England
Issue: 2019-05-15, PHOTO: Edwardx / Wikimedia Commons
The Ravenmaster: My life with the ravens at the Tower of London
“Christopher Skaife is both a raven master and a master storyteller. Compulsively readable, I devoured the book in a single sitting!”—Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering So did I! From 4 p.m. to midnight on the very day I found the last... Read more
Issue: 2019-04-17, PHOTO: Jubilee and Munin via Foter.com
The London Tower ravens
You may have noticed the above quotation comes to you without attribution. That’s for good reason. Nobody seems to know who muttered it or even if it was ever uttered at all. The Tower ravens of London are arguably the most famous birds in history... Read more
Issue: 2018-09-26, PHOTO: Patrick Jackson
The sun never sets on the Whitehorse Rapids
The 2018–19 Whitehorse Rapids over-35 soccer season kicks off at the end of September, bringing together a collection of expats and non-hockey-playing Canadians in one homogenous mix. When I first arrived in the Yukon, from England, there weren’t... Read more
Issue: 2017-06-07, PHOTO: courtesy of Peter Steele
High Adventure
At the age of 82, Peter Steele says he has very little memory of his own parents. That’s partly why he decided a few years ago to write his autobiography. “I didn’t want my own kids to able to say the same,” he explains. “I thought I had enough... Read more
Issue: 2017-05-10, PHOTO: courtesy of Joanna Lilley
All Her Roads Lead to Poetry
Yukon based writer Joanna Lilley has just published her second collection of poetry If there Were Roads by Turnstone Press; she says that there are no roads to the past. “You can never go back.” Inspired by a childhood memory, she wrote “The... Read more
Issue: 2016-12-21, PHOTO: Paul Rath
How to Write a Memorable Christmas Letter
The Christmas and New Year’s letter was a tradition in England that predated the first Christmas card in 1843, according to www.Smithsonian.com. With the expansion of the British postal system, Sir Henry Cole, who had many friends and... Read more
Issue: 2016-11-09, PHOTO: Mitch Brost
Shakin’ It Sober Style
For a lot of people, dancing and drinking go hand in hand. With a buzz, you can actually dance without worrying about what other people think. If you do something foolish you can always blame it on the booze, right? Read more
Issue: 2016-10-06
Future Past
Young Alex DeLarge and his gang of droogs aren’t choosy about whose lives they wreak mindless havoc on. From the down-at-the-heels to the well-heeled, the young thugs attack indiscriminately, mercilessly and irrationally. Read more
Issue: 2016-07-21, PHOTO: Bruce Barrett
No rest for the Wickets
Don your best Victorian era dress and get ready to be transported back to the late 19th century for the Yukon Historical & Museums Association’s (YHMA) third annual Charity Croquet Tournament. After a successful turnout last year, YHMA will once... Read more
Issue: 2016-06-09, PHOTO: Dan Davidson
Mark Zuehlke and the Remittance Men
Mark Zuehlke grew up in the Okanagan, hearing tales of Remittance Men – those eccentric British immigrants sent here in the late 19th century by their families who didn't know what else to do with them. They were called Remittance Men because of... Read more
Issue: 2016-05-26, PHOTO: kozzi.com
The Other Side of a Light Story
A few weeks ago, in a light-hearted piece about bucket lists, I mentioned a trip to England with my father 20 years ago this month. I'm a little hesitant about writing a sequel some readers may find a bit too personal, or even disturbing, but you... Read more
Issue: 2016-04-21, PHOTO: itv.com
Not Making a List, or Checking it Twice
The idea of compiling a bucket list has never held much appeal for me. Sure, I've daydreamed about lots of places and experiences from time to time, but actually listing a dozen or so things I'm itching to accomplish before shuffling off this... Read more
Issue: 2016-04-07, PHOTO: Gates collection
Flat Feet and Brave Hearts: The Yukon at War
Canada was part of the British Empire, so when war was declared by Great Britain on August 4, 1914, Canada, too, joined the the conflict. There was a tremendous upswing of patriotic fervour. The vast American influx during of the Klondike gold... Read more
Issue: 2016-02-04, PHOTO: Els Lundgaard
D - The Deli - "Euro-mazing"
The minute you walk into The Deli at Yukon Meat and Sausage you know you are in a special environment. The place simply smells like, well, like Europe. The shelves are stocked with delightful offerings from Germany, from Holland, from Denmark, ... Read more
Issue: 2015-08-06 Photo: wikipedia.com
Porter for Your Stout?
The year is 1720. If you just touched down in London town, you would see a bustling city with ships docked at each port. If you were a male looking for work, you might have considered the popular porter trade. With London being on the banks of the... Read more
Issue: 2014-01-16, PHOTO: Collider.com
Looking Inside the Hearts and Minds of Human Clones
Somewhere in England, students congregate daily on the pastoral grounds of the Hailsham boarding school watching soccer, gossiping, and daydreaming about the future. They playfully crowd around a teacher as she approaches the entrance, but she... Read more
A Beeline for the Honey Brew
During my frequent beelines to the Fat Tug IPA and other craft beers at the Whitehorse Liquor Store, my eyes catch a glimpse of the solitary bottles of Fuller's Organic Honey Dew beer, but then they move on. I'm not against honey or Fuller's, but... Read more
The Mysterious Widget
Guinness is peculiar. It tastes creamy and has a fine-textured head you just don't find in most other beers. You can chalk that up to the presence of nitrogen. Most beers just contain carbon dioxide. If you cut open a can of Guinness pub draught... Read more
Flavour Starts with Adam's Ale
Why do the Irish drink stouts? Why did the pilsner style develop in the Czech region? The type of water flowing through a region was a big contributor to the type of beer that evolved in the area. Beer is generally somewhere between 90-95 percent... Read more
Where there's smoke, there's porter
Full disclosure: we really wanted to compare two smoked porters for this article, but quite frankly there is so much to say about our first contestant that we don't have time to talk about what's behind Door No. 2. Don't get us wrong, we drank... Read more