Author: Daniel
-
2022-08: UK & Germany
Silverstone Classic 2022 I flew into Heathrow in late August for an overseas holiday. First stop was the Silverstone Classic, Britain’s biggest historic motor racing event. Over the Bank Holiday weekend (26 – 28 August 2022) it featured three days of on-track action for classic racing cars from the 1960’s, 70’s, and 80’s (with a…
-
Dune (2021)
I first read Frank Herbert’s Dune as a teenager and that’s the right age to meet this hallucinogenic, intergalactic trip of a novel. It’s one of those books that almost literally transports you to another world, and I got lost there a couple of times (the sequels, not so much). So, I was one of…
-
Schumacher (2021)
After a fifty-year drought we’ve reached a golden age of motor racing film and television. There have been major features that weren’t awful — Rush (2013) and Ford v Ferrari (2019) — and a documentary that wasn’t dull — Senna (2010). Netflix’s riveting fly-on-the-wall racing reality show, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, is currently filming…
-
Election 2021: A Style Guide
Whee! It’s election time in Canada again. Last Sunday Justin Trudeau put the rumours to rest by requesting and receiving dissolution of the 43rd parliament. We head to the polls for the second time in two years on 20 September. Aside from the — you know — politics of it all, anyone who cares about…
-
The War That Ended Peace
The War That Ended Peace is a giant doorstop of a book: more than 700 pages (with notes) in the Penguin trade paperback. But then, it’s tackling a big, difficult question: how could Europe — so peaceful, prosperous, and powerful in 1914 — plunge itself into the horrors of The Great War? Margaret MacMillan’s previous…
-
A Holiday Hamper
With months of travel restrictions and social distancing still to get through, we could all use some entertainment. So, here are a few favourites from 2020. I didn’t watch nearly enough TV (cough) to claim these are the “Best of the Year”; they’re just personal recommendations based on what I enjoyed. I’m limiting the list…
-
Statute of Westminster Day
If you pass a government building today you may be surprised to see the Royal Union Flag (popularly, the Union Jack) flying alongside the Maple Leaf. This marks an august occasion: 11 December 1931 is Statute of Westminster Day. “What the hell is the the Statute of Westminster?” you may well ask. Confederation in 1867,…
-
Politics is the Enemy of Art
T’is the season for big holiday movies and by coincidence, or because it’s 2020 and the industry’s only a decade or so behind, two of this year’s biggest are lesbian themed romances. Ammonite is a period biography and gloomy art film while Happiest Season is a frothy romcom. Unfortunately, neither is very good.