Return to Reviewing?

I'm kind of sorry I stopped reviewing books.  If I note down my thoughts, even in a vestigial fashion, I'm much more likely to remember I actually read the book.  However, I am just not sure how I would find the time.  I actually have no idea if the folks behind the Canadian Review Challenge are still going strong, though I suppose if I really cared, I could find out.  This became too much of a burden.  But maybe somewhere between the one-line reviews that I've been doing lately and then the long-form reviews I used to do, I could write out a couple of paragraphs, maybe of my top 10 or so books of the year.  We'll see.  

I think I am somewhat likely to write down some thoughts on Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  I'll hold off for the moment, as I am only a quarter of the way into it, but I will say that I like the fact that it is about intelligent and somewhat driven people (characters that I could recognize as peers at any rate, and who grew up roughly in my era) who still make mistakes and hurt each other, though generally not intentionally.  There aren't a lot of books like that, though, thinking back, Zadie Smith's White Teeth is in the same vein.  I do wonder if maybe Zevin should have tried to make an on-line version of the video game that her characters develop, Ichigo, but likely it could never match up to the mental version that the readers have of the game.  The internet being what it is, there is a whole thread of people pissing all over the book, so I think I'll avoid that.  There is also someone who has compiled a list of games that are somewhat similar to the games described in the novel.

Now apparently for at least a few months or even years, there was a working version of PsychicCow, the game that features heavily in Lord Vishnu's Love Handles where you guess what color the cow's udders are.  Supposedly, this game was used to identify and then recruit psychics into some secret spy agency.  Given that the game concept is pretty simple (just some random number generator would drive such a game), I can see how setting up a website that actually served as an ad for the book might have been worth it, though this wasn't maintained in perpetuity, which is certainly another notable feature of the internet.

I brought down another short book and added to the piles in the study.  This is Kaye Gibbons's Ellen Foster, which is apparently about a foster mother.  I definitely wish I had a copy with the original Vintage cover.

There's a decent chance I would have held onto it for the cover alone.  But my copy has a much less interesting cover, and I will have to really love the book to hang onto it, given the whole point these days is to read books that I can part with... 

I was surprised at how quickly Kaysen's Asa as I Knew Him turned up (from the UK no less), and it fortunately does have the correct cover.  Both the Gibbons and Kaysen are very short, so I will promote them fairly high in the current reading list.

End of Summer

Yesterday definitely felt like the last official day of summer, though I suppose technically we have almost 3 more weeks to go, but school has just restarted.  When kids are back in school, it does feel that fall is here.  I'm not sure I watched it end to end, but there was a double episode of Phineas and Ferb called Summer Belongs to You! where the gang raced around the world trying to make the last day of summer last extra long.  I actually had been somewhat refreshed and recharged at the end of the day, but then I ran out to see Mike Murley at the Rex and now I'm dog-tired again.  Sigh.

Anyway, I did get to the gym by 10:15 yesterday, and I put in a full workout, then biked over to Queen West (or Queen West West as I sometimes name it).  Almost all the restaurants and cafes and ice cream shops were open, and it was so hard to show even a bit of restraint.  In the end, I did get a croissant with apricot filling.  Summer Wars (at the Fox) was pretty interesting.  It was much more about this odd family and only somewhat incidentally about trying to prevent an AI agent from taking over the internet.  It was definitely longer than I was expecting.

I decided since I was already there, I would hit the beach.  I had to avoid some busker fair (no idea what that was about but they wanted $10 to get in!).  I finally got there and parked my bike just off the bike path near the beach volleyball courts.  The courts were full of people playing volleyball, trying to squeeze in that last bit of summer.

Then I headed over to beach proper.  In this photo, I managed to snap an actual bird checking out two bird kites.  (They are quite small, but there are actually a couple of sailboats in the background.)

There were not a lot of people in the water, but a few, including some people playing water polo or something similar.  I don't think I've ever swam in the lake, though I probably have gotten my feet wet.  (I snapped another bird in flight...)

This woman has the right idea, reading on the beach.

I didn't have a beach chair and there weren't many public ones in that spot.  (There are more further east.)  After a bit more trudging around, I retreated to the boardwalk and read a bit more of Denis Johnson's Angels.  (It is a compelling read but very, very bleak.)  There were some kids playing Frizbee-tag, and I watched them for a while, then headed for home.

