Dog On A Root

An Open Letter To My Children… I’m Dead - jim Young, “To begin with, Marley was dead… dead as a door nail.” - Charles Dickens It’s been almost 10 years since my sister and I were charged with settling our parents’ estate. Some of the challenges are still fresh in my mind. And just as I wanted to avoid the mistakes my parents made in raising me when I became a parent, so too do I want to avoid the mistakes my parents made with the instructions they left me when they left this world as I prepare now to follow them. My children deserve new and better mistakes on my part and damn it - that’s what they’ll get! So the following is an open letter to my children in the hopes it will make the challenges they will one day face a little easier. If you’re reading this, I’m dead. Well not necessarily “this” . If you’re reading “this” it just means you’re reading something I’ve published online or in the Great North Arrow or something like that. So thanks for following me and reading my stuff. I’...

 

 

Free Is Fun - jim Young “I don’t care how much money you have, free stuff is always a good thing.” Queen Latifah I am proud of my Scottish Heritage. And at the risk of perpetuating a myth let me just say “Free” is my second favourite four letter word. It seems there was a lot more free stuff when I was young. Post-war manufacturing growth and the new medium of television brought about inventive marketing strategies to combat fierce competition. This ultimately resulted in free giveaways and mail-in prizes to encourage brand loyalty. The brand loyalty concept didn’t really work on me though. As a youngster during the 50s and 60s my only loyalties lay with whatever flashy give-away toy caught my eye as I followed my mother down the aisles of the grocery store. And there were a lot of them to choose from. One of my favourites that comes to mind was the small plastic submarines that used to come in boxes of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes. After filling them with baking soda and dropping them into a...

 

  The Harvey Wallbanger - jim Young This recipe is from “Chapter 5: Common Cocktails” of my new book “Belly up to the Bar, Cocktails for Two” . In addition to cocktail recipes, as you will read below I try to provide a bit of the background of the origins of the cocktails along with some personal anecdotes and family stories. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of “Belly up to the Bar” , it’s available on Amazon or you can contact me at dogonaroot@gmail.com The Harvey Wallbanger was a popular cocktail I discovered in bars in the 1970s when I first came of drinking age. It’s too bad that it’s not as readily available as it once was, but there’s no reason you can’t make them at home.  Harvey Wallbanger (2.5) Stuff You'll Need: 1 oz Vanilla Liqueur 1½ oz Vodka Chilled Orange Juice Slice of Lemon Do This: 1. Pour Vodka and Vanilla Liqueur over ice cubes in a highball glass. 2. Top with Orange Juice. 3. Gently stir. 4. Garnish with a slice of lemon. The Harvey Wallbanger wa...

The Final Review - jim Young “At the end of the day, all that matters is love and memories. So make sure that you give it and make sure you make them.” - anon Many people have reported seeing their lives flash before their eyes just before death. But of course those people that tell us that, didn’t really die. They only suffered a near death experience. So we don’t know for certain if that also happens with people that have actually died. However, not everyone that experiences a near death experience has reported this phenomenon. But maybe they just hadn't gotten all the way there yet. Maybe if they had gotten a moment or two closer to their actual death, their film migt've started to roll. At what point does your inner stage manager cue the lighting operator to lower your house lights and call for the projector to roll? I wonder if any of these people also saw a quick countdown from 8 to 2 accompanied with a little beep that counted off the seconds to go as each number appeare...

 

 

- jim Young “Tell a lie loud enough and long enough and people will believe it.” - Adolf Hitler I’m getting more than a little annoyed with how so many people ask why I am (as many Canadians like me are) so concerned with what Donald Trump is doing but not what our government is doing. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I can’t help but believe that many others may share my thoughts on this. First of all it’s an ignorant question which presupposes that I can’t be concerned with more than one issue at a time. How insulting is that? It’s the old either/or syndrome. As if I can’t be concerned about more than one thing at a time. It’s led us as a whole down a very dangerous path. It seems we shouldn’t help ANY refugees until we help ALL our veterans first. We shouldn’t help ANY of the unemployed until we help ALL of our senior citizens first. God help the children of these people. What would they suppose they would ever do if both of their children were drowning? Save the oldest first w...

 

Never Mind Humanitarian - It’s Not Even Good Business - jim Young “There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.” - Frank Lloyd Wright Donald Trump was very upfront about his plans to deport all undocumented immigrants from the U.S. when he was campaigning for his second term of presidency. He tried to soften the blow by claiming he would concentrate on rounding up undocumented immigrants that had violent criminal records first, such as the rapists and murderers. Who’s going to contest the deportation of an illegal immigrant who commits violent crimes? It seems like a noble enough cause. The problem is of course, Donald Trump lies. The whole world knows he lies. Even most of his supporters, if they are being honest, know Trump lies. Trump doesn't care. Just 3 days after being inaugurated, the round up began, including many deportations of undocumented immigrants who had no previous convictions. Was anyone surprised that Donald Trump broke his word? No one raised an eyebrow at t...