Last(?) New York Trip

As I indicated, I am beside myself with despair on the terrible choices the US has made.  I haven't made a solemn pledge or anything, but I don't think I will travel to the US again after Jan.  Maybe I will make an exception to pick up a few things from my stepmom in North Carolina, but that is not guaranteed.  Indeed, I am thinking I may well make a one-day trip to Buffalo in mid Dec. to see Marisol at the Albright-Knox, and then put my passport away for a long time.

I thought I would organize in my own mind how next week is going to look.

On Tues. I will be at work, and I even decided to go see Timon of Athens at the Theatre Centre.  Perhaps a mistake, though I think this is a somewhat shortened version.  Then on Wed., I wake up quite early and catch an early Porter flight to Newark.  It will then take an hour or so to get into Manhattan proper.  I will only need to buy a one-way NJ Transit ticket this time, however.

The plan is to go up to the Met first and see the various exhibits.  They don't have any blockbuster exhibits on, but I definitely want to see the Mexican print exhibit and the photographs by Anastasia Samoylova and Walker Evans.  I had thought there was a new book about Samoylova, but now I don't think so.  I will then run over to the Guggenheim, at least in part because I get free admission there!  But the exhibits look at least somewhat interesting.  

This will likely take the full day, but if I am exceptionally efficient, I may have a couple of hours to hit the MoMA.  I hadn't planned on going on this trip, but it might be my last visit for a very long time.  I also am intrigued by their small exhibit on German expressionism, and the fact that they have a Beckmann triptych (Depature) on view and the Met has The Beginning on view as well does make it more appealing.  There is no question I would go if I had the time, but Thurs. I have quite a few things that will eat into my museum time, so if I can't squeeze it in on Wed., I probably can't go.

Anyway, I'll meet up with a friend for dinner, and then we are off to see the Pacifica Quartet at the 92 St. Y.  (This performance is being live-streamed and you can watch up to 72 hours later, so I am toying with the idea of purchasing the live-stream as well for when I get back.  I also found out that Abdullah Ibrahim is in NYC on Friday and at the Y!  But his performance is not available as a live-stream, which is incredibly disappointing to me.  So I will not be able to make up for missing him in Markham a few years ago.  I might have rearranged the whole trip had I realized he was playing so soon after Pacifica.  C'est la vie...)

Then I go crash at the Youth Hostel for the night.  (Even though my bag will be pretty full, I do need to remember to bring my lock!)  Then I will probably head over to the Strand at 10, and then I meet someone from work and go sit in on one virtual meeting at the office and then I think I will probably head over to Bleeker St. Books and Howl Arts.  However, I could perhaps run over to MOMA first and then these bookish places afterwards and then make a short visit to the Whitney.  (I used to have free admission to the Whitney, but not any longer.)  As it happens the Whitney is open longer than any other museum on Thurs. (until 6 pm), and there is one Jane Dickson painting on view in their Shifting Landscapes exhibit.  

Jane Dickson, Heading in—Lincoln Tunnel 3, 2003

But I probably wouldn't spend more than a couple hours at the Whitney, so maybe I will fit everything in after all.  It's a bit hard to tell at the moment.

Anyway, I have a ticket to see McNeal, which is Ayad Akhtar’s new play starring Robert Downey, Jr.  So it's a fairly hot ticket, and I waited a bit too long to commit to going, so the ticket prices were pretty high.  I actually found a reasonably priced ticket on Stub Hub.  However, I had just completed the purchase when I read that they were going to send me a physical ticket rather than an e-ticket, and I felt sick to my stomach.  It is being FedExed and it should be here Sunday or Monday, but so much can go wrong.  I absolutely would not have ordered this if I had realized that was the situation.  So one more thing to stress me out.

Then I head over to the Amtrak station.  There is a night train that leaves at 11 pm, and gets in to DC at 6 in the morning (it actually pulls over somewhere near Philly for a couple of hours).  Basically everyone just sleeps on the train.  And the ticket costs only $25!  Wild.

Friday I will likely go to the Hirshhorn, maybe the Freer and Sackler Galleries, then the National Gallery.  I should be able to meet someone else from work and we'll chat and look at art, which sounds like fun to me anyway.  I see that Beckmann's triptych The Argonauts is on view, which is great, but Falling Man is not.  I have not seen this in a very long time, which is getting more than a little frustrating.  

I will keep my eyes peeled for one new acquisition, a Remedios Varo painting, which I don't believe was part of the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition I saw last year.

Remedios Varo, Banqueros en acción (Bankers in Action), 1962

There also appear to be a few Joseph Cornell boxes on view, and I always enjoy looking at those.

The current plan is then to head to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, as it is open the latest of all the Smithsonian museums.  Then I am staying somewhere in Adams Morgan, which I picked because I like grabbing Ethiopean food there.  Then I have a fairly early flight Sat. morning (at least it's out of Reagan National, not Dulles!).

I'll probably stop briefly at the Toronto Reference Library book sale on the way home, then crash for a bit.  Then I have a TSO concert that evening.

Sunday, there is a small chance I'll have to take my daughter to a volunteer opportunity, but mostly likely I will sleep in a bit.  I am then off to see Shakespeare Bash'd doing a staged reading of Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, and if I am not completely wiped out by that point, I may go to the Paradise to see Varda's Murs Murs.  I don't think I've seen the whole movie, though bits and pieces of Murs Murs showed up in her later works.  So I think I will end up completely exhausted from this trip, though what else is new... 

Edit: I took a quick look at some other museums in NYC.  The Neue Galerie has an Egon Schiele exhibit up, which looks somewhat interesting but I think I did see enough of his work in Vienna.  I'm a little more torn by the Guston exhibit at the Jewish Museum.  This exhibit focuses almost exclusively on Guston's KKK paintings and then the critical response by Trenton Doyle Hancock, an African-American artist.  I find his KKK paintings to be less interesting than a lot of his other late paintings and also I've probably seen almost all of these already at the big Guston exhibit in Boston in 2022.  However, I should write to see if they have In Bed as part of the exhibit.  I would probably go to see that, esp. as I could hit the Jewish Museum after the Guggenheim.  Actually, if the Broadway show was 8 (instead of 7 pm) or indeed if my tickets doesn't reach me in time(!), there is a talk between Hancock and Musa Mayer, Guston's daughter, on Thurs at 6:30.  That would have been worth checking out.  Ah well.

Second Chance Books

Generally it isn't nearly as hard to track down books, so the whole "second chance" concept doesn't apply as strongly.  That said, some art books do vanish and become extremely expensive.  It took quite a while to finally track down a copy of Alex Janvier's catalogue (perhaps because most of them got shipped back to his studio, which is where I got my copy*).

While the postage was a killer, I did manage to get a copy of The City by the photographer Lori Nix, even after it was OOP everywhere else.  The one I got might even have been one of the last ones available directly from the publisher.

I wasn't as lucky with this Michael Wolf catalogue that Bau-Xi was stocking, though I do have a couple other books by Wolf.  

One that got away that still bugs me from time to time is a small Sarah Sze monograph that the MCA in Chicago carried.  I have several other books by her, but I just wish I had picked that up back in the day.

Now one that was not my fault, as it were, was there was an interesting catalogue of an art exhibit held out at the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver.  I kept trying to get a hold of it, and I think the publisher never actually published the book, even though several libraries (in Vancouver at least) said that they had pre-ordered it.  Somewhat amusingly, one of my favourite paintings was by Freida Kahlo and that turned up fairly recently in a different art book that I picked up (though I would really struggle to remember off the top of my head which one).

There was another book that I had ordered from a Vancouver gallery, because it wasn't quite ready at the time of the exhibition and then they were going to mail it to me, and anyway I never got it, which was annoying, given I had already paid for the book!

