Mixed Up Weekend Events

I debated whether to write out the post and circle back with photos later, or just hold off on posting altogether (until I had downloaded the photos off my phone).  However, my tendency is just to delay, delay, delay, so I will post now and see if tonight I can slot the photos in.

I guess on the whole it was a decent weekend, but there were a few things that really threw me off my balance.  I had planned on leaving work at about 5:15 and catching the 5:34 Kitchener line train to Bloor West to get over to the Revue to see Out of Sight.  As happens pretty much without fail, someone got in touch with me at 5 sharp and wanted some rush job.  Since this is was to try to get additional work out of a client, and the client was on Pacific time and sort of expected to see things before their end of day, I came up with a quick response and fired it off, then left at 5:22.  I made it over to Union quickly.  In fact, maybe too quickly, as it looked like I had a couple of minutes to spare, so I grabbed something at Kibo, then ran up to the platform, only to realize it was an extremely short train and the cars were at the far end of the platform.  The doors closed while I was still running to reach the train.  I should have been able to make it had it been a full train.  So there was a lot of blame to spread around, but it didn't really matter.  (I think GO has also changed the schedule and the time for that used to be closer to 5:45, which just worked far better for me.)  In fact, I had initially planned to just bike, but the rain cleared up early on Thurs. and I biked all the way out to the Theatre Centre to see a musical called Connections, so I was a bit tired of really long distance trips across the city and then coming back so late...  The next local Kitchener train wasn't for half an hour, and I would likely be late for the movie.  So I ran over to the TTC and took that over.  There was a bad moment up at St. George when Line 2 was clearly struggling, recovering from some shutdown (that would have clearly put my plans in jeopardy) but I made it with about 10 minutes to spare.  I even bought tickets in advance to Midnight next week and Naked Lunch on the 25th.  There was one guy ahead of me who had been slouching down during the trailers and then straightened up as the movie started and I couldn't change my seat.  It was certainly annoying and this generally doesn't happen to me at the Revue, but I guess I will have to pay a bit more attention going forward.  (Also I will likely have to call Presto to reverse the charge, as they charge you full fare, something like $20, if you don't tap off.*)  So all in all, it was a very frustrating experience, and maybe I should just stick to biking over until it gets too cold. 

I enjoyed the movie, though I had a lot of trouble believe that Jennifer Lopez's character would really fall for the chronic bank robber George Clooney, no matter how charming he was.  I will say that I had even more trouble recognizing the Albert Brooks character without the wig and then with that ridiculous toupee (and the other ones stored in the safe!).  He didn't even look like the same person, which I guess was the point.  I do think Jackie Brown is the better Elmore Leonard movie, and I should try to catch that the next time it makes the rounds at the Revue or the Paradise.  I'm not sure it's a better movie, but I remember liking Get Shorty better as well.  I grabbed a slice of pizza after the movie, then catch the Carlton streetcar home.  At least the ride back was a lot better, and I managed to get a fair bit of The Scarlet Letter read.  I probably have one last push to get through this, then I will return to Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and then Kundera's Ignorance for the work book club.  Ignorance is fairly short, so that's good. 

In contrast, Sat. started off pretty well, but then kind of went downhill from there, though it ended reasonably well.  The weather was ok, so it wasn't a problem biking around.  I got going at about 10, and hit the Jones library to pick up that Kundera book, then swung by the Riverdale library to pick up some DVDs on hold, including Ozu's The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice.  Then I went by the Corktown Art and Craft Fair, which is in a park just west of Riverdale Farm, which I haven't been back to in years.  I didn't have a lot of time, but I strolled through the park and saw a few interesting artists.  I'll try to link to their websites later on.  It was tempting to run into the Farm to grab some baked goods, but I held off.  

Riverdale Farm

It was about 11:45, and I then biked over to the Regent Park pool.  It was cutting it tight, but I figured I still could get in my laps, then head over to Carlton Cinema to see The Breakfast Club.  I got there, and there was a sign saying the pool was closed!  A couple of us went inside, and they said not enough lifeguards had turned up and that they wouldn't be able to open.  How unbelievably frustrating.  Even though they were trying to call in some extra staff, it wasn't going to do me any good, as I needed to be through with my swimming by 12:30 or so.  I asked if they would be open tomorrow, and they didn't know.  For whatever reason, Matty Eckler's pool was also closed, and Jimmie Simpson's lane swimming didn't start until 1, which was also not helpful for me.  I was pretty steamed at this point, but I decided to head over to 401 Richmond, and then circle back to Carlton Cinema.  Oh, I also briefly hit the BMV just north of the Eaton Centre.  They didn't have the Ozu I was looking for.  I picked up a few $1 books to put out front and decided to get Planet Earth Series 1 on blu-ray.  Assuming Disc 1 of my DVD set shows up some day (it is still missing), I'll try to sell off the DVD set, though I would guess there would be few takers at this point...  On the other hand, people are finally realizing what a rip-off it is to be completely reliant on the streaming sites (that yank content without warning) and physical media is starting to make a comeback...

I also ran by Nathan Philips Square.  There was some Trinbago celebration.  Nothing completely grabbed me and I didn't have any cash with me either, so I didn't buy any lunch.  I then ran over to 401 Richmond, but all the galleries that I had planned to hit were changing their exhibits open, so there was nothing to see!  So frustrating.  I just biked back over to the Carlton Cinema.  At least I enjoyed The Breakfast Club, which I haven't seen in some time.  (It actually wasn't that long ago that we saw Simple Minds in concert with an extra long version of "Don't You Forget About Me.")

At this point, the day was all messed up.  I came home and hit the gym.  However, I was also going to call a friend in Vancouver, and this was in the same time window.  So I chatted with him (and the reception kept dropping while I was in the mall!), and then my workout was really squeezed down to just 25 minutes!  And I still needed to buy groceries and then head back out to King to meet up with someone before the Haim concert.  So this all was a bit stressful (esp. trying to maneuver around all the TIFF traffic restrictions), but I made it and was only about 5 minutes late, and they hadn't been waiting too long. 

We grabbed dinner and drinks, then split up to head over to the Haim concert.  I had to drop my bike off near work, since I wasn't going to risk it getting stolen closer to Union Station.  When I got in, there was a pleasant surprise.  I guess the ticket sales hadn't been quite what they had hoped for and there were a bunch of empty seats in the lower sections, so they moved a lot of people from the upper sections to the lower section, and my seat was only 9 rows back from the front.  (I think I'll see if the same thing happens for The Beaches in Nov...)  I actually made it to my seat just as the opening act flowerovlove started.  She was ok, though not really my type of music.  I guess I wasn't surprised but was a little bummed that the audience decided to stand for nearly all of the Haim concert.  The other thing that was different was that the setlist for this tour is very different from what they had been doing just a month earlier at Glastonbury and elsewhere.  They played 11 (of 15) tracks off the new I Quit album. 

