October 9, 2009

"It's unfinished."

"Our marriage?"

"The translation."

--The Browning Version

Dreamed of a European woman arriving in America and going off to join an Indian nation; her watch having mystical symbols instead of numbers.

Dinner was frozen Thai food.

The parents and I were going to see Bright Star, but it was pouring rain so we decided to wait till next week.  Then I was going to see the Fame remake, but when I got to the Yorkdale it turned out it had started 20 minutes earlier than I thought, so I went home.

Got a package of Ebay comic strips from Barry King.

Saw the DVD of Anthony Asquith's 1951 movie of the Terence Rattigan play The Browning Version.  Superb. (I should see the 1994 Mike Figgis version again.) [This movie got me interested in learning classical Greek!]

October 8, 2009

Michael Moore: "I refuse to live in a country like this, and I'm not leaving"--Capitalism:  A Love Story (That's a true patriot!)

Dreamed of planning to read the novel Ben-Hur; seeing a shot from the movie where the film crew was visible.

Dinner was ham.

Saw Michael Moore's latest agitprop documentary Capitalism:  A Love Story at the Cumberland with a Movie Meetup group. (There were only three of us.) After a vague start, it got better and better.  Food for thought.

October 7, 2009

Went shopping.

Finally got a start on putting the garden in order. (We got one pumpkin and I brought it indoors.)

Dinner was roast chicken.

Went to a Games Meetup at 401 Games.  I played two new games:  Big City, involving laying buildings and streetcars on an urban grid; and Bang!, a card game where we played gunfighters. (I was the sheriff's deputy.)

October 6, 2009

    Dreamed of hoping for a remake of The Good Earth.

    Yesterday I placed a hold at the Reference Library on a book the parents are interested in, about New Brunswick shipbuilding in Kent County.  But when I went there it wasn't returned.

    Dinner was roast beef.

    At opera rehearsal we did "Regina Coeli" from Cavalleria Rusticana, but we didn't have time to finish it.

October 5, 2009

    At today's singing lesson I forgot to give Giuseppe his payment! (I gave it to him at choir practice in the evening.)

    Dinner was ham.

    At choir practice we went through all our La Traviata parts for the first time.

October 4, 2009

"He almost stood me up for his wife!"--The Women

"All heck's breaking loose!"--ibid.

Went to an Intellectual Meetup at Niky's place.  Or rather, I would have but when I got to his street I couldn't remember his address. (This is the second time it's happened!)

Dinner was Wendy's.

Saw the DVD of George Cukor's The Women.  Lots of talk, some of it sharp. (Rosalind Russell puts Norma Shearer to shame!)

October 3, 2009

"That isn't flying, it's falling with style"--Toy Story

    Dreamed of visiting my hometown Sackville, N.B.; getting a debilitating sickness and recovering by lying in the grass.

    Baked whole wheat bread.

    Saw the first episode of the DVD of Melvyn Bragg's language documentary The Adventure of English.  The history of languages always interests me.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw John Lasseter's two Toy Story movies in 3-D with the Movie Meetup at the Yonge & Eglinton. (I hadn't seen them before.) They're both quite clever.

    Finished Two Years Before the Mast.

October 2, 2009

On a corporate executive blown up in his boat:

"Bob would have gone far."

"I'm sure he did--er, would."

--A Shock to the System

Michael Caine talking to himself: "You, you and you stay calm.  Everyone else panic!"--ibid.

Dreamed of a convocation where I was graduating along with SCTV's Dave Thomas.

Saw the DVD of the black comedy A Shock to the System. (It's been in my zip.ca queue for five years or so.) Michael Caine's in fine form.

Dinner was fettucine with pesto sauce (which I cooked), for the first time in quite a while.

Went to a Games Meetup at Mary's place.  I played The Amazeing Labyrinth, Carcassone, Apples to Apples and a new game called Drakon.

October 1, 2009

 Went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan.

Dinner was takeout Chinese and Thai food.

Went to a new games group at Duelling Grounds west of Dufferin Station.  We played Carcassone, then a new game called Holy War. (I was the voodoo prophet Baron Samedi.) I didn't care for it, and didn't stay for another new game involving ethnic restaurants in a shopping mall.

September 30, 2009

Went shopping.

Dinner was scallops.

Wrote a review of Fame for mrcranky.com.

https://canadiancommonsense.blogspot.com/2018/01/fame.html

Went to an Introvert Meetup at the Tim Horton's near the Eglinton station. (I had a coconut cream doughnut.) I met a guy I remembered from the Writers Meetup.

September 29, 2009

Dreamed of doing a New York Times crossword puzzle where the answer to "Lowest beach in the world" was "Iqaluit desert"; visiting a park on the south shore of Brooklyn with a group of people; meeting actress Norma Shearer, whose photos I'd just been looking at online.

Dinner was spaghetti.

Doris: "Something wonderful is happening to me, Mama, I'm growing up!"--Fame (Did any real-life teenager ever say anything like that?)

Music teacher on electronic music: "That's not music, Martelli, it's masturbation!"--ibid.

"I bombed out there and you're talking about fucking pizzas?"

"I'm not talking about fucking pizzas, I'm talking about eating them."

--ibid.

Saw the DVD of Alan Parker's High School for the Performing Arts movie Fame, for the second time. It's terribly dated, like an After School Special cramped with R-rated cliches (e.g. boys peeking at girls undressing). When student Doris said "I don't know why I'm here," I didn't know either.

Went to the first Toronto City Opera rehearsal.  Barbara won't join us till December.  We did the chorus entrance from Cavalleria Rusticana and the part where Alfio arrives.

September 28, 2009

"An overstrained sense of manliness is the characteristic of seafaring men, or, rather, of life aboard ship"--Two Years Before the Mast

Dreamed of a gospel song "Count Your Heavens"; a combat-fatigued soldier seeing a shop and saying "Why buy things?"

I overslept and was late for my singing lesson.  There's one part of "Pieta, Rispetto, Amore" where I still don't have the melody learned. [I figured out that it was like the first two bars of the Christmas carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear."]

Dinner was steak.

At choir practice the pianist was playing a tune I recognized from silent movie scores which turned out to be Elgar's "Salut d'Amour."

September 27, 2009

Dreamed of comic strip hero Steve Canyon running for President; reflecting that in Dante's limbo you'd at least meet interesting people.

Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin.  I played Puerto Rico and finished last. (All those building rounds where I was one doubloon short!)

Afterward I went to a DBE Meetup at the Jester.  There were only three people there.

Dinner was ham.

Moira recorded the Macbeth aria "Pieta, Respetto, Amore." (I remembered the title!) I had to bring down my study lamp so she could read the score with illumination.)