The red hot Louisiana Tabasco sauce tattoo man versus gunpowder soup There is something about tattoos that puts me off. I don’t know what it is. Some folks call it a form of art; I call it self-mutilation. Still, I suppose it’s better to cover your body with drawings than…

Redefining America By Michael McCarthy, Canadian to the core These are dark days indeed, my friend. There are storm clouds on the horizon. Few know what the future will bring. But there is also a calm before the storm, so while the moment is still light it may be time…

Letter to a friend Long time no see. You might not remember me, but I am your neighbor to the north. I’m the quiet guy in the charming little Craftsman Cottage. It’s not a monster house like yours, but our energy bills are lower and we like the peace and…

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN AT THE DUBAI SOUK I was in Dubai on a mission, basically to check out what the future is going to look like. Apparently the future will be a sea of glistening high rise towers built in previously empty desert sands and paid for by people…

On the edge of the middle of nowhere and into the back of beyond “Everyone complains about the weather,” wrote Mark Twain, “but no one does anything about it.” I know exactly how he feels. When discussing travel, everyone talks about the “middle of nowhere” but no one says where…

A brief tour of God’s beloved city “If you took all the fruits and nuts out of San Francisco, all you would have left are the flakes.”- Unknown The jury is out. What is the world’s most beautiful city? Apparently Cape Town in South Africa is lovely, although I haven’t…

Plain abalone buttons up the duck Can you speak or spell Chinese? Personally I know a lot of Chinese words. I think it’s what used to be known as Cantonese, after the city of Canton in southern China, but they change the spelling of Chinese cities every twenty minutes or…

The early worm catches the bird For many people, one of the delights of a trip or vacation is sleeping in. Yes, stuffing your face three times a day with fine foods is fun as well, not to mention the opportunity for multiple beverages inserted in between the meals, and…

Flinging a few with a pug in the pub First of all, let’s get our definitions straight. What is a pug? According to the dictionary, a pug is a breed of small sturdy compact dogs of Asian origin with a smooth, short coat, tightly curled tail, short muzzle, and broad…