March 26, 2011

    Dreamed of waking up in the morning and being unable to open my eyes; a new BBC radio theme that started out with conventional stateliness but turned into banjo music.

    I've started reading How the Scots Invented Canada.  It has a lot of stuff I didn't know.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of the American history series America:  A History of US.  Too many comments by celebrities like Donald Trump.

    Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).

    Saw the DVD of the NFB documentary White Thunder, about Varick Frissell and the tragedy that accompanied his making of the Newfoundland sealing movie The Viking. (Thirty years ago Moira researched the disaster in Newfoundland.)

    Then I saw the Ken Burns documentary about Louisiana demagogue Huey Long.  At times I had trouble keeping my eyes open (like in the dream).

March 25, 2011

    Dreamed of finding that zip.ca had sent us the DVD of Se7en months ago (I have no interest in serial killer movies); considering how I came to dislike the character of Claire in the last two seasons of Six Feet Under (a charmless combination of ruthlessness and self-pity).

    Baked whole wheat bread.

    That Les Miserables song someone sang in last night's masterclass concert ("Empty Chairs and Empty Tables") is going through my head.  Such kitschy music!

    Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.

    Performed Rigoletto with Coro Verdi.  Turns out we're going to perform Verdi's Nabucco in June.

    Finally started a new city in the online game Glory of Rome.  I asked the leaders of my Pandora's Box alliance where I should place it, but got no answer, so I basically took a shot in the dark.  I've called it Basilopolis.

March 24, 2011

    Dreamed of meeting a soothsayer on an airplane who predicted I'd marry a man. [Hasn't happened yet!]

    I've been thinking about how heroic the Fukushima reactor workers are, risking their health and their lives to stop the meltdown, not just for Japan but to protect the whole world.  It reminds me of Churchill's line "Never before have so many owed so much to so few!" [The people who contained the Covid epidemic come to mind too.]

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was fish sticks.

    Performed in the master class concert.  Because I had a red shirt, on a whim I wore a black bowtie instead of my red necktie.  I carelessly came onstage before Beatrice had introduced my songs.  Mother and Moira weren't up to it, but Father came. (So did Tiffany from the Asperger's Meetup.)

    Finished Anne of Windy Poplars in the wings before the concert started.

March 23, 2011

"Mr. Westcott, please hear me through patiently before--"

"I am patient... very patient.  Proceed!"

--Anne of Windy Poplars

"You're not a foot, Andy"--Weeds

    Dreamed of meeting the Celtic band The Chieftains; one of them playing an instrument that looked like a stout whistle.

    Headache!

    Snow today. (I'm not yet finished with my winter boots.)

    Dinner was more stir-fry.

    Saw the DVD of the National Film Board documentary of Douglas Coupland's Souvenir of Canada.  Pretty lightweight. (At least there was no Trudeaumania stuff...)

    Dress-rehearsed the master class concert.  Giuseppe said that Beatrice was vaccinated with a phonograph needle!

March 22, 2011

"Next time you're in my face, gargle!"--Weeds

    Dreamed of Paul Newman in the police drama Fort Apache, the Bronx (which I haven't seen); actors Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman insulting each other while working together.

    Dinner was shrimp linguine.

    Went to a master calss rehearsal.  Carrie's doing a Nabucco aria, fortunately at the end of the show. (She's a hard act to follow!) (We rehearsed on the stage, and it's humbling to sing in front of an auditorium with a big vacuum that requires talent to even half-fill.  Giuseppe said we'll have singing lessons Mondays at noon again.

    The Toronto City Opera is condering doing Lucia di Lamermoor, The Merry Widow and The Barber of Seville next year.

    Weeds rather went off the deep end in its third season! [For me, the "jump the shark" moment was with the summer school run by religious nuts...]

March 21, 2011

    Dreamed of Father attending a labour demonstration in London; Father trying to make orange juice through a slow drip method; going to a zoo in London, Ontario; trying to climb a sloped surface behind the back row of an auditorium but finding it too steep; trying to distribute a complicated system of counters to start playing a board game.

    Dinner was steak and the rest of the Chinese food.

    I was uncharacteristically late for choir practice, where we were dress-rehearsing Rigoletto. (Long wait for the bus...)

    My glasses frame came undone again, and I had a devil of a time redoing it! (The tiny screw I needed to drive in kept being drawn toward a nearby magnetic part.)

    I put my winter boots aside and started wearing sneakers again.

March 20, 2011

    I've been getting thinner recetly, and it finally occurred to me to tighten the belt-string on my pajamas!

