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.