"It was all going great, until it wasn't"--ibid.
Dreamed of a non-existent story in the comic strip Mary Perkins on Stage set in rural Canada and culminating in a barn being set on fire; the scene in the Fiddler on the Roof movie where the Fiddler comes down to the ground.
Dinner was roast chicken.
Went to Blockbuster and rented the DVD of the first episodes of the fourth season of Mad Men.
Drug cartel man: "Either you eat the bear, or the bear eats you"--Weeds
Went shopping.
Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.
Saw the DVD of William Wellman's The High and the Mighty. Entertaining '50s hokum with John Wayne in his element.
Dreamed of the western High Noon; reflecting that the townspeople balked at supporting Gary Cooper because the plot required them to; the TV show The Sopranos.
Poor Michael Ignatieff! He even lost his own seat. (The NDP should set up a coalition with the Liberals and Greens.)
Dinner was fettucine alfredo (which I cooked).
Saw the DVD of Charlie Chan in Egypt. I always liked Warner Oland in that role. [Rita Cansino later became Rita Hayworth!]
"Hope for sun, get ready for rain"--Weeds
Dreamed of a murder mystery set in Shanghai's International Settlement; a square couch with an ad promoting a breed of apple.
Voted [in Canada's federal election] early in the afternoon. I thought my health card would be enough, but I had to go back and bring a bank statement with my address on it.
Went to a clinic near College & Euclid and got an abdominal ultrasound and a chest X-ray. All the doctors there seem to be Chinese.
Dinner was pork steak.
At choir practice I told Giuseppe I was putting my singing lessons on hiatus for now.
--Troy
Dreamed of visiting the junior high school in my hometown Sackville, N.B., with Moira; telling her "I'll never be doing lab experiments in there again."
Dinner was McDonald's.
Saw the DVD of Wolfgang Petersen's Troy. A pretty intelligent script, though I wish the Achilles-Briseis relationship had been fleshed out a bit more.
Went to the clinic at St. Clair & Bathurst and gave them a urine sample. (No doubt they want to see if my kidney's causing the trouble.)
Dinner was lobster rolls.
Saw the DVD of Tony Kaye's pretty disturbing American History X. Could have used fewer arty touches (like slow motion and choral music).
Phoned Giuseppe and cancelled next week's singing lesson. (My energy level is low.)
Went to see Dr. Ang again. This time she was in, though I had to wait a couple of hours. She arranged for me to get an X-ray and ultrasound.
Dinner was spaghetti and riceballs.
Saw the video of Jamboree, a 1950s rock & roll movie featuring performers from Count Basie to Silm Whitman, with cameos by DJs like Dick Clark. (Too bad about the dorky romance in the foreground.)
Babe: "You're Matt Helm."
"That's good enough for me!"
--The Silencers
Baked raisin bread.
Tried to go see Dr. Ang about my "stitch," but she isn't in on Thursdays.
Did some more campaign leafletting along Arlington and Rushton streets, which I'd planned to do two days ago.
I was late getting home for dinner, which was fish.
In the evening I finished the area west of Christie Street. (We need a new doorbell! I forgot my house key, and when I came home I rang five times, but they only heard me when I banged on the door!)
Saw Phil Karlson's The Silencers, the first of the secret agent series featuring Matt Helm. A languid spoof of James Bond with an emphasis on the drinking and womanizing, it's very much a Dean Martin vehicle. What a 1960s artifact!
Dreamed of getting published in a periodical; a murder scandal involving a wealthy Edwardian widow that was made into a silent movie.
Got another blood test at the Bloor & Bathurst clinic (for the haematologist).
Dinner was salmon.
I've had a "stitch" in my side since yesterday evening.
At choir practice we're now concentrating on Nabucco. A Canadian Opera Company chorus baritone came and gave us a lift.
We've now finished the Peyton Place episodes they released on DVD. (Hope they release some more! Mother really enjoys it.)
"Rodney the Righteous, armored in ignorance and spoiling for a fight!"--Peyton Place
Dreamed of seeing skyscrapers blow up; starting to write about someone starting a worldwide trade network; York University campus with new train connections.
Went shopping.
Dinner was more turkey pie.
Headache.
Saw a DVD of The Queen and the Skipper, a CBC Canadian Experience documentary about the Bluenose.
Once again, I went to bed early, then woke up for several hours in the middle of the night.
Dreamed of a movie comedy about a bunch of slobs in college.
At today's singing lesson Giuseppe was going to lend me a book about Verdi for Moira but I forgot to ask for it.
Dinner was turkey pie.
Dreamed of Flash Gordon being on a train on a path that seemed to be circular (like in Hanna-Barbera cartoons).
Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin. I played a new game called Factory Manager, a spinoff from Power Grid. Then I played Ticket to Ride.
Donald came over for dinner, which was turkey.
Felt sleepy after dinner and napped for three hours.
