I hardly have to tell anyone in Canada that this summer is almost certainly the last tour The Tragically Hip will do. I am sure we are all hoping for a miracle and that Gord's cancer goes into remission, but that seems unlikely. (Of course, if he does beat the odds, like Stephen Hawking, I can't imagine anyone complaining about the fuss that was made this year.)
Since I was a bit concerned that my ticket had been sold twice (yes, I broke down and bought a ticket from StubHub), I wanted to get there as early as possible and be the first one through the gate. Perhaps I was a bit paranoid, but there are quite a few scammers out there.
It wasn't a great seat (the very last row) but it did have some advantages, namely that because it was so close to the standing room only section (apparently Air Canada Centre still sells some standing room tickets) several people next to me (who also had been a bit worried about the legitimacy of their tickets!) went and stood up behind row 18, so I wasn't cramped at all. And most importantly, it had a forward view of the stage, whereas most of the cheaper tickets on StubHub were behind the stage. I couldn't see the band that well from the cheap seats, but at least I could see Gord doing his various dance routines, though he was far more restrained than usual in terms of his between song patter. On the flip side, being up in the cheap seats meant a lot of leather-lunged fans were bellowing in my ears periodically. Also, there was a lot of weed being smoked around me. And some of the older fans chatted amongst themselves loudly during the newer material.
It was still an amazing performance and a real love-in. I think the band decided that the Sunday show would be for the hard core fans, and they went even a bit deeper into their back catalogue. The set list for the show is here, and you can poke around and see the Wednesday and Friday night sets as well. Incredibly enough, they did not play a single song off of Fully Completely! (Normally, they have been playing 4 and sometimes 3 songs off of it.) There's no question I am a bit disappointed -- I would have wanted to hear Courage, At the Hundredth Meridian and probably Locked in the Trunk of the Car. (All things considered, I probably would have liked the Friday show a bit better than Sunday's, though this was a solid show.) But I did get to see New Orleans is Sinking live. And of course, I went last year where they played the entire Fully Completely album straight through (such an amazing concert!), so putting the two shows together, I've probably seen virtually everything off of Yer Favorites except So Hard Done By (now I'm kind of glad that last year they did Nautical Disaster instead of New Orleans is Sinking). I'm not a huge fan of bootlegs, but I might break down and get a few from this last tour, depending on the quality, though if an official DVD is released, I'll grab that of course. (Which reminds me that I still haven't listened to Man Machine Poem all the way through, but it just hit hoopla, so I'll stream it later on today.)
I admit I broke up a couple of times (during Ahead by a Century and Bobcaygeon) just thinking that this would be the last go-around for the band. I really don't know what I would do if I was facing a one-year death sentence. There are a very few things at work that I would consider important enough to complete, but mostly I think I would want to try to complete the many, many open-ended creative writing projects I have going, and I would probably draw up a list of 30 or so cities I would want to visit once (or one last time). I'd probably do one of those video things, where I would tell a lot of stories for my children. I suppose all in all, I am not doing too badly in terms of living a fulfilled life, though it doesn't always seem that way from day to day.
It will be interesting to see what they do on the 20th. While I won't be watching it live, I tried to set up the TV to record it off of the CBC. If I were in town, I would either head over to the Distillery District for the outdoor feel, or more likely go watch it (for free) at Hot Docs. A list of the authorized locations is here. I can imagine them pulling out all the stops and playing for an eternity.
Anyway, thanks for all the music, guys, and we're all hoping for that miracle!
Monday, August 15, 2016
Summer productivity
I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on myself. It has been an extremely hot week, and I am only just recovering. Sat. I got a late start, but I did run out (and had quite a rough transit experience -- in addition to the Danforth Line being down for maintenance, the Gerrard/College streetcar is being replaced by buses due to heavy maintenance on Bathurst St., so transit has just been a total pain).
I got fairly soaked in the rain on my way to the AGO. I hung out there for about an hour, taking a few photos of the early Lawren Harris paintings and then looking at the Theaster Gates exhibit (not quite as interesting as I had hoped). I saw that they had the Henry Moore room open again, which is nice. There will be one more mid-sized gallery to hang modernist (?) works that are in conversation with the Moore's whatever that means. I did see that they have hung Vuillard's The Widow's Visit, but nothing else from my list of paintings that should be taken out of storage. The Vuillard is smaller than I remembered. I try not to let myself get too upset over it, but there are several corner rooms and a few other rooms towards the front of the museum that frankly have a huge amount of wasted space, and I just can't believe they can't put more art on the walls. I don't think the museum is run as well as it could be, and I think I've mentioned that in terms of the way it displays its permanent collection, it doesn't make the top 25 in my list of the world's greatest museums, though I will say that it has generally had very impressive special exhibits.
