January 27, 2010

Clint Eastwood: "Well, are you going to pull those pistols or whistle 'Dixie'?"--The Outlaw Josey Wales

    Woke up early because I was angry about semi-mature games teenagers play with you when you're 13.

    Went down to the College Park office and finally got my health cared renewed.

    Dinner was roast chicken.

    Performed the Coro Verdi concert.  There were about 100 people, a lot more than I expected.  We did two pieces from Lucia di Lamermoor, making me hope Giuseppe's thinking of doing it again at the opera next year.

    Read over 60 pages of Seven Years in Tibet!

    A DVD of a Lenny Bruce concert film arrived in the mail, but it was broken in two!

January 26, 2010

Record label: "Rat stampede

                        to fool cats on the other side of fences"

--the Porky Pig cartoon Paying the Piper

    Dreamed of lying next to the entrance to Mt. Allison University's Physics & Engineering Building where Father worked and watching the Disney movie Superdad on TV; seeing some equestrians ride by and quickly taking pictures.

    Dinner was the rest of the lasagna.

    We rehearsed Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, in the reverse order (so the child extras could leave early). Afterward I helped bring up some big objects for the set from the basement.

January 25, 2010

Private eye Daffy Duck: "Then, what did you do?

Femme Fatale: "Search me..."

"Business before pleasure!"

--The Super Snooper

    Dreamed of joining President Obama in a trip to Hawaii to visit his rich in-laws(?); wondering which direction was north; seeing snow on the ground; watching the cartoon George of the Jungle on local TV.

    Dinner was steak.

    At choir practice we went through the dress rehearsal for Wednesday's concert.  The choir members have only sold 18 tickets so far. (I was hoping to sell some, but once again the rest of the family isn't interested.)

January 24, 2010

Howard Hawks on Sam Peckinpah: "I can kill three men and sent them to the morgue in the time it takes him to get one to the ground!"--quoted in the Warner Brothers documentary You Must Remember This

Bugs Bunny: "What is it with you?"

Daffy Duck: "I can't help it!  I'm a greedy slob!  It's my hobby!  Save me!"

--Ali Baba Bunny

    Dreamed of the house next to our old home in Sackville, N.B., being decorated with Japanese characters, including a katakana vowel and the kanji 本 for "hon" (root); President Eisehower noticing me tightening the tiny screw on my old glasses; the Stephen Foster song "Hard Times."

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at the organizer's apartment in Wynford Heights.  I showed them how to play The Amazeing Labyrinth, but we mostly just talked.

    Dinner was lasagna.

January 23, 2010

"I don't care whether it's wise or foolish, I want it!"--Tales of Hoffmann

    Dreamed of visiting Vancouver; riding in its mass transit system.

    Saw the cinemacast of the Metropolitan Opera production of Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann.  This version had the act set in Venice in the end rather than the middle.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

January 22, 2010

"Real life isn't movies.  It needs better writers"--You Must Remember This

"The only problem with silent films was that people's mouths would open and nothing would come out"--Alfred Hitchcock

    Dreamed of taking a Bible study class; a religious zealot loudly citing the Book of Hieronymus(?); meeting English women from the Victorian era and thinking of telling them the result of their next election.

    Dinner was salmon.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of You Must Remember This, a documentary series about the Warner Brothers studio.  Fascinating stuff.

January 21, 2010

"Is it wrong to wish your parents dead?"

"Not our parents!"

--Big Love

    Dreamed of being so weak in the legs that walking uphill became a struggle; seeing Cary Grant in a school corridor; overrated New York Times columnnist William Safire.

    Dinner was ham.

    Went shopping.

    Baked whole wheat bread overnight.

January 20, 2010

"If your religion depends on what someone wrote in a letter, what does that say about your religion?"--Big Love

    We finally finished the 2009 accounts for our used book business. (We bought a lot of books to add to the stock, which ate up most of our profit, but they should pay for themselves before long.)

    Dinner was spaghetti with primavera sauce made with soy milk. (I can take it or leave it.)

    We staged The Marriage of Figaro for the first time. (Beatrice is directing this opera.) I get to be in the five couple performing a courtly dance at the end of the first act!  Since the chorus only has a few numbers, we finished in just two hours, making up for last night's length.

    Saw the DVD of Pierrepoint:  The Last Hangman, with Timothy Spall as one of Britain's last hangmen.  A disquieting, very English story.

January 19, 2010

"How is she?..."

"You stay away from her is how she is!"

--Big Love

"Sometimes, the Indians and the renegades do win"--ibid.

    Dreamed of "Ledbetter" insects fossilized in shale; the song "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"

    Dinner was fried rice with pork and bean sprouts.

    We rehearsed Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci for almost four hours! (The soloists stayed even longer...)

January 18, 2010

A tense moment: "Put down the carrot and the grater."

--Big Love

    Dreamed of waking up in a motel room; wanting to hang up my pants but being unable to find them; Vincent Canby's New York Times review of Bo Derek's Tarzan remake, which he called "the kind of movie you could only enjoy after a few cocktails."

    The internet link was off for most of the day.

    Dinner was steak.

