How can you tell the seasons are changing in Prince George? For one thing, last week I wore four different coats as well as some […]
Allan’s Amblings
162 posts
It was my fault. Anyone who was unpleasantly surprised Friday morning to see a bunch of wet snow blanketing the city can blame me. On […]
I was thinking about writing this column last week, but it didn’t seem right a few days before Thanksgiving to talk about things that frustrate […]
Don’t know whether you had heard about this, but there’s an election coming up. No, not the one south of the border that the major […]
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this before, but how can it be the end of another month already? The funny thing is that early on […]
What happened to summer? I mean, I looked at the calendar a day or two ago and it said it was the first day of […]
My take on the COVID-19 mask dispute is fairly simple. If you want to wear a mask at all times, you have that right. If […]
Baby steps. That’s what we’re taking as we try to figure out how to resume activities in the COVID-19 world. Most of the restaurants in […]
When I went out Saturday morning to put up a remote at Andre’s for the Drive and the River radio stations, I did not realize […]
As frequent readers of my column know, I like to walk for exercise and to give myself time to think. On Sunday, I had already […]
Look up, look way up, . . . No, it wasn’t the Friendly Giant I was craning to see Saturday afternoon from the balcony of […]
Just for fun, I thought I would take a trip in a time machine this week and see what I was writing about in my […]
The way 2020 has gone so far, I figure if the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse came riding in, they’d take one look and leave […]
It’s another one of those sayings which has been attributed to a thousand different people. “Horse sense is what keeps horses from betting on people.” […]
I had a very unusual walk on Sunday morning. The route was nothing unusual, one of my usual paths around my neighbourhood. What made it […]
The word came down on Friday that Masich Place Stadium will be open for walking starting today (as you read this). That’s good news for […]
I want to start this week’s column with a new feature (if I can stretch that word’s meaning almost beyond recognition). I’m calling it COVID […]
So we’re halfway through 2020, and boy has it ever been a boring year so far, right? Oh, did I miss something? OK, I’m not […]
It seems some local people are starting to feel that wearing a mask makes them a superhero. It makes them invulnerable. That’s the only real […]
I half-expected to be passed by a portly Englishman wishing me a “Good ev-uh-ning.” Last Tuesday, I went through something which felt like something out […]
It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I enjoy the English language. It’s a good thing, too, since I’ve been […]
Last week, the NHL (you remember them? Guys chasing a frozen piece of rubber around on the ice?) released plans for the 2020 playoffs and […]
I was out for a walk early Monday morning, dodging the few raindrops which insisted on attacking me, when I noticed something strange about the […]
On Saturday, I was out and about a bit and ended up with a couple of things to pick up at Spruceland Shopping Centre. While […]
So we are now apparently into a Restart for the province. I, for one, am not going to stomp my foot on the accelerator any […]
Notes from the 422nd week of isolation (or something like that): I’ve been able to get out for two or three walks each day most […]
“I never knew I needed Justin Bieber and Bryan Adams harmonizing together but here we are.” That was one of the comments on the YouTube […]
Some kind of random notes this week on things I observed while on my rambles through the neighbourhood: Actually, the first one was something I […]
Day 154 of self-isolation (or maybe Day 12. They’re starting to blur together.) I came out of my bedroom and found an elephant in the […]
It’s April 1, but this is going to be a serious column (for the most part). Some people still don’t get it. A lot of […]
So it turns out I’ve been ‘self-isolating’ for years to a large extent, and I always just thought I was trying to avoid people. I’ve […]
The last week has been a very different one for me. As most of you probably know, I am a real sports fan. I love […]
Have you ever gone on YouTube, found a video for a song where the song was good, but the video was really strange, but you […]
I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but there’s a pretty big event coming to the city this month. It’s called the World Women’s […]
It’s nice to have friends you can ask for advice. I’m not, at this point, talking about life-changing advice like should I take that new […]
What is the difference between “trivia” and “interesting information?” Last week, I was watching a streamer on Twitch, and he had music on in the […]
I’ve done it a number of times over the years, but this time I decided to make mental notes as I went along. On Sunday […]
I sometimes see situations where I wonder how I would react. About 3 a.m. Monday (don’t ask), I was heading east on Fifth Avenue, set […]
There are times when I miss the old days of journalism. This weekend was one. First some background: Before I started working at CFIS as […]
I will say one thing about the weather in Prince George last week. I was happy the temperature change went the direction it did. I […]
In the 16th Century, scientists who were studying the human anatomy did not have the easiest time finding specimens to work with. Take the Belgian […]
So here’s what I figure happened last week in Prince George. Somebody in charge of winter precipitation (also known as snow) was checking over the […]
Hundreds of people were littering in Prince George this past weekend, and nobody reprimanded them. They did it in plain sight, in public buildings, and […]
Well, that was a fairly good fall of the white stuff in the past week, wasn’t it? As happens every year in Prince George (and […]
As Yogi Berra supposedly said: “You can observe a lot just by watching.” We won’t get into the semantics of the statement, but I did […]
I was watching a hockey game last week and heard the announcer say after a couple of players scuffled after the whistle: “The two are […]
We are into the back half of November, we still haven’t had a stretch of minus-20 weather, and we’re not digging out from five feet […]
At 6:30 Monday morning, I decided to go out for a walk. I’d been up for a couple of hours (I’ve always been an early […]
Welcome to November in Prince George, otherwise known as “All the seasons in three days, Part 2).” Last weekend was incredibly depressing for me every […]
It happens every year around this time. People start asking around, saying: “I’m having a few friends over for a Halloween party. What’s a good […]
It now appears to be official. This year, summer was in April in Prince George. I seem to recall we had about a week of […]
My legs weren’t talking to me for most of Monday. Well, they were talking, but it was more moaning in pain. You see, I found […]
So it now appears to be official. Summer occurred in Prince George for about a week back in April, then we went back to a […]
In my career in newspapers, I worked for six different papers. OK, some of my bosses may have problems with me using the word “worked,” […]
Tuesday morning, I decided to head downtown for a cup of tea and a muffin, as I frequently do on Tuesdays. Driving east on Fifth […]
I was witness to something last week which may have never happened before in Major League Baseball. Four of us – Al, Kent, Mike and […]
It was a typically Canadian victory speech. On Saturday afternoon in New York, Bianca Andreescu apologized after winning the biggest tennis match of her life. […]
The bad news was I had to call my boss for help Saturday at one of my remotes. The good news was I didn’t actually […]
I was in Pine Centre for a while Saturday afternoon, and all I can say is I’m glad most of the people in Prince George […]
It was the 107th edition of the BC Northern Exhibition on the weekend at the Exhibition Grounds. But at the same time, as a former […]