November 17, 2010

"He has a wife and three children living in England."

"They usually have a wife, but not always in England"

--The Maltese Falcon

To a flatfoot team: "What's your boyfriend getting at, Tom?"--ibid.

    Dreamed of being in my hometown Sackville on the day of the spring convention at my alma mater Mt. Allison University; deciding not to attend it.

    Went shopping.

    I've reached Level 25 in Farmville and opened a bakery!

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at the Tim Horton's near St. Patrick station.

    Dinner was salmon.

    Saw a special screening of John Huston's The Maltese Falcon, yet again, at the Paramount.  It still packs a punch:  Humphrey Bogart dared to play Sam Spade as disturbingly tough. (Several Meetup groups went to see it, but I ended up seeing it independently.)

November 16, 2010

    Dreamed of being a hockey coach choosing a starting lineup; the Rachmaninoff prelude that sounds like a concerto.

    Baked whole wheat bread. (I was going to bake multigrain, but we're out of multigrain flour.)

    Dinner was shepherd's pie.

    At opera rehearsal, Die Fledermaus director Beatrice was grateful that we've memorized so much of the score already.

November 15, 2010

Marge: "Stores throw the best parties!"--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of a werewolf movie climax being filmed in daytime(!) at the place where the US-Mexico border meets the Pacific Ocean; wondering why the area wasn't more urban.

    Dinner was roast beef.

    Skipped choir practice so I could see the DVD of the Steve Coogan movie Hamlet 2. (I waited till Moira returned from Kingston.  I've been getting a bit behind in the zip.ca videos.

    We also saw the DVD of the first episode of The Music of Primes, a show by the same people who made The Story of Math.

November 14, 2010

   Dreamed of meeting the actor Darren McGavin in a supermarket; McGavin complaining that the USA didn't spend enough money on international summits; the Jewish mother's line in Todd Solondz' Happiness sequel Life During Wartime "We voted for Bush and Cheney because it was good for Israel, even though we know they're total idiots!"; wondering if she'd really admit it openly.

    Saw the DVD of the Chinese action epic Warriors of Heaven and Earth.  Pretty fun, though the CGI stuff at the climax was a bit silly.

    Dinner was curried shrimp.

    My choir did the first Lucia di Lamermoor performance.  Sinead was in great form!

    Frontierville has some bug that means when I clear a cattle skull and clobber the snake that appears, the connections goes away and I get set back to before the skull was cleared.  One thing I can do is have a hired friend clear it instead.

November 13, 2010

   Dreamed of going to a military recruiting office but chickening out; Philm Phan (one of my friends at mrcranky.com ) coming to town; sleeping outdoors and getting soaked in the rain.

    Saw the cinemacast of the Metropolitan Opera production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.  John de Carlo was really funny in the title role! (I met my singing teacher Giuseppe during the intermission.)

    Dinner was pizza.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Runnymede Starbuck's.  I played Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride (smoked 'em again!) and a card game called Werewolf.  In the second round of Werewolf I was the Hunter, and when they lynched me I was able to take the real Werewolf with me! (That would make a good horror movie ending...

November 12, 2010

Homer's brain (to Homer): "You don't want to know what I think.  Just look sad and say 'D'oh!'"--The Simpsons

Sideshow Bob: "I know I don't deserve an opportunity, but as an American, aren't I entitled to one?"--ibid.

    Last night I had dinner at Tucker's Marketplace with the Uptown Meetup.

    Dreamed of an Allied submarine crew in Newfoundland during World War II seeking a wrecked sub; a large-scale David Lean-type epic movie production heading for disaster.

    Since Moira is in Kingston, the parents and I had dinner at the Mandarin Restaurant.

    I now have a virtual wife in the online game Frontierville!  I've named her Gracie, nee Reynolds.

November 10, 2010

    Dreamed of the Longfellow poem "The Village Blacksmith"; Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland song "I Can't Do the Sum."

