Yeah, that's me on the 401, driving the car loaded with 40 kinds of footware just in case it snows -- or it doesn't. Headed to Montreal for two weeks to chill --hah-hah, get it? -- with friends and family.
It is so strange to have the sun beating down on me as I type this. It feels warm. It feels like spring. It feels wrong.
One day, Irving Berlin's I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas will have more resonance than it ever did. It's sad enough now. Soon it will be devastating.
But enough holiday blues! Have a merry, merry.
Tip of the toque to Allen Sorenson.
UPDATE: Donald in the comments points out that, thanks to the Star's spiffy new website redesign, the link to my columns is now broken. Not all of them have been loaded yet. That's what you get for being a Z I guess.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, Antonia!
BTW, the link to your columns (in the previous post) is now broken, thanks to the Star's site redesign.
Posted by: Donald Willits | December 20, 2006 at 12:50 PM
Dear Jaysus, but you're blog is now a tad more difficult to find on the Star's new-look site.
Posted by: | December 20, 2006 at 02:39 PM
Roll on those lazy, hazy crazy days of Christmas, think those warm winters will lessen our dependance on oil
Posted by: stephen.reeves | December 20, 2006 at 06:57 PM
Have a very merry Christmas, Antonia.
I'm hoping the cold weather will arrive... my roses have new growth, my daffodils are poking above ground... I'm hoping this is just an anomalous December.
But I'll be watching An Inconvenient Truth on Friday night...
Posted by: pat | December 20, 2006 at 07:24 PM
...and the Search engine seems
blocked.
Everything will be alright on the second
week of January.
And yes, depending on which film
(Holiday Inn(1942), or White Christmas (1954)) the song
can be bittersweet.
Posted by: Bill Lee | December 20, 2006 at 09:03 PM
Charming elf.
Safer in the "mounts" of Montreal than at the Star today it seems.
What a year in media.
You're tops despite walking off the blog.
Wild RAYMI is best diarist in North America.
Time magazine acknowledges the shifting status quo while newspapers, radio and television seem bewildered and try to cope using yesterday's ideas.
None can see the obvious solution.
And, as always, it's an interesting time to be alive.
Posted by: Allan | December 20, 2006 at 11:20 PM
For some unfathomable reason I've always wondered if......
Elfie shoes really are good in the snow?
.
Posted by: RossK | December 22, 2006 at 08:32 PM
Egad, Antonia.
You seem to have buried an entire novel between the lines.
Have a Merry anyway.
Posted by: ivan prokopchuk | December 23, 2006 at 08:01 AM
Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year, Antonia.
Posted by: Dr.Dawg | December 23, 2006 at 09:55 AM
Ah Montreal and smoked meat.
Speaking of which the Star's 'new' web site is a stone. How long before the Hamilton Spectator gets the same slash and burn make-over?
And how many will be lost to 'unvoluntary' plank walking therein?
Bah, humbug!
Posted by: Mark-Alan Whittle | December 23, 2006 at 10:05 AM
Antonia darling, being Z makes you easy to find in an alphabetized list of 200+ bookmarks. And you'll always be our favorite Z!
Posted by: Donald Willits | December 23, 2006 at 07:08 PM
I love the new Toronto Star website. Much nicer than the old one. And all CSS to boot. Great work T-Star!
Posted by: Justin | December 25, 2006 at 10:17 AM
Z - What you need is a PUPPY - how about a 15 week old male Chocolate Lab (OK - so he's not a Malamute - tough cookies - all shots housebroken - dreaming of a home...
Posted by: Jiminy C | December 30, 2006 at 02:51 PM
Justin,
Are you and I looking at the same website?
Kinda obvious the Huns are at the gates
and they can't read the new cuneiform.
...Or maybe I'm a Hun.
Posted by: ivan prokopchuk | December 31, 2006 at 03:35 PM
Still nothing happening with the blog, zzzzz.....
Posted by: | January 02, 2007 at 12:26 AM
Dear "posted by":
Am I simple-minded, not getting the message?
Cuneiform goes >>>>> and you're going zzzz.
Oh Janus. O January!
Posted by: ivan prokopchuk | January 03, 2007 at 09:54 AM
I concur with Ivan about the Star's new website -- it blows. What happened to the GTA section? The colours are all wishy-washy pale blue and muted, the fonts are off, and there is far too much text on the home page, with stories falling between the cracks. Bleh!
Posted by: Randy | January 03, 2007 at 10:09 AM
Website? There is a webmaster,
and they do answer suggestions.
Try it in Blind Lynx [104]http://leb.net/blinux/blynx/
and you get a different perspective.
From the top of Madame Zerbisias'
page, the Today's star takes you
to 18 December only.
The search button just reloads the
page.
They know all this, but nobody is
back to work until mid-January so
they have little help to work on a
dynamic page.
We, the readers, are not helping.
Posted by: Bill Lee | January 04, 2007 at 06:04 PM
Nothing quite like being a Canadian abroad and having the luxury of connecting back to Canucks culture through the web. Down Under in Australia, my latest shock relates not only to the January 35-40 degree heat wave, raging bushfires or clear lack of snow. Any chance readers will have input into future changes of the Star online? Why not create an electronic suggestion box? I realize website changes won't likely satisfy everyone yet, it would be fun to see what comes of it!
Posted by: Liara Covert | January 05, 2007 at 02:03 AM
Ivan,
You're simple-minded. "Zzzzzz...." is the widely-accepted way of expressing sleep, as in, NOTHING is happening with this blog, and I'm falling asleep as a result.
Zzzzzz....
Sawing logs, catching up on 'Z's' (which is what I do when I check this post, and see that nothing new is here, despite massive media layoffs at The Star and The Sun).
Posted by: | January 05, 2007 at 10:27 AM
Mme Zerbie,
Happy nouvel an...svp get off the crapper or stick a fork in this dead space.
'Cheers, yer erstwhile fan MoDuv
Posted by: Scott Disher aka MoDuv | January 05, 2007 at 07:43 PM
Hello Antonia, and Happy New Year!
I've been enjoying your blog and column for a long time now, but have never commented. I had a dream last night, though, that The Star announced you would begin your blog again, and there was a party, and I met you (shook your hand and everything! Very neat! Utterly bizarre!) It was a good dream, obviously - and it prompted me to finally post a comment.
Even if you decide not to come back, I wanted to thank you for your writing here. I'll continue to follow your column, which is always insightful and thought-provoking. The blog will stay in my favorites list, though, while I cross my fingers.
Best wishes in the New Year! Cheers!
Posted by: Russell | January 05, 2007 at 08:02 PM
Just picked up the Dec/Jan
issue of "30", the Quebec, francophone
journalism review, here in Vancouver.
Has Mme Z. found a copy and is furiously
writing copy for The Star?
And what do you think of TV critiscim
(Doyle on Thursday) and radio criticism (Enright on Sunday Morning)
in Canada?
Posted by: Bill Lee | January 07, 2007 at 05:54 PM
"Yeah, that's me on the 401, driving the car west - refreshed and ready to take on abuse of the media by the powerful and mean - and to entertain and provoke thought in my friends and family across the 'Net...."
So, are we going to see life on the Z-beat soon?
Posted by: Jiminy C | January 08, 2007 at 07:47 AM
Caught your Little Mosque... article today! Well done!
Hope you had a good Holiday break...
Posted by: Dwight Williams | January 11, 2007 at 02:09 PM