Maxed Out

As everyone who's lived and worked in and around a ski resort knows, Christmastime sucks.

I can't decide which slice of humanity is more loathsome: the dude who killed the dogs - and yes, even though everybody knows his name, I'll decline to use it - or the Facebook vigilantes, witch hunters and lynchmobbers who have spewed their particul

Nearly 800 weeks ago, Bob Barnett strolled into the place I was working and nonchalantly said, "Wanna write a column for Pique ?" I never expected it to last this long - and no, I'm not quitting; don't getcher hopes up - but I did suspect it'd be a b

"Listen, do you want to know a secret...." Lennon/McCartney Of course you want to know. Doesn't everybody? Be honest now.

Papa's got a brand new bag... and a whole bunch of old bags, a trunkful of reusable bags and a bagful of questions. A little over a week ago, to celebrate the New Year, Italy banned plastic shopping bags.

There's a raging - okay, simmering - debate among mental health professionals, nosey busybodies and armchair quacks about the benefits or harm of making New Year's resolutions.

In a year when the ever inward-looking Canadian press declared the 2010 Olympics story of the year - and admittedly, it may well be right up there with the Deepwater Horizon and the crumbling global economy to complete a hat trick of disasters - who

And so it came to pass, as it does around this time every year, that the days were completed to deliver a Christmas column. This will have to do. It's been a tumultuous year.

S'no time like the holidays. Let no hall be undecked and all tidings be cheered. The snow has arrived to redeem our battered collective psyche and rejuvenate our spirit; happy tourist are repopulating the village, and all is right with the world.

"The current approach has been to tighten belts." - Hizzonor, the Mayor My belt's out of holes. There's nothing left to tighten.