Fortunately, I'm not talking about a medical close call, though I probably have dodged a few bullets from time to time. I am referring to some computer-related close calls. I was working on cleaning up some PDFs, and I noticed that one of the larger files was quite corrupted. I tried all sorts of things to split it, to copy it over using xcopy, etc. Nothing worked, and I started getting the cyclical redundancy error, which is pretty serious.
I finally shut down the computer and moved the external hard drive to my laptop (where I have an upgraded version of Abode Reader). I was able to see the majority of the PDF, though the last few pages were a bit garbled. It allowed me to split the document towards the end, though the last pages were still garbage. Then when I moved it back to my main computer, there was still an error (so I thought I might have accidentally copied over the bad file again). But when I moved the external drive back again, the laptop couldn't recognize it at all! A very bad scene, which was multiplied ten-fold when the main computer wouldn't recognize the drive either!
I'm reasonably good about backing up photos (they pretty much are all on two external drives, plus burned to DVDs), and most of my music (at least the stuff I listen to frequently) is in two places (and of course nearly all of it can be streamed now). And taxes are in two or three locations plus typically a hard copy back-up. But a lot of the files I have been digitizing are only in one location.
After some major panicking and some internet sleuthing, I was finally able to use the chkdsk /f command, and it actually worked. The external drive seems to be back in working order.
However, I don't really trust it any longer. Fortunately, I recently bought another external drive, and I am copying over 50% or so of the old drive's folders to the new one.* After this, I think I'll unplug the drive that is starting to act up and let it rest for a while, and use the new one as the work horse for a while. When I am ready to deal with the files I can't copy over now (mostly due to space issues), I'll plug the old one back in.
So not a perfect solution, but things could have been so much worse for me last night. Take my advice that it really is critical to back up core files in two or three locations when feasible. (Personally I don't really trust that "the cloud" is going to be around when I really need it, but I suppose that's another option as well.)
* During this process, I found two or three other PDFs that had been badly corrupted, plus one photo that wouldn't copy over and 3 photos that copied over but without their information (presumably when I took the photo). That's not too bad in the grand scheme of things, particularly when I think of a few of the other things (mostly music) that I have lost over the years when a hard drive failed.
Friday, December 27, 2019
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Best Theatre of 2019
At this point, there is no more theatre scheduled for 2019 (though maybe a film or two before the end of the year...). So here is my list of productions I enjoyed (either enjoyed thoroughly or I felt there were significant redeeming features).
Jan.
1979 by Michael Healey -- Canadian Stage
In the Next Room by Sara Ruhl -- RedWit @ Tarragon
Feb.
Fine China/A Perfect Bowl of Pho -- Fu-Gen @ Factory Theatre
You Never Can Tell by GB Shaw -- George Brown @ Young Centre
Othello -- Shakespeare BASH'd
Little Menace by Harold Pinter -- Soulpepper (solid evening of shorts except for The Basement, which was weak)
March
Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies -- East Side Players
Kiss of the Spider Woman -- Eclipse @ The Don Jail
Betrayal by Harold Pinter -- Red Sandcastle
Retreat by Kat Sandler -- Hart House
Entrances & Exits -- Howland Company @ Crowsnest
Rear Window -- Theatre Passe Muraille
April
Copenhagen by Frayn -- Soulpepper
As You Like It -- Shakespeare BASH'd (excellent production)
Bigre -- Canadian Stage (had its moments but was about 45 minutes too long)
May
Too Good to Be True -- Video Cabaret (interesting experiment in their new theatre space taking VideoCab style and applying it to a non-history play)
Hand to God -- Coal Mine
June
Bloomsday by Stephen Dietz -- Chicago
The Memo by Vaclav Havel -- Chicago
July
The Tape Escape -- Outside the March (a guided escape room experience with full-blown audience participation)
The Taming of the Shrew -- Toronto Fringe
The Commandment -- Toronto Fringe
Three Men and a Bike -- Toronto Fringe (a little baggy but overall quite fun)
Tita Jokes -- Toronto Fringe
Molly Bloom -- Toronto Fringe
The Huns -- Toronto Fringe
Midsummer's Night's Dream -- Bard's Bus Tour (back in Withrow Park!)
August
Greenland -- Summerworks
September
The Glass Menagerie -- Bloor Village West Players
Yaga by Kat Sandler -- Tarragon
October
The Flick by Annie Baker -- Outside the March @ Crow's Nest
Jungle -- Tarragon
Cantatrice Chauve (with subtitles!) -- Theatre francais de Toronto
Henry VII -- Stratford (a well-done production of a very minor, non-essential (co-written) Shakespeare history play)
November
Trout Stanley by Claudia Dey -- Factory Theatre
The Learned Ladies, adapted from Moliere -- George Brown
December
Buffoon -- Tarragon (the acting was first-rate, though the storyline was unrelentingly grim. Also, it was disrespectful to hold the curtain a full 15 minutes for late-comers...)
Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Guirgis -- Coal Mine Theatre
Christmas Carol -- Three Ships Collective @ Campbell House
It was a pretty good year, theatre-wise, though in several cases these were near-great performances. While I certainly saw more things at the Toronto Fringe in 2018, this was a more relaxed year for me, and I probably did enjoy it a bit more overall.
Now, normally I do err on the side of including plays on my list, so long as I liked one aspect of the show (the acting typically) even if I don't like the staging or occasionally the plot (though plot seems to weigh the most heavily with me). However, I really didn't like the direction of Soulpepper's Streetcar Named Desire. There were these musical interludes that stretched an already long play past the three hour mark! I also thought that Stanley and Blanche started at such a high level of antagonism (and the play was done in a fairly realistic manner) that I simply couldn't believe that Stanley wouldn't have murdered her after week two, let alone let her stay the entire summer. In other words, the production annoyed me so much that it actually made me reassess the play itself negatively! The only reason I bring this up is that Glenn Sumi put this production in his top ten list of the decade(!), and I find it more than a little astonishing at how profoundly I disagree with him.
From within this list, I suppose my very favourites were 1979, Time Stands Still, Kiss of the Spider Woman (despite being on a metal stool for the whole show!), Betrayal (the Red Sandcastle production), Shakespeare BASH'd doing As You Like It, Hand to God, Yaga and Christmas Carol.
It looks like 2020 will get off to good start with Sweat at Canadian Stage and a few things I might check out from the Toronto Fringe Winterfest and then Shakespeare Bash'd doing Cymbeline. I'm a bit on the fence for Kushner's Caroline or Change, but maybe I'll go this time around. I'll report back in a year what I liked.
Jan.
1979 by Michael Healey -- Canadian Stage
In the Next Room by Sara Ruhl -- RedWit @ Tarragon
Feb.
Fine China/A Perfect Bowl of Pho -- Fu-Gen @ Factory Theatre
You Never Can Tell by GB Shaw -- George Brown @ Young Centre
Othello -- Shakespeare BASH'd
Little Menace by Harold Pinter -- Soulpepper (solid evening of shorts except for The Basement, which was weak)
March
Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies -- East Side Players
Kiss of the Spider Woman -- Eclipse @ The Don Jail
Betrayal by Harold Pinter -- Red Sandcastle
Retreat by Kat Sandler -- Hart House
Entrances & Exits -- Howland Company @ Crowsnest
Rear Window -- Theatre Passe Muraille
April
Copenhagen by Frayn -- Soulpepper
As You Like It -- Shakespeare BASH'd (excellent production)
Bigre -- Canadian Stage (had its moments but was about 45 minutes too long)
May
Too Good to Be True -- Video Cabaret (interesting experiment in their new theatre space taking VideoCab style and applying it to a non-history play)
Hand to God -- Coal Mine
June
Bloomsday by Stephen Dietz -- Chicago
The Memo by Vaclav Havel -- Chicago
July
The Tape Escape -- Outside the March (a guided escape room experience with full-blown audience participation)
The Taming of the Shrew -- Toronto Fringe
The Commandment -- Toronto Fringe
Three Men and a Bike -- Toronto Fringe (a little baggy but overall quite fun)
Tita Jokes -- Toronto Fringe
Molly Bloom -- Toronto Fringe
The Huns -- Toronto Fringe
Midsummer's Night's Dream -- Bard's Bus Tour (back in Withrow Park!)
August
Greenland -- Summerworks
September
The Glass Menagerie -- Bloor Village West Players
Yaga by Kat Sandler -- Tarragon
October
The Flick by Annie Baker -- Outside the March @ Crow's Nest
Jungle -- Tarragon
Cantatrice Chauve (with subtitles!) -- Theatre francais de Toronto
Henry VII -- Stratford (a well-done production of a very minor, non-essential (co-written) Shakespeare history play)
November
Trout Stanley by Claudia Dey -- Factory Theatre
The Learned Ladies, adapted from Moliere -- George Brown
December
Buffoon -- Tarragon (the acting was first-rate, though the storyline was unrelentingly grim. Also, it was disrespectful to hold the curtain a full 15 minutes for late-comers...)
Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Guirgis -- Coal Mine Theatre
Christmas Carol -- Three Ships Collective @ Campbell House
It was a pretty good year, theatre-wise, though in several cases these were near-great performances. While I certainly saw more things at the Toronto Fringe in 2018, this was a more relaxed year for me, and I probably did enjoy it a bit more overall.