Anyway, I went up to Hot Doc Cinema and watched the Werner Herzog movie about the internet. I think that probably merits its own post, so I'll try to get to that soon. After the movie, I walked by Robarts. Unfortunately, the library was closed, but I was able to drop off a book in the return slot, so it wasn't overdue. I went down to work and found the 2014 taxes, though apparently the problem is with the 2015 taxes. For some reason, they sent all correspondence to my old address, and I will have to track down what the issue is. That should be a lot of fun.
Sunday, I managed to do some laundry, mow the lawn, trim a tree in the front yard and repair the doorknob to the upstairs bathroom. I also tracked down a notebook with the Straying South scene that I still need to type up. I came across a handful of poetry scraps and some old journals in random notebooks. I think I should just scan all this and start pitching it, particularly those things I have already transcribed. I still can't find a science fiction story called No More Robinsons. Presumably this is downstairs somewhere. On the other hand, I did turn up several pages of the novel that I didn't even remember writing out. I simply can't remember if this other scene was written out or not, but I think not. I have to get a lot more organized. Maybe this is something that the kids could help with, if I could rely on them to do the scanning.
On top of all this, I did manage to do the last of the sanding for the downstairs deck. I had basically thought I was going to do the staining Monday while the workmen are here, but the weather is just not cooperating at all, since you need to have a day or two for the deck to dry out and then ideally 3 days without rain after the stain is put on. Really only the 24th looks feasible, and even then I might only manage to get one coat down in time. So I'm not entirely sure what I will do.
At any rate, I pretty much dropped everything at 6 and headed to Union Station for the Tragically Hip concert. (In the end, I did give in and bought a ticket off of StubHub, but I didn't want to jinx it in case it turned out to be a fake ticket. I also wanted to get there early, since sometimes unscrupulous people try to sell the same ticket 2 or even 3 times, and being first gives you the best chance of getting in. The ticket worked fine, and I got into the show. I'll follow up with a short review of the show in the next post.)
So I probably shouldn't be too tough on myself. I got a fair bit done over the weekend, though as usual, there are still quite a few things left to be done.
I got fairly soaked in the rain on my way to the AGO. I hung out there for about an hour, taking a few photos of the early Lawren Harris paintings and then looking at the Theaster Gates exhibit (not quite as interesting as I had hoped). I saw that they had the Henry Moore room open again, which is nice. There will be one more mid-sized gallery to hang modernist (?) works that are in conversation with the Moore's whatever that means. I did see that they have hung Vuillard's The Widow's Visit, but nothing else from my list of paintings that should be taken out of storage. The Vuillard is smaller than I remembered. I try not to let myself get too upset over it, but there are several corner rooms and a few other rooms towards the front of the museum that frankly have a huge amount of wasted space, and I just can't believe they can't put more art on the walls. I don't think the museum is run as well as it could be, and I think I've mentioned that in terms of the way it displays its permanent collection, it doesn't make the top 25 in my list of the world's greatest museums, though I will say that it has generally had very impressive special exhibits.
Anyway, I went up to Hot Doc Cinema and watched the Werner Herzog movie about the internet. I think that probably merits its own post, so I'll try to get to that soon. After the movie, I walked by Robarts. Unfortunately, the library was closed, but I was able to drop off a book in the return slot, so it wasn't overdue. I went down to work and found the 2014 taxes, though apparently the problem is with the 2015 taxes. For some reason, they sent all correspondence to my old address, and I will have to track down what the issue is. That should be a lot of fun.
Sunday, I managed to do some laundry, mow the lawn, trim a tree in the front yard and repair the doorknob to the upstairs bathroom. I also tracked down a notebook with the Straying South scene that I still need to type up. I came across a handful of poetry scraps and some old journals in random notebooks. I think I should just scan all this and start pitching it, particularly those things I have already transcribed. I still can't find a science fiction story called No More Robinsons. Presumably this is downstairs somewhere. On the other hand, I did turn up several pages of the novel that I didn't even remember writing out. I simply can't remember if this other scene was written out or not, but I think not. I have to get a lot more organized. Maybe this is something that the kids could help with, if I could rely on them to do the scanning.
On top of all this, I did manage to do the last of the sanding for the downstairs deck. I had basically thought I was going to do the staining Monday while the workmen are here, but the weather is just not cooperating at all, since you need to have a day or two for the deck to dry out and then ideally 3 days without rain after the stain is put on. Really only the 24th looks feasible, and even then I might only manage to get one coat down in time. So I'm not entirely sure what I will do.
At any rate, I pretty much dropped everything at 6 and headed to Union Station for the Tragically Hip concert. (In the end, I did give in and bought a ticket off of StubHub, but I didn't want to jinx it in case it turned out to be a fake ticket. I also wanted to get there early, since sometimes unscrupulous people try to sell the same ticket 2 or even 3 times, and being first gives you the best chance of getting in. The ticket worked fine, and I got into the show. I'll follow up with a short review of the show in the next post.)
