February 12, 2004

Dreamed of a documentary about a record producer who created the Beach Boys; an interview with Denny Dougherty of the Mamas and Papas.

Father and Moira returned from Kingston.

Baked cheese bread.

Started reading the comic books I bought two weeks ago.  I read a comic of the fairy tale "The Tinder Box," and an Uncle Scrooge adventure where they found the Fountain of Youth in a lagoon, but were afraid to swim back lest they get stuck in infancy.  I remembered many of the ads from the comics I read when I was young, like the Dingo boots ad where a Dingo-shod kid trips up a guy trying to steal Joe Namath's car!

Dinner was lasagna.  I had to eat early because of the dress rehearsal.

We had the Lucia di Lamermoor dress rehearsal. Giuseppe planned for the women to change from their dresses to simpler black clothes with black cloaks for the finale, but they only had one scene in which to change and a lot of them couldn't do it fast enough.  He'll likely have to settle for their wearing cloaks over their dresses.

February 11, 2004

Dreamed of telling John about the actual cartoon with the sheepdog and Wile E. Coyote where the latter ends up going insane [Ready, Woolen and Able]; floating over New York City (at the northern end of Manhattan) with no support; instantly moving from the lower deck of a ship to join Father on a higher deck (like a movie special effect) and comparing the move to Neddy Seagoon on the zany 1950s British radio comedy The Goon Show.

Distributed the rest of the opera promo cards.  After leaving them at two libraries I still had a few left over, so I left them in Chapters & Indigo at strategic places.

Dinner was steak.

Tonight was the Don Giovanni premiere.  There was a thrilling moment when the overture was playing and the whole chorus was waiting in the wings in the dark.  It was like the moment just before they bring in the birthday cake.  One of my old-fashioned socks was missing, but I thought to borrow one from my Lucia di Lamermoor costume!

February 10, 2004

Dreamed of playing a video game about a boy and his dog in the jungle; reading an old encyclopedia and coming to the section about World War I (when I was little we had a 1920s edition of The Book of Knowledge and a 1930s edition of The World Book); meeting a girl for a tryst in a women's washroom in a tall building, then a whole group coming in because of a hostage situation (there was a hostage scene on the Eiffel Tower in Le Divorce).

This morning I woke up constipated, and had to skip breakfast and do nothing all morning.

The remote controls for both of our satellite hookups were on the blink last night, but today I realized that each of them must have one of its two batteries dead, and fiddled around so that the two live batteries were together, so now one remote works.

I came to the opera rehearsal early to help unpack the costumes. [That would become an annual ritual for me.] They didn't really need me.  We had a full Don Giovanni dress rehearsal.  The costumes are impressive.  We even got buckles to put on our shoes so they'd look like the 18th century.  At times, the wings are congested like the Tokyo subway.

I didn't get to eat (at McDonald's) until after 11:00!

February 9, 2004

"'That's the duty of the old,' said the Librarian, 'to be anxious on behalf of the young.  And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old"--The Golden Compass

Dreamed of being at a theme park in Washington, D.C.; visiting Salt Lake City at the time of a big sports event; waking up Tuesday morning and realizing I'd missed Monday night's dress rehearsal. (It isn't till Tuesday night.) [I dreamed this on a Sunday night.]

Went out to the Geneva Centure and sold two opera tickets to Stephanie.

Dinner was KFC.

Went over to John's house to try and peddle some more opera tickets.  But he'd been working away in the attic and I didn't have the heart to ask him.  His daughter Rae was watching Friends. (She has no taste!)

Rented the DVD of James Ivory's Le Divorce. (We still haven't replaced our DVD player, so I watched it on my computer.) It's about two American sisters in Paris.  A curious light comedy, overlong but well cast.

February 8, 2004

Started The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.  It has a real in medias res beginning.

Saw Yasujiro Ozu's famous Floating Weeds, along with his original silent version.  The story's about an acting troupe (the title's a metaphor for an actor's life) whose boss has a son in the town they're visiting.  Both versions are funny and compelling.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine.

Saw a new episode of The Forsyte Saga.  Galsworthy is kind of superficial and middlebrow.

Processed an order for Fundamentals of Atomic Physics single-handedly!  It's ready for mailing tomorrow.

February 7, 2004

Dreamed of rehearsing the operas I'm in; recalling the scene in David Lean's movie Oliver Twist where Bill Sikes murders Nancy, with a shot of his dog clawing against the door trying to leave.

