Canadian Curmudgeon 🍁

@cdncurmudgeon.bsky.social

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🍁 Woke writer, editor, reviewer, consultant, municipal politician. ☑ Shakespeare, Horace, Machiavelli, Chaucer, Cicero, Homer, Godzilla, ERB, ukuleles, democratic socialism, atheism, pets, science, bread, tequila.đŸš«crypto!đŸš« MAGA! www.ianchadwick.com/blog

Sliced olives on peanut butter and toast.
A new flavour pairing this morning: dark roast peanut butter and Kikkoman wasabi sauce on toast. Delicious!
Trust in media ranked by how the respondent also votes.
Just arrived: a Bambaw wooden-handled safety razor and a Charman, short and heavy razor. The Bambaw weighs in at 85g, around the standard for most of my razors. The Charman, however, is a hefty 139g, heaviest razor I own.
Brilliant parody: algae green labelled as Pantone's 2026 "colour of the year - American Flag Blue"
The elected political spectra in Canada and the United States (Comparative, USA to Canada)
Bring back tumbrels and guillotines!
AI image for Gillette safety razor
The Deranged Dictator stands alone and friendless at the G7 meeting
Mother dove and chick
A look at the last 50 years shows that each time the Liberals were in power, the GDP increased. And each time the Conservatives were in power, the GDP decreased.
Spreadsheet of Ngaio Marsh detective books
Picked up a few books at the local library spring book sale today... most for me, some for my wife, some to share... might go back tomorrow to see what's left...
QOTD: "I think, every year, the richest person in the world should be sacrificed and their wealth distributed to the poorest among us. The rest of the year would be billionaires scrambling to distribute their wealth in an attempt to ensure they aren't the one to pushed out into the ocean next year. Is that radical enough for you?" --@genxkiwi66
My spreadsheet of Marx Brothers movies
John Rodgers: “There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
The reason you don't see "Never forget 4/19" every year is because the Oklahoma City bombing was done by a conservative straight white Christian who was a US. citizen. When a terrorist attack can't be used to endlessly slaughter Muslims overseas, it has little propaganda value.
Morels popping up in the garden again this year...
Andrew Lokenauth @FluentInFinance I analyzed fifty S&P 500 10-Ks. The data is wild. I scanned for 8 risk themes: tariffs, war, geopolitical risk, oil/energy, sanctions, supply chain, interest rates, and recession. Morgan Stanley has 221 mentions of geopolitical risk. Citigroup has 269 mentions. Bank of America had 102 mentions. Chevron has 188 oil risk mentions. NVDA has 50 mentions of "sanctions" alone in their filings. The entire AI boom runs on a supply chain that cuts through Taiwan, China, and the Strait of Hormuz.
We already knew the USA was full of gullible, delusional fools. Here's just one more data point to prove it.
Quebec online book seller Les Librairies has expanded to eight more provinces and launched an English version of its website, Booksellers.ca. The site pools the inventory of indie bookstores across Canada in one digital marketplace, akin to Amazon or Indigo, with only titles from local shops. They've added 30 new stores and now have 160 independent booksellers on the platform.
Here’s an old Sikh story, now a parable about AI: A holy man gives two men each a chicken. Then he says to the men, “Go kill them where no one can see.” The first man takes a chicken behind a nearby fence and kills it immediately. But the second man comes back two days later, chicken in hand. “Why didn’t you kill the chicken?” the holy man asks. “Because everywhere I go,” the man answered, “the chicken sees.” From Baba Ram Dass’ book, Be Here Now.
Two books arrived today: the Norton Critical Edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the second volume of tales from the Arabian Nights, translated by Haddawy.
The risible Cybertruck looks like a dumpster: the design inspiration is clear.
A visual guide to how conservatives destroy public services
Today I found a 1990 translation of the 1,001 Nights at the local bookstore I had not previously seen. I have two other versions: the 2008 Penguin trilogy (trans Malcolm and Ursula Lyons), and a 1951 printing of the four-volume translation by Powys Mathers (originally published in 1923). Now to spend a few hours comparing them and maybe write a blog post about these tales...
@realDonald Trump Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT 3/22/26, 8:24 AM
Over the years, I have collected several translations of Horace's poems. Some are translated as blank verse, others as prose. The translations themselves date back from to the 17th century up to recent decades. I have written about Horace and these translations on my blog a few times. I continue to turn to Horace for pithy epigrams, acute observations of the human condition, and advice.
Peanut butter and dill pickles on sourdough toast. Tried this combo for the first time today. It's an interesting mix of flavours and textures. I have enjoyed olives and peanut butter, too.
As Bad as Each Other The Strait of Hormuz is much in the nuz. How I wish it were not - I'd regime change the lot. Brian Bilston
Anyone else a fan of Archy and Mehitabel? I first read Don Marquis's Archy poems in a book my grandparents had. Would have been the late '50s or early '60s. I've been a fan ever since. I have since collected a few books by Don Marquis; some of them are original publications, others are reprints. Here's a photo of those I have. Publication dates: Archy & Mehitabel 1933, Archy Does His Part 1936, Archy's Life of Mehitabel 1933, Life and Times of Archy & Mehitabel 1935. Acrchyology I 1996 and II 1998. Annotated 2006, Best of 2011. Life & Times contains all of the first three books.
Anyone notice how civil rights became “DEI” and got framed as “racist” against white people, women’s rights became “feminism” and got framed as oppressive to men, “freedom of religion” became “religious liberty” so Christian nationalists can act like they're somehow the victims, help became “entitlement” so billionaires can convince you to hate the poor, a fetus became an “unborn child”, immigrants became “illegals”, and protesters became “domestic terrorists”?
Marcel Arsenaultï»ż on FB: Pierre Poilievre says he's in the United States to save Canada’s auto industry. But given his enthusiasm for American style economic policies and his constant praise for the U.S. market, you have to wonder who actually benefits. If anything, his approach looks far more likely to strengthen American auto interests than protect Canadian manufacturing jobs. Canadians should be asking a simple question: whose industry would really win?
Snow day 01
Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you'll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out. And as size comes before colour, green great dragons can’t exist... Things English speakers know but don't know we know, or how we know, or can explain to others.
The new MAGA hat...
Bring back tumbrels and guillotines!
After a couple of warm days, the snow is rapidly disappearing here. Finally... Ski hills won't be happy, though.