I have managed to pick up nearly all of Jane Dickson's official monographs (like Jane Dickson in Times Square** and Peepland) though there are a few (quite pricey) very small gallery publications like Night Driving or Paradise Alley.  I have debated picking them up, but it turns out that Karma is publishing a very extensive (over 400 page!) monograph on Dickson at the end of Nov., and I assume it will have a lot, if not all, of the paintings from these recent gallery publications.  I did find out that Hot! Hot! Hot! is (surprisingly) still in print from Howl Arts, so I decided I might as well pick that up on my visit to New York next week.  I will try to remember to call Karma just to see if there are any advance copies of their new book as long as I am in town, but I assume that will not work out, and I'll just order a copy later (and not let it drag so long that it goes OOP).

I do recall on my last trip to Seattle, there was a copy of Craig Nova's Turkey Hash sitting outside a bookstore in Pike Place Market on their bargain shelves (for $1 I think).  The bookstore had closed but oddly enough had left the books outside!  I was so, so tempted to grab it, and I definitely would have if there had been a slot to drop $1.  I even bugged someone that worked in Seattle to get it for me later, but they wisely ignored me.  Anyway, I was poking around in BMV a couple of months later and got Turkey Hash and The Geek, so that worked out ok, though I did pay more than $1.  I found a couple of other Nova books with cheap shipping to Canada, so I ordered those as well.  (I had read a lot of Nova in my 20s and am feeling like revisiting him, I guess.)  On this trip to New York, after I stop by Howl Arts, I should also be able to go to Mercer St. Books and the Strand.  I'm still sort of on the lookout for Nova's Trombone and The Congressman's Daughter and maybe The Good Son as well.  I don't have a whole lot of other books I am looking for, and I am going to try to keep everything in one small backpack, so I really can't go wild while in the bookstores, as tempting as that always is.  In fact, I was thinking of bringing a few books along, but maybe I should only bring one book for the plane/train and then just supplement with whatever I do get at the Strand.  I have to remember that Hot! Hot! Hot! will also take up a fair bit of space, and I'll probably need to take my laptop along though maybe not the charger, so the laptop is going to be jammed from the start.  That said, I might still get the Nova books and maybe Joy Williams's Taking Care if I see it and one or two other random books in the Vintage Contemporaries series.

* I eventually bought one of his paintings as well, and I am finally going to pick it up from the framers tomorrow after a very long wait.

** This is one of those annoying cases where I ordered a book fairly early because I didn't want to lose out, and then the price dropped pretty significantly.  I don't know why that happened in this case, and I don't really expect this to happen with this new Dickson publication.

Second Chances

This was going to be a much more positive post on how I am sometimes able to make up (at least partially) for things that I missed because of double booking or indeed things that were cancelled outright due to the pandemic.  Many of the shows that were cancelled came back eventually.  For instance, Come From Away is back in town, and I am hoping to get tickets to that shortly and probably bring my son along.  Squeeze eventually did come back to town (and were great!).  Hall and Oates split up, however, and only Daryl Hall came to Toronto.  While it was an entertaining show, his voice is not what it was, even from a few years back, so that wasn't nearly as satisfying.  I have yet to learn if The Fixx will tour again.  While I had previously been willing to go back to NYC to catch them, now I am not so sure, and I think I will write to see if they will come to Toronto or at least Buffalo.  (I might once in a while break my upcoming embargo on the US to visit Buffalo, but perhaps not.  I could pick some weekend in Dec. and catch the bus to Buffalo to see the Marisol exhibit at the Albright-Knox and then say that is my last visit for the foreseeable future.)  I have seen Love and Rockets in the recent past, but I think I would still go again if they pull off one more tour, since the Toronto date was cancelled due to that tool, Perry Ferrell.  So frustrating.

As I have already alluded, however, the US has idiotically given Trump a second chance, as well as the opportunity to wipe out all his criminal behaviour due to the horrible enablers in the Senate and the Supreme Court (as well as the nihilistic voters in those swing states).  Given that the GOP has also won the Senate and quite likely the House, the US is going to be a criminal cesspit for years to come, to say nothing of the impact this will have on climate change goals.  We're all fucked basically, and the best thing that can come out of this is a violent uprising and a civil war splitting the US into a few parts, so that the smart, productive people in the States can leave the rest of the troglodytes in the dust.  Yes, I am more than a little bitter, and I don't think I'll be travelling back to the States any time soon, so I guess I will think more seriously about travelling to Europe (my carbon budget will be shredded, but it's all pointless even trying anymore).  I probably will renounce my citizenship soon enough.

Back to the matter at hand, I was very frustrated at missing out on seeing the Pacifica Quartet in Toronto (due to a work trip).  I found out that they were playing largely the same program (but substituting Crumb's Black Angels for a Shostakovich quartet) at the 92nd St. Y in New York, so I decided to just go ahead and travel to see that, and then see some museums and then travel down to Washington DC.  I don't normally travel that far just for a concert, though I did travel across states for a few exhibits (mostly Norman Lewis and Romare Bearden) and will travel a bit out of my way to see Stoppard's Arcadia.  As I said, I generally stick closer to home for concerts, though I have been known to take the train (or bus) to Montreal for a concert now and again.

It was a combination of traveling for work and competing concerts that has caused me to miss out on many of the Queer Cinema Club offerings over at the Paradise, with the ones that were the most disappointing that I had to miss Almodovar's Law of Desire, though I also would have wanted to see Saving Face and Tangerine.  Fortunately, the last two were available on DVD, so I borrowed those.   I can't believe what a short run Rumours had both at TIFF and then at Market Square.  I had wanted to check that out but was getting ready for a trip to Edmonton.  It vanished in about two weeks!  My best bet is that it turns up at some point at The Review or The Fox, but I don't see it in either of their calendars.  I asked if they were going to bring Rumours back to TIFF, and the woman at the box office said no.

At any rate, TIFF decided to end 2024 with a major Almodovar retrospective.  Now it is as annoying as ever, with almost every seat snatched up by members who just might happen to see the movie or may not.  I've learned that you have to have patience and do some lurking but eventually you can usually see the movie you are interested in.  This was certainly the case for their Christian Petzold mini-feature where I managed to see three in-demand films, with my favourite (and his least characteristic) film being Afire.

Anyway, I just managed to snag the last seat (for now) for Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, which is a film I decided to avoid on first release because the sexual politics of it kind of appalled me (and indeed they remain appalling but I am ready to see the film now).  So I am making up for that now, as well as catching a lot of his other films.  In the end,* I am going to see quite a few of his films, and certainly his best:
Broken Embraces (tonight!)
Volver
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Pain and Glory (for 2nd time on big screen though I think I saw it somewhere other than TIFF)
The Skin I Live In (another one I missed at Paradise)
Law of Desire (with an intro by Peter Knegt! though I would still have preferred to catch this at Paradise)
Talk to Her (and taking my son!)
Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (my 2nd time seeing on big screen and my son's first time)
Julieta
All About My Mother (my 2nd time since this is one I did manage to catch at Paradise!)

This is really quite the program, with most of these falling late in December.  (I own many but not all of these on DVD, but just find it so much better to see his work on the big screen.)  I suppose this is a great way to go out of 2024 with a bang, and it is also a fine way to wrap up my membership, as I don't plan on renewing for 2025, unless they fundamentally overhaul the way that membership works at TIFF.

Here's hoping 2025 and beyond isn't nearly as shitty as I fully expect it to be.

