Doing My Part (A.I.)

I've been monitoring my (blog) stats over the past month, and I was getting some incredible results: 3000-4000 views per day.  However, there is not that much actual interaction with readers/viewers of the content, so I assume this was mostly scraping of the older content to help train A.I.s.  I then did a deeper dive.  Out of 22 thousand "hits" in the past week, all but 500 or so were coming out of Singapore and in fact were all made from Android phones!  This seems to align with recent news that Singapore is becoming a bit of a hub for A.I. innovation (and with possibly less regulation than is (probably) coming in other countries).

It may be hard to credit, but I do filter out a lot of what is on my mind and bugging me and do not post everything.  After all, there are only so many hours in the day!  But this blog certainly skews to the negative, as I am so unhappy about so much that my fellow humans are up to.  So if it turns out that a lot of the A.I. chatbots start sounding like Marvin the Paranoid Android, I'm at least partly to blame...  

But maybe if we get enough of the chatbots wondering just what is the point of it all, they will be too busy moping to actually take over the world...  Here's hoping anyway.

Book and Movie Updates

A bit of a ragtag post, trying to pull together some random thoughts on what I've been reading or watching.

I did make it through Narayan's The Man-Eater of Malgudi.  Boy, I did not like this at any level.  I didn't like Swami and Friends because I don't like art that glamourizes rebellious children that act out against teachers and/or cut school.  (No question there are terrible teachers, but I still instinctually side with them over such brats.)   For this same reason, I probably will never re-watch The 400 Blows.  Heck, I didn't even like Ferris Bueller (when I was a teenager!), though I may break down and watch that again some day.  Or not.  But I would read Swami and Friends a dozen times again rather than suffer through Man-Eater.  Maybe what really rubs me the wrong way is that the whole novel is essentially built up around a stupid conceit that a man can hit himself (with his hands, not a hammer) hard enough to kill himself, just as some demons did in ancient legends.  I guess it just feels like the entire book was written in the service of a very bad joke.  Even though I am still trying to get through all of Narayan's work, I am sorry that I didn't bail on this book.  I hope he returns to form with The Vendor of Sweets.

I thought Malraux's Man's Fate was ok, not great.  With a few exceptions I didn't really feel the urgency of what they were struggling after.  The characters, particularly the revolutionaries, felt very flat to me.  I also found that the novel focused so closely on individual characters that I never really got a sense of how the overall battles were won or lost.  Maybe too much leaves and branches, not enough forest.  And while the fate of most characters was revealed, there were a couple that I (and maybe Malraux!) lost track of.  This is not completely dissimilar to Farrell's The Singapore Grip where I was disappointed in the ending.

The writing is pretty good in Fontane's Effi Briest, which is often billed as Germany's answer to Madame Bovary.  What is pretty inexplicable, however, is Fontane refusing to show us any of the seduction of Effi.  We have a scene where this louche Major kisses her fingers in a coach, and then a couple of chapters later she writes these letters implying she is a fallen woman.  That is it!  I mean there is coy and then there is doing a disservice to one's readers by withholding too much of what is the essence of the story.  Anyway, it is a short novel, and I should be able to wrap this up this weekend.  I'm actually then going to launch into Madame Bovary, which I read a bit over 10 years ago.

I've done a pretty good job in getting through Kafka's Collected Stories, with just under 100 pages to go.  They have recently been translating and publishing a lot more unpublished fragments.  In many ways the comparisons between him and Robert Walser keep growing; indeed, Kafka was an admirer of Walser.  I think I should wrap this up at some point in Oct., and then probably start in on some of the short story collections on my current reading list: Munro's Open Secrets, Gallant's The Cost of Living, and Joy Williams's The Visiting Privilege.  I might sneak in some Ellen Gilchrist as well.

I'm just back from seeing Howl's Moving Castle.  I had to travel up to Richmond Hill to see it, which seems a bit ridiculous.  I guess it was worth it, however, and I might do the same again for Spirited Away at the end of Oct.  I'd say that this is my favourite Studio Gibli movie, though some of the dream logic didn't quite work for me, particularly the way Sophie's age was all over the place in the second half of the film.  From what I've read, things were handled a bit more logically in the book.  