I had been hoping to find a Thai or Chinese restaurant on that part of Queen, but I settled for Freshii.  I rested a little bit, but before too much time had passed, I headed out to the Rex.  I had been planning on taking the TTC, but decided it really was just too unreliable on its holiday schedule and biked over instead.  I was a bit surprised to see Neil Swainson and Alison Au in the audience.  I had half expected Mike to call them up to sit in, but that didn't happen. Too bad.  Anyway, it was a pretty good day, though ultimately not as relaxing as it probably should have been.

Nearly Through the Weekend

Normally, I would be getting a bit melancholy, but I actually have Monday off.  Yea!  (It's even better that it is a holiday in the States as well, and no one will be trying to schedule a meeting on Monday.)  If I can just quickly fill in my timesheet (the bane of the work week!), I can pretty much coast through the rest of the evening.  I am probably going to try to finish watching The Leopard (I'm about 1/3 through) and just possibly Almodovar's High Heels, which I think I did watch already.  I don't know if we'll ever get to it, but I'd kind of like to save What Did I Do to Deserve This? for when my son's back in town. (We usually watch a Red Dwarf episode instead...)

I also think I'll spend the time writing out my outline for the planning saga I have been working on for some time now.  I think one page may be missing, but I have everything else (and hopefully the lost page will turn up).  I actually did quite a bit of writing or at least putting broad concepts down on paper last night at the Jazz Bistro.  I'll circle back to the Jazz Bistro in a minute, but I actually reached out to Nina Kaye.  We had been talking about putting together Spawn of Sing-for-Your-Supper on the East Side.  I reached out one more time to confirm that the Assembly Theatre had given up on hosting SFYS (which certainly seems to be the case).  I also asked Red Sandcastle about cutting us a bit of a break, but the rental fees are the same as for every other group.  Not completely impossible but certainly higher than I want to cover on my own.  Nina has a few other ideas, though probably most of them won't work as well for actors, only for playwrights.  Anyway, I'll give it a bit more thought.

I had a good time at the Jazz Bistro, even though I was in a weird seat where the unused piano blocked my view, but I could hear the music very well.  I would say there were a few times Mike LeDonne, playing an organ, went on a bit too long (and Eric Alexander actually left the bandstand a few times).  I don't think it is as easy to mingle with the musicians as at the Rex because the layout and the second floor are just not conducive.  I finally figured out how to get the CDs that Mike LeDonne was flogging, but he himself wasn't selling them.  I never did manage to get him to sign a copy, but Eric signed (during the middle of a song!).  He also asked me if I was a critic, as I was writing furiously, but I said no.  I would have liked to chat briefly with him and tell him I had seen him a couple of times in Chicago (with Harold Mabern), but I just never had a chance at the break or after the show.  I suppose there is a moderate chance I will go back to the Jazz Bistro, but I just don't care for it very much there.  Incidentally, Mike Murley is playing tonight and tomorrow at The Rex, and I'm leaning towards going tomorrow.

Sat. was a pretty packed day.  As is becoming typical I got a late start at the gym, but I made it there and back by about 2.  I dropped off a few things for lunch at work, then went to 401 Richmond.  Many galleries actually were closed, but I had a good chat with John from Gagne Contemporary.  He said to come back on Sept. 27 when there would be the next opening event.  I think my calendar is open.  

I then went over to Nathan Philips Square to drop in at the Dragon Festival, which was a celebration of Asian culture and cuisine.

It reminded me a lot of the Richmond Night Market, though of course this was all during the day.  

 

I ended up getting mango coconut sticky rice here:

And then frozen yogurt cubes here:

I didn't stay very long, however.  I swung by Bau-Xi on Dundas but it was closed.  Apparently, they are a bit short-staffed and this location isn't open for a few more weeks.  So even if I had run over last Wed., while waiting for my son to turn up at the AGO, I would have been out of luck.

I didn't wait around but hopped back on my bike and zoomed up to Bloor.  I managed to sell off 3 books for $15 at BMV.  I was glad to have the extra cash (for the Jazz Bistro) and also my backpack was significantly lighter.  I then biked along Bloor to Dufferin and then up to Bau-Xi.  I think I made it with about 15 minutes to spare, so that was a much better outcome than a few weeks before.  I wasn't blown away by the rotating exhibits, and I probably won't go back next month unless I happen to be in the area, for instance seeing something at the Paradise.  I then proceeded to retrace my steps back to Bloor and got a mango green tea at this bahn place near the Paradise.  Then I grabbed veggie korma at an Indian place on Queen.  (I was trying to find a place with a dinner buffet, but they may not exist in that part of town, only at Gerrard and Coxwell...  There is a really good lunch buffet at King and John, but it was far too late for that.)

