I already mentioned that I thought The Baltimore Waltz over at Factory Theatre was great. What I wasn't so crazy about was that it snowed almost the entire day, starting around 10 am and only finally stopping around 9 pm. There weren't huge snowdrifts, but the streets and sidewalks were pretty slushy, slippery and gross. I sort of regretted getting on the Queen streetcar where there was a homeless guy throwing things all over the floor of the streetcar. Then he decided to light up about a block away from his stop (Sherbourne of course). So charming.
Sat. was pretty jam-packed. I debated going to the gym, but I just cannot force myself to go right now when I have to wear boots and/or the bridge is slippery. I was better about going during the wintery days last year, but I am just not in a great mental space right now (esp. due to work), and I just can't face up to it. That does mean that I have even more work to start getting back in shape this spring, but so be it. I decided to head downtown and try to drop off a package with UPS. I was not helped out at all by the 72 bus, which wasn't going to turn up for another 15 minutes, which pissed me off. So I walked up to Danforth, grumbling pretty much the whole way. I barely made it to the UPS Store before it closed.
I decided to check out the AGO. For some reason there was a very aggressive homeless man on the steps being very aggressive towards me and other people walking past. I went inside and told them they should call security on him. I also wandered over to the Bau-Xi galleries to see their new shows. I stopped in at MEC on the way to 401 Richmond. I thought the bike bells were all terrible, but I did get a replacement light for one that had been stolen off my bike a while back.
It was worth ducking into 401 Richmond. Yumart had rescheduled the Leon Rooke opening from the previous Sat. (when the weather was even worse). I liked this piece a lot, and was tempted to put in an offer, but I do shy away from truly figurative pieces, as I generally do feel they don't hold as much mystery (or my attention) after a while. Also, I have virtually no empty spaces on my wall at home and we aren't allowed to put anything on the walls at work.
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| Leon Rooke, Two Moons, One Bull, 2022 |
Abbozzo Gallery was also having some sort of reception, and I grabbed some cheese and crackers. Red Head Gallery was open this weekend (it was closed last Sat.), and I saw an exhibit called The Green Suitcase, which was interesting.
I didn't really want to walk over to Union, but I also didn't want to pay the full TTC fare. In the end I walked...
Later that evening, I made it over to the Bill Frisell concert at about 7:20 or so. I found a seat and tried to read. I think I already mentioned I wished he had been playing with his quartet, which includes the saxophonist Greg Tardy. I have no idea how those shows go, but they would have to be more appealing than this concert. No question I was a bit stressed because I wanted to get to the Skye Wallace thing at Cameron House, but I still would have hated this concert. The drummer was pretty good, and I could generally appreciate what the bassist was doing, but Frisell spent the entire time doing some weird stutter-stop improv thing back and forth with the bassist. A lot of people enjoyed it, but I didn't like his playing on any level. It didn't flow, and frankly it all felt pretty amateurish, particularly when compared to Adrian Belew the week before. Frisell can obviously play, based on his many records, but why he didn't choose to do more traditional songs is completely beyond me. This piece finally came to an end, and I decided to bolt, even though I was in the middle of the row. It had been an hour of freeform guitar wankery, and I was ready to go. At least the streetcar turned up quickly, and I headed down to Queen and Spadina. I managed to get there where the first opening act was still on. I also managed to talk to Skye a bit. She said she would consider fitting Dead Things, Part II into her acoustic set the following day. I bought her new CD and got her to sign it. One thing that was different -- and a bit concerning -- was that her regular guitar player wasn't there and Gina, her keyboard player, was also absent. She had a couple of friends filling in, including the flautist who was the first opening act (she can also play keyboards). I had been thinking about writing a short playlet about a band break-up, and I thought perhaps she would want to read it, depending on the exact circumstances. Anyway, it was a pretty good set. They played most of the songs off her new CD, plus "Swing Batter," "Coal in Your Window" and a few other older songs. While the transit back wasn't too bad, I still didn't get home until just after midnight.
I did manage to finish Walker's The Moviegoer. Unfortunately, this novel kind of ran out of steam about halfway through, and the ending was pretty disappointing. The novel kept foreshadowing this major tragedy (probably a suicide) and just nothing of any importance happened. This is a novel that skates by on its reputation but just isn't that interesting, at least not anymore.
