May 25, 2008

Dreamed of non-existent Warner Brothers cartoons from the time of World War II; finding grapes growing from a neighbour's bush and eating a couple; one of the cartoons having the line "Up yours!"(?)

Father drove me out to see the Zoroastrian temple at Steeles and Bayview.  They put rosewater on my hands and explained that "mazda" meant enlightenment.

Then he dropped me off at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where I had my first event with the Consciousness Meetup.  Chris the Organizer showed us the different trees in the place.

Afterward I visited the Hare Krishna temple on Avenue Road, then the Japan Foundation, where they were having an exhibit of Japanese paper art.

Dinner was scallops.

May 24, 2008

Dreamed of passing by Fidel Castro at a museum entrance; subscribing to a pay TV channel for a couple of weeks as an experiment; seeing old-time movie serial chapters.

Open Doors Weekend!  I went to eight places, mostly in the University of Toronto area.  They included a Quaker meeting house, where I had an interesting discussion with a regular; and the U. of T. aboriginal centre, where I got a sheet with some sentences in the Oneida language.  Afterward I went to Ireland Park, which took a lot longer to reach than I hoped, and the Inuit art gallery at Queen's Quay.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Father and I went to 2Q Video, the neighbourhood's new video store, and got a membership.

May 23, 2008

Dreamed of the Dylan Thomas poem "And Death Shall Have No Dominion"; the movie Caddyshack; Ringo Starr's "The No No Song."

Dug up four saplings and took them to a place where they're having a plant auction for charity. (I couldn't save as much root as I would have liked.)

When I was out buying some pots for the saplings, I visited the neighbourhood's new video store just east of Oakwood Avenue.  They have a pretty good selection!

Dinner was roast chicken.

Started reading the first episodes of the reprinted comic strip Dondi.  Truly shameless

May 22, 2008

Went to the dentist and replaced a filling.  The hard part, of course, is waiting for your jaw to unfreeze afterward.

Did the Paint by Numbers puzzles in the new issue of Games magazine.  I managed to do all of them in one evening, even the big one!

Dinner was shrimp and rice.

Mr. Cranky just put up his review of the new Indiana Jones movie, and I wrote a post in the forum at mrcranky.com . (I haven't posted in the site's current forums for years!) I hope I can get a new long thread going.

May 21, 2008

Dreamed of having a fit after someone stepped on one of my (actual) Menomonee Falls Gazette issues, tearing off a corner; meeting a girl who wanted to travel overseas with me mentioning that I want to visit the Chinese pilgrimage mountain Tai Shan. [Still want to, someday...]

Went shopping.

Baked white bread.

Father was moving some old computer equipment near the hardware for our internet connection and it got unplugged and now we can't figure out how to put it back together! (We'll have to called Donald, once again.)

Dinner was lasagna.

The Walking Meetup today got cancelled because of the weather.

Father managed to restore the internet connection. (We won't need Donald after all.)

May 20, 2008

"You forget, Sir Knight, that I am a prince!"

"It's only you who forgets it."

--Robin Hood

"I'll knop your scop!"--ibid.

Dreamed of showing someone the Breughel painting "The Blind Leading the Blind."

Father and I went to several places to pick up plants for the garden. (We still haven't found the squash and pumpkins.)

Dinner was halibut.

Saw the DVD of Alan Dwan's Robin Hood, the silent version starring Douglas Fairbanks. (It's been on my to-see list for a long time.) And great fun it was.  These Merry Men aren't just merry, they prance around!

May 19, 2008

"What she had done had been too hard.  It had brought her so close to death that the thought of death was comforting.  She had known that feeling before--life could be so harsh that the thought of death seemed to offer the only comfort.  It wasn't good to be so close to death, because death might suck you in"--Streets of Laredo

Dreamed of Joan Collins as a well-tanned prison warden(?) being assaulted by a death-row inmate just before execution time; bicycling from our old home in Sackville, N.B. to our cottage near Northumberland Strait, then from there to Amherst, N.S.; finding the Nova Scotia road blocked by a flood; hearing of a non-existent local boy joining Kids in the Hall(?).

I've been reading the mrcranky.com forums I was following just after 9/11.  We were pretty thoughtful about it. (I hadn't contributed much beyond a few quotes.)

Dinner was roast pork.

Moira got a DVD of the Mozart opera Cosi Fan Tutte from the library and watched it on our new TV set in the afternoon.  The picture is excellent!

Went to the Writers Meetup, again at Fiddler's Green.  We talked about third-person narratives.

May 18, 2008

Babe: "Remember me?"

Robert Downey Jr.: "Sure don't!"