* This is certainly a very full plate already, but I will try to keep Nov. 29 open for The Flower of My Secret and Dec. 22 for What Have I Done to Deserve this, and will check in every couple of days to see if a ticket opens up.  That's how I managed to score a ticket to Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!  I enjoyed Broken Embraces, particularly the film within a film, Women and Suitcases, which is sort of a parallel universe version of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, with several characters from that popping up in it.  They even showed The Cannibalistic Counsellor, which is essentially several additional minutes of this film.  Very droll.  I also managed to get a hard copy of my membership card to get my discount at the snack bar on my next visit.

Brushes with Fame

A few interesting things have happened in past week, but those stories will have to wait.  Last Saturday, I went out to Stratford to see Something Rotten.  The bus trip was quite terrible, but I think it deserves its own post.  The musical was very good, though I couldn't have helped think that I would have preferred to go out on the earlier date I had selected (but that the bus was sold out, then briefly available, then off-limits again...).  Not only I would have been able to see Get That Hope, instead of just hoping it will transfer to Mirvish or perhaps Soulpepper, but the bus ride would have been much smoother.  On the other hand, maybe I never would have finished work on the deck.  It's not looking that promising that I stain the other parts of the deck or tackle the fence, but I guess one never knows.

Anyway, on the way back, I was towards the back of the line, and two of the actors from Something Rotten were going back to Toronto.  That led to several exchanges where people would ask how they enjoyed Something Rotten, and then they would say they were actually in Something Rotten!  One of them was basically part of the chorus, but the other one was the actor who played Lady Clapham.  (She had also been in Kat Sandler's Bang Bang over at Factory Theatre.)  I talked to them a little bit, including about the issues we had faced on the way over and then the remount of The Master Plan because the husband of one of the actor's was playing Dan Doctoroff.  If the bus had been quite full, I would have probably sat next to one of them and perhaps even asked for background detail to help flesh out my idea of writing up something about Stratford (or even just asking them if they had seen Slings & Arrows, which is the main reason I never will bother writing this up...).  So a bit of a missed opportunity.  I did manage to read more on the way back, whereas the tension on the trip in made it extremely poor setting for getting any casual reading in.

The following day I was at Trinity-St. Paul's to see Tafelmusik performing.  I certainly didn't recognize her, but I was sitting next to Alison Mackay, who retired from performing as a bassist with Tafelmusik in 2019 but still often pulls together multi-media programming like Staircases or The Galileo Project.  She was just up in the balcony with the rest of the plebes...  She also had ridden her bike to the concert, and I almost commented on that, as I was a bit sweaty from my ride in.  However, I had not brought a shirt to change into (it was still sitting on the sofa when I got home), so I had just turned my t-shirt inside out to make it seem slightly more appropriate for the venue, and thus didn't want to call a lot of attention to myself...

While it would be somewhat challenging to top this in Toronto classical music circles, I was just at the Nick Lowe show over at TD Music Hall (next to Massey Hall).  I was going through the security check when a few older gentlemen just brushed by.  The guards almost stopped them but then realized it was Nick Lowe and some of his entourage!  If the woman scanning tickets had been a bit more on the ball, I would have been in the same elevator as Nick Lowe!  As it happened, I was in the following elevator with Rob Baker (guitarist for the Tragically Hip).  He had almost waltzed in without having the tickets for the rest of his guests scanned.  So they made fun of him for that on the way up.  I didn't intentionally do it, but I had moved over to where he was standing watching the concert (to avoid standing behind some tall people on the left side of the floor).  I actually heard him get excited as the band played some particular song.*  He really knew Nick Lowe's body of work, even the new material, and had apparently gone to see him when he played the Horseshoe a few years back.  There was even one song where he moved up and stood right next to me and we both did our terrible white boy dancing while the music played!  So that will be extremely hard to top.

I guess I could drop that I was at one of Skye Wallace's secret shows at The Only Cafe.  I have gotten to know her a little bit over the years and we usually talk before her gigs.  I had noticed one of the guys from Lowest of the Low is also at the vast majority of her shows, so definitely a fan.  We ended up sitting at adjoining tables at that gig.  I actually talked to him a bit during one of the breaks and asked him if he was indeed in the band.  He said yes.  (It was Lawrence Nichols.)  I said that I really liked the newer material and that it was great they didn't only tour off the hits from the 90s.  He said that it was great to hear that.  I didn't want to be a complete gushing fanboy, so I kept the conversation fairly short.  I did ask a bit about their plans to tour later in the year, but they don't have too many Toronto dates lined up yet.  I may well see him the next time at the next Skye Wallace gig, which is Nov. 1, rather than at his own gig.

* Unfortunately, no one has filled in the setlist.  The set was very similar to the Pittsburgh show a couple of days before, though I think Los Straitjackets did different instrumentals during their part of the show.  For instance, they ended with "Venus" not "Itchy Chicken."  I don't believe Nick sang "Different Kind of Blue," and he definitely did "Blue on Blue."  Hopefully, someone else can fill in the details.  For me the standout songs were "I Went to a Party," "Lately I've Let Things Slide," "House for Sale," "Half a Boy and Half a Man" and of course "Cruel to Be Kind."  The encore "When I Write the Book" was also great.  I liked the show a lot, but it would have been better (for me) if it had been at Danforth Music Hall where I could have sat down, even if that meant not getting close to Rob Baker.  And while he doesn't sing it much any more, it would have been cool to hear "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass," but only if he actually sang it, not just the instrumental version...

Wrapping Up the Book News

While I still have far too much actual work do to and not nearly enough time to do it in, the tasks that were really dragging me down, so I am mentally in a better place.  The remaining tasks are at least interesting, even if I still don't have enough hours in the day to get to them, and I am still working out whom I can delegate these tasks to (and have them done to a reasonable standard).  Consequently, it is slightly easier to balance work against other activities, like seeing plays or going to The Rex (which I just did).  It's a little harder to spend time on truly time-sucking activities like working on this long, long-delayed quilt or restarting the jigsaw puzzle, but I'll probably be able to get to them in Nov.

Anyway, I'll try to briefly wrap up the remaining book news.  As it so happens, I was able to get over to Word on the Street twice this year!  First, I went over just to see if there were any good sales.  I had to go back and forth several time to find Brick Books.  In the end, I didn't pick up anything from them, as I have been a subscriber for a few years, so have all of their recent back catalog items.  

I think but am not 100% sure that I saw Mayor Olivia Chow walking through the fair.  She did have a booth where people could tell her what they wanted changed about the city.  

I was a bit amused by the TPL signing people up for cards right there, but then also bringing a book mobile to Queens Park.  I haven't been inside a book mobile in years.

I ended up picking up several books from Exile Books, which is run by the grandson of Morley Callaghan, and they have a very tempting 4 volume set of his short stories.  However, they also make them available as e-books, and while I probably would actually read them sooner if I had them in print, I at least have access to his stories.  I settled on getting a volume of Callaghan's New Yorker stories, which I assume are among his best, and then his memoir of life in Paris in 1929 with all the other American writers in exile.  Also, I picked up Lisa Foad's The Night is a Mouth, which is a collection of short stories.

I seemed to be in a short story state of mind, as at other booths I got Alix Ohlin's We Want What We Want, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu and How to Pronounce Knife (the last being an extra-low cost item at the BMV booth).

I then went over to University College and checked out their book sale.  I picked up Billy Budd (as I mentioned) and then got a couple of Carol Shields' novel, another copy of Ian Williams's Reproduction and DuPont's Songs for the Cold of Heart.  I figured for $3, I could give a copy of these to friends.  As it turns out, the DuPont was a signed edition!  It turns out that the art books were upstairs, so I checked my bag and went up there.  I didn't see any art books that caught my eye, but I did get two poetry books, and they were both signed as well!  (Someone had cut the dedicatee out from the page, which was a bit annoying...)

The bad news was that it was very hard squeezing everything into the panier but I just managed it and came home.

