An awful lot of the snow did melt last week, which generally lifted my spirits a bit. Maybe the best outcome was that the bridge over to Gerrard Square was clear enough that I could actually just wear my tennis shoes, so I went over the bridge Friday evening and went to the gym. I'm trying to get back to my routine where I either went to the gym or swimming a second time each week, esp. when I am not doing all the biking, which is how I got most of my cardio. Now coming back, there were definitely spots that were wet and starting to ice up, but I managed ok. It seems that most of this dried up by Sat., whereas when I was downtown (on Sat.) there were many ice patches on the sidewalks, so I clearly needed my boots. Nonetheless, I am about to head over to the gym (and groceries) shortly, and I think I can get away with tennis shoes one more time.
It was very cold walking around yesterday, and the TTC was not great. They had closed down Osgoode to Bloor-Yonge. There was some trickle down impact in that because of the huge number of shuttle buses they needed at Osgoode, some (and perhaps all) of the Queen streetcars were stopping short, which meant even more frustration and having to make longer walks in the cold.
I was trying to get to the Regent Park pool by 11, so I could leave by noon and still make it to TIFF by 12:45. I jumped on an off-route streetcar thinking it was the Dundas streetcar, but it was the Queen streetcar! Which took me pretty far out of my way, so I didn't make it to the pool until 11:15 or so. I was fairly efficient, and managed to get in 18 laps and left right before noon. I decided because of the subway shut down, I would just take the streetcar to Dundas to the AGO rather than taking the subway one stop and still having to walk. I had to hustle (and it was bloody cold), but I made it to TIFF by 12:42. I enjoyed Universal Language, which is inspired largely by the Iranian cinema of Abbas Kiarostami (and to a lesser extent by Guy Maddin*). As has been reported elsewhere, the movie either takes place in Montreal or in Winnipeg, though a Winnipeg where everybody speaks Farsi, which is certainly a bit unsettling. I'll circle back with a few more thoughts on the film later.
I had forgotten my pass to get into work, so I just went over to No Frills and then up to St. George. I dropped in at the Bata Shoe Museum, mostly because I wanted to see their exhibit on 80s fashion. I had thought I missed it, but it still runs a few more weeks. It's fine, though it's only a small exhibit. I spent only about 20-30 minutes in the museum, as I am not really a shoe person.
Then I went to Robarts and dropped off a few books, though not the ones still at work, and picked up Bradley's The Ministry of Time, which the book club at work is reading for March. I'm actually mostly done with the huge stack of poetry I have checked out from Robarts, though I have a few books out from TPL. Anyway, I should be able to return to reading novels next week, finish up Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (where I am about halfway through), wrap up Last Night at the Lobster (only 100 pages left) and then read The Ministry of Time. Then some of the other books I had planned to read - Lafcadio's Adventures and The Leopard are next up. Actually, next weekend, I will be coming back from Ottawa. I think I'll read Soseki's I am a Cat on that trip.
I did stop in at BMV and tried to sell off my Region 2 DVDs (La Notte and L'Avventura). Unfortunately, the video buyer (downstairs) was tied up and the main buyer wouldn't even look at them. I don't know if I should try again or just email Seekers and Circus Books to see if there is any interest. I don't want to be carting these all over town, trying to flog them...
I just came home after that. It was still cold, and I was tired, so I didn't go back out, even though Winnetka Bowling League was playing somewhere on Queen St. West. Strangely enough, I have some indecipherable scribble on the calendar. I have no idea what this is, though it looks like I have two question marks, so it clearly wasn't something that was high priority to see. I've gone through the list of usual suspects (The Rex, Revue, Paradise, TIFF, Factory, Tarragon, Alumnae, Coal Mine, Red Sandcastle, even TPM and Assembly) and just have no idea what I was thinking. So I think I will just go in to work for a bit (after the gym), try to catch Anora around 3:50, then drop off these books at Robarts and come home. If I have time, maybe I will finally watch another Almodovar film, Matador perhaps. Ok, if I am going to get this done, I need to get going. (At least I did cook what we are having for dinner already...)
* I haven't seen all that many Maddin films, though I did see Archangel at View the North where Maddin actually did a bit of a Q&A. Anyway, the Revue is showing Maddin's My Winnipeg on March 23, and I'll probably go see that.
