Gord’s Blog

Merry Christmas! Life in Mexico They love to drink and drive here. It’s not uncommon to see someone heading to work in the morning with a can of breakfast malt in their left hand. The cops certainly don’t care. You could strap a keg to the roof rack and run a hose through the driver […]Read More »

Life in Manzanillo I remember as a kid growing up in Hamilton when, every spring, the skies over Cootes Paradise would be filled with Monarch butterflies. Unfortunately, when civic authorities launched a big clean-up campaign for the harbor, they cut down all the milkweed growing in abundance along its shores, putting paid to their habitat. […]Read More »

Life in Calgary It’s back to Manzanillo this month; we’re looking forward to seeing old friends and enjoying the great (post hurricane) winter weather! In the meantime, we’ve had a wonderful time in Calgary; it’s been over a decade since we lived here, and it’s grown and matured in so many ways. Our neighborhood in […]Read More »

Life in Calgary As many readers know, I started my professional writing career as a reporter for the Calgary Herald. Thanks to the Daily Oil Bulletin, being back in Calgary has given me the opportunity to practice being a newspaper hack once again. A few weeks ago, I attended an energy conference at the Banff […]Read More »

Life in Calgary Back in the summer of ‘67, my pal Bennie bought Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and invited me over to hear it. I was especially intrigued by one song; Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. “What’s that all about?” I asked. “LSD,” said Bennie. “Ooh.” Before it was banned in the […]Read More »

Life in Calgary It’s Stampede time! For ten days every July, the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth takes over the city and turns it into a very large punch bowl. Folks outside town tend to think of The Stampede as an excuse to wear a cowboy hat and get drunk (and they’re generally correct), but […]Read More »

Life in Calgary Maybe too much air in the tires? Canadian Tire had a sale on mountain bikes last week. I found one I liked but the back tire was flat, so I asked the sports clerk to inflate it. I then bought the bike and threw it in the back of my car. By […]Read More »

Life in Calgary They recently held the annual Calgary Comics Expo. Tens of thousands of fans came out to Stampede Park, many dressed up as their favorite superhero. It’s my theory that everyone has a super power of some kind. For Linda, it’s her talent to organize a kitchen so that I can immediately find […]Read More »

Life in Paris Sigh. It’s snowing like hell in Calgary so I thought I’d dig through the vault and find a bit of happiness in Paris. This is the El Vecino Mexican Restaurant located near Place de la République. We didn’t eat there, but the sign out front caught my eye and I couldn’t resist […]Read More »

Life in Mexico It’s the little things in life that makes living in Mexico so enjoyable. Every other week, we go down to the Santiago market where the chicken ladies have a stall under a staircase. Their counters are festooned with broilers and eggs and poultry appendages. Their free-range produce is classified as Mexi-organic, because […]Read More »

Life in Mexico There’s a line of coconut vendors at the side of the toll road heading toward Colima. Just past that is a shady cantina consisting of half a dozen picnic tables and a cow. The cantina serves ‘pajarete’, which is made from milk straight from the cow. The vendor then adds vanilla, chocolate, […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Mexico’s finest. I saw something today that I have never seen in Manzanillo; a traffic cop stopped a pick-up truck for running a red light. Sure, there’s lots of towns in Mexico where a police cruiser will pull you over for having noisy brake lights and then offer to sell your driver’s […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Christmas in Mexico is a month-long affair that beguiles and captivates everyone in the country. Festivities start the first of December, when Catholics venerate the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. Everyone agrees; she’s a great saint. One frosty morning in December, 1531, the spectral image of a young, pregnant […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Life’s a Beach We live a few blocks from Santiago beach, a beautiful, 6-km stretch of coffee-colored sand situated in a protected bay. The beach is deserted most of the week, but come Sunday, several thousand people flock for a day of rest and celebration. Here are some of our observations about […]Read More »

Life in Calgary We’ve been residing in Mexico for the last 12 years, so a lot has happened in our old home town in the intervening decade. We’ve had a chance to spend the last two months in town, and here are a few things I never thought I’d live long enough to see. Co-op […]Read More »