Apparently, they had an even longer concert in Philadelphia where they played 13 of the tracks.  Unfortunately, for that audience, there was lightning in the area and the encore was cut short.  For better or worse, Haim is putting two of their best songs (or at least best-known songs) in the encore, so that was a long wait for me!  (There was a dad behind me with two daughters who was grumbling a bit about wanting to leave early, though I think he mostly just wanted to hear his own voice, and ultimately he had an ok time at the concert.**)  Nonetheless, it was a long time before they got to "Summer Girl," and then it wasn't until the encore that they brought out "Now I'm In It" and "Down to Be Wrong."  It was a good show, but I would have been just as happy with a slightly shorter concert.

I ended up sleeping in a bit on Sunday.  I do wonder if I have just run myself a bit into the ground over the past couple of months.  It also might be related to the changing weather and starting to move into hibernation mode.  Anyway, I got over to the Regent Park pool just before noon, and this time it was open, fortunately.  It was pretty crowded, and it was hard to get in my laps, though I did in the end, switching between the medium and fast lanes.  They finally have the hot tub area open most days, though the schedule is still a bit unpredictable and the water isn't really all that hot, at the moment at least.  It was a lot hotter in North York, not that I would travel up there just for that.  I then spent about 40 minutes back at the Cabbagetown Art and Crafts fair.  I ended up getting a samosa and mango lemonade.  This was good, though the samosa didn't have enough structural integrity and sort of fell apart in my hands.  There was also a wasp that just wouldn't leave me alone!  

I ran around the tents one more time, and I ended up giving in and buying a watercolor piece from this artist, Dinesh.  He has a whole series of urban watercolor painting, many of which were painted en plain air, i.e. out somewhere in the city and not from photos later on in the studio.  

Some of his very best he turns into prints and posters, but the smaller ones are true one-offs.  I liked many of them, particularly the ones featuring streetcars, and finally bought one.  I have no idea where I will even hang it, but I guess I'll figure out something later on.

I made it home from Cabbagetown at 2.  I had planned on eating soup and heading over to the Fox, but I just didn't have time.  So I emptied out my bag and set out again.  I made decent time and stopped in at a different coffee shop near the Fox.  I had wondered if they had soup, but they only had baked goods of various sorts.  I bought a date square, which was really good, and some apple juice.  Then I went in to pick out my seat for Playtime.  I had a good seat, when some couple came in and the tall guy sat in front of me, so I moved over.  As things got closer to the start time, someone with a huge afro then sat in front of me, so I moved quite further back, only to have someone else sit in front of me.  In the end I moved 4 times, and even then I was settled and two minutes into the movie, someone sat in front of me.  (Maybe it wouldn't really have mattered, but not one of these people even looked behind them to see if they were sitting right in front of someone, whereas I always at least see if I am about to sit in front of a shorter person.)  I was about to freak out, but this late-comer sat with her head over to the side, probably trying to see around someone in front of her, and I was able to see the full screen.  Nonetheless, this really is the last straw.  I don't think I will go back to the Fox again; I don't even want to look at their website in case there is something that tempts me to break my vow.  As far as the movie itself, it is just so stuffed with visual gags and sly commentary on "modern life."  I do find that I find the nightclub scene starts to drag until the chaos after part of the ceiling falls down, but it still is one of truly unique movies of all time, and one that really does need to be seen on the big screen for full effect.  I was a bit disappointed that Book City on Queen West closed at 5 sharp on Sunday, so I didn't have a chance to stop in there.  Once home, I ate dinner and took a fairly long nap, as it had been a packed weekend (and one that used up a lot more mental energy than it should have!).

Fortunately, this upcoming week isn't too busy, just seeing The Welkin on Tues. and then a movie (Midnight) at the Revue on Thurs.  But the following week is very busy with two concerts (James and Pulp) and a movie at the Paradise (Kajillionaire).  Oh, and a reading at TPL, and I probably should try to catch Barry Elmes, Mike Murley and Lorne Lofsky at the Rex later in the week!  So I will need to rest up the weekend before... 

Just a final note that mostly I have been able to fit everything in, though I see there is a movie up at Paradise that conflicts with a free show Tafelmusik is putting on (and I really wish Pearls of the Deep was flipped with the next one in the series, which doesn't interest me at all - sigh).  Also, I have been trying to catch Allison Au at a show (having messed up and actually missed a concert of hers where I had a ticket!), and she is playing in a group at Hugh's Room in late Sept.  However, this event conflicts with a major Tafelmusik concert, and the other dates are already full (so I can't switch the Tafelmusik ticket).  It turns out that, after this show, she has a few dates at Hirut, which is apparently an Ethiopean cafe and music venue on Danforth and Woodbine, so not all that far away.  I should be able to make it to one of those shows.  As I was looking at the calendar, it seems that their shows are not that different from the Jazz Bistro, though the cover is lower.  I had almost convinced myself to go see Mike Murley and Neil Swainson this Sunday, but I do have conflicting show at the RCM, and I don't think I should try to skip that at the last minute, esp. as I did already buy that ticket.  But I will now have to keep Hirut on my radar and check it out soon.

 

* Apparently I was charged $3.70, which is certainly annoying but not worth calling to try to reverse the charge, though I would have if it had been $20. 

** I do wish I had taken my daughter to a few of these sorts of concerts.  I did take my son to jazz clubs in Chicago and once in a while still do in Toronto.  On very rare cases, I take him to classical concerts, though the Sing-Along-Messiah was a total bust!  But for whatever reason, I don't think I ever took him to a pop or rock concert.  I ended up taking them to a few Pixar movies (the last one I think was The Incredibles 2) but no Studio Ghibli films (I did try to bring my son to The Boy and the Heron, but we just couldn't make that work).

What's On the New Season (2025-26)

As hinted at a few times, this is my mega post on what I find interesting and worth checking out this fall and beyond.  I've booked almost all of these, though in a few cases I have open-ended subscriptions and still need to book specific dates (and can't afford to slip up here).  I'll just add an asterisk for events that haven't been booked at all to remind me to get around to this sooner rather than later.

In terms of art exhibits, most of the interesting shows have already opened at the AGO, such as Light Years (open through Nov. 2), Joyce Wieland (open through Jan 4) and then Moments in Modernism on floor 4 stays open through late April, 2026.  After many, many years in storage, they have put the Rothko back on display.

Mark Rothko, No.1, White and Red, 1962

 
This is sort of a teaser for whenever the new wing/tower, which will feature modernist art as well as First Nations and Inuit art, opens.  (At least that is my understanding of what will go in there.)  Presumably the Rothko (and maybe Oldenburg's Floor Burger) will then have a permanent home.

