February 10, 2011

"Say, kid, does you do this constantly?"

"No, sir, I does it all the time!"

--The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

    Dreamed of a non-existent story that young Mickey Rooney was on a Little League baseball team that got to scrimmage with a major league team, but the coach wouldn't include Rooney, and the Little Leaguers went on to appear in a movie!

    Went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan.

    Dinner was stew.

    Saw the DVD of John Badham's The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.  It's an engaging comedy about a black baseball team in the age of segregation.

February 9, 2011

    Dreamed of a young South African dissident who was exiled to the far east of the country and got drawn into a cult of sexual training.

    Went shopping.

    Saw an early Ken Burns documentary about the making of the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Dinner was rice and chicken and several leftovers.

    Rehearsed Die Fledermaus.  Women in bustle dresses reduce your room for maneuver!  When the curtain comes down on the second act, I'll be the one on stage right making sure it goes smoothly there.

February 8, 2011

    At last night's choir practice we started Verdi's Rigoletto.

    Dreamed of a place known as W.W. [like B.C. or P.E.I.]; trying to figure out what the initials stood for.

    Helped unload the Toronto City Opera costumes at the Bickford Centre. (I also tried on my Die Fledermaus costume, which includes white gloves!)

    Dinner was sausage and mash.

    Rehearsed Madama Butterfly. (I tried on my kimono first.) I've ended up carrying in the table with Pinkerton's photo during the first intermission.

February 6, 2011

    Dreamed of a movie where a planeload of people landed on a Swedish island and got taken hostage; the Russian in Rocky IV (Dolph Lundgren) saying "I must break you."

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was lobster rolls.

    Finished the fame issue of Lapham's Quarterly.  For the first time since getting the first issue two years ago, I'm all caught up!

    Started reading Merchant of Dreams, a biography of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.  In the first chapter it calls New Brunswick a "state"!

    Our Coro Verdi concert had to compete with the Super Bowl, and there were more people in the choir than in the audience!

February 5, 2011

"A woman with nine children ought to have more sense."

"If I had more sense I wouldn't have had nine children!"

--Carousel

"Money thinks I'm dead!"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a schoolteacher getting me to join a group of people lobbying for reform in coastal land use; arriving and finding the teacher in a foul mood; Ava Gardner.

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at Neisau's place.  We played The Amazeing Labyrinth again.  Neisau's daughter Autumn was selling candy bars for school fundraising and most of us bought a couple.

    Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune cookie said "Rome was not built in a day.  Be patient."

    Rented the DVD of the movie version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel  (for the second time).  It's a classic show.

February 4, 2011

Popeye the Sailor (to Swee'pea): "I forgives ya for me spankin' ya!"--Never Sock a Baby

    Dreamed of the Parker Brothers game Careers; a non-existent episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show where Murray inherited a British title and a state-of-the-art outfit of ham radio broadcasting equipment.

    Dinner was lasagna (which we bought oven-ready for just a dollar).

    Joined the Move Meetup to see Darren Aronovsky's Black Swan at the Varsity.  Believable but too grim for me, with lots of bleeding in closeup. (When I told Moira I was going to see it, her response was "Ugh!") I left in the middle [after I finished my popcorn].

February 2, 2011

 Tonight's opera rehearsal was delayed till tomorrow because of the big snow. (Which means I'll have to miss another Queen Street art walk!)

    Dinner was fettucine pesto (which I cooked).

    Saw Peter Medak's neo-noir Romeo Is Bleeding on DVD.  Kinda fun, though it goes over the top in the second half.