Life in Calgary I am Sleeping in Jon Hamm’s Bed I am sleeping in Jon Hamm’s bed. Not the one in his Italianate villa overlooking Lake Como, of course, but the one that he used while filming a TV series in Calgary last year. I can’t tell you the name of the series because I’m […]Read More »

Life in London “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” Samuel Johnson said that over two hundred years ago, but it still holds true today. Whatever turns your crank, you’ll find it within the shadow of Big Ben. We spent a week at the end of July in a lovely […]Read More »

Life in France We’ve been in France for over a month now, and if there’s one thing that stands out more than anything else, it’s the fact that the French worship their stomachs. Or, more specifically, all the wonderful things they put in their stomachs. People ask us; ‘how do you spend your day?’ I’d […]Read More »

Life in France Linda and I have been in Antibes for almost a month now, and we love it! Even though Antibes is in France and Manzanillo in Mexico, it’s amazing how much the two towns have in common. The people are friendly and laid-back, the sun shines most of the year-round, and the streets […]Read More »

Life in France Linda and I have once again traded Manzanillo for a visit to France! We are in Antibes, staying in the seaside community of Juan le Pins. It’s great to be back; rather than doing my usual Life in Mexico, for the next few months I’ll be highlighting some of the lovely food, […]Read More »

Life in Mexico When you see all the nice, shiny sedans that grace the streets of Manzanillo, it’s easy to forget that only a few years ago the average car was a total rust bucket. Nowhere was the old beater more loved than Mexico. VW Bugs with no fenders, Chevy pick-ups with the bumper dragging […]Read More »

Life in Mexico It’s Semana Santa! Every year, 40,000 Mexicans descend on Manzanillo during Easter to celebrate their religious devotion with tequila. Here’s a few survival tips; Go the nearest ATM and empty it before everyone else does. Stock up at the OXXO with ten loaves of Bimbo bread and a big can of Spam. […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Every spring brings a new gaggle of buskers to Manzanillo. They congregate at the intersection of Audiencia and Miguel de la Madrid, where they can annoy the occasional driver who voluntarily obeys the stop light. They twirl hula-hoops, do hand-stands and ignite things on fire. My favorite is the juggler who keeps […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Driving in Mexico Driving in Mexico is a delight. It’s like traveling 50-years back in time, when you could ride in the back of the station wagon with the dog or stand on the rear seat and stick your head out the sun roof. Here are some invaluable tips: When you are […]Read More »

Life in Mexico – Brr! We’ve lived full time in Manzanillo for over a decade now, and don’t regret a single moment. Sure, southern Mexico can get hot and muggy in the summertime, but the winter months are a pure joy. The two photos show the Peace Bridge in Calgary and the wonderful Oasis restaurant […]Read More »

Life in Mexico There is a new mural on the wall beside the entrance to Santiago cemetery. A small girl with curly blonde hair is rising into the air. The Grim Reaper is reaching for her. He has a big smile (which is about all you can manage with a skull). The girl, for her […]Read More »

Joan the Saint – Official Launch! Join me at Oasis Restaurant in Manzanillo on Wednesday November 9 for the official book signing during the Mujeres luncheon. Another amazing book by Gordon Cope. A must read! Amazon 5-star review. Joan of Arc, born in northeast France during the Hundred Years War between England and France, arose […]Read More »

Life in Mexico Mexicans are hard at work spiffing up the graves of their beloved ancestors in anticipation of Day of the Dead. The festival is often compared to Christian ceremonies such as All Saints Day, but the pre-Columbian celebration is a lot more light-hearted, with gifts of sugar skulls and lots of rum. Grannies […]Read More »

European Dreams Linda and I had a wonderful journey this summer through southern France, Italy, Paris and London. There are so many wonderful memories and experiences that it would take a book to encapsulate them all! We were amazed by the wonderful hospitality we encountered. People were happy to greet us and eager to speak […]Read More »

Life in France Every bistro in France has a dog named Hoover. The moment I walk in, they rush right over, eagerly awaiting the next errant meatball. It’s stinking hot in Paris, which means it’s movie time! We go half an hour before the actual movie starts to watch the commercials. My favorite is the […]Read More »