So I probably shouldn't be too tough on myself. I got a fair bit done over the weekend, though as usual, there are still quite a few things left to be done.
Saturday, August 13, 2016
National Youth Orchestra (of Canada)
I have to say Friday was quite a disappointment. The workmen showed up quite early (8 am) and they took measurements and actually came up with a decent plan that should involve less tearing out of walls and less mess and perhaps the whole thing can be done in a single day, which would be incredible. However, they then took off for Home Depot and either got called away to another job or just put in the order for materials and figured they could split for the day. I really was expecting to get the stairs to the basement fixed at the very least. And even if they didn't do that, they could at least have had the work manager let me know, and I would have got in to work, since they have air conditioning. Instead, I worked from home and suffered quite a bit. It did rain (very late last night), but the outside temperature is still too high. I don't think things actually improve until Monday.
I'm heading out very shortly (in part because I have to find some tax forms I think are at the office -- and this was another reason Friday was a disaster -- the tax authorities are trying to deny me my legitimate tax credits and currently say I owe them a lot of moolah). While I may swing by the AGO, I really ought to look into seeing a movie just to get somewhere it is more comfortable. (I had been kind of interested in seeing Werner Herzog's Lo and Behold and it is playing at Bloor Hot Doc at 4 pm. That might work, though it will mean a bit of zigzagging on transit if I do that and everything else (and the subway to Pape is closed, so it means spending more time on the streetcars).
While I think it is mostly the weather that is bothering me, it is also true that I am in a particularly dry spell for books. I didn't care for Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart (or rather the writing was good, but I was so uninterested in the core "couple" though the secondary characters were interesting, which is basically how I felt about Taylor's A Game of Hide and Seek). I really don't like Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater, and I am on the point of abandoning it, for reasons I'll probably go into later. And even NYRB is kind of letting me down -- I am just not that moved by either Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City or Sasha Sokolov's A School for Fools. I think I'll have to rearrange my reading list and either reread a book I liked or choose one I am almost certain I will like. Or of course, I could take more time for my own writing.
In any case, I wanted to talk about Thurs. evening when I went and saw the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. One thing that is interesting is that they are playing quite a few different pieces on their summer tour, and for once Toronto had a more interesting program than Montreal. For one thing, they played two newly commissioned pieces (not that I thought they were particularly brilliant) and second, the played a full concert (actually 2.5 hours) and it looks like the Montreal concert is just over one hour without intermission. They played a very fine version of Wagner's Tannhauser Overture and perhaps the best version of Bloch's Schelomo for Solo Cello and Orchestra I've heard live (not that I've seen it too often). They did a rousing version of Prokofiev's Symphony #5, though the one by the VSO a few years back edges them out. I was kind of hoping they would do John Adams's Short Ride on a Fast Machine as the encore, but instead they suddenly did a choir piece (perhaps a cantata by Bach). It was beautiful and took the audience completely by surprise. How incredible.
They apparently did the recording for their tour CD in Toronto over the previous 2 days, and I need to find out what they will put on it. I'll probably get it if the Bloch piece is on there. It appears that they recorded Prokofiev 5 a few years back, so I'm guessing it will be the Bernstein West Side Story suite in its place (this is what they will be performing in Montreal). In any case, CBC recorded Thurs. night's concert (hopefully through the encores) and I will certainly try to circle back and post details about that when I find out. (I usually have a bad record of keeping up with these things, particularly as I don't really listen to CBC radio. My guess is it will be broadcast in September.) They will also be announcing details of the 2017 sesquicentennial tour tomorrow, so I'll link to that news flash when it goes live. Anyway, it was a very good concert, and I'm glad that I caught it (I don't think it got a lot of publicity, though I ran across the ad in the Whole Note). Anyway, fall is almost around the corner and the TSO season is looking pretty good for once, and Tafelmusik is doing Handel's Water Music, which is something I really can't miss. Ok. I had better get going now that there is a break in the rain.
Update: So the news has arrived that the 2017 tour will visit several communities in the far north. News release here. That's interesting in a general sense, and I am sure totally thrilling for the orchestra members, though not all that interesting to me. I thought they might also talk about what would be performed on the tour, but no such luck. I guess I'll just keep my eyes open next summer.
I'm heading out very shortly (in part because I have to find some tax forms I think are at the office -- and this was another reason Friday was a disaster -- the tax authorities are trying to deny me my legitimate tax credits and currently say I owe them a lot of moolah). While I may swing by the AGO, I really ought to look into seeing a movie just to get somewhere it is more comfortable. (I had been kind of interested in seeing Werner Herzog's Lo and Behold and it is playing at Bloor Hot Doc at 4 pm. That might work, though it will mean a bit of zigzagging on transit if I do that and everything else (and the subway to Pape is closed, so it means spending more time on the streetcars).