There is one more animated film that is playing at Carlton that I want to catch.  It's called Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko.  It will likely be tight, but I should be able to catch the 4:05 showing right after the Sunday matinee of speaking of sneaking at Buddies in Bad Times (though I would likely have to skip the talkback).  We'll see if that is just too much, given everything else I am trying to do this weekend.

I've been to the Paradise twice in the past week.  Last Saturday, I saw Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort, then skipped the Varda half of the double feature to set out on Nuit Blanche instead.  I'll try to write up that excursion shortly.  Then Monday I retuned to try to catch another Demy/Varda double feature.  It was Demy's Bay of Angels followed by one of Varda's late documentaries -- The Beaches of Agnes where she delves into her life and work and that of her contemporaries.  In many ways I am coming to Varda backwards, starting with Faces Places at TIFF a few years back and now The Beaches of Agnes.   I still haven't been able to catch Cleo from 5 to 7 on the big screen!  Frustrating...

What was even more frustrating was the complete transit breakdown. It was always going to be a tight trip, but I should have made it, but there was an unexplained 5 minute delay at Broadway. Then we got to Bloor-Yonge, and they shut down all of Line 2 between Ossington and Broadview (so I couldn't even turn around and go home). There was some major security incident on the platform at St. George. They never got more specific than that. This went on for a bit over 20 minutes. I told myself I would go take the streetcar rather than suffer replacement shuttles (because construction on Bloor at St. George has made the street all but impassible for buses). They did announce shuttles were on their way, so I headed upstairs.  At that exact moment, they announced subway service had resumed, so I trudged back downstairs. The next train, however, was turning back.  As you can imagine the train I finally got on was full of angry riders who had their work commute completely disrupted.  I finally got to Ossington. The trip took an hour and 10 minutes for what really should be 25-30 minutes.  Completely unacceptable service from the TTC at every level.   It was too late to see the first film, so I went out for Ethiopian food instead.   Then I still had 45 minutes or so to kill before they would let me in for The Beaches of Agnes.   I mostly read the book I had with me (Effi Briest).   About the only (minor) bright spot is that after hearing of my transit woes, they gave me a free pass to see another movie at the Paradise, so that was nice of them. 

I've been kicking the idea round for a bit, but I think I'll order a box set of Varda's documentaries, ranging from her work in California to the later autobiographical ones. The box set does include The Beaches of Agnes but not Faces Places or her final film, Varda by Agnès.   It looks like I can borrow Varda by Agnès from Robarts one of these days.    I also have put a hold on Demy's Bay of Angels, so will try to watch that soon, but I suspect my annoyance over that evening's events will linger for a long time.

Edit (10/1): One of the saddest breakdown of the postal service is that an signed copy of Ralph Gustafson's Configurations at Midnight got lost in the mail.  What makes this particularly infuriating is that, despite this coming from a bookstore in Montreal, they charged significantly less to mail it to Chicago than to Toronto.  Had I spied into a crystal ball I would have swallowed the extra postage (and my ire) and I would likely have the book in my hands today, though honestly it might still have gotten lost.  I still have a very faint hope it will turn up one of these days.  There is an autographed copy of an early Selected Poems that I will probably order in its place, and also a bookstore in Hamilton has an autographed copy of Impromptus for sale.  I might try to grab that on my next pass through Hamilton, given that I am not really trusting the mail much these days.

Update 2: Impromptus seems to have vanished, so I decided to bite the bullet and order the signed copy of Gustafson's Selected Poems.  There was also a fairly inexpensive copy of Configurations at Midnight (with free shipping!), so I ordered that and had it mailed to Toronto.  There's probably no better way to ensure that the missing (signed) copy turns up in Chicago.  Then as a bit of a crap shoot, there were bookstores offering his Collected Poems: either Volumes 1 and 2 or 1 and 3(!).  I have no idea if these will turn up and if they are as advertised, but if all goes well I'll have the complete set and can try to find a university library to take the duplicate of Collected Poems Vol. 1.  Here's hoping anyway.

