November 27, 2006

Dreamed of seeing Tony Blair go into his office at night and strip a translucent panel of stickers showing classic art; visiting a remodelled British House of Commons and being unable to walk through the visitor's gallery without stepping on newspapers; mice coming through a hole in the floor to nibble at a bag of dirty clothes; the boxing comic strip Big Ben Bolt; trying to write down a description of the All in the Family episode with this exchange:

Meathead: "Face it, you have a hangup about sex!"

Archie Bunker: "I don't have a hangup about... that."

We went to Yorkdale Mall and I got new pajamas and a robe that smells like hotel towels.

Finally mailed out that Heart of Juliet Jones comic strip package I sold on Ebay.

Dinner was lasagna.

At choir practice we did a baroque song "I Cieli Immensi." Giuseppe was getting frustrated over the tenors' weaknesses.

Started reading the second half of William Wharton's Dad.

November 26, 2006

Dreamed of reflecting that my long time at university was like Ulysses being away from home for twenty years because of the Trojan War; meeting some people in my hometown of Sackville, N.B., who remembered me from my youth; reading a hardcover comic strip reprint in a library.

Went to see Roberto Rossellini's Acts of the Apostles at the Cinematheque.  It's a five-hour miniseries, and I only stayed for the first three hours. (I got sleepy at times.) Too bad they could only find a dubbed print.

Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.

November 24, 2006

Dreamed of seeing Lawrence of Arabia in a cinema; going to the washroom during the Jose Ferrer scene (as I've done in real life); the movie being changed into Little Children.

Under the weather.

Dinner was roast chicken.

Saw the DVD of Sidney J. Furie's biopic Lady Sings the Blues, with Diana Ross as Billie Holliday.  Conventional and unsubtle overall, but Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor have some nice scenes. (The movie brightened up whenever Williams appeared!)

November 23, 2006

Got my hair trimmed.

Moved the leaves from the front yard to the back.

Went shopping.

Baked white bread.

Dinner was spaghetti.

November 22, 2006

Dreamed of having a combination of white, blue and black pills to take; willing myself to "wake up"; "waking up" on a campground at dawn; a small train from the early 19th century (with an engine like George Stevenson's Rocket); the 1970s sitcom Soap.

Stayed in all day and didn't even get dressed!  I worked some more on clipping and sorting my comic strips.

November 21, 2006

Dreamed of Moira saying we should get our zip.ca movies by downloading instead of the mail. [Prophetic!]

This week I got to Giuseppe's for my singing lesson early for a change.  We went over some of my chorus parts.

Got a Prince Valiant Ebay package from Rick Larder.

Dinner was salmon.  Donald came, but I had to eat before the others because of the opera rehearsal.

At the opera rehearsal, I was already singing some parts from memory. (But I'd learned faster in previous years...)

November 20, 2006

Dreamed of walking through a lane full of gambling joints; a prankster using a croquet mallet to put me in a choke-hold; me grabbing the mallet, then returning it to him; falling down a steep slope next to a golf course and trying to climb back up.

Finally started wearing long johns.

Had another dental checkup.  One of two old fillings will be replaced in the new year.

Dinner was stew.

At choir practice, we've started preparing for the Christmas concert.  We spent most of the evening working on "Adeste Fideles."

November 19, 2006

 

Pagan: "The Christians teach you to love your neighbour and to hate his beauty, his joy and his pleasure"--Augustine of Hippo

Saw Roberto Rossellini's Augustine of Hippo at the Cinematheque.  I'd like to know more about that saint. [I'm not really religious, but life stories of saints appeal to me.]

Afterward I bought the first reprint book of the complete Dennis the Menace comic strip, and the second one of Peanuts, using a coupon they sent me online.

John and his family came over for vegan dinner (I sneaked out to Harvey's afterward.)

My glasses got misplaced so I wore my contacts for a while. (They turned up again.

November 18, 2006

 

Baked multigrain bread.

Moira and I watched the DVD of Mussorgsky's opera  Khovanshchina (with the great Nikolai Ghiaurov in a bass role). It was so complicated I didn't try to follow it.  Pretty disjointed, but it had some nice choruses.