Claes Oldenburg, Floor Burger, 1962

Interestingly, Floor Burger was also a controversial addition to the AGO's collection (just as the Rothko was) according to this article (and they should have acquired the art students' ketchup bottle...).  On my last visit, I noticed they have removed the post-Impressionist works from the 1st floor and moved just a handful including a Picasso and a Chagall up onto the 4th floor as precursors to Modernism.  I'm not sure what is going there next on the 1st floor, though potentially they might move a mix of post-Impressionist, pre-Modernist and Modernist works down there as they start construction on the new wing/tower.  It will be interesting to see.  I was a little sad that on the 2nd floor, they have mixed things up again and one of my favourites, Fabo's The Craft of the Contaminated has gone back into storage.  C'est la vie.  Hopefully something like this and some of the large-scale Denyse Thomasos paintings they own will find a home in the new wing/tower.

In terms of other exhibits of note, I am really looking forward to the Jeff Wall extravaganza at MOCA this fall/winter where all three floors will be given over to his work.  I've seen an earlier retrospective of his work in Chicago (and indeed in London) and will make sure to go a few times after it opens in Oct.  I'll have to circle back if it turns out Jeff Wall will be in town for a workshop or something or even if he comes around to sign copies of the new catalogue.  I probably don't need another book of his work, but I'll just have to see what was added since the last book (from 2007 or so), the price and indeed if there are signed copies available.

That excursion into art lasted a bit longer than I expected, but I will press on, mostly focusing on theatre but interspersing a handful of interesting musical events.  I'll just do this chronologically rather than group by theatre company.  However, here are the key links if you are inspired to check out one of the plays or concerts I mention (and want to get tickets).

Concerts:
TSO
RCM
Tafelmusik
Esprit Orchestra
Sound Streams

Theatre:
Soulpepper
Crow's Theatre
Tarragon
Coal Mine Theatre
Canadian Stage
Buddies in Bad Times
Theatre Centre
Factory Theatre
Theatre Passe Muraille (TPM)

There are definitely a lot of smaller companies, like Obsidian, Icarus and Howland, though they are mostly partnering with Soulpepper and Crow's.  Once in a while something slips through the net, like the Life Sucks from last year, which I'm still bummed/burned that I missed.  Two quite unconventional companies are Outside the March (OTM) and Talk is Free Theatre or TIFT (which splits its time between Barrie and Toronto!).  I've seen a lot of Outside the March's site specific pieces, though I skipped OTM's last one, Rainbow on Mars; according to most critics, this was a wise decision.  Outside the March hasn't announced anything for 2026 so far.  TIFT has hints on what is coming up but details for the Toronto shows are not all in place yet, so I may need to add that in later.

I think I mentioned elsewhere, Canadian Stage is so hit-or-miss for me.  Most of the plays (except Soulpepper's Tartuffe!) that I've really hated have been put on by Canadian Stage (and you would have to pay me at least $500 to go see Slave Play), but I've seen some very good productions as well.  I'm also going to skip the new adaption of Ibsen's A Doll's House. 

I had planned to not subscribe to Tarragon this year and just do rush tickets here and there, but I realized there were 4 shows I would likely see, including The Caged Bird Sings, which I had tried to see previously at Aga Khan, so I bit the bullet and subscribed and will bring a friend along to see one of the shows.

I was very much on the fence with Coal Mine but ultimately I subscribed again.  I'm not even sure if this is the third or fourth time I've seen Waiting for Godot, not counting the time in Vancouver I got lost on the way to the Cultch and missed a show (obviously) or the staged reading we did instead of a final exam in our Honors English class in high school.  But it's probably worth seeing one more time to bookend the season with Happy Days at the very end.  Not sure about Eureka Day, which is about a school board torn between public health issues and anti-vacc'rs.  I guess what finally swung it was the chance to see Dance Nation, which will probably remind me strongly of my time on the East Coast volunteering and chaperoning a high school color guard.

And I just realized that musicals are so far off my radar, I didn't even list Mirvish higher up.  The only thing I am considering seeing is Some Like It Hot in early 2026, and I am going to hold off until their Boxing Day sale to get tickets for that.

Whoops.  I also forgot about Alumnae Theatre. I usually find something of interest, but never want to subscribe to the whole season, and this year is no exception.  Public Enemy looks pretty good.  New by Pamela Mala Sinha ticks a lot of boxes: the Indian diaspora, newcomer to Canada, arranged marriage, etc., but I probably will not go unless there are really good reviews.  And while I like Annie Baker's work quite a bit, I find Circle Mirror Transformation to be one of those plays that are far more interesting to actors than to the general audience...

It doesn't even look possible to subscribe to Buddies this season, and there are only a couple of things I may see.  Factory Theatre also looks pretty thin this year, and I may only see Public Consumption, which was also playing at Summerworks this summer, but I decided to hold off and see a slightly more polished version in the late fall.  And nothing at TPM really grabs me, though I will check again later on and see if the spirit so moves me.  It doesn't look like Video Cabaret has announced anything at all, but they will likely add some indy shows later on.

I don't make it to that many shows from Le Théâtre français de Toronto, as I am not always in the mood for supertitles or trying out their translating goggles.  I might go see Camus's Le malentendu and maybe Bonnes bonnes, which is riffing on Genet's The Maids, but also comments on Asians living in Canada.

Finally, it is always hard to tell what is going on at the Theatre Centre as stuff is usually announced pretty late, though I do expect in Jan. or Feb., they will host Shakespeare Bash'd's main production -- and hopefully it won't be cancelled due to a snow storm this year!

So these are the shows I expect to see, with more to be added in 2026, as more things are announced.  (I will use a different post to talk about the upcoming Stratford and Shaw seasons.)  I think I am most excited about Happy Days and Summer and Smoke, as I've never seen them.  

Sept.

Harold Pinter's Old Times - Soulpepper (ends this weekend!)
Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin - Howland Company/Soulpepper/Crow's
King Gilgamesh - Soulpepper (I saw this before and enjoyed it a lot but probably won't go a second time)
Dave Malloy's Octet - Crow's
Olivier Choinière's Public Enemy - Alumnae
Beckett's Waiting for Godot - Coal Mine

Oct.

Goblins - Oedipus Rex (Out in Stratford)
Bremen Town - Tarragon
Souvankham Thammavongsa Discusses Pick a Colour @ TPL
* David Harrower's Blackbird - TIFT
 
Nov.

