July 23, 2009

We left Toronto for PEI shortly after 06:00.  We picked up Moira in Kingston.

It was raining fierce in much of the Ontario stretch, but it got clearer and warmer in Quebec.  We had lunch at Burger King in St. Hyacinthe.

We've started listening to an audio CD of Marilynne Robinson's novel Gilead, which is quite remarkable.  And we heard Imperial Ambitions, a CD of interviews with Noam Chomsky. (We also listened to CDs of Gershwin, Verdi choruses and Martha Reeves & the Vandellas.  I've brought along several that I bought in recent years but didn't get around to listening to.)

We drove around the clock and made it to Edmundston! (How does Father do it?) We had dinner at Pizza Delight--I had the spaghetti supreme--and stayed at the Ritz Motel, which exists mostly for the ski trade and has a Googie-style sign!

July 22, 2009

"Any more questions, Steed, and I'll throw you out!"

"You wish you could throw me out."

--The Avengers

Groundskeeper Willie (burying a classroom gerbil in the school basement): "You're getting a better burial than my father ever got!  My father got tossed in the bog!"--The Simpsons

Besides packing for our trip, I tried to finish up with my new comics.  But the Li'l Abner strips were too many to finish reading.

They're tearing up the sidewalks all along St. Clair Avenue near our house.

Dinner was KFC.

The internet's been off all day!

Viewed two DVD episodes each of The Avengers, Get Smart and The Simpsons. (In three days I've managed to finish off four DVDs!)

July 21, 2009

Dreamed of being about to see a really scary movie and feeling such dread that I wanted to get out.

Spent most of the day going through my new comics.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine.

July 20, 2009

Skeptic: "Why should we take your word for it?"

Gary Cooper: "Take it or leave it."

--The Westerner

"Don't spill your drink, son.  It eats away the wood"--ibid.

Had my last singing lesson before our P.E.I. trip. (I just realized that "Widnung" is actually "Widmung"!)

Got six zip.ca DVDs in the mail!

Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked). Our last milk turned out to be sour.

Saw the DVD of William Wyler's The Westerner.  It had more humour than usual for the western genre.

July 19, 2009

We performed our mass at Holy Angels Church. (John George drove me there.) There was trouble with the organ, so we did the first part a capella!

Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin, where I played Munchkin Booty. (I would have won if I'd sold some of my weapons.)

Dinner was roast chicken.

July 18, 2009

"We've got a lot of bricks, but we still don't have the whole building"--Mad Men

"This didn't happen.  You'll be shocked how completely this didn't happen!"--ibid.

Dreamed of acquiring a letter from British-controlled Asia during World War II showing oppressive conditions; making bannock oatcakes in Scotland; trying to impress a girl by showing her how I bake bread but using a popcorn machine that didn't even work.

For today's Games Meetup, we met at Dutch Dreams and had ice cream, then went to Craig's apartment on Wychwood Avenue and played Settlers of Catan.  I had a triumphant moment when I played a monopoly card and picked up everyone else's metal cards, of which there were a dozen! (You could hear the others groan...)

Dinner was McDonald's.

Baked raisin bread overnight.

July 17, 2009

"Is the plane still crashed?"--Mad Men

"Personally, I have no objections to Negroes.  But I'm worried about our car!"--ibid.

"Stop writing for other writers"--ibid.

Last night I went to another Settlers of Catan night at the Ryerson student centre.  In the game I was in two of the four players were new to it, and one quit in the middle even though he was in the lead!

Finally got serious about going through my new comic strips.  I've been reading Steve Roper and Kerry Drake.

Dinner was lasagna.

None of the DVDs zip.ca sent yesterday arrived today, so I went to the video store and rented a DVD of the first episodes of the second season of Mad Men.  We ended up seeing all three episodes in one night!  Still brilliant.

July 15, 2009

Moira recorded the accompaniment for "Widmung." She also taped the new "An Die Musik" accompaniment in the higher key, over the earlier version.  The only problem was that she did it at a slightly slower tempo, so she also taped over the first part of the "Ich Liebe Dich" accompaniment that follows.

Went shopping.

Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.

Went on another Walking Meetup in Riverdale.

Took the old filing cabinet downstairs to my room.  It fits quite well.

July 14, 2009

"Commander, we await your orders."

"Shut up."

"Yes, sir."

--Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

"They go berserk over losing a little forest or two!"--ibid.

Dreamed of 1970s B.C. premier Dave Barrett; using a tool to chop ice off a glacier; Edmond About's novel King of the Mountains (whose Classics Illustrated comic book I've read).

Saw the DVD of Hayao Miyazaki's anime Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (for the second time, though the first time was a shorter English dub). Complex and moving.

Dinner was the ham quiche Moira was going to make yesterday.