Sunday I had wanted to get back to see a reading by Canisia Lubrin, though this was at 10.  I also needed to get through buying the groceries that morning!  I cut it far too close, and I really had to book over to Queens Park on my bike.  (At least the rain held off most of the weekend, but it warmed up too much, and then I was way too hot after biking over.)  I rolled up at 10:03, and they hadn't quite gotten started, so I grabbed a seat.  The morning slot was a bit of a challenge for Ms. Lubrin as well...

She read a short passage from Code Noir, her latest book, and then the rest of the time was an interview/conversation with the moderator.  I hung out and picked up a copy of Code Noir at the signing table and had it dedicated to my son.

I debated getting a graphic novel, but the cost was just too high.  It turned out that it was available on Amazon for much less, though in the end this set off a whole chain of events leading me to upgrading my Kindle software and then giving up and deleting this (because it essentially disabled Kindle completely) and finally finding a slightly older version of the software that does still work.  Had I known everything, I would not have bought the graphic novel; it certainly wasn't worth the hassle.

While I still debated getting the Morley Callaghan stories, I ended up just getting a bunch of poetry collections (mostly by Roxana Bennett but also Night Lunch by Mike Chaulk) from Gordon Hill Press, as they as one of the few presses that refuses to have anything to do with Kindle or e-books, so the only way to read the work is to read it in hard copy.

I think the next thing I did was head back to Regent Park to go swimming.  And I perhaps went to Gerrard Square to get a new pair of dress shoes and headphones for my daughter, and then I had a concert at Tafelmusik (actually playing at Koerner Hall).  So it felt like I went in circles a lot that day...

I'm making decent progress on Billy Budd now.  Not sure when I will get around to any of the other books I bought that weekend, though I am expecting to bring DuPont's long novel along with my on the next Stratford trip, which is coming up soon.

Book (Sale) News

It's not like I need more books.  In many ways it is a sickness that I have so many, but I will say I've been getting better at picking up cheap books that are not for me but for the Little Free Library out front.  This sort of satisfies the urge to hunt for books and have them in my hand (temporarily) and still not end up with one more book on a stack that I won't get to for years.  Or at least that's what I tell myself.

It turns out that I missed the UVic book sale.  It was Sept. 19-23.  Now the 21st, I was in Stratford all day, and then I was getting ready for a trip out to Vancouver.  But I probably could have stopped by on the 20th had I known about it.  I just didn't really see any signs about it and haven't been going to the UT campus (and definitely not UVic) as much lately.  This site helps keep track of the book sales, and presumably it will flip over to 2025 sale dates at some point.

I guess the St. Michael's book sale was the same time as University College's sale.  I didn't find out about the sale at St. Mike's in time, and this was the first time I dropped in to the one at University College.  Incidentally, I found out about University College due to a small notice pasted onto a Little Free Library in Leslieville!  It just so happens that University College's sale (and St. Mike's) are on at the same time as Word on the Street in Queens Park, which may be intentional or just a quirk of the calendar, as the book sales generally are all scheduled very early in the new school year.  I'll come back to a short report on the University College sale and Word on the Street shortly.  I haven't missed the one at Trinity, which is at the end of Oct., but the only day I can go check it out is the 24th, right before a concert I am attending, so I'll just have to hope this place doesn't have a strict bag policy...  (Or maybe I'll leave work early, go to the sale, drop books off at home and come back downtown.  A bit daft, but I've done odder things before.)

Generally most (non-rare) books at these sales are $3 to $5, which is certainly good, but not as amazing (for stocking up the Little Free Library) as the $2 books at St. Andrews.  I can't find a listing on-line.  They usually have one book sale that runs at the same time as the TIFF festival, but then there are other book sales throughout the year.  Perhaps one in the spring and one in summer.  I usually find a few things of interest there, so I'll try to figure out what sort of schedule they really are on.

I mentioned before that I had stopped off at the Toronto Reference Library for their rare book sale back in Sept. and picked up a few art books but passed on a John Marin book.  They said that the Winter book sale was the one with all the cheap, cheap books, so I'll try to go back to that.  This is supposed to be Nov. 14-6.  Now as it happens, I am debating going to NYC on Nov. 13, and if I do that, I would perhaps take the train to DC for a day, so I might not actually make it back by the 16th, but we shall see.  This is mostly about stocking up with books for outside, so it isn't completely essential that I go.

I also mentioned that I gave up on Powers's The Gold Bug Variations.  It was ultimately not sufficiently interesting for me to overlook how much Powers needed to show off to the world how clever he was.  I liked Joy Williams's The Quick and the Dead much more, though it was quite episodic, and I didn't think the ending made a lot of sense.  These shortcomings will probably keep it from being one of the best books of the year, though there have been a lot of generally disappointing books this year (2023 was generally a better year for reading).

That said, I am tackling Powell's The Golden Spur next, and this should be tres amusant.  I reread the last few pages of The Wicked Pavilion to help me get back into the right frame of mind.  And right after that, it will be Kilometer 101 by Maxim Osipov (from NYRB).  These should be pretty interesting, and neither is terribly long.  

I'm off to Stratford next weekend (to see Something Rotten in fact), and I'll be taking DuPont's The American Fiancée with me.  The following weekend I should be travelling to Raleigh, and I'll likely finish that book and take something I can leave behind with me (maybe Manu Joseph's Serious Men).  And then I fly the week to Edmonton immediately after that.  I have a few options, but probably I'll take Oliver Twist, though I'm wondering if perhaps I should consider Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles.  As I said a bit before, I definitely want to tackle Atwood's The MaddAdam Trilogy soon, but it doesn't actually work as well as the others as a long travel read.

I see I have run out of time (largely due to the many, many times I had to try to restart the computer to upgrade Kindle, which still isn't working quite properly).  I'll try to fill in a bit more about Word on the Street when I get back.

I'll just end with some thoughts on shorter books.  I am mostly done with Freud's The Question of Lay Analysis and should wrap that up this weekend with a bit of a push.  I had planned on tackling Kennedy's Ironweed as the next very short book, but actually I picked up Melville's Billy Budd combined with The Encantadas for $1 from the University College books sale.  I have read a fair bit of Melville (including both The Confidence Man and Moby Dick twice!), but never Billy Budd.  So I'll read that next and then put it outside.  After this (from the "short list"), probably a collection of Orwell's lesser known essays and then perhaps Huxley's The Devils of Loudun.  I should be able to squeeze in Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 in there somewhere.  And then maybe Forster's Howard's End.  The only issue with that it is in an omnibus with A Room with a View, so it doesn't particularly feel like a short read.  Well, first world problems and all that.  Time to run.  Ta!

Sad Art Day

I thought about calling this Bad Art Day, but that would be unfair.  I just wasn't moved by a lot of what I saw on Sat., both during the day and at Nuit Blanche, but I don't think much of it was bad art, though I might make an exception for what is on at the Market Gallery, where almost everything on view is a bit of a rip-off of Norval Morrisseau's style.

Sat. did get off to a bit of a rocky start, when I turned up at the Regent Park pool and because nearly all the life guards had called in sick at the last minute, the hot tub wasn't open (sigh) and we had to wait in line until enough other people had left the pool, so that was quite annoying.  And even though there were slightly fewer people swimming laps than usual, the medium lanes were just as congested as ever.  I managed to get in 19 laps and finally bailed before I got even more frustrated.  It wasn't a complete disaster, but it wasn't ideal.

I ran over to the TMU Image Centre, since I hadn't seen this since the main exhibit switched over to one featuring Lee Miller.  Most of the images are fashion-oriented and not very interesting to me, though there is a room of her WWII images, some of which are grim indeed.  But this exhibit mostly feels like a missed opportunity.  They surely could have found a space for Lee Miller taking a bath in Hitler's tub on the day his death was announced, which is generally read as a way of mocking him.  (More on that story here.)