    Went to an Art Meetup at the Spence Gallery in Mirvish Village where we met South American artist Marcelo Suasquabar.  He's a pretty outre surrealist who likes checkerboard surfaces.

    Afterward I went to Book City nearby and bought a few books, including Ken McGoogan's How the Scots Invented Canada. (Mother will probably want to read that one.)

    Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune cookie said "Use your charm and personality to your advantage.")

    Saw the DVD of the World War I silent The Unbeliever, which was pretty shameless (especially the scenes with Beastly Hun Erich Von Stroheim). I'm annoyed by movies that conflate patriotism with religion.  Were women prettier 100 years ago?

March 19, 2011

"How are things?"

"Sticky!"

--The Man in the White Suit

"I'd never dream of letting you marry me in the heat of the moment, before you can do it in cold blood"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a slapstick comedy where someone gets attacked by five guys at once but made short work of them; visiting the old Arthur Murray dance studio [where I took lessons at age 40] and pretending I was interested in buying more lessons.

    Dinner was stir-fry, which Moira made the way our Chinese friend Puitak makes it!

    Finally saw the DVD of Alexander MacKendrick's The Man in the White Suit (for the second time), after zip.ca sent us a new copy.  Classic Ealing Studios Alec Guiness vehicle.

March 18, 2011

    Dinner was roast pork (undercooked in the middle).

    Went to an Art Meetup at the Gardiner Ceramics Museum.  They had a special exhibit of Sarah Woodman's work.  I bought Mother a guide to the museum. [She was interested in antiques.]

    I finally got a fifth cohort in the computer game Glory of Rome, so now I can build a second city.

March 17, 2011

    Dreamed of "waking up" in a car as we were driving from my old home in Sackville, N.B., back to Toronto; wondering how far we'd gone; seeing that the car was floating on water.

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was fish.

    Captain Video is closing down so I went out without a sweater (first time this year!) and bought some cheap DVDs, including Troy, American History X (which I still haven't seen!) and the first season of Miami Vice.

    Saw the DVD of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo.  It was another masterpiece from animation's greatest auteur since Walt Disney. (The story involves an eerily prophetic tsunami.) Looks like that creepy American practice of kids calling parents by their first name has spread to Japan too.

March 16, 2011

"You talk in the language of the violets, Miss Shirley"--Anne of Windy Poplars

"Hearts will never be practicable until they invent one that's unbreakable"--The Wizard of Oz

    Dreamed of meeting a famous Argentinian writer; trying to tell him how much I resented Britain's New Labour government for passively accepting even the worst privatizations.

    Went shopping. (I'm now wearing my spring cap!)

    I had to have dinner early and Moira had to have it late, so I ate on my own (McDonald's, of course).

    Saw The Wizard of Oz (for the fifth time) at the Paramount with the Movie Meetup group.  It's a classic despite all the cheesy touches (especially the scenes involving the Witch). My favourite part has always been the tornado sequence.

March 15, 2011

    Dreamed of accidentally pushing a car out of a snowbank.

    Tried to watch The Man in the White Suit, but the DVD proved to be unplayable.

    Finished our used-book business accounts.

    Dinner was the rest of the Indian food.

    Saw the DVD of the movie of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.  Nicely atmospheric, with Alan Arkin in fine form.

March 14, 2011

    Dreamed of going on vacation and packing far more luggage than I needed.

    Dinner was McCain's pizza. (Moira was going to make pizza herself, but couldn't find where they sell pizza dough.)

    At choir practice we did a run-through of most of Rigoletto. (When we voiced the wind in the storm scene, Giuseppe said "What kind of wind is that?  It's more like a fart!"

March 13, 2011

"I don't like big feet.  They remind me of gammon"--I'm Alan Partridge

    Dreamed of Mae West.

    Went to the latest Classical Music Meetup event:  a Caroline Leonardelli harp concert at the North York Centre library.  I was late (bloody Daylight Savings Time!).  My favourite piece was Debussy's "The Girl With Flaxen Hair." I'd never noticed that harps had so many pedals...

    Donald, John and John's family came over for dinner, which was Indian food. (This time, at my suggestion, they got two meat dishes instead of just one.)

    Saw the DVD of When the Moors Ruled Europe,  a British TV documentary about medieval Spain. 

March 12, 2011

"It's impossible to think of Canada ever being at war again.  I am so thankful that phase of history is over"--Anne of Windy Poplars

"It's a who's who of everyone who's who--who lives in Norwich"--I'm Alan Partridge

    Dreamed of the newspaper The Montreal Gazette (which I haven't read for years).

