May 20, 2011

Cary Grant: "I wish I could trust you."

Mae West: "Of course you can--thousands of men have!"

--I'm No Angel

    Dreamed of a non-existent Warner Brothers cartoon about animals in the luggage compartment of a train; a non-existent episode of Hogan's Heroes about a POW who was Colonel Hogan's cousin; extra scenes from Barry Lyndon involving money.

    Finally got a start on preparing the garden! (But it didn't last long, what with the rain.)

    Dinner was lamb stew.

    Saw the DVD of I'm No Angel.  Mae West was ahead of her time!

    Got sick in the evening. (I think it was the calamari from the Portuguese restaurant last night.)

May 19, 2011

    Dreamed of meeting a supermodel.

    Went to a Dining Meetup at the Portucale restaurant, just around the corner from this house.  We had a six-course Portuguese dinner, with soup, sardines, calamari, risotto and marinated pork. (I skipped the dessert.) It was pretty oily and salty. [But they were very friendly.  It closed a few months later.]

May 18, 2011

    Dreamed of getting a non-existent letter to the editor published in The New Yorker 20 years ago.

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was chili.

    Went to the Open Minds Cafe.  This time I didn't suggest any new subjects.

May 17, 2011

Homer: "Look at those idiots!  I paid my taxes a year ago"--The Simpsons

"Homer, you're like the son I never had!"

"And you're like the fathe I never visit!"

--ibid.

    Went to see an ear, nose & throat specialist at a clinic near Main Street station. (I've been having a slightly sore throat since last summer.) I seemed normal, but they'll give me a CT scan anyway.

    On the way back, I got two new tickets for the opera cinemacasts in July, to replace the ones that got misplaced.

    Dinner was sausages and mashed potatoes.

    Saw the DVD of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of Ring of Terror.  Lots of jokes about the actors clearly being too old to play college students.

May 16, 2011

    Dreamed of actress Demi Moore in bondage.

    Baked white bread.

    David Kiang came to visit.  A retired Dalhousie math professor, he was one of Father's early students back in the 1950s. (He was babysitting at our house and left behind the Chinese novel Wandering Youth, which I've been translating in recent years.)

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    At choir practice we did most of the rest of Nabucco, except for the finale. (When we got to the Slave's Chorus it turned out it wasn't in the score copy we'd received, and we had to scramble for our older copy.)

May 15, 2011

Grandpa (getting a haircut): "No, the George Raft look is out.  I want Audie Murphy!"

--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of coming onto a game show; the MC saying that my job was dancing the bossa nova, and insisting that I dance with him.

    Saw Kelly Reichardt's western Meek's Cutoff at the Lightbox, the first time I've seen a movie there.  Pretty good, despite the elliptical ending. (I also looked at a Mary Pickford exhibit on display in the same building.)

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    Finished the DVD series America:  The Story of Us.  The last two episodes, dealing with the post-1945 era, were especially weak.  No mention of the Korean War or the Gulf Wars, and the Energy Crisis was only mentioned in passing!

May 14, 2011

Moe: "It's been four years since I had a date with a whatchamacallit?-- a woman."

The Simpsons

    Dreamed of joining Prince Andrew on a hike from Moncton to my hometown Sackville, N.B., through a forest path; sweat on my lower back; non-existent piano pieces that I didn't quite master.

    It turned out that the internet connection on the side of the house somehow got yanked off. (John came and fixed it in the morning.)

    Went to a Fair Vote rally in Queen's Park.  The speakers included Judy Rebick, Carolyn Bennett and William Molls.  Pretty good turnout considering the rain. (I also saw a demonstration by a group of Libyans.)

    John and Kathrine brought dinner over, which was vegan lasagna.