Monthly Archives: December 2020

–Jim Goodwin

this is a highly-recommended, good collection saluting his half-century of doing the B.C. strip (1958-2006). Who can forget B.C., self-styled genius Peter, inventor Thor, ichthyologist Clumsy Carp, sarcastic Curtis, superstitious poet Wiley, Fat Broad, and Cute Chick? Hart also co-authored … Continue reading →

Begun in the 1980s and still going strong–The Prairie Journal edited by Anne Burke in Calgary. Both online and original magazine format. All genres. Highly recommended.

(3 current guitars: left to right: electric Rickenbacker 12-string, Marr-Mackenzie 6-string acoustic, and 6-string electric Gibson ES-335TD. Not shown here: my SR 16 drum-rhythm machine.) I began performing for audiences in 1965 and ended in the 2000s. (Last gigs were … Continue reading →

Including 60 textbooks and teacher’s guides (over 1 million sold as of 2005), several chapbooks, over 100 magazine publications (U.S. and Canadian), many contest winners, several contest judgings, blog entries (2 blogs, 15 yrs. total), hundreds of readings and in-services, … Continue reading →

My 30-year teaching career as a senior high English teacher almost did not happen. That fall, I was student-teaching in round 1 at a jr. high school, Spruce Avenue Junior High in the north part of Edmonton. The first batch … Continue reading →

It amazes me that it took this long for somebody–in this case, 2 Canadian women filmmakers–to finally acknowledge and pay tribute to famous, popular folk singer Gordon Lightfoot and his life, performing career, and major body of work. They have … Continue reading →

Now censored and expurgated from any Canadian broadcasts of Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts roasting…”). Believe or not, context is important, and times/Christmases past have been different. When Torme used that line, he was not out to deliberately go … Continue reading →

If there was one Lennon song that rawly catches the tensions and paranoia of our current daze, and yet praises the glorious side of human beings, it would have to be “Instant Karma” from 1970. He well-understood and (personally suffered) … Continue reading →

Chuck Yeager, 97, who had “The Right Stuff”. Legendary American test pilot who broke the sound barrier. Beautifully played by Sam Shepard in the movie of the same name, based on Tom Wolfe’s book.