But her connection to the art world, particularly Picasso, is turned into nothing more than a footnote, and none of the 1000s of images she took of him and his work (or any of the published Vogue spreads) are included.  This seems like a very poor decision on the Image Centre's part.  Anyway, more on Miller and Picasso here.

After this, I tried unsuccessfully to buy a mango lassi, then went over to The Powerplant.  I wasn't particularly interested in the exhibits.  I ran next door and saw some of the exhibits there.  That paid off, as the Power Plant wasn't going to participate in Nuit Blache and the building next door was closing quite early (8:30!).  This is a far cry from the glory days of Nuit Blanche when many museums participated all night long (or at least that's how I remember it).

I went over to the St. Lawrence Market and ran upstairs to the Market Gallery.  As I already indicated, this was very disappointing, and I ran back home, stopping along the way to pick up some groceries.

I had real work to do in the afternoon and early evening, and I didn't actually head out for Nuit Blanche until 9:15 or so!  My path this time was the Lee Daniels Lightbox in Regent Park, then the Bentway (though I actually overshot it and ended up in Liberty Village!).  I think I actually saw a coy-wolf skulking around but didn't manage to get a picture.

It really did look almost exactly like this, however, and I did wonder if it was a wolf, though a coy-wolf (or Eastern Coyote) is certainly more likely.

The Bentway art was ok but nothing particularly spectacular.  There weren't all that many people around either.  I was disappointed that there was nothing in Fort York proper (and I guess there wasn't last year either), though there was an inflated light bulb (sponsored by Toronto Hydro) near Fort York.

It was quite challenging to get back to Stackd Market (because drivers on Bathurst were so terrible!) but that was perhaps the most interesting site of the night.  

There was some DJ playing as I biked past The Well, but it didn't look like there was actually any art on view, so I kept going.  I should have hooked right on Spadina, but the traffic was insane, even worse than Bathurst, so I went on to Blue Jay Way and finally got over to Harbourfront.  I guess I probably should have backtracked to the Music Garden, but I just didn't feel like it.  There wasn't all that much art where I was, but there was a great big space filled with multicultural food vendors.  At least there was quite the buzz of people out at night, having a good time.  (I also guess there was some stuff on at 401 Richmond, and I do regret not going back for that, but again it would probably have involving having to deal with Spadina traffic...)

Then I went over to Union and saw a few things, though again one exhibit had closed early.  There was something going on at King and Bay, but it was indoor art and the line to get in was far too long.  I was astounded that there was nothing going on at Nathan Philips Square, which is usually kind of the heart of Nuit Blanche.  There certainly wasn't much on on Yonge St., particularly compared to last year when Yonge was sort of the spine of the whole thing (pre-pandemic Spadina was more of the heart of things).  There was one last outdoor exhibit at Yonge-Dundas Square.  It wasn't all that interesting.  What was more interesting was I was there at the same time as the cyclists doing their own sort of art parade showed up, then they went to King and Bay and I went home.  

I think I spent roughly 2.5 hours out and about, which is probably a bit less than most years.  

I guess there were a few things of interest that I did miss, including some billboards that were "talking" to each other (not quite sure where that was), but I felt this time around things were too spread out and not very well coordinated.  I was really disappointed in how few art hubs and/or spines there were this time around, aside from the waterfront sites, maybe because the city didn't want to pay even more overtime to deal with traffic control (and deal with even more complaints from suburbanites who already hate driving around the city).  As far as I can tell, no streets were shut down for Nuit Blanche, and they usually are.  It was also a major disappointment that no or nearly no major art institutions or civic centres (with exception of Union Station) were participating.  I definitely found this a real missed opportunity.  So, as I said, a fairly sad day for art in the city...

Back from Vancouver

I spent pretty close to three full days at the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) conference, though in fact I got there midway through Monday.  I met a lot of people; while many of them I had known or worked with previously, I did make a few useful new contacts.  I had stayed through Thurs., hoping to spend more time with TransLink staff, but really so few people are coming to the office these days that it is just as easy to do this through MS Teams.  I was able to sit in on a meeting of the TransLink modellers on Tues.  So Thurs., I worked out of my firm's Vancouver office, though I did have a meeting with a subconsultant who is based in Vancouver.  All in all, I probably could have arranged to go back Thurs. morning.

Downtown Vancouver hasn't changed too much from how I remember it.  From what I gather, the Downtown East Side is quite a bit worse.  I didn't head over that way.  On Wed. evening, I did skirt Chinatown a bit, as I was meeting up with a friend for dinner at an Indian place on Main.  It's not a part of town I was ever in a lot, though I did visit the Sun Yat-Sen Garden a couple of times while I lived in Vancouver.  We had a long discussion about how things had changed at TransLink, though we actually covered some of this ground on my last trip to Vancouver in April.  We mostly talked about books.  I handed over Cela's The Hive and O'Brien's August is a Wicked Month.  I also passed along The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers, which I had abandoned as I was nearing the halfway mark.  I just found this so pretentious, even if it was sort of low-key pretentious.  I think the passage that did me in is when one of the older biochemists is explaining the history of classical music to another one, as if the long passages about unraveling the structure of DNA and the mysteries of Guanine (G) and Thymine (T) weren't enough.  Also, I wasn't convinced that the minor plot variations needed to hit 32 (to ape Goldberg) or that this novel really needed to stretch out to this length; 250-300 pages would have been fine.  While Stoppard's Arcadia came along a couple of years later, it just does this two love stories in two different time periods so much better.  I glanced through some Goodreads comments.  While most people who stuck it out thought this was a masterpiece, there was some dissent, including someone who said that Powers decided to squeeze in some absurd thriller-like plot at the very end.  I was almost intrigued enough to read ahead but decided I would be better off moving on.  So far I'm really enjoying The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams, and incidentally I am also near the halfway mark. 

I could have wrapped this novel on the red-eye flight back from Vancouver but decided I needed sleep better, so I only read up until the point where they handed out the snacks and drinks, and then I crashed.   (I think the fact that I only managed to get through 100 pages on the Stratford bus and then another 150 pages after 8 or so hours while in transit to Vancouver made it pretty clear that I was just not into The Gold Bug Variations!)  Friday, I pushed through a full day of work, though I was pretty tired (and am still feeling it a bit).  I should wrap up The Quick and the Dead this weekend and likely Waugh's The Loved One as well. 

I don't have a lot planned for this weekend, though I am about to head over to the gym.  I might spend some time working on the deck, and I will also try to swim on Sunday as well as get over to Word on the Street (which should be at Queens Park) and then I have tickets to a Tafelmusik matinee.

Back from Stratford

I had a good time at Stratford.  I have to say I was overdressed in the sense that I was expecting fall weather, and indeed it rained a fair bit in Toronto.  However, it was like a summer day in Stratford with no rain at all!  It did make it a bit uncomfortable, as I was criss-crossing the downtown, but it did mean that the artists were out in the park.

Anyway, I had been warned, but getting there was a bit more difficult than normal because the Gardiner was closed, and we sort of crawled along on Lake Shore Blvd.  I had thought I would use the extra time to read more, but I was exceedingly tired, and also The Gold Bug Variations is an extremely slow burner.  I may still give up on it, as it just isn't grabbing me, though pages 50-100 are better than 1-50.