Jacobs-Jenkins's The Comeuppance - Soulpepper 
Kanika Ambrose's The Christmas Market - Crow's
LePage's Far Side of the Moon - Canadian Stage (saw this years ago in Vancouver with LePage in the role (!), but he won't be performing this time around)
Abe Koogler's Fulfillment Centre - Coal Mine
* Little Library of the Damned - Red Sandcastle
* Camus's Le malentendu - Théâtre français
* Dennis Kelly's DNA - Icarus/Theatre Centre

Dec
 
Lowest of the Low @ Lee's Palace
* Public Consumption - Factory Theatre
Bad Hats' Narnia (a musical) - Soulpepper/Crow's
Gary Shteyngart Reading from Vera, or Faith @ TPL
Michael Healey's  Rogers v. Rogers - Crow's

Jan 2026

Nasson's Mischief - Tarragon
* Sondheim's Company - TIFT/Theatre Centre (don't usually go to musicals but will likely see this)
Bach Brandenberg Concertos - Tafelmusik
Vivaldi's Four Seasons - TSO

Feb 2026

Tennessee Williams's Summer and Smoke - Crow's/Soulpepper
Cowboy Junkies @ Koerner Hall
Natasha Mumba's Copperbelt Soulpepper
Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day - Coal Mine
Erin Shields' You Always - Canadian Stage (saw an early run-through of this already)

March 2026

Bach Afternoon Concert - RCM @ Koerner Hall (with Brandenberg Concertos 2 & 5†)
Joshua Bell plays Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 (and Beethoven's 7th) - TSO
Ronnie Burkett's Little Willy (puppetry) - Canadian Stage
* Some Like It Hot - Mirvish
* One Block Shop - TIFT
* Jill Connell's The Herald - Buddies
 
April 2026

Orchestra Baobab @ Koerner Hall
Erin Shields's Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary - Crow's
Lynn Nottage's Clyde's - Canadian Stage
* Bilal Baig's The Beggin Brown Bitch Plays - Buddies
* Bonnes bonnes - Théâtre français
Shostakovich's Symphony 9 - TSO

May 2026

Cicadas by Chris Thornborrow and David Yee - Tarragon
Clare Barron's Dance Nation - Coal Mine
Hilary Hahn plays Ravel and Fauré - RCM @ Koerner Hall
* Susanna Fournier's Take Rimbaud - Buddies/Howland Company
* Zombocalpyse - Red Sandcastle (The Breakfast Club mashed up with zombies)

June 2026

Eboni Booth's Primary Trust - Crow's
The Caged Bird Sings (a radical revision of Rumi's Masnavi) - Tarragon.  (I was supposed to see this at Aga Khan in their indoor (uncovered) pavilion, but it got rained out, and I couldn't get back for another performance.  I hope they do this in more or less the same theatre-in-the-round style.)

July 2026

Erin Shields's Medusa - Soulpepper  

August 2026(!)

Beckett's Happy Days - Soulpepper

† After Tafelmusik and this concert, I will only be missing out on Brandenburg 6 for this season.  Not bad...

Short-term Plans

I keep meaning to write out the theatre events of the season, and this is perhaps the best season across the major companies in a very long time, maybe since 2014 or so.  (It appears as though 2013 and 2014 were quite incredible, and I missed out on all of 2013 and most of 2014, being just a bit distracted by the move to Toronto in the summer of 2014 and getting settled in...)  I really ought to be able to get to this on Sunday, but I've said that before...

Pinter's Old Times is roughly mid-way through its run at Soulpepper.  I saw it last weekend.  I thought it was a good production, though it is true that Anita Majumdar is directed to be very passive until her last monologue.  And of course, this is a famously frustrating play that is completely opaque in terms of what is actually happening.  Thus, it is not everyone's cup of tea, and is generally aimed at theatre buffs.  Consequently, there were loads and loads of empty seats, so I would recommend just turning up and getting a rush ticket.  This may well be the fate of Beckett's Happy Days much later in the season, even though for me it will be (or should be) one of the highlights of the season.

One thing I will not be doing is going to see Mamet's Oleanna.  This is the first show in Icarus Theatre's season and is playing up at Tarragon.  Today is the very last day to check it out.  I've really lost interest in Mamet, not coincidentally this has corresponded with his "evolution" into a right-wing blowhard.  Though the plot of Oleanna always rubbed me the wrong way.  I think you would have to pay me $100 to watch Oleanna.  I'll definitely give Icarus another chance, however.  I will likely go see Julie (a reworking of Strindberg's Miss Julie), even though the original doesn't interest me all that much, having seen it many years back in Chicago, and I will definitely see Dennis Kelly's DNA at the Theatre Centre in November.

I guess Slave Play starts in about a month at Canadian Stage.  You would literally have to pay me $500 to see this play!  I can tell I would simply hate this, just as I hated their productions of Topdog/Underdog and Fairview.

I had initially planned to go see an anime film called Summer Wars at the Revue on Friday, but then when I was over at The Fox (on one of my infrequent jaunts out that way), I saw that they were showing Summer Wars on Monday at 1 (and I remembered that the gym was open until roughly 1 on Monday), so I came up with a completely different plan that allows for a lot more exercise this weekend (and to catch up on missing a gym visit a couple of weeks ago due to our Stratford trip).  So the current plan is to go swimming in the late evening at Jimmie Simpson after work on Friday (which I did and it was glorious as almost no one was there!), go to the gym Sat. morning (and then get groceries), go swimming at Pam McConnell on Sun. (as opposed to my usual Sat. routine) and then go to the gym Monday morning (and then bike over to The Fox, assuming the weather cooperates).  This is a lot more exercise than I am used to, but it should be ok, provided I leave enough time on Monday to get to the gym.  I'm running just a bit late today, but I don't have any firm plans today, at least until the evening, so that should be fine.

In terms of today, after getting the groceries, I think I will bike downtown and drop off a couple of things for lunch at work, go over to Richmond 401, bike up Spadina to Bloor and see if I can sell a few things at BMV, then bike over to Bau-Xi (trying to avoid Dupont as much as possible as the drivers really zip through there).  I had just missed checking out Bau-Xi three weeks or so ago (and I'll get to this story soon), and this is the last weekend before the exhibits flip.  Then I will have to decide whether I go over to the Jazz Bistro early or not.  I am seeing Mike LeDonne and Eric Alexander, though their set doesn't actually start until 8:30.  I might go, eat elsewhere (as I don't like the menu at Jazz Bistro very much) and then come back around 7:45 or so.  I hope to get some reading in and a lot of writing, so I should make sure I have a fresh notebook.

Sunday I don't have any specific plans, though there is some ethnic festival at a park -- the Caribbean Street Food Fest at Riverside Park -- so I could drop in after my swim.  Then Monday is basically going to the gym and then anime at The Fox and buying tickets to see Playtime for Sept. 7 (also at The Fox).  I was not happy to hear this is the digital print of the 115 minute cut (not the restored 124 minute cut on the Criterion Blu-Ray set), but it's still amazing to see it on the big screen, so I'll go and just try very hard to find a seat where my view isn't obstructed!  (I really am not a fan of The Fox, but once in a while it's worth going.)

Briefly, the next week is pretty interesting.  I'm going to see a show featuring several Tafelmusik members and I'll likely hit The Rex before that. I plan on seeing Out of Sight on Friday and then I have tickets (very reasonably priced!) to see Haim on Sat. and then will see Playtime on Sun.  The following week I will be seeing The Welkin with a friend and will probably catch Midnight at The Revue.  There is a fair bit going on in Toronto in Sept., but those would be long-term plans, and I will just have to get the blog post on the rest of the season up -- tomorrow perhaps.

 

Too Much Heat!

