March 30, 2011

    Dreamed of Bart Simpson making a friend at a workplace; visiting a location where the Libyan movie Lion of the Desert was filmed.

    Saw the cinemacast of a Royal Opera production of Carmen at the Empress Walk in 3-D, which didn't add much:  it was substantially the same production I attended in person in London three years ago, and you can't improve on that!  Anyway, my glasses frame lost its bolt during the intermission and I watched the rest with naked eye. (This reminded me of my acid test for opera direction:  without the subtitles, would you still know what's going on?) Glad I know the opera well.

    On the way back, I stopped at Hakim Optical and they gave me a new bolt for free, which was pretty nice of them considering that you can find those tiny bolts just anywhere!

    Dinner was tuna casserole.

March 29, 2011

On hearing the news that war has broken out:

"There's no reason to be afraid.  The nation is right behind our Fuhrer!"

"Yes, but how far behind?"

--Night Train to Munich

Caldecott: "A crook wouldn't play for the gentleman."

Charters: "Raffles did."

--ibid.

    Headache!

    Dinner was pork steak.

    Saw the DVD of Carol Reed's World War II spy thriller Night Train to Munich.  War movies can be pretty shameless!  Moira's right about Rex Harrison:  he is annoying, especially when he "sings." (Did he actually win an Oscar for My Fair Lady?) The best part was Charters and Caldicott, thrown in from The Lady Vanishes.

March 28, 2011

Colin Powell: "Americans solve problems.  We don't ignore problems"--10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America 

(What about global warming?)

    Dreamed of meeting a non-existent aunt about to get married; hearing that President Obama had been forced to resign.

    Went to Giuseppe's for my first singing lesson in a while.  I felt dizzy at times but was in good voice. (He compared the human mouth to a cornucopia shape.)

    Dinner was lasagna.

    At choir practice we turned to Theodore Dubois' The Seven Last Words of Christ and some other stuff we're doing in the Easter concert.

    Saw the DVD of the first episode of another The History Channel series, 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America.

March 27, 2011

    In the bathroom in the morning I had a fainting spell and my head hit the floor.  Hope it isn't a sign of something serious!

    The othher day when I told Moira about the Les Miserables song going through my head ("Empty Chairs and Empty Tables"), she said she had "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from Donizetti's The Magic Elixir of Love going through hers. (She's been playing a library CD of Jussi Bjorling arias.) Now that song is going through my head!

    Went to a book and poster show at Wychwood Barns, but didn't buy anything. (I thought they might have comics there, but they didn't.)

    Dinner was salmon.

    Coro Verdi performed Rigoletto again, this time with my family in the audience.  Afterward Moira said "Why didn't you tell us you had such great singers?" Mother liked the chorus too.

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.)

February 23, 2011

    Yesterday I saw the DVD of Jacques Tourneur's The Cat People (for the second time). Great scene in the swimming pool!

    Dreamed of reading the showbiz magazine Variety at the York University library (which I used to do in the 1990s); 1930s movie star Jean Harlow (whom I was just reading about in the Louis B. Mayer biography); shopping for an HD TV set. (The night before I dreamed of Debussy's Arabesque #1.)

    Dinner was pork roast.

    Performed Die Fledermaus.

    Tried some new computer games like Treasure Isle and Yoville, but they didn't interest me much.

February 21, 2011

"The guy who kills me--I want him to do it because he hates my guts, not because it's his job"--Dog Day Afternoon

    Dreamed of the actual Warner Brothers cartoon Big House Bunny, where Yosemite Sam fired the prison cannon and ended up launching Bugs Bunny, who said "Bon voyagee!"

    Dinner was pork chops.

    Saw the DVD of Sidney Lumet's tour de force Dog Day Afternoon (for the third time). It's perversely funny and very believable.  The moral is that Americans are crazy, especially New Yorkers in the summer heat. (See also Do the Right Thing.)

    I've finally decided to quit the online game Cityville.  I've built just about all the structural types that are available, except for stuff that costs over 500,000 coins. (Having only three neighbours limited what I could do.)

    I've started the Frontierville game again. (They now have the giant homestead size I was waiting for.)

February 20, 2011

    Last night I saw the DVD of the John Cassavetes documentary A Constant Forge, which went on for over three hours!

