November 25, 2077

Dreamed of being a schoolboy in Shanghai's International Settlement before World War II; escaping from a school controlled by evil Japanese; meeting Ralph Fiennes and prophesying World War II to him; being in a bus with a TV with an old-fashioned wired remote control, showing 60 Minutes at the commercial break just before the first story.

Baked some gingerbread and took it to the Columbus Centre for the Toronto City Opera fundraiser.  There was some good singing. (I donated $20.) I think Natalie got a nosejob.  Afterward I brought some cookies and stuff home.

Dinner was roast chicken. (Since I'd just snacked quite a bit at the fundraiser, that left me pretty full.)

Saw the DVD of the first hour of Chen Kaige's Farewell, My Concubine (for the second time). Never a dull moment.  Because the DVD player needs replacing, we saw it in black & white.

November 24, 2007

Crook: "Fucking crooks--no ethics!"--American Gangster

"Fuck me like a cop, not a lawyer!"--ibid.

"Did you know?...  They're all crazy in New Jersey--cops... arrest... crooks!"--ibid.

Dreamed of getting into a big fight with Margaret and alienating a lot of people; a fugitive who became a legendary fighter and rebel in a war-torn world and posthumously became a god; trying to put up a poster of Ava Gardner on my wall; reflecting that compared to her sexy sophistication I felt like a little boy; the song "Try to Remember"; thinking I should sing Van Halen's "Jump" at karaoke.

Baked white bread.

Dinner was McDonald's.

Went to see the near-great movie American Gangster with the Movie Meetup group at the Empress Walk.  It was intelligent and believable, with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in rare form.  But Ridley Scott's direction was on the impersonal side, with a humourlessness that made me appreciate the truly great gangster movie Goodfellas.  Also, the musical score was heavy-handed and relentless.

November 23, 2007

"He does not know how to fall"--Kung Fu

Dreamed of seeing a non-existent pear tree outside our old house in Sackville, NB; "waking up" and going from day to night; the operatic aria "Depuis le Jour" from Louise (it's one of my favourites!); the audition scene in the musical movie All That Jazz; a rejected dancer deciding to leave New York without telling her roommate; me singing the scene's song at karaoke suprisingly well.

We went out to Zeller's where I got a new pair of winter boots and winter gloves.

Donald came over for dinner, which was fettucine alfredo cooked by me.  Afterward he looked at our computer and said we need to buy extra RAM to install the OSX update.

Went to see Dion Conflict's latest Hunka Junk show at the Revue.  The place was packed, so word of mouth must have spread quickly.  The shorts included a film on salesmanship for Texaco station operators, hosted by a guy who so resembled Jim Nabors that I shouted "Gol-lee!" There was also one about night shift workers where the filmmakers depended on their voices for all the special effects!  Afterwards DC told me his Trailer Trash show is coming onto DVD soon. (Woo hoo!)

November 22, 2007

Dreamed of trying to read reprints of the Mike Hammer comic strip [there actually was one!], but needing to put the volumes in the right order; reflecting that I'm an angry man; hell as a big screening room with Roger Ebert as the Devil!

We've had the first snow of the season.

Saw the DVD of Horror of Dracula, the 1958 Hammer Studios version with Christopher Lee.  In this version Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) actually has the bigger role!  It's more faithful to the book than the Tod Browning-Bela Lugosi version, and somewhat scarier.

Dinner was scallops.

Went to a Games Meetup.  There were supposed to be a dozen people, but only four came, presumably due to the bad weather.

November 21, 2007

Dreamed of walking on a snowy winter sidewalk and being unable to move more than a few steps without falling over; imagining a TV show about a group of characters working for an airline; imagining what character I'd be; thinking up a pseudonym that combined the names of Hardy Boys ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane and Nancy Drew ghostwriter Mildred Wirt.

Went shopping.

Dinner was spaghetti.

Saw the DVD of Michael Apted's 49 Up, the latest in his septennial series of biographical documentaries.  I realized that I'm a lot like Neil, the one who was homeless at one point, then became a politician.

Headache!

I think I've fixed the problem with the new HDD recorder! (Someone had accidentally pushed a button that kept in input mode.)

November 20, 2007

"If you don't want to lose your shirt, don't live off the cuff"--Fun With Dick and Jane

"God, why have you forsaken me?"

"Because I don't exist."

--La Chinoise

I was in bed around the clock again.

Saw the DVD of Ted Kotcheff's Fun With Dick and Jane, the original version from the cynical '70s.  Pretty dreadful. (Jane Fonda is no comedienne.) I rented it because the great Mordechai Richler worked on the script.

Moira came back from her Philadelphia marathon.

Dinner was pork steak.

Got some more Ebay comics from Barry King.

Went to see Jean-Luc Godard's La Chinoise at the Cinematheque.  Too strange for me.

November 19, 2007

"'Tell me now, then,' said Will. 'And remember, it's no good telling me what I should do--none of it matters to me, none.  Only Lyra matters, and my mother.  And that,' he added to Balthamos, 'is the point of all this metaphysical speculation, as you called it'"--The Amber Spyglass

Dreamed of the songs "Kokomo," "Tom Dooley" and "Up on the Roof."

Got a comic-book reprint of the comic strip Rusty Riley from Rick Larder on Ebay.  Some great artwork, I'm sure!

Baked multigrain bread.

Dinner was chicken (which I fried).

At the Coro Verdi we went over some music we've done before.  I finally submitted my membership fee, just two weeks late.  I met Giuseppe on the way in and suggested we do "The Holly and the Ivy" in next year's Christmas program.