Roxanne Tellier – It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over

In 1865, after the collapse of the Confederacy, Confederate General Joseph O.Shelby, aka “the Undefeated” and his “Iron Brigade,” a band of about 600 soldiers, rode south to Mexico. There, after a grueling three-month slog through the desert, they offered their services as a ‘foreign legion’  to Maximilian 1, an Austro-Hungarian who had been installed as emperor of Mexico in 1864.

Chef Tom – ¡Esta muy caliente!

Aguas frescas, water-based fruit drinks, are a cool way to make your fresh fruit go further—especially in the summertime when you might have a larger watermelon than you know what to do with, or peaches that are starting to shrivel.

Darrell Vickers – You Have to Start Somewhere, Why Not Hamilton? (The Place not the Play) …Though There Are Plays Mentioned.

If we’re being truthful, and I realize that that is an astronomic proviso, there is very little that gets accomplished immediately after one is born. You sit around all day, shit in your pants and bitch and cry about the least little thing. Basically, you’re a network executive until your fourth birthday.

GWNtertainment #23 by Jaimie Vernon

We find ourselves at the crossroads of dipping our toes back into civilization again or staying isolated. The pandemic was stifling and near claustrophobic. It has also led to uncomfortable confrontations with introspection and compounded mental health. I tread the fine line between wanting to see my extended family and cozying up forever in my home with my wife and son. It reminds me of a song by The Robert Farrell Band out of Ottawa called “Cold Cold Heaven.” It’s a great allegorical song written by Farrell and the Cooper Brothers’ Dick Cooper about getting what you want, but once you’re there, feeling like you’ve hit a sandbar or a rut, as it were.

Roxanne Tellier – Smile Damnit. Smile!

To be honest, I haven’t much enjoyed the last five years or so. I’m not just talking about politics, though, if there was ever a time in which it became apparent how much politics affects every aspect of our every day lives, this was that time. 

Chef Tom – Hail Caesar!

Caesar salad is often a crowd pleaser. Here are a couple of versions sure to get your guests drooling, and standing with their plates at the door of your kitchen.

Darrell Vickers – The Magic Hour Part 9: Mark of the Devil

Tony DeSena had been toiling on The Magic Hour for barely a week but the writer from hell, part-time arch-villain and avid narcotic partaker, Mark Poisonpen, had decided that the Tonester had to go. Marky never been so insulted. Work was being asked of him in return for his laughably grandiose salary. This outrage would not stand, man! But how could this young, plucky lad from Hollywood, who was personally financing El Chapo’s summer home, ever hope to Tanya Harding his over-demanding boss?

Roxanne Tellier – What a Difference a Year Makes

On January 25^th, 2020, a Toronto man returning from Wuhan, China was the first presumptive COVID-19 case in Canada. By March, with the disease raging across Canada, the World Health Organization had declared COVID a pandemic, the NBA, NHL and most other sport leagues had suspended their seasons, while the Olympics were officially postponed to 2021, the Juno Awards were cancelled, Parliament went on break, and schools began to close from coast to coast. 

Darrell Vickers – The Magic Hour Part 8 – “I Am Sooo Sorry, Tony”

For many weeks, I have tearfully journeyed through the annals of the ignominious, ignoble and egregious disaster that was The Magic Hour. I shall now visit the anals, for the jaw-dropping account I am about to chronicle involves a world-class-plus asshole. Enter Mark Poisonpen, the writer from hell.

Roxanne Tellier – Forty Acres and A Mule

President Biden’s declaration of June 19^th as a new federal holiday – Juneteenth – is an incredible moment for a nation in recovery from a global pandemic. At least half of America is rejoicing at this leap forward in race relations in the nation.