I have been marveling at how much fun it is to watch politicians playing together. In Kanadoodle we saw news snippets of Pierre (cluck, cluck) Poulet, leader of the Consumptive Party pecking at Dustbin Truthless in the Iglooarliament. There isn't a rooster anywhere who can ruffle feathers like Poulet, who's prepared to disagree with anything …
2022 IN REVIEW
In writing my last blog of 2022, I thought I'd reflect on the state of the world this past year. The very idea brought my thoughts immediately to England, back before the second world war. That was when my late father-in-law was visiting his prospective wife's parents when they asked him, with all the primness …
IT’S ALL A PLOT
This week I saw a news cast about the shortage of construction workers and construction materials. According to the news, the lack of construction workers and material is fueling a huge crisis because 'we' need millions more houses to fill the huge demand for new homes. Hmm... The part about a shortage of construction workers …
STRUCTURES OF INDIFFERENCE BY McCALLUM & PERRY
Structures of Indifference by McCallum and Perry, University of Manitoba Press, 2018 - In September of 2008 Brian Sinclair, a first nation's man who, earlier in life, had lost both his legs to frostbite, wheeled himself into the emergency room of Winnipeg's Health Science Centre. He had an infection that was easily treatable. Sinclair was …
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BRING UP THE BODIES BY HILARY MANTEL
Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel, HarperCollins 2012 A sequel to Mantel's celebrated 'Wolff Hall' (2009), 'Bring Up the Bodies' chronicles the life and machinations of Thomas Cromwell during the downfall of Anne Boleyn. The literary field is littered with movies, books and plays about Anne Boleyn. She has been portrayed as everything from …
CRAZY RICH ASIANS
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, Random House 2013 If you're one of the many people who dote on books about the filthy rich, this one might feel like you've struck the jackpot. There's Nick Young, living in America and a professor of history. Why Nick, heir apparent to one of the world's great fortunes, …
NO TWIT FOR THE GHIT
HeLong Muskrat, reputedly the world's richest furry mammal, has recently bought the billion dollar swamp gas giant Twit. A champion of free croaks, Muskrat was enraged when Twit began to put constraints on the smells that people could let loose on the gassy platform – like when Ronald Rump (former Prez of 'Murica and Grand …
IS IT A BIRD? IS IT A PLANE?
After months of coyly wooing his supporters, fluttering his eyelashes and dropping a blizzard of hints, Ronald Rump, former Grand High Imperial Twitterbug (GHIT) and Prez of 'Murica, has announced his intention to seek the Publican nomination for the Whitey House in 2024. Comedy fans everywhere greeted the announcement with hysterical shouts of joy. As …
THE RIGHT TO RIGHTS
In the fair and frozen lands of Kanadoodle, we take great delight in criticizing governments that fall short in the treatment of their citizens. With shaking heads and finger wagging we point to the despots in other countries who bludgeon their critics in order to maintain power in their steely grip. But it’s not just …
A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY BY HILARY MANTEL
A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel, Atheneum Press, 1992 - If you’ve read ‘Wolf Hall’ you might already be a fan of Hilary Mantel. If you haven’t read ‘Wolf Hall’, her book about the life and times of Thomas Cromwell (Henry VIII’s chief political architect after the fall of Cardinal Wolsey), you should. …
Richard's Left Bank 