    Our patron Tony Fusco was supposed to appear at choir practice to discuss the choir's future but he stood us up.

    I've started translating the passages in the Teach Yourself Ancient Greek book (and its online supplement) into Chinese and Japanese as well as English, like I was doing with Julius Caesar's Latin history of his wars in Gaul.

January 17, 2010

    Dreamed of being in Seattle at the time of a crisis when people expected nuclear missiles to be sent everywhere; wanting to move to Canada; seeing a blackface jazz band in the street; writing this down on a street in Father's hometown of Campbellton, N.B.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin.  I played Smallworld, Apples to Apples and Puerto Rico. (My Smallworld races were stout ratmen, berserk skeletons and dragonmaster humans.)

    John and Kathrine came over for dinner, which was vegan spinach lasagna. (Then I sneaked out for KFC.)

January 16, 2010

    Went to a Breakfast Club Meetup at Eggspectations outside Eaton Centre.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    In the afternoon I went to a Bowling Meetup at Newtonbrook Bowlerama.  My first game was a disaster, my second slightly better.

January 15, 2010

Robert Duvall (on apocalyptic times): "Even if you know what to do, would you know what to do?"--The Road

    Dreamed of a remake of The Crying Game; the song "You're a Builder-Upper"; Scooby Doo (a cartoon I've never watched).

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was curried pork.

    Saw the episodic movie of Cormac McCarthy's curious dystopian novel The Road at the Revue.  Viggo Mortensen was in fine form.

January 14, 2010

"We're not Mormon Mormons."

Bruce Dern on his newest wife: "She sits, fetches--and rolls over!"

--Big Love

    Dreamed of a limousine chase on rural Greek roads; the scene in Oliver Twist where Bill Sikes murders Nancy; reflecting that it's a disgrace how long England's workhouse system lasted.

    Went to Blockbuster and rented the DVD of the first episodes of the third season of Big Love.  It's still a wonderful show, both dramatic and funny.

    Dinner was salmon.

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at the Second cup near the Kingsway station.  We ended up talking about The Simpsons!

January 13, 2010

Homer: "Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974!"

Introductions: "Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins."

"Homer Simpson, smiling politely"

--The Simpsons

Dreamed about Marilyn Monroe.

Went shopping. (Our back door is frozen shut, so we had to take the groceries in through the front door!)

Dinner was primavera pasta.

Went to my last Wednesday night Games Meetup for a while (before opera rehearsal interferes). I played Puerto Rico and Smallworld.  My races in the latter game were seafaring amazons (again!), underworld giants and fortified orcs.

The other day Mother mentioned that her father may have been unfaithful to her mother.

January 12, 2010

Changeable sign: "The United States: (131) years without a civil war"--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of complaining that Christopher Hitchens says what the people in power want to hear. (On waking up, I realized that wasn't fair.)

    I completely forgot I had an appointment with my shrink Dr. Hassan!  Lucky Father was able to drive me there.

    Dinner was spaghetti.

    Started reading Heinrich Harrer's Seven Years in Tibet.

    At opera rehearsal  we staged Pagliacci for the first time.  At the climax one of the pillars got knocked down! (Kenan was doing a funny dance.)

January 11, 2010

    Dreamed of the Four Seasons song "December 1963"; being in front of a British theatre and noticing a review of the play there, saying that it was a fine production but the play itself was ludicrous.

    Went to Indigo Books and got a cheap calendar with 1960s designs. (I almost bought one with Tate Gallery self-portraits, but the Stanley Spencer on the cover looked depressing!) I also got a reprint of Jules Feiffer cartoons from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

    Dinner was boneless pork roast.

    At choir practice Giuseppe read us a letter from our patron Tony Fusco asking us to redouble our promotional efforts. (The Christmas concert had a small audience, but I think that's because we raised the ticket price to $25; at $15 we'd have had twice as many people and a bigger take overall.)

January 10, 2010

    Dreamed of playing a saxophone (which I briefly did in my youth); a story on an ocean liner captained by dwarf actor Herve Villechaize, where I wasn't sure which character I was; a version of Full Metal Jacket where the Drill Instructor survived being shot and went to Vietnam with the recruits; meeting a girl in a shopping centre who thought my name was Jordache (the family on Rich Man, Poor Man, which I was recently watching) and humoring her because I wanted to meet her.

    Alex North's excellent Rich Man, Poor Man theme is still an earworm in my head.

    Saw the DVD of William Hartnell-era Dr. Who adventure "The Keys of Marinus." (The later "Key to Time" season was a retread of that one.) There were a total of six episodes!

    Dinner was vegetarian chili. (I was tempted to sneak out to KFC afterward, but I felt full.)

January 9, 2010

    Baked multigrain bread overnight.

    Dreamed of a story about a filmmaker witnessing World War II.

    In the morning there was a big Jack Frost creation on my window.

    Had breakfast at Cora's with the Walking Meetup, then we walked along Little Italy. (I bought seven books from the dollar bin at Balfour Books.)

    Finally started our book business accounts for 2009.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of the Upstairs, Downstairs spinoff Thomas and Sarah.  They're a funny pair.