Just a relatively short post to cover some of the weekend events.  Sat. was quite packed.  It started off well as I got my laps in at the Regent Park pool.  I got over to UT with about 15 minutes before the 1 o'clock concert started.  There was a new piece by Alice Hong and then Brahms's 2nd Piano Quartet.  In fact, they were doing the 3rd Piano Quartet at 4 and they had done the 1st on Friday (paired with a Shostakovitch cello piece).  I think tickets were not available on Friday, and in the end I ended up working too late and then spending some time with my son and his girlfriend (and then after they left I sat out on the deck and finished rereading Calvino's Invisible Cities), so I can't have too many regrets about missing the concert.  That said, I will try to make an effort to catch his first Piano Quartet the next time it comes to town.  (I am still possibly going to try to see Schubert's String Quintet on Thurs., though I suspect something will come up or there will be no tickets at all...)

The concert wrapped up in just about an hour, and then I biked over to BMV and sold off a few books and CDs, though they said no one was buying Billie Holiday any longer, so I had to bring that back.  Then I swung over to 401 Richmond and poked my head into a couple of galleries.  Then I went over to the AGO and saw the Naoko Matsubara exhibit. 

Naoko Matsubara, Self-Portrait, 1966

It's basically two rooms in the back corner of the first floor, but it is still pretty cool that I have one of her pieces.  It was a bit odd that many of the prints were somewhat geometric and even abstract, though I think her better prints are much more detailed, like this one.  

Naoko Matsubara, Inner Strength, 1966

They did have a wall dedicated to her In Praise of Hands series.  

I'll definitely go back a few more times when I have the chance.

Then I stopped at Staples to pick up another USB drive.  I needed to free up a lot of space to finally get this stupid Windows 11 update to complete, and in general I need to keep more space free on this computer.  (And I wasn't quite sure if I would be able to get to the one in Gerrard Square on Sunday because their hours are strange...)  I made it back but not with a lot of time to spare.  I was already starting to overheat, but went back in for the second concert.  In addition to Brahms's 3rd Piano Quartet, then performed a Schoenberg String Quartet, where the 3rd and 4th movements had sung lyrics!

This concert ran a bit longer, but I still was able to get over to Robarts by 5:30.  Now I couldn't get in, and Robarts was supposed to stay open until 6, but it turned out that they had just turned off one of the doors, as it was close to closing time.  I managed to pick up my books.  I'm pretty frustrated with Robarts because I turned in a book (on Norman Lewis).  As it was falling apart, I told them it had to go off to the bindery for repairs.  I thought it was implied that it needed to be checked in, and in general books pulled out of circulation like that need their status updated.  Nonetheless, the book is currently still charged out on my account (though with a claimed return note attached), and fines are accruing.  I'm sure they will eventually be waived, but it is completely annoying (and unnecessary), and it is possible at some point the fines will get so high that I won't be able to take out any books in the meantime until the book turns up.

Then I went over to Slab Burger and had a black bean burger and sweet potato fries.  It's sort of my go-to meal when I am in the area.  I was still pretty hot, so I got a coconut slushy from an Asian bakery.  It was fine, though these things are not designed for take-away (unlike the bubble tea which is usually fully sealed), and they had no seating available, which is such a poor business model that I don't plan on going back.

I tried to get a bit more reading done, but there was just a lot of noise in the concert hall, and I couldn't really focus, particularly on something like Walden...

The last concert was good.  They did Schubert's String Quartet #14 (Death and the Maiden) which was very stirring.  Then a different group did Elgar's Piano Quintet, which is a bit of a rarity these days.  I actually had the chance to see Jonathan Crow twice during the Regeneration concerts and Philip Chiu once.  Indeed, when you factor in those two concerts I couldn't get tickets to and the Alison Au concert I blanked on, I only am seeing the New Orford String Quartet on Wed. and a bunch of Regeneration concerts and just possibly a noontime concert on Thurs., and that is it, which is much less than I anticipated at the start of the summer...

Anyway, the last concert ran a bit late, not ending until 9:10 pm, so the No Frills on Broadview was already closed.  I biked home and dropped in at the grocery store on Danforth near Pape for a few things.  It was a somewhat exhausting day, and ultimately I paid for it on the Sunday.

Sunday started off fine.  I managed to get over to the gym and got in my workout, though I had to skip any cardio.  Then I biked over to Carlton.  I had thought about going to the Thomas Landry gallery over in the Distillery but just didn't have the time.  I did have time to stop in at Bulk Bark before the movie.  It was Thelma and Louise, which I've never seen, though I knew the broad outlines of the movie before so it wasn't a surprise or anything.  I have to agree with one reviewer who commented that Thelma makes one poor decision after another, and the movie wouldn't have been so needlessly tragic if she wasn't such a dope.  Towards the end, I was not feeling well at all.  I thought I could hold on but just felt terribly sick and had to run out to the restrooms.  I'm not sure this has ever happened to me at the movies before.  (I am sure it is just partly how badly I was feeling, but I thought the last 15 or so minutes kind of dragged with just one more bad thing after another cropping up as they made their way to Mexico; definitely 10 minutes could have been cropped out of this section.)  I was able to make it back for the final couple of minutes with the big standoff and then the great leap into the Grand Canyon, so I guess it wasn't a complete waste.  I hadn't realized that Michael Masden, who just passed away, was in the film, playing Louise's boyfriend.

I had planned on running over to the Revue to see That Man From Rio, which is an adventure type movie that may have inspired Indiana Jones.  But the weather was too hot, and I realized I was suffering from heat stroke or something.  I just went over to work and dropped a couple of things off and went home to rest, though I did stop in for a few minutes at Thomas Landry.  (I was bummed to miss the film, but it turns out that the library has a copy, so I have requested that.)

For once I didn't moan when my wife ran the AC on Sunday.  Indeed, I came very close to asking for it to be turned on last night too, as it was just so hot on the main floor.  (I was still recovering a bit and worked from home on Monday.)  It really has been several days of intense, oppressive heat.  At this point, I won't be sorry for autumn to arrive.

House Art Tour - Pt 1

One thing I have been meaning to do for a long time is to document the art in the house.  This is somewhat related to documenting the value (for insurance purposes) though I am not going to note the value here in the blog.

On the upstairs floor, I mostly have work picked up in Chicago over the years.

On the left is probably my earliest purchase from 1998 or so.  It was an abstract painting from an artist in Chicago who had her own studio.  Most likely the studio was in the Gold Coast, but it could have been Lincoln Park.  I do remember her saying that the price would have been at least twice as much if I had gotten it from a conventional gallery.  After some quick internet sleuthing, I see this is Kathleen Patrick.  Most of her recent work is perhaps aimed a bit more at the tourist crowd (skylines), but it appears she still has some abstract work for sale.

The print (actually lithograph) on the right was picked up at an antiques shop.  If my memory is not completely failing me, the shop was on Southport in Lakeview.  I was really having trouble making out the signature (which is repeated very abstractly in the sigil just above the signature).  

But Google really came through, finding an eBay auction where it appears the same lithograph, "Le Lac," is for sale (though mine is 171/250).  Hoi Lebadang was an artist born in Vietnam who eventually emigrated to France and died in 2015.