    Baked cheese bread.

    Dinner was a cauliflower & cheese recipe Moira made, along with basmati rice.

    Went to the Games Meetup.  I played The Amazeing Labyrinth, the American version of Ticket to Ride (which I always seem to get one ticket too many!), and a new car game called Turn the Tide.

November 9, 2010

    Dreamed of a British comic annual story about a Robin Hood-like outlaw hero with a treehouse lair.

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was fettucine pesto (which I cooked).

    At opera rehearsal I lent the Die Fledermaus DVD to Barbara so she could lend it to David Roche.  Poor Giuseppe got laryngitis!

November 8, 2010

    We took the big coffee table and a whole lot of old clothes to the Salvation Army.

    Headache!

    Dinner was the rest of the Chinese food, etc.

    At choir practice we went through the Lucia di Lamermoor dress rehearsal.  For the first time, Sinead was singing the title role with us.  I also folded some of the concert programs.

November 7, 2010

"You're going through menopause.  It's affecting your sense of smell."

"I smell with my nose, not with my coochie!"

--Weeds

On an Indian restaurant: "The food is to die for, be reincarnated and die for again!"--ibid.

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at The Second Cup on the York University campus.  It's the first time I've gone there in years! (There's a new parking building.) [I got a Ph.D. at York.]

    Dinner was Chinese food.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of Founding Brothers, a History Channel documentary series about crises in the first years of the American republic.

November 6, 2010

"I pretended I was a bird; now I'm pretending I'm me"--Birdy

"Celia...  I had no idea you read books!"--Weeds

    Dreamed of eating huge blueberries which resembled miniature earth globes from a plant near our old house in Sackville, N.B.; thinking "The world was my oyster."

    Went to the Royal Winter Fair.  I was going to join a Meetup group but I couldn't find the others. (The organizer couldn't make it.)

    Finished Birdy.  I should see the movie again. [I haven't.]

    Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.

    Saw the DVD of the National Film Board documentary Louisbourg Under Siege.

    I also saw the DVD of the first episodes of Weeds.  It's a funny show, especially the Elizabeth Perkins character.

November 5, 2010

"There's practically nothing smells or feels so comforting as deep earth when you're scared.  Now wonder men lived in caves"--Birdy

"Okeydokey, Doggie Daddy!"--True Romance

"I love her!"

"You stuck your penis into her.  That's not the same as love, believe me!"--Weeds

    Dreamed of the comic strip Modesty Blaise; comedienne Jane Curtin; packing everything before leaving town; the TV show Twin Peaks.

    Dinner was the rest of the meat loaf.

    Went to a Movie Meetup.  We met at the Tim Horton's near North York Centre and Sean took us to the media room in his apartment building. (They even have some cinema-type seats there!) We saw the Quentin Tarantino-Tony Scott production True Romance (me for the third time).  It's fun despite some disturbing violence.

November 4, 2010

"I know that sleeping without dreaming is being dead"--Birdy

    Dreamed of Neve Campbell (none of whose movies I've seen) playing Wonder Woman; falling into a lake; an ignorant preacher telling me I didn't really hate school; being unable to finish breakfast in the morning.

    Baked whole wheat bread.

    Puitak visited.

    Dinner was meat loaf.

    Went to an Art Meetup.  We went on an art walk around Queen Street West and visited two galleriies and a menswear boutique.

    I've been going through my new Prince Valiant Sundays.  Really impressive visual storytelling.

November 3, 2010

"The prison is sold out"--Die Fledermaus

    Dreamed of meeting the late Michael Jackson; Jackson being impressed by the bandage on my nose; hearing a proposal at a committee meeting and playing the skeptic.

    Saw the DVD of a Bavarian State Opera production of Die Fledermaus.  It's pretty cute in a Central European sort of way.

    Dinner was KFC.