    Managed to get through Die Fledermaus, though my nose was running during the second act. (My family saw this performance.)

    John and family brought a vegan dinner over, and afterward I sneaked out to McDonald's once again.  Someone complained about my interrupting his dinner by blowing my nose, and I testily replied, "I'm sorry!" What was I supposed to do, leave it unblown?

    Saw the DVD of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of Robot Vs. the Aztec Mummy, from the famous Mexican B-movie series.

February 18, 2011

    Dreamed of meeting sex advice columnist Dan Savage (whom I read online).

    Dinner was fish.

    Performed Die Fledermaus.  I'm not feeling well, so I told them I'd miss Madama Butterfly tomorrow and focus on being rested enough for Fledermaus Sunday. (I can't miss that one because I do a couple of dances with partners, but I can miss Butterfly.)

    Baked white bread overnight.

    Lay awake for quite a while.

February 17, 2011

    At last night's Madama Butterfly premiere, my slippers turned up after all.

    Dreamed of having a fingernail that was trimmed on one side but not the other.

    Yesterday we had Indian food and today we finished it. (There wasn't quite enough.)

    Dress-rehearsed Die Fledermaus.

    I can't wait till the opera's over! (Maybe I should have skipped this year.) I've always liked rehearsing more than performing, of course.

February 15, 2011

    Dreamed of the song "Three Coins in the Fountain."

    Bought a new glasses case at Hakim Optical.

    Dinner was scallops.

    Dress-rehearsed Madama Butterfly.  I left my slippers in the auditorium afterward!  Hope they turn up tomorrow:  I'm wearing them in the show as part of my costume.  We had to put on our own eye makeup.

    I also signed up for a couple of Giuseppe's master class sessions. (Maybe I am serious about my singing after all.)

    Am I coming down with a cold?

February 14, 2011

    Last night I went to a Games Meetup at the Fox & Fiddle. (I played the Amazeing Labyrinth and Scrabble.) On the way back I lost my glasses case!

    Dreamed of Jack Palance saying "Believe it--or not!" on the actual 1980s TV show.

    Dinner was pork steak.

    I also dreamed of pulling out a few of my teeth, which were the worse for wear (far more so than in real life).

    At choir practice we got into the second act of Rigoletto. (Beatrice has called for a meeting to discuss Coro Verdi's future.)

February 12, 2011

"I can't do without him."

"You are doing without him!"

--The Fighter

    Baked multigrain bread.

    Donald came over for dinner, which was churrasco chicken.

    Saw David O. Russell's The Fighter at the Revue.  I was afraid it would be like Black Swan [which I couldn't sit through], but it was quite good.

February 11, 2011

    Left some Toronto City Opera flyers around the neighbourhood libraries.

    Dinner was the rest of the stew.

    Went to Mary's games night.  I played a new game called Gold Digger (won the first game by one point!) and Settlers of Catan.  Thirty people came despite the cold weather.

February 10, 2011

"Say, kid, does you do this constantly?"

"No, sir, I does it all the time!"

--The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

    Dreamed of a non-existent story that young Mickey Rooney was on a Little League baseball team that got to scrimmage with a major league team, but the coach wouldn't include Rooney, and the Little Leaguers went on to appear in a movie!

    Went to see my shrink Dr. Hassan.

    Dinner was stew.

    Saw the DVD of John Badham's The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings.  It's an engaging comedy about a black baseball team in the age of segregation.

February 9, 2011

    Dreamed of a young South African dissident who was exiled to the far east of the country and got drawn into a cult of sexual training.

    Went shopping.

    Saw an early Ken Burns documentary about the making of the Brooklyn Bridge.

    Dinner was rice and chicken and several leftovers.

    Rehearsed Die Fledermaus.  Women in bustle dresses reduce your room for maneuver!  When the curtain comes down on the second act, I'll be the one on stage right making sure it goes smoothly there.

February 8, 2011

    At last night's choir practice we started Verdi's Rigoletto.

    Dreamed of a place known as W.W. [like B.C. or P.E.I.]; trying to figure out what the initials stood for.

    Helped unload the Toronto City Opera costumes at the Bickford Centre. (I also tried on my Die Fledermaus costume, which includes white gloves!)