If you turn around in the hallway, there is a painted plywood panel with some somewhat abstracted birds.

There is no signature, and not even anything written on the back, so unless I turn up a receipt, this will likely remain an unknown Chicago artist...  I do remember that I saw this piece during Around the Coyote many years back.  It wasn't in the main Flatiron building but a furniture showroom just down the street, perhaps on Damen. I went back a couple of times and finally decided to pick it up, but then the artist had taken it back, and I had to arrange to get it somewhere in the south, probably in Pilsen!  Sadly, Around the Coyote folded in 2010 due to declining local support, though presumably COVID would have killed it just as effectively.  I had many good experiences at AtC back in the day, particularly when there was theatre going on at the same time, often at the Chopin Theatre.  Good times...

In the master bedroom, there is an artwork made almost entirely from pressed lint!  This is a piece I inherited from my mother.  The artist was actually her tenant in Ferndale, MI, just north of Detroit.  This is likely the oldest piece I own.

Then in the spare bedroom/study, I have several pieces.

This photo was taken of the inside of the Art Institute of Chicago, looking out.  The photo was part of a show held at the Chicago Cultural Center.  

It turns out this was taken by Jon W. Balke.  His show at the Cultural Center was held in 2010, and I must have bought the photo right at that time.

Over my poetry shelf, I have a small piece I picked up at the Chicago Art Fair held in the Merchandise Mart.  It was part of a series of 9 by a somewhat known artist, whose name escapes me.* 

Then to the left of the window, I have a piece by an Canadian artist who used to be a bit of a regular at Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, though I don't think he's been back for a couple of years.  It won't take too long to track down his details, but I don't have them at my fingertips.

It turns out this painting ("Hardboiled") is by Ivano Stocco, but I kept searching for Ivan and Ivor, which is why nothing was turning up.  He had some very nice large pieces, but most of them were just too large for my walls.  This one is a nice combination of "the urban" (slightly stylized but still figurative) combined with a wall (presumably an overpass) covered with (largely abstract) graffiti and then a very heavily textured bottom to the painting.  I bought it in 2019.  (Super embarrassingly, I actually blogged about Ivano back then but just forgot that.)

I believe that covers all the art upstairs, aside from two small pieces I painted myself, as a bit of a homage to Franz Kline. This is probably the better of the two.

I will circle back soon with more details on the artists as I dig them out, and then will post about the main floor and then the pieces downstairs.

* Tracking down this artist was particularly challenging.  The back of the frame only says "4," as in the fourth of the series.  After digging through several hard drives, I did find the photos from the exhibit, and they were from 2007.  This one shows the full series, albeit at a relatively low resolution. 

The floating upside down house (probably linked to Eastern European folklore) shows up in most of the images, though not mine.  Mine features several Medieval cities printed on top of each other in different color ink, with some kind of scroll coming out of the top and then musical notes in the background.  I also liked the ones with ships, but I only could take one home...  If money had been no object back then, I probably would have picked this one up, which has the cityscape, some castle turrets, a couple of floating ships and even a very small floating house.

Anyway, these were only labelled DH1, DH2, etc.  Doh!!  So I tried reverse image searching, and this didn't really help until I put two into the same search, and suddenly Google was able to identify the style of David Hochbaum, even though he has moved on into a new direction (and included the human form in some of his work now!).  I'm glad this mystery is finally solved, as it was seriously weighing on me.  

I have two other paintings on the main floor that I picked up in Chicago, and tracking down the artist detail is likely going to be challenging, but hopefully Google will come to the rescue again.  I'll find out soon enough...

 

Last Day of Fringe (almost...)

This was going to be a longer post, but I'm running a bit late.  Yesterday was my last day of the Fringe.  I ended up seeing Emilio's A Million Chameleon's at the last minute, at least partly because of a quick chat I had with the creators on the Fringe Patio (still way, way too small, and hopefully they can figure out something better next year).  It was a kid's show but genuinely entertaining for slightly older crowds and adults.  I tried something similar one or two Fringes ago and it was pitched just a little too young for me.  That was their last show, however.

Same thing with Milk Milk Lemonade.  This was a clown show, mostly focusing on children's experiences at school, but towards the end, they had a gym coach giving a sex ed pep talk and then the parent teacher conferences.  I remember being on the parent side of a large number of these with my kids, but oddly I cannot remember if I actually had parents come check in with me when I was teaching in Newark.  I wonder if we even had a structured night or not.  That seems a weird thing not to do, but also I think I would have remembered if we did them.  Anyway, this show was side-splittingly funny.

In general, it looks like I picked reasonably well.  5 of the shows I went to ended up as Patron Pick's: Jimmy Hogg, Iris (Says Goodbye), A Sexy Pigeon Show, Adam Bailey: My Three Deaths and Hoody.  No idea if any of them still have tickets left at this point.  I had briefly debated going to see Galen's Grocer, but by the time I went to look, the tickets were gone.  I had hoped that A Cigarette That's Good for You would somehow add another show today, but that didn't happen, presumably at least in part because they already had an evening show on Sunday, which has been sold out for ages.

So between the originally scheduled Sunday programming and then a few Patron picks, there is still a lot to see, though I personally am Fringed out.

It is also the Toronto Outdoor Arts Fair, and it looks like the rain that came through will cool things down.  (It was absurdly hot yesterday!)  I'll circle back with some photos of TOAF tonight.  It was a pretty good year, though I am going to try not to buy anything, as tempting as it is sometimes...

Anyway, as I said, while the Fringe is winding down, this year they have brought back Best of the Fringe where 5 shows get two encore performances up in North York at Meridian.  (Tickets available here.)  Of the five, I had seen two: Iris (Says Goodbye), which I enjoyed but not quite to the same extent as the judges, and Things My Dad Kept, which was quite good.  One of the ones I had hoped to see was David Lynch's Seinfeld, so I grabbed a ticket to that for next Sat., so that will be interesting.  There is a small chance I will go ahead and see My Pet Lizard, Liz right after, but then I need to get back because I have a concert that evening.  My wife might have come along to the Seinfeld show, but she is actually off in Chicago that weekend.

I hope that the Fringe was rewarding for you, and do take advantage of this last day (and then bonus time shows next weekend)!

 

Frustrating Weekend

I suppose many, indeed most, weekends could be categorized as frustrating, given how many terrible things continue to go on in the world while truly terrible people remain in charge.  As one home-spun philosopher put it, people are no damn good.  

But in a nutshell, I managed to get my swimming in last Sat. (even though there was a very slow swimmer that got into the fast lane and then ran into me going the wrong way(!) and then there was a super aggressive swimmer that tried to swim up the middle when there was not enough room), but that was practically the highlight of the weekend, which should be taken as a warning sign that things continued to deteriorate.  I biked all the way over to High Park in order to meet up with some Hart House mentors.  I did see the Carlton streetcar sitting in the very countrified loop, which never fails to amuse me.  It is possible that I will take it all the way to the Shakespeare in High Park performance this summer, though unfortunately this loop is not well connected to the rest of the park, so I will have to think about that carefully.

