How a children’s campfire song gained 13 billion views on YouTube — If you had a small child in the middle of last decade, you’ll be familiar with “Baby Shark”. It’s more of an earworm than a fully-developed song, but it sure was (and is) popular with the preschool demographic. Toddlers love “Baby Shark” and their parents … less so. To some…

When your song becomes someone else’s hit — Inspired by a difficult breakup and pizza, singer-songwriter BC Jean, with producer-songwriter Toby Gad, wrote “If I Were a Boy” in 2008. Later that year, the song became an international hit for Beyoncé. Like Bonnie Tyler’s “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man),” “If I Were a…

14 household items you can throw away today without any heartache — Maybe you CBF decluttering. Especially if you’re coming from a starting point of so much … stuff! Just think, the average American home contains 300,000 items. But never fear. You don’t need to become a hardcore minimalist living in a spartan house with bare white walls and one green plant…

The actual mixtape I made as an 11-year-old in 1986 — In 1986, I recorded my first-ever mixtape on a TDK D90. I cleverly named that tape Hits of 86 and listened to it nonstop for months on end. Hits of 86 took me from the end of primary school and childhood through to the start of secondary school and adolescence. …

Can you suspend judging problematic content to enjoy a beautifully written book? — Love of Seven Dolls by Paul Gallico is the tale of Mouche (a young woman cast adrift in 1950s Paris), seven puppets who befriend her, and their mysterious puppeteer, Capitaine Coq. I found the 90-page story beautiful, poignant, dark, joyful, and also quite challenging. I came across Love of Seven…

Two animals in a room. Ok, two humans — Two little princes, brothers, are in a room. The room is in a tower but that’s neither here nor there since the princes don’t leave the room. The younger prince walks about with that loose-hipped swagger children sometimes use to entertain themselves. The older prince kneels by the bed, hands…

Climate change and public relations — If you’re an engaged citizen, chances are you try to lower your carbon footprint and make climate-conscious decisions. You recycle, maybe you’ve cut back on plastic, or invested in an electric car or solar panels. But did you know that the concept of “carbon footprint” was the inspiration of an…

Macpherson Robertson: philanthropist, entrepreneur and chocolate magnate — When I went to parties as a wee kid, I was often served a frog in a pond. Unlike French cuisine, this amphibian-themed treat consisted of a chocolate frog named Freddo served in a “pond” (cup) of green jelly. The creator of these Freddo Frogs was businessman and wearer of…

Delving into the rock that came before rock — When I think about rock ’n’ roll, I think about the 1950s. The music released in that decade changed the world forever. But rock ’n’ roll didn’t begin in the 50s. Most of the songs regarded as the first rock songs were covers or developed from songs dating all the…