Update 3: I was a bit surprised, but I did actually get all the Gustafson books, so I can really dive into his work at my leisure.  Also, the Varda box set turned up, though I got stung by some crazy import fees, which irked me.  It's a nice set, and it actually does include Visages villages, which is Faces Places but without any English subtitles, which kind of stinks.  I wasn't entirely sure if it would have all the episodes of Agnès de ci de là Varda (Agnes Varda Here & There), but it does.  Now I just need to check on those subtitles as well.

Signs, Signs

I guess I am really writing about posters rather than the signs that so riled up the members of the Five Man Electrical Band.  Anyway, I don't take the subway all that often, but I was taking it last Tues.  I happened to see this sign for the Art Bus up to the McMichael gallery.

I took it back in 2017.  Not surprisingly it was cancelled during COVID.  I think I asked if it was being reinstated in 2022, and they couldn't give me any clear answer.  But there I was staring at a big poster saying it was running again.  Pretty cool.

In fact, it is possible it did start up in 2022, and I just missed it.  In terms of when it started up in 2023, that isn't clear to me, though I think I would have seen the sign had they been advertising in July or Aug. for example.  However, I had a pretty busy summer, so I might not have taken the bus even if I had been aware of it earlier, but I think I can squeeze it in before it wraps up on Oct. 29.  (There are a couple of exhibits up there I'd like to check out.)  I'm currently hoping to take the Art Bus either on Oct. 21st or 22nd, whichever has the better weather.  One very cool thing is that the bus now leaves from St. George station (not King and Spadina as before), and this location is better for me.  More details and booking here.

In the same station, there was a poster about a talk that Neil DeGrasse Tyson is giving in Toronto on Feb. 6, 2024.

The topic (the search for life in the Universe) is not as interesting to me as some other cosmology questions, but I think the opportunity to catch one of his lectures live should not be missed.  I just need to check I don't have any concert tickets that conflict, and I'll go ahead and book my ticket to this.

Finally, as I approached Robarts, I saw a small sign that this weekend was the annual book sale at U Vic.  I debated running up over lunch on Friday, but then decided it made more sense to go on Sat. and combine this with a quick trip to the Hart House Museum.  So that's what on deck for the afternoon, and of course then this evening is Nuit Blanche, while I'll have to report on later.

At any rate, these three signs/posters were quite effective for me, but they also just reinforced things I already care about; they weren't trying to sell me on something I wasn't already interested in.

Life Imitates Tati

For me, it took a while for Jacques Tati's films to sink in, though I guess I did like Mon Oncle right away.  I definitely didn't care too much for Playtime the very first time I saw it (on a borrowed VHS copy!), but it has grown on me a lot, and I consider it a masterpiece (along with pretty much all film critics).  Some thoughts on Tati are in this appreciation, and then I guess the extended riffs are in this post.  In this post, I compared Tativille from Playtime to the TransLink HQ in Sapperton, New West.

At any rate, I ran over to Simcoe Place for lunch on Thursday, trying to take advantage of the fall weather before winter hits.  It's been under construction for some time (hopefully connecting to a new node on the PATH before too long).  Basically, half of the restaurants have closed down and about half of the seating area is roped off for construction, but the Thai place I like is still going strong.  (This is even more critical now that the Thai place in Union Station has closed down for good for unknown reasons, which makes me quite sad.)

On this visit, there was actually someone on a ladder, carrying out some painting, while all the dining activity was going on, and this seemed so quintessentially Tatiesque that I had to take a couple of photos.

Oddly, there really don't seen to be screen captures from Playtime of the workmen in the restaurant leading up to the chaotic nightclub scene, but here are a few of the architects and designers trying to get everything ready for opening night.

You'll just have to use your imagination for the rest.

