Q. What makes it feel like spring has sprung for you? At what point do you seriously consider putting away your winter boots? . A. First: where does spring fall for Canadians in terms of rating the seasons? Leger polled 1500 of us… Our Favourite Season. Leger. 2023 i.   Summer

Q. ‘The moment of betrayal is the worst, the moment when you know beyond any doubt that you’ve been betrayed: that some other human being has wished you that much evil.’ So wrote Margaret Atwood in her 1985 ‘The Handmaid’s Tale.’ The best fictional villains fascinate and forewarn. Who is

Q. They did you dirty, but now they’ve sent you flowers. An apology? Perhaps. But if, like the Victorians, you’re keen on analyzing the meaning of bouquets, then you might want to look closer. What are some flowers that – traditionally, cross-culturally – have been assigned, at minimum, mixed meanings?

Q. Magic wands are waving willy nilly. Enchanted potions are bubbling out of every glass. Which superpower will you choose? . A. Take the following list, for instance. Which one of these superpowers would you most like to wield? The ability to a) fly b) read people’s minds c) teleport d)

Q. In what type of antique am I most likely to find a hidden compartment (hopefully stuffed with long-forgotten treasures and expensive secrets?) . A. Sidle your way into some vintage stores, and get knocking… Secret compartments were particularly popular in the 18th Century. Craftsmen employed great imagination and tricky

Q. What are some striking jobs from days gone by? . A. Barber Surgeon Yes. They did both. A little snip here, a little snip there. Barber surgeons were particularly active with soldiers in the Middle Ages. Some believe that the red and white swirl of the barber’s pole symbolizes

Q. We’re headlong into gift season. But, some gifts – even when marvellously intentioned – are just not a hit. Dinosaur oven mitts! Fantastic. How good are you at hiding when you are less than enraptured with a gift you’ve been given? How good are you at noticing when others

Q. It’s undeniably the talk of the town.  Ticket woes and triumphs, hours spent crafting friendship bracelets, an onslaught of out of town visitors, unimaginable foot traffic, new buzz in old places, the historic Gastown Steam Clock now playing ‘Shake it Off.’ From one end of the city to the

Q. A hobby?! No thanks to telling a Bengal House Cat or a Border Collie that some people consider them ‘hobbies.’ “A hobby? Hold my bone…” ‘Pets’ aside, which hobbies are particularly entrancing people these days? . A. Here are the top twelve most popular hobbies identified by US respondents,

Q. Which animals run the fastest and how do we humans fare in comparison? . A. The 2020 World Almanac (with its teeny-tiny writing) and the American Museum of Natural History have answers. Sad to say, it’s rather bad race news for we non-Olympian humans. Most of these animals were