I had to get up a bit early on Sunday and get to Union by 10. I got on the bus in time. I mostly read this book on the pandemic's impact on transportation. I got a bit more than halfway through, so I think I'm on track to finish it this week and start my review. I also got 1/3 of the way through Tom Wolfe's Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers.
St. Catharines was pretty rough (worse than Hamilton and pretty much at the same level as Buffalo's downtown). I also was not at all impressed that the bathrooms were all out of order at the bus terminal, and there were no coffee shops or places with public washrooms (at least downtown). I think on my last visit I stayed much closer to Brock. It was still rough around the edges but not as desolate as the downtown. I wandered around for about an hour.
Surprisingly, I found a used record shop that was open. I picked up a couple of CDs and 3 LPs. Then I grabbed lunch at an Indian place. The buffet, esp. the vegetarian dishes, looked pretty sad, so I ordered something off the menu. My attention was split between some townies talking about the rundown bars and night clubs of Niagara and a medic coming in to check up on an alcoholic (and possible junky) who had fallen asleep for 45 minutes in the restroom. He basically couldn't stand up, but he also refused to go to the hospital. Finally a cop turned up and gently convinced him to move on. I clearly would not last too long in such an environment, having to deal with so many down-on-their-luck types.
The good news is that the piece TorQ was playing, Wijeratne's Invisible Cities (yes, inspired by Italo Calvino), was quite good. This was the world premiere of the orchestral version of it, so my recollection is correct that I probably heard a movement or two previously but that the whole piece was delayed by Covid and it wasn't just a matter of me missing an announcement or something. I talked very briefly to one of the TorQ members, and he said they are trying to figure out how to get the piece recorded.
I was a bit nervous that the concert would run long, but I stayed for the second half where the orchestra was doing Rachmaninoff's 2nd Symphony. I had about twenty minutes to hit the restroom and walk back over to the bus terminal. One thing I didn't like was that there was no one there to help with information, and there was no sign saying which bus bay Megabus would load from. So I had to wait outside and keep my eyes out for the bus. I was pretty pissed off when someone rode their bike down the narrow sidewalk where the passengers were waiting to board buses, missing me by inches. Then this disturbed young woman wandered by, yelling at me not to look at her. Then she came a bit closer and accused me of stealing her bank card. I went inside the station to look for security. Apparently, she was a bit of a known character, and the security guard told a bus driver to let him know if he needed to remove her from his bus. It really was a pretty gnarly scene. She had left the platform by this time, so I went back outside. Fortunately, the Megabus turned up on time, and I hopped on. I do suspect that if I had been inside or just late, the bus would have left without me. In general, it was a bit more stress than I had bargained for, and I think it is highly unlikely I'll be back in St. Catharines or Niagara Region more generally anytime soon.
One positive was that even though it started snowing (again!) and the traffic got heavier past Hamilton, we actually got back to Toronto a bit ahead of schedule. I headed up to Cameron House again. I had hoped to grab a sandwich at Banh Mi Boys, but it closed at 7, so I went back across Spadina to Basil Box for dinner. I made it to the show just as the first opening act was wrapping up, just as I did the night before. I had a chance to ask Skye about her band, and she said it was all good. Gina and Devon were just busy; they were still in the band and would be off to South by Southwest (today I believe). She was not as interested in reading a piece about a band breaking up as I had anticipated (possibly even thinking it would be bad majo or would jinx her if she read the piece), so I didn't bother pressing her. I think I'll still try to write it up and send it over to SFYS for May. (No word still if they are going to take the piece I already submitted for April.) The acoustic set was good, but obviously more laid back. She mostly performed solo, though sometimes her bass player joined her (though playing electric bass...) and sometimes a violin player as well. I was disappointed that she didn't play Dead Things, Part II. She was on a bit of a roll with 2 or even 3 songs basically about death or near-death experiences, so I thought it would slot in well. Oh well. We were treated to a new song called "You Don't Still Have a Hold on Me," which I liked.
I actually made it back home while the Oscars will still going on, and I periodically checked the newsfeeds to see who had won, but I wasn't in the mood to actually watch the telecast. On the whole, it was a pretty full weekend (that took me most of Monday to recover from...). I don't think I have anything nearly as packed coming up, though I am supposed to see 3 plays over at Stratford one weekend in August. So that's it for now.
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