newsonaut
Turning inner space into outer space
Saturday, October 25, 2025
My buy-Canadian mornings
Back in August, I demonstrated the power of a drop in the bucket. One of my drops in the bucket is supporting Canada’s economy by buying Canadian as much as possible.
Here’s what my mornings look like these days.
- Granola — Oatally Awesome — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Granola — Rogers — made in Canada by a Japanese company
- Yogurt — Activia — made in Canada by a French company
- Flax — CanMar — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Soap — The Soap Works — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Toothpaste — Green Beaver — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Toothbrush — Ola — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Shampoo — Attitude — made in Canada by a Canadian company
- Razor — Rocky Mountain Barber Company — made overseas by a Canadian company
- Shaving cream — Nivea — made overseas by a German company
- Floss — GUM — made overseas by a Swiss company
That toothbrush, by that why, is made out of maple scraps from a nearby lumber mill. That’s about as Canadian as you can get.
I'm still looking for viable alternatives for shaving cream and floss. Shaving cream from Rocky Mountain Barber Company is made in Canada, but way too expensive. Floss by Ola is more reasonably priced but made overseas and breaks every time I try to use it.
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Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Drink B.C. ciders, read Canadian books
I only drink one or two ciders a week, but that’s enough to have built up quite the collection over the past few years. Enough to sort them and rate them.
You can now see what I think about the ciders from B.C. They’re all rated out of 10, with comments, from the best at 9 to the worst at a measly 2.
If you don’t live in B.C., you’ll likely have a tough time finding them at your local liquor store. That’s why I’ve provided links to websites where you can, usually, order them online. There are a couple of exceptions where, sadly, the companies have discontinued cider production.
I’m also averaging about a book a week so far this year, and keeping track of them with ratings from best to worst. That’s nothing new, but I’ve decided to focus things up a little by only showing the books written by Canadian authors that I can recommend reading.
There are a lot of great Canadian writers out there, so it’s not like it’s a challenge to find them. My only real disappointment so far has been Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay. Maybe this is simply not a good example of his work. In any case, I can’t recommend it, so it didn’t make the list.
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Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Goodbye Netflix, hello Gem
Netflix finally pushed me too far with yet another price increase that supposedly pays for a pipeline of hot, new shows.
They must be going for quantity over quality because I can’t remember the last time Netflix had something I really wanted to watch. In fact, after 10 years, I was subscribing more out of habit than anything else. With tax, I would be paying $20 a month for a service I seldom use. OK, I did try the second season of Squid Game, and it was terrible.
So I cancelled. Ahh, such a relief.
At the same time, I was getting kind of annoyed by the ads on CBC Gem. So with my new-found disposable income, I decided to pay $6 a month to get rid of them.
Not that I was watching Gem a whole lot, but now that I’m a paying customer, I’ve been taking a closer look at what’s available. Here’s what I’ve been liking so far:
Son of a Critch: Home-spun coming-of-age humour about growing up in the 1980s in Newfoundland. Kinda corny but I like the characters.
North of North: A single Inuit mom navigates life with the help of a slightly crazy community in northern Canada. Down-to-earth humour, compelling characters.
The Great British Baking Show: An hour of British bakers competing every week — it’s the ultimate comfort show.
Canada’s Ultimate Challenge: Five teams turn the country into a giant obstacle course. The challenges are actually quite daunting, and they are interspersed with personal drama.
Small Achievable Goals: A couple of middle-aged women, who don’t understand the meaning of TMI, team up to succeed in the podcast industry.
Canada Reads: Limited series where five champions pitch the book “every Canadian” should read. One book is voted off each episode.
Halifax Comedy Festival: A half-hour mix of stand-up comics that always gets a few chuckles out of me.
Coming up on March 21 is a new show called Ghosting that looks good. “Catch a new season full of screams and laughter as Luke and Matthew venture across the country, along with celebrity guests, to investigate some of the most famous hauntings in Canada.”
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Sunday, June 9, 2013
Tear yourself away from the devices for some exercise
I’m not sure what the medical term is, but hunchitis might do. All those hours hunched over a smartphone or computer add up fast. Oh how we love our devices, but unfortunately they can twist our bodies into unhealthy shapes over time.
So is there an app for that? As it turns out, there are a gazillion apps out there to get you back in shape with exercise programs. Just try doing a search on pushups in the App Store. I got so many hits, I gave up counting.
The one I chose is called Pushups 0-100. The idea — as is the case with many of these apps — is to gradually work your way up to 100 pushups a day, three days a week.
With Pushups 0-100, you start off with beginner pushups — pushing off a counter while standing. They’re a lot easier than getting down on the floor. You start off with five minutes of stretches, which is a good idea because working on a computer or over a phone can get those muscles tensed up in ways they shouldn’t be.
Next comes fives sets of pushups with 90-second rests in between. The interface that coaches you along is nicely designed and easy to follow. You wrap up with another five minutes of stretches.
Looking ahead, the number of pushups gradually works up to five sessions of 20. After that, there is the option of moving up to intermediate pushups from your knees. After that, it’s full body on the floor.
Of course, you could just as easily do a similar program without an app. But an app, whichever one one you choose, has a couple of advantages. First, it’s nicely laid out for you, which is encouraging. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the icon sits there on the screen day after day, reminding you to get busy. It could even go in the dock and become an even more prominent reminder.
I’m only on the first couple of steps in Pushups 0-100, so the question remains as to whether I’ll be able to maintain my enthusiasm over the next few weeks. I’m hoping an app on the screen will do the trick.
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