--Iron Man

Dreamed of an artificial decoration that grew like a tree and produced balloons; reflecting that the editors of the right-wing British newspaper The Sun (who behaved as "enforcers" for the Thatcher government) made me believe in hell; that Britain's enforcer culture produces toadies (like the College Boy gangster in the "Take-Over" story in the Modesty Blaise comic strip, who got killed in the end because he wasn't smart enough to turn coat while he still could); finding a New York Times Sunday magazine with a crossword puzzle I hadn't done.

Went to the first Brunch Club Meetup since Patricia revived her group, at La Passione.  There were over twenty people!  I had cheese omelette with peameal bacon.

Started re-reading the "basement" threads I'd contributed to at mrcranky.com back in 2001.  I really miss that time. (I wrote some good posts then!)

John and Kathrine came over for dinner, which was pizza. (Kathrine's about to fly to London, so I gave her a five-pound note left over from my travels.)

Saw John Favreau's Iron Man at the Grande with Spyros' Movie Meetup.  Robert Downey Jr. enlivened a fairly routine Marvel Comics adaptation, competent if predictable.

May 17, 2008

Rupert Everett: "I want to get married!"

Miranda Richardson: "Oh, are you pregnant?"

--Dance With a Stranger

Everett (seeing Richardson's son pack his teddy bear for boarding school): "You can't take that!  They'll pull his legs off, and yours"--ibid.

"Some people have no shame!"

"And some people have enough to share."

--ibid.

Dreamed of looking at my Ph.D. thesis and wishing it had been better.

Hand a Lunch Club Meetup at the Victory Cafe.  It turned out that they'd got rid of their excellent brunch menu, unfortunately, so we had to order from the dinner menu. (I had chicken curry.)

On the way home, I stopped at the Beguiling comics store and bought a reprint of the first couple of years of Dondi.

We finally set up our new flat-screen TV set. (Father had to saw off part of the desk we placed it on.  I also had to go buy AAA batteries for the remote control.)

Dinner was McDonald's.

Finished digging a furrow around the garden to help drainage.

Saw the DVD of Mike Newell's Dance With a Stranger (for the second time, I think) on the new TV.  Pretty grim all right. [That's the one about the last woman hanged in the UK--when I described the premise to Moira she said "Yuck!"]

May 16, 2008

Dreamed of a non-existent Harry Potter adventure where the high tower of Hogwarts came under attack, Harry was forced to retreat downstairs, and most of the school's senior class was wiped out; prowling in the neighbourhood around our old house in Sackville, N.B., and getting a reputation as a "character"; seeing someone mowing a lawn and being afraid for my toes.

Went to the drugstore and replenished my Cipralex and iron pills.

Today's Moira's 50th birthday so we went to Red Lobster.  I ordered New Orleans salmon, which was extremely sharp.

Headache!

May 15, 2008

Leader of the Forty Thieves: "So you want make fool from me, eh?"

Popeye the Sailor: "Nature beat me to it!"

Dreamed of walking along York Street from our old home to the Mount Allison University campus in Sackville, N.B.; hearing sweet choral music, and finding out it was from a choir organized by Toronto mayor David Miller; model Kiri Kelly.

We drove to Canadian Tire and bought an Electrohome flat-screen TV.  It wouldn't fit into the trunk or the back seat so we had to buy some rope and tie it to the car roof.  When Father was finished we couldn't open the doors and we had to slip in through the window spaces Dukes of Hazzard-style!

Dinner was pizza. (Very spicy!)

Went to the Walking Meetup.  The five of us walked through Withrow Park and ended up in Riverdale Park in time to see the sun set.

May 14, 2008

Cosby's aunt: "When your man gets old, get rid of him!"

Cosby's uncle: "Ain't nothing wrong with old men, except old women!"

--The Bill Cosby Show

Dreamed of the D-Day movie The Longest Day; visiting my singing teacher Giuseppe's house at the time of a big snowfall.

Went shopping.

Father and I went to Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart to look at the TV sets. (We need a new one for upstairs because the old one, which we've had for almost a decade, can't be connected to our new DVD player.) I think we've found the model we want.

Dinner was roast chicken.  The potatoes were in the oven for two hours and they still came out undercooked!

Saw the documentary Up the Yangtze at the Bloor.  I enjoyed it greatly, and recognized some of the sights from when Moira and I went on that cruise eight years ago.

Baked multigrain bread overnight.

May 13, 2008

Dreamed of arguing with Margaret and Moira and Moira over what day of the month it was; Margaret predicting there was colder weather ahead; me compulsively tearing parts of my shirt.

Saw the DVD of the first episodes of the western serial Mystery Mountain, featuring Tarzan the Wonder Horse.

It was so warm that I opened my window for the first time this year.

Dinner was spaghetti.

I also saw some more Popeye cartoons on DVD.  The one where Swee'pea got loose in a factory was pretty scary!

