It’s all very well scientists spending their time on cures for cancer, faster computers and a general Theory of Everything, but every once in a while, I firmly believe, they need to get their heads out of the clouds and concentrate on things that are really important to the average Joe: things like pizza, beer …
Category: Blog
Write what you know?
“Write what you know” is one of those tiresome bits of advice that beginning writers are forever having thrown at them. As a science fiction writer, I’ve always rejected this particular maxim out of hand, because, after all, I’ve never been a homeless street musician who ends up sharing a cheap hotel room with an …
Sound
Sound is all around us, to the point where those of us blessed with good hearing take it for granted. But there is a thriving field of science for whose researchers sound is more than just background noise. They see sound as a potential tool for everything from new forms of transportation to new …
Do It With Class Young People’s Theatre Co.
There are a lot of talented young people in Regina. Some of the most talented will be on stage this week and next, as Do It With Class Young People’s Theatre Inc. presents two musicals, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Alice in Wonderland. Do It With Class, now in its seventh season, began with just …
Prairie women remembered in dance
“Modern dance” and “prairie pioneer life” are two phrases that don’t get used together very often. This weekend at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, however, they’ll merge, under the direction of local dancer and choreographer Tracy Houser. On the Edge: Prairie Women , presented Saturday, April 1, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 2, at …
Floods
Seven years ago, it was the Mississippi. Three years ago, it was the Red River. Two years ago, the Yangtze River in China. This year, Mozambique. Recent years have seen a, well, a flood of devastating floods all around the world. And they’re getting worse. In 1998, total losses from weather-related natural disasters, including floods …
The Viewpoints method of acting
Just as (at least according to the old saying) there’s more than one way to skin a cat, so there is more than one way to approach the craft of acting–and lessons in one new approach are about to be offered in Regina. Probably the most famous method is usually called, capital letters and all, …
Animal intelligence
People with pets find it hard to believe, but scientists continue to debate whether or not animals are conscious–that is, whether they’re aware of themselves as individuals. Some still claim that anything animals do is strictly the result of conditioning. Others are willing to grant animals a certain amount of intelligence, but argue that animals …
A virtual tour of Regina’s art galleries
My wife and I share an interest in art–we make a point of visiting galleries wherever we go. And now, thanks to the Web, we can visit galleries even in places where we don’t go, as more and more of them make their presence felt online. Regina’s art galleries are no exception. Visiting them online …
The Journal of Mundane Behavior
I work at home, which, contrary to popular belief, does not mean I watch television all day. (I prefer computer games.) However, when, on occasion, I do turn the TV on, I’m immediately confronted with bizarre behavior, outlandish personalities, and just plain weirdness, on every program from talk shows to news. As a whole, our …
Solar maximum
Our sun is perturbed. It’s throwing off huge flares and erupting with spots like a teenager. That’s because this year marks the “solar maximum”–and that could mean trouble on Earth. The discovery of sunspots coincided with the invention of the telescope. Galileo was quick to turn his on the sun, focusing the image on …
Art and science at the Saskatchewan Science Centre
Art and science are too often thought of as opposites, when in fact they are anything but. What is science, after all, but an attempt to make sense of the world, to detect the order lurking in apparent chaos (and sometimes, the chaos lurking in apparent order)? And what is art, but exactly the same …
My latest live walk and vlog
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