Toronto taxi follies

I assume anyone in Toronto is aware of all the protests related to taxi drivers and their unhappiness over the city's collective refusal to reign in UberX.  I actually saw them tying up University Avenue on my way in to work this morning.  It is actually a fairly complex issue with a lot of wrinkles, not nearly as simple as most people make it seem.  It is probably true that Uber drivers generally do not carry enough insurance (and are often lying to their own insurance companies) -- and who really knows just what kind of blanket coverage Uber has or doesn't have for its drivers.  That said, it is going to be all but impossible to truly put Uber and related apps back in the bottle, so it does make more sense to come up with some reasonable regulations that would cover Uber and perhaps lighten up some of the taxi regulations.  What is clear is that while the cab drivers may have intimidated a small number of Toronto councilors, their actions, particularly today, have driven even more people over to Uber and UberX.

I generally avoid taking cabs unless there are no reasonable alternatives.  I probably never took a cab for myself until a few years into my consulting career.  Then I realized in some cases, it really did make sense.  This year I have generally worked far too late and it has gotten so that the only way I could make a play opening was to take a cab, but hopefully this is only a temporary thing.

I generally had pretty good experiences with Toronto cabs.  However, we have moved to a street a bit off the beaten path, and one friend had a miserable experience trying to get here from Union Station.  I would say since the move, half of the rides I've had from the neighbourhood (not from downtown) have been really bad, including one where a cab driver got completely lost and went the wrong direction and then another cab driver who started arguing with me about directions to my house.  So I have to say that my generally positive feelings have basically evaporated.  I haven't signed up for Uber, but it really is just a matter of time, I suspect.  Still, I do my best to avoid needing a cab or Uber in the first place, and I would like to keep it that way if possible.

 

Edit (10/2026): One thing that has helped with the cab drivers getting lost is they all follow Google maps or the equivalent now, so we haven't had those issues in ages, even though getting to our place is far more challenging now with Ontario Line construction (and my favourite cut-through is gone, along with a No Frills less than 5 minutes away.  Sigh...).  I never did sign up for Uber, though I did sign up for Lyft and used it a couple of times in L.A.  I thought I might use Lyft in Winnipeg, but ended up just taking standard cabs between the airport and the conference centre/hotel.

Alienated

I guess this is as good a pun as any.  I had fairly high hopes for my piece, which starts off as a homage to (or rip off of) Eric Bogosian's subUrbia.  There are a bunch of high school kids sitting outside a 7-Eleven (while unspecified I have in mind the one on Belmont in Chicago), getting hassled by the store manager and sassing him back in return.  These are the typically slightly smarter than is realistic punks, but that is pretty much how most characters are presented on stage, i.e. more verbally gifted than is strictly realistic.

Anyway, I had worked out quite a few issues and dropped the bit about the store manager upbraiding Rajiv for hanging out with the punks, though a bit of Rajiv's internal struggle is still faintly represented.  Some of that is addressed as an off-stage conflict.  I also simply ran out of time for Johnny's older sister to show up, give him hell, but then to tell off the manager when he comes to try to enlist her in his efforts to dislodge the group from his property.  While that had some promise, it was just too long, particularly as this is all a bit of a set-up for a throwaway joke (about aliens naturally).

So I submitted on time, but didn't hear anything through Sun.  I even emailed Monday to ask what had happened, but got no response.  I decided to drop by the Storefront anyway, and I got basically no meaningful answer as to why I didn't get notification.  It turns out one of the organizers isn't reading the scripts at all.  It was particularly frustrating as they didn't have enough parts for the actors, and the main organizer went and looked over something on the computer and printed out a script.  I thought it might be mine (that they somehow overlooked, since it really doesn't seem that they read it in the first place).  Well, I was pretty crushed when they picked something else, and they went with 5 scripts only when they could have printed mine as well and had 4 more roles for the evening.  Should I feel incredibly snubbed?  Maybe, maybe not, but my feelings are hurt based on this experience.  I didn't see any of the three actors I wanted to talk about a potential future project, so I think I am done with Storefront/Red One for a while.  Here is the script if you want to peruse it.