    Went to lunch with the Introvert Meetup at the Duke of Kent. (Only three people came.)

    Dinner was chicken divan.

    Went to a Karaoke Meetup at Bar Plus. (A few months without, then two on consecutive nights!)

    In the online game Frontierville I bought a Kobe cow to contribute to Japanese earthquake relief.

March 11, 2011

    Dreamed of the Sergio Leone western Once Upon a Time in the West (which I've seen several times).

    Dinner was curried shrimp.

    Saw the DVD of the first episodes of the second season of Steve Coogan's I'm Alan Partridge.  In one episode he visited his old school and caused a scene for headmaster who'd wrongly caned him and the classmate, now a teacher, who was really to blame. (He'd drawn a penis on the back of Alan's uniform.) I did not pity their undermined authority:  they got what they deserved!

    Went to a karaoke event organized by the Introvert Meetup.  One guy sang "Come and Get It," which I hadn't heard for years! (How do I remember songs like that?)

March 10, 2011

    Dreamed of a Democrat convention to nominate a presidential candidate dissolving into acrimonious factionalism; a non-existent TV thriller series about a guy carrying an object full of incriminating information, being chased by ruthless government operatives.

    Went to the Tibetan demonstration at the Chinese Consulate-General.  I didn't know there were that many Tibetans in Canada! (I heard about the event on Facebook from Cheri di Novo, whom I think I saw there--she was the only blonde.)

    Then I went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan, who says I'm his hero(?).

    Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.

    Went to the master class.  Henry sang Gounod's "Ave Maria" just before I sang "Le Veau d'Or" from Faust, and I quipped "From Gounod's heaven to Gounod's hell!"

    Moira said I shouldn't read Anne of Windy Poplars on the bus late at night lest I get attacked, which led to a spat. (Is she afraid they'll think I'm gay?)

March 9, 2010

    Got my hair cut. (The barber had seemed interested in my operas, but she didn't get around to seeing them.)

    We resumed work on our used-book business accounts. (September was profitable.)

    Dinner was stir-fry chicken.

    Went to the master class.  I had to leave early, so Giuseppe let me sing first.

    Then I went to a new Discussion Meetup.  We split into small groups to discuss different subjects.  I met several immigrants, including a Japanese girl called Azumi who was impressed by my ability to say a few sentences in her language.

    Baked rye bread overnight.

March 8, 2011

Hostage (being released): "Would you really have killed me?"

"I'd have saved you for last."

--Carlos

    Dreamed of a tough manly thriller set in a town in Alaska; the Robert Mitchum remake of The Big Sleep (which I haven't seen).

    Went shopping.

    Dinner was steak.

    Went to Paramount Middle East Foods near Dundas Square and paid my fee for the upcoming karaoke night.

    Then I went to the Bickford Centre and helped put awawy the opera sets.  I was there less than an hour, but got a slight gash on one finger.

    Then I went to the Revue and saw Olivier Assayas' long but absorbing biopic Carlos.  I have to admit that those terrorists seemed to have more guts than me. (I'm all talk...)

March 7, 2011

"Don't rape the messenger"--Weeds

    In the online game Kingdoms of Camelot I got raided by someone in Camford and lost a lot of resources, so I finally quit James Barger's alliance--which still had only three members--and joined the Train Wreck alliance instead. (I guess I should have quit earlier, but I didn't want to be disloyal, and I kept hoping the alliance would grow.) The same raider hit Camford a second time, but he hit five minutes before a gold and food shipment arrived from Strathkirk, so he missed a second big score!  That raider's alliance is friendly with Train Wreck, so I'll ignore that he's occupied a wilderness adjacent to Camford!

    Dinner was scallops.

    Barbara gave me a photo her husband took of me and Sandra in Die Fledermaus.  The family likes it, but I wish I looked more joyful.

March 6, 2011

"I'm modelling for a photographer.  He has no heat!"--The Smallest Show on Earth

"Tell me Samoa about Samarra"--ibid.

    Performed Die Fledermaus for the last time. (I skipped the cast party afterward.) All the men (and the women in trousers roles) put on makeup goatees to pose for pictures, and I felt like a redneck!  I told Giuseppe I'm ready to start our singing lessons again.

    The Aspergers Meetup came to see the opera and enjoyed it greatly.  Beforehand they had lunch at the nearby Zembaba Ethiopian restaurant. (I only had time to go there briefly, a pity since I love Ethiopian food.) Afterward we hang at a Tim Horton doughnut place.

    Dinner was lasagna.

    Saw the DVD of the 1950s British comedy The Smallest Show on Earth, about a young couple inheriting a shoestring cinema.  English whimsy.