I actually went back to the office, since I had left my phone to charge up!  I laid down for about 40 minutes, then biked over to the Jazz Bistro.

Sunday was a little smoother.  However, I had wanted to leave around 11:30 and suddenly I couldn't find my keys anywhere.  It turns out they were at the bottom of my backpack, but I had dug around there a few times and they just didn't turn up.  I dropped off a couple of items at the library and then went swimming in Regent Park.  Or rather tried to.  I didn't get there until just after noon, and it was extremely crowded and frustrating trying to swim laps.  Even the fast lanes were a bit clogged up.  In the end, I did get in 19 or 20 laps, so it wasn't a total loss, but it was certainly annoying.  I'll definitely think more seriously about the late night swimming at Jimmie Simpson as a better alternative, at least until it gets too cold out.

I then biked over to this Caribbean street festival on Queen St. West.  It was interesting though really packed tight with food tents and hardly anywhere to sit.  I looked around for a while and finally got a meal of vegan "hoaxtail."

I liked the sides better than the hoaxtail itself, which apparently was mostly mushroom and quinoa.  I just don't generally care for food that is masquerading as something else.  It kind of icks me out.  Nonetheless, I had an idea to add to the ever growing cast a small foodtruck run by a young woman who is always sporting a t-shirt like Vegan Forever or Plant Power.  One of the planners starts hanging out there more often, causing others to make fun of him.  (There are some parallels to the young tattoo artist, but I think it might work, esp. as she just blows him off.)

Anyway, I ran up to the mall and grabbed a couple of things from Walmart, then made it home in time for an online album listening session.  This was Alloy by Dave Douglas, who added a few comments here and there in the chat.

It was still nice out, so I went outside to read for a bit.  I am basically 1/4 through The Scarlet Letter (and still cannot remember reading this at all!) and Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, which is the story of two college friends who become hot game developers.  It is written very well to the point I am jealous.  I don't want to read all her novels, as I just don't have the time, but I might check out Young Jane Young, which is supposedly heavily inspired by the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Tomorrow should be relatively simple.  I need to try to get over to the gym by about 10 and put in a decent workout.  It closes at 1, but I have to be well on my way to The Fox by 12:15 or so.  I'd like to get some rest after that, and I may end up heading over to the Rex in the evening, but I haven't completely settled on that.

 

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.

 

Outdoor Shakespeare (2025)

I believe I have already bemoaned that the Driftwood Bard on the Beach tour has finally come to an end.  That was consistently my favourite outdoor Shakespeare, and almost every year they put in an appearance at Withrow Park, which is very close to me.  

Shakespeare in the Ruff also performs in Withrow Park.  I run very hot or cold on them, depending on their overall concept, as they never do straight-up Shakespeare.  They are usually trying to decolonize Shakespeare.  I'm generally ok with their adaptations and reworkings as long as they are clear that is what they are doing.  They weren't clear about this for The Winter's Tale, but fortunately I was tipped off and didn't go.  I thought their Portia's Julius Caesar was ok, though not amazing.  There was a very pomo version of Richard III in 2023 that was also ok.  Up until now, I think my favourite production was Midsummer's Night's Dream that was pretty much completely "normal."  However, I would say that their adaptation of Timon of Athens - Tiff'ny of Athens is quite good.  It deliberately sets the play in an indeterminate time between the past and present and even future.  The overall message of the play, which could be boiled down to the song "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," comes through very clearly and there are quite a few stretches drawing directly on the original text.  I'm fairly sure they add on a more ambiguous, even hopeful, ending, though I will need to confirm.  Again, because it was clear this was not straight-up Shakespeare I have no issue with altering and updating the text, and I thought it was very good.  (While I still wish I had managed to make the full play at the Theatre Centre last year, this was a reasonable substitute.)  This production plays through this weekend, so go soon if you are at all interested.  It is basically pay-what-you-can for all performances, and you can pay a bit more to rent a chair, which is generally a good idea.  Unfortunately, their show will likely be rained out on Thurs., but fingers crossed that they can go forward.  The rest of the run should be ok, weather-wise.  Glenn Sumi also liked the play a lot, giving it 4 stars.  The full review is behind a sort of paywall, but you can read the intro here.