Now, normally I do err on the side of including plays on my list, so long as I liked one aspect of the show (the acting typically) even if I don't like the staging or occasionally the plot (though plot seems to weigh the most heavily with me). However, I really didn't like the direction of Soulpepper's Streetcar Named Desire. There were these musical interludes that stretched an already long play past the three hour mark! I also thought that Stanley and Blanche started at such a high level of antagonism (and the play was done in a fairly realistic manner) that I simply couldn't believe that Stanley wouldn't have murdered her after week two, let alone let her stay the entire summer. In other words, the production annoyed me so much that it actually made me reassess the play itself negatively! The only reason I bring this up is that Glenn Sumi put this production in his top ten list of the decade(!), and I find it more than a little astonishing at how profoundly I disagree with him.
From within this list, I suppose my very favourites were 1979, Time Stands Still, Kiss of the Spider Woman (despite being on a metal stool for the whole show!), Betrayal (the Red Sandcastle production), Shakespeare BASH'd doing As You Like It, Hand to God, Yaga and Christmas Carol.
It looks like 2020 will get off to good start with Sweat at Canadian Stage and a few things I might check out from the Toronto Fringe Winterfest and then Shakespeare Bash'd doing Cymbeline. I'm a bit on the fence for Kushner's Caroline or Change, but maybe I'll go this time around. I'll report back in a year what I liked.
Another darker mood
It definitely seems at the end of the year, something happens, and I completely lose patience with humanity. Just like clockwork, the black mood is back, though in this case it is even a bit earlier and maybe darker, and it will probably ruin my mood throughout Christmas and into Boxing Day.
This year, I worked a bit too long today, well after everyone else had split. Then the bus was quite late in turning up, so I walked home instead. I definitely wasn't thrilled by this, though at least the weather is fairly mild and all the snow and ice are off the sidewalks (for now). I was about to turn the corner to my block, when I saw a milkweed pod with lots of seeds ready to go. I had tried unsuccessfully to plant milkweed this year, so I thought I would try again. I grabbed a couple of seeds (actually the wind-borne fluff with a seed attached) and started off. Suddenly a car pulled over and the guy inside shouted that it was his flower and I had to put it back. This seemed like pure insanity to me, but another guy in the car threatened me. So I said, sure and brushed the seeds back onto the fence. It wasn't worth trying to reason with them, despite the fact I am quite sure they don't live at that house...
Obviously, they just thought it was amusing to fuck with me. Anyone who actually grows milkweed would know that the seeds want to spread and that it is a good thing to plant more of it to help keep the monarch butterfly population up. I suppose having an unpleasant experience with a bunch of jerks is hardly the end of the world (and had this been Chicago I might well have been mugged again), but it does piss me off. I'd say it is probably more than 80% likely these are residents of the Pocket (a fairly low-income neighbourhood just north of my neighbourhood). I never had much use for the Pocket, given that kids from this area made school extremely difficult for my son (they were incredibly disruptive), and right now I am feeling incredibly antagonistic towards the Pocket. Fine, you want more class war, let's bring it on... I am so looking forward to the class war that will crush the Pocket out of existence. I had been trying to fight an alignment of the Ontario Line that would be incredibly disruptive, particularly to the Pocket, and now I look forward to it tearing up their street and forcing their school to close.
But at a deeper level, I really do not like (and actually basically detest*) the majority of humanity, and I think they do deserve pretty much everything they have coming to them. It sucks that global warming and everything else will impact the people that I can tolerate, but I guess them's the breaks. There are simply far too many people on the planet and the vast majority of them consume too much. It's the Tragedy of the Commons at a truly global scale, and there is no way to convince enough people to change direction until the suffering reaches near apocalyptic levels. Of course, it didn't have to be this way,** but we've had at least 20-25 years of knowing there were serious problems but we persisted in electing leaders who at best kicked the can down the road, and in many cases (particularly Australia and now the U.S.) deliberately made things worse. So really humanity can just look at itself in the mirror when the shit really hits the fan and know who really is to blame. (Oh so many mixed metaphors.) I guess on that cheery note, I should take a break and wrap the last of my Xmas presents. Ho ho humbug...
* I did find this article partly amusing but mostly just depressing proving that people are more than willing to let on how terrible they are when they can confess anonymously to any number of things.
** There's no point in pretending it would be easy, and certainly in the short to medium term it would mean massive disruption to our society as we decarbonize, and likely high unemployment in perpetuity thereafter, as our consumption has to go way, way down. But there were certainly a number of baby steps that could have been taken well before now that would have positioned us to transition to a lower-carbon society with less pain than we face now. But most humans are very short-sighted and really don't like to change, which is largely why I have so little use for the masses.