Dinner was pork steak.

Went to a Karaoke Meetup at the Fox and Fiddle on Bloor Streeet.  I didn't start till 11:30 because they'd set up a long table too close to the equipment place and it took a while to make room.  I sang "Ring of Fire" and was going to sing "Give a Little Bit" too, but the wait was too long. (It was after 1:00 when I left.)

November 17, 2006

 

Dreamed of Moira coming into my room in the middle of the night to find a TV schedule to see when she could see SCTV episodes with Mel's Rock Pile skits; me saying "I thought I was the one obsessed with SCTV!"

Father and I went to a Book City clearance sale at Leaside Memorial Community Gardens.  We found some interesting books at a discount, including a collection of letters written by JFK's tycoon father Joseph P. Kennedy, and a book of "silver age" comic book art.

Dinner was McDonald's.

The Coro Verdi did a concert at the S. Nicola di Bari church on Corso Italia to mark the lighting of their Christmas lights.  But their generators failed and we had to perform outdoors on the church steps!  The concert was shorter than planned. (We had to do the first few numbers a capella until they got enough electricity for the organ.)

November 16, 2006

Annette Bening (to her poetry club): "Get your rage on the page, women!"--Running With Scissors

Dreamed of being about to take a flight but noticing that I had the wrong jacket and that Jeremy Irons had mine; knowing that the jacket I had belonged to a consul and planning to arrange a trade; going to meet him on a bus that would take me to a Cape Breton karaoke place; a cheesy Disney kiddie musical called "Much Ado About Nothing" set in the Wild West, in a valley surrounded by forested hills, with a cast that included Dynasty's Joan Collins and Linda Evans; seeing a sign in Chinese and not knowing what the characters meant, then seeing a translation that indicated it was a message from the Roman Catholic Church condemning abortion.

The parents and I saw Running With Scissors at the Varsity.  Pretty good ironic absurdism.

Afterward we ate at Pizza Hut.

Tried to attend the Games Meetup, but they no longer posted the address for the place, and I'd forgotten it was on Jane Street. (I spent half an hour wandering along Keele Street.)

November 15, 2006

Dreamed of walking along a road near the New Brunswick end of the PEI ferry and stepping through fresh raspberries(?); imagining an English translation of the Tosti song "Ideale" [which I'd recently been learning]; being in our old Sackville house and saying to Mother "Is it real this time?" (As opposed to the dream it always is.)

Went shopping.

Got a nice cauliflower from the garden. (We have something to show for this year after all.)

Dinner was roast lamb.

Moira and I went to hear Christopher Hitchens speak at the University of Toronto's Hart House.  First we had to sit through a boring debate about whether laws against "hate speech" were a good thing. (Hitchens disapproves of them, and so do I.) During the debate I had to leave for a while because of diarrhea, and I watched the rest of it from behind the entrance.

November 14, 2006

Dreamed of eating chocolate cake with whipped cream; being in the back seat of the car that was about to take Saddam Hussein to death row; getting into a family quarrel.

I was a bit late for my singing lesson.

Finished The Cartoon Guide to Chemistry.  A lot of it was over my head.

Dinner was chicken and rice.

Got one more big Ebay comic strip package from Barry King in Korea. (I hope he doesn't have any more sales for a while.)

Started reading The Cartoon Guide to Sex!

At opera rehearsal the men and women are together again.  When they took my costume measurements, I bought a $40 ticket to the gala fundraiser. (It's already a sellout!)

November 13, 2006

Dreamed of being half-dressed (T-shirt and underwear), looking out the window of our old home in Sackville, N.B., and seeing a funeral procession approaching; hiding in the closet; Father coming to speak to me there.

Voted in the municipal election for Toronto Mayor David Miller (without much enthusiasm) and councillor Joe Mihevc.

Father gave me a $500 cheque because my savings account was low. (I didn't dare reveal I was overdrawn!) It came from making too big a payment on my Visa debt (which is still well over $1000).

Dr. Hassan, my shrink, suggested I apply for proofreading/editing work at the big publishing houses.

Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.