January 8, 2010

    Dreamed of the Chinese Dance from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet; jigsaw puzzles with pictures of characters from British comics.

    Finished watching Rich Man, Poor Man, except they hadn't posted the 11th of its 12 hours, which I also missed the first time around.

    Dinner was pork chops.

    Saw the DVD of a documentary about Cole Porter.  What a mysterious talent songwriting is!

    I mistook "tekno^n" for "techno^n" and mistranslated the Greek saying "Breeding children means self-inflicted grief" as "Self-inflicted grief breeds wisdom"! Which is pretty good too...

January 7, 2010

End of a "Dear John" note: "It's for the best.  Thanks for the memories.  Ha ha!"--Rich Man, Poor Man

    Dinner was a chicken curry with korma sauce. (I didn't care for it.)

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at the Ryerson student centre.  We played Settlers of Catan, which I won! (I'd only won once before, and then we were only playing up to 7 points instead of 10.) There were four of us, and I had to explain it to two who'd never played it before.  They enjoyed the game.

    On the way to Ryerson I saw a long queue of people waiting to meet a wrestler who was signing his new DVD in the record store near Dundas Square.

January 6, 2010

"My grandfather built this [mansion] to last for eternity.  And I'm living it."--Rich Man, Poor Man

    Dreamed of a crazy version of the future.

    Went shopping. (Our load was small this week.)

    Last week I also got the book Teach Yourself Ancient Greek. (I learned some about 25 years ago.) Today I learned some sayings.

    Dinner was KFC.

    At tonight's Games Meetup at 401 Games, I played Smallworld and Galaxy Trucker.  In the former game my races were seafaring amazons, merchant skeletons and wealthy humans.  I led the scoring in the latter game.

January 5, 2010

    Someone on Youtube posted all of the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man in nine-minute pieces!  His playlist turned out not to be in order so when I saw the first episode I ended up seeing parts of it twice.

    Dinner was salmon.

    At opera rehearsal we staged Cavalleria Rusticana for the first time. (Giovanni's standing close to me again.) Barbara was impressed that most ofus seemed to know our parts completely.  Giuseppe started conducting without taking his cap off!

January 4, 2010

    Dreamed of a comic antihero who was the prime minister for a Viking king, and both paranoid and incompetent; hoping that the '70s miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man would be released on DVD.

    Finally practised my opera notes.  I know them pretty well.

    Dinner was linguini. (It would have been spaghetti, but we didn't look at the fine print on the package.)

    Choir practice resumed.  We started preparing for a concert on the 27th, including the Sextet from Lucia di Lamermoor.

    Last week I bought a German grammar book. (Singing German songs got me interested in increasing my small knowledge of the language.) Moira got touchy about me learning "her" language, though I didn't complain when she started learning Latin.  Anyway, when I've finished reading through it I'll give it to her:  she should find it very useful when she's learning German.

January 3, 2010

   Went to a Games Meetup at Jeffrey's place.  We played Shadows Over Camelot (which I'd suggested because I'd never played it before). I was the traitor, and managed to hoodwink the others until near the end of the game.  They succeeded despite my efforts.

    Dinner was turkey pie.

    Saw Edward Dmytryk's The Left Hand of God, the one with Humphrey Bogart as a fake priest at a China mission.  Pretty conventional.

    Saw the DVD of the first episodes of The Frighteners, a documentary series about directors of thrillers. (The first two were about Jack Arnold and William Castle.)

    I'm now reading Michael Wex' Born to Kvetch, a history of the Yiddish language.

January 2, 2010

"When a skunk needs killin'--well, it ain't enough to say a skunk's a skunk"--How the West Was Won.

    Dreamed of waiting to see a spaceship take off for the moon and ending up in the crew; seeing trees on the moon below and pointing out that the moon had no trees; a non-existent Warner Brothers cartoon with a cameo by the CBC's Friendly Giant playing his recorder; wanting to tell Father about it but finding him on the phone with a used-book buyer.

    Baked rye bread.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    Joined the Introvert Meetup at Danforth Bowl again. (I didn't get any strikes this time.) There was a Japanese guy who bowled like a champ.

    Finished the travel issue of Lapham's Quarterly.

    Saw How the West Was Won yet again, on DVD.  Cheesy, vulgar triumphalism with some odd casting (Gregory Peck as a gambler?), it's a guilty pleasure.

January 1, 2010

"He might become a great author."

"That isn't as good as knowing one."

--An Education

"If I had a hangover, at least I'd feel something"--Children of Men 

"Nils, can't two shipwrecked people cling to each other?"--A Doll's House

    I bought this diary Tuesday night after seeing the excellent An Education at Canada Square.

    On New Year's Eve we saw the DVD of Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men, an intelligent and entertaining dystopian adventure.

    Last night I dreamed of doing a cryptic crossword puzzle where an answer on the right end of the grid went off the page's edge. (I'd taken a couple of sleeping pills and slept around the clock.)

    Dinner was ham.

    Saw the DVD of the superb BBC adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House with Juliet Stevenson, for the third time. (The same disc had a striking 1959 video of Ibsen's Brand with Patrick McGoohan.)