This year, I worked a bit too long today, well after everyone else had split. Then the bus was quite late in turning up, so I walked home instead. I definitely wasn't thrilled by this, though at least the weather is fairly mild and all the snow and ice are off the sidewalks (for now). I was about to turn the corner to my block, when I saw a milkweed pod with lots of seeds ready to go. I had tried unsuccessfully to plant milkweed this year, so I thought I would try again. I grabbed a couple of seeds (actually the wind-borne fluff with a seed attached) and started off. Suddenly a car pulled over and the guy inside shouted that it was his flower and I had to put it back. This seemed like pure insanity to me, but another guy in the car threatened me. So I said, sure and brushed the seeds back onto the fence. It wasn't worth trying to reason with them, despite the fact I am quite sure they don't live at that house...
Obviously, they just thought it was amusing to fuck with me. Anyone who actually grows milkweed would know that the seeds want to spread and that it is a good thing to plant more of it to help keep the monarch butterfly population up. I suppose having an unpleasant experience with a bunch of jerks is hardly the end of the world (and had this been Chicago I might well have been mugged again), but it does piss me off. I'd say it is probably more than 80% likely these are residents of the Pocket (a fairly low-income neighbourhood just north of my neighbourhood). I never had much use for the Pocket, given that kids from this area made school extremely difficult for my son (they were incredibly disruptive), and right now I am feeling incredibly antagonistic towards the Pocket. Fine, you want more class war, let's bring it on... I am so looking forward to the class war that will crush the Pocket out of existence. I had been trying to fight an alignment of the Ontario Line that would be incredibly disruptive, particularly to the Pocket, and now I look forward to it tearing up their street and forcing their school to close.
But at a deeper level, I really do not like (and actually basically detest*) the majority of humanity, and I think they do deserve pretty much everything they have coming to them. It sucks that global warming and everything else will impact the people that I can tolerate, but I guess them's the breaks. There are simply far too many people on the planet and the vast majority of them consume too much. It's the Tragedy of the Commons at a truly global scale, and there is no way to convince enough people to change direction until the suffering reaches near apocalyptic levels. Of course, it didn't have to be this way,** but we've had at least 20-25 years of knowing there were serious problems but we persisted in electing leaders who at best kicked the can down the road, and in many cases (particularly Australia and now the U.S.) deliberately made things worse. So really humanity can just look at itself in the mirror when the shit really hits the fan and know who really is to blame. (Oh so many mixed metaphors.) I guess on that cheery note, I should take a break and wrap the last of my Xmas presents. Ho ho humbug...
* I did find this article partly amusing but mostly just depressing proving that people are more than willing to let on how terrible they are when they can confess anonymously to any number of things.
** There's no point in pretending it would be easy, and certainly in the short to medium term it would mean massive disruption to our society as we decarbonize, and likely high unemployment in perpetuity thereafter, as our consumption has to go way, way down. But there were certainly a number of baby steps that could have been taken well before now that would have positioned us to transition to a lower-carbon society with less pain than we face now. But most humans are very short-sighted and really don't like to change, which is largely why I have so little use for the masses.
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Another Mixed-up Weekend
I'm in a curious mental space, since I actually just had a few vacation days (Thurs. and Fri.), though I did work more than I should have. I did manage to get at least a bit of stuff done that I would normally do on the weekend, so now it's like I already had my weekend off, and now what do I do now that it is actually the weekend.
This may be more of a problem next week when I am taking another two days off, and then Christmas week when I am only in the office on Dec 24! There are certainly a few projects that I could and probably should focus on -- restarting the quilt (while I have made progress on it, it is clear it won't be ready for Christmas) and finishing this puzzle (which has been on the floor of my study since the summer!) and reading a few of the books in my book box and posting a few book reviews on the blog. And of course going through about a dozen boxes in the basement and throwing out more stuff. I will say it is getting harder and harder to sell used things, particularly CDs. I took a whole stack to a used book/CD store, and the guy would only accept one. I'll probably try two more stores, then give up in despair. I've probably passed the time when I can get money for DVDs, even kids' DVDs, since people just want to stream nowadays. Basically, my entire collection, particularly the DVDs and CDs, will just end up in a landfill thirty or so years from now. What an incredibly depressing thought... I'm not saying it was ever easy finding a place for collections after the owner had passed on, but at least there was a meaningful market for used books and CDs ten years ago. That era has simply passed away.
But back to my weekend plans. I had originally thought that I would see the Nelson Mandela exhibit up in North York on Sat. and then go see the caravan exhibit at the Aga Khan on Sun., followed by a matinee performance of Between Riverside and Crazy at Coal Mine. However, my wife is very under the weather today, so I think I will change the plans to focus on putting up the Christmas tree today (and seeing Mandela next week). I do have all the boxes of ornaments upstairs, but I still need to bring the tree up. My goal is that when we put everything away in early January, we can consolidate the boxes and get rid of several. I'll still plan on taking my son to the caravan exhibit tomorrow, unless he gets sick as well. There is a moderate chance that I will go see The Lowest of the Low at Lee's Palace tonight. (Apparently, they sold out the Horseshoe last night, but as far as I can tell, there are still tickets to Lee's Palace.) So I think this will end up being a fairly busy and not very restful weekend, but I do have a fair bit of time off coming up next week, and I can look forward to that.
