April 14, 2011

"Why's he in the freezer?"

"Because he's dead."

--Big Love

"I don't want to hurt you.  I just want to kill you"--ibid.

    In the morning Father drove me to the endoscopy clinic north of Keele & Sheppard for my endoscopy. (He had to cancel a medical appointment of his own, which wasn't as urgent.)

    I went through the procedure 14 years ago, and got to see inside my bowels. (It looked like a triangular prism, as in a Toblerone box, but flexible like a hose.) This time they gave me a sedative strong enough to knock me out through the whole procedure, and leave me groggy afterward.  When I got home I slept for almost three hours.

    Dinner was pork and rice.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of the Niall Ferguson documentary series of The Ascent of Money.

    Then I got the DVD for the first episode of the latest season of Big Love.  I don't know why they changed that great opening credits sequence!

April 13, 2011

Homer Simpson: "Homer no function without beer well"--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of staying a while in Halifax instead of our old home in Sackville, N.B.; telling Mother I was glad of the decision (despite early uncertainty).

    Fasted all day (except for some Jell-O) to prepare for tomorrow's test.  I also drank the diarrhea potion in two hours instead of four.  I'm surprised how little I miss eating...

April 12, 2011

Chief Wiggum: "Sure, we'll help you.  Just sit down and wait here for Detective Likeigiveadamn!"--The Simpsons

"You wrecked Hitler's car!  What did he ever do to you?"--ibid.

    Dreamed of the Anne Murray song "Snowbird"; the George Michael song "Careless Whisper" (someone was singing it at karaoke the other night); a non-existent relative called Aunt Hatfield.

    Dinner was spaghetti.

April 11, 2011

    Dreamed of wondering how to write a novel to show people what the 1920s was really like.

    At today's singing lesson I was still feeling dizzy.  Giuseppe's really curious about my medical treatment.

    Went to see Dr. Ang again.  It turns out my haemoglobin level has dropped sharply.  There'll be more tests, including a colonoscopy on Thursday.  The heartscan results still aren't in. (Funny, I thought that would come quicker than the blood test results...)

    Dinner was spaghetti.

    At choir practice we did some of Verdi's Nabucco. (The others started it last week, so I had some catching up to do.)

    In the online game Kings of Camelot there's been another merger and I'm now in the Thundering Dragons alliance.

April 10, 2011

Suspicious wife: "Have a good time."

Terry-Thomas: "I am not going to have a good time!"

--The Naked Truth

Homer (watching the musical western Paint Your Wagon): "They're singing, Marge.  Why aren't they killing each other?"

--The Simpsons

Sideshow Mel: "You only live once!"

Apu: "Speak for yourself."

--ibid.

    Dreamed of a Spider-Man movie sequel where a man made his daughter into a honey trap to catch the hero; dropping a pencil on the sidewalk and picking up several more; rolling a stolen manhole cover a short distance.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw the DVD of The Naked Truth, a rather vulgar British farce about blackmail by a tabloid publisher.  Peter Sellers has some brilliant moments.

April 9, 2011

"If language is what makes us human, it is languages that make us superhuman"--preface, Empire of the Word

    Dreamed of meeting Anthony Hopkins in London; hearing a long-winded speech from him about being Brad Pitt's mentor and being delayed on the way to the airport; joining a Meetup-type group that was going to grow crops.

    Went to the NDP campaign office and got a sign to put up on the lawn.

    Dinner was roast pork.

    Finished the book about Scottish-Canadians and started reading Nicholas Ostler's Empire of the Word:  A Language History of the World.  Looks fascinating.

    Went to a Kaaoke Meetup at Bar Plus.  I sang the duet "I Got You, Babe" with a woman.

April 8, 2011

    Dreamed of walking through a park near the Pacific coast with fast-changing weather; lying on the ground naked with a thin layer of powdery snow.

    Headache!

    Baked multigrain bread.

    I've found out where the NDP campaign office is (the old place on Vaughan Road), but it isn't open yet.

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Went to Mary's games night.  I played Agricola and scored 29 points (personal best!).  Then I played a new game called Say Anything (finished last).  A woman in a purple dress provided some good cupcakes.

    In the online game Glory of Rome I've joined a new alliance called Bharatiya. (My old alliance was moribund.) The other members are largely East Indian.

April 7, 2011

Ned Flanders: "Science is like the blabbermouth who ruins the movie by telling you how it ends"--The Simpsons

Homer: "Trying is the first step to failure"--ibid.

    Dreamed of the Laurence Olivier movie of the Harold Robbins potboiler The Betsy (which I haven't seen); saying how much I liked the Gary Cooper Quaker movie The Friendly Persuasion. [IMHO it's better than his High Noon.]

    Went to the clinic near Bathurst station and did a blood sample and a heart test.

    Dinner was undercooked salmon.

    Wanted to visit the NDP campaign office, but I couldn't find the place.

    I tried to practice all my songs for the first time since June, but I wasn't quite up to it.

April 6, 2011

"If you ask me, a cross that big is for a Lord with a tiny dick!"--Weeds

    Saw a DVD in a series of early avant-garde films, devoted to amateur auteurs (i.e. home movies). It included a film showing Chaim Gross carving a big wooden sculpture of a woman's head.

    Dinner was goulash fettucine (which I cooked).

    Went to the Wednesday Games Meetup for the first time in months.  I RSVPed that I was going, then decided I didn't have the time.  But we had to have dinner early (Father had an appointment to replace a dental filling), so I decided to go after all.  Then I couldn't find my Metropass so it looked like I couldn't go anyway, but it soon turned up.