March 5, 2011

    Went to another Art Walk Meetup.  We met artist Travis Schilling at a Gladstone Hotel exhibit, then visited the Angell Gallery.  Betty Annes seems interested in everything I say!

    I left early to attend the first Volunteering Meetup.  Unfortunately it was at the huge Movenpick Marche restaurant--the worst kind of place for an inaugural event!--and I couldn't find the group.  The worst of it was that I had to move around everywhere and risk annoying people.

    Started reading Anne of Windy Poplars (for the second time), which I'd borrowed from the Forest Hill library.  L.M. Montgomery's in fine form in this series entry, which was written later than most of the others.

    Dinner was frozen Indian food. 

    Performed Madama Butterfly for the last time.  We're finally getting a big turnout in the last weekend.

March 4, 2011

 Dreamed of a non-existent Classics Illustrated comic book from the 1950s, of a contemporary novel set in the postwar South that became a Coen Brothers movie.

    Dinner was chicken divan.

    Performed Die Fledermaus.  Everyone's been talking about how good I was in the master class. (Giuseppe told Barbara my singing was "passionate.") Renee's Orlovsky wig almost came off at one point, which reminded me of a similar moment on The Red Skelton Show, in an episode with a Three Musketeers spoof.

March 3, 2011

    Dreamed of sleeping at the top of a steep hill in London; waking up, realizing I'd damaged the hill and sneaking away.

    Dinner was curried beef.

    Went to the second master class for singers.  There were fewer people this time.

March 2, 2011

Soldier: "I'm not going to be anyone's dead-body blanket!"--Weeds

Homer quotes:

"I don't have to be careful, I've got a gun!"

"But I swear to you, Marge, I never thought you'd find out!

--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of looking for a new TV series about gangsters with John Cassavetes-style emotional drama.

    In my break from the computer game Frontierville, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

    Dinner was salmon.

    Performed Madama Butterfly.

March 1, 2011

    Dreamed of an upcoming movie about Virginia Woolf meeting a World War I soldier called Homer who kept the British establishment supplied with morphine; a character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger saying "I had a good prom, loved all the people there, but I wanted to burn that school to the ground!"

    Dinner was roast beef.

    Went to Siuseppe's masterclass at the Bickford Centre. (Someone sang a song from Les Miserables--P.U.!) I've never sung Schumann's "Widmung" at so fast a tempo before.  I also sang "Le Veau d'Or" from Gounod's Faust, which impressed the others.  It was thrilling to notice my voice echoing in the auditorium.

    Finished the biography Merchant of Dreams.  Louis B. Mayer is still something of a mystery to me.

February 28, 2011

To a policeman: "Search his car, hit him with your flashlight, do whatever you people do!"

--Weeds

Sign: 

"Welcome to Manhattan

Home of the World-Weary Poseur"

--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of sailing northwest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence past some tiny islands that had official monuments; learning in Grade 7 geography [as I actually did] about remote places in Australia where children got their school lessons over the radio.

    Saw the DVD of a Ken Burns documentary about artist Thomas Hart Benton (for the second time).

    Dinner was tortellini.

    At choir practice we got into the rest of Rigoletto and started Theodore Dubois' oratorio The Seven Last Words of Christ again.

February 27, 2011

"I thought you said you were completely impervious to pain."

"Not my own!"

--A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

    Dreamed of a military school where the male and female cadets were trying to exterminate each other!

    Performed Madama Butterfly.  Moira saw it, but the parents will come later because Father's under the weather.

    Saw the DVD of the BBC production of Ibsen's Little Eyolf, with Diana Rigg and Anthony Hopkins.  I got sleepy once again.

    Then I saw the DVD of Richard Lester's movie of the musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.  It's a frantic, uneven adaptation.

Feburary 26, 2011

    Dreamed of Peter Brook's movie of Gurdjieff's Meetings With Remarkable Men (which I've seen); trying to find an entry on Gurdjieff in my biographical dictionary (he isn't in there).

    Dinner was curried pork.

    Performed Die Fledermaus.  Sandra (my dance partner at the start of the second act) wants to rely on me to remind her whenever it's time to go onstage, but that wasn't in my job description!

February 25, 2011

    Last night I baked gingerbread for the opera lobby refreshment sales.

    Dreamed of a fire in the fireplace of our old house in Sackville, N.B.

    Baked whole wheat bread.

    Dinner was KFC.

    Performed Madama Butterfly. (They had so much stuff to sell that my gingerbread didn't go out just yet.)