Randy | March 19, 2011
I could paint a poem on your back With a Chinese brush and India ink. And then, with a razor or pin or sliver of bamboo And a stolen hotel towel (to daub the blood and excess black), I could make it Permanent. I have seen this done before in my dreams. But You would […]
Randy | March 17, 2011
While representing a bottomless pit of unreality, the internet can still be relied on as a source of Reality and Truth for those prepared to unflinchingly see Nature as She is, and not filtered through rose coloured glasses. The only way the lion will ever lay down with the lamb is so it can be […]
Randy | March 6, 2011
Oddly enough, this poem was born from an intention to write something with a pretty beginning that set the reader up for a funny punch line involving the way Spring unveils just how much frozen dog shit has been slumbering under the snow and ice in our yard, and that blessed day when Nature does […]
Randy | February 25, 2011
Growing up with a burning interest in living safely and well outside of the comforting arms of “civilization”, I spent a lot of time learning and mastering my skills one at time so I knew they wouldn’t fail me when I needed them to live. More than half a century worth of winters down the […]
Randy | 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 […]
Randy | February 8, 2011
H. L Mencken wrote, “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” Every day I get exposed to what oozes into public view from under the rock that is Ottawa I revisit those words. I sporadically manage to sideline Stephen Harper for varying periods of time. Last summer’s painful foray into Canada’s […]
Randy | January 24, 2011
Of the known Icelandic sagas, both Grænlendinga Saga (The Saga of the Greenlanders) and Eiríks Saga Rauða (The Saga of Eirik the Red) speak of the discovery of Vinland – what we call North America – by the Vikings. They also make mention of Freydís Eiríksdóttir. Freydís was the daughter of Eirik the Red and, […]
Randy | 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 […]
Randy | November 20, 2010
“An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein, Beyond This Horizon, 1942 ~ If you follow me here, then you know I regularly encounter subject matter that’s too big for one article to hold. Well, I’m at […]
Randy | November 11, 2010
Quite a while ago I mastered singing the song titled The Green Fields of France. It’s been recorded by many, but my favourite arrangement is this one by The Fureys. Not only do I enjoy the arrangement and the voice of the man singing it, but there’s one line in particular that always held a […]