Author: Michael Murray

Demonstrations almost always make me uncomfortable. It seems that regardless of how worthy I might find the cause, there’s always somebody “on my side” who just makes me want to slither away in shame. Canada, where I grew up and live, is an entirely decent place. It’s a relatively progressive country that’s infused with humanitarian…

About a year ago I lined up a personal trainer for myself. Her name was Anastasiya, and she was a 22 year-old that had recently emigrated to Canada from Russia. Amongst her hobbies were beach volleyball, mature gentlemen and running. Her rates were very reasonable, and she agreed to come to our apartment three times…

On Saturday, Rachelle and I went to an estate sale out in Woodbridge. About 30 minutes outside of Toronto, it’s a suburban community with a large Italian immigrant population. Through leafy streets we passed mansion after mansion. The homes were all brand new and most had the idiosyncratic flair of the owners prominently displayed somewhere…

Lindsay Lohan is beautiful. I don’t mean that she’s exceptional within the hierarchies of Hollywood, or that she has some sort of idiosyncratic quirk that renders her astonishingly unique– it’s just obvious that through any sort of rational analysis, she’s a beauty. I mean, if she existed in the circle of our friends, she’d be…

Today, I have given the Blog over to Heidi, our three year-old Miniature Dachshund. ******************************************** Heidi very, very hot. Not good hot like King-the-Doberman-killing-a-squirrel-hot, but Bad hot, very Bad hot!! Heidi covered in fur, you know. My fur black, too. It concentrate sunlight so it hit Heidi like laser beam. Make me feel all puky.…

“Everybody’s children are so special. It makes you wonder where all the ordinary grown-ups come from.” –Maria, from the movie Code 46 I recently heard a story about an acquaintance that tried to make dinner reservations for some adults and a baby at a restaurant in Toronto. She was told that they didn’t allow babies…

Back in 2001, seeking a new slogan with which to attract business and tourists, the city of Ottawa came up with Ottawa: Technically Beautiful. I think that as the new century dawned, the Ottawa brain trust hoped to sell itself as a global High Tech capital, and that from far and wide, the young, beautiful…

On Tuesday night Rachelle and I went to The Beach Cinemas to see Toy Story 3*. It was here, while waiting in line to buy some popcorn, where I saw two preteen girls playing checkers on a table at the food court. As I like sports of all kind and have a kindly and helpful…

It’s my impression that many Torontonians looked at the G20 Summit the same way that they do the Film Festival. Assuming a jaded, big-city posture, they grumble and complain about the inconvenience and influx of tourists, but the truth is that they’re really quite happy and excited to live in a city that hosts such…