Tom Barrett

Nice call, Nostradamus

July 22, 2019July 21, 2019Tom BarrettLeave a comment

The next time the man on the white horse comes in, he may not be so benign. He could be a real racial hater or a divider of people.

Jim Squires, one-time spokesperson for Ross Perot.
Squires made the comment after the 1992 U.S. election, which showed that millions of Americans were ready to go crazy for a thin-skinned, TV-adept billionaire who promised to shake things up in Washington, D.C.

Quoted in The Red and the Blue: The 1990s and the Birth of Political Tribalism,
by Steve Kornacki (p. 209)

Lines I like

July 15, 2019July 9, 2019Tom BarrettLeave a comment

… he perceived that Providence, since the days of Job always curious to know just how much a good man can bear, had sent Ronald Overbury Fish to add to his troubles.

P. G. Wodehouse
Money for Nothing

It’s Canada Day

July 1, 2019July 2, 2019Tom BarrettLeave a comment

… up Canada way.

I think that it was just as they were singing like this: “O–Can-a-da”, that word went round that the boat was sinking.

Stephen Leacock
The Marine Excursion of the Knights of Pythias

Happy Canada Day, everyone.

Merry Christmas, everybody

December 25, 2018December 20, 2018Tom Barrett1 Comment

The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, Fairytale of New York. Christmas dreams, shattered and otherwise. Grubby lyrics and soaring music. Tenderness and hope – which, after all, is what Christmas is all about.

Merry Christmas. And a tip of the tuque to Walt Kelly, who loved Christmas.