June 26, 2010

Eddie Albert: "Charlie's my name, charm's my game!"--Carrie

    Dreamed of a non-existent slapstick comedy with pupils rebelling against an oppressive school, with a roller coaster climax; an actual incident where Jenny Lind gave a concert in 1850s Toronto and scalpers ended up having to resell tickets at a discount; Laurence Alma-Tadema's actual poem "If No-One Ever Marries Me."

    Dinner was pizza.

    I was going to attend a Karaoke Meetup at Bar Plus, but the whole downtown has become inaccessible because of the G-20 Conference!  I don't blame the anarchists; I'd rather blame the G20 for inconveniencing everyone with these big, pointless exercises.

    Saw the DVD of William Wyler's Carrie, from Theodore Dreiser's powerful novel Sister Carrie.  Wyler was an expert director.  Laurence Olivier is far sexier here than in Rebecca, and Jennifer Jones is better than usual.

June 25, 2010

    Dreamed of the SCTV sketch "The Sammy Maudlin Show"; a non-existent ribald exchange at the end of the movie The Candidate. (It actually ended with the line "What do we do now?")

    We ate out at the Red Lobster with Donald. (I was going to attend an Asperger's Meetup, but decided this was a higher priority.)

    In the evening I got sick again. (More phlegm, presumably.  I hope this is the turning point!)

June 24, 2010

    Went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan.

    Patron Tony Fusco treated the Coro Verdi committee to dinner at the Boccaccio restaurant in Columbus Centre. (I had minestrone soup, salmon and tiramisu.) We talked a lot about plans for the choir.

    On the bus on the way there, I stretched my fee and accidentally brushed against the foot of a woman sitting near me.  She yelled "Stop kicking my legs!" and made a big scene.

June 23, 2010

"Government is made of men, and men are made of vanity"--The Pallisers

    Dreamed about the post office in my hometown Sackville, N.B., and the area where we had a box; the movie The Reader (which I haven't seen and don't want to see).

    Toronto had a slight tremor, which I felt in my bedroom! (I thought it was Father and John working on the sun room below me...)

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Went to the Games Meetup.  I played Agricola and Ticket to Ride Europe. (I won the latter game narrowly.) My The Bay shopping bag burst open!

    Now that I've finished reading those comic strip reprints, I've resumed reading the Arts & Letters issue of Lapham's Quarterly.

June 22, 2010

"Anyhow, life isn't important."

"Not when it's somebody else's life..."

--Pandora and the Flying Dutchman

    Father and I went shopping for the first time in a while. (We got some ice since the freezer's icemaker hasn't been working.)

    Moira was cleaning the whole kitchen today.

    Went to see Dr. Ang again.  She prescribed me Robitussin and an antibiotic.

    Dinner was salmon.

    Saw Pandora and the Flying Dutchman at the Cinematheque.  James Mason and Ava Gardner had nice chemistry. (I got sleepy in the second half.)

June 21, 2010

    Dreamed of a miniature train coming out of the garage from our old house in Sackville, N.B., and going east through the back yard.

    Dinner was lasagna.

    Went out to finally see Kurosawa's Yojimbo at the Cinematheque, but in the end I decided I wasn't up to it and went home. (Oh well, it's on my zip.ca queue.)

    I think my persistent cough may be due to hay fever.

June 20, 2010

    Dreamed of Father asking if the TV series Mad Men had a character called Frederick.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Ryserson student centre.  I played Bohnanza and Caylus, the latter for the first time. (I finished last with 42 points.) Moira's found me a big The Bay shopping bag that'll hold all my games!

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    Saw the DVD of the 1966 Dr. Who adventure "The War Machines," which was actually set in Swinging London! (It was broadcast at the same time as we were living in England.) I liked the scene at a nightspot called Inferno, and the thrown-in mod costume at the end.

June 19, 2010

"I really shouldn't be saying this, since you saved our lives, but killing people is a bad habit"--Sanjuro

"You disgust me!  Stupidity is dangerous"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a dog biting my hand and not letting go; a highbrow British magazine supplement focusing on Russian culture in the 20th century.

    Stayed in bed past 15:00!

    Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune cookie warned me not to let people take advantage of me.)

    Saw Akira Kurosawa's samurai classic Sanjuro (for the second time) at the Cinematheque.  Toshiro Mifune Da Man!

