Breaking up, like many things in life, is hard to do. It's especially difficult when the relationship has been long-standing. This spring is particularly difficult for me, because I have to say goodbye to both the University of Calgary and the hit television series Lost.

Each and every spring, fervent hockey fans face a troubling dilemma. On one hand, the weather is getting warmer and loved ones are enticing them to join them on decks, patios and other outdoor areas. On the other hand, the National Hockey League post-season is soon to begin, and the primary way a hockey fan enjoys the majesty of the Stanley Cup playoffs is by parking themselves in front of a television screen for months on end.

Unless they are a Calgary Flames fan.

Since he became Canada's 22nd prime minister in 2006, Stephen Harper has developed a reputation amongst his opponents for being sneaky. Granted, few in politics have gotten far by telegraphing their maneuvering, but Harper has seemingly turned political behaviour into a modern art form. While many of his predecessors utilized obscure verbiage, intellectual smoke and mirrors and outright lying to stay in power, Harper has gone a bit off-book.

He's used hockey.

Every year at roughly this time, eager prospective student politicians run around clamouring for support in the Students' Union election. Every year the hallways are wallpapered with posters. Every year roughly nine out of 10 students summarily ignore the election and don't vote. Nevertheless, the ones that are actively involved with the election pick up the Gauntlet, read our coverage and then criticize our practice of endorsing candidates.

The Canadian Olympic Committee headed into the 2010 Vancouver games with high hopes. After utter disappointment in the medal standings at the 1976 Montreal summer games and the 1988 Calgary winter games, the COC took the bull by the horns after the announcement of Vancouver as host -- boldly claiming that Canada would own the podium in 2010.

Turns out "owning" the podium means getting half as many medals as the Americans.

The pie has an important place in Canadian society. Pies are delicious, nutritious and, as has been made evident in recent years, they are a wonderful tool for political activism. But members of the political establishment are seemingly opposed to using a pie for protest purposes.

Controversy reigned in Toronto over the holidays, but for once it wasn't about the sub-par Toronto Maple Leafs or a garbage strike. On this occasion, Torontonians were all riled up about naps.

Since 1985, the Darwin Awards have been doled out based on criteria from author Wendy Northcutt. The awards seek to point out astonishing levels of stupidity that render individuals sterile or deceased when previously they were mature and capable of sound judgement. Two recent news items have produced two strong award contenders -- although only one of these were made eligible by their circumstances -- and reignited debate surrounding if laws should be formulated to protect the stupid.

The government of Canada declared last week Citizenship Week. The week was commemorated by a series of events, including citizenship ceremonies across the country, designed to celebrate Canadian citizenship. While that notion seems great, the details given by Calgary Southeast MP and Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism minister Jason Kenney in the official press release seem a bit wonky.

When the average person thinks of comic books, often they think of brightly-coloured spandex and over-muscled heroes socking bad guys in the jaw to save the day. Truth told, super-hero comics make up the vast majority of sales in the industry. That said, it's not wholly representative to think of comic books as nothing but big breasts, big guns, big explosions and escapism. Comics, both historically and presently, have tackled a number of meaty issues.