While I think it is mostly the weather that is bothering me, it is also true that I am in a particularly dry spell for books. I didn't care for Elizabeth Bowen's The Death of the Heart (or rather the writing was good, but I was so uninterested in the core "couple" though the secondary characters were interesting, which is basically how I felt about Taylor's A Game of Hide and Seek). I really don't like Philip Roth's Sabbath's Theater, and I am on the point of abandoning it, for reasons I'll probably go into later. And even NYRB is kind of letting me down -- I am just not that moved by either Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City or Sasha Sokolov's A School for Fools. I think I'll have to rearrange my reading list and either reread a book I liked or choose one I am almost certain I will like. Or of course, I could take more time for my own writing.
In any case, I wanted to talk about Thurs. evening when I went and saw the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. One thing that is interesting is that they are playing quite a few different pieces on their summer tour, and for once Toronto had a more interesting program than Montreal. For one thing, they played two newly commissioned pieces (not that I thought they were particularly brilliant) and second, the played a full concert (actually 2.5 hours) and it looks like the Montreal concert is just over one hour without intermission. They played a very fine version of Wagner's Tannhauser Overture and perhaps the best version of Bloch's Schelomo for Solo Cello and Orchestra I've heard live (not that I've seen it too often). They did a rousing version of Prokofiev's Symphony #5, though the one by the VSO a few years back edges them out. I was kind of hoping they would do John Adams's Short Ride on a Fast Machine as the encore, but instead they suddenly did a choir piece (perhaps a cantata by Bach). It was beautiful and took the audience completely by surprise. How incredible.
They apparently did the recording for their tour CD in Toronto over the previous 2 days, and I need to find out what they will put on it. I'll probably get it if the Bloch piece is on there. It appears that they recorded Prokofiev 5 a few years back, so I'm guessing it will be the Bernstein West Side Story suite in its place (this is what they will be performing in Montreal). In any case, CBC recorded Thurs. night's concert (hopefully through the encores) and I will certainly try to circle back and post details about that when I find out. (I usually have a bad record of keeping up with these things, particularly as I don't really listen to CBC radio. My guess is it will be broadcast in September.) They will also be announcing details of the 2017 sesquicentennial tour tomorrow, so I'll link to that news flash when it goes live. Anyway, it was a very good concert, and I'm glad that I caught it (I don't think it got a lot of publicity, though I ran across the ad in the Whole Note). Anyway, fall is almost around the corner and the TSO season is looking pretty good for once, and Tafelmusik is doing Handel's Water Music, which is something I really can't miss. Ok. I had better get going now that there is a break in the rain.
Update: So the news has arrived that the 2017 tour will visit several communities in the far north. News release here. That's interesting in a general sense, and I am sure totally thrilling for the orchestra members, though not all that interesting to me. I thought they might also talk about what would be performed on the tour, but no such luck. I guess I'll just keep my eyes open next summer.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Soulpepper's 2017 (half) season
Soulpepper is somewhat unique in that it kind of has rolling announcements of its upcoming season. First you find out about the 2015-2016 season with some gaps in the 2016 half, then there will be a fairly comprehensive 2016 announcement, and now they have come up with the 2016-2017 season, though I was already aware of the first half of the bill. Anyway, here is the current season. Hopefully, it opens properly.
I have kind of mixed feelings. I know that Soulpepper basically is an actor-oriented theatre company, not too dissimilar from Steppenwolf, but they are far less ambitious than Steppenwolf and they are much more likely to bring productions back. It looks like this is the third go-around in 3 seasons for Spoon River. This approach probably helps put butts in seats, but it means I am automatically not interested in 50% or so of their offerings. This season, they are repeating the following (though to be fair, some of these are really short limited engagements around the holidays): Brimful of Asha, Kim's Convenience, Hocus Pocus, Alligator Pie, Spoon River, Of Human Bondage (I hated this so am particularly depressed to see it come back and take up a slot) and A Christmas Carol. I'm not entirely sure how to categorize Chasse-Gallerie (which was Storefront's Christmas play last year), and Billy Bishop Goes to War, since they are essentially remounts but not specific to Soulpepper. (And even The Last Wife moves a Stratford production (which I have no desire to see) over to Soulpepper.) I suppose the production values will be higher for Chasse-Gallerie, but the price may be higher than I want to pay, but I may go. I'll almost certainly go see Eric Peterson in Billy Bishop Goes to War, which is one of the few things that really interests me at Soulpepper in 2017.
Last season Soulpepper did Jitters, which is sort of the Canadian version of Noises Off, and this season they are doing Noises Off. They just love these backstage comedies (again, typical of an actor-oriented company). I may go, but I am not particularly excited about it.
Aside from Billy Bishop, I am truly excited only by the two Video Cabaret shows (Confederation Parts I and II) and Hosanna by Michel Tremblay. That's kind of slim pickings. Actually Tarragon's season looks vastly more interesting than Soulpepper's though last year the reverse was true. I suppose I'll just have to hope that when they reveal the remaining shows of 2017, I will find more of interest. Actually, I have been meaning to write them to see if they will ever tackle Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia, since I think they are basically the best positioned company in Toronto to take this on. I'll try to remember to do that next week.