Went to another Games Meetup at the Ryerson student centre, this one with three games of Risk.  I was in the only regular-version game. (The others were playing Risk 2210.) Again I was centred on Northern Europe.  Mark wiped us out in a single turn, and I was the last to be eliminated. (I refused to concede early, wanting the experience of a whole game.)

July 13, 2009

At today's singing lesson I sang "Widmung" for the first time.

Got a whole batch of Ebay packages.  I'm especially curious about a collection of Sunday strips stretching across four decades.

Moira was going to make ham quiche, bu she was late getting home so we ate McDonald's instead.

The choir rehearsed for Sunday's mass.  John George and I were the only basses.

July 12, 2009

"Diana Ross' shy is like Sergeant Bilko's modest....  The big production numbers are free-form traffic jams"--Pauline Kael, The New Yorker

To escape the noise from the salsa street festival I eased on down the road to the Revue and saw Sidney Lumet's The Wiz (for the second time). Of course, Diana Ross is a badly miscast Dorothy. (The role needed someone 20 years younger, but the studio bean-counters wanted a "star.") Yet it's far from all bad, what with some good songs, imaginative design by Tony Walton, and a pretty good supporting cast--though Richard Pryor is wasted in the title role.  I'll bet it could make a good animated movie.

Dinner was roast pork.

An ice creat truck outside our house has been playing "Turkey in the Straw" over and over all day!

 

July 11, 2009

Dreamed of recalling the world I left behind when I moved to Toronto in 1990; Harry Potter; writing a test paper.

Baked whole wheat bread.

The nearby Salsa on St. Clair festival is this weekend.  Predictably noisy.

Went to another Games Meetup at Philthy McNasty's. (Some of us went to that Jack Black movie first [probably Year One], not including me.) I was in the group that played Puerto Rico.  I intended to buy a construction hut, but they got snapped up quickly.  Then I bought a hacienda early on because I thought it had the function of a hospice. (I got a hospice later, but it was too late to be of any use.) I managed 32 points, about the same as last time, but in a game of five people instead of four.

 

July 10, 2009

Dreamed of becoming an intern at a leftist media-critique organization in Port Credit; naming the important dates in World War II that people remember (e.g. Pearl Harbor, D-Day).

Father got a chest of drawers for me to store my comics.  I was hoping for something more like the file cabinet in the attic where he stores papers from our book business, so he decided to give me that one and put the new one in its place. (I'm still not sure how well it'll work for him.)

Dinner was roast chicken.

Saw Michael Mann's Public Enemies at the Yonge & Eglinton with the Movie Meetup.  Spellbinding, though the last scene was pretty dumb.  I thought of going to karaoke afterward, but the movie was pretty long and I had a headache.

Started reading The Story of French.  Looks interesting.

July 9, 2009

Got up early in the morning, and Father and I drove to Whittamore's Farm.  We picked strawberries (they're getting overripe by now), then I picked raspberries.

Dinner was shrimp.

Finished Dreams From My Father.  Obama seems a slippery character to me.

Went to a Games Meetup at the Ryerson student centre.  We played Settlers of Catan in three different groups.  I hadn't intended to play the Knights & Cities version, but that's what I endd up doing in a game that went on even longer than that Monopoly game.  The regular game goes on till someone gets 10 points, but this version goes to 15!  I suggested we just play to 10, but I was the first one to reach 10 points, and I was a good enough sport to keep playing.  When Derek vinally won, I was jubilant that the game was finally over!

July 8, 2009

Went shopping. (Later we bought new ink cartridges for my printer.)

Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.

With the new cartridge, I was finally able to copy the "Widmung" score.

Went to a Human Greatness Meetup at the Golden Griddle.  We saw a Biography Channel documentary about Lincoln. (I also had a fruit crepe.) Our discussion afterward was mostly about prejudice and multiculturalism.

July 7, 2009

"I have no objection to women betraying their husbands.  Our government is against monopoly"--Whirlpool

Dreamed of touring an animation studio and hearing samba music; learning to drive on a Cape Breton freeway.

Saw some Get Smart episodes from the final season, which I recall seeing parts of when they were originally broadcast 40 years ago.  But back then I couldn't finish an episode because I always got scared!

Dinner was ham.

Saw the DVD of Otto Preminger's film noir Whirlpool, the one where kleptomaniac Gene Tierney meets sinister hypnotist Jose Ferrer and gets entangled in a murder.  Remarkably sexy.

July 6, 2009

"I don't have a gambling problem!  I have... a financial problem"--Owning Mahowny

"You think we have problems, Blin?  Just look at Mexico's foreign debt!"--ibid.

Dreamed of cooking a chicken with yogurt and a whole bunch of spices.