    I played Smallworld--where my races were bivouacking trolls, forest elves and flying wizards-- and a new game called Castle Ravencroft.  It's a board game in the style of a D&D campaign, and I was a ranger human.

April 5, 2011

"I like to see you cry.  Men like to see women cry, it makes them feel superior"--The Spiral Staircase

"Doug, we need a word."

"OK, how about 'Die'?"

--Weeds

    Yesterday I was telling Giuseppe, my singing teacher, about how Velazquez' Rokeby Venus painting got slashed by a suffragette a century ago. [She didn't like how men were leering at it.] And now it turns out that some madwoman attacked a Gauguin in a Washington gallery! [It was "Two Tahitian Women" at the National Gallery, but she was stopped by its plexiglass cover.]

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was shrimp linguini.

    Saw the DVD of Robert Siodmak's thriller The Spiral Staircase.  Pretty scary. (I had to see most of the last third a second time because George Brent's voice made me sleepy!)

    I remembered the doctor in The Spiral Staircase [Kent Smith] from some role where he was older, and it turned out I was thinking of his role (also a doctor) in the TV series of Peyton Place.

April 4, 2011

    Had another singing lesson. (Again I quit a bit early because of dizziness.) It snowed last night so I wore my fall coat, but by afternoon it was mild again!

    Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.

    Skipped choir practice to attend the St. Paul's riding's NDP nomination meeting. (The nominee looks a bit preppy.)

    Saw the DVD of "Influenza 1918," a PBS American Experience documentary about the epidemic at the end of the Great War.

April 3, 2011

    Dreamed of going to a second-rate Al Pacino movie in Halifax, N.S.; sleeping in a non-existent woodshed near our old house in Sackville, N.B.; thinking "J'aime la Canada."

    Didn't do much today. (I still have a headache.)

    Dinner was fish.

April 2, 2011

Actor playing Hitler (improvising): Heil myself"--To Be or Not to Be

    Dreamed of the cottage near our old home in Sackville, N.B., being about to be moved to a new location.

    Brought out my spring jacket.

    Went on a Queen Street art walk.  I suggested to Betty Anne doing a similar walk along St. Clair Avenue West near my neighbourhood, and now it looks like we're going to organize one together. [It didn't materialize.]

    Dinner was ravioli.

    Saw the DVD of Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (for the third time).  It's really funny, especially Sig Ruman as the Gestapo commander!

April 1, 2011

    Moira had lunch with Puitak and Gordon at the Little India restaurant.  First I visited their new Simcoe Street apartment for the first time.

    Then I went to see Dr. Ang about my dizzy spells.  First I had to wait two and a half hours!

    Dinner was lobster rolls.

    Baked cheese bread.

March 31, 2011

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    I was going to see some Mary Pickford movies at the silent film festival, but I had a headache.

    We saw another episode from that series about days that changed America (this one was about Shay's Rebellion), but I dozed off at times.

March 30, 2011

    Dreamed of Bart Simpson making a friend at a workplace; visiting a location where the Libyan movie Lion of the Desert was filmed.

    Saw the cinemacast of a Royal Opera production of Carmen at the Empress Walk in 3-D, which didn't add much:  it was substantially the same production I attended in person in London three years ago, and you can't improve on that!  Anyway, my glasses frame lost its bolt during the intermission and I watched the rest with naked eye. (This reminded me of my acid test for opera direction:  without the subtitles, would you still know what's going on?) Glad I know the opera well.

    On the way back, I stopped at Hakim Optical and they gave me a new bolt for free, which was pretty nice of them considering that you can find those tiny bolts just anywhere!

    Dinner was tuna casserole.

March 29, 2011

On hearing the news that war has broken out:

"There's no reason to be afraid.  The nation is right behind our Fuhrer!"

"Yes, but how far behind?"

--Night Train to Munich

Caldecott: "A crook wouldn't play for the gentleman."

Charters: "Raffles did."

--ibid.

    Headache!

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Saw the DVD of Carol Reed's World War II spy thriller Night Train to Munich.  War movies can be pretty shameless!  Moira's right about Rex Harrison:  he is annoying, especially when he "sings." (Did he actually win an Oscar for My Fair Lady?) The best part was Charters and Caldicott, thrown in from The Lady Vanishes.

March 28, 2011

Colin Powell: "Americans solve problems.  We don't ignore problems"--10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America 

(What about global warming?)

    Dreamed of meeting a non-existent aunt about to get married; hearing that President Obama had been forced to resign.

    Went to Giuseppe's for my first singing lesson in a while.  I felt dizzy at times but was in good voice. (He compared the human mouth to a cornucopia shape.)

    Dinner was lasagna.

    At choir practice we turned to Theodore Dubois' The Seven Last Words of Christ and some other stuff we're doing in the Easter concert.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of another The History Channel series, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.

March 27, 2011

    In the bathroom in the morning I had a fainting spell and my head hit the floor.  Hope it isn't a sign of something serious!

    The othher day when I told Moira about the Les Miserables song going through my head ("Empty Chairs and Empty Tables"), she said she had "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from Donizetti's The Magic Elixir of Love going through hers. (She's been playing a library CD of Jussi Bjorling arias.) Now that song is going through my head!

    Went to a book and poster show at Wychwood Barns, but didn't buy anything. (I thought they might have comics there, but they didn't.)

    Dinner was salmon.

    Coro Verdi performed Rigoletto again, this time with my family in the audience.  Afterward Moira said "Why didn't you tell us you had such great singers?" Mother liked the chorus too.