I spent a pleasant evening today on Hamilton Mountain at a political pub night at DiMaggio’s Italian Eatery on Upper Ottawa Street. The party was organized by my good friend, Hamilton family practice lawyer, Tyler Banham. I also met his mother. Some of my Ancaster and Dundas friends, such as Peter Greenberg and Dennis Newsome …
Monthly Archives: April 2010
Movie Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Caution: Spoilers)
Last night I went to see the Swedish film adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” the first novel in Stieg Larsson’s best-selling detective trilogy. The dialogue is in Swedish, with excellent, unobtrusive English subtitles. What a strange and haunting experience watching this film is. The plot is a pared-down version of the novel’s …
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An unexpectedly profound convo with the lawn guy
I had a moving conversation today. One that made me realise that community is important. The day started normally. After a very late night of reading and writing, I work up late – at 9.30am. The sunlight woke me, streaming in through a slit between my heavy drapes, right across my face. I got up …
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[Belatedly] commemorating tenure with a pen
I picked up a gift from my grandmother today. A gift that she had given me money to buy a few years ago when I was granted tenure by McMaster University. She is terribly ill right now, perhaps in the beginning of a sad slow decline. In many ways, she was the person who raised …
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Hamilton Civic League Meeting
I had a good night hanging out with people who are passionate about citizen engagement at the Hamilton Civic League town hall tonight. The Townhall meeting and panel discussion was held at Westdale High School. There was fantastic organic coffee from Red Hill Coffee Trade. The subject matter was the Aerotropolis – a proposed expansion …
What’s wrong with Canadian universities – part 2: How to reform them?
On April 15, I wrote a blog post about why I think Margaret Wente is wrong to say that universities are sitting ducks for reform because the system is overly focused on professors and research. She said that professors, because of a sense of entitlement and because of tenure, think that they are above the …
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Opera Hamilton – La Bohème!
Had a great night with Giacomo Puccini at Opera Hamilton tonight! Thanks to my friend Megan Coppolino of kitestring.ca, I was able to get a last-minute ticket. I think I may have found a new opera-buddy. What a lucky thing. Opera Hamilton is fantastic. Their La Bohème took me on the usual emotional roller coaster …
What’s wrong with Canadian universities – part 1
The university system is limping, that’s for sure. But it’s because of short-sighted decisions by policy-makers, not because of rebellious professors, as Margaret Wente would have us believe. I have been a professor of communication studies and French at McMaster University since 2001. In July of that year, I joined McMaster as the first professor …
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Laid out by a huge cold – but reading two books in King City!
I have had the worst cold that I have experienced in 10 years since Monday. My parents came over on Sunday night to help me clean my house. They like doing this, not because I am incapable, but it makes them feel they doing something productive, other than sitting around and visiting with me. I …
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Simplifying and focusing my life
I did a very stupid thing early this week and lost someone I care deeply about. A person who made me dream, who unlocked my creativity. A kindred spirit. It has shaken me to the core. I am still reeling from from it today. It has been a rough week. This has pushed me to …