The Blork Blog

Royal Bank screwed me again. I lugged about 15 pounds of loonies to work today, with the intention of hauling them over to the nearest Royal Bank before noon, and exchanging them for some AMEX traveller’s cheques and a deposit to my bank account. Some guy from AMEX told me I’d be better off getting […]

Finally! Canadian laundry labels explained! Bookmark that site now!

So what’s with Billy Idol on Letterman the other night? A million years ago I was a big fan of the blond one–well, at least a big fan of a handful of songs–but what’s he doing now? Did he have new material to show? Not! He stood on the well-lit glittery stage with his perpetual […]

Those nice riot cops in Quebec City went through 1700 cans of tear gas last weekend–so much they had to put in an emergency replenishment order with their American supplier. Shucks, and there was me and the cat just laying around the country house, doing nothing more useful than reading and writing. Missed the whole […]

This guy, Norman Levine, is driving me nuts. I’m reading his book Canada Made Me, published in the mid-1950s. Levine, like Richler, was an Eastern Canadian Jew with literary aspirations who escaped early to London. Levine returned in the mid-50’s for a brief cross-country tour which he wrote about, which became this book. Admittedly, Canada […]

From my office window I can look down at the street and see dozens of people sitting outdoors enjoying cafe al fresco, most of them in their shirt sleeves! Spring! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Don’t fly Continental.