Friday, August 21, 2026

August 16, 2011

"It looks quiet."

"Like a graveyard"

--Attack!

On a group of German POWs: "The mean one's the captain.  Just like in any army"--ibid.


    Dreamed of a movie about the destruction of a bridge off the northern coast of Jutland in Denmark, with Angelina playing a Nazi in jodhpurs and riding boots.


    Dinner was curried shrimp.


    Saw the DVD of Robert Aldrich's Attack!  It's one of the better 1950s war movies, gripping and straightforward. (The ending was a bit ambiguous.) Jack Palance and Lee Marvin came from the age of Real Men!

August 15, 2011

    Dreamed of asking how tall you had to be, to be a general in the army.


    Went to Evgenia's apartment for an Asperger's Meetup, but there was nobody there.


    My Metropass for August got lost in the mail.  Today I finally got around to going to Davisville station, where they gave me a replacement.


    Dinner was linguini pesto (which I cooked).


    I was going to participate in a Ticket to Ride tournament at Snakes and Lattes--even brought my game set--but I was 20 minutes late and the tournament was already full! (I should have asked Father to drive me there, but he'd already driven me in th morning.) Moira's been having a bad day too.


    Saw the DVD of the 2003 revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, with Paul Newman as the narrator.  It gets pretty sad.

Sunday, August 16, 2026

August 14, 2011

"Is it being unable to see that makes you weary of life?"

"No, being able to hear."

--Kung Fu

Marge: "I never realized history was so filthy!"--The Simpsons


    Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin.  I played Kill Mister Lucky (sort of a prequel to Clue) and Guillotine (where I tied for first).


    On the way home, I travelled on one of the new subway trains that aren't divided into cars.  When the train's route curves, you can look toward the other end and see it bend!


    Dinner was ham quiche.


    Saw the DVD of "Besieged," a double episode of Kung Fu set entirely in China, guest-starring David Carradine's real-life girlfriend Barbara Hershey. (It's one of the episodes from the third season, which I hardly saw at all back at the time.)

August 13, 2011

"Talk to the wind, Chinaman!"--Kung Fu

Homer: "They did it that way because they're stupid!  That's why everybody does everything"--The Simpsons


    Went to an Asperger's Meetup at the Tim Horton's east of Yonge & Bloor.  They talked about the summer autism retreat a couple of them went to. (Should I go next year?) [I didn't.]


    Dinner was tortellini.

August 12, 2011

    Baked white bread, but it came out funny. (Why?)


    Yesterday I had a big headache.  Maybe it came from switching to caffeine-free Pepsi.


    Dinner was linguini primavera.


    Went to Mary's games night. (I played Say Anything and Balderdash.)

Friday, August 14, 2026

August 10, 2011

On a bald prospective husband: "You want hair?  Marry a monkey!"--Fiddler on the Roof


    Dreamed of groups of young people sailing around the world at the same time as part of a big project; finding out that years ago someone published a paper using my research, and not caring.


    Went shopping.


    Dinner was ham.


    Saw Norman Jewison's movie of Fiddler on the Roof (for the fourth time) with the Toronto Social Group Meetup at an outdoor screening next to Roy Thomson Hall. (I should have brought a pillow!) It's a strong, worthy adaptation of the classic Broadway musical.  The scene with the ghosts still gives me the willies!  I should read Sholom Aleichem's stories. [When Motl the mousy tailor was getting up the nerve to tell Tevye he loved the latter's daughter, someone in the audience shouted "You can do it, Motl!"]

August 9, 2011

"What do you want from me?  My heart? my blood? my soul?"

"Your absence!"

--The Pick-Up Artist


    Yesterday I saw the DVD of Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus.  I liked Marianne Faithfull's "Something Better." (I don't think I'd ever heard "Jumpin' Jack Flash" before!)


    Dreamed of waking up early in the morning at our old home in Sackville, N.B.


    Dinner was steak.


    Saw the DVD of James Toback's The Pick-Up Artist.  Robert Downey Jr. (in his debut) had a Harlequin-like appeal, but the Molly Ringwald character didn't really make sense.