I am starting to wonder if I am just too genteel a writer for the stage.  Aside from one piece still gestating (and more than a little inspired by Lear), I tend to write about inter-ethnic conflicts that can be bridged without too much ranting and raving.  Conflict is a bit muted, which doesn't go over that well with this younger group of actors.  On the other hand, there is a solid strand of comedy writing that occupies this space (a too-safe space?).  I guess I'll be thinking more about this as I try to revise some of these plays.  I don't really want to add conflict solely to spice things up, but only if it can emerge organically from the setting and the characters. 

What is definitely true is that in general, I am in a very bad frame of mind (not just about my creative writing "career"), and I have to be careful not to make any rash decisions at the moment.  I'll probably go into this in more detail a bit further down the road.

Rodney Graham - Canadian conceptual artist

I was expecting to complete this post several months ago when I wrote about the Douglas Coupland exhibit, but it has been closer to 15 months now.  I guess I couldn't really think of a hook.  I don't really know all that much about Rodney Graham, other than to me he seems a bit of a knock-off of Jeff Wall, another well-known photographer from Vancouver, though I did like Canadian Humorist, which I included in that post.

But the art world needs to constantly be promoting the next new thing, and Jeff Wall has been on top for too long, so it became Graham's turn.  He had that small exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, then a number of exhibits around Vancouver just as I was packing up and leaving in 2014, so I missed them all.  I believe he was featured in a recent Biennial, and now he has his own small show in the Tate Modern.  In this short piece from the Georgia Straight, announcing the Tate Modern show, there is a video interview with Graham.  I found it fairly interesting.  However, after I had watched it, I actually had quite a bit less respect for Graham than I did before.  He hardly ever takes his own photographs.  All he is doing is staging the scene and letting a real photographer get the image right.  (This is why he is primarily a conceptual artist, but this is no different from Wall, who stages his photos and takes them himself, though Graham has a bit more "cheekiness" behind his ideas.)  Also, Graham is apparently a bit obsessed with being the center of attention, so he is fearing that as he ages (and can no longer be the leading man) he has fewer choices and is running out of ideas that he wants to pursue.  So overall I find him lacking when compared to Jeff Wall.  But then to hear how he thinks he is almost done, ready to retire, when he has finally achieved (momentary) fame in the art world is completely beyond me.  He sounded seriously depressed in the end of that video, and if I were one of his friends, I would be pretty worried.

I guess to not leave this on a completely sour note, I will post one of his recent images that I liked, though even here there is a heavy layer of nostalgia pervading this piece (perhaps Graham hinting that his best days are behind him).

Rodney Graham, The Avid Reader 1949, 2011

Recovery

I'm sort of taking it a bit easier today.  Yesterday was busy, though not as busy as last Sunday!  I took the kids to the pancake breakfast with Santa over at Matty Eckler.  Even though neither of the kids believes in Santa, they do believe in pancakes...  Anyway, there were more kids than last year, and more young kids that wanted to sit on Santa's lap, so it didn't feel as sad or nearly pathetic as last year.  My daughter did some of the arts and crafts but left behind the one that I thought was more creative.

I finally managed to take the time to get a haircut and did a bit of minor shopping on the way back.  Then I had to run to the bank and the post office.  Then I took my daughter back to Matty Eckler for some swimming.

In the evening, I finished off the friendship bracelet (it is indeed a bit too big).  I also tried to repair her glasses, though that was only a partial success, and I'll eventually have to take them back to LensCrafters.
 

Then I went through a bunch of boxes downstairs.  I didn't find the O'Brien volume, so I will assume I did part with that during a move (and reorder it), but I did find roughly where some of the key science fiction is stashed away, the anthropology books and quite a few books by Evelyn Waugh.  Of all the many things still in boxes, those books by Waugh are perhaps the most deserving of coming upstairs (to be fair I do have 7 books by Waugh unpacked, so it isn't that I have totally side-lined him).  But it will take a while to go through enough other books to make the space for them.  It is definitely a dilemma when sticking to my reading list means I won't get to that part of the shelves until 2017.  I will see if it is possible to make space for one more narrow and somewhat short bookcase down there.*  I did basically come up with a box of urban books that I can part with, though I may end up skimming them first.

