This blog is not concerned with international events but the terrible tragedy in Iran has me so angry this morning, probably because it has hit so close to home.

I was just over at my favourite coffee shop which is on Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver. Almost across the street is the memorial outside the bakery owned by Amir Pasavand who lost his wife and daughter when the plane went down. Next door is one of the community's largest Iranian grocery stores. The North Shore, of course...

I was up in Powell River over the holiday when, passing Willingdon Beach, I came across this group of brave locals on New Year's Day testing their nerve.

I have been remiss in not mentioning that The Ormsby Review has grown up and left home, setting off on an independent path.

The Review is an online book site, publishing reviews of most every book published about British Columbia. (Full disclosure: I am a member of the board.) As well, editor Richard Mackie serves up the odd literary essay, by himself and by other contributors.

The Review began life under the protective wing of Alan Twigg and his BC Bookworld "empire...

The day's news includes the deaths of two British cultural icons.

You might say that Clive James, poet and all-round man of letters, has been dying for a decade. It has been that long since he received a terminal cancer diagnosis and announced it to the world. His lovely 2014 poem "Japanese Maple" contains the final lines:

Filling the double doors to bathe my...