One thing that did pass me by is that the deadline to get discounts at the Shaw Festival has already passed (Friday at midnight). There was a very small chance that I was going to see both parts of The Mahabharata and possibly Synge's Playboy of the Western World. And while I am sure The Mahabharata is going to be quite the spectacle, I just am not feeling it right now. I'm also not sure I want to see Playboy at Shaw rates (I read it quite a while ago and it didn't really grab me). If it transfers to Toronto in a year or two I'll go, but I think I'll pass otherwise. Interestingly, it's not even possible to buy tickets at Stratford (if you aren't a member) until early January, so I have a few more weeks to go there.
Update: We did manage to get the tree up. I was getting increasingly annoyed at how many of the boxes were fairly close to empty. We should definitely be able to get rid of at least 4 or maybe even 5 boxes, even if we hang onto basically all of the ornaments.
After the tree was up, I did run over to Union Station and took care of a few things at work. Then I took a couple of books over to BMV and actually got some money for them! I also asked at Seekers to see if they would be interested in the Musil set, but I need to call later when the buyer is in. Then I went over to Lee's Palace. The Lowest of the Low was playing with Skye Wallace as the opening act. I wasn't sure if there were still tickets, but I thought so, and in fact I was able to get in by just paying the cover (and not all the Ticketmaster surcharges). It was a long wait, however, as I was behind two guys who were deeply invested in the Sterling Institute (which is a bit of a cult not completely dissimilar to Scientology). I managed to stay well clear of them when the doors finally opened. Because I was so early, I actually managed to get a seat along the wall where I stayed for the entire concert. I'll try to discuss this in a separate post, but it was a good, but long, concert. They finally wrapped up the 4th encore at 12:30, and I didn't get home until just about 1 am. Definitely later than I am used to staying out...
This may be more of a problem next week when I am taking another two days off, and then Christmas week when I am only in the office on Dec 24! There are certainly a few projects that I could and probably should focus on -- restarting the quilt (while I have made progress on it, it is clear it won't be ready for Christmas) and finishing this puzzle (which has been on the floor of my study since the summer!) and reading a few of the books in my book box and posting a few book reviews on the blog. And of course going through about a dozen boxes in the basement and throwing out more stuff. I will say it is getting harder and harder to sell used things, particularly CDs. I took a whole stack to a used book/CD store, and the guy would only accept one. I'll probably try two more stores, then give up in despair. I've probably passed the time when I can get money for DVDs, even kids' DVDs, since people just want to stream nowadays. Basically, my entire collection, particularly the DVDs and CDs, will just end up in a landfill thirty or so years from now. What an incredibly depressing thought... I'm not saying it was ever easy finding a place for collections after the owner had passed on, but at least there was a meaningful market for used books and CDs ten years ago. That era has simply passed away.
But back to my weekend plans. I had originally thought that I would see the Nelson Mandela exhibit up in North York on Sat. and then go see the caravan exhibit at the Aga Khan on Sun., followed by a matinee performance of Between Riverside and Crazy at Coal Mine. However, my wife is very under the weather today, so I think I will change the plans to focus on putting up the Christmas tree today (and seeing Mandela next week). I do have all the boxes of ornaments upstairs, but I still need to bring the tree up. My goal is that when we put everything away in early January, we can consolidate the boxes and get rid of several. I'll still plan on taking my son to the caravan exhibit tomorrow, unless he gets sick as well. There is a moderate chance that I will go see The Lowest of the Low at Lee's Palace tonight. (Apparently, they sold out the Horseshoe last night, but as far as I can tell, there are still tickets to Lee's Palace.) So I think this will end up being a fairly busy and not very restful weekend, but I do have a fair bit of time off coming up next week, and I can look forward to that.
One thing that did pass me by is that the deadline to get discounts at the Shaw Festival has already passed (Friday at midnight). There was a very small chance that I was going to see both parts of The Mahabharata and possibly Synge's Playboy of the Western World. And while I am sure The Mahabharata is going to be quite the spectacle, I just am not feeling it right now. I'm also not sure I want to see Playboy at Shaw rates (I read it quite a while ago and it didn't really grab me). If it transfers to Toronto in a year or two I'll go, but I think I'll pass otherwise. Interestingly, it's not even possible to buy tickets at Stratford (if you aren't a member) until early January, so I have a few more weeks to go there.