I had assumed that this event had a bit more official backing, but in fact it was a totally casual thing organized by one mentor as a bit of a get-together.  Had I known this, I definitely would not have bothered, as there was a much more interesting event happening at 401 Richmond.  Anyway, I was exhausted by the time I got there and then was more than a little annoyed at how hard it was to find anyone.  Even though the directions said it was at the High Park Outdoor Pool, it wasn't there but across the road in a large picnic area.  I called and managed to find the organizer but a few others gave up and a few people cancelled.  So it was just the two of us, but I wasn't in the mood to hang out very long or do the poetry exercise that had been discussed.  To top it off, while I was cleaning up, it appears I managed to toss my bike gloves in the trash (on top of the pair I lost at The Fox, this has been a bad season for biking gloves).  

I turned around and biked back downtown.  (I will say the southern route, via the Queensway and then finally getting back to Queen via a bunch of detours was pretty sucky, compared to coming via Dundas or College to Howard Park Ave. and then finally over to High Park.)  I made decent time, but it was still 3 by the time I showed up and the event had ended.  Darn it.

Fortunately, the artist that I was most interested in meeting, Emily Zou, was still there.  I slowly cooled down from the ride, and we chatted for a while.  It appears that she was at the Outdoor Art Fest last year, though I have to admit I don't recall seeing her booth.  It looks like the Outdoor Art Fest is coming back in about a week and a half, so I'll have to leave a bit of room in my Fringe schedule for that.  (I have (finally) booked nearly all the Fringe shows I was interested in, though Cigarettes are Good for You has apparently sold out its whole run, and I might have to try to catch it as a Patron's Pick on the 13th...)  Anyway, Emily's artworks are currently made of recycled materials and reclaimed trash, including paintings that she felt were not up to snuff.

This piece was in the show at Gagne.

This piece was sort of held back in reserve.

Anyway, I did regret missing the artists' talk, but I did have a nice time meeting Emily.  I told her that she was on the same wavelength as Athena Papadopoulos's The New Alphabet from MOCA back in 2023, though she had not managed to catch that show.

Where things really got off track after that was I decided to try this hole in the wall sandwich shop on Spadina.  I was very clear that I wanted the cheese sandwich, as it was the only vegetarian option.  I got this sandwich that was sort of sealed up like a panini.  Within a bite, I realized something was dreadfully wrong.  The jerk had given me a cubano with ham.  So I spit that out, and then went over to the office to try to throw up as much as I could.  However, my stomach was already getting quite upset.  I have yet to do it, but I plan on giving that place a one-star review.  The rest of the day spiraled downhill from there.  I did swing by the Rex, and they weren't sure if there were any cancellations for the sold-out Ghost Note show, and I didn't feel like coming back.  Maybe it is just as well.

I decided to at least try to do a bit of the outdoor side of the jazz fest.  I wasn't that taken by the Anthony D'Alessandro Quartet but I did like this steel drum led trio.  (They started off with St. Thomas (one of Sonny Rollins's features) and ended with Caravan.)  

Then I went home to take a Tums and see how I felt the next morning.

Not surprisingly, I ended up making a very late start on Sunday.  I decided maybe I ought to sand the deck, but then I had to go buy safety goggles, as I just couldn't find the pair I used last time around.  I also bought one more can of stain in case I ran out halfway through.  One minor positive is that they finally reopened the cut-through from Home Depot (and the Planet Fitness) to Jones Ave.  This will slightly increase the likelihood that I go to the gym in the evenings after work, since I won't have to take the bridge twice.

Anyway, I did manage to get through the first pass at sanding.  (I had thought about going one last time to the jazz fest for a show at 4:30, but I wasn't feeling up to it, and I also didn't want to deal with any overspill of the Pride Parade onto Bloor.)  I went back to the mall around 7.  Almost everything was closed, but Home Depot was open, and I got finer grain sanding belts and some wood filler.  (It looks like there are two boards in the middle deck that really ought to be replaced, but I am going to try to wait for one more year...)  Then I went to the gym.  So it was a moderately productive day, but not really the end of the weekend that I had planned out...

Monday, I finally finished reading The Book of Lamentations.  It had its moments, but overall I didn't care for it all that much.  I did like the last few pages where one of the servants is retelling the story of the uprising but compressing it and distorting it in weird ways.  This also happens at the end of Melville's Billy Budd and is the entire point of Mr Burn's, A Post Electric Play.  (More and more, I kind of kick myself for skipping this when it was playing in the neighbourhood, and then I also missed on a chance to see it in Raleigh...)  I ended up biking to work just after noon!  I thought it was only going to be a light rain, but on the way home I got soaked.  Needless to say, I was in no mood to go swimming that evening, so I just read for a while.

Today, I did get to the gym early.  It was fairly busy and getting even busier when I left (it was closing at 1 today).  I'm currently partway through the sanding and should be able to finish sanding and staining the deck.  If I can accomplish that, then I won't fuss too much if I don't get much else done today.  So I'm off to try to wrap that up.  Anyhow, Happy Canada Day!

Edit (9 pm): Perhaps I should have gone a bit easier on the workout this morning.  I ended up sanding for 90+ minutes, and then it was 2 1/2 hours of staining the deck.  

A quarter of the way there (counting the railing)

 

About 2/3 done

Finished for now

My left arm is a bit sore, and who knows how it will feel tomorrow.  Now the forecast is changing so there is a threat of rain, which is super frustrating, but my current plan is to let this coat set, and then try to put on a second (and final) coat Thurs. morning.  (My neighbours are probably even more relieved that there is no more sanding in the near future!)  I'd say there is a reasonable chance I can get this done in 90 minutes on Thurs., as I won't be repainting the posts or side boards, only the top of the railing and the middle deck planks.  This should keep for another year or so, though I do think there are a few boards that will probably need to be replaced next year. 

I think that was more than enough activity for one day, though I did pump up my bike tires a bit, and I'll probably trim my hair.  I haven't decided if I am just going to read more Dombey and Son (still about 4 more hours to go) or watch Almodovar's Matador.  Whatever I do, I need to keep in mind the local fireworks show that will last for almost an hour!