    Dinner was sausage and mash.

    Rehearsed Madama Butterfly. (I tried on my kimono first.) I've ended up carrying in the table with Pinkerton's photo during the first intermission.

February 6, 2011

    Dreamed of a movie where a planeload of people landed on a Swedish island and got taken hostage; the Russian in Rocky IV (Dolph Lundgren) saying "I must break you."

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was lobster rolls.

    Finished the fame issue of Lapham's Quarterly.  For the first time since getting the first issue two years ago, I'm all caught up!

    Started reading Merchant of Dreams, a biography of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.  In the first chapter it calls New Brunswick a "state"!

    Our Coro Verdi concert had to compete with the Super Bowl, and there were more people in the choir than in the audience!

February 5, 2011

"A woman with nine children ought to have more sense."

"If I had more sense I wouldn't have had nine children!"

--Carousel

"Money thinks I'm dead!"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a schoolteacher getting me to join a group of people lobbying for reform in coastal land use; arriving and finding the teacher in a foul mood; Ava Gardner.

    Went to an Aspergers Meetup at Neisau's place.  We played The Amazeing Labyrinth again.  Neisau's daughter Autumn was selling candy bars for school fundraising and most of us bought a couple.

    Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune cookie said "Rome was not built in a day.  Be patient."

    Rented the DVD of the movie version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel  (for the second time).  It's a classic show.

February 4, 2011

Popeye the Sailor (to Swee'pea): "I forgives ya for me spankin' ya!"--Never Sock a Baby

    Dreamed of the Parker Brothers game Careers; a non-existent episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show where Murray inherited a British title and a state-of-the-art outfit of ham radio broadcasting equipment.

    Dinner was lasagna (which we bought oven-ready for just a dollar).

    Joined the Move Meetup to see Darren Aronovsky's Black Swan at the Varsity.  Believable but too grim for me, with lots of bleeding in closeup. (When I told Moira I was going to see it, her response was "Ugh!") I left in the middle [after I finished my popcorn].

February 2, 2011

 Tonight's opera rehearsal was delayed till tomorrow because of the big snow. (Which means I'll have to miss another Queen Street art walk!)

    Dinner was fettucine pesto (which I cooked).

    Saw Peter Medak's neo-noir Romeo Is Bleeding on DVD.  Kinda fun, though it goes over the top in the second half.

February 1, 2011

    Dreamed of asking where I was, and being told it was Halifax.

    Went shopping. (I also got a new nightrobe.)

    Dinner was fish.

    Rehearsed Madama Butterfly.  I think I have my small part down. (Tatiana likes my furry hat.)

January 31, 2011

Lisa: "Nature's not our enemy!"

Mr. Burns: "But surely you can agree that we can do without it?"

--The Simpsons

    Dreamed of the musical Carousel.

    Dinner was spaghetti.

    At choir practice we dress-rehearsed Sunday's folk song concert.  I couln't find an envelope until I remembered that the Games magazine subscription renewal notice included a return envelope. (I renew online.)

    Giuseppe's having a master class after the opera is finished, since the auditorium will be available longer than expected.  I could go, but I'm not that serious a singing student. [I eventually did.]

January 30, 2011

"White Americans appear to be under the compulsion to dream, whereas black Americans are under the compulsion to awaken.  And this fact is also sinister"--James Baldwin

    Dreamed of wondering whether my Ph.D. thesis was worth the trouble; a 1930s musical with Walter Huston as U.S. President. (He actually played the President in the 1933 non-musical Gabriel Over the White House.)

    Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin.  I played a new game called 7 Wonders (finished last, of course), as well as Puerto Rico and Ticket to Ride.

    Dinner was McDonald's.

     

January 29, 2011

"I never fell apart because I never fall together"--Andy Warhol

    Dreamed of Al Pacino in Scarface.

    Went to a Brunch Meetup at Udupi Palace.  I had a vegetable curry.

    Dinner was KFC.

    Saw some wartime Warner Brothers cartoons on DVD.  One of them had a newspaper quote: "The Open Door policy has produced the Draft"!

    Saw the DVD of the first chapter of Louis Feuillade's French silent serial Fantomas.  Nice job on the musical accompaniment.