I was pretty exhausted (moving boxes around is hard work), but my daughter wanted to work a bit on one more arts and crafts project.  So we did that for about half an hour.

I crashed pretty hard (no movies or reading last night, despite my best intentions), and I slept in until nearly 10, which is my body trying to recover from not enough rest.  I have a few minor tasks today, such as getting groceries and putting out more paper into the recycling bin.  I'll probably stop by work as well, though I haven't decided if I will go to the Image Cente to see the Weegee exhibit or back to the AGO (to see if the crowds at the Turner exhibit have died down a bit).  The main goal is to get the fabric I need for curtains and lining this skirt I want to make, though I doubt I'll get to either this evening.  Anyway, it is time to get going.  (I have recovered enough for now.)

* Where I would like to put the bookcase won't work, but I could fit in a bookcase that is a maximum of 40" x  55" as long as it is sturdy and level, since I can't anchor it against the wall.  This is becoming quite annoying as the one that I think would work best is not available in Canada.  I guess I'll look into this more tonight, but I have to get going now.

Handicrafts

While it isn't something I indulge in very much, there is definitely something rewarding about being able to create something yourself instead of having it machine-made or made in a sweatshop in Asia.  I only wish I had realized quite how hard it would be to make a rug out of denim.  If I switched today over to cotton rags, I probably would be able to make another rug of the same size within a few months.  I doubt I will bother, however, as I have other things on my mind.

I still haven't broken out the sewing machine to do much more than a few test runs.  However, now that my father-in-law is gone, I have the space to set it back up again.

It really shouldn't take more than an hour or two to fix up the curtains the way I would like.  I know, famous last words.  That reminds me.  I have been picking up a few odds and ends at Michaels (a crafts store that opened up near work).  I should have picked up a seam ripper.  Oh well, another time.

I had a pretty good time at FabricLand, and I picked up this fabric to try to make a skirt for my daughter.  Once I get the hang of it, this should be a roughly 2 hour project.  It will take a bit longer than that on the first go-around of course, especially as I have decided it really ought to be lined.

I ended up getting twice the fabric I needed, so I'll do some other project with the rest and save some for quilting, though I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

The other thing I am working on is one of those friendship bracelets.  There are a bunch of videos showing how they can be done on a round loom. 

It takes about 5 minutes to learn and 2-3 hours to do all the braiding (at least in my case there are many distractions).  This one is done. In fact it might actually be too long (for her thin wrists).

Of course my daughter wants three more.  I think I should be able to teach her over the weekend.  It will be something to keep her occupied.

If all goes well, I just need to buy some plain cotton backing and also some fabric for curtains in my daughter's room.

That will probably be enough craftiness for the season.

Traveling for special events

It is generally not considered that odd to travel for a major sporting event or even a concert, though I got a few strange looks when I told people I was traveling down to L.A. primarily so that I could see the Kronos Quartet.  One generally does not travel all that far for classical music, instead going to support one's local chamber music ensembles and/or symphony (and perhaps hoping that a very good orchestra will be on tour and come through town).

While I don't keep precise track of their movements, I do occasionally check to see if Kronos Quartet will be playing nearby (not in 2016 unfortunately) or the Pacifica Quartet.  Now Pacifica rarely or perhaps has never played Toronto, though they are coming to London (Jan 29 and April 8) and Hamilton (April 10).  I think I'll be able to make the April 10 show, so I'll put it in my calendar of long-term events.