Update: We did manage to get the tree up. I was getting increasingly annoyed at how many of the boxes were fairly close to empty. We should definitely be able to get rid of at least 4 or maybe even 5 boxes, even if we hang onto basically all of the ornaments.
After the tree was up, I did run over to Union Station and took care of a few things at work. Then I took a couple of books over to BMV and actually got some money for them! I also asked at Seekers to see if they would be interested in the Musil set, but I need to call later when the buyer is in. Then I went over to Lee's Palace. The Lowest of the Low was playing with Skye Wallace as the opening act. I wasn't sure if there were still tickets, but I thought so, and in fact I was able to get in by just paying the cover (and not all the Ticketmaster surcharges). It was a long wait, however, as I was behind two guys who were deeply invested in the Sterling Institute (which is a bit of a cult not completely dissimilar to Scientology). I managed to stay well clear of them when the doors finally opened. Because I was so early, I actually managed to get a seat along the wall where I stayed for the entire concert. I'll try to discuss this in a separate post, but it was a good, but long, concert. They finally wrapped up the 4th encore at 12:30, and I didn't get home until just about 1 am. Definitely later than I am used to staying out...
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Hot Ticket (Buffoon and Other Plays)
It's certainly not the end of the world, but perhaps I should have tried harder to get to Buffoon at Tarragon last Wed. On Friday, I ran up there about an hour before curtain, but the show was sold out. (They tried to get me to go to Copy That instead, but the reviews have just been brutal, and I had no intention of going.) Interestingly, there was a movie shoot going on nearby, and it was definitely a drag for me to scoot past it (even on foot) to get to the theatre, and this was before they actually started rolling. It looked like it would be impossible to get through the intersection by cab or Uber, which will definitely cause problems for most of the Tarragon patrons coming to Buffoon.
Then I thought I would try for the Sunday matinee, but it is sold out tomorrow (and the following Sunday)! Still, I'm glad I know this now, and I don't waste my time heading over. I think the most likely time I will make it is next Wed. I actually am leaving work a bit early for a physio appointment to have my knee looked at. Then there is a bit of a holiday party thrown by my former manager, and then I'll run up to Tarragon. I expect I'll probably be able to get a seat for a mid-week performance, but if not, so be it.
Between Riverside and Crazy (at Coal Mine) is another hot property (and probably slightly more deservedly so). While they have added a couple of shows, most of the shows are sold out. I decided I was interested enough to go ahead and book a regular ticket, and I managed to get a matinee performance, so I'll be checking that out fairly soon.
Finally, last year A Christmas Carol at the Campbell House Museum was sold out right away. It was about 80% sold out when I finally got around to booking this year. Unfortunately, all the matinee performances and even the 7 pm shows are sold out, but I managed to get tickets for myself, my wife and my son for a 9 pm show. I'm definitely looking forward to that, as I know one of the actors casually and another actor fairly well. This will likely be the last play I see in 2019, so hopefully it will live up to the buzz.
Then I thought I would try for the Sunday matinee, but it is sold out tomorrow (and the following Sunday)! Still, I'm glad I know this now, and I don't waste my time heading over. I think the most likely time I will make it is next Wed. I actually am leaving work a bit early for a physio appointment to have my knee looked at. Then there is a bit of a holiday party thrown by my former manager, and then I'll run up to Tarragon. I expect I'll probably be able to get a seat for a mid-week performance, but if not, so be it.
Between Riverside and Crazy (at Coal Mine) is another hot property (and probably slightly more deservedly so). While they have added a couple of shows, most of the shows are sold out. I decided I was interested enough to go ahead and book a regular ticket, and I managed to get a matinee performance, so I'll be checking that out fairly soon.
Finally, last year A Christmas Carol at the Campbell House Museum was sold out right away. It was about 80% sold out when I finally got around to booking this year. Unfortunately, all the matinee performances and even the 7 pm shows are sold out, but I managed to get tickets for myself, my wife and my son for a 9 pm show. I'm definitely looking forward to that, as I know one of the actors casually and another actor fairly well. This will likely be the last play I see in 2019, so hopefully it will live up to the buzz.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Book Diversion
It's no secret that I don't always follow my reading list in any precise order, though usually the main thrust of my reading is determined by the list with occasional forays into my library holds list (to keep the inactive holds from expiring).
Currently, I am about halfway through the LOA volumes of William Maxwell and Dawn Powell. It was starting to feel a bit too much of the same reading through them in a short space of time, so I decided on a minor diversion to read three somewhat thematically linked books: The Book of Eve, Basic Black with Pearls and Sandra Beck. All three are by Canadian authors, and I'll try to get to the reviews fairly soon before too much time has passed and my first impressions are lost. (As a bit of an aside, I just didn't like Sandra Beck all that much. A while ago I had thought I scored a signed copy from House of Anansi Press, though in the end they were sold out. If I had gotten the signed copy, I would have been very loathe to part with it, but since I didn't, I will put it out in my Little Free Library and see if anyone else appreciates this novel more than I did. So another way I was saved from myself...)