At choir practice we did the dress rehearsal for Friday's concert and had enough time left over to start on the Christmas song "Adeste, Fideles."

November 12, 2016

Saw the DVD of the last episode of the second season of Deadwood.  It's got pretty complicated. (I miss Keith Carradine's Wild Bill Hickock.)

Dinner was roast chicken.

Went to the Classical Music Lovers Meetup at Le Commensal.  Several of the members performed, including a pianist, a flute player and a solo singer. (There was also a guy who could play complex pieces from memory!) Next time I'll have to sing my Tosti pieces.

The last few days I've been spending more time on my comic strip collection.  Before long I'll have quite a few more packages to sell on Ebay.

November 11, 2006

"She hasn't got what I've got!"

"What she's got, you couldn't spell."

"What you've got, you used to have."
--The Barefoot Contessa

"She's a commoner, and they don't come any commoner..."--ibid.

Dreamed of travelling in a train that was crossing Lake Ontario to Canada(?); climbing up the side of a clock tower; learning of the deaths of Sidney Poitier and Jodie Foster(?).

Saw Joseph L. Mankiewicz' The Barefoot Contessa at the Cinematheque (for the second time--I think). It's a sharply satirical melodrama, with Ava Gardner at her best (and sexiest).

Dinner was spaghetti.

Baked raisin bread.

November 10, 2006

Dreamed of photographing the Osmond family singers when they were little kids; telling them that I was a man from the future to make them smile; a Disney movie about a college athletics hero, titled Gad(?); singing the song "Suicide is Painless" from the movie M*A*S*H.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine alfredo.

Saw the DVD of Michael Cacoyannis' Greek film of Euripides' Electra (with Irene Pappas in the title role). Vivid.

Sold my Rick O'Shay comics package on Ebay, but not the Steve Canyon package.

November 9, 2006

Dreamed of acting in a movie scene as part of a group of people who see Superman; pushing a lawnmower to downtown Sackville, N.B. (my hometown) for use in a siege(?) and meeting U2; seeing the Al Pacino version of Scarface in a Moncton cinema.

Went to the Royal Winter Fair. (I brought my camera, but didn't take any pictures.) I got some free PEI potatoes once again.

Dinner was steak. (Father added garlic and some other spices to the potatoes.)

Headache!

Stayed up to 01:30 clipping and sorting my comic strips. (It's something I love doing!)

My Heart of Juliet Jones package on Ebay sold.

November 8, 2006

Dreamed of Moira and myself staying with a family in a British trailer park(?); having a surprisingly good time.

Went shopping.

Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).

Went to the Cinematheque and saw a couple of documentaries about the making of Robert Rossellini's Rome:  Open City and Stromboli.

November 7, 2006

Dreamed of a virtual reality chamber with four walls like computer screens and programmable like a computer; being a wanted fugitive hiding in an autumn cornfield.

Had my first Tuesday singing lesson.  We did Tosti's "Pour un Baiser" for the first time.

Dinner was pork and rice.

Finished Christopher Kennedy Lawford's memoir Symptoms of Withdrawal.  Fascinating.

Started reading The Cartoon Book of Chemistry.

Giuseppe was having a hard time at the opera rehearsal.  I still haven't got around to going over that Rigoletto stuff that's new to me, and I doubt that most of the others have been any sharper. (I delivered to Barbara a package that Leonard at Coro Verdi had given me the night before.) 

November 6, 2006

Dreamed of being in a car that drove off a really high cliff.

Indian summer weather today.

Baked whole wheat bread.

Dinner was roast pork.

At choir practice, I agreed with Giuseppe to start having our singing lessons on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays.

November 5, 2006

Dreamed of a set of jam jars shaped like triangular prisms, each label having a critical comment on Asterix comic books; deciding that I wouldn't like to hunt because I wouldn't want people coming into my home and shooting me; writing these dreams on any paper I could find; the Ring Lardner exchange

"'Are we lost, Daddy?'

'Shut up!' he explained."

Saw Roberto Rossellini's Francis, God's Jester at the Cinematheque.  It's the story of the origins of St. Francis of Assisi's ministry, told episodically in "neo-realist" style.  Wonderful.