June 18, 2010

    Dreamed of the actual Brian Keith sitcom The Little People; being naked outdoors, meeting a swarm of mosquitoes and getting stung.

    Dinner was the rest of the stew.

    Got through the Coro Verdi concert. (Father wasn't well enough to go.) I managed to stay standing for most of the show.

June 17, 2010

    Dreamed of driving along a new highway in Cape Breton; standing on the top of the car; passing through an Arab community.

    Slept around the clock.

    Dinner was stew.  

June 16, 2010

"This was but a mild adventure and it was necessary to kill only seven enemies in the way of business"--Prince Valiant

    Dreamed of describing the plot of Dickens' Little Dorritt; a non-existent window at the southeast corner of our old house in Sackville, N.B.

    Went to Dragon Lady Comics and bought an Ebay package of Rusty Riley strips from Barry King.  I also found a colour reprint of the first years of Prince Valiant!

    Dinner was spaghetti. (The sauce was too tomatoey for my taste, and later on Moira and I had a spat about it.)

    Went to the Coro Verdi dress rehearsal.  Hope I can make it to the concert Friday! (Too bad that Father can't.)

June 15, 2010

    Dreamed of going for a walk in my sock feet; climbing out of a mahnoe into the street and being slow to remove my second leg; reflecting that True Grit is one of those westerns that ends with a scene evoking home.

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Ryserson Hub.  We played Fiasco, an RPG in which we created characters in a Coen Brothers world 9here, a town in the Wild West). I was a land agent who salted mining claims and ended up running off to Alaska.  Larry brought some overcarbonated vanilla cream soda and when I opened the cap just a little it went all over the place!

    That game reminded me of creating scenarios in acting class.

June 14, 2010

    Dreamed of the actual TV show Tales of the Gold Monkey; French refugees in Britain during World War II; Bugs Bunny singint "The Camptown Races" in Mississippi Hare.

    Slept around the clock again.

    Father was also sick yesterday.  I think maybe there was something wrong with the McDonald's food we ate Saturday:  it didn't taste right to me.

    Dinner was KFC and foccaccia.

    The Coro Verdi did a mini-concert (a few folk songs) to accompany the opening of the Columbus Centre's Italian bookstore.  I got through that--had to sit through most of it--but I wasn't up to staying for the rehearsal afterward.

    After I got home, I was a bit sick again.

June 13, 2010

    Dreamed of being in a motel in Halifax; seeing a mouse scurrying along the floor.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Foxes Den.  I played the European Ticket to Ride, where I managed to score negative points (epic fail!), and Agricola, where I think I'm slowly improving.

    Dinner was tortellini. (I didn't have much.

    Father's under the weather, which doesn't surprise me, considering how long he and John have kept up with rebuilding the sun room.

    Got sick in the evening. (Must have been a big phlegm buildup below.)

June 12, 2010

    Dreamed of having a big hole in my sock; early Madonna singles like "Crazy 4 You"; being in Halifax and not being sure what to do next; carrying a blanket through the streets.

    Went to Chris' place on Wychwood Avenue for a Games Meetup.  Chris, Felipe and I played a trading game called Acropolis. (In the end I scored better than expected.)

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw the DVD of the 1970 true-crime B-movie The Honeymoon Killers.  Pretty creepy.

June 11, 2010

    Dreamed of African peanuts so plentiful that they were strewn over the ground; Christopher Hitchens' actual comment that when Congress "investigated" Iran-Contra they ignored the Iran aspect and the Contra aspect and focused on the hyphen!

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    Saw a DVD documentary about the ancient Iranian capital Persepolis.

    My tongue is yellow all over.

June 10, 2010

John Wesley Hardin: "Be glad you can hear me, Pat.  It means I haven't killed you."--Streets of Laredo

    Dinner was lasagna.

    Saw the DVD of the first part of the TV movie of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove sequel Streets of Laredo.  Not quite right, though Randy Quaid has a good cameo as notorious killer John Wesley Hardin. [James Garner was engaging, but he was no Captain Call.] Wes Studi has the sort of role Chief Dan George played in the 1970s.

June 9, 2010

    Dreamed of actor Trevor Howard; driving onto a beach covered in snow; shoving my fist into my hand.

    Stayed in bed past 14:00!

    Dinner was Arby's.