Busy Week Bracketed by Beethoven

I'm not exactly sure what is going on but I have been slipping a lot on Sundays and not getting to the gym when I originally plan to go.  The good news is that I almost always force myself to go, and then it isn't so bad, but then I am running late for everything else I have planned later in the day.  So two Sundays ago, I made it over to the gym, finished packing for my various trips, then took the TTC to Hart House.  Of course, the TTC was quite unreliable as ever, including a bus that then picked up the pace while I was walking between stops.  This is so frustrating.  In the end, I would say the TTC cost me 10 minutes, and I just strolled up to Hart House at 2:35, when I had really planned to get there at 2:15 or so, though as I said I was running just a bit late and didn't set out in time.  Had I made it at 2:25 (a more reasonable target based on when I left), I probably would have gotten tickets to the Hart House Orchestra concert without too much difficulty.  But I was at the very front of the "no ticket" line, and they were trying to convince people to go upstairs to watch a closed circuit version of the concert.  That seemed pretty stupid to me, and I decided I might as well try to get inside.  Had I been much further back, I would have just left and probably tried to work for a couple of hours before my train left.  However, I just waited out and was rewarded with one of the very last wrist bands to get in.  They did Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Beethoven's 5th Symphony.  Always great to hear these live.  I actually briefly talked to my friend David who plays bass with the orchestra, though the musicians themselves (sadly) don't have access to extra tickets.  

After this, I took the subway to Queen St. and picked up some Vietnamese food to go from Ginger.  I dropped in at work and grabbed a huge stack of business cards and printed out a couple of things, including a card for my son, who I was planning on meeting in Ottawa.  Sadly, the train was about 45 minutes late, and it was a bit hard for me to concentrate on my reading while standing (uncomfortably) in line to board.  Not surprisingly, we got to Ottawa close to an hour late.  As it happens, the LRT would have been closed anyway (had we been on time), as it closes at 11 on Sunday evening.  So I took a cab to the Ottawa Hostel.  The driver was reasonably pleasant but he just put the pedal to the metal, trying to get back to the train station for a more lucrative fare.  The hostel was fine, though I really had to get ready for bed in near complete silence, as several people were already sleeping.  (I certainly ran into several people who couldn't believe I would share a room in a hostel, even at such a low, low rate -- $40.)

As it turns out, the hostel was only a block away from the CTRF conference, which was great.  I pretty much rolled out of bed, dressed in a better set of clothes, threw everything in a locker (I had remembered to bring my own lock) and walked over to the conference.  I have to agree, it really does feel a lot like the old TRB (i.e. quite academic) but considerably smaller and still fairly freight and logistics-oriented.  But I enjoyed going, and I'll see if I can go next year when it is in Halifax.  I was able to meet a couple of people from Alto (the agency that will be trying to develop a high speed rail system between Toronto and Quebec City), so that was a big mission accomplished.  My presentation (on ride-sharing systems during and after the pandemic) was in the late afternoon; I think it went well, and I was asked several questions.  Then I went over to the reception, but I had to leave early to meet my son.  We went to an Indian place in Byward Market.

Tues. was pretty much the same thing, though I didn't have as much pressure, since my presentation was over.  I actually left my bag at the hostel, then ducked out from the presentation after lunch and ran over to the Ottawa Art Gallery.  (I didn't even know such a thing existed.  It had a pretty decent exhibit on the 3rd floor of some Group of Seven paintings and some abstract expressionist works.  As it happens, this too is right around the corner from the hostel, so I grabbed my bag and went back to the conference for the workshops after lunch.  I had to skip out just a bit early (only about 15 minutes) and this time I was able to catch the LRT over to Tremblay to catch the VIA train back to Toronto.  Between VIA and TTC, I got home around midnight.

I downloaded the Lyft app on my phone and figured I might as well use it once to get a record of actually using the app, which would help me get rides in LA.  I quickly swapped out my clothes for a new set for my next trip.  I guess I got about 3 hours of sleep, then it was time to get up for my Lyft ride to Pearson.  I ended up sitting next to my boss on the flight, so we talked over some work issues.  I read a bit, but not a lot and did try to get a bit of sleep.  LAX was a bit of a mess per usual, though they were giving out free waffles and iced coffee for some unknown reason.

We then went over to the LA offices and met a few people and talked about some upcoming projects.  I was able to meet up with someone I used to work with in Chicago while at Cambridge Systematics.  We had a good chat, and then I hoofed it back to the office to meet up with a group that was going out for dinner and drinks.  They found a place that had lots of different food vendors under one roof.  While the Mexican was tempting, I ended up at a Thai place that was quite tasty.

Thurs. was mostly an overview of company strategy, though we did take a field trip on the E line out to the site of the Lucas Museum (the one that Chicago and later San Francisco turned down).  We had dinner and drinks on the top floor of the hotel, which was super convenient for those of us staying at the hotel.  Some of the juniors ended up going out to a bar, but I declined.

Friday was only a half day talking about our transportation equity practice, which was interesting and depressing in equal measure (as Trump is trying to squelch anything that even remotely looks progressive or would promote equity).  Then after lunch (which was indeed a sort of Mexican salad), I took a Lyft over to LACMA.  I'll have to circle back and post some photos of the art later.  It turns out that Lyft wouldn't work at all unless I had data roaming turned on, which is pretty annoying.  One strange thing was that they are holding off on producing a new guide to LACMA until the new wing opens (supposedly in April 2026), so I went kind of wild taking photos of almost everything on the 3rd floor.  They even had a room that was completely Picasso paintings (and a few sculptures).  I was worried that the huge David Hockney painting would be off view until the Geffen Wing opened, but it was there on the 3rd floor.

One thing that was a bit worrying was that, after I had taken hundreds of photos at LACMA, my phone battery was dangerously low, and I wasn't sure I would even be able to book (and pay!) the next Lyft driver.  I had to put it on extreme battery saver, but I just managed to make it to a restaurant in Culver City.  The maitre d' was willing to charge it up while we had dinner, which was very accommodating of him.  I was meeting a friend who lives in L.A. with her husband.  We hadn't seen each other since about 2014, when I came down to see Kronos Quartet at UCLA.  The food was fine, though the portions were too small.  I didn't ask, but they did offer to drive me to the airport, and I didn't need a lot of convincing.  I made it through security in plenty of time.  We were all taking the same red eye flight back to Toronto that evening, though this time I didn't sit near my boss.

I got a bit more reading done but mostly tried to sleep.  In the end, over both trips I only read 300 pages of Dombey and Son (though I did get to one major plot twist, which I thought happened a bit too early in the book).  I didn't actually expect to finish the book, though I had wanted to get to 400 pages or so.  I'm going to have to quickly read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, which is a fast read so far, though of course it is pretty depressing.  Then I may sort of alternate chapters of Dombey and Son and The Book of Lamentations.

I guess between a bit of a delay, customs and then UP-Express and the TTC, I didn't actually get home until just a bit before 8 am.  I had my alarm set for 10:30, as I wanted to see the Bach's Keyboard concert, which was part of this year's Bach Fest.  At least the concert was just up on Danforth.  So I saw that, hit No Frills on the way over to the library to pick up a book, and then dropped off some dry cleaning.  I actually biked over to 401 Richmond and looked at a few exhibits there, then came home.  I was actually able to swim a full set of laps, and then I went back out to see the TSO doing a fine version of Beethoven's Symphony 3.  So it was a pretty busy day.  Sunday was not nearly as busy, though I still didn't just stay home and rest, as I surely should have done, but I will write about this week (and some upcoming events) a bit later.

Ciao.