Sold my Jane Arden comic strip package on Ebay to Maryann in Alberta for $45. (She paid in US dollars and says it's still a good deal!)

John and Kathrine came over for a vegan dinner.  Afterward I sneaked out to KFC. (It isn't that I can't eat vegan food; I just don't find it filling.)

Suggested to the family that since my first book club meeting will only have a few people, we might as well meet in the living room here. [They didn't agree.]

November 4, 2006

"Harry's an artist without an art"--Night and the City

Dreamed of seeing both Marilyn Monroe and Jane Fonda(?) in a shopping mall promo; Fonda mentioning visiting Canada at the time of the Richard government(?); walking out onto the snowy streets of Moncton, N.B., with no shoes; the 1960s TV show Batman.

Got out of bed before 08:30!

Saw Jules Dassin's Night and the City at the Cinematheque.  It's a classic film noir with good use of London locations.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Spent a long time combing through my comic strips to make sure I'd found the last Jane Arden episodes for my second Ebay package. (I found just two more.) I have exactly 50 to sell.

November 3, 2006

"Those who doubt me suck cock by choice!"--Deadwood

I was going to go to a Meetup for Meetup organizers, but I stayed inside all day instead.

Dinner was salmon.

Posted a couple more comics packages for sale on Ebay.

November 2, 2006

Dreamed of getting into a fight with Father, and duelling with Indian clubs; being in a dystopian Manhattan world of lies and doublethink, where the ruling elite amused themselves by sending people on quests to find the "truth"; seeing a plaque warning against angry demonstrations, and pointing out its spelling and grammatical mistakes; singing "Jim Dandy to the Rescue."

Headache.

Dinner was spaghetti.

My Dick Tracy package on Ebay is already sold!

I was going to go to the Games Meetup but I was unwell. (I threw up in the evening.)

November 1, 2006

Went shopping.

Baked rye bread.

Dinner was the rest of our Chinese food.

Saw the Vietnam War documentary The Anderson Platoon at the Cinematheque.

Finally got to post two comics packages for sale on Ebay.  It turned out that the supersizing packaged was incompatible with the page design feature.

October 31, 2006

A single line from the song "Thanks, but No Thanks": "But I've got a guy who's Clifton Webb and Marlon Brando combined"--It's Always Fair Weather

Saw the DVD of the Gene Kelly musical It's Always Fair Weather, from the same team that made the better-known Singin' in the Rain. It's about three GIs who return to civilian life and promise to meet again 10 years later to the day.  Some great dance numbers, of course.  Cyd Charisse was hot!

Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune said, "You are welcome at any gathering." Do I want to be welcome at a gathering of Republicans?)

At the opera rehearsal we did Rigoletto for the first time.  The first-act stuff is hard because it's so fast-paced. [The chorus keeps coming in at the middle of a line!]

Moira's offered to show me how to market myself as an editor/translator.  I'm open to it.

October 30, 2006

"I crawled to the phone and called my mom.  Things were as desperate as they could be, for me to bring my mother into the mess I had made of my life"--Symptoms of Withdrawal

Father and I sawed off some tree limbs, including a really thick one from the cherry tree in the back yard.  Glad we don't have to do that every day!

Dinner was steak.

The choir started rehearsing for a concert at the S. Nicola di Bari church in a couple of weeks.  We're just doing stuff we've done before.

October 29, 2006

"Fuck you, fuck the Institution, and fuck the Future!"

"Sir, you don't fuck the Future, it fucks you."

--Deadwood

Performed in a Coro Verdi folk song concert in the afternoon.  It was tiring staying on my feet all that time!

Afterward we went to have dinner at Red Lobster.  But there was a quarrel and we ended up going to Swiss Chalet instead.  The place was short-staffed and some of the waitresses were at wit's end.

Saw the DVD of the first episodes of the first Flash Gordon serial.

Mary gave me a testimonial at meetin.org saying that I'm really interesting.

October 28, 2006

"The great thing about spending two weeks in the jungle is the shower and the burger you have when you finally get back to civilization"--Symptoms of Withdrawal

"Are they dead?"

"Not dead.  But they might as well be."

