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Superballs and Long Halls - EclectEcon
The campus at The University of Regina is a large collection of buildings constructed around a central ellipse and all connected (presumably so that people can get from building-to-building without having to go outside and freezing to death in the winter). One result of this design is that there are some very long corridors. The longest hallway, by far, is...
Open Letter to My Students (8th revised edition) - EclectEcon
Through a series of fortuitous events, I am once again teaching at The University of Regina. But this time for only the summer term (no more winters in Saskatchewan for me!). After my previous experiences (and as I rethink my experiences over the past 84 years of teaching), I have decided, once again, to revise and update my open letter...
What Spring SHOULD Be About - EclectEcon
It's spring! We should be flying kites, not drawing them with snowstomp art! My previous snow stomp art: Kite (this post) Act III Into the Rabbit Hole God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen Tribute #3 Tribute #2 Tribute Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for...
Act III - EclectEcon
After a beautiful snowfall and a glorious couple of weekends, Nancy and I decided to do today's snowstomp art together: My previous snow stomp art: Act III (this post) Into the Rabbit Hole God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen Tribute #3 Tribute #2 Tribute Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in...
Into the Rabbit Hole - EclectEcon
It's the year of the rabbit. My previous snow stomp art: Into the Rabbit Hole (this post) God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen Tribute #3 Tribute #2 Tribute Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for Murder) Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting for Our...
I Must Go Down to the Seas Again - EclectEcon
As some of you know, for the 2022 holiday season, I'm planning to take a huge break from the past traditions that Carolle and I had. I've put up lights on the balconies, but that's about it. Beginning tomorrow (Wednesday), I'll be house-sitting a very large 'cottage' near Lake Erie for two weeks. Alone. My plan is to go away,...
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen - EclectEcon
After a very late night of strategic planning (i.e. finishing far too much scotch) with relatives and friends, I woke up to see the delightful snow on the ground. Since Encore... the Concert Band is playing a concert of 'seasonal' music this afternoon, I decided that the initial piece of snow art for the 2022-23 season should relate to that...
Long and Variable Lags in monetary policy - EclectEcon
Let me ask yet again, what is it about the famous Milton Friedman quip about monetary policy that today's central bankers don't seem to get? According to Friedman, monetary policy had (has?) an effect but only with a long and variable lag. Were all of today's central bankers trained by rational expectations cowboys to believe that all markets always clear...
Vanishing Point - EclectEcon
The forecast high for three days from now is +17C [+63F]. I expect much more will vanish by then than just the imagined point off in the distance and down the hill from our lawn. My previous snow stomp art: Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year...
Tikka Masala (with chicken) - EclectEcon
This was pretty good. It'll be better the next time I make it. The recipe is based on the recipe on the label of this sauce, combined with some valuable input from a friend. Ingredients: Half a jar of Tikka Masala Curry sauce 1/4 large onion, chopped 3 tblspns butter 1 tspn chopped ginger 1 tspn chopped garlic 1 lb...
DOUBT -- See this Play! - EclectEcon
DOUBT is a play about two nuns who suspect the priest at their school is sexually abusing one of the boys. The priest is such a well-polished offender that he is able to make them doubt their suspicions. Ms. Eclectic used to work with sex offenders. Everything in this play rings true and is consistent with all the things she...
Calla Lilies - EclectEcon
When we lived in Hawaii (35 years ago), we fell in love with calla lilies. As I looked at my original snow art, I thought, "It could use some fixing, and it probably could also use some leaves. I'll do it tomorrow after we get a couple of centimetres of snow tonight. We may have gotten some snow, but we...
How Much Do Vaccines Help with Omicron? - EclectEcon
With the early variants of Covid-19, all the evidence suggested that vaccines helped slow the transmission of the virus. People who were vaccinated were less likely to test positive for the virus, and case counts were dropping. Here are the data for Ontario up through early December. But then things changed in early December 2021, and by Christmas, a larger...
Ringing in the New Year - EclectEcon
It snowed all night and so I went out to ring in the new year this morning. I've done better, but I still like it. My previous snow stomp art: Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for Murder) Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting for Our Covid-19 Vaccination 2020 -- Spiraling Wear me The Meaning of Life Peter...
Are the Covid Data Being Cooked? - EclectEcon
What am I missing? The Ontario Science Table (either a gubmnt agency or close to that) reports the following cases in Ontario according to vaccination status: So per 100,000 in the population, 70.1 fully vaccinated people tested positive for Covid-19, but 101.9 unvaccinated people tested positive. Fully vaccinated people were considerably less likely to test positive for the virus. Meanwhile,...
