Hamilton Round-up

The trip did not come off exactly as planned.  The trip to Union was mostly ok until we got to Lakeshore and Yonge where the traffic really was quite bad.  Then the bus driver was absurdly meek at the light at Bay and Lakeshore.  She let the light cycle through 4 times before she finally really started turning.  Most people bailed after the second missed light.  My son and I finally exited the bus after the third missed light and were easily able to walk faster than the bus.  I sadly had missed the 12:30 GO bus to Hamilton, but still had a few minutes before the 1:05.  My son's train was at 1:17, so he had a bit more time, but still not as much as he should have had.  

While traffic was quite heavy on the Gardiner, we did get in more or less at our scheduled time.  As it was on the way, I stopped in for about 10 minutes at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.  I only went to the upstairs galleries which are free.  I'd seen most of the art already, though they did have a lot more Norval Morrisseau on view than they normally do.

Norval Morrisseau, Shaman and Apprentice, ca. 1980-85

Marla Panko, Fab, 2008

Anyway, it was about 3 by the time I finally got to the Hamilton Public Library.  Only to find out that their computer system was completely down, so it was impossible to copy or scan any library materials.  I was extremely pissed when I found this out, only slightly mollified by the fact that nearly all his books are now available in Toronto.  I sat down and read through two collections and some broadsheets that were only available in Hamilton.  I tried to take photos of the best poems, but I honestly don't know how they turned out.  I may see if one or two of the collections can be requested through Interlibrary Loan, but I certainly don't think I'll make the trek over to Hamilton again...

I wrapped up just after 4 and then went over to the farmer's market, which is in the same building.  I didn't have time to eat lunch but grabbed a cookie.  Walking around downtown, I ran across a music shop.  While the vinyl prices were absurd, I did get a few used CDs.  I kept walking around and saw that a Route 5 bus was pulling up, so I jumped on that.  I think I probably should have held out for a 5B, though this did eventually get me close to where I was going in Dundas.

Then I ate at an Indian place.  It was ok, though I would have preferred going at lunch when you can get 2 curries for some variety.  I didn't really liked what I had that much, but I think I just was unlucky.  A lot of the other menu items looked pretty good from what I could see.

I still had some time to kill, so I walked over to the Dundas Little Theatre and sat down outside and read more of The Night Alphabet.  I have to admit, it had some interesting moments, but kind of read like an extreme version or even a parody of radical feminist literature.  If I had more charge on my phone, I might have abandoned it and read The Chinese Groove instead.  

At 7, I got into the theatre and booked a cab for 10:30 (with pretty much my last gap of juice on my phone...).  I think the cast did a pretty good job, but, sadly, this just isn't a very good play.  The cop talk is straight out of a dozen better cop movies and tv shows.  It all felt completely fake.  And the main character (the "lobby hero") is completely annoying.  Obviously, had I known everything, I would have not made the trip.  I was pleased to find that the show actually wrapped up almost 10 minutes sooner than I expected, and also the cab showed up 5 minutes early as well, so I had plenty of time to get back to the Hamilton GO Centre and catch the 11 pm bus back to Union.  That part of the evening did go better than expected, though the cab ride was certainly pricey.  As it happens, it was period 3 of Game 7 between the Leafs and Boston, and the game was still 0-0 at that point.  By the time I got back to Toronto, I saw a lot of very sombre faces, so it was clear that the Leafs had not pulled it off after all.  I managed to hop on the subway around midnight and finished up The Night Alphabet to round off a fairly exhausting day.

I'm scheduled to go off to the gym and get groceries tomorrow morning, but I'm not entirely sure I can follow through, at least with the gym.  I guess we'll see how I feel in the morning...