I think the diversion might last a little bit longer than I originally anticipated, however. First off, I want to read Salman Rushdie's last 3 volumes. None of them are particularly long (300-400 pages), but it will still take a while to get through them. In addition, I have sort of hinted that I needed to clear out a lot of books in the basement as part of a general clearing out down there. While most books were pretty clearly in the keep or discard category, I ended up putting together a box of books that I expect I would want to read once (or even just skim in the case of non-fiction). I am going to make a concerted effort to get through this box before I return to my regular list (probably a small number are actually on the list, but I don't have the time to check right now).
I already knew that I was very unlikely to tackle Fontane's Before the Storm and Tolstoy's War and Peace this winter, and this diversion makes it impossible. I guess I will pencil them in for the end of 2020. While I probably won't read a long book to wrap up 2019, if I do (mostly because I do have some vacation time to burn up), the two contenders are Perec's Life: a User's Manual and Mann's The Magic Mountain. But mostly I have to get through the books in the box...
Edit: It sounds like The Magic Mountain is probably the most appropriate to read in the winter time, especially when fighting off a lingering cold. That said, I'm not sure I will actually tackle it this winter. I've heard that the Woods translation, which emerged in 1995, is vastly superior to the older translation (that I owned during high school(!) but never actually got around to reading and ultimately discarded prior to one of my many moves). Once in a while it actually pays off to be a bit of a laggard, at least in terms of improved translations.
Currently, I am about halfway through the LOA volumes of William Maxwell and Dawn Powell. It was starting to feel a bit too much of the same reading through them in a short space of time, so I decided on a minor diversion to read three somewhat thematically linked books: The Book of Eve, Basic Black with Pearls and Sandra Beck. All three are by Canadian authors, and I'll try to get to the reviews fairly soon before too much time has passed and my first impressions are lost. (As a bit of an aside, I just didn't like Sandra Beck all that much. A while ago I had thought I scored a signed copy from House of Anansi Press, though in the end they were sold out. If I had gotten the signed copy, I would have been very loathe to part with it, but since I didn't, I will put it out in my Little Free Library and see if anyone else appreciates this novel more than I did. So another way I was saved from myself...)
I think the diversion might last a little bit longer than I originally anticipated, however. First off, I want to read Salman Rushdie's last 3 volumes. None of them are particularly long (300-400 pages), but it will still take a while to get through them. In addition, I have sort of hinted that I needed to clear out a lot of books in the basement as part of a general clearing out down there. While most books were pretty clearly in the keep or discard category, I ended up putting together a box of books that I expect I would want to read once (or even just skim in the case of non-fiction). I am going to make a concerted effort to get through this box before I return to my regular list (probably a small number are actually on the list, but I don't have the time to check right now).
I already knew that I was very unlikely to tackle Fontane's Before the Storm and Tolstoy's War and Peace this winter, and this diversion makes it impossible. I guess I will pencil them in for the end of 2020. While I probably won't read a long book to wrap up 2019, if I do (mostly because I do have some vacation time to burn up), the two contenders are Perec's Life: a User's Manual and Mann's The Magic Mountain. But mostly I have to get through the books in the box...
Edit: It sounds like The Magic Mountain is probably the most appropriate to read in the winter time, especially when fighting off a lingering cold. That said, I'm not sure I will actually tackle it this winter. I've heard that the Woods translation, which emerged in 1995, is vastly superior to the older translation (that I owned during high school(!) but never actually got around to reading and ultimately discarded prior to one of my many moves). Once in a while it actually pays off to be a bit of a laggard, at least in terms of improved translations.
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Saving Me from Myself
Once in the while something doesn't go quite according to plan. While this is always annoying, sometimes it does work out in the end. I am thinking of a couple of minor examples from this week.
First, I had been very tempted to buy the 2nd edition of an academic book called Metropolitan Governance. The 1st edition is at Robarts, but it took a while for me to actually borrow it (last night actually). In the meantime, the low cost version of the 2nd edition jumped from $12 to $37! Now I could still order a relatively inexpensive version and have it shipped to the States, but I am getting a little weary of waiting for someone to be able to deliver it to me. In addition, this is really within a line of research I am unlikely to pursue, so that I can take this as a message to just drop it (that old line of research). And I have been struggling to get rid of dozens of academic books, so adding another one to the pile seems perverse. The final consideration is that it is incredibly difficult these days to donate books to libraries and have them added to their collection (and here I am speaking specifically of books that the library doesn't own). Robarts has completely paused its donation program and the Toronto Public Library never had much of a donation program to begin with (everything just goes into the library book sale!). If either accepted donations, then my decision would be different.