At today's lesson Giuseppe returned the tape cassette Giovanni had left with him.

Had another afternoon nap (where I dreamed about the comic strip Dick Tracy).

Dinner was scallops.

Saw the DVD of Owning Mahowny.  I don't usually like movies about gambling, but this one is very believable.

July 5, 2009

Dreamed of being dropped off at a London subway station but forgetting to say which station I wanted to be picked up at; unearthing a scandal involving Johnny Depp; wondering what other actors could have played Hunter S. Thompson. (Depp played him in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.)

Went to a Walking Meetup in Riverdale. (We went to the front of the Don Jail.) Afterward we had lunch at the Ouzeri restaurant.  I had the chicken souvlaki, but something didn't sit right with me (the pita bread?) and I had to nap later in the afternoon and got sick in the evening.

Dinner was spaghetti.

Printed out my new "And Die Musik" score. (I would have copied "Widmung," but the printer ran out of ink.)

July 4, 2009

Hardy: "Why do you have to tell your wife everything?"

Laurel: "Because if I didn't tell her, I wouldn't know what she wanted me to do."

--Sons of the Desert

Dreamed of finding candy Easter eggs; Dexter McGurk, a non-existent character in Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop.

It turns out that the Toronto City Opera is doing The Marriage of Figaro and Cavalleria Rusticana-Pagliacci next year. (Barbara sent an email announcing the soloist auditions, which will take place early because of Giuseppe's knee operation.

Went to a Classical Music Meetup.  Allegria performed a couple of Corelli pieces.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Saw the DVD of Laurel & Hardy's Sons of the Desert (for at least the fifth time). [That's the one that The Flintstones kept imitating!] One of the classics.  The disc also had their piano-moving short The Music Box, which I'd never seen before.

July 3, 2009

Dreamed of a non-existent comic book where the hero got a message from a woman speaking in iambic pentameter poetry; a non-existent moment in Starsky and Hutch (which I've never watched) where Hutch ended up shooting a woman.

Got five zip.ca DVDs in one day's mail!

Baked rye bread.

I'm using the Finale softward to print out "An die Musik" in its original key. (I think my voice can handle that now.)

Dinner was lasagna.

July 2, 2009

A relative of  Barack Obama: "When everyone is family, then no one is family.  Your father never understood this, I think"--Dreams From My Father

Dyan Cannon (teasingly): "And those people the ghettos think they have problems!"--Such Good Friends

Dreamed of singing "Bruderlein und Schwesterlein"; carrying a female mannequin with an umbrella; the mannequin falling into the river; saving it for the umbrella; Tony Soprano having an affair with a fitness instructor.

Got a big Ebay package from Barry King. (He said it's his last auction.)

Went shopping.

Dinner was curry.

Saw Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends at the Cinematheque.  An early 1970s attempt at "daring" satire, it goes down in flames.

July 1, 2009

Dreamed of Walter Carroll's piano pieces Sea Idylls.

Went to a Games Meetup at Jeffrey's townhouse.  We played Small World again. (The other group played the European version of Ticket to Ride.) My races were merchant ghouls and mounted skeletons.  The girl who was new to the game won.  Once again it was pretty close, with less than ten points between the top and bottom scores.

Dinner was McDonald's McNuggets.

For my next song, I may take up Schumann's "Widmung."

June 30, 2009

Imported the last of the photos of the trees around our house into the computer.  Then I put the new memory card into my camera.

A Bell repairman came and gave us a new modem.  He also fixed a phone connection that had short-circuited because the insulation wore away.  But our internet connection is still off!

Dinner was Sobey's BBQ chicken.

Saw Otto Preminger's bodice-ripper Forever Amber at the Cinematheque.  Predictably, it's mild by today's standards.  George Sanders' Charles II steals the show.

While I was at the movie, Donald came around and fixed the internet link completely.

June 29, 2009

After today's singing lesson I stopped at the Reference Library and looked at scores to decide on the next song I should learn.  But "O Isis und Osiris," the Prize Song from Meistersinger and the Italian song from Rosenkavalier were all wrong for my range. (A low F and a high A so an octave lower is too low, while an octave higher is too high!)

I had to quit as Lunch Club Meetup organizer because nobody would come to my events.

Dinner was steak.

Got several Ebay packages, including some Golden Funnies reprints.

The internet connection's on the blink.  We'll have to replace that modem!

June 28, 2009

 Dreamed of singing "Le Veau d'Or" in front of a big group of people outdoors and grabbing their attention; playing the Beethoven song "Ich Liebe Dich" on the piano.

I think the trouble with our modem may be due to heat, so I've started unplugging it when it isn't being used.

Dinner was roast chicken.

