Said Abd El Gawad

As fate would have it, Dominic Monaghan is here in my home town of Ottawa, Ontario for a few weeks to shoot a movie called The Day . He has been spotted at several well-known Ottawa locations over the past week including Algonquin College and the University of Ottawa (where he held Q&A sessions with students), the National Arts Centre (where he attended a performance of Romeo & Juliet), the Rideau Center shopping mall, a downtown pub, and various restaurants. This weekend I received a tip that a film crew had closed down a road in the small town of Vars, which is about 20 minutes from my home. Given that film shoots in Ottawa are quite rare, I threw a few LOST items (including Charlie's pants) into my car and drove there with my daughter to check out the situation. Despite the clouds and rain, this was an opportunity I didn't want to miss. Although there was indeed a film shooting in Vars, it was not The Day . It was instead a film called La Sacrée , touted as the very...

While overseas recently I spent a little time window shopping at an enclave of super-exclusive boutiques. One item that caught my eye was a collection of pens from Montblanc tied into Lennon's 70th birthday. It is hard to know what Lennon himself would have thought about his association with pricey luxury goods -- like Dylan, contradiction and inconsistency were an integral part of his character and his charm. Perhaps he would have been disgusted, or perhaps he would have been delighted to find another way to move money from the fortunate to those in need. Although I didn't spring for the pens, I did pick up this slick promotional book which has some fantastic visuals of the man...and his pen.

Nega-Me: So here's the thing -- you've got a full-time job, a wife, two kids. You're trying to work your way through the six hundred and twenty-seven books you bought as a teenager that still haven't been read. Not to mention the DVD collection that's growing exponentially-- Opti-Me: I'm no busier than anyone else. Plenty of time for blogging. An hour a week to pound out a short post or two? Shouldn't be a problem. Nega-Me: You just don't get it, do you? If you want to blog, you've got to have something useful to say. Provide some insight on the human condition. Write something that someone out there will find funny! Do you really believe you can do that? Opti-Me: I've got a few years under my belt. I've made some observations. I have opinions. Besides, have you read some of the blogs out there? The bar hasn't been set very high. Nega-Me: OK, I'll give you points for that one. You sounded a bit like me for a minute there. ...

Coming soon... "To Blog or not to Blog"