As it happens I ordered a book (or really a catalog) on Romare Bearden and his lesser known abstract work . While it is ok, I don't love it and I'd prefer it go into a library. I think my best case for making a donation is the AGO library, and I'll touch base with them later.
But back to the Metropolitan Governance book. There are a few copies of the edition I want in academic libraries in Canada, though sadly not in Toronto. I'll go ahead and see if I can get it through inter-library loan, but, if not, then that is also a bit of a sign, I suppose.
The second thing is that I had quite the adventure planned out for tonight: first dropping in at a work holiday party (yes, it seems much too early to me too!), then going swimming in Regent Park, then back-tracking to Tarragon to see if I could get rush tickets for Buffoon. I thought about it, and how much trouble I've been having with transit these days (with only a small amount of snow) and decided I couldn't count on the TTC getting me there. Instead I would just go swimming and then head over to the mall instead for a few last minute gifts. I'll see about rush tickets on Friday when I won't be running around so much. I still have one more week to try to rush the show if Friday doesn't work out. I think I'll be a lot happier not trying to cram quite so much stuff into one evening.
Update: I definitely made the right call tonight. I only stayed at the holiday party for 30 minutes. Then it took quite a while just to catch a bus to take me north from Front to Dundas. I ended up walking from Sherbourne to the pool and no bus turned up at all in that time (going east anyway). I was able to get my laps in (though unfortunately the warm water spa is closed for repairs), and then I got a few things at the mall. I would never have made it back to Tarragon in time.
Also, as I was going through some files, I realized that in my grad student heyday, I actually copied several chapters out of the Metropolitan Governance book, so I won't even need to ask about inter-library loan. This came as a bit of a surprise, as I don't think this particular edition was in the Northwestern Library, though I suppose I had borrowing privileges at University of Chicago (which did have the volume) and I might have gotten it there. At any rate, I am even more glad I didn't attempt to order the book!
First, I had been very tempted to buy the 2nd edition of an academic book called Metropolitan Governance. The 1st edition is at Robarts, but it took a while for me to actually borrow it (last night actually). In the meantime, the low cost version of the 2nd edition jumped from $12 to $37! Now I could still order a relatively inexpensive version and have it shipped to the States, but I am getting a little weary of waiting for someone to be able to deliver it to me. In addition, this is really within a line of research I am unlikely to pursue, so that I can take this as a message to just drop it (that old line of research). And I have been struggling to get rid of dozens of academic books, so adding another one to the pile seems perverse. The final consideration is that it is incredibly difficult these days to donate books to libraries and have them added to their collection (and here I am speaking specifically of books that the library doesn't own). Robarts has completely paused its donation program and the Toronto Public Library never had much of a donation program to begin with (everything just goes into the library book sale!). If either accepted donations, then my decision would be different.
As it happens I ordered a book (or really a catalog) on Romare Bearden and his lesser known abstract work . While it is ok, I don't love it and I'd prefer it go into a library. I think my best case for making a donation is the AGO library, and I'll touch base with them later.
But back to the Metropolitan Governance book. There are a few copies of the edition I want in academic libraries in Canada, though sadly not in Toronto. I'll go ahead and see if I can get it through inter-library loan, but, if not, then that is also a bit of a sign, I suppose.
The second thing is that I had quite the adventure planned out for tonight: first dropping in at a work holiday party (yes, it seems much too early to me too!), then going swimming in Regent Park, then back-tracking to Tarragon to see if I could get rush tickets for Buffoon. I thought about it, and how much trouble I've been having with transit these days (with only a small amount of snow) and decided I couldn't count on the TTC getting me there. Instead I would just go swimming and then head over to the mall instead for a few last minute gifts. I'll see about rush tickets on Friday when I won't be running around so much. I still have one more week to try to rush the show if Friday doesn't work out. I think I'll be a lot happier not trying to cram quite so much stuff into one evening.
Update: I definitely made the right call tonight. I only stayed at the holiday party for 30 minutes. Then it took quite a while just to catch a bus to take me north from Front to Dundas. I ended up walking from Sherbourne to the pool and no bus turned up at all in that time (going east anyway). I was able to get my laps in (though unfortunately the warm water spa is closed for repairs), and then I got a few things at the mall. I would never have made it back to Tarragon in time.
Also, as I was going through some files, I realized that in my grad student heyday, I actually copied several chapters out of the Metropolitan Governance book, so I won't even need to ask about inter-library loan. This came as a bit of a surprise, as I don't think this particular edition was in the Northwestern Library, though I suppose I had borrowing privileges at University of Chicago (which did have the volume) and I might have gotten it there. At any rate, I am even more glad I didn't attempt to order the book!
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