Glenn thought Romeo and Juliet in High Park was worth seeing, but not as good as Tiff'ny, (giving it a three star review) and I concur.  I thought Diego Matamoros was very good as Friar Lawrence, and Juliet's father was strong and Juliet was good.  I thought Romeo was not strong enough, and I didn't think the chemistry between them was palpable (unlike the Star reviewer).  And Tybalt was a one-note boor.

Sadly I didn't have my camera, as the set is fairly impressive.  I'll have to settle for published photos.

My seat was actually pretty good, given that I got there with only 15 minutes to spare, but I was stage left, more like this view.

Anyway, it was worth seeing, but Tiff'ny of Athens is the much more interesting play.

I really am running quite late now, but I wanted to mention that, even though I go quite rarely to the Fox, I will be going back in a couple of weeks to see Tati's Playtime.  It has grown on me to become one of my top films, and it is always better to try to see it on the big screen.  I plan on going on the Sunday (and will just have to hope I can find a seat with an unobstructed view!). 

Sorting Through 50 Fall Books

I have a few posts I hope to get through today, but let me start with one that I need to finish to straighten out my library account.  Just a few days ago CBC published a list of 50 books by Canadian authors coming out this fall.  I figure a few of them can be put on hold (though none seem listed on Overdrive/Libby yet), but the rest I'll have to circle back if I see them at the library and am in the right frame of mind or perhaps more likely when I find them remaindered at BMV and I bring them home.  I mean not that I need to add anything to my reading lists and piles, but some of these look pretty interesting.  I guess I'll group them into must-reads and might-reads.

Must Read:

Aliens on the Moon by Thomas King
Self Care by Russell Smith ✓

Might Read:

You've Changed by Ian Williams
Pick a Colour by Souvankham Thammavongsa
The Trial of Katterfelto by Michael Redhill
Big of You by Elise Levine
Suddenly Light by Nina Dunic
A Fast Horse Never Brings Good News by Cary Fagan

I may end up promoting Pick a Colour and possibly You've Changed, but otherwise I will try to show some restraint and get through everything else I need to read before even considering the might reads.  

I did wrap up Richler's St. Urbain's Horseman but didn't like it much at all.  I sort of liked early Richler more, even though Duddy Kravitz is incredibly crass, but his later novels (this and Barney's Version) just turn me off.  I suspect it is a combination of the main characters making terrible choices and that I am less and less comfortable reading dialogue in what seems very stereotypical English/Yiddish patterns.  I have the same issue with Howard Jacobson, whose work I don't enjoy either.

I have only a few more pages left in Slouching Towards Kalamazoo by Peter De Vries.  This was erudite throughout (a bit over the top once in a while) and quite funny in places, though some of the repeated gags do get a little stale.  One of the better books read in 2025 for sure...  As I mentioned before, this uses Hawthorne's The Scarlett Letter as a launching pad but goes in a very different direction.  One of the more amusing bits is the public debate between a minister (the narrator's father) and the town atheist.  By the end, they have each convinced the other and "switched sides."  Interestingly enough (to me), I was in such a debate in undergrad (in a class called "Ways of Thinking") where the point was to have a debate but to argue for (and from) the side you didn't agree with.  I ended up in a debate about religion and leaned heavily on C.S. Lewis (as does the atheist character in the novel, who becomes the narrator's step father!).  I do believe I made a more genuine and compelling case than my opponent whose heart wasn't really into it.  Nonetheless, I was not convinced that Lewis was right at the end!

I do think the next 4 or 5 books will be from the piles in the back study and then maybe I will feel things are just a bit more under control as these piles shrink.  Here's hoping! 

Update (8/25): A different list said that Pynchon has a book coming out in the late fall!  It's called Shadow Ticket.  Given that I never got around to reading Bleeding Edge or even Inherent Vice, there is no point in pre-ordering it, and I can just wait until it shows up in used bookstores...

There are a handful of newly translated books listed in this piece, but the only one that grabs me is Hunter by Shuang Xuetao.  Surprisingly, it is already available as an e-book through the library.  Score!