As far as Broadway goes, I've certainly combined museum and theatre trips, though I don't know that I would say I ever went to New York solely for a play.  Now I did try to go to Brooklyn for The Iceman Cometh, but that went horribly, horribly wrong, so I don't think I will do that again.  But I did go to San Francisco and Berkeley and Montreal to see Stoppard productions (Arcadia and the Coast of Utopia and Travesties, respectively), and I went to Ottawa to see an Arthur Miller play.  And I am leaning towards going to Peterborough* to see Les Belles Soeurs, so I definitely do travel to see a show, particularly if it isn't produced often.

I am much less likely to travel strictly for an art exhibit, but it depends on the circumstances.  I always try to bundle trips to cities with a visit to the art museum.  Our upcoming trip to Chicago is based somewhat on the fact that the Greek exhibit, which we kept missing, is going to be at the Field Museum.  I am fairly seriously considering going to Cleveland in December to catch a show about the Impressionists and their gardens.  Probably the biggest trip I even scheduled around art was to see the Max Beckmann exhibit at MoMA Queens, but I was able to make it coincide with a work trip, so it cost me almost nothing.  Ah, those were the days...

I have just booked travel to New York and Boston around the Toronto school board's spring break, and we will just miss an interesting mini-exhibit in Boston, though we will have a chance to preview the Lawren Harris exhibit that ends up at the AGO this summer.  Given that I am trying to pace myself and not totally exhaust the kids, I don't think we will go to more than one art museum a day in New York, which means crossing a lot off the list.  I've already decided that the Guggenheim isn't worth it, but it is a tougher call with the Whitney.  Just like MOMA, there is always plenty to see at the Whitney, but I am quite bummed that I will miss a Stuart Davis exhibit that opens in June and runs through September.  I am a huge fan of Stuart Davis (he's still in my top ten).  I think this might actually be worth traveling for, especially since I don't think I will be doing any overnight trips to Stratford this season (probably only seeing Strindberg's John Gabriel Borkman) and the family will probably go off to Chicago for a few weeks without me.  If I do make such a trip, then perhaps I would catch the László Moholy-Nagy show at the Guggenheim, though that is a much lower priority.  And while I am definitely thinking quite seriously about making this trip, I do see that the exhibit is going to be in DC at the National Gallery of Art in Winter 2016-Spring 2017, which is another strong possibility, particularly if I manage to get a paper into TRB 2017.

Still, one could run oneself ragged trying to keep up with all the art and theatre and concerts in one's hometown.  If I seriously scanned everything that happened across Ontario and then the top five or six cultural magnet cities in the US (New York, Washington DC, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and possibly Philadelphia or Boston), I would just always be sick to my stomach at how much I was missing out on.  Better to not look and only occasionally let the major events come to my attention.  I guess if I was a paid arts reviewer that might be a different story, but I am an amateur in the strictest sense of not being compensated for my thoughts.  I think that covers what I wanted to say for now.

* I had basically assumed I would have to drive, but I forgot that it is worth checking Greyhound and Megabus and even GO Bus.  It doesn't appear any of those would work for Peterborough, though I will check again closer to the time, but on the off, off, off chance I go to St. Catherine's in February, Megabus is having an ultra-low fare special.

Edit (1/1/2016): As I was following up on ordering an Archibald Motley catalog that had gone OOP but seems is being reprinted now, Amazon notified me about a new Norman Lewis catalog called Procession.  I like Normal Lewis, so I decided to follow up on this, whereupon I learned about a Norman Lewis exhibit, which just opened at PAFA (Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts).  While I would love to visit Philadelphia, I doubt very much I can get there before the summer, by which time the exhibit will be in Ft. Worth.  I'm a bit bummed out that the touring schedule isn't flipped, since I will be going to Chicago in the summer, but I suppose I can find an excuse to travel to Chicago in the late fall next year.  I'm sure my wife would appreciate it if we went around Thanksgiving -- or even the week before or after just to save a bit on airline tickets.  (It is worth noting this is a big exhibit -- 90 paintings -- and while the upper floor of the Chicago Cultural Center can hold a lot of art, they still might have to trim it back a bit.  Nonetheless, I just can't see making it to Phily this spring.)

