Posts with the video game tag

Barris Beat

“Sprinter” in April

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Hopes for an early patio gathering in Manitoba disappeared under a spring snowstorm. CJRB Radio.

It’s my fault. I admit it. I changed my car tires over from winters to summers last week. And that’s why we got whacked by a snow storm on Monday night. I tempted fate – figuring that mid-April wasn’t too early to switch over – and I caused all this rotten winter weather three weeks into spring. Mind you, I did hear Ed Lawrence say on the radio this week that if one wants to be brave planting some hardy trees and bushes early, it’s OK.

“Go for it,” said Lawrence, the former Globe and Mail columnist and chief horticulturist to six governors-general and seven prime ministers. And he was speaking on CBC Radio’s Radio Noon program just as winds and sleet were blowing past both his Almonte, Ont., home and mine here in Uxbridge. (more…)

Barris Beat

The pandemic politicians need to address

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Unfettered playful interaction

A few weekends ago, my wife and I took in some of the grandsons for a sleepover. It was a chance for their parents to enjoy a summer getaway. It was a chance to wean the grandkids away from Mom and Dad. It was a chance for us to get better acquainted with a bunch of boys under our roof for two or three days. On the first day, we outlined an in-house rule.

“No iPhones, tablets or computers until after 4 p.m.,” I announced.

“That’s the curfew at home,” one of the boys said.

“Same rules here,” I said.

I find it quite amazing that these children – after a year of virtual on-line learning (that is, eyes glued to laptop or desktop computers from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., five days a week) – still have such voracious appetites for video-game content. The topic does not appear in the policy literature of any of the federal political parties. (more…)