I have kind of mixed feelings. I know that Soulpepper basically is an actor-oriented theatre company, not too dissimilar from Steppenwolf, but they are far less ambitious than Steppenwolf and they are much more likely to bring productions back. It looks like this is the third go-around in 3 seasons for Spoon River. This approach probably helps put butts in seats, but it means I am automatically not interested in 50% or so of their offerings. This season, they are repeating the following (though to be fair, some of these are really short limited engagements around the holidays): Brimful of Asha, Kim's Convenience, Hocus Pocus, Alligator Pie, Spoon River, Of Human Bondage (I hated this so am particularly depressed to see it come back and take up a slot) and A Christmas Carol. I'm not entirely sure how to categorize Chasse-Gallerie (which was Storefront's Christmas play last year), and Billy Bishop Goes to War, since they are essentially remounts but not specific to Soulpepper. (And even The Last Wife moves a Stratford production (which I have no desire to see) over to Soulpepper.) I suppose the production values will be higher for Chasse-Gallerie, but the price may be higher than I want to pay, but I may go. I'll almost certainly go see Eric Peterson in Billy Bishop Goes to War, which is one of the few things that really interests me at Soulpepper in 2017.
Last season Soulpepper did Jitters, which is sort of the Canadian version of Noises Off, and this season they are doing Noises Off. They just love these backstage comedies (again, typical of an actor-oriented company). I may go, but I am not particularly excited about it.
Aside from Billy Bishop, I am truly excited only by the two Video Cabaret shows (Confederation Parts I and II) and Hosanna by Michel Tremblay. That's kind of slim pickings. Actually Tarragon's season looks vastly more interesting than Soulpepper's though last year the reverse was true. I suppose I'll just have to hope that when they reveal the remaining shows of 2017, I will find more of interest. Actually, I have been meaning to write them to see if they will ever tackle Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia, since I think they are basically the best positioned company in Toronto to take this on. I'll try to remember to do that next week.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Summer winding down
I suppose there is almost all of August left, but it feels like the summer is essentially over. I managed to stay on top of work, though not really get ahead.
I made a lot of progress on the deck, though I did not finish the lower deck last weekend. Depending on the weather, the current plan is to stain it Monday (when I am taking the day to watch the workmen doing other critical construction) and then it will be done for 3+ years. I'm debating getting a small charcoal grill and even a hammock, but this all depends on getting rid of the raccoons that have been hanging around the backyard.
I made my annual trip to Stratford, and that was a lot of fun, even though I'm not sure the play (Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman) has aged all that well. This summer I added in the canoeing on the Humber, and that may become a tradition, though I would be a lot happier if it rains a bit more next spring and summer.
I watched the Driftwood tour in Withrow Park and also Dusk Dances, which were a lot of fun. This year, I took my son to Dusk Dances.
In terms of what is left on the agenda, I have plans to see All's Well that Ends Well in High Park towards the end of August. I'll probably see Shakespeare in the Ruff doing a puppet version of Romeo and Juliet in Withrow Park. (This park is quite the happening place!)
I'm hoping to get to the Aga Khan Museum, probably next Wednesday (when it is pay what you like) and the AGO, though for that I'll wait to round up the family unit (currently getting ready to disperse to Chicago). I probably am not going to watch any films at TIFF after all, even though there are many great movies on right now.
I do have tickets tomorrow to see the Youth Orchestra of Canada playing Prokofiev's Symphony #5.
Beyond that, I mostly have creative writing projects that I am quite behind on. But I don't want to dwell on that, as I have to head off to work now. Ciao.
I made a lot of progress on the deck, though I did not finish the lower deck last weekend. Depending on the weather, the current plan is to stain it Monday (when I am taking the day to watch the workmen doing other critical construction) and then it will be done for 3+ years. I'm debating getting a small charcoal grill and even a hammock, but this all depends on getting rid of the raccoons that have been hanging around the backyard.
I made my annual trip to Stratford, and that was a lot of fun, even though I'm not sure the play (Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman) has aged all that well. This summer I added in the canoeing on the Humber, and that may become a tradition, though I would be a lot happier if it rains a bit more next spring and summer.
I watched the Driftwood tour in Withrow Park and also Dusk Dances, which were a lot of fun. This year, I took my son to Dusk Dances.
In terms of what is left on the agenda, I have plans to see All's Well that Ends Well in High Park towards the end of August. I'll probably see Shakespeare in the Ruff doing a puppet version of Romeo and Juliet in Withrow Park. (This park is quite the happening place!)
I'm hoping to get to the Aga Khan Museum, probably next Wednesday (when it is pay what you like) and the AGO, though for that I'll wait to round up the family unit (currently getting ready to disperse to Chicago). I probably am not going to watch any films at TIFF after all, even though there are many great movies on right now.