Subscribed to the New York Times online crossword puzzles.  Now Moira won't have to go out Saturday mornings and buy the paper for its Saturday crossword. [We still get it today--it's the only part of the paper worth paying for!]

Saw Yasujiro Ozu's silent Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? about a young man who inherits his father's company and hires his old college buddies.  The subway was closed down at St. Clair West station because of some accident (I saw the fire engine), so I had to take a detour and barely got to the movie on time.

Finished the Roald Dahl book Matilda and lent it to Puitak, who I think will like it. (Nice that she lives around the corner from the Cinematheque where I saw the Ozu movie.)

Dinner was fettucine in pesto sauce (which I cooked).

Went to the play The Sea Horse at the new Club Theater, connected to the acting school The Actors Workshop.  It was quite good, with solid performances from the two actors.

February 6, 2004

Dreamed of escaping from a World War II internment camp, along with a man and a woman; an old British comic annual; Dr. Who.

We mailed a mathematics book to Sweden.

I went around to five more library branches to distribute the opera cards.  I was at it so long that I didn't get home till past 6:00!

Tried to rent the video of Le Divorce, but it was out.

Dinner was steak.

February 5, 2004

Robert Mitchum: "Before I bleed to death, how about giving me a shot of whisky and some medical attention?"--Home From the Hill

Dreamed of being a British MP, coming into the House of Commons for a vote, and noticing that the place looked like Alice in Wonderland.

Father took Moira to Kingston.

After seeing Dr. Hassan, I bought a bunch more old comics, including The Twilight Zone and Magnus, Robot Fighter. (I had to get the latter just for the title!)

The Lucia-Edgardo duet in Lucia di Lamermoor has been going through my head constantly!

Distributed some cards promoting the opera show at five libraries.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Saw Yasujiro Ozu's A Hen in the Wind, about a mother surviving poverty in postwar Tokyo.  

I stayed for Vincente Minnelli's Home From the Hill, a piece of '50s hokum about a Texas family.  Long and enjoyably overdone, with Robert Mitchum entertaining as ever as the patriarch, and George Peppard and George Hamilton a cut-rate version of Paul Newman and Anthony Perkins. [Funny how I've totally forgotten it!]

February 4, 2004

Dreamed of agreeing to invest my money in a venture because of personal loyalty; having a large number of clothes to replace in my dresser; Tony Soprano meeting an old man still teaching immigrants.

Went shopping.

Baked multigrain bread.

Went to the Oakwood Library and borrowed Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. (I also renewed the Lucia di Lamermoor CD.)

Dinner was Chinese food.  My fortune cookie said "You are considering an action that will bring you great credit," but I can't think of anything important that I'm considering doing just now.

We had a second Lucia di Lamermoor run-through.  Our wooden swords are rather unwieldy.

February 3, 2004

Dreamed of Father's old university office; The Sopranos; the British magazine TV Comic.

Saw a silent movie of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  It was a pretty crazy adaptation, working in Mysterious Island and a "child of nature," as well as a tragic background story explaining Captain Nemo's origins (not told by Verne).

Pui and Gordon took Moira and me out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant.

We had a second run-through of Don Giovanni, with the leads in costume.  We're finally back in the auditorium, where they fixed the heating with a vengeance:  it's now hot as the Devil, and they had to open the doors and let the cool air in.  They were trying to figure out where to station the ghostly chorus so we'd be audible, which reminded me of Dr. Suess' Horton Hears a Who. (We needed a little kid to say "PEEP!" and tip the balance.)

Finished Brighton Rock.

February 2, 2004

Dreamed of a PBS documentary series about the nine stages of life; looking at a huge mural of a military formation and searching for the "pale horseman" in the details; the song "I Am Reviewing the Situation" from the musical Oliver!, with the line about turning 70:

When nobody cares whether you live or you die, 

And the one consolation's the money you may have put by!

Looks like we're going to sell a 19th-century atlas of the Maritimes worth $600!

Went to the library and borrowed Roald Dahl's Matilda.  Then I went to Revue and rented some videos.

Dinner was spaghetti (which I cooked).

Moira and I saw the first half of Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni movie.

Saw Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.  Really terrific.  Miyazaki is one of the great story tellers.

February 1, 2004

Dreamed of turning on the TV and trying to find the 23:00 news.

Saw two more Ozu silents:  That Night's Wife and Tokyo Woman.  I stayed for The Band Wagon, my favorite Vincente Minnelli musical (which I saw for the second time).  It's breezy, clever and very funny.  I especially like the "Girl Hunt" ballet, which spoofs the "hardboiled" detective fiction by people like Mickey Spillane.