It's always interesting coming to Stratford.  Since I only do it once or so a year, the changes stand out a bit more.  It's been several years since the Pizza Pizza closed and was replaced with a Cat Cafe.  I still remember on one of my first trips back (2015 probably) that the 2nd (and more interesting to me) bookstore on the main drag was closing down.  I've seen a trendy vinyl place open up, but I don't go in because the prices are absurd.  Anyway, this time around I saw a new "bowl" place, though I didn't have time to try it, and a Mexican place.  I went in there and was able to get a burrito to go, since I was feeling a bit squeezed for time because we had gotten in about 30 minutes late.

I walked through the art in the park, and still had about 15 minutes to check out Gallery Stratford up past the Festival Theatre.  I'm not sure if they always had this admission fee, but it's now $12 for adults, which is well beyond what I think is reasonable for such a small gallery.  I think it probably used to be free, or perhaps a $5 donation.  I can't imagine going back at that price, so I won't have to quickstep in on my next visit.  (Honestly, we should get in free with proof that we are seeing a show at Stratford...)

London Assurance was good, though it does start a bit slow.  There was a point in the second half where I did nod off just a bit, though I don't think I missed more than a minute or two.  I actually bought the play at the gift shop and double-checked later, and if I did miss anything it was the somewhat dopey duel subplot.

I had dinner at the Thai place downtown that I usually eat out, since I can eat outside, which is nice, provided the weather cooperates.  I saw that Matilda Swanson Art Gallery, which was a new addition on my last trip, still is in business, so that was cool.  I ran in and had a quick look 'round.

I walked back to the Festival Theatre, and sat outside on some benches.  I did read a little bit but have to admit, the book just isn't all that interesting.  I set an alarm so I wouldn't miss my next play and perhaps I did nod off just a bit.

I enjoyed Twelfth Night a lot.  This production had not sold well (at least on this evening), and pretty much anyone sitting in the wings was moved in a section to fill in the audience a bit more.  That was pretty great.  This is perhaps the first production where Viola and Sebastian looked enough alike that it was actually believable they could be mistaken for each other (after you got past the height difference!).  I thought the "duel" between Auguecheek and Viola was very funny (they were in a boxing ring with boxing gloves on!).  One somewhat interesting twist is that Viola didn't turn back up in her women's garb either at the very end or at curtain call.  Typically she does, at least the productions that I remember.

It was another long trip back to the city, though I tried to sleep.  In the end, I didn't get back to downtown Toronto until 1:45, and then I still had to bike home, so I was very late and very weary.

Briefly, on Sunday, I did sleep for a while (though not enough).  I went to to the gym and did a very small grocery run after that (as I am off to Vancouver for pretty much the whole week!).  I biked over to Carlton Cinema and watched DiDi, a film about a very socially awkward Asian-American boy about to start high school and see him navigating his peer group and a first crush.  It was set in 2008, so the early childhood of the internet as well.  Some elements were a bit triggering, as I was very socially awkward at that same age, though I didn't have to deal with Yahoo or AOL groups, thank goodness.  I may circle back at a later point to discuss this in more detail.

Friday I had managed to go to the high end TPL book sale and got a few art books (Klimt, Klee & Henry Moore).  I had debating picking up a John Marin by John Marin book, but 1) I didn't have any space left in my panier and 2) there were only a handful of colour plates.  It turns out that Robarts has a copy, so I was able to check that out on Sunday, though I probably should have waited to check it out after I returned from Vancouver.  Oh well...

Then I went to work and did some GIS processing of this PSRC data.  I hope I manage to get to the point I can use it, though I think I may simply run out of time, between having to pack and order a cab (for only a few hours from now at this point...).  So I guess I really ought to break things off at this point.  Ciao!

Last Chance(s) for Walker

It's a busy day, and I have to try to leave soon to get a jump on things, but I thought I would point out that this is the last weekend to see George F. Walker's Fierce, over at Alumnae Theatre.  Apparently there is not a Sunday matinee, so act fast.  Fierce was good if a little contrived and unbelievable (which is kind of Walker's signature style).

However, Girls Unwanted is in a completely different category.  It is about three young women who are living in a sort of halfway house, more or less abandoned by "the system," though there is a live-in case worker who is dangerously close to burn out herself.  There is some humour in the play, but mostly hurt and rage.  Nothing about the plot was far-fetched at all (which indeed is a bit of a departure for Walker...). 

It was very intense, which was ramped up even further because I was in the front row, so close to the action that one time an actor bumped my foot while coming through the stage door!  You might want to be a row or two back.  It plays in Parkdale, right at King and Dufferin, and true to form there were quite a few people hanging on the stoop and the street asking for change.  Anyway, it runs through this weekend and next (tickets here), and I would recommend it, though not if you are looking for a feel-good night at the theatre.  

Change(s) of Plans

After I found out that I wasn't going to Stratford after all, I slept in pretty late.  I eventually made my way over to the gym.  I certainly don't normally go that late (it was basically early afternoon).  I don't go nearly as often as I used to in the evenings, as I find it is pretty crowded.  Sat. or Sun. morning is usually not too bad, but this was actually far emptier, which was quite nice, though I don't plan on making a habit of it.  Afterwards, I actually had to hustle a bit in order to grab a few things on hold at the library before they closed.

It was a nice day, and I had kind of wanted to read outside, but I also wanted to get this deck repair done.  I dragged my feet a bit but finally got started.  In the end, I managed to get one and a half boards removed before it just got too dark.  I think I read a bit after that and got at least a bit of work done.

Sunday I escorted my daughter to her volunteer job downtown.  The TTC was in fine form.  Dundas Station was closed due to police activity with no hint as to when this would wrap up, so we walked down from College.  After I dropped her off, I wanted to backtrack and go to the Regent Park pool.  I just managed to get a streetcar, but it turned out it wasn't going anywhere because there was some addict sprawled out on the floor completely unwilling to move.  I think the passengers would have been more than happy to walk around him, but the driver wasn't going anywhere.  Finally, he put the streetcar out of service.  This was unbelievably frustrating, and probably had the standoff happened later in the evening, someone would have physically dragged him off the streetcar.  I guess the only (small) saving grace is that the driver made us all get off the streetcar and drove off with the addict still on the floor.  I guess he was going to try to meet the police and/or ambulance somewhere (though there certainly should have been some kind of response from the ambulances around the corner at Victoria and Shuter!).  Otherwise, the Dundas line would have been completely shut down for who knows how long.  Under normal circumstances, I would have given up and gone to work instead, but the Dundas station was still shut down.  It was a very long wait (definitely over 10 minutes) for the next streetcar, but I did eventually get to the pool and did 22 or so laps.

Then I did go to work for a bit, trying to focus entirely on GIS processing, as my VPN situation still isn't great when working from home. Then I picked up my daughter.  I thought I would take her out for a late lunch, but she just wanted to go home.  

So then I was actually able to return to the deck repair.  I pried out the last half board, and then nailed in the replacement boards and stained them.

I was wrapping up as dusk fell.  Between swimming the extra laps and all the hammering, I was a bit weary.  I basically crashed and then woke up in the middle of the night and got a bit more work done, though not quite as much as I had hoped.

I ended up working from home on Monday, and I certainly assumed that I would be able to sand the other boards and hit them with a new coat of stain.  I'll try to get around to the other parts of the deck, but the top part needs it the most.  Anyway, almost my entire team is out in Edmonton this week, and the call that was supposed to end around 5:30 or so ran until 7:45!  I should have just dropped off anyway, but they were talking about important things like the project schedule.  I only was able to briefly test that the belt sander was still working before it just got too late.  This means that I will have to try to come home from work early on Tues. to wrap this up, which means I can't run over to see anything at Carlton until Wed.  (While there wasn't much I really wanted see at the TIFF Festival, I probably would have watched Croenenberg's The Shrouds.  No idea when this will actually turn up at a regular screening.  I also somehow missed the Goddard flic at Paradise, and they just don't have that much on through Oct.  Sigh.)

