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Ever since I started playing the ukulele, I've been delving deeper into the science and mystery of acoustics. For the past two and a half years I've been trying to understand how and why a ukulele - or any stringed instrument - generates sound. What factors influence the sounds we hear, and who can changing one or more element change that sound?

Luthiers know this more intimately. I'm just an outsider with a layman's passion for music and science. But during this time, I've learned a lot about instrument design and construction, about tonewoods, sound holes, the Helmholtz resonance, strings, saddles, bridges, braces, frequency response and harmonics. It's fascinating stuff. Here are some of the basics:

The top...

The mayor, who has in the past professed to be environmentally conscientious, was one of the very few who voted to clear-cut a 42-acre section of land in the west end, Monday. That recommendation was defeated, but it deserves comment.

How wiping out a large area of our already-stressed urban forest, destroying an environment used by urban wildlife and is a nesting ground for migratory birds, and chopping down trees that keep our air clean and our town cool squares with any environmental stance escapes me. But I've never been able to reconcile the mayor's contradictions in the past, so this vote was no different in that.

The land was part of the parcel he and a majority of council previously approved for development of 400-500,000...

When I crush a leaf from my lime tree, it smells deliciously of lime, like its fruits do. And its fruits, when it graces us with them, are richly aromatic and unmistakably lime-scented. When you cut into one, you can smell it across the room, and the scent from the oils will linger for hours on your fingers.

Yet today, with it in full bloom in this late summer afternoon, its flowers smell of a fragrant perfume, almost like jasmine. Standing under the porch where it sits by our door, the scents gather and as I walk by, lift up to greet me. If I didn't know it was a lime tree, I would not be able to identify it by by the sweetness of its flowers.

It's a mystery to me, why the flowers don't smell like the sap or the fruit....

Mayor Chris Carrier is NOT running for re-election as mayor. Another "I told you so" moment. I've been saying he wouldn't run again for the last few months. In fact I had a long conversation with a local developer last night during which we debated this very issue.

I expect some of you are already breaking out in a chorus of "Ding, dong, the witch is dead..."

However, the mayor did say he planned to run for the federal Conservative candidate - where I suppose hopes to do to the riding what he did to the town.

That poses some interesting questions - will his past behaviour at the County, where I'm told he has alienated a lot of his fellow County reps and some County staff - hinder his chances federally?...

What's up with the BIA these days? As a previously ardent supporter of the BIA, the organization's latest moves have both confounded and bothered me. I'm still a supporter of the downtown merchants, but my respect for the executive has dropped a few notches of late. *

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A month after council was told by a consultant doing a community economic overview that Collingwood had too much retail space for its size, Wal Mart is pitching to expand.

In fact, the analysis said the region already has four more supermarkets than the provincial average for the population. But Wal Mart wants to almost triple the floor space of its grocery section. Monday's public meeting will hear arguments about expanding the grocery section from 6,000 sq. ft. to over 15,000 sq. ft. I am looking forward to seeing their commercial analysis that justifies an expansion in direct opposition to that our town's consultant told us.

Collingwood alone already has six grocery stores for a population of under 18,000: Loblaws,...

Why aren't all psychics filthy rich? I mean, if you can predict the future, surely something as basic as the stock market's rise and fall should be a snap. Surely they can predict the winning lottery numbers, too. I never buy lottery tickets because there's always a lineup of psychics ahead of me, cashing in their winnings. No wonder there's never any money left for me...

Why don't all psychics drive BMWs and live in $3 million waterfront condos? Why do psychics get caught in traffic jams? Why do psychics lose bids on eBay? Would a psychic smoke of he or she could see the future with lung and other cancers?

There is an endless supply of such questions no one (especially not self-proclaimed psychics) can...

"Councillors closed the door on the patio issue, Wednesday, allowing downtown businesses another couple of weeks with temporary fencing for curbside patios." Enterprise-Bulletin, July 30, 2010.

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the special meeting that the mayor called (oddly, nor could the mayor) to deal with the patios, but I don't consider the meeting to be about "closing doors." Rather it was held to deal with a minor issue about the fencing required for patios.

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No, I won't tell you who you should vote for. This is rather a reminder to everyone of how the process works. I'll post something like this again closer to the election.

First: you should vote. It's not mandatory, but it is a right you should not treat lightly, even in municipal elections.

Second: it's another mail-in ballot (council would neither hear of any alternative nor allow a public discussion of any options - just like council refused to hold public meetings on a ward system).

The ballots will be mailed out in early October.

You have to make your selections on one piece of paper (the ballot), then seal it inside the provided envelope.

Next you sign another piece that says you're really you (like anyone...

We took a road trip, Saturday, to Minden, and stopped off in Orillia on the way. Orillia was having a big downtown street festival - about six blocks of the main street closed off, with some side streets closed as well. Full of people, merchants, buskers, visitors. And here's what we saw:


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