    Went to another Wednesday Games Meetup.  I played Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride (my new game), and something called Tsuro.

    Of course, I was a long time getting to sleep. (I had to take a sleeping pill.)

June 8, 2010

    Dreamed of the James Joyce story "The Dead"; seeing Fort Beausejour, near my hometown Sackville, N.B., from a distance; the Jude the Obscure suicide note "We are too menny[sic]."

    Got my hair cut at the Hungarian place.  Then I returned those two scores to the Reference Library.

    Dinner was Wendy's. (I think I burnt my mouth.)

    Went to a Games Meetup at 401 Games, where we played Steam, a game about laying railway lines in northwestern Germany. (I finished last.)

    Afterward, I bought the Europe version of Ticket to Ride.  Then I went to Indigo Books in Eaton Centre and bought the reprint The Best of the Wizard of Id, which proved quite thin.

June 7, 2010

    Dreamed of the Quebec movie Kamouraska (which I haven't seen).

    John and Kathrine joined us for dinner (which was more Indian food).

    Managed to get through choir practice, but my voice still isn't back to normal.

     

June 6, 2010

"You know how some movies inspire you to make your own movie?  This one inspires me to make my own grave!"--Mystery Science Theater 3000

    Dreamed of visiting a zoo with a nook where exotic pants were grown because of the special sunlight; looking for Mother.

    Went to a Games Meetup nearby.  We met at Dutch Dreams. (I had a strawberry smoothie), then went to an apartment on Wychwood Avenue where I played Seafarers of Catan for the first time.  It's an interesting variation on Settlers of Catan.

    John came over for some more work, then stayed for dinner, which was vegan pizza.  I don't care for that, and I went out to KFC later.

    Saw the DVD of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version of The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies.

June 5, 2010

   Dreamed of travelling westward in Quebec and figuring out the route to Montreal; wanting to sing lumberjack-type folk songs; theme parks with a series of animated mannequins.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw the Lewis Milestone version of Mutiny on the Bounty on TCM.  Marlon Brando's Fletcher Christian was incomprehensible.

June 4, 2010

Introductory title: "This is the story of the Unconquerable Fortress:  the American Home... 1943"--Since You Went Away

    Dreamed of being about to perform in a band at Mt. Allison University's Brunton Auditorium in my hometown Sackville, N.B., but my instrument disappearing; having the start of a beard but wanting to shave it before we went out for dinner (I've been shaving less with my cold); bringing our fresh vegetables to the restaurant where we were going to eat to add to our meal.

    Went shopping.

    Another afternoon nap. (I dreamed about C. Chaminade's Scarf Dance and my glasses' lenses being broken.)

    Dinner was frozen Indian food.

    Saw the DVD of Since You Went Away, the Selznick production about the U.S. home front during World War II.  Predictably shameless.

June 3, 2010

    Dreamed of the last episodes of Steve Canyon (which I hadn't read), with Steve's wife Summer wearing jodhpurs and riding boots.

    Then today I read the actual final Steve Canyon story ("The Princess"), reprinted in Comics Revue.  Summer wasn't in it, but there was a man in jodhpurs.

    Dinner was more pork chops (and a wide range of leftovers).

    Father and John have been working long hours on that sun room.  Tonight John and Kathrine came over and hauled off a huge amount of waste material. (And there's still a lot of work left.)

    I've started reading the last year of Menomonee Falls Gazette comic strip reprints now that my collection's complete.  First off is Rip Kirby.

June 2, 2010

    Last night my sleep was less fitful than the night before.  But I still feel worn out. (When I walk from one room to another, I end up sitting down for a while.)

    Went to see Dr. Ang again.  As I expected, I'll have to take iron pills again for a while.

    Phoned Giuseppe and stopped my singing lessons for now. (We can resume in the summer after his knee operation.) I'll be happy if I can make it through the Coro Verdi concert.

    Dinner was pork chops.

June 1, 2010

    Had a night of fitful sleep.  There was a lot of phlegm in my throat and it kept sneaking into my mouth and waking me.

    Headache!

    Skipped dinner again.  Funny that I don't feel hungry...

May 31, 2010

    Another lazy day.

    Father bought an underarm thermometer. (My temperature is just under one Celsius degree above normal.)

    Moira wonders if I have inflammation of the tonsils or even the vocal cords.