Now I had been scheduled to see Jane's Addiction and Love and Rockets on Wed.  I was certainly a bit worried that the weather wouldn't cooperate, but that was the least of my worries.  As has been widely reported, Perry Farrell tried to hit the lead guitar player and had to be restrained and taken off stage.  While I thought it was unlikely they would continue the tour after this, I was hoping somehow they could get themselves together.  Honestly, I could care less about Jane's Addition.  I wanted to see Love and Rockets again.  We already lost so many concerts during COVID (and several never rescheduled).  Then The Fixx keyboard player broke his hand right before the NYC show.  Then Neil Young cancelled his second Toronto show.  And now this.  I'm definitely more than a little pissed off.  So as I said, I'll probably go to the movies instead on Wed.

I'm scheduled to see a George F. Walker premiere on Thurs., and then Friday, I'll probably hit The Rex to see if I can see Neil Swainson in action again.  So I am not exactly moping around.

Sat. is my all-day excursion to Stratford for this season.  Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates.  Sunday I will take my daughter over to Spadina Museum.  I may be able to sneak away to do work and/or see something at Carlton depending on what they have scheduled.

And then I am off to Vancouver for the TAC Conference.  So not a whole lot of downtime over the next week or so...  There is very little rain in the forecast, so I probably should go ahead and water the plants, even though I don't like to do that.

Edit (9/17): I was able to get home by 7, so I had a narrow window to get the sanding done before it got really dark by 7:45 or so.  I wasn't as worried about putting on the stain after dark, as that wasn't going to disturb anyone's rest...  Hopefully it looks ok.  It should be dry by Wed. evening, not that I am planning on going out there for a while.  I may be able to work on the next section on Sunday, but I saw that it was threatening to rain Sunday into Monday, and that probably won't give me the time I need to let it dry.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Times 100 Best Books (of the 21st Century)

I managed to see this list previously, but a week or so ago it turned up in the Toronto Star paper (on Sundays I get some key extracts from the NY Times, including the book reviews).

I'm not going to go through the whole list here, but it looks like I have read 15 of them.  A handful of these I didn't care for all that much, particularly Ben Lerner's 10:04, Han Kang's The Vegetarian and Edward P. Jones's All Aunt Hagar's Children.  I disliked Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo so much that I stopped after 30 pages or so.  I did like a few of the ones I read (including Station Eleven and Erasure), but just generally I don't think I am that aligned with their editorial decisions.

That said, there are probably 5 that I expect to read in the next year or so:
Denis Johnson Train Dreams
Paul Beatty The Sellout
Lucia Berlin A Manual for Cleaning Women
Alice Munro Runaway (yes, I am still going to finish reading her work)
Tony Judt Postwar (I don't often read non-fiction, but this one does seem essential)

That would bring me to 20, and perhaps over the years I will get to 25 (another Munro and some late Philip Roth and Mohsin Hamid's Exit West), but I don't think I'm likely to get much further than that.

At this point in the post, I am just going back to talking about reading in general and not the Times's list...

I didn't make it to Stratford this weekend, but I will go next weekend and make a big dent in Powers's The Gold Bug Variations.  The following week I will travel to Vancouver and I am planning on bringing DuPont's The American Fiancée and perhaps Joy Williams's The Quick and the Dead as well.

In my main (non-special travel) reading, I'm making decent progress on Waugh's The Loved One. (I was thinking I might try to see the movie, but it is surprisingly hard to find in a library or to stream, which is weird, as I am completely convinced I had checked it out at one point.  Maybe this was even in Vancouver, as their library seems to have it.  So odd.  In fact, there is only a very loose connection between the movie and the novel, so I can't get too hung up over this.)  

I'll also be getting to Dawn Powell's The Golden Spur soon.  After I read this, Angels on Toast and her story collection Sunday, Monday and Always, I will be able to cross her off my list.  I'm reasonably close with William Maxwell as well, though I have more short stories to get through, and he has dropped a bit on the interim lists.

In terms of books I've thought about reading for a long time, I will be bringing up di Lampedusa's The Leopard (again one where I might watch the movie shortly afterwards) and also Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, which I read many, many years ago.  It's quite short, which is appealing these days...

I'm starting to think that as I finally return to my main reading list (after many, many detours), I want to add Atwood's Maddaddam Trilogy and then for the following year Lessing's Martha Quest novels.  I feel it's just time to tackle them.  (While her best work was certainly in the 20th Century, I definitely think the Times's list needed to find a way to add something by Margaret Atwood, as I'm pretty sure it didn't.)

This reminds me that I have a hold on Atwood's newest poetry collection, Paper Boat, New and Selected Poems, 1968-2023, which comes out next month.  It's not entirely clear whether this is closer to a Selected or a Collected, as well as how many new poems there are, at least since Dearly came out (in 2020, so not that long ago!).  I have pretty much all her early poems, but I don't have Morning in the Burned House or Dearly, so I might be in the market for this.  Curiously, there are 3 different covers.  The US edition will look just like her stamp.  If I do order it, I'll try to make sure to get the UK edition, which has the coolest cover.  But I definitely need to see what's in there first, so I won't be pre-ordering this.

Let Myself Down (Stratford)

I have really been racing to get a lot of (work) things done by the end of the week, and I just didn't manage to get through a few things, with getting a briefing deck pulled together being the biggest failing.  It did not help that I kept getting pulled into virtual meetings and was multitasking like mad.  

At any rate, as sort of a last minute check. I went and looked at the Stratford website, and there was a bus ticket available for Sat.  I should have just booked then, but of course I got pulled into an in person meeting that was supposed to last 60 minutes and lasted 90 minutes instead and ran well past closing time.  Then I ran down to Union to catch the GO Train to Bloor and went over to MOCA for Free Friday.  The new exhibits are open, and I'd say this is one of the more interesting shows.  It's still not my favourite show at MOCA, which was New Alphabet from last year, but it was good.  Not sure I'd go twice, but I guess you never know.

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Daalkaatlii Diaries, 2024

Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Daalkaatlii Diaries, 2024

Tishan Hsu, Bloody Mary, 1983

Tishan Hsu, Interface Remix, 2002

On the way back home, I just missed the bus (and thus the free transfer window).  I had to pick up some last-minute groceries, so I got them on Bloor instead of closer to home, which meant a fairly long walk down Pape with a bunch of groceries.  I got home and just crashed.  I woke up at 4 am, all ready to try to book my tickets, but the bus option is completely unavailable.  I suspect it's not even that someone scooped up the available seat, though that may have happened, but there is some timed cut-off to get onto the bus list for the next day, and I missed that.  I'm kind of pissed off about this.  But at the same time, I think it's a combination of being really worn out, and then also feeling subconsciously that I don't deserve to go with unfinished work that really prevented me from booking this trip today.  And I suppose I wasn't thrilled that I would need to try to set up the printer to print off the bus tickets, but I could have coped with that...  I haven't decided yet if I will go to see Something Rotten on its own some other day, as it was extended for several weeks, but Get That Hope is now off the table.  I wonder if it will transfer to Soulpepper or Mirvish will pick it up.

Given that my entire schedule is shot, I think I'll go back to bed, sleep as long as I want, and go to the gym when I wake up.  Then I will just see if I can finally get caught up on work (and just possibly some reading) over the weekend.

Busy Week, Pt 2

On Wed., I went over to Budweiser Stage to see The Killers.  I managed to get myself lost and went through Trilium Park and had to backtrack.  It does not help that there are fences everywhere and hoardings that block off some of the access points.  I wasn't in a particular rush, as the opening acts weren't particularly inspiring.  I managed to get there at 8:05, so I caught just a couple of songs from the second opener.  They were ok, but not worth getting there early...  I did like this poster, but I didn't feel like carrying it back on my bike after the show, and it's not like I have anywhere to hang it anyway.

