I am still recovering from four weeks of constant activity. It only ended on Friday and, aside from little events here and there, will probably pick up again in about two weeks. During this brief hiatus, I will attempt to convey all of my recent wheelings and dealings in this (hopefully) concise blog.
Labour Day Long Weekend
A road trip to visit Marie and Louis in la belle province. Not your typical jaunt into Montreal. For starters, we were hardly on the island. Except when we followed one of our friends on a blind date. In a nutshell, she gave him all the chances and he still came up "short". Add in a hyperactive cat and a really long game of mah jong, and that adds up to a really relaxing enjoyable visit.
DJ Andrew
Andrew, a friend from way back yonder, has been dabbling in the art of the turntable (if you count a CD player as a turntable...beggers can't be choosers). Jocelyn and I went to see him in action at his favourite place in the whole wide world: a hole-in-the-wall that occasionally passes for a pub. It took us a while to recognize him without the mass of hair on this face and the absence of glasses (it was the Clark Kent effect). But a good time was had by all. We also learned that hosts a karoke night at another local watering hole. In his words, "Good money, bad for the psyche." I can only imagine (until I go there and witness it myself).
Film Fest
It's that time of year again. Learning from last year's logistical meltdown, I wisely chopped my number of tickets down from 30 to 10, and only partnered up with one other person in terms of film selection. Just the same, I was able to take in five films (four regular screenings and one gala).
A travers la foret: One guess as to who chose this film (Jocelyn). A quirky French film dealing with loss and grief. The ending was one of those "what do you mean this is the end??" feelings. But the cinematography was really cool. The whole film (about an hour long) was shot in ten separate scenes, but each scene was one continuous take. It's doubtful that it will ever show in North America again.
These Girls: A twisted Canadian comedy. In a small Maritime town, three teenage girls, fresh out of high school, spend their summer blackmailing an older married guy for sex. Did you ever wonder what Amanda Walsh was doing after quitting MuchMusic? Well check this out. She's the delusional one who thinks the older guy (David Boreanaz of Buffy and Angel fame) is in love with her. Caroline Dhavernas (of the untimely cancelled Wonderfalls) is the devious one. And Holly Lewis (yeah, I don't know who she is either) is the remarkably nutty religious one.
Bee Season: A Richard Gere head-scratcher. I didn't realize it would be so religiously based, but what do I know? In a family of over-achievers, the unknowingly talented daughter discovers she is good at spelling. Hence her secret entrance into spelling bees. The father finds out and focuses his Kaballah studies on her to help her achieve some spiritual state of being where she could possibly talk to God. Meanwhile, the rest of the family falls apart. The daughter brings them back together again, but even now I don't really know how she did it.
China Blue: Coming to a PBS near you. A US-made documentary about migrant workers in Chinese sweatshops. It focuses on young girls who work in a factory making jeans for the "big and fat" Westerners. Really well done considering it also shows the other side of the story (our demand for jeans and other clothes) and the consequences of our desire for cheap goods.
Wallace & Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit: I don't care if you've never heard of Wallace & Gromit, YOU MUST SEE THIS FILM. The makers of "Chicken Run" took five years to bring the short-film adventures of Wallace the inventor and his much smarter dog Gromit to the big screen. Wallace & Gromit operate a humane pest control company, Anti-Pesto, to rid the community of rabbits days before the annual Giant Vegetable Competition. But the presence of the mysterious and devastating were-rabbit threatens everyone's veggies, including Gromit's prized melon. (I know I sound like a promotional junket, but I don't care)
More Concerts
Mixed in with this bag of films was the highlight of the 2005 concert season: the U2 Vertigo tour finally landed in Toronto. Although the reviews weren't glowing, I thoroughly enjoyed my first U2 experience. The occasional political rantings were tolerable. Their catalog is so immense that I know it's impossible to play everyone's favourite songs. I heard that we were robbed of four songs from the previous show, but the story of the origin of the Edge was amusing.
We arrived late to the show, so we missed all but the last ten minutes of Dashboard Confessional's set. Fortuitously, that same night I was invited to go to their special acoustic show last night. All proceeds were donated to Hurricane relief, so if nothing else I was going to go for that reason alone. I'm sort of familiar with their songs, but I think I prefer them much more acoustically. A really long show considering they were playing for free (but for a good cause). Amusing stage banter, and constant spontaneous song-writing live on stage. And Chris is pretty cute. (Thanks Steve!)
And Finally...
After a morning of frantic clicking, I was able to achieve the Canadian Dream. And no, it's not warmth. Although it is just under seven months away, I figure I've waited this long already...
"My hopes are so high, that your kiss might kill me. So won't you kill me? So I die happy"