I do have tickets tomorrow to see the Youth Orchestra of Canada playing Prokofiev's Symphony #5.
Beyond that, I mostly have creative writing projects that I am quite behind on. But I don't want to dwell on that, as I have to head off to work now. Ciao.
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Canoeing on the Humber
So I have managed to cross off another Toronto tradition on my to-do list. (I didn't shepherd the family around Toronto neighbourhoods as much as I wanted this summer, but we might still do a bit in Sept. and Oct. (particularly if allergens are a bit lower in the fall). I did take my son to Dusk Dances in Withrow Park this summer and then to Shakespeare in High Park last summer. And we did the zoo and Casa Loma and even the CN Tower (all in 2014 right after we moved to Toronto). I think the main remaining items are to check out the Scarborough Bluffs and to take them to Carabana, perhaps next summer. And perhaps go back to the zoo one more time before the pandas leave in 2018 or so.)
Actually, I never canoed or kayaked on the Humber River before today, but it looked pretty fun and some others in my office had gone. The Humber is a fairly slow-flowing river, though it runs into Lake Ontario, and the folks renting out the canoes were very clear that we couldn't go past the next bridge (the Queensway).
I honestly wasn't sure how it was going to go, since I haven't been in a canoe since probably 1990, and the kids had never canoed at all. I told them they would have to not fuss, and listen to directions, and in particular not flail about if they happened to get splashed with a bit of water. Of course, it is one thing to promise beforehand, and another thing to live up to those promises over a 2 hour trip, but I am pleased to say that the trip went smoothly. If anything, it went much more smoothly than I had any right to expect.
The trip sort of got off on the wrong foot, as we left 10 minutes later than I had planned (I had forgotten my phone, and I figured I really needed one in case there was an emergency.) Also, the buses were a bit slower than normal due to Taste of the Danforth. And of course, we didn't have any air conditioning in the subway car once we finally got onto the subway. So it was a long, long, long ride out to Old Mill station. I think the further west I've ever gone on the subway was High Park a couple of times. (I did manage to get some batteries for my daughter's camera at the station, and I'm glad I did. The first two photos are my photos, and all the rest are hers. She did a fair bit of paddling, but we left it up to her to rest and take photos when she wanted to. Many of her pictures came out really well, especially the ducks and the egret!)
We got there about 5 minutes late, and then walked over to the Old Mill to use "the facilities," since they didn't even have a Porto-potty at the canoe rental site. I took the delays calmly (for once...), since there was no immediate goal in sight other than to enjoy a day of canoeing. The trip did get off to an awkward start as I had to instruct my son how to paddle, while trying to remember myself the basic mechanics of steering. The current pushed us right back onto a really muddy shore, and it took several tries to get relaunched. Then we hit a patch of unbelievably shallow water, where the canoe was literally dragging across the river bed and we had to push through the gravel with our paddles. That was not fun at all, and I came fairly close to bailing on the trip. Fortunately, this was only a few hundred metres and then the river opened up. I think this affected the canoes a bit more than the kayaks, though others had noted it. It just has not rained nearly enough this season, and the last big rain we had basically skipped the west end.
There were certainly a few times I thought we might tip, but we did not. We got about 2/3 of the way down the river to the Queensway, when I decided we really ought to turn around. We did not explore any of the side ponds or marshes, but we might do that next year, assuming the kids are a bit stronger paddlers and we get there on time. We executed a pretty decent turn and came back. We had one awkward moment where we were trying to avoid some goofy kayakers and the canoe started turning in the current, but we recovered. It was still a hard slog back through the shallow section, but we landed safely. (I don't think the kids even got their feet wet.) We returned the canoe with 10 minutes to spare. Both the kids enjoyed it, and I think we will try to go next summer as well. Maybe I'll even see about signing them up for canoe camp, though probably the best lessons are out on the Toronto Islands, and I just can't see myself getting organized enough to do that, but maybe they can do one of the Harbourfront camps that integrates a bit of canoeing into the programming.
It was another long ride home, but at least the subway car was cooler, and it always seems to go faster when you are heading home for some reason. I got them some outrageously expensive ice cream at Taste of the Danforth, we stopped off at the library and got a few more books for them to read, and then we walked the rest of the way home (since the Pape bus was still diverting down Jones). We were all pretty exhausted from the day, but it was worth it...
Ok, enough chit chat, here are my daughter's photos of our trip down the Humber (starting from #3).
Actually, I never canoed or kayaked on the Humber River before today, but it looked pretty fun and some others in my office had gone. The Humber is a fairly slow-flowing river, though it runs into Lake Ontario, and the folks renting out the canoes were very clear that we couldn't go past the next bridge (the Queensway).
