Today I ventured into the drizzly day to have lunch in Hamilton and then work in my office on the second edition of the textbook of which I am writing the second edition: Understanding Human Communication, Canadian Edition. Lunch at Bad Dog Café on Locke to talk social media... I went to bed late, because …
Preliminary comment on BBC’s coverage of the UK Election
I have to say - I love London. And it would be great to be in London on the night of a general election, in the thick of things. But the BBC is doing a great job of bringing us there and helping us share in the excitement. The infographics are great! They have a …
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Measuring up for tenure and promotion at McMaster
Today we had an interesting discussion in our tenure and promotion committee meeting around documentation. For those of you who know about how secretive universities tend to be, and how much word of mouth tends to rule the roost, you'll be surprised to learn that universities are moving to a system where less is done …
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A peculiar and unsettling day.
I spent today at my parents' place in King City. My grandmother, who has been very ill for months, has finally come home from the hospital and is living with my parents. I passed most of the day with her. It's strange to see her so fragile and powerless, challenged to even lift herself off …
An afternoon with the COC’s Flying Dutchman at the Four Seasons Centre
I spent the day in Toronto, having lunch at Java House and going to see an afternoon showing of the Canadian Opera Company's rendition of the Flying Dutchman at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. I picked up my opera buddy, Joey Coleman, a higher-ed blogger for the Globe and Mail, and culture …
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Some thoughts on the three British televised Leaders’ Debates
I just finished watching the three televised British Leaders Debates on C-Span (the player at cpac.ca never booted up for me: wake up CPAC). This was the first time that the United Kingdom had a televised confrontation of the Leaders of the three major national parties: Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Labour, Nick Clegg of …
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A nice night on Hamilton Mountain
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 …
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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