And we saw a couple of episodes of The Bill Cosby Show, also on DVD.  He had a droll touch.

I've been reading some 1950s horror comics in reprint form.  They do have a certain style.

May 12, 2008

Dreamed of attending a big United Church of Canada meeting at Mount Allison University's convocation hall, but staying in the lobby; noticing that one of the pictures I'd taken in London showed in the foreground a woman in crotchless jodhpurs(!); meeting the actor Gabriel Byrne and talking about his movie Wah Wah.

Went to Northern District library and handed in my job application. (I couldn't find the Apple Works document with my updated CV so I included my older one.) I also booked an appointment with my shrink Dr. Hassan.

Finished forking the garden.

Dinner was lobster rolls.

At choir practice we did a number from Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.

May 11, 2008

"Someone who pulls shit on me is either very brave or very stoned.  Which are you?"--52 Pick-Up

Dreamed of writing a story about a teenage German boy at the time of the Munich Conference who decides to leave the country and turn against Hitler.

Went to the Bloor-Yonge station in the morning to return In Defense of Food to Ian.  After I came home I napped for a couple of hours. (I'd woken up early to make sure I'd be on time.)

Saw the DVD of John Frankenheimer's movie of Elmore Leonard's blackmail thriller 52 Pick-Up.  Pretty sharp story in a cheesy Golan-Globus production.  I rented it mostly because Roy Scheider was in it.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine.

Saw the documentary Pete Seeger:  The Power of Song at the Bloor.  Wonderful. (The place was packed!)

May 10, 2008

"She scares me as much as my first battle!"--Daughter of the Regiment

Dreamed of composing a sultry Cole Porter-style song called "Summertime"; wishing I'd written the song "Jim Dandy to the Rescue."

Saw the Metropolitan Opera production of Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment at the Sheppard Grande.  It was brilliantly staged and really funny.

Joined the parents afterward for dinner at the Mandarin, but it turned out we needed reservations.  So we ate at the Swiss Chalet instead.

Saw the DVD of a Doctor Who episode (from the first season) where the Tardis' occupants were reduced to paranoia.  This one was pretty confusing.

May 9, 2008

"What are you doing here?"

"Shh!  I'm walking in my sleep."

--Get Smart

Sex education film: "Now that you know how it's done, don't do it!"--The Simpsons

Found a position to apply for in the library's Human Resources branch. (Mary tipped me off to it.) It's at the Northern District branch.

Started forking the garden.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Went to Mary's games night.  We got the Jenga up to 28 rows twice!  I finished last against three newcomers in The Amazeing Labyrinth, but I won a Scrabble game.

May 8, 2008

Sideshow Bob: "Even murder has its ugly side"--The Simpsons

Finished shovelling in the garden.

Dinner was Indian food (a mixture of frozen stuff and leftovers).

Saw Will Eisner:  Portrait of a Sequential Artist at the Bloor.  It's a documentary about the cartoonist who created the Spirit and invented the graphic novel (including its name). The director was answering questions afterward.  Very interesting.

May 7, 2008

Defense lawyer: "Don't worry, we'll get you off--with twenty years, at worst"--An American Tragedy

Went to my dentist for a checkup.  She was behind schedule since she'd just been treating some kids.

Went shopping.

Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).

Saw Josef von Sternberg's film of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy at the Cinematheque.  A Place in the Sun is the definitive version, but this earlier version has its own striking style.

Got the new Vanity Fair, but I managed to get through it in one sitting.

Headache.

May 6, 2008

"You're not even listening to me."

"Sure they will!"

--The Simpsons

Dreamed of assembling several jigsaw puzzles already in half-finished fragments.

Started preparing the garden for spring planting.

Dinner was chicken.

May 5, 2008

"Don't you like us?"

"Of course we do!"

"No, we don't."

--The Bob Newhart Show

Dreamed of some people on a ship watching Get Smart on a TV screen; star Don Adams telling them "I was on that show!"

Dinner was roast chicken.

At choir practice we did the opening number from Donizetti's Elixir of Love, which I pretty well remembered from doing it at the Toronto City Opera a couple of years ago.  Afterward I told Giuseppe I was interested in resuming singing lessons.

May 4, 2008

"It was an unhappy thought, but soon it might be that the bad men, the Wes Hardins and the Max Mores, would be all that was left of the West as it had been.  The bad men, in the end, were the ones who wouldn't settle"--Streets of Laredo

"He's the most even-tempered man I know--always sore!"--The Docks of New York

Had a Lunch Club Meetup event at the Mandarin near Yonge & Eglinton. (First time I've had lunch there.) Twelve people said they were coming, and we were a total of eight.