Headache. (Should have known it would happen from seeing two features in the same afternoon.)

Dinner was haddock.

Installed the printer-scanner.

January 31, 2004

"You have a problem with money.  I shall relieve you of it--the problem, I mean!"--Yolanda and the Thief

Dreamed of seeing a huge early computer from the first days of the internet; seeing an image of a planetary orbit with the sort of irregularities that come when you pitch a baseball after spitting on it.

Saw the famous Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Adventures of Robin Hood, for the third time, at the Cinematheque.  Entertaining, though Olivia de Havilland's Maid Marion was a little much, especially in the scene where she talked about being in love. (My brother Donald's compared that scene to "eating a bowl of sugar"!)

Dinner was steak.

Saw Vincente Minnelli's Yolanda and the Thief, a musical in which huckster Fred Astaire pretended to be a rich heiress' guardian angel.  It was a very strange film, best for the Daliesque dream sequence.

January 30, 2004

"I have discovered through long experience, Miss Honey, that the ears of small boys are stuck very firmly to their heads"--Roald Dahl's Matilda

"Brother, if you can't paint in Paris, you may as well give it up and marry the boss' daughter"--An American in Paris

Dreamed of coming upon a movie shoot where they were about to film a cliffside collapsing, with special effects so realistic that even onlookers were deceived; walking down a hill near the gravel pit on the road between Sackville and Moncton; walking into a tunnel and hearing Saddam Hussein torturing children; my neice Merle winning an award and mentioning me in her acceptance speech; visiting a cemetery where famous stage actors like John Wood were buried. (He's actually still alive.)

Baked raisin bread.

Harper's has a very interesting article about the connections between agriculture and energy.

Read the Classics Illustrated comic of Charles Boardman Hawes' swashbuckling boy's adventure The Mutineers.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Saw Vincente Minnelli's musical An American in Paris (for the third time) at the Cinematheque.  Gershwin's music and the Technicolor visual design are terrific, but the romantic plot is rather lame.

January 29, 2004

Dreamed of Robert de Niro coming to visit my family; sneaking into the house we used to own in Sackville, N.B., and finding it painted green, surrounded by a marsh an episode of Upstairs, Downstairs.

Headache!

We went to Futureshop and bought a printer-scanner-copier for the new computer.

Dinner was chicken curry.

There were six people at the Asperger's meeting:  I met someone who's about to start the Mission:  Possible program I'm in.

January 28, 2004

Dreamed of an epic movie about a group of black men who ended up fighting in the Civil War on the Confederate side(?); discussing the movie Lawrence of Arabia, and noting that an early scene showed him literally playing with matches!

Brighton Rock turned up under the hub of my computer chair!

Went shopping.  First, I had to clear the snow from around the car.

Dinner was steak.

We did another Lucia di Lamermoor run-through.  The men got to wear swords!

Saw the Sopranos episode where Ralph met his end.

January 27, 2004

"What was most evil in him needed her:  it couldn't get along without goodness....  She was good, he'd discovered that, and he was damned:  they were made for each other"--Brighton Rock

Dreamed of the thriller Kiss the Girls (which I haven't seen); the family being unable to get tickets for a New York orchestral concert except at huge prices; walking on the sidewalk and being so tired that I collapsed and had to be lifted back up; putting on an old sweater I wore over twenty years ago; hearing opera music to the west of our house.

Went out in the snow and got the library copy of Brighton Rock out again. (I'm just glad the library was open!)

Baked rye bread.

Dinner was pork chops.

Despite the snow, opera rehearsal went on--a Don Giovanni run-through again.  I'll be glad when we finally move back to the auditorium.

Saw the Sopranos episode where Tony had a fling with Ralph's mistress.

January 26, 2004

Dreamed of a Saturday morning cartoon version of the sitcom Friends (which I've never seen) [I still haven't!], a prequel with them as schoolkids; going out into the street and finding everyone driving off to a coronation; a computer game involving a crime investigation, prison time and preventing a nuclear holocaust.

Quite a snowstorm!

Despite the snow, I went to Revue Video and rented some stuff.  I also bought the $5 videos of The King of Masks (a Chinese movie) and Hamlet (the version set in the 20th century).

Dinner was roast chicken.

Saw the Sopranos episode where Tony got into a housing scam.

Read the Classics Illustrated comic of King Solomon's Mines.

My copy of Brighton Rock has disappeared!

Saw the tape of Howard Dean "screaming." I saw nothing unusual. [It was like Edmund Muskie's tears in the 1972 primary.]