I honestly wasn't sure how it was going to go, since I haven't been in a canoe since probably 1990, and the kids had never canoed at all. I told them they would have to not fuss, and listen to directions, and in particular not flail about if they happened to get splashed with a bit of water. Of course, it is one thing to promise beforehand, and another thing to live up to those promises over a 2 hour trip, but I am pleased to say that the trip went smoothly. If anything, it went much more smoothly than I had any right to expect.
The trip sort of got off on the wrong foot, as we left 10 minutes later than I had planned (I had forgotten my phone, and I figured I really needed one in case there was an emergency.) Also, the buses were a bit slower than normal due to Taste of the Danforth. And of course, we didn't have any air conditioning in the subway car once we finally got onto the subway. So it was a long, long, long ride out to Old Mill station. I think the further west I've ever gone on the subway was High Park a couple of times. (I did manage to get some batteries for my daughter's camera at the station, and I'm glad I did. The first two photos are my photos, and all the rest are hers. She did a fair bit of paddling, but we left it up to her to rest and take photos when she wanted to. Many of her pictures came out really well, especially the ducks and the egret!)
We got there about 5 minutes late, and then walked over to the Old Mill to use "the facilities," since they didn't even have a Porto-potty at the canoe rental site. I took the delays calmly (for once...), since there was no immediate goal in sight other than to enjoy a day of canoeing. The trip did get off to an awkward start as I had to instruct my son how to paddle, while trying to remember myself the basic mechanics of steering. The current pushed us right back onto a really muddy shore, and it took several tries to get relaunched. Then we hit a patch of unbelievably shallow water, where the canoe was literally dragging across the river bed and we had to push through the gravel with our paddles. That was not fun at all, and I came fairly close to bailing on the trip. Fortunately, this was only a few hundred metres and then the river opened up. I think this affected the canoes a bit more than the kayaks, though others had noted it. It just has not rained nearly enough this season, and the last big rain we had basically skipped the west end.
There were certainly a few times I thought we might tip, but we did not. We got about 2/3 of the way down the river to the Queensway, when I decided we really ought to turn around. We did not explore any of the side ponds or marshes, but we might do that next year, assuming the kids are a bit stronger paddlers and we get there on time. We executed a pretty decent turn and came back. We had one awkward moment where we were trying to avoid some goofy kayakers and the canoe started turning in the current, but we recovered. It was still a hard slog back through the shallow section, but we landed safely. (I don't think the kids even got their feet wet.) We returned the canoe with 10 minutes to spare. Both the kids enjoyed it, and I think we will try to go next summer as well. Maybe I'll even see about signing them up for canoe camp, though probably the best lessons are out on the Toronto Islands, and I just can't see myself getting organized enough to do that, but maybe they can do one of the Harbourfront camps that integrates a bit of canoeing into the programming.
It was another long ride home, but at least the subway car was cooler, and it always seems to go faster when you are heading home for some reason. I got them some outrageously expensive ice cream at Taste of the Danforth, we stopped off at the library and got a few more books for them to read, and then we walked the rest of the way home (since the Pape bus was still diverting down Jones). We were all pretty exhausted from the day, but it was worth it...
Ok, enough chit chat, here are my daughter's photos of our trip down the Humber (starting from #3).
 |
| We rented the yellow canoe |
 |
| Geese crossing |
 |
| Geese and ducks chilling |
 |
| The white egret |
 |
| After "the turn," heading back |
 |
| The unexplored inlet |
 |
| What's up, duck? |
 |
| Nearing "the finish line" |
Friday, August 5, 2016
Books out of fashion
One nice thing about reading (and reviewing) for pleasure, rather than for a class, is that I can pick and choose what I want. And in extreme cases, I can stop reading a book midway through, though that remains fairly rare for me.
There's no question that there is no objective best set of 100 or even 1000 books, but I am reasonably satisfied with the core books that are on my shelves, or rather the bookcases upstairs. While I haven't really kept this updated, these posts give a good indication of what has made the cut for my personal canon: A-D, E-J, K-O, and P-Z. By the time I get through my current reading list, I'll probably have read 50% of these books (currently I am just a bit under 40%) and some are clearly ones I'll want to reread.
Most of these books or rather the authors come from one canonical list or another, and then when I agreed that the author had merit (or really I found his or her writing congenial to my tastes) then I often expand to get the core novels (or plays) by these writers. I particularly do like stumbling across books or authors that have been rescued from obscurity. NYRB does a good job, bringing slightly obscure books back to its readers, and Virago Press is focused on bringing more attention to female authors.
I'm currently on my fourth book by Elizabeth Bowen (The Death of the Heart) and I have to admit, there is just something that often rubs me the wrong way about her main characters, even though the writing is generally quite good (though she does seem to over-explain interior moods, which was something that I didn't like with George Eliot). Now with Elizabeth Taylor, I think I am a bit more in tune with her writing, and I particularly liked The View of the Harbor, though I was a bit bored by A Game of Hide and Seek, since I thought the main characters to be drips. (With both Bowen and Taylor, often the secondary characters are what makes their books rewarding, at least in my view.)
