Every now and then, a fella happens to hit the sweet spot, even if it is more by good luck than good management. I rest my case on a recent example. Early in the week, I casually mentioned to “Herself” that it was time to consider remounting the winter tires on her modest chariot, and …
Just for the heck of it, let’s take a look at three English words that, on the surface of things, appear to have a lot in common.
There’s a reason people like me should never play the stock market. Some time ago, when I heard that a new arts and entertainment magazine was in the works, the cynic in me said it wouldn’t last six months. These things never do. I could not have been more wrong if I’d bet my backside …
THOSE WHO SAY YES, SAY: As computers become more and more sophisticated, they become more and more useful. And, the more useful they are, the more of a necessity they become. Some may wince at the word “necessity”, but they need to realize that computers can go to more websites than just YouTube and MySpace. …
Should employees be allowed to use work computers for personal use? Read More »
I wish there was a church for atheists. Yeeeaaaahh, that’s going to need some explaining: I see church as a place of fellowship and a place to concentrate on values and good works. Being among like-minded people is nothing but positive and can only re-energize those who are stressed or confused. For the rest, it …
Some friends of mine have a beautiful home in Hidden Valley. From their hot tub on the back deck, they can bathe in the tranquillity of the Takhini River Valley and their own little garden. Inside, there are large windows that don’t need drapes for privacy, a multi-media room and a kitchen built for entertaining. …
I remember the first time I climbed a tree … and it is not because I got my knee caught and my father had to use the chainsaw to get me out … and my mother took a home movie of it all. I remember it because it was the first time I did something …
On March 1, I saw a headline on the front page of the Globe and Mail that gladdened my heart. It was, “This Spring, Real Men Wear Pansies.” The accompanying photo showed a guy with pansies printed on his shirt. Wow! This is wonderful! You see, there was another headline on that page that read, …
“Paper or plastic?” has become a cliché for those no-win decisions we must make everyday: plastic is an oil-based product that chokes wildlife and is a blight on our streets while paper is a little piece of a living tree. Of course this question is often asked of me because, once again, I have forgotten …
When does Christmas start? Of course it is December 25, but when can the hoopla begin? Back in 1991, I was volunteered to play Santa Claus at Northern Stores’ “Christmas in July Sale.” I think it had something to do with the fact that it was my idea to help turn all of that left …
I know what you are thinking: Hmmm, there is something different about this issue of What’s Up Yukon. Allow me to unburden you: the very fact that you are reading this paper right now is different. You see, we used to be biweekly … and now we are weekly. We understand that Hallmark doesn’t make …
In September 2008 I visited Scotland with Casey Lee McLaughlin. I was almost killed on the slopes of Ben Nevis and I nearly went to heaven in the Oban distillery, but before we made tracks for the highlands, we had a couple of days to kick around London. Sure, Trafalgar Square was neat and Buckingham …
(Part 1 of 2) My brother and I were on a road trip and, to pass the time away, we tried to list the Top 10 movies of all time. Three hours passed gloriously, even though we never did agree on the definitive list. Sharing a home for the first 18 years of our lives …
One guy’s opinion of the best movies: Part 1 of 2 Read More »
I don’t like to dance and I don’t know why. For many years, I just assumed it was because I’m a guy. To dance, you must feel the music; you must express yourself. I don’t like to dance and I don’t know why. For many years, I just assumed it was because I’m a guy. …
I’m going on vacation soon and I am very excited. Daisy and I are going to Ontario to visit my side of the family, courtesy of a pair of free tickets from my Mom (not sure if that is an expression of her love or an expression of her distaste for air travel … either …
Laying out the paper is like a controlled plane crash,” my editor said across the table from me at A&W, pausing with a knowing-turned-quizzical look that seemed to say, You do know what I’m talking about, don’t you? No, I don’t, was the only realistic, albeit mute choice as my expression struggled to remain neutral …
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: an idiom seen this summer around Whitehorse. While it seems obvious, it’s amazing how frequently we miss the “smoke signals” in our lives or see them only in hindsight. And so, we have this saying that teaches a lesson … one to pass along to our children and our grandchildren …
Just as the metaphorical river is never the same after the water rushes past, you really can’t go home again. Home, for me, is my mom’s house, a place I spent my teenage years in jaunty development that relied too much on trial and error. Since I am no longer that awkward teenager, 14 McQuade …
It is an occupational hazard of being an editor that you sometimes get paralysed over the meaning of one word. This week, the word was “power”. By definition, it means “the storing of energy”. The stored energy is a force that, when unleashed, gets things done. This leads to the secondary definition: “capability of producing …
Back in Grade 12 I decided that my previously ordained career of choice would not be in the military. I was in the Reserves and had already had my fun and, besides, I hated having cold showers at 7 a.m. after running in combat boots for an hour. So, suddenly left with a decision to …
Que será, será … (but the internet has a test for that) Read More »
To the Editor, Hookey, you fiendish, fiendly fiend. Like an anarchic CBC host maliciously injecting a noxious ear worm such as Seasons in the Sun into my auditory canal, you have wantonly invaded my gustatory system with the ineluctable memory of MacIntosh Toffee. Have you no regard for the fact that early addiction to this …
Over a mug of root beer, the editor of What’s Up Yukon, Darrell Hoo key, extols his particular Christmas Wish List. Topping the list, Wish No. 1, is what he calls his “Steve Martinian” wish: “For all of the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and …
