Culture
Some weeks writing a column is fun and some weeks it’s even funner. This week I got to talk with Canadian comedian Ron James, live from his Toronto condo. He’s coming to Ottawa for a show at the Meridian next week (buy tickets!) and what better opportunity to
Urbanism
Not to show my age or my dirty mind or anything, but when I hear the word sponge I immediately think of Elaine in episode #119 of Seinfeld. But today I am interested in even better sponges than that — the ones that turn urban parks into extraordinarily useful green infrastructure
Urbanism
There’s a lot of talk in Ottawa these days about whether our transit system is going to hell super fast or is entirely fucked already. On a good day it barely works — if by “works” one means getting people to where they’re going in a reliable manner that
Parenting
In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I tee up the Canadian Ultimate Championships, which start Sunday in Ottawa. It’s giving me a great excuse to talk your ears off about why frisbee is so cool. But since not everyone is as obsessed as I am with this one
Gender
I don’t remember the first time I heard about “period panties” and like everyone who menstruates I was immediately both curious and slightly horrified. What do you mean, a change in my habits? I’m not ready to change those. I’m 53 and nearly 2/3 years old
Gender
As I wrote elsewhere, transfeminine professor of law and bioethics Florence Ashley’s first book, Banning Transgender Conversion Practices, was nothing short of a rhetorical tour de force. “The subject matter is not easy, given how emotional people can get when it comes to providing affirming care to trans and
Urbanism
A short note today, because 1) it’s summer and 2) I am preparing to compete (!) in Ultimate this weekend, first competition in anything since Worlds in karate in 2018 I’m not nervous at all and 3) I am working on two longer pieces for you that should be
Culture
You know me and my mild obsession with the nature of work and trying to puzzle out why some people insist on doing the absolute most mind-bendingly stupid thing which is to force every single working person to work in exactly the same way regardless of what they do or
Politics
This week I've got two very different kinds of violence on the mind. Political and culinary. One is totally funnier than the other. Let’s start with the political. Everywhere you look you see an increase in toxicity and the kind of nastiness that drives good people away
Culture
The Spring of 2024 Decline-of-the-French-Language Crisis having abated somewhat since its dramatic height of (checks notes) nearly ten days ago, now seems like a good time to open a few crusty windows and air out this debate some. You can always tell when a Quebec government is in political trouble
Politics
Those who know me well are aware that I never half-ass anything. So when I decide to do the unexpected and come to the defence of a mayor whose performance I am at best quite tepid about, it only makes sense that I should bump into his predecessor at breakfast,
Culture
I went to see Civil War with Beloved last night. We were both super keen on it. And we were both very disappointed. It’s like blood porn without any pleasure at the end. First of all, too many of the scenes are way too long when not altogether unnecessary.