    John came over to do more work on the sun room and stayed for dinner, which was pizza. (I just had one slice.)

May 30, 2010

"Papitou has two great friends:  sun and freedom"--Siren of the Tropics

    Didn't do much of anything today. (I had two baths and an afternoon nap again.)

    I wasn't up to eating dinner. (The others had pancakes.)

    Saw the DVD of Siren of the Tropics, a French silent movie with Josephine Baker. (Luis Bunuel was an assistant director.) She was pretty vivacious.

May 29, 2010

    I was going to go on a couple of Open Doors-related Meetup walks this weekend, but I had to cancel because of my cold.

    I did go out to get my blood iron level tested. (They sent me to a clinic near the Bathurst station.)

    After I got home I had an afternoon nap. (I don't much feel like doing anything just now.)

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    The last two days I've taken a bath in the morning and a second one in the evening!

    Saw Pulp Cinema, a DVD of film noir trailers.  Some of those films I'd like to see (A Woman's Face, The Bribe), others I'd like to see again (Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon). The Witness for the Prosecution trailer makes it look like a turkey, but I recall it was pretty good.

May 28, 2010

    Went to see Dr. Ang about my throat. (She was really busy:  I had to wait over an hour!) She gave my tongue a swab but didn't seem worried.

    Got an Ebay package which included the last Menomonee Falls Gazette comic strip reprint issue, giving me a full collection--except for issued 229 to 232, which have few of the regular strips.  I also got some more strip reprints, including the first episodes of Captain Easy (before Easy entered the strip, when the hero was Wash Tubbs) and On Stage!

    Dinner was shrimp in chili sauce, which actually suited my sore throat pretty well.

May 27, 2010

"Why did you hit my butler?"

Popeye: "I told ya I don't like his looks, that's why."

"Is that a good reason for hitting a man?"

"I don't need no reason....  I socks 'em where I sees 'em and I leaves 'em where I socks 'em--and that's that!"

--Thimble Theatre

"That's not solving anything!"

"Maybe some things just don't solve"

--Peyton Place

    My throat's so sore that I decided to cancel next week's singing lesson.

    Went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan.  He was interested in my Popeye reprint book.

    Dinner was curry.

    Ended up napping after dinner.

May 26, 2010

    Dreamed of visiting Holland and staying too long; seeing a new non-existent movie version of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; buying new identity papers from a Turk who was intolerant of the Kurds.

    Father and John are almost finished with the new roof.  They had to clear the wall in my room next to it, which meant moving the bulk of my comic strip collection out to the hall. (Oh well, I was going to go through it to find the Tarzan comics anyway.)

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was the rest of the fettucine and lasagna.

    Got through choir practice despite a sore throat.  We did a piece from Verdi's I Lombardi that was last done before I joined the choir!

May 25, 2010

Sea Hag (after being thrown into the sea): "Curses!  I can't swim!"

Popeye: "I'll give ya a lesson, Missus Sea Hag.  First duck yer head, then open yer mouth an' take a deep breath.  Try it!"--Thimble Theatre

Introducing Jack the Ripper: "Spring Heel Jack, the most interesting character of all time!"--Waxworks

    Dreamed of getting up so early that I didn't know what I was doing; the wonderful Alice Munro story "Day of the Butterfly" (which I read in high school).

    At today's singing lesson I tried the recitativo from the Macbeth aria. (I'd borrowed the score from the Reference Library again--too bad the ink on my copy was faint.)

    I'm now reading more of the Popeye reprint.  The Sea Hag is really creepy!

    Dinner was lasagna.

    My uncle Alfie died in Cape Breton. (He was about 90.  I hadn't expected he'd outlive Aunt Alma, who died a few years ago.)

    Saw the DVD of Paul Leni's German silent Waxworks.  Lots of great expressionist tableaux.

May 24, 2010

"It's a game called 'slow murder,' or 'I just want to be honest with you, darling'..."--Peyton Place

    Dreamed of a trailer for a Robert Mitchum movie; getting onto a London Routemaster bus.

    John arrived in the morning. (I got up earlier than usual as a result.) They're going to remove the parapet and make a sloped roof over the sun room.

    Went to a Games Meetup at Queen's Park, organized by Jackie.  I played Bohnanza and Puerto Rico, and won a game of Alhambra!

