Creative People

Laird Lawrence MacEwen, also known as the Prince of Muck, died this spring at the age of 81. He now lies buried in an open field where his cows still graze. In his last years, he was often heard carrying on conversations with his beloved bovines. He chose his burial spot to keep up with […]

Time to buy haggis, neeps, and tatties! Make the Cullen Skink and Clootie pudding! And don’t forget a good bottle of Scotch! On January 25th, the world celebrates all things Robbie Burns with a traditional Burns’ Night Dinner. The menu explained Cullen Skink is a rich and creamy soup made with smoked haddock, potatoes, butter […]

Christmas Season Evening

Learning to live well on this fragile planet is far more important than dreaming about the next one. Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development, and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), University of Surrey. Tim Jackson, The Alternative UK, July 24, 2021 Essay – the Plutocrat Space Race Fear of […]

I have just finished watching the final episode of Dix pour cent – Call My Agent!  I just loved watching all four seasons. The entire fabric of the series is luxurious. Charm, humour, drama, atmosphere, top-quality acting, this series has it all. It was co-created, co-written, and produced by Dominique Besnehard.  The story line Besnehard […]

The Ambience and the Venues Live opera thrills. The crowd buzzes in anticipation of the performance, the appearance of a great star, or the discovery of a new one.  Devotees debate reviews of the staging and set decoration. Is it too modern or too traditional? The audience is eclectic. Young people in jeans mingle with […]

From late 1973 to mid-1975, I worked at the corner of St-Laurent and St-Viateur. In the late seventies, I worked on Chabanel Street. In that era, much of the clothing that we wore in Canada was still designed and made in those areas of Montreal. And, it was there that I learnt to admire the […]

Québec distillers make 116 different gins, many of them international award winners. There are over 50 craft distilleries, located from Havre St-Pierre to Gatineau producing not only gins but also vodkas, whiskeys, rums and even absinthe. And, over 100 micro-brewers – if you are still buying imported or production beer,  you  don’t know what you […]