I've started in on Lord Vishnu's Love Handles.  It is a quick read, and I should definitely wrap it up in a few days.  However, the narrator really grates on my nerves.  He is a supposed to be relentlessly shallow and apparently a bit of a misogynist and basically a frat boy who hasn't grown up.  I guess the tension is all about how this unappealing bro gets serious and uses his psychic powers for good, aided by an incarnation of Vishnu.  But I find the narrator so unappealing that I have a lot of trouble imagining I will hang onto the book, even though it is a signed edition.  I mean the plot isn't that different from Singh's Goddess for Hire, but she is merely shallow and her narrative voice doesn't grate (as much).

 
I'm also a few pages into Denis Johnson's Angels.  This novel is all about the underbelly of America, as two underdogs meet up on a Greyhound bus.  (It's probably time for me to type up my own story inspired by a Greyhound bus ride.)  The novel could easily be filmed by Quentin Tarantino.

I bought a copy with this cover.

It's not bad, though I would have slightly preferred the original Vintage cover, which is where I got the push to read the book in the first place.

Update (8/27): I often go months or even a year between checking out which authors are coming to give readings or sit-down conversations at the TPL.  Not that I haven't seen some very good ones, including Heather O'Neill (up in North York actually).  Anyway, it happened that I looked the readings up tonight, and, while I missed out on Mariam Toews (sold out), there are tickets for Michael Redhill in a few weeks, Souvankham Thammavongsa in Oct. and Gary Shteyngart, whose Vera, or Faith is somewhere in my never-ending list of books to check out, is coming in Dec.  All of these should be interesting, though I've read the most by Shteyngart, so I am looking forward to him the most.  I suspect if he is doing a book signing, I'll pick up Vera, or Faith.  (Apparently, I probably should read Nabokov's Ada before tackling Vera, which might be a bit too much of a big lift.)  Also, there is a 250th birthday party for Jane Austen in Dec. at the library.  I might go.  I could use this as an excuse to finally read Persuasion (but hold off on Emma for another couple of years...).

Quick Follow-Ups

It was a bit of a relief to hear that Canadian Stage had needed to cancel on Tues. (and then they did again on Wed. though they probably could have risked it and I don't think it actually did rain).  I mean of course I'm sorry that everyone was inconvenienced, but that is always the risk with outdoor theatre.  I guess that was really what I was driving at when talking to the jerk at the box office, that it makes more sense to just rip the band-aid off and cancel early rather than having everyone travel out (generally far out of their way) and wait and see about a "game-time decision," and I was simply trying to understand when they were going to make that call.  Anyway, because Tues. and Wed. shows were cancelled, I was able to rebook to Thurs. (with a different staffer), which was what I had wanted from the beginning.  Obviously, I hope the weather cooperates (and next week as well when I am hoping to see Tiff'ny of Athens in Withrow Park). I had initially imagined taking the TTC over, but it's only a couple of blocks further than the Revue, and there are definitely some advantages to having the bike to get around High Park, so I am now thinking I will bike it and see how that goes.

The additional exercise would be good.  I actually am now able to fit in a relaxed cut jeans with 36 inch waist (probably more like a 38+ inch waist in a standard cut), but still some progress, and it means I have a decent pair of jeans I can wear!  If I really crack down (and improve my eating habits!), I might squeeze into a size 34 before the summer is over.  Something to strive for, I suppose. 

A few weeks back I was writing about going down various musical rabbit holes.  Well, it has happened again, though I haven't let it completely take over my life.  I recently found out that most, but unfortunately not all, jazz recordings on the Venus label are on iTunes.  I then had to run down the list of all the various Venus recordings I had tried to pick up in the past (mostly Archie Shepp and Barney Wilen, though there are quite a lot of great Eddie Higgins albums and even one or two by Eric Alexander).  Most of them are indeed are on iTunes (and are currently in my queue), but then I was trying to figure out what was missing.  It looks like a couple of tracks from Archie Shepp's True Ballads #2 and Lonnie Smith's Afro Blue and a few by Eddie Higgins, including Bewitched and Haunted Heart.  Fortunately, Haunted Heart is available at Bandcamp, but the others do not appear to be unfortunately.  I was pretty interested in this double album that paired Bewitched and Dear Old Stockholm, but this doesn't appear to be available any longer, even in Japan.  And virtually everything by the New York Trio is available except the album Stairway to the Stars.  Still, I am trying to focus on having access to the bulk of the Venus catalog, which is quite nice overall.

I'm also missing some bonus tracks from Vee-Jay albums by Eddie Higgins and Benny Green.  There does not appear to be any way of tracking these down, which is always a bit upsetting.  Maybe they will surface one day, as I believe this material fell out of copyright, at least in Europe.