Holiday Planner

There are two types of people in the world: Those who can go to a holiday soiree and avoid the globs of spinach dip on their party dresses, and the rest of us, who wake up covered in mystery stains, most likely from the 3am nap on the bathroom floor. Yet even with a closet […]

Cereal. A toothbrush. Gold-rimmed gnome plates. A giant ceramic chicken. Strawberry Shortcake pyjamas for a 13-year-old boy. A single napkin ring. A plastic lock shaped like a toilet. Packets of ketchup and mustard. And, of course, bad ties. These are just a few selections of the most useless gifts ever as collected by the Nature […]

“You!? With a cell?” This was the reaction of more than one friend and colleague when I revealed that I’d be carrying a mobile phone. I am legend, the last of my kind—youngish, urban, professional—without one. For the record, it’s not that I’m some kind of Luddite, I tend to use email and Facebook to […]

Apple made a welcome change to the iTunes Store earlier this year when it allowed iPhone and iPad apps to be paid for and sent as gifts the way music long has. This opens up a world of giving opportunities—there are over 300,000 apps—but also creates some dillemas since 300,000 is a lot of choices. […]

My gifts are all well-received. I go overboard at Christmas. One year when my girls were younger I gave them both raccoon coats. I bought them from Mitchell Furs years ago. Now that my grandkids are older, they want nothing, so I give them money so they can shop for themselves. I hate doing that. […]

Last Christmas I had a friend of mine who is a great illustrator, I gave him three old family photographs and he rendered them in a realistic watercolour and ink way. I gave one to my grandmother, one to my sister and one to my parents. One was my parents on their wedding day, one […]

Thank you for asking me about the best gift I have ever given. Like beauty, “best gifts” are in the eye of the beholder, so it’s hard to be sure; however, with nine brothers and sisters, six brothers- and sisters-in-law and their 15 partners, and 30 nephews and nieces, gift-giving is always a challenge. Many years ago […]

At one time I was delusional enough to think I could play pedal steel. Long story short: it ended up in my basement. When we were shooting the Trailer Park Boys Christmas special, I wanted to score it entirely with steel and John Campbelljohn did a great score for us. I also had a scene […]

Just because you love shoe shopping doesn’t mean it makes battling the holiday hordes to find that perfect item for a friend or family any easier. So, to avoid giving someone a sweater that ends up in the bottom of their Worst Gift Ever drawer, never to be seen again, here are personal shopper and […]

Writing a song is such a personal adventure. In a lot of ways simply the act of writing a song for a loved one or friend will probably get you in their good books for most of the new year. If it’s a Christmas-themed song you are after you may wish to employ a bunch of major-, […]

Hudson’s Bay point blanket A Canadian home is not complete without one. Preferably tossed across an elk-leather chair and looking right at home with that bear skin rug and mounted deer head (both trophies from a bow-hunting trip in Athabasca). Great for that fur trade era outpost-look. Any patriot would swoon. The Bay, Mic Mac […]

It took four hours to get from Dartmouth to Rusticoville, the official the kick-off to the holiday season. As soon as the last school bell rang freeing us for the holiday break, my brother, sister and I would crowd into the back of the car and head to Prince Edward Island for Christmas at my […]