    I didn't get home till past 18:00, and feared I'd keep the others waiting, but it turned out that Father and John had kept up with their work and only just finished, so we only ate past 19:00 anyway! (Dinner was KFC.)

May 23, 2010

"Wouldn't it be more simple just to let them run him out of town?"--Peyton Place

Popeye the Sailor (in a fight): "A good big man can't lick an exter good little man."

    Went to a Walkers Meetup at Edwards Gardens.  There were 20 of us but we got rather scattered. (The horticultural building had a bonsai show.)

    John came over and he and Father are working on fixing the leaky ceiling in the sun room.

    Dinner was the rest of the fettucine and Indian food.

    I've been trying to write a new score for Wagner's Prize Song in the key of G instead of C, and I may have to admit defeat (unless I find ways to simplify it). [I did quit.]

May 22, 2010

(threateningly) "Dr. Rossi, you'll get everything that's coming to you!"--Peyton Place

    Dreamed of calculating the value of e (it's an infinite sum of inverse factorials); travelling from Ontario to New Brunswick and experiencing freezing cold at night.

    Father's been assembling new bookcases to accommodate all the used books he's been buying.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw the DVD of The Queen and I, an engaging documentary about an exiled Iranian communist getting to know the Shah's widow.

    Father temporarily cleared the furniture from one side of the sun room.  It's improved the acoustics when I practice singing there!

May 21, 2010

"He'll never forgive you."

"If something goes wrong?"

"No, he'll just never forgive you."

--Peyton Place

 Saw an episode of Peyton Place where Mrs. Harrington went through the same ulcer surgery that I underwent 28 years ago. (But she died.)

    John, Kathrine and Donald came over for dinner (which was takeout Indian food).

May 20, 2010

Old lady: "And as for marriage, in the old days we didn't talk about it!"--The Pallisers

President Harding: "I'm not worried about my enemies--it's my friends who keep me up nights!"--Backstairs at the White House

    Dreamed of the prison-set Warner Brothers cartoon Big House Bunny; the non-existent MGM cartoon Mary Picasso Had a Little Lamb; a magazine contest involving figuring out the connection between obscure words.

    Baked raisin bread.

    The hot weather has arrived!

    Went to the Reference Library and borrowed the score for Wagner's Die Meistersinger so I can make a score of the Prize Song.

    Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked, adding some cream for a change).

May 19, 2010

    Dreamed of trying to start a computer by rapping on the table; a Warner Brothers cartoon with an appearance by Peter Falk as Columbo(!).

    Got seven DVDs from zip.ca!

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was roast pork.

    Started reading a reprint of the comic strip Peanuts from 1957 and 1958.

    At the Games Meetup I played Settlers of Cata, Smallworld (my races were alchemist tritons and merchant halflings), and a short game of Carcassone without scoring (the scoring rules are too complicated for me anyway).

May 18, 2010

Young protester: "Mister, to my generation not wanting to grow up is a sign of maturity"--Jules Feiffer

"Can we trust an administration to make serious foreign policy decisions when it doesn't have access to information everybody else has?"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a South Park-type vulgar animated comedy where a little McGuffin clue revealed a huge deception scheme.

    Finished the Jules Feiffer collection.  Brilliant.

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    Saw a VHS video (haven't seen one of them in a while) which Moira got from the library, with Bill Moyers interviewing various people shortly after 9/11.  A mixed bag.

    Cleaned my windows for the spring.

    Jackie appreciated the Meetup post where I thanked her for the Timbits she brought Sunday.

May 17, 2010

Schoolgirls:

"Did you see John Wayne's son?...  I saw him in a special called Stagecoach.  He's beautiful!  Not at all like his father."

"What about this Carole Lombard?  All my friends say she steals from Lucille Ball."

--Jules Feiffer

    Dreamed of the saying about poker "If you can't figure out which player is the patsy, it's you!"; wondering whether that applies to romance too.

    My Metropass turned up. (I'd borrowed Moira's yesterday.)

    Mowed the lawn for the first time this year.

    Dinner was lasagna.

    At choir practice we spent most of this week on the Iris chorus again.

May 16, 2010

    Dreamed of casting the characters in a Muppet version of A Clockwork Orange! (Bert as the man who makes Alex lick his shoes?  Sam the Eagle as the social worker?)

