Of Apples and Oranges

| April 13, 2011

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” ~ William Shakespeare, Macbeth, 2.2 “Never believe anything until it has been officially denied.” ~ Francis Claud Cockburn Yesterday, the clusterfuck at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear reactor site was […]

Build Your Own Nuclear Reactor – Well, Not Really

| March 29, 2011

My first article in this three part series, titled Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed dealt with my observations on the ass covering passed off as public information releases that have been streaming out of Japan since the 11 March earthquake and subsequent tsunami […]

Radiation – Let’s Get It Straight

| March 20, 2011

Yesterday’s article, Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed, introduced this and the article that follows, and explained my motivation for writing both. If you haven’t yet read my intro, please go and do so now before coming back here and moving forward. Media coverage […]

Bullshit Alert – Since 11 March 2011, If You’ve Ever Even Heard of Japan, You’ve Been Exposed

| March 19, 2011

As the late unpleasantness in and around Japan continues to unfold, I’m seeing more and more media coverage that has a net information content of zero. On at least two cases, rather than informed, I actually felt stupider after listening to it. The constant soothing wordage and disclaimers like “slightly radioactive material” and “a small […]

The Skrælingibók – Wendigo Lore

| February 17, 2011

What follows is a character development for the most important role in my present work in progress, Skrælingibók – A Skræling’s Saga. After all, without the Wendigo what would be the point? If you don’t yet know the concept of the story, click here for enlightenment. Lore holds that the Wendigo is a spirit. While, […]

Some Gritty Feel Good Music

| February 16, 2011

On those rare occasions when I find myself on the road alone, singing helps keep me alert. This first song has always been one of my favourites, probably because I’ve spent way too many years of my life being part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Anyway, settle back for a dose […]

Toe Tapping Darkness

| February 6, 2011

Just yesterday I was found by this uplifting little ditty by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and played it today to Mrs. LFM who, like me, had never heard it before. We both agree, what’s not to love?

A Little Known Piece by Robert W. Service

| January 19, 2011

I’ve always been a fan of Robert W. Service, he known best by the world for such great works of frontier poetry as The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee. Service said, “The only society I like is that which is rough and tough – and the tougher the better. That’s […]

The Skrælingibók

| January 8, 2011

A thousand years ago, Viking expeditions out of Greenland made incursions into North America. Much of what we know of this time comes down to us from a pair of Icelandic Sagas that were written two hundred years after the events they describe, supplemented by archaeological examination of the failed Vinland settlement at L’Anse aux […]

Beware the Activist for He Will Piss Down Your Back and Tell You It’s Raining

| December 30, 2010

Under the title New tobacco warnings unveiled, CBC News opened their 30 December 2010 article with, “The federal government has introduced new rules that force tobacco companies to include larger and more graphic anti-smoking warning labels on cigarette packs. The new anti-smoking ads will now cover 75 per cent of the pack, instead of the […]