Anyway, while I was checking something related to Bowen's The Death of the Heart, I stumbled across Jonathan Yardley's Second Readings, which collects a number of columns from the Washington Post where he isn't just reviewing flavor of the day books, but goes back to some neglected books. I only looked at a couple of essays, but I thought that he was right on the money with Faulkner's The Reivers and Powers' Morte D'Urban. I even agreed with him on John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra, though his review in the Washington Post was extremely laden with plot spoilers, so do be aware. This blog post lists all the books that he reconsidered during the project (just shy of 100 books), though the links to the original on-line reviews took forever to load. I think this is a case where checking Second Readings out of the library is probably the way to go.
Neglected Books is a blog all about relatively obscure books, and while I don't expect I will spend a lot of time there, I may occasionally pick up a title or two to add to my list. I generally prefer books that have come back into print over ones that sank without a trace.
I've circled back around to list which of the books I keep upstairs are particularly obscure and/or out of fashion. I'm not sure I should count any poets, since by definition they are no longer really part of the literary mainstream, but Aaron Kramer is particularly obscure, and yet I have 4 of his collections.
I have Waiting for Winter, which is a collection of short stories by John O'Hara, two slim story collections by Goffredo Parise (Abecedary and Solitudes), The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, Petersburg by Andrei Bely, Durrell's The Black Book, and several books by the South African writer Ivan Vladislavic (maybe not as obscure after these were reprinted, so they may no longer qualify). Totally obscure (and not reprinted) but downstairs (and thus not really eligible), I have two books by Maritta Wolff: The Big Nickelodeon and Buttonwood. So I guess those are my baby steps away from the received canon, as it were; while I like to think I have a fairly sweeping set of literary interests, I certainly don't spend an inordinate amount of time on OOP books.
Sadly, I don't have anything profound to say on this topic, but I would encourage people to read The Coast of Chicago and Vladislavic's The Restless Supermarket.
Most of these books or rather the authors come from one canonical list or another, and then when I agreed that the author had merit (or really I found his or her writing congenial to my tastes) then I often expand to get the core novels (or plays) by these writers. I particularly do like stumbling across books or authors that have been rescued from obscurity. NYRB does a good job, bringing slightly obscure books back to its readers, and Virago Press is focused on bringing more attention to female authors.
I'm currently on my fourth book by Elizabeth Bowen (The Death of the Heart) and I have to admit, there is just something that often rubs me the wrong way about her main characters, even though the writing is generally quite good (though she does seem to over-explain interior moods, which was something that I didn't like with George Eliot). Now with Elizabeth Taylor, I think I am a bit more in tune with her writing, and I particularly liked The View of the Harbor, though I was a bit bored by A Game of Hide and Seek, since I thought the main characters to be drips. (With both Bowen and Taylor, often the secondary characters are what makes their books rewarding, at least in my view.)
Anyway, while I was checking something related to Bowen's The Death of the Heart, I stumbled across Jonathan Yardley's Second Readings, which collects a number of columns from the Washington Post where he isn't just reviewing flavor of the day books, but goes back to some neglected books. I only looked at a couple of essays, but I thought that he was right on the money with Faulkner's The Reivers and Powers' Morte D'Urban. I even agreed with him on John O'Hara's Appointment in Samarra, though his review in the Washington Post was extremely laden with plot spoilers, so do be aware. This blog post lists all the books that he reconsidered during the project (just shy of 100 books), though the links to the original on-line reviews took forever to load. I think this is a case where checking Second Readings out of the library is probably the way to go.
Neglected Books is a blog all about relatively obscure books, and while I don't expect I will spend a lot of time there, I may occasionally pick up a title or two to add to my list. I generally prefer books that have come back into print over ones that sank without a trace.
I've circled back around to list which of the books I keep upstairs are particularly obscure and/or out of fashion. I'm not sure I should count any poets, since by definition they are no longer really part of the literary mainstream, but Aaron Kramer is particularly obscure, and yet I have 4 of his collections.
I have Waiting for Winter, which is a collection of short stories by John O'Hara, two slim story collections by Goffredo Parise (Abecedary and Solitudes), The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, Petersburg by Andrei Bely, Durrell's The Black Book, and several books by the South African writer Ivan Vladislavic (maybe not as obscure after these were reprinted, so they may no longer qualify). Totally obscure (and not reprinted) but downstairs (and thus not really eligible), I have two books by Maritta Wolff: The Big Nickelodeon and Buttonwood. So I guess those are my baby steps away from the received canon, as it were; while I like to think I have a fairly sweeping set of literary interests, I certainly don't spend an inordinate amount of time on OOP books.
Sadly, I don't have anything profound to say on this topic, but I would encourage people to read The Coast of Chicago and Vladislavic's The Restless Supermarket.
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