I was sitting behind a huge guy, and that made me sad.  Then he and his girlfriend went off to get food or something, and they and some other friends shuffled seats, and I had a pretty good view.  Until the concert started and the entire stadium leapt to its feet.  There was a super tall guy two rows ahead that blocked my view of centre stage!  Plus I had no intention of standing the entire concert.  That's why I refuse to go to Phoenix.  But there really was no alternative.  So incredibly frustrating.  It was a good concert, but probably I wouldn't have paid to go had I known all the circumstances.  Anyway, Brandon certainly has charisma to burn, perhaps like Bono back in my youth when he still was fairly cool and not embarrassing.  

One thing that was curious is that they mixed up the setlist almost entirely between the Tues. show and the Wed. show.  On the whole, I think we had the better concert (and the sound issues had been fixed!).  They actually had someone in the audience come up and drum on 'For Reasons Unknown,' and he was quite good!  (I think this must be some sort of inside joke related to the fact that the drummer switches to guitar on this song for some reason.)  I only kind of wish Brandon had worn his burgundy outfit from Tues. and that they had played The Man (instead of Andy, You're a Star).  But minor quibbles.  Aside from standing the whole time, which really did irk me, it was a very good concert.  

Today, I stayed at work just a bit longer than I should have, so had to rush home to quickly eat and then head over to Coal Mine to see Annie Baker's Infinite Life.  It is a play about 5 women and 1 man who are staying at an alternative medicine clinic where they are fasting to try to cure themselves of various ailments.  In general, I like Annie Baker's work, but this did drag in bits, most likely because I don't like sitting and dwelling on pain and medical calamities, so her schtick of long pauses felt quite long indeed.  And the actual plot is pretty thin (certainly less than The Aliens, which remains my favourite play of hers).  This has about the same level of plot as John and slightly less than The Flick.  Some very, very fine performances of course, particularly Christine Horne and Nancy Palk at the end. 

I still have to try to get a few things done tonight.  Sigh.  Most likely I'll get over to MOCA tomorrow, but I don't really have a lot going on on Friday, certainly compared to the rest of the week!

Busy Week

Most of the weeks this September are busy, but I think this one is extremely busy. And of course work has really heated up as well...

Anyway, on Monday I ran up to North York to see Heather O'Neill at the North York Library. She was being interviewed about the inspiration behind her latest novel, The Capital of Dreams, which is about an imaginary European country enduring a war, based largely upon WWII but much more fable-like. There is also a talking goose. So it might be considered a sort of fairy tale for adults. (During the question and answer session, she was asked if she was considering writing for children, and she said she might do, but it would be hard to take all the sex out of her writing...) More info on the novel here. They actually had a large stack of the book for sale, even though technically it wasn't supposed to be published until Tues. She only read a couple of pages from the prologue to the novel, but the interview and questions were quite entertaining, so it was worth making the trek north.

After the event, she was very gracious about signing the new book and an older book of short stories I had brought along.  I don't know when I will find the time to read either, but I will try to make time in the fall/winter.  I actually dropped in at work for a couple of hours afterwards.

Tonight, I saw Spoon over at the Danforth Music Hall.  I left at 7:30 and walked there in exactly 27 minutes.  If I had left earlier or walked faster, I probably would have stopped in at the Night Baker, but I didn't.  I slid into my seat just as the lights went down and the opening act, A Giant Dog, went on.  That was cutting it far too close.  Now I might not have been quite as worried about getting there on time had I known who the opening act was.  In fact, I wasn't sure there was an opening act, but I assumed there would be.  A Giant Dog was ok, but not all that memorable.*  I actually wandered down to the restroom during their last song.

Spoon was very good, generally a sort of heavy, layered guitar sound.  This time around the band has 5 members.  Squeeze was still a bit better, however.  It's very annoying to find out that I am still having issues with Ticketmaster and Google Wallet.  Basically, someone at TM has to go in and delink the Google account and I then sign in again and then set up Wallet again.  But they generally can't be bothered.  In the meantime, I had no issues using the Ticketmaster app, which does beg the question of why I upgraded the phone in the first place, since it was almost entirely because of Google Wallet.  Sigh.

Anyway, the pictures and video are definitely better than on my old phone.  Sadly, I hadn't realized how low the battery was.  I did make it through the concert and filmed large chunks of it, though the battery completely died with about 2 minutes to go in the encore.  Also, that meant I couldn't read anything on Libby while waiting on the TTC to get me home.  Still, it could have been worse...

I think I had been vaguely aware of Spoon when I saw them opening for Beck in 2019.  It is a bit unfortunate (that I wasn't more attuned to them before), as they played at Massey Hall in 2017 and played quite a few songs that I really like, including 'Do I Have to Talk You Into It,' 'Can I Sit Next to You,' and 'Hot Thoughts.'  Now apparently, they did play 'Hot Thoughts' when they opened for Beck, but I didn't really remember this.  It looks like they haven't played 'Can I Sit Next to You' or 'Hot Thoughts' since 2019, which is too bad, though I do like the newer tracks off Lucifer on the Sofa.  Anyway, I saw them opening for Metric in 2022, but this was the first time I saw them as headliners, since I didn't go to see them at Massey Hall.  I'm not entirely sure if I would go a fourth time.  I suppose it would depend on how much I like their newest material.  I would agree that they really have not made a bad album and have a lot (perhaps too much) good material to choose from for their setlists.  I think wherever I read this, the writer was comparing them to The New Pornographers.  That's probably not a terrible comparison, though I think Spoon is a much more compelling band live.**  (For that matter, I think Metric is much better on record than live...)

I'll keep it much briefer for the rest of the week.  Tomorrow I am off to Budweiser Stage to see The Killers.  I have to say both the opening acts look pretty dire, so I don't think I will hurry to get there, especially if I have work to wrap up.  At least the weather should be nice.  Incredibly, this isn't even the last show I see out at Budweiser Stage.  The following Wed., I am seeing Love and Rockets along with Jane's Addition.

Then Thurs., I am going over to Coal Mine to check out Annie Baker's Infinite Life.  I'm certainly looking forward to this, though I should probably try to find some time to sleep between now and then!

While I have the opportunity to go do a meet and greet at Tarragon on Friday, I think I will skip that.  I might, however, try to catch the GO Train up to Bloor West station and then walk over to MOCA.  I think Fridays evenings are still free and the fall exhibitions have just opened up.  (It's another couple of weeks before the Power Plant has its fall exhibitions open.)  Now I had been trying to squeeze in one more Stratford trip on Sat., but there are no seats on the bus, so that makes it too hard for me to manage.  I'm not willing to rent a car to make the trip.  I guess I will check periodically to see if anyone gave back a bus ticket, but it certainly isn't looking promising.  I already had checked the Shaw schedule, and it is literally impossible to find a weekend performance of Candida where the bus is actually running, so that completely dropped off my radar.  But honestly, I may need the weekend just to recover from this week...

* One somewhat amusing thing is that they said they were going to play a Sparks' cover called 'Ants in Your Pants,' which certainly sounds like a Sparks' song.  But I checked it later and no such song exists, and it is their own song called 'Angst in Your Pants.'  Pretty cheeky...

** I actually went over to the CNE to see The New Pornographers performing back in late August.  (I had considered but ultimately decided to skip their earlier shows at Danforth Music Hall.)  I wasn't that familiar with the material, but I really liked 'Pontius Pilate's Home Movies,' which interestingly is on their latest CD, Continue as a Guest.  There certainly aren't that many songs about Pontius Pilate, though he shows up in other art forms and is a major figure in Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.