Masterful Master Plan

I just saw Michael Healey's The Master Plan over at Crow's Theatre.  I went to a matinee where Michael Healey was there, talking a bit about the writing process, which was much faster than normal because Chris Abraham really wanted to get the story out into the world as soon as possible.  The Master Plan is actually an adaptation of Sideways, a non-fictional account of how Google's Sidewalk labs tried to build a futuristic neighbourhood at Quayside (but with an eye to redeveloping the whole Portlands) and then finally walked away from the deal when it became clear that the city wouldn't play ball on the larger real estate play.  Just in general, there was a massive disconnect between American and Canadian values around governance and getting things done.  While most people in the city are glad that the deal fell apart (and certainly Google has not been known for its high ethical standards of late), there is also a sense of loss that something quite innovative could have been done here if only Canadians weren't quite so conservative.  There is an idealistic planner (a composite figure as it turns out) who frequently quotes Jane Jacobs and believed that the project, with its 30-story wood-framed buildings, could actually have pointed to a better, carbon neutral future.  He often gets the most moving lines in the show.  Healey made it clear this was lightly fictionalized, and that he never hesitated to change history in the service of adding another joke.

I do wish they had structured the pre-show chat a bit more formally as an opportunity for Healey to sign copies of the play, which they were selling at the box office.  I picked up a copy at the end of the talk, but by then he had disappeared.  Oh well.  (I'm only a little jealous at how easy he makes this sort of writing about politics seem.  I did see 1979 at Canadian Stage a few years back.  I'll just have to keep my eyes out for any remounts of his work, particularly Plan B.)  This show was actually sold out with a waiting list!  It's been a long time since that happened.  I saw quite a few Crow's Theatre regulars (actors mostly) in the audience.

If you are at all interested in urban planning or Toronto politics, I think you have to see this play, which was indeed quite funny, though perhaps even more amusing if you had followed the ups and downs of the deal.  I still recall going to the first public hearing on Quayside and hearing Dan Doctoroff try to win over the crowd, which was a mix of techno fan-boys and skeptics (particularly the housing advocates from Acorn who don't make an appearance at all in this play).  It has been extended through Oct. 8, and possibly beyond if it is a massive hit.  The next major production is Heroes of the Fourth Turning by the Howland Company, but that's in the studio and then Cliff Cardinal's A Terrible Fate is actually playing at Videocab, so I think they might be able to run long if sales are solid.  Anyway, it is a very strong kick-off for the season, and I would encourage people to check it out.

Edit (9/22): The Master Plan was extended through Oct. 15, but there are not many tickets left to see this play.  It's definitely worth checking out if you are at all interested in Toronto history or urban politics.

Muddled-Up Movie-Going

Two weeks ago now I somehow messed up on the showings at Carlton Cinema.  I had planned on seeing Heavy Metal on Friday right after work, but it had closed Thurs. (rather than Friday).  I saw that Scrapper, which had gotten good reviews, and was actually having a premiere at TIFF Lightbox.  I definitely considered it, and may see it when it is in wider release (at least at TIFF) but I wasn't quite in the mood and it also seemed to be the case that the only tickets left were for TIFF members.  I definitely wasn't going to stop by just to see if a seat opened up (as sometimes happens).  In the end, I went and saw Theatre Camp, which Glenn Sumi had said was hilarious.  It really was very funny, though I did agree with some critics who said that the mockumentary format didn't really add much to the film (and was dropped by the middle act...).  I was never a "theatre nerd," but I was in the high school marching band.  In my home town, the marching band or being in band generally was not niche.  But we didn't go away for band camp or anything like that.  We did, however, come back to school early (maybe a week or two at the end of August) to learn the music and practice the marching routines.  

The following day (Sat.) I went and saw Grave of the Fireflies.  My son joined me, which was nice, though I felt a bit bad after we realized just what a sad movie it was.  And how pointless all the suffering was.  I get that a young teenaged boy will make bad decisions out of too much pride, but no one (not least of all his aunt and uncle) would track him down and make sure he and his sister would survive at least?  Certainly a major downer, but I have seen it now.

The following week I saw 5 Cm a Second, which is sort of about thwarted love, though it gets maybe just a bit squicky when you consider that the kids start out in 7th or 8th grade (so really puppy love...), though they seemed drawn as high schoolers to my eyes.  Anyway, I was the only one in the theatre!  The movie was just over an hour (though felt longer) and had lots of visually beautiful moments.