    Went to a Games Meetup at 401 Games, for the first time in a while.  I played Tsuro (which I won!), Agricola (first time I played with a total of just three players) and Dice Town for the first time (I smoked the other two, but I don't care for dice games so much).

November 2, 2010

    Dreamed of walking on the Trans-Canada Trail near Moncton; walking up to what seemed to be a steep cliff but turned out to be a gentler slope; being in a movie with a Brat Pack actress.

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was grilled pork steak. (Moira baked another fine apple pie.)

    At opera rehearsal we did the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly. (I have the first half ot our Die Fledermaus part memorized!)

November 1, 2010

"Games are something we've made up to help us forget we've forgotten how to play"--Birdy

    Dreamed of reflecting on how I've always disapproved of the Canadian government applying the War Measures Act in 1970.

    We dropped off some old computers at a recycling place on Jane Street.

    Finished spading the garden before winter. (I also pruned the plum tree.  Hey, that's a pun!)

    Dinner was beef stroganoff.

    At choir practice we had a substitute pianist who didn't know the score quite as well as Adolfo does.  I decided to get tickets for the family to see the Friday Lucia di Lamermoor performance. (John might want to come over Sunday.) Parts of the mad scene have been going through my head.

October 31, 2010

"Before you know it, if you're not careful, you can get to feeling sorry for everybody and there's nobody left to hate"--Birdy

    First snow of the season!  I took out my long johns.

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Foxes Den.  I played Archaeology and Smallworld. (The latter game I played in the expanded version for the first time, but didn't try any of the new races or powers; just commando skeletons, berserk ratmen and alchemist tritons.  I won!)

    John and Kathrine came over for dinner, which was Indian food.

    Finally saw Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre at the Underground. (Dion Conflict introduced it.) Gothic corn, stylish and disturbing.  Afterward I bought some TV kitsch DVDs from DC.

    Read over 60 pages of Birdy!

October 30, 2010

"Hell, no good psychiatrist would be working for the stinking army.  If he were even average, he'd be in the air corps"--Birdy

    Dreamed of being the US president inside the White House; the TV show The Waltons; the Shakespeare line "The evil that me do outlives them"; the votes being counted at a Presidential nomination convention.

    Went to a nearby Aspergers Meetup (the Tim Horton's at Vaughan & St. Clair). We ate some Halloween candy.

    Dinner was grilled chicken.

    Went to a Games Meetup.  I played rummy, Monopoly and The Amazeing Labyrinth.

October 29, 2010

"Not many people are interested in what somebody else is thinking, or what they have to say....  Sometimes, somebody'll get like they're listening, but they're only waiting back in their minds for you to say something, something they can jump on or kick off on themselves"--Birdy

    Dreamed of the cinema in my hometown Sackville, N.B. showing a series of movies of W. Somerset Maugham's writing; a reprint of New York Times crossword puzzles from 1974.

    Former Maclean's magazine editor Peter C. Newman bought a book from us! (It's Thomas Raddall's The Paths of Destiny.) I got a glimpse of him when he picked it up.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

    We did an extra choir rehearsal to make up for Thanksgiving week.  After going through Lucia di Lamermoor, we started on the Christmas songs.

October 28, 2010

    Dreamed of a big diagram of a cake filled with ice cream showing the ingredients in each part.

    Dinner was frozen fish.

    Saw the first episode of the DVD of the documentary King Arthur's Britain.

October 27, 2010

"Birdy never was dumb, most thing he did made sense in a special kind of way.  I'm still not sure about this crazy business either.  What's crazy?  Wars are crazy for sure"--Birdy

"It's the first time Birdy and I really begin to learn something of what a mean shitty world it is"--ibid.

    I gave in and spent real money to buy some horseshoe currency in the online game Frontierville, something I never expected to do.

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was ham quiche.

    Went to a Games Meetup at Snakes and Lattes.  I poayed Scrabble (which I won by a street) and Taboo.