James Piper, Author

Sunday, August 19, 2012 ... When you're on your deathbed, will you cherish all the time you spent watching TV? ... I n 2007, after a lifetime of watching of TV, I stopped watching. My habit was like any, like smoking or drinking. It was just something I did. No real thought about not watching. When I decided to stop, I went cold turkey. I had many weak moments in January and February 2007 but I eventually broke the habit. Whatever urge I had to turn on the TV completely vanished and I haven’t looked back. But how could I? When I mention to people I don’t watch TV, they are incredulous or think I’m nuts. Well, it is true. I don’t watch TV and perhaps I am nuts but I have my reasons. I had known co-workers and friends who had turned off TV completely. I read about journalists and writers who did the same and I always thought they were a touch nuts but then I read Stephen King’s book On Writing. In it he says, and I paraphrase, if you want to write novels, what the hel...

Friday, November 11, 2011 ... you would think, assume, I had did these things ... I I’ve done a few things most people never get a chance to do. Lived in Africa for one. Have written a few novels and screenplays. Wrote some songs you wouldn’t want me to perform. But for the most part, my life isn’t terribly distinguished. Life like most people except there’s a few things I’ve never experienced. Never been married. Close? Not really. I’ve never even been on a date or had a date on Valentines Day. I think most people, where the day is recognized, have done that. I often wonder what it would be like. Never had a birthday party with cake and friends. I remember the odd the birthday card from this aunt or that uncle. It doesn’t help when your birthday is the same day as a holiday. I don’t know who my father is. That one-half of my genes, my DNA that is me. Don’t know and probably never will. I think most people know who there father is even if the relationship isn’t what ...

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 ... Americans loath the metric system--sometimes ... Q uick. True or false. The length of American cigarettes is measured using the metric system. "It's the 100 yard dash, goddamn it," they'll say. "I weigh 300 pounds and stand five foot two. Not an inch more." But go find a pack of the 100s. Those long slender American cigarettes that, in a pinch, work as pole vaults. Find a ruler and measure them. Surprise. The name 100s, used for these cigarettes, comes from the fact they are 100 millmetres long. Go figure. In Canada, you can buy Winston 100s. They are made specifically for the Canadian market so the packaging is bilingual. On the English side it's 100s and the French side it's 100mm. I know. I know. I'm making it up. This can't possibly be right. They aren't 100mm, they're 3.93700780078 inches! Posted 2007/05/01 at 19h37ET in Life.