As a Canadian tourist literally having landed less than an hour previously and driving a rental car solo out of the Sidney Australia airport bound for nowhere it particular, it did not occur to me that I would be pulled over almost immediately by a policeman. Not only that, he was heavily disguised in full on believe it or not, standard mark one bee keeper regalia. Adding insult to injury, his opening pitch after having firmly and I thought rather over enthusiastically flagged me down that very early morning was, have you had anything to drink today sir?  Tempted to…

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Feeling very relaxed well into a long and up to that point uneventful transpacific flight some time ago en-route to Sydney Australia, I thought I could smell burning. In an instant needless to say I was no longer relaxed. I tried to tell myself it was probably something else I was smelling or perhaps just imagining, surely nothing was burning in the fully seated cabin of the late model Boeing about half way into the largely over water flight.  As I was trying to process this, musing with the idea that it was quite likely just my sometimes overblown imagination…

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In a hurry one day, all right a needless blind panic, I led myself into something of a mix up not to say fiasco. Let me be honest it was a farce, one of my favourite comedic theatrical disciplines albeit I wasn’t trying to be theatrical nor funny at the time. That said it was a ludicrously improbable and absurd event executed as stated, under the guise of haste. The adage more haste, less speed comes immediately to mind. Adding insult to injury and regrettably, I was sober.  I had several letters to mail and as per my norm, quite…

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“Egalitarianism is a philosophical perspective that emphasizes equality and equal treatment across gender, religion, economic status and political beliefs.”   Since emigrating from the UK now some considerable time ago, okay actually longer than I care to remember, I have often times been asked and still am, what made you come to Canada? My answers have been consistent and candid. Primarily to escape the British class system, without doubt still deeply entrenched to this day.* I wanted to have the opportunity to join and contribute to an egalitarian centric society where most everyone, regardless of their social background, education and upbringing…

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The few times I have encountered close up well known celebrities, be they sports stars, movie stars, theatre stars, politicians, royalty (actually none so far) etc, etc ad infinitum, I have made a point of not bothering them. My gut feel is that the majority of them prefer it that way. In the extremely unlikely event that I ever become well known, I too will appreciate being afforded my privacy. On second thoughts make that a maybe. I am inclined occasionally to give free rein to the thespian in me. *  I am an enthusiastic lifelong competitive physical sports fan…

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Some time after a foreboding winter brush with dense sea fog whilst under power single handing my then sailboat, a Shark 24 as in twenty-four feet in length,* a member of the yacht club of which we were both members was also single handing his much larger and hence significantly faster sailboat. He was also under power and at sea in winter. Wisely in addition to of course wearing a life jacket as had I, unlike me he was also wearing a safety harness. However the line attached to the harness, correctly and firmly affixed to the boat was incorrectly…

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Growing up in Barrow-in-Furness a medium to large sized * UK  industrial coastal town engaged primarily in ship building, ** located in the northwestern corner of England all but isolated at the western tip of the Furness peninsula, one was spoiled by the extensive choice of beaches to explore. Most all of them were pummeled and pounded ad infinitum by the almost continually wind swept Atlantic Ocean and its’ local co-conspirator in aquatic violence, the rarely stilled Irish-Sea.  The Furness peninsula boasts about sixty kilometres of coastline and hence beaches, most all of them readily accessible given an almost complete…

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Some years ago when I was a member thereof, the Vancouver Welsh Men’s choir * received an enquiry from a film production company in town to shoot a made for TV movie ‘Mrs Delafield Wants to Marry’. The location was the very picturesque and locally much loved Anglican St. Francis-in-the-Wood heritage church in West Vancouver. Could we supply five singers willing to be in the movie? The quintet would be costumed as monks and required to perform a Gregorian chant. ** Is the Pope Catholic? I was quick to volunteer. Another volunteer knew a Gregorian chant and went about teaching…

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Barely six months after emigrating from Britain to Canada via transatlantic liner in May 1967, disembarking in Montreal and driving the 4,554 kms to Vancouver in the Austin 1100 * we had brought with us and having had the good fortune, somewhat against the going odds, to land a well-paid job in Vancouver soon after our arrival as did my wife, I fulfilled a goal going back to childhood and bought a sailboat.  She was a Shark 24, a fibreglass 24 foot One-Design racing ** fixed keel vessel designed in 1959 by George Hinterhoeller a then 31-year old Austrian immigrant…

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A well established if comedic adage with regard to hiking in the Canadian backcountry in general, particularly in habitat known for dangerous wildlife populations such as grizzly, black and polar bears (the latter on Hudson’s Bay, Manitoba and further north) along with cougars, wolves, coyotes, wolverines, moose and rattlesnakes, is to always hike with a buddy whom you can outrun! Specifically with regard to black and grizzly bears, there are well established dictums that say ‘if the bear is black fight back, if the bear is brown, lie down’. Do not run away!  For the record, when traversing polar bear…

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