Day 841: Hunting The Lost City Of Z

originally published April 20, 2014 There are days when I look at my life story and say, “Woah. This is not the stuff of exquisite drama. Where’s the page-turning twist, the perilous element of surprise?” Then I flip on the TV and get distracted by an old episode of Seinfeld and feel much better. I […]

Day 838: More Roadside Strangeness

originally published April 17, 2014 Despite my wife’s overwhelming disinterest, one of my dream vacations involves combing the secondary highways of North America and tracking down the most boisterously benign roadside attractions the western world has to offer. I think it’s fantastic when a small town builds a UFO landing site, a massive ball of […]

Day 831: France’s West Wing – Saint Pierre & Miquelon

originally published April 10, 2014 If I were to ask you how far away France was located from Canada, the well-travelled among you might answer 3000 miles. The hopelessly cheesy among you might answer “only as far away as my lover’s eyes.” And those among you who value accuracy and specificity would come up with […]

Day 830: Welcome To Liberal, Missouri – Leave Your God At The Door

originally published April 9, 2014 For those who dance the steps of atheism, agnosticism, Jediism and so on, this world has always been a precarious place. It seems odd that one person’s lack of belief in an established monotheistic principle – even if that person is an otherwise caring, giving, deep-down good dude – can […]

Day 829: Gropecunt Lane – It’s Exactly What It Sounds Like

originally published April 8, 2014 Back in the Middle Ages, when skinning your knee or being coughed on by your neighbor could kill you, there was neither the time nor the inclination for subtlety. This was true particularly when it came to town topography. Streets were often named for the economic activity that took place […]

Day 810: Where Commerce Screams In Glittering Light

originally published March 20, 2014 Without question, Times Square is the center of the urban-tourist universe, and all other city cores are distant suburbs. The splashy lights and night-defying non-stop glow are mesmerizing, intoxicating… until you realize that most of the magic around you are advertisements. Even then, all those pleas for the pennies in […]

Day 770: The Summerless Summer

originally published February 8, 2014 This year the news has been splattered by alarming weather reports like a silent film soundstage wall after take thirteen of an epic pie fight. Much of the western world has been grappling with weather that we in Edmonton call ‘regular winter’. I’m not trying to minimize the unusual meteorological hip-check nature has […]

Day 756: The Little Town That Probably Wasn’t

originally published January 25, 2014 Apart from a couple of quick overnighters in nearby Calgary and a 4-day excursion to my in-laws’ place in Kamloops last summer, I have not left the confines of my city since beginning this project. But while the burden of fiscal asphyxiation may have formed a tether around my proverbial ankle, I […]

Day 741: Welcome To The City Of The (Sorta) Future

originally published January 10, 2014 I will admit to a moderate love/hate relationship with Edmonton, the city where I would hang my hat were I hip enough to own a decent hat. The ‘hate’ stems mostly from the weather, as the recent “warming” trend to near-freezing temperatures mocks me and subtly reminds me we’re only […]

Day 730: Taking The Stairs

originally published December 30, 2013 The sage philosopher and observer of our cultural eccentricities Mitch Hedberg once said, “An escalator can never break; it can only become stairs.” That may be true, and it may be soberingly poignant. Also, it’s possible that I simply know of no other way to effectively begin an article about […]