Afterward I met Ian at the Bloor-Yonge station and he lent me a copy of In Defense of Food:  An Eater's Manifesto so I could read it before the next Non-Fiction Book Club Meetup.

In the afternoon I went to the Philosophy Meetup at Nicky's place.  We were talking about the definition of truth, and it was a bit focused for my taste:  I dozed off a few times.  One member gave me a free ticket to this week's Jewish film festival, and on the way home I arranged to see their documentaries on Will Eisner and Pete Seeger.

Dinner was McDonald's.

May 3, 2008

"All you need is a good time!"

"I've had too many good times."

"You've never gone out with Bill Roberts!"

"Dry up before you catch cold."

--The Docks of New York

"She's so beautifully dressed!"

"Angels are naked."

--La Boheme

Saw the DVD of the classic tearjerker Waterloo Bridge yesterday.  Really shameless. (For some reason, the DVD version cut off the opening and closing credits.) [IMHO Robert Sherwood was an overrated playwright.]

Today is Free Comic Day, so I went to the Beguiling and got reprints of the Disney inventor Gyro Gearloose and an EC horror story.  Since I didn't want to be a cheapskate, I bought Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guide to Genetics.

Saw the Met production of La Boheme at the Grande.  My favourite part is the love duets, of course.

Donald came over for dinner, which was Indian food.

Saw Josef von Sternberg's silent The Docks of New York at the Cinematheque.  Fairly atmospheric.

April 28, 2008

"Laurie?  Wh-what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to love me....  I want you to love me because we're not dead."

--Watchmen

Dreamed of a tree near our old house in Sackville, N.B., being uprooted by the wind; feeling anger about the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg [even if one or both of them were guilty of spying, there were clearly scapegoats!]; doing more treaty port research.

Baked rye bread.

Finished Watchmen, two days before the Comics Meetup.  I already want to read it again!

Resumed reading Streets of Laredo, which I'd put aside for a couple of weeks. (I was about halfway through...)

Dinner was lasagna.

Went to my first choir rehearsal in almost a month. (My voice was off.) We're doing the Habanera from Bizet's Carmen, along with a number from Boito's Mefistofele.

April 27, 2008

"Morally, we oughta strike first.  We gotta protect our women and kids, even if theirs die.  That's morally logical"--Watchmen

Dreamed of being at our old house in Sackville, N.B., and considering taking summer school courses(?); finding a man-made beehive near a marsh near our old cottage near Sackville.

Loaded all my London photos onto the computer. (It turns out that I took 250!) The software allows me to improve brightness and adjust contrast--a godsend for my nighttime pics--and also zoom in within the pictures.  I think I have a real talent for photography.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Saw the DVD of Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic Kagemusha (for the second time). Not as viscerally entertaining as The Seven Samurai or as emotionally powerful as Ran, it does have an intelligence and style all its own.

April 25, 2008

English gentleman (seeing Charles Laughton climb a mast): "What's the Squire doing up there?"--Jamaica Inn

"I hate facts!"--Summer Magic

Flew back to Toronto on the previous day.

Dreamed of coming to a place where John was being held hostage(?); singing "Love Me Tender" and causing some nearby people to applaud; comparing mystery tours (as in the Beatles song "Magical Mystery Tour") to the surprise package advertised in comic books; the Shakespeare line from The Tempest "Come unto these yellow sands, and then take hands."

Woke up around 05:00.

While I was away several magazines arrived:  Harper's, Vanity Fair, Radar and Games.

Got a start on watching the six DVDs that arrived from zip.ca.  In the afternoon I saw the Hayley Mills Disney musical Summer Magic, which I'd previously seen on TV as a kid.  Pretty thin, and I only remembered one song:  the one that went "She thinks she's the Pink of Perfection!"

Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.

In the evening I saw Alfred Hitchcock's film of Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn.  A cheesy adaptation, with Charles Laughton's worst performance.

April 23, 2008

Checked out of the Goodenough Club in the morning and deposited my suitcase at Victoria Station's left luggage place. (Glad I didn't have to lug that around!)

First I visited the new Cartoon Museum in Bloomsbury, which had just opened a special exhibit about the cartoonist Pont. (On the way there, I stopped in a comics store called Gosh! and bought The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics.) [I still haven't finished reading it...]

Then I went to Tate Modern via the south shore of the Thames from London Bridge. (I've taken quite a few pictures of bridges.) One of their special exhibits was on the modernist Man Ray and some artist friends of his.

Dinner was at the Japanese restaurant Wagamama's. (Once again, I saved the best for last.) Very spicy.

In the evening, I went to the play Avenue Q. (Unlike last week, the morning drizzle meant no queue for reduced tickets.) It was a very good seat for just ten pounds.  The show was a pretty funny musical with Sesame Street-type puppets and lots of vulgar jokes.