Tribute - EclectEcon
My previous snow stomp art: Tribute Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for Murder) Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting for Our Covid-19 Vaccination 2020 -- Spiraling Wear me The Meaning of Life Peter Cottontail Visits the Condo Fight CV19 and STAY HOME...
"Raise a Glass to the Good Life" -- Carolle M. Trembley November 1940 - May 2022 - EclectEcon
Carolle died at home this morning from a combination of congestive heart failure and renal failure. Last fall, it looked as if her health was improving, but it deteriorated during the winter. Carolle was grateful for everything: every opportunity, every friend, every relative. She always said, “I’ve had a wonderful life!” And that's what she meant: she loved her life....
I'm Beginning to Wonder about Covid Vaccines - EclectEcon
I know this is sacrilegious, but despite the fact that I'm triple-vaxed, I am beginning to have some doubts about whether continuing to push vaccines is an efficient way to deal with Covid. First, there is increasing evidence (which I raised here) that being vaccinated doesn't necessarily protect people from being infected with Omicron. Vaccines probably slowed transmissions of the...
Tecumseh -- Abandoned by the British - EclectEcon
The big loser in the War of 1812 was Tecumseh and the First Nation coalition he led, trying to keep settlers from moving into their territories. In the process, the Brits abandoned him in SW Ontario. Here's a series of photos taken by Ms. Eclectic from our condo window as I tried to draw Tecumseh in the snow on the...
Lest We Forget - EclectEcon
It snowed last night! And so I went out to do some snow-stomp art. We rarely have snow that stays on the ground for even a few minutes this early in the season, and so I've never had the opportunity to pay tribute on November 11th this way. My previous snow stomp art: Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting...
Ukraine (in Cyrillic) - EclectEcon
My previous snow stomp art: Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for Murder) Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting for Our Covid-19 Vaccination 2020 -- Spiraling Wear me The Meaning of Life Peter Cottontail Visits the Condo Fight CV19 and STAY HOME Skool Daze I...
Cruising (for Murder) - EclectEcon
The snow finally stopped last evening, and I decided to go out then to do my latest snow-stomp art, a cruise ship. As winter arrives, many people would love to be on a cruise ship, especially in a warm-water environment (Covid-19 permitting). Also, this Saturday, I'm appearing in a mystery dinner theatre show called "Cruising for Murder". Ms. Eclectic took...
What is the Burger-Elasticity of Supply for Blood? - EclectEcon
Why hasn't a promotion been developed where a major fast food chain gives every blood/plasma donor a coupon good for a burger when they leave the blood donor clinic? "Just bring this coupon to one of our franchises, and to thank you for donating blood, we'll give you a burger." The promotion would be great for the blood donor operations,...
Ode to Carolle - EclectEcon
Gratitude Forgiveness Stubbornness Gratitude Moving on Problem-solving Gratitude Perseverance Acceptance Gratitude Support Toughness Gratitude Adventure Diligence Gratitude Loyalty Feistiness Gratitude Feminism Expectations of personal responsibility Gratitude Humour Wit Gratitude Grumpiness Kindness Gratitude Generosity Sports Gratitude [This 'poem' appeared in the Summer, 2022, issue of Fine-Lines, and is posted here with their kind permission.]
Tribute #3: Tears into Flowers - EclectEcon
A late spring snowfall. Two photos. One at 5am when I did the snowstomp art and another at 7am after it got light out. There's more snow on the way, but there's also more warm temperature coming. This was snow-shuffle art, not snow-stomp art. The outline will likely last on the lawn for many days after the snow melts. My...
Tribute #2 - EclectEcon
My previous snow stomp art: Tribute #2 Tribute Vanishing Point Ukraine (in Cyrillic) Calla Lilies A Birthday Cake for Laura and Elise Tecumseh Ringing in the New Year (2022) Cruising (for Murder) Lest We Forget Goose Fibonacci's Balloon Waiting for Our Covid-19 Vaccination 2020 -- Spiraling Wear me The Meaning of Life Peter Cottontail Visits the Condo Fight CV19 and...
Twenty Thousand New Infections Each of the Next Few Days in Ontario? - EclectEcon
Last summer there were days with fewer than 300 new COVID infections per day in Ontario. Today's data showed there were over ten thousand new infections reported, based on yesterday's tests, an all time high for the pandemic. But the report had several additional disconcerting other items as well: the positivity rate was nearly 27% for all the tests done...