The very cool blog of former This Magazine editor Clive Thompson was voted “Best blog to make you seem smarter at cocktail parties” by the Village Voice in October. I like reading Clive’s blog because it’s full of geeky things I love too, like cool science/technology facts, design ideas and video games (even though everything […] More »

Anybody care to speculate on who gets the nod as Greatest Canadian on the CBC? Interesting it will definitely be, since it wasn’t up to the producers at the mothercorps to decide… My money is on Trudeau. (And NOT that wretched Justin.) More »

(Yeah, yeah, yeah. Remember: the Rebel Sell was an award-winning article that appeared first in This Magazine and I’m milking the google hits for all they’re worth. Read the article then go and buy the book, ok?) Peterborough’s student newspaper The Arthur has an exclusive interview today with our own Andrew Potter about the book […] More »

I was introduced to CBC Radio Overnight when I lived in Nunavut and was desperate for some news of the outside world. (Did you know that it is *impossible* to subscribe to the national dailies in many parts of Canada?) The program probably gets very few listeners in its time slot of 1 a.m. to […] More »

There’s an article in this week’s Economist about how great Adrienne Clarkson is and how much Canadians love her. The article is called “Madame Canada: A much-loved governor-general keeps things steady.” Did I miss something? I don’t know anyone who particularly loves Madame Clarkson, but I do know many who fiercely dislike her and think […] More »

There’s been not a peep on this blog about Lt. Chris Saunders who died last week after battling a fire on board the HMCS Chicoutimi – and that’s a terrible oversight. Saunders’ funeral was held today in Halifax. If everything is indeed political, then surely the unnecessary death of this brave young man is making […] More »

Couldn’t have put it better than Paul Wells: What does the Parti Quebecois mean when it promises Quebecers a “real country”? For one thing, it means a country whose government sees more in the world than focus groups and hospital waiting lines. Mayors can worry about plumbing; it is a national government’s job to face […] More »

Now that The Headwaiter is out of the country for a few days, we can rest easy that he won’t go and hand GST revenues over the Assembly of First Nations or something equally idiotic. At any rate, while The Headwaiter is bent on disembowling the federal government, two of his Quebec ministers are behaving, […] More »

Finally, something fun has emerged out of the US presidential debates. It seems that there’s speculation that Bush was wired up, receiving covert prompting from his handlers. Check out this site for photos and stuff. It’s pretty intriguing, if only because it would confirm that the frat boy Bush can’t stop himself from cheating on […] More »

Update: Here’s the obit in Le Monde Ok, this just calls out for grad-school witticisms. Come on, bring on the clever remarks, the ultra-in jokes, the high irony archness of it all. Andy Lamey, are you out there? Please help. Philosopher Derrida Dies in Paris at 74 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:25 p.m. […] More »

I’m not trying to be snarky, but the Giller nominees have just been announced Alice Munro, Wayson Choy, Shauna Baldwin, Miriam Toews, and Paul Quarrington. Apart from one Quarrington (Whale Music) and the few Alice Munro short stories I was forced to read in grade 10, I’ve never read anything by any of these writers, […] More »