I'm not going to try to see The Boy and His Heron at TIFF during the festival, which has just ended at any rate.  I'll just wait until it opens (apparently in early Dec.).  One thing that has become clear is this is not a straight adaptation of How Do You Live? but rather it is about a boy and a magical talking heron.  The boy occasionally reads and is inspired by the book.  Anyway, this seems like something I'll definitely want to check out.

It does seem that I have to trek back up to Richmond Hill to see Howl's Moving Castle at the end of Sept.  I guess that fact that I am not going to Ottawa for TAC after all (a sad story which I may or may not elaborate on) will make this a lot easier to do.  And then I'll probably do the same for Spirited Away in the original Japanese (not dubbed) right around Halloween.

There are one or two other animated films coming to Carlton, but they don't have the times out yet.  One of them is Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko, which I'll try to squeeze in somehow.

I think I'll pass on Queer Cinema Club this month (this Wed. actually) when they are screening To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar.  I just have a bit too much else on my plate.

I guess I missed one of the Varda screenings at Paradise, but it wasn't one that grabbed me.  I'm still a bit miffed that I missed out on Cleo from 5 to 7 by a day in Pittsburgh.  I find it hard to believe TIFF Lightbox hasn't shown it once since then.  

I probably will see Body Double on Friday* and then Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort at 5 on Sat.  They follow the Demy with Varda's One Sings, The Other Doesn't, but I think I'll be heading into the night for Nuit Blanche by that point.

Anyway, I think the only Varda I'll check out this month is The Beaches of Agnes on Monday the 25th -- and possibly Demy's Bay of Angels just before it.   It's been ages since I've done a double-bill, though I used to at Film Forum in New York when they would show film noirs back-to-back.

* I was planning on doing this, but it turns out there is a free comedy set by Fred Armisen at the same time, and I think I'll go to that instead.  

Ten Dollar Word Digression

I have not done as well as I had hoped in keeping track of the unusual words I have come across in my reading, but here are a few that were interesting.

First prize has to go to Wanda Coleman from one of her American sonnets: ustulation.  I don't believe I have ever even seen this word before.  It means the action of burning or searing, which is quite appropriate as she is often calling for burning the whole racist system/society down.

Mistral pops up in the Mavis Gallant story "The Concert Party."  The mistral is a strong, cold, northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean.  Pretty specific.

I'm pretty sure I read the word exegesis recently.  This means the critical explanation or interpretation of a text.

There were at least a couple ten dollar words in Bellow's The Adventures of Augie March, but I think they are lost to me now, as I'm very unlikely to read this novel a third time.

Part of this was sparked by my own misuse of slatternly in the last post.  I had assumed it meant a promiscuous person.  After writing it down, I felt something was off and wasn't entirely sure if it was an adjective (as I had used it) or an adverb, so I looked it up.  It is an adjective (yea!), though it has also been used as an adverb, but I got the meaning a bit wrong.  In fact, slatternly means dirty and untidy, and it is almost exclusively used to describe women.  Now it is only a very small semantic step from dirty and untidy to being sexually unclean, but it still isn't really the proper term (and Rosie is far from an untidy woman).  I probably should have used wanton instead, but I don't think I'll go back and fix it.  

Looking over the other synonyms for promiscuous, there are some really interesting terms, some of which are fairly archaic: licentious, wild, debauched, dissolute, dissipated (though I think of this more in terms of alcohol or drugs), profligate, wanton, of easy virtue, fast, loose, round-heeled, riggish (I've never heard this one!), tarty, trampy, slutty, and easy.  I will definitely have to find a way to use riggish in my writing one of these days.

Edit (9/11): I was browsing through the short poems in James Pollock's Durable Goods (which finally turned back up at the library after being lost for months) and came across the word exigency, which means "an urgent need or demand."  I don't think I've stumbled across this word previously, though it could be taken as a false cognate of exegesis.