Tag: Saskatchewan

I coulda been a (NaNoWriMo) contender!

All this talk about National Novel Writing Month (for example, this local news story about a participant, one of 72 in Saskatchewan), got me to wondering just how many words I wrote in the final 30 days of working on the first draft of my new novel. I typed THE END on November 14. On …

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Pentaquarks

Every branch of science has its pinnacle of achievement, the thing that every scientist in that field dreams of achieving. For an astronomer, it’s the discovery of a new heavenly body; for a paleontologist, a new species of dinosaur. And for a physicist, it’s the discovery of a new subatomic particle. University of Saskatchewan particle …

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The geological highway map of Saskatchewan

Over the years, various tours around the province, most recently last weekend with the University of Regina Chamber Singers to Swift Current and Yorkton, have given me an appreciation for the varied nature of the Saskatchewan landscape. It might be flat and treeless around Regina, but in the parklands rolling terrain is the norm; out …

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The Saskatchewan Film Pool: bringing filmmakers together

It’s not easy being an independent filmmaker. Of all the art forms, film is one of the most expensive, requiring specialized equipment and facilities. But filmmaking is like any other complicated endeavor: it gets easier when you pool resources with other individuals involved in the same pursuit. That’s the philosophy behind the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative. …

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Crop circles

Last week, Ken and Linda Mann found two mysterious circles in the wheat on their farm, about 75 kilometres south of Saskatoon. Three kilometres to the west, Hutterites from the Brethren of Dinsmore colony found five more. As crop circles go, these were relatively mundane. The most complex designs appear in England, like the one …

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Synchrotrons

  Saskatchewan could soon be home to Canada’s first synchrotron, and if your first reaction is, “So what?” then, dear reader, you must read on. Physicists are a lot like small boys: they like to see what makes things tick by smashing them up. In the case of small boys, those things may be clocks …

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Saskatchewan’s ecoregions

I’m in the middle of a tour of 60-some schools with Prairie Opera, and aside from the enjoyment of performing, the best thing about the tour is the opportunity to see so much of Saskatchewan. One thing quickly impresses itself: there’s a lot more to this province than a flat, treeless plain, even if that’s …

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Potholes

It’s spring in Regina, and we all know what that means: snow is melting, water and funny-looking guys in shorts are running, and the potholes are in bloom. Everyone knows that Regina has a pothole problem, and for once, what “everyone knows” is right. But don’t blame the city. Especially, don’t blame Harlan Ritchie, Manager …

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Wheat

The most amazing thing about this week’s topic isn’t the topic itself (though that’s pretty amazing); the amazing thing is that I haven’t written about it before. “It” is wheat, and how I’ve managed to go more than three years without mentioning it I can’t imagine, in view of the fact it’s as inescapable a …

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Biological control of leafy spurge

In 1987, when I was news editor of the Weyburn Review, I journeyed to a small lake near Maxim to photograph beetles infesting the pretty yellow-flowered plants growing on its steep banks (hey, the news business isn’t all politicians and other disasters!). Today, I’m told (though I haven’t had the opportunity to go see for myself), …

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Wind

A few years ago National Geographic, in an article on Saskatchewan, mentioned that we sometimes have a little wind. (I trust I’m not revealing any secrets.) But, one man was quoted as saying, “In Saskatchewan, we don’t consider it really windy until we have whitecaps in our bath water.” Wind and Saskatchewan seem to go …

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