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Ryerson Hub.  I played Metro, Ticket to Ride and Stone Age. (My Ticket to Ride game was disastrous!  Maybe I'd have done better if I had been sitting in a position where the board was upside-down to me.)

    Dinner was KFC.

May 15, 2010

Empress Elizabeth: "You can't live with seventeen imaginary lovers--what you need is one real one!"--The Rise of Catherine the Great

"When my peasants revolt, I should hang my governors"--ibid.

    Dreamed of seeing a billboard in London promoting the construction of a nearby shopping centre on "the Isle of Callay."

    I was going to go to the Bowling Meetup but I couldn't find my Metropass.

    Finally planted the head crops.

    When I came in, a saw my reflection in the glass in an inside door, and I thought it was Father!

    Dinner was scallops.

    Saw the DVD of the Korda production The Rise of Catherine the Great.  Pretty good, though Marlene Dietrich's The Scarlet Empress is crazier.  Flora Robson has a juicy role as her mother-in-law Empress Elizabeth.

May 14, 2010

"There is no truth."

"That's true."

--Jules Feiffer

    Dreamed of Steve Canyon cartoonist Milton Caniff's wife; noticing a resemblance between her and Steve's wife Summer Olson.

    Dinner was fish and chips.

    Went to Mary's games night, where I played Carcassone and Settlers of Catan.  The Settlers game was long and exciting:  I was well behind in the first part, but when it was over I was just one point behind the winner!

May 13, 2010

"I can't beg properly.  I can't paint properly.  But I can live my life properly"--Rembrandt

    Dreamed of a singer called Big Eyes who sang while laying railroad track; a computer screen that you opened just by rubbing a magic marker on a sheet of paper; taking vitamin pills (which resembled some of the counters in the board game Agricola).

    Baked whole wheat bread. (First I went out and bought a big club pack of flour.)

    Dinner was steak.

    Saw the DVD of Alexander Korda's Rembrandt (for the second time). Another Charles Laughton tour de force.

May 12, 2010

"Civil rights used to be so much more tolerable before Negroes got into it"--Jules Feiffer

"I'm going to invent a new birth control pill.  You swallow one and for a whole day it's as if you were never born"--ibid.

    Dreamed of an early biplane flying between my hometown Sackville, N.B. and nearby Aulac during a night of heavy rain; making a movie about Idi Amin.

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    At the Games Meetup I played Agricola and Carcassone.  Jackie and I took the subway together on the way home.

    Stayed awake past 03:00!

May 11, 2010

    Dreamed of asking Moira where I could buy The New York Sunday Times. (I haven't bought it for years!)

    At today's singing lesson I tried the recitativo at the start of "Il Balen di Suo Sorriso."

    Dinner was a curry.

    Went to a Shyness Meetup at Starbuck's near the Davisville station.

May 10, 2010

"What's brainwashing?"

"I'm not sure exactly.  It's something the enemy does."

--Jules Feiffer

"If they say fight, I'll fight.  The idea of a democracy is that people shouldn't be forced into acting the way the government wants.  They should do it on their own."--ibid.

    Dreamed of the song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain"; visiting our old house in Sackville, N.B., in the winter (in bare feet!) on the way to Halifax.

    We found some cauliflower and broccoli plants.

    Dinner was a roast chicken.

    At choir practice we did part of the opening chorus from Mascagni's Iris.  It's really tough.

May 9, 2010

"You're a shit, Malone!"

"Yeah, but I'm a police shit!"

--Australian police sex comedy Scobie Malone

    Didn't get out of bed till past 13:00.

    Finally got started rearranging my comics collection.

    Dinner was lobster rolls.

    Saw the DVD of Not Quite Hollywood, a brisk documentary about Australian B-movies from the 1970s and '80s.  Lots of commentary by Quentin Tarantino.

May 8, 2010

    Dreamed of introducing Mother to Games Meetup organizer Sarah; a triumphalist U.S. film released just after the Pearl Harbor raid; wonding if Doagie Hogan (an antihero character in the comic strip Steve Canyon) could outsmart Machiavelli.

    John came over to help fix the bathroom pipes.

    Unusually cool weather for May.

    Dinner was scallops.

    Saw the DVD of the Maysles brothers' famous documentary Grey Gardens.  It was strange and rather disturbing, as if photographer Diane Arbus made a movie.

May 7, 2010

    Dreamed of living on a boring colony on the moon; joining a choir there while pretending to be in a wheelchair.

