolve for change, the day when they would resurrect the frontier spirit. The day
when they would elect a president with a funny sounding name.
Ross Murray is a freelance writer
living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
ON SOCIETAL PUNISHMENT
Posted 11.07.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Most Canadians believe people can change, and that if they show serious
efforts toward rehabilitation and if this shows results, these reformed criminals should be given a
second chance. Leaving someone to spend his life in a cell -- is that any better than the death
penalty? -- may seem simple, easy, cheap, and safe. But our justice system is based on principles
other than simplicity, ease, and expense.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin,
The West Quebec Post, and the Pontiac Journal.
US ELECTION 2008
Posted 11.04.08
FRANK
BERNHEISEL
FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA | Kathy
and I arrived at our polling place. There were already about 30 people in line ahead of us. As we
waited for the polls to open at 6 a.m., about 100 more people arrived. The crowd was very unusual at
our polling place -- usually we arrive about 6 and there are maybe five people waiting.
Frank
Bernheisel writes from the Washington DC region.
FOR HALLOWEEN: A PAIR OF PUTRID
PARABLES
Posted
10.31.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC
| A mild tremor rumbled beneath the Funky Dreadlock Centre for Childhood Exploration. It wasn't
strong enough to disturb the children's self-discovery on the possibilities of what 3 plus 4 might
add up to. But it was strong enough to awaken something. Something evil.
Ross Murray is a
freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
SOMETIMES.
Posted
10.24.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC
| I don't think Abby's ever met a waitress she hasn't liked. But then, they bring her fries, so
what's not to like?
Ross Murray is a freelance writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached
at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
WHO WANTS A PRESIDENT, EH, CANADA?
Posted 10.21.08
FRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | Mr. Harper appeared to be the only one running for
the Conservatives. No matter where the campaign bus stopped, it was always Stephen Harper who got
off and made the speech. At every interview, it was Mr. Harper doing the talking. We heard he had a
team, but...
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.
GNAWTY PUPPY ONBOARD
Posted 10.19.08
ROSS MURRAY
STANSTEAD, QC | My plan to infiltrate the Family has been as brilliant and precise as
anticipated. My only concern is the Man. He arrived home to discover that the Family had taken me
into their possession. Appears distant, standoffish, vaguely hostile.
Ross Murray is a freelance
writer living in Stanstead, QC. He can be reached at ross_murray@sympatico.ca
THIS CONFUSING ECONOMY THING
Posted 10.14.08
FRRED RYAN
AYLMER, QUEBEC | I am just as confused about the present financial crisis as
everyone else, but there are a few things that strike me as particularly incomprehensible. First, we
are not certain that the slippery slope we are on will in fact carry us down to the depths of
another Great Depression. In fact, we are warned of this by the same gang who assured us Iraq had
weapons of mass destruction, that Europe was on its last legs, and that the market place will solve
all problems.
Fred Ryan is the publisher of Quebec's Aylmer Bulletin, The West Quebec Post, and
the Pontiac Journal.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
|
|
LISTEN! KUZIN BRUCE FLUTE
Website: Click Ad
E-mail Kuzin
Bruce
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.
RSS Feed
FISHING GUIDE
WEBSITE |
