It seems that there will be more than a tinkle going on in the school washrooms in the Swedish town of Tingsryd. A councillor has proposed piped music as a way of catering to students who worry about the noises they might make when they use the facilities. Disclosure. Although I’m presenting the subject in a facetious (faecetious?) style, please… Read more »
My work recently took me out of town again, and as I sat in my modest hotel room waiting for my work day to begin, I wondered what kind of things a less-tolerant-than-me person might complain about when staying at such a hotel. You won’t believe what happened next. I always check all the drawers in a hotel room to… Read more »
When an English-speaking person migrates across the Atlantic, he (or she) discovers that he (or she) [don’t labour the point…] has to re-learn the language. Mrs. H discovered this only a few weeks after we moved to Canada. She was volunteering in our daughter’s grade two class and asked a child for a rubber. Yes, the kids—the grade two kids—picked… Read more »
I thought the US$2100 version of IKEA’s blue bag was a reasonably isolated incident of the fashion industry ripping off—sorry, catering to fashion-following sheeple. And then I read this article about a $1500 Chanel boomerang. In the name of all that’s good, honest and reasonable, why would anyone want a $1500 boomerang? And why would someone come up with the… Read more »
News item: Luxury fashion house Balenciaga launches US$2100 tote that looks like IKEA’s $0.99 “Frakta” bag. The marketing department of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Prada Fashion Inc. (ICBINP, pronounced “Ick-bee-inp”) was holding a crisis meeting. Six of the most un-conservatively-dressed people on the planet sat around a table shaped like Italy, waiting for the Vice President to speak. She… Read more »
I have a concern about something that’s of vital importance to music composers everywhere. It’s this: are we anywhere near running out of unique tunes; riffs; melodies? This question pops into my mind from time to time when I hear certain songs. George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord, Men at Work’s Down Under, and The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony are three such… Read more »
(This piece will be make most sense if you know about the following two news stories, and take the time to read my January 2017 piece, “Returning a Long-overdue Library Book”) News item: Eight-year old boy learns to drive on YouTube for McDonald’s joyride News item: Boy aged 12 drives himself 1,300km across Australia After reading these two news articles,… Read more »
Back in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, whoever it was that was running the over-ground rail network in England came out with a series of much-mocked (but valid) reasons for late and cancelled services. Autumn leaves made the wheels slip on the rails, reducing traction; and “the wrong type of snow” caused the trains’ electric motors to short-circuit. These… Read more »
Have you heard the latest health freak war-cry? “Sitting is the new smoking.” Yep – you read it correctly. But viewed in isolation, with no context, what does it mean? Is sitting a cool new addiction that kids want to get into? Are we to imagine hordes of tweens skulking behind the bike sheds (or whatever the modern equivalent is)… Read more »
The text above the drop-down read, “Select your purpose of travel.” There were five options; Leisure, Business, Work, Studies, and Immigration. Really? There’s that much immigration going on that it merits its own option? More so than “Repatriating loved one’s remains” or “Arranged marriage” or “Using up soon-to-expire AirMiles™”? Okay—so AirMiles™ backed off on the “soon-to-expire” thing (In Canada, anyway),… Read more »