9th Canadian Challenge - 10th Review - Payback

Margaret Atwood's Payback (or really Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth) is a printed version of her Massey lecture series from 2008.  There are 5 chapters, each corresponding to one roughly hour-long lecture.  Naturally, this also comes as an audio book, though I don't know whether they simply recorded the lectures (most likely) or had her re-record them after she did a bit more editing.  I have not checked out the audio version from the library as of yet, but I plan to do so soon.*

These lectures are vintage Atwood, covering different aspects of debt (moral as well as financial) and drawing on a wide range of sources.  She spends much of one lecture considering the idea of selling one's soul and how Dickens largely inverted the Faust legend in A Christmas Carol.  In general, she focuses on how ancient civilizations realized that debt that is so high that one cannot escape it (nor one's children either) is unproductive so there would be periodic debt holidays.  While this expunging of debt is still a feature of modern bankruptcy laws, there are a number of ways this principle is being eroded, perhaps most perniciously in the U.S. with its relatively new rules that student debt should survive bankruptcy.  Atwood is even-handed enough to point out that under any system, there are ne'er-do-wells that try to cheat their lenders (and sometimes even get a positive thrill out of doing so), drawing on real-world examples as well as Thackeray's Becky Sharp.  (Note to self, I really need to read this, and if all goes well, I should get to Vanity Fair by the end of 2016.)

The essays cover quite a bit of ground and are interesting and informative.  I did think she could have gone just a bit deeper into the potlatch culture of the Pacific Northwest where rivals tried to drive each other into debt through extravagant gift-giving.  Also, she references The Gift by Lewis Hyde but not the earlier The Gift by Marcel Mauss (which is certainly worth a quick read).  Hyde's book is more useful to her overall argument, however, as it is more tied into examples of the financial system, specifically about how usury (money-lending) used to be prohibited to Christians and Muslims but not Jews, which was the primary reason Jews were so successful at banking in Europe and bankrolled many emperors and popes.  Obviously, by the late 20th Century almost all prohibitions against usury were lifted in the Christian world at least.  In this interview, Atwood talks about some of the concerns she had and still has related to how humans have overtaxed their economic and environmental systems and are just sort of waiting around for the big payback when it all comes due.

I would recommend the first four chapters with no reservations but feel it is only fair to warn you that the last chapter (on environmental "debt") is a bit of a litmus test -- readers will either embrace it or be really turned off.  There are two strands of environmental thought -- with only a minority of environmentalists being optimistic and most being far more pessimistic about humans ever cleaning up their act and the planet.  At least in my view, Atwood is deeply pessimistic and yet perhaps secretly gleeful about the payback that is going to strike all those that ignored the warnings of the environmentalists (just call her Madame Cassandra).  That is certainly how I read the last chapter, which is the most divisive in the book.  If one does not like being hectored by environmentalists (and particularly if one is on the fence about global warming** and humanity's role in adding to the problem), then this chapter will be a total turn-off.  On the other hand, it reads a lot like preaching to the choir for those who believe we are nearing environmental collapse.  I thought it just a bit too strident, but I can't deny that we are very likely heading into a very painful period of payback, though of course, as Atwood herself notes, the costs will be unevenly distributed and those who suffer the most are the poorest to begin with.  On the whole Canada is likely to benefit from global warming, at least in contrast to many other nations.

* Edit (12/12): I've had a chance to listen to the lectures on CD, and they are the original lectures, which makes sense.  One bonus is that at the end of each lecture, there was a question and answer period, which has been edited down to 6-9 minutes per CD.  I assume that none of this back and forth made it into the printed version of the lectures, unless she put something in the footnotes.  So not only do you get a bit of Atwood actually interacting with the audience (presumably a very adoring crowd) but they will have edited out anyone who stands up and gives a thesis in the form of a question, which is all too common when interacting with intellectuals.

** I should hasten to add that if one really is a climate change denier, one probably would not be reading Atwood in the first place, though I suppose stranger things have happened.  I am firmly with the pessimists who think we already have passed the point of no return, despite all the good intentions on display in Paris this week.