--Cosi Fan Tutte

Dreamed of a non-existent Warner Brothers cartoon about Madison Avenue people coming up with advertising slogans; trying to figure out the distribution of English and Scottish seats in the European Parliament.

Went to the Canadian Opera Company's production of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, the first time I've seen a show at the Four Seasons Centre.  My favourite number in it is the trio "Soave Sia il Vento" (may the wind be soft), especially the bridge part.

Afterward, I ate chicken nuggest at McDonald's.

Then I went to a Halloween party at Mary's apartment at the bottom of Church Street.  I wore my beatnik costume again, and had to wear it at the opera too. (I don't think I was conspicuous.) One girl was the picture of 1960 elegance with headscarf, shades, white gloves and a fancy dress with a pearl necklace.  My beard came off after a while. 

October 27, 2006

"Elizabeth [Taylor] always seemed to be surrounded by gay men.  Straight men were saved for necessary sex and drama"--Symptoms of Withdrawal

Dreamed of learning to play the xylophone with yo-yos for hammers (yesterday in the documentary Who Are the Debolts and Where Did They Get Nineteen Children? I saw a girl without arms learning to play the xylophone); the swing number "String of Pearls"; visiting Parliament Hill in Ottawa; Marie Antoinette.

Dinner was roast beef.

The choir had its dress rehearsal for Sunday's concert.  My energy was on the low side.

Baked multigrain bread overnight.

October 26, 2006

"Drugs were my Wheaties"--Symptoms of Withdrawal

Dreamed of fleeing a fire in a cottage and running all the way to the city; the fire following me there; somehow ending up a hero.

I was going to apply for a company librarian position we found on Workopolis, but it had already been withdrawn.

Went to see Stephen Frears' The Queen at the Bayview, with Bett of the North York Movies Meetup.  Helen Mirren was great; the movie I can take or leave alone.  The Monarchy you can have...

Afterward I ate at Arby's.

Saw the DVD of Who Are the Debolts and Where Did They Get Their Nineteen Children? an Oscar-winning 1977 documentary about a foster home with a lot of handicapped kids.

I solved last night's Ebay posting glitch, but now they won't upload my pictures and won't say why!

October 25, 2006

Dreamed of the Lawrence of Arabia scene where they travelled through the Sun's Anvil; the "If You're Good to Mama" number from Chicago.

I had to miss today's singing lesson, along with last night's opera rehearsal, because I was under the weather. (I did manage to bring Giuseppe his cheque paying for the latest lessons.)

Mailed three packages I sold on Ebay.

Dinner was spaghetti.

The opera had an acting class.  David printed out a list of possible motivations for people to come to Flora's party.  I decided I was at the first-act party because I was a young doctor being mentored by Violetta's physician, and at the third-act party because I'd lost my faith and might as well lose my virginity too.  At one point we were pretending to be people in a freak show, and I played the Wild Man of Africa, going around scaring people.  Pretty fun. [Some other motivations for going to the party were "You're homosexual, and they understand these things here." and "You come to steal knick-knacks, either to sell them or out of spite."]

I meant to post four packages on Ebay to take advantage of a low-rate day, but there was some glitch and I couldn't even post one!  Meanwhile the On Stage and Beetle Bailey packages didn't sell, but Robin Malone sold for $27, pretty good for just a dozen episodes.

Got a big Ebay package of comic strips from Barry King in Korea.

October 24, 2006

Saw the DVD of the 1950s MGM swashbuckler Scaramouche.  I'm not a Stewart Granger fan, but it was colourful and fairly entertaining.

Dinner was salmon.

October 23, 2006

"My grandmother [Rose Kennedy] had more investment in her way of life than anyone I have ever met but she never pushed or sold it to me.  There is great power in that"--Symptoms of Withdrawal

Dreamed of doing a crossword puzzle divided into nine sub-sections, each with the names of studio owners and executives as answers (like Rupert Murdoch and Dawn Steele); trying to pack my clothes and noticing I was wearing really dirty socks.

Went shopping.

Dinner was roast chicken.

Another choir rehearsal.  The pianist is still a bit new to the music.