    We picked up some cabbage and tomato plants, but it's still too early for the broccoli and cauliflower.

    Dinner was KFC.

    Saw the DVD Unseen Cinema, with dozens of early avant-garde films, largely silent.  I liked the Russian-style film about oil production.

May 6, 2010

Senator: "Mr. President, I want you to know that all of Congress is praying for you."

President Wilson (crippled by a stroke): "Oh, they are?  Which way?"

--Backstairs at the White House

    Dreamed of being midway through the British World War II documentary series The World at War.

    Baked rye bread.

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Saw the DVD of the first part of the middlebrow miniseries Backstairs at the White House.  Some nice acting.

    The bathtub drain got clogged and started dripping through the ceiling of the room below!

May 5, 2010

"You hurt me again.  But you know I like it, don't you?"--The Big Knife

"At the moment before the bomb drops--every person in the world will have the satisfaction of knowing his side was right"--Jules Feiffer

    Dreamed of doing my laundry during World War II; someone giving my clothes away before I was finished.

    Went shopping.

    Finished Empire.  The first part was good, but they ended up taking too many liberties with Roman history.

    Dinner was curry.

    At the Games Meetup, I managed to play four games!  They were Carcassone, Stone Age (Jackie won), Smallworld (my races were diplomatic amazons, flying skeletons and bivouacking ratmen), and Metro.

May 4, 2010

"Every way's a way to die, huh?"

"I'm older.  Every way's a way to live."

--The Big Knife

President Eisenhower: "I mean, of course, no disrespect for our enemies by that remark"--Jules Feiffer

    Dreamed of concealing a tissue box in a car.

    At today's singing lesson I tried "Cruda, Funesta, Smania" from Donizetti's Lucia di Lamermoor for the first time.

    Dinner was roast beef.

    Planted the potatoes.

    Saw the DVD of Robert Aldrich's movie of Clifford Odets' The Big Knife.  An unsubtle inside-Hollywood melodrama, with Pack Palance playing a movie star clearly based on John Garfield.  Of its time.

May 3, 2010

"Why do you think he left New York?"

"That's not a question, that's an insinuation."

--Peyton Place

    Dreamed of googling the song "You're a Builder-Upper" (which I've done before) and only finding foreign-language translations.

    Planted most of the vegetables. (I was hoping Father would help, but he was too tired.) There isn't much space left for the potatoes because I planted along east-west lines instead of north-south, which would have been more space-efficient.

    Dinner was ravioli. (Moira decided she prefers tortellini.)

    Saw Todd Haynes' Superstar:  The Karen Carpenter Story (made with Barbie and Ken dolls) on YouTube.

    At choir practice we spent almost the whole evening on the La Sonnambula chorus.

May 2, 2010

"Then you're 30 wishing you were 20, then you're 40 wishing you were 30..."--Peyton Place

    Dreamed of the John Wayne western The Searchers.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Foxes Den.  I played Metro and a new game called Stone Age.  The latter was pretty fun, and I did rather well for a beginner.  Jackie came, but I didn't get a chance to play a game with her.

    Dinner was shrimp and rice.

    Saw the DVD of Rene Clair's early sound movie Under the Roofs of Paris.  Quite an unglamorous portrait of the City of Light.

May 1, 2010

"Why can't I be an outsider?  Why can't I be hip?...  What I wouldn't give to be a non-conformist like all those others"--Jules Feiffer

Helen's husband (seeing her sister for the first time): "She's Helen's exact image--but beautiful!"--Her Sister From Paris

"He didn't pick you, Betty.  He married you, but--he didn't pick you"--Peyton Place

    Dreamed of visiting my alma mater Mount Allison campus in September; reading of a dictatorship in ancient Greece that collapsed in one generation; seeing a group of assassins stalking Roman Polanski; arriving home on New Year's Eve just before midnight.

    Started reading Explainers, a reprint of Jules Feiffer's early cartoons in The Village Voice from the late 1950s and early 1960s.  He was very original.

    Went to an Asperger's Meetup at Newtonbrook Bowlerama, where we played two games of five-pin bowling.  Rebecca smoked us, but I managed to come a strong second.

    Dinner was Chinese food.

    Saw the DVD of Her Sister From Paris, another Constance Talmadge-Ronald Colman silent comedy.