Went to a Classical Music Meetup at Chalkers where we saw the Fern Lindzon Jazz Quartet. (I had a hard time finding the place.) I left early since I felt under the weather.

June 27, 2009

Dreamed of Camp Ta-Wa-Si, the church picnic site on Northumberland Strait near my hometown of Sackville, N.B.

Went to a LEAF tree tour on the Casa Loma grounds. (They let us in for free!) Some other people were supposed to come, but I couldn't find them.

My computer's been switched to an Ethernet connection.  Sometimes the connection fails and I have to restart it.

Dinner was curry.

Moira recorded the accompaniment for my songs "Le Veau d'Or" (a real bitch!) and "Bruderlein und Schwesterlein."

June 26, 2009

Went shopping. (We bought a couple of beach towels!)

Finally cut the grass. (Some of it was getting pretty tall out front!)

The internet's come back but the connection is still unreliable.

Dinner was the rest of the fettucine. (I don't care for whole wheat pasta.)

Dreamed of the Walter Matthau-Carol Burnett movie Pete and Tillie (which I have seen).

Baked multigrain bread overnight.

June 25, 2009

It's strawberry season!  We woke up early and left for Whittamore Farm at 07:30.  I'd forgotten what hard work picking your own strawberries is.  I also picked some peas and bought some Jonagold apples at the store.  We were finished before the thunderstorms started.

I napped at noontime and slept for hours! (I dreamed of entering a World War II-era bomb shelter in the English countryside with a big musical centre, including a broadcasting studio.)

Dinner was sausage and mash.

Saw the DVD of the first two episodes of Rhoda.  Nancy Walker really steals the show as the Jewish mother. (She was actually Irish-American!)

The internet connection is off at the moment.

June 24, 2009

Daffy Duck in Jack Webb-style narration: "He was such a clever criminal he had never been suspected of anything!"--space-age Dragnet parody Rocket Squad

Dreamed of reflecting that there were things about the post-Civil War Reconstruction that make me angry (such as the cancellation of the "40 acres and a mule" land reform); returning to the Arthur Murray studio for another dance lesson.

We turned on the air conditioning for the first time this year.

Got an Ebay package of Golden Funnies reprints.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Saw the first part of a DVD with some of the best early episodes of SCTV.

June 23, 2009

John Wayne: "All battles are fought by scared men who'd rather be somewhere else"--In Harm's Way

Admiral Henry Fonda: "We all know the Navy is never wrong, but sometimes it's a bit slow about being right"--ibid.

Dreamed of a British sitcom about a husband trying to stop his wife from seeing a certain TV show; a movie with Robert Downey Jr. and Clara Bow as a sailor and his nurse girlfriend at Pearl Harbor just before the Japanese attack. (In the William Wellman documentary I saw the night before, they showed clips from his Wings, with Buddy Rogers--whose resemblance to Downey I'd noticed--as a World War I fighter pilot and Bow as a nurse he was attracted to.)

Got an Ebay package of Buck Rogers and Connie comic strip reprints.

Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).

Saw Otto Preminger's In Harm's Way at the Cinematheque.  It's a long and pretty conventional war movie about the U.S. Navy after the Pearl Harbor raid (hence last night's dream).

 

June 22, 2009

James Cagney (just before shoving grapefruit in his girlfriend's face): "There you go wishing again.  I wish you was a wishing well, then I could tie ya to a bucket and sink ya!"--William Wellman's The Public Enemy

Dreamed of an ornate clock tower with Disney-like cartoonish mouse statues; the movie The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.

At today's singing lesson Giuseppe said I sounded tired. (Afterward I cooled my heels for half an hour before catching a bus.)

On the way home I bought a Spanish dictionary at the Spanish Centre bookstore. (I could have just gone to Indigo, but I like doing things the hard way!) I'll use it to translate my new Mortadelo & Filemon comic books.

Dinner was spaghetti.

Spent over two hours reading about Spanish grammar.

Saw the DVD of Wild Bill:  Hollywood Maverick, a documentary about movie director William Wellman.  I'll have to see some more of his films.

June 21, 2009

Dreamed of getting a home on Long Island just east of New York City; being about to enter a school for young performers like in the movie Fame.

Had lunch with the Walking Meetup at Cora's. (I ate a ham & Swiss omelet.) Afterward we walked down to the Music Park.  They walked further but I left for my next engagement.

That was the Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin, where I played Guillotine (where you get points for executing French aristocrats) and Settlers of Catan.  The latter game had six players and moved slowly.  I did badly, getting just four points and not building any cities.

Lost the screw holding the right lens to my glasses, on the stairs. (Searching with a magnet didn't work.) But I got a new screw from my old glasses.

John, Kathrine and Donald came over for dinner, which was a curry and churrasco chicken.