Double-standards you shouldn’t even bother TRYING to argue against…

There’s a heat wave and the Eco-alarmists will instantly attribute it to Global Warming.   But if there’s a sudden cold snap across the country, they’ll ALSO say this is caused by Global Warming.   (Because Global Warming “causes instabilities in climate”…there will be some hot periods, and some cool periods.) If women on TV [...]

Update on Basil the Special Dog

I worked some more on my storybook this week.   Here are a couple of sketches.  I’m learing a lot of things as I go.   For one thing, the colors on the first picture are noticeably clearer, because the drawing was done on high-quality board paper.   The 2nd picture is a bit more smudgy, because it was done on cheaper [...]

18 Tips Guaranteed to Save the Planet……and Make you Miserable!

Strictly adhere to the hundred-mile diet.    Which means no strawberries, pineapples, oranges, bananas, kiwi fruit, chocolate, mangoes, cashews, coffee, juices, tea, Irish Whiskey,  Champagne, most cheeses, and a lot of seafood.   … (Turnips from the root-cellar, anyone?) Never go anywhere on vacation where you have to fly.    In fact, never fly AGAIN.  Jets leave a huge carbon footprint,  kill [...]

An Open Letter to Lucky Charms Cereal

Dear Shooting Star and Lucky Hat; Didn’t you used to be the Orange Star and Green Clover?   Along with the Pink Heart and Yellow Moon, you used to be part of the Fab Four:  the original four marshmallows that made up Lucky Charms when it first came out.   We grew up with you and loved [...]

Limited Time Offer: Learn SEO with this Certified On-Line Blog Course

THE UNIVERSITY OF BLOGO-LAND Proudly presents the U.B.L. Certified Master’s Diploma in Über-Blogging. Taught by the Illustrious Dr. Friar.  (Ph.D, M.Sc, P.B.S, F.U.Bar, Ei-Ei-Oh) Course Curriculum Session 1 Self-Awareness 101:  Learn why your opinion is so God-damned important that the Blogosphere cannot possibly survive without you. The Fundamentals of Food Martyrdom:   Laser-focusing your productivity by neglecting to to [...]

A few new Watercolors

In between my blogging and my kids’ story book, I’ve somehow managed to get a few more landscapes in.  Especially since my painting group started again last fall. These first two are quick (~ 1 hour) sketches.  These scenes are from Gatineau Park, from the cross-country ski trails. From a pure laziness point of view, [...]

Yes, we have NO Breakfast.

Some of you know I like to bitch about the local small town stores here.  But every once in a while, I’ll still give them the benefit of the doubt, and try to throw some business their way.   Support the local economy, you know. Like this morning.  It was 11:30 and I went to eat [...]

Walking to Work at Minus 37 Celsius

Sun is barely up. Out the front door.  Ice forming on my beard within seconds. Air is dead calm.   You can hear a pin drop. Eyes watering.  Eyelashes freezing together. Feet making loud scrunchy noises on the snow. Breathing through my nose, and getting an ice-cream headache. Ski jacket makes funny crinkly noises.  The materials’ [...]

Recent Update on Basil the Special Dog

It’s been a while since I reported any progress on my Basil story book.  So I thought I’d give an update. A few months ago, Karen J.L. provided me with some great consulting.  She gave me some excellent feedback and constructive criticism on how to improve the story and some of the artwork. Since then, [...]

Calorie Counting with Perfesser Friar

Now that New Years is here, and the big Holiday pig-out is over, lots of us are making resolutions to lose weight.  And we’ll say it’s time to start  “counting calories”.    But how many of us really understand what a calorie actually is? A calorie is  a unit of energy.   Energy is the ability to do work [...]