Jump to content





Photo

Arbitrary decisions have no place at council

11 January 2011
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Election 2010, Collingwood's municipal m...
It wasn't about the food. It was about the process. And that process was wrong.

That was my first argument, Monday night, when a motion was read to end our pre-meeting meals. That motion read, "THAT Council herein authorize discontinuing the provision of meals prior to meetings of Council for Council and staff that attend, in an effort...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, mayor, council, budget 12 Comments


Photo

Bass, electric bass and EUB (or EDB)?

25 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Music and ukuleles
Been thinking a lot about bass lately. Not the fish, but rather the musical instrument. I want to play one, at least a lot better than I can now.

Back in the mid-60s, I was in a garage band. They already had two guitarists, so I sort-of played bass, but I played it on the low strings of my six-string electric guitar (a Kent, as I recall). I went...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: music, bass, ukulele 3 Comments


Photo

Order of Collingwood recipients announced

24 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood life, Collingwood's municipal m..., Social values
The list of recipients for the Order of Collingwood, to be awarded on January 9, 2011, has been released. It includes:
  • Wilma Davies
  • Doug Garbutt
  • Gerry LaChance
  • Donna Mansfield
  • Marie Campbell Raithby
  • Barbara Sneyd
  • Gail Synnott
  • Kent Walton
  • Norman Wingrove

The recipients for the Companion to the Order of...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Order of Collingwood 0 Comments


Photo

User fees approval deferred

22 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, downtown-BIA, Collingwood's municipal m...
Big topic on the agenda last Monday: the proposed 2011 schedule of user fees. These are the fees charged by the town for all sorts of services not covered by your taxes, from dog licences to photocopies. The list is 40 pages long. Council got it in the agenda, Friday night, and was expected to pass it, Monday night - and pass it without a full...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, user fees, budget 0 Comments


Photo

Strategic planning for 2011-14

20 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m...
From the Municipal Information Network*:

Chatham-Kent Council Sets Directions for 2011-2014 Term
December 14, 2010 - Following a day and a half of strategic planning, Chatham‐Kent Council has set its overall course for the next four years. The Strategic Planning Session 2011 ‐ 2014 was held at Tilbury Arena on Thursday and Friday. The...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Coll, Collingwood's Municipal Madness, strategic plans, council 1 Comments


Photo

Why are the endings of some TV series so bad?

19 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Book & film reviews, art, culture and reviews
The Sopranos was a great TV series, but the ending was, at best quixotic, at worst unfulfilling and frustrating. Lost was also a great TV series, but the ending was flaccid and annoyingly religious.

We just watched Flashforward (on DVD) and while we loved the series through 21 episodes, the ending episode was, like with so many other American TV...

Read Full Entry →

1 Comments


Photo

Contrived words and spelling

10 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Social values, Language use and abuse
Contrived words generally make me queasy. Yes, I know English is a language in flux and neologisms come and go with annoying frequency. But when advertising and marketing companies get into the act and redesign the language for their own ends, the result is usually fatuous at best, and embarrassingly stupid at worst.

This post was sparked after I...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: English, bad spelling, metaplasmus, language 6 Comments


Photo

Council off to a good start

07 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Collingwood's municipal m..., Election 2010
The inauguration, yesterday, at the Royal Canadian Legion set what I hope is the positive tone for the next four years. Mayor Sandra Cooper promised several things, including a focus on the budget, the changing of the patio bylaw, and a return to the inclusive budget process the previous mayor autocratically changed without council input.

I'm...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Cooper, Council 2 Comments


Photo

Saying goodbye to Ollie

01 December 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Personal reminisence, Animals
Ollie showed up at our door in the summer of 1997. He was an adult cat then, maybe two years old, but possibly older. And he was a big cat, bigger than any other we'd ever had, his short fur all black except in the sunlight when you could see he had a dark, chocolate brown undercoat that suggested a Burmese heritage. A tiny brush of white was...

Read Full Entry →

0 Comments


Photo

The strangest thing to say...

26 November 2010
Posted by Ian Chadwick in Election 2010, Collingwood's municipal m...
There's a front-page article in this weekend's Collingwood Connection about the mayor, titled, "Carrier proud of accomplishments." Pretty much the expected thin, self-congratulatory analysis of his past four years. But what struck me is a bit at the end.*

John Edwards asks Carrier about his "tumultuous" relationship...

Read Full Entry →

Tags: Collingwood's Municipal Madness, mayor 0 Comments



Facebook

Latest Entries

Latest Comments

Daily chess puzzle

Source: Shredderchess.com

Search My Blog

Word of the day

← June 2013 →

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819 20 2122
23242526272829
30      

Latest Visitors

  1. The Mumpsimus Blog site
  2. → Community Blog
  3. → The Mumpsimus Blog
  4. → Collingwood's municipal m...
  5. Guidelines