I have a tip, that is going to change your life. It is a game changer, it is revolutionary, you will wonder how you survived without knowing this, this …—what shall we call it from here on? … oh yes—tip. How much this tip will improve your life is not in question – profoundly, I …
It all started with one sink … It was a very nice sink for the bathroom that would have felt neglected, if a bat hroom had feelings at all, after heaps of praise were offered to our spa bathroom in “The Addition”. Daisy had been in Home Hardware when she saw the sink. With its …
These days, whenever I drive past Home Hardware, I throw my head back and laugh. You see, I am now a renter. Yup, most of my adult life, I have owned a home (well, the bank and I did) and, so, most of my adult life I have always needed to buy top soil or …
I met an expectant mother the other day and I asked if they had picked out a name yet. When she said, no, they haven’t, I tried to be helpful by suggesting that a good name would be “Darrell”. She received this assistance in the worst way: she didn’t call me a jerk (that can …
Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be Darrell Read More »
The wonderful ArtsNet list serve is many things: a notice board, a trading post, a soapbox. I’ve never posted anything on it, but the ArtsNet folder in my email program contains 4659 items at the time of writing. And that’s just the ones I either haven’t opened, or have marked as unread to remind me …
Some offers a person simply can’t refuse. When the email inviting me to be part of the What’s Up Yukon team landed, the cadence of Marlon Brando coming down the wire was unmistakable. The pressure was intense. How could I rush such a decision, to emerge from the indolence of semi-retirement back into the pressure …
Sometimes I wish I didn’t know how to read. No. That’s not true at all. I am endlessly grateful that I can read, and I wish everyone in the world had that privilege. What I should have said is that I wish I weren’t addicted to books. No. That’s not quite it, either. I wish …
A new writer submitted a story the other day. A good story, too: well-written, informative, witty. But something in the first paragraph hit one of my uh-uh buttons. What made the veins on my forehead throb was a single word: Xmas. I really, really do not like Xmas. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing …
Have you ever had an American say to you, “Say, ‘eh’ for me”? They think it’s funny when we Canadians say, “eh”, and, being the good-natured people we are, we oblige them. We think of something random to say, put an “eh” at the end, but then it all comes out wrong; we just can’t …
As a kid, I delivered the Windsor Star to Red Wings goalie Glenn Hall. As a cub reporter, I once photographed Toronto tough guy Eddie Shack. Playing baseball. In 1972, I scored a coup on As It Happens by walking beside Bobby Hull’s convertible and interviewing him en route to picking up his $1-million cheque …
The common thread that links the stories and columns in What’s Up Yukon each week boils down to two words – creativity and commitment. From the outset, this magazine has had a strong focus on arts and entertainment, where creativity is a given. Musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists, writers, photographers, filmmakers, et cetera have always …
Backpackers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your shame. I’ve been a regular backpack wearer for only a year, since forsaking daily vehicle use in favour of shank’s mare and public transit. Back in the day, sure, I sometimes wore what we called a rucksack, or a knapsack – occasionally even …
What’s in a word? In the hands of Peter Jickling and his friends, each word has its own voice. You can listen to those voices at the Word Project: A Treatise on Resonant Philosophy at the Old Fire Hall May 14-20. “Only” is spelled with small letters, and faint swishy marks around it. It gave …
Editors love – and hate – writing competitions. We love them because they give us a chance to discover how different writers approach similar subject matter, the choices they make about what details to include, the images they employ to paint word pictures, the structure they use to tell their individual stories. We also love …
Painting a bedroom? Building a deck? Maybe just hanging up a few pictures? Whatever do-it-yourself project you may be tackling, it’s a good idea to think of it as being on the job site. That’s certainly the way Stu Purser sees it. As acting manager of inspections and compliance for the Yukon Workers Compensation Health …
In September of 2008, I was working construction in Edmonton when the bottom fell out of the economy. There were a few workers on my crew that were good enough to find work in a recession, but I wasn’t one. After spinning my wheels for a week or two, I bought a bus ticket and …
Back in 1971, Canadian sportswriter nonpareil Jim Coleman published a book whose title alone deserves a place in history. He called it A Hoofprint on My Heart. I can’t say I ever read it—I believe it had something to do with horse racing. Still, you don’t easily forget a title like that. For some reason, …
Anyone who comes to Yukon quickly becomes aware of several things: the vast landscape, the clean air, the soft colours, the friendliness, the compulsion of many locals to test their endurance in feats of outdoor derring-do. Something else newcomers soon discover is the remarkable depth and breadth of artistic and cultural expression available in the …
It all began on a Friday afternoon about a month ago. Well, not really. It actually began a month before that, with the decision to leave my motorhome in BC for the winter, rather than bring it up to the Yukon. Driving that thirsty beast the extra 1,660 km from Prince George to Whitehorse might …
It was 20 years ago when computer screens flashed green letters, computer paper had sprocket holes along the sides and dinosaurs roamed the Earth. I was the operational manager of a K-Mart in those days and my boss was telling me we were to be visited by technicians to set up the new computer. It …
The semicolon has three major functions: to link thematically related thoughts, to introduce conjunctions or transitional phrases and to avoid confusion in lists.
Municipal elections have a major flaw that robs the electorate of the best people to represent us. And it is the all-or-nothing manner in which we choose our mayors that causes this damage. As it is now in most North American municipalities, someone from our community decides they have the leadership skills and the vision …
