Canada is like a functional alcoholic, and being Canadian means living with one. Now that I’ve got what may be the most unpopular statement I’ve ever written out of the way, let me explain what I mean. The thing about a functional alcoholic is that they have two completely separate sides to them: the outward […]
Rants
All About ‘Dem Dice: Odds of Death and the Oscar Boycott
It’s often hard to resolve broad statistics and scientific findings with our own, everyday, anecdotal evidence. Take, for example, illness and death. Statistics will show us that our chances of death are influenced by a lot of things: genetics, eating habits, exposures to certain toxins, and age, to name a few. We know, for example, that smoking is bad for us, but you’ll sometimes hear someone trot out the somewhat tired “my (grandfather/grandmother/person I heard of once in a story) lived to be (90/105/336), and he/she/they smoked a pack a day” line to justify or excuse their habit. This is occasionally coupled with a line like “non-smokers get cancer every day, so it’s obviously a craps shoot, anyway.”
A craps shoot is a perfect analogy, actually. Let me explain why, using Dungeons and Dragons (bear with me, it will make sense in the end)
Where Have All the Good Men Gone: The Loss of Our Icons
It’s been a rough week. I’ll admit that I’m not a huge David Bowie fan–not anti-Bowie, more that he was just never on my radar–but it’s clear that his loss echoed around the world. He was a rock icon, a pioneer in music, fashion, and public sexuality, and (perhaps most important to a child of the 80s) star of the movie Labyrinth. He was important to a lot of people, and it’s damned unfortunate that he was taken at only 69, when he likely had years of creativity and life left in him. Cancer is a bitch.
However, the much more cutting loss for me came this morning. Alan Rickman, an extraordinary actor of a like rarely seen, passed away–also at 69, and also from cancer.
The Politics of Freedom and Tradition: Niqabs, Undebated Bills, and Gym Hours
For those of you who keep up with the news, it should have been pretty hard to miss the stories involving culture and religion arising from Canadian politics over last few months—particularly those involving Muslims. The actions of terrorist groups, such as ISIS, have led to knee-jerk reactions by governments around the world, with little […]
On Admitting I’m Wrong
As I’ve grown up, I’ve often become less and less sure about where I stand on…well…most issues, really. I look at this as a good thing; that lack of surety often arises directly from learning more about the issue and realizing that I haven’t fully understood things—but that doesn’t make it any easier to admit […]
It Costs How Much??? A Dad’s Perspective on Organic Living
For some time now, my wife and I have been trying to move our family’s menu into the organic section. This began, as I recall, with a series of articles on pesticides and GMOs. Soon, my wife came